Daily Current Affairs, 26th November 2019

1) Constitution Day of India 2019

•Constitution Day or Samvidhan Divas is celebrated 26 November cross the country to mark the adopting of the Indian Constitution by the Constituent Assembly on this day in 1949. In 2019, it marks the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution. It came into force on 26th January 1950, marking the beginning of a new era in the history of the Indian Republic.

•It is aimed at reiterating and reorienting the citizens towards the values and principles expressed in the Constitution and encouraging all Indians to play their rightful role in strengthening the Indian Democracy. It also aims to create awareness of Fundamental Duties as enshrined in the Constitution.

2) National Milk Day: 26 November

•National Milk Day is celebrated across the country on November 26 every year on the birthday of Dr Verghese Kurien. This day marks the birth anniversary of Verghese Kurien, the Father of White Revolution in India. India is celebrating 98th birth anniversary of Dr Kurien this year.

•The significance of National Milk Day lies in the fact that this day celebrates the importance of milk in a person’s life. The Indian Dairy Association (IDA), in 2014, took the initiative to celebrate this day for the first time. The first National Milk Day was celebrated on 26 November 2014 where various milk producers from 22 states participated.

3) GOI launches Credit-linked Subsidy Services Awas Portal

•Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs has launched Credit-linked Subsidy Services Awas Portal, CLAP, in New Delhi. The portal provides a transparent and robust real-time web-based monitoring system for credit-linked Subsidy Services, CLSS, beneficiaries. Using the portal, a beneficiary can track his application status in real-time. The initiative would also benefit other stakeholders to work in synergy to release subsidy to beneficiaries on time.

4) UP govt launches immunisation campaign against Filaria

•Uttar Pradesh government is launching a massive immunisation campaign against the filariasis or Filaria. The central government has set the year 2021 as the deadline for complete eradication of filaria in the country. Filaria is spread by infected mosquitoes, especially through the parasitic Culex fatigans female mosquito. When this mosquito bites a person suffering from Filaria, it becomes infected.

•This campaign more than 65 thousand teams of health workers will distribute medicines to around 6.5 crore people till 10 December in 19 districts. There are 1.25 lakh cases of filaria in these 19 districts. This time these 19 district have been divided in double drug and triple-drug categories in which they will be provided DEC tablet, Albendazole and ivermectin.

5) Madhya Pradesh govt to give 5% reservation to sportspersons in jobs

•Madhya Pradesh government has announced 5% reservation to national and international medallists sportspersons in state government jobs. The announcement in this regard was made by Madhya Pradesh Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare Jitu Patwari while inaugurating the Regional Olympic Games at Kampoo sports complex in Gwalior.

6) Etawah Lion Safari inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh

•The Etawah Lion Safari, formally known as Etawah Safari Park was thrown open for public in Uttar Pradesh without the lion segment. It is a drive-through safari park located in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh and is one of the biggest safari parks in Asia with an area of 350 hectares (860 acres). It has been developed as an educative tourist destination for children as well as youths. The safari is expected to attract tourist and make Etawah a major tourist centre in the country.

7) Railways sets up Institute for Financial Management in Hyderabad

•The Indian Railway Institute of Financial Management (IRIFM) has been set up in Hyderabad, Telangana. This new entity is set up to impart professional training in the management of railway finances. The project was conceived and constructed by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) at a cost of Rs 85 crore. IIRFM marks an important addition to the list of premier professional institutions in the country in the field of financial management in Indian Railways. The ensuing batch of probationers belonging to Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) will have the opportunity to get trained.

8) Naveen Patnaik inaugurates National Tribal Craft Mela 2019

•Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the National Tribal Craft Mela – 2019 in Bhubaneswar. The objective of the Mela is to preserve, promote and popularise traditional tribal art and craft and help the artisans to find better opportunities to develop their skills through cross-cultural interactions for commercial viability of their products.

•More than 240 tribal artisans from 18 states including Sikkim, Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are participating in the Mela. Handicraft items, handloom products, iron, bamboo products, puppetry, lacquer craft, along with tribal jewellery, craft and textiles will be displayed by artisans.

9) Devendra Fadnavis announces to resign as Maharashtra CM

•Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis announced his resignation after the Supreme Court asked him to face a floor-test to test the strength of his BJP-led government’s position. His deputy, Ajit Pawar of the NCP, had resigned minutes before.

10) Global prosperity index 2019

•The first-ever Prosperity & Inclusion City Seal and Awards (PICSA) Index, released in the Basque Country capital of Bilbao in northern Spain. The Index is designed to showcase not only the quantity of economic growth of a city but also its quality and distribution across populations.

•Bengaluru emerged as India’s highest-ranked city at No. 83 in a new index of the world’s 113 cities in terms of economic and social inclusivity, topped by Zurich in Switzerland. Delhi at 101 and Mumbai at 107 are the other Indian cities to make at the index, with the top 20 awarded a PICSA Seal as the world’s highest-ranked cities building inclusive prosperity. Vienna, the Austrian capital in second place, scores close to top marks on healthcare. Copenhagen, Luxembourg and Helsinki complete the top five.

11) SEBI slaps Rs 40.5 lakh fine on 7 firms for fraudulent trading

•Markets regulator SEBI imposed a total fine of Rs 40.5 lakh on 7 companies for indulging in fraudulent trading in the illiquid stock options segment on the BSE. The total fine levied on the firms, Rs 10.5 lakh was levied on Green Venture Securities Management Pvt Ltd while Morgan Financial Services, Niranjan Housing, Navrang Tradelinks, Niranjan Metallic, Nishu Leasing and Finance and Midpoint Tradelink faced a fine of Rs 5 lakh each. The reversal trades executed by the Notice were non-genuine in nature and created an impression of genuine trading volumes in respective contracts.

12) Kerala cadre IAS officer to head UN tourism body

•Kerala cadre senior IAS officer Suman Billa is set to join the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) at its headquarters in Madrid, Spain. He will take charge next week as Director, Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Development at the D1 level at UNWTO, a specialised agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.