Daily Current Affairs, 30th and 31st December 2018

1) PM Modi Renames 3 Islands of Andaman & Nicobar

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurled 150-feet tall tricolor to mark Netaji’s hoisting of the national flag 75 years ago in Port Blair. The three renamed islands of Andaman and Nicobar are:

1.Ross renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep
2.Neil renamed as Shaheed Dweep
3.Havelock renamed as Swaraj Dweep.

•To connect the islands with mainstream development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Lakshwadweep, Andaman & Nicobar industrial development policy. The Prime Minister also released a commemorative stamp, its first-day cover and a Rs-75 coin on this special day. 

2) Swachh Surveksahan Award For GHMC

•The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation was awarded Best Capital City in the Solid Waste Management in the Swachh Survekshan 2018 rankings. The GHMC was also at the 27th place among 4,041 cities.

3) Centre Approves Rs 1,146.12 cr Cyclone ‘Gaja’ Assistance for Tamil Nadu

•The High-Level Committee (HLC) chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singhapproved additional assistance of Rs 1,146.12 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to Tamil Nadu, which was affected by cyclone ‘Gaja’ recently. 

•The Central government had released assistance of Rs 353.70 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) as an interim relief to the state. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr Rajiv Kumar are the members of the HLC. 

4) Pakistan Cabinet Approves Issuance Of ‘Panda Bonds’ In Chinese Currency

•Pakistan’s cabinet has approved the issuance of first-ever renminbi-denominated ‘Panda Bonds’ to raise loans from China’s capital markets, as the country moved a step forward to give the Chinese currency status at par with the US dollar.

•The Finance Ministry did not seek the Cabinet’s nod for the size of the bond, but it expects to raise $500 million to $1 billion in various tranches. The Philippines has also raised RMB1.46 billion through renminbi-denominated bonds.

5) Sheikh Hasina Wins 3rd Consecutive Term As PM of Bangladesh

•Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s alliance won Bangladesh’s election with a thumping majority, the country’s Election Commission announced. It gave her a third straight term following a vote that the opposition rejected as rigged.

•The win consolidated Hasina’s decade-long rule over Bangladesh. The alliance dominated by her Awami League, seen as close to regional power India, won 287 of the 298 seats for which results have been declared, the commission said. There are 300 constituencies in the country. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which boycotted the last poll in 2014, won just six seats.

6) Sudhir Bhargava Appointed New Chief Information Commissioner

•The government has appointed Sudhir Bhargava as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), along with four information commissioners. Mr. Bhargava was Information Commissioner in the CIC.

•An alumnus of St Michael’s High School in Patna and St Stephen’s College in Delhi, Mr. Sinha is a 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service officer who was the High Commissioner of India in the United Kingdom.

7) Book ‘Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From’ By Tony Joseph Released

•The book titled “Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From” written by Tony Joseph was released. The book talks about the migration of the First Indians also known as ‘Aryans’ who arrived here 65,000 years ago. 

8) Smriti Mandhana Named ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year

•India’s stylish opener Smriti Mandhana has been named as the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Cricketer of the Year. The 22-year-old, who has also been named as the ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Year, achieved the feat by giving some exceptional performances throughout the year.

•She scored 669 runs at an average of 66.90 in 12 ODIs and 622 runs at a strike-rate of 130.67 in 25 T20Is from January 1 to December 31, 2018. She is currently ranked fourth in the ICC Women’s Players Rankings for ODI Batters and 10th in the ICC Women’s Players Rankings for T20I Batters.

9) 3rd Edition of Women’s National Boxing Championships Begins

•The third edition of women’s national boxing championships begins in Vijayanagara, Karnataka. Country’s top boxers will be vying for top honors as the tournament will be held at the JSW Sports-owned Inspire Institute of Sport.

•World Championship silver and bronze medallists boxers, Sonia Chahal, Lovlina Borgohain, Pinky Jangra and Nikhat Zarin will be trying to upstage one another in the race to claim the top honors.