12 December 2016 Current Affairs

Antonio Guterres sworn in as UN Secretary-General

A. Antonio Guterres, a former Portuguese Prime Minister, was sworn in as the ninth UN Secretary-General on 12th December 2016, succeeding Ban Ki-moon as the chief of the 71-year old world body.

B. President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson administered the Oath of Office to Guterres at a special plenary meeting of the 193-member General Assembly.


China launches advanced weather satellite Fengyun-4

A. China has launched the first of its new generation weather satellites Fengyun-4.

B. The New technology on the satellite will improve the accuracy of weather forecasts – just in time for the winter season.

C. It was China’s First second-generation weather satellites launched as well as the country’s first quantitative remote-sensing satellite in the geostationary orbit.


Paolo Gentiloni named as Italy’s new Prime Minister

A. Paolo Gentiloni has been named as Italy’s new Prime Minister following reformist leader Matteo Renzi’s resignation in the wake of a crushing referendum defeat.

B. Gentiloni, who served as the Foreign Minister under Renzi, was asked by President Sergio Mattarella to form a new centre-left government on 11th December that will guide Italy to elections due by February 2018.


Indian-origin teens top science contest in U.S.

A. Three Indian-origin teenagers in the U.S. have bagged a scholarship worth $2,00,000 in a science competition for their innovative research that will help doctors diagnose health problems, including schizophrenia.

B. Sixteen-year-old twin sisters Shriya and Adhya Beesam, who are 11th grade students in Plano, Texas, shared the $1,00,000 grand prize in the 17th annual Siemens Math, Science and Technology Competition for their project entitled, ‘Linked Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System: A Novel Approach to Schizophrenia Diagnosis’.


Rajiv Gandhi airport achieves carbon neutral status

A. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad has achieved carbon neutral status.It is the first in the Asia-Pacific region in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category to attain this status. Earlier in September 2016 GMR Group-led Delhi Airport had become the first airport in Asia-Pacific to achieve carbon neutral status among all categories.


India, Vietnam sign Civil Nuclear deal, three other agreements

A. India and Vietnam have signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement. With this, Vietnam became 14th country with which India has signed the civil nuclear deal.

B. The MoU in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy was signed by Sekhar Basu, Secretary of Department of Atomic Energy and Pham Cong Tac, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Science and Technology in New Delhi.

C. The two countries also signed three other agreements in the fields of energy, aviation and government cooperation.


Viola Desmond first Canadian woman on banknote

A black civil rights leader who led a struggle against anti-black segregation and racism in Canada in the 1940s will be the first Canadian woman to figure on a banknote. Viola Desmond will appear on the Canadian $10 bill – replacing the nation’s first prime minister John A MacDonald who will be moved to a higher bill – when new banknotes go into circulation in 2018.Desmond, an icon of the human rights and freedoms movement in Canada, was selected from a list of five iconic Canadian women by Finance Minister Morneau, in accordance with the Bank of Canada Act.

 

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