Current Affairs Updates: 16 December 2019

1. Author Amitabha Bagchi has won DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019, for his novel ‘Half the Night is Gone’. It is
Bagchi’s third novel. A major part of Half The Night Is Gone, is based in old-forgotten world of scheming zamindars,
dubious morals and a man lamenting lost opportunities.

2. Lt General Manoj Mukund Naravane is set to become the next chief of the Indian army. The three-year tenure of the
current Army Chief Bipin Rawat ends on December 31 as he retires. However, GoI is yet to announce the name of the
first Chief of Defence Staff as announced by PM Modi in his Independence Day address. The CDS is considered as one of
the biggest reforms of Indian military as he will be the head of all three services and will possess nuclear arsenal
powers.

3. Air Marshal D Choudhury took charge as new Commandant of National Defence College. He took over the charge from
Vice Admiral Srikant

4. World Economic Forum released its report according to which India ranked 112th in terms of gender gap.

5. World Economic Forum Report 2019

 World Economic Forum released its report according to which India ranked 112th in terms of gender gap.
 India’s performance weakened in the year 2019 according to the report. India was in 108th position in 2018.
 India slipped to 150th rank in health and survival, 149th in economic participation, 112th in educational attainment.
 India improved to 18th place in terms of political empowerment.
 Iceland was the topmost gender-neutral country. Nordic Countries like Norway, Finland and Sweden were the top
performers.

6. UNICEF Report: ‘Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030: Are we on track?’
 UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) released a report titled ‘Birth Registration for
Every Child by 2030: Are we on track?’.
 The report is regarding the latest data on global and regional estimates of the number of unregistered children
worldwide.
 As per the report, India alone accounted for a huge rise in birth registration gap , from 41% in 2005-06 to 80%.
 Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand recorded the lowest birth registrations in the country.

7. English cricket player Benjamin Andrew Stokes (Ben Stokes), was named as the BBC’s (British Broadcasting Corporation)
Sports Personality of the Year 2019. Ben Stokes was awarded for his key role in England’s win in the 2019 cricket World
Cup which was held in England and Wales in the United Kingdom(UK).

8. ‘Carnival of Aalst’ removed from UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), has removed the ‘Carnival of Aalst’ of
Belgium from its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List. The 2019 carnival featured a parade float that included
racist and anti-Semitic representations which mocked the Orthodox Jews.

9. Bangladesh celebrated its 49th Victory Day on 16 December 2019. The event marks the day when Bangladesh attained
liberation from Pakistan and became an independent nation in 1971. It became a nation under the leadership of
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Events: On this day, President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina paid tributes to the martyrs of the Liberation War and placed wreaths at the National Mausoleum in
Savar.
10. The Polynesian island of Tahiti will host the surfing events at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The events will take place at
Teahupoo. It was chosen over beaches in southwest France and in Brittany. Tahiti: Tahiti is located in the southern part
of the Pacific Ocean. It lies 15,000 kilometres from Paris.

11. The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed two Bills, namely Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Schedule
Tribes Bill and Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Scheduled Castes Bill

12. India announced that it has increased the area covered by its Indo-Pacific policy to include the western Indian Ocean
and the Arabian Sea. This move by the country will include the Gulf states and Africa along with ASEAN.

13. Thailand’s famous 2000-year-old massage, Nuad Thai was added to UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization) prestigious heritage list. Nuad Thai is an intense form of massage in which the body is pulled
and rotated well with the help of the thumb, elbow, knees and feet. Thai massage originated in India and brought it to
Thailand about 2,500 years ago by doctors and monks who carried its secrets for generations

14. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, former Prime Minister (PM) of Algeria was elected as the President of Algeria succeeding
Abdelkader Bensalah. He served as the PM from May 2017 to August 2017, under the governance of President
Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

15. The Coal Ministry will establish ‘Sustainable Development Cell’ (SDC) for promoting sustainable coal mining in the
country.

16. Tony-Ann Singh of Jamaica was announced as the winner of the Miss World 2019 beauty pageant held at the ExCeL
London. She was crowned by her predecessor Miss World 2018 Vanessa Ponce from Mexico.

17. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired the first meeting of the National Ganga Council. The meeting was held in
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The first meeting of the Council aimed at reinforcing the importance of a ‘Ganga-centric’
approach in all departments of the concerned states as well as relevant Central Ministries.

18. Viswanathan Anand has launched his autobiography ‘Mind Master’. Anand’s autobiography is co-authored by sports
journalist Susan Ninann. It has been published by THG Publishing Private Limited. The book covers wonderful memories
of Viswanathan Anand’s journey.

19. New Zealand’s 3-times Olympic middle-distance champion Peter Snell passed away. He was the last male athlete to
have completed the 800m and 1500m double at an Olympic Games, which he achieved in Tokyo in 1964.

20. The nation celebrates 16 December as Vijay Diwas to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 war. The Indo-
Pakistan war of 1971 which began on December 3 lasted for 13 days and officially ended on December 16, after which
Pakistan surrendered to India. It was on this day in 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General AA Khan Niazi, along
with 93 thousand troops, had surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces consisting of Indian Army and Mukti
Bahini.