1. UN gives green light to draft treaty to combat cybercrime.

• UN General Assembly approved it will start the process of drafting a new international treaty to combat cybercrime over objections from the European Union, the United States, and other countries.
• Russian-drafted resolution was approved by the 193-member world body by a vote of 79-60 with 33 abstentions. The resolution establishes an expert committee representing all regions of the world to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes. It says the committee will meet in August 2020 to agree on an outline of its activities.

Foot Notes:
About UN General Assembly
President: Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
Headquarters: New York
Founder: United Nations
Founded: 1945

2. Russia deploys its first Avangard Hypersonic missile system.

• Russia’s first missile unit equipped with Avangard Hypersonic glide vehicle. Russia’s defence ministry said that new hypersonic weapon with the latest strategic missiles of the intercontinental-range has become operational.
• The nuclear-capable missiles can travel more than 20 times the speed of sound. The Avangard can carry a nuclear weapon of up to 2 megatons.
• Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 Celsius resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.

Foot Notes:
About Russia
Capital: Moscow
Currency: Russian ruble
President: Vladimir Putin

3. India ranks 47th in house price appreciation during July, September.

• India ranks 47th in the world in terms of appreciation in housing prices as rates grew by only 0.6 percent during the July-September quarter over the year-ago period on slow demand, global property consultant Knight Frank.
• India stood at 11th position in the April-June quarter of 2019, with a 7.7 percent year-on-year rise in home prices.
• Hungary leads the index this quarter with 15.4 percent annual price growth, followed by Luxembourg at 11.4 percent and Croatia at 10.4 percent Slovakia is at number four with the home price rising by 9.7 percent, followed by Latvia (9 percent), Czech Republic (8.7 percent), China (8.5 percent), Jersey (8.5 percent), Mexico (8.4 percent) and Russia (8.1 percent).

4. Nepal bans Indian vehicles on Pokhara roads ahead of new year.

• Nepal banned vehicles with Indian number plates from running in the tourist hub of Pokhara ahead of the new year.
• Pokhara is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the country on Christmas and the new year. They decided to ban Indian vehicles in consultation with the district administration of Kaski to ease traffic congestion during celebrations.

Foot Notes:
About Nepal
Capital: Kathmandu
Currency: Nepalese rupee
Prime minister: KP Sharma Oli

5. S Gurumurthy releases book titled Politics of Opportunism in New Delhi.

• Political Analyst S Gurumurthy released a book titled Politics of Opportunism at a function in New Delhi. The book written by R P N Singh throws light on the subject related to the rise of regional parties and Centre -States relation.
• RNP Singh is a former officer of the Intelligence Bureau, Government of India. He has also earned the coveted Presidents Police Medal, Indian Police Medal, the Sukriti and Kautilya awards for his distinguished services.

6. ‘Colours of the Mountain’ author Da Chen passes away.

• China’s brilliant storyteller, Da Chen, who created the critically acclaimed memoir “Colours of the Mountain” passed away recently.
• In “Colours of the Mountain” he recounted the abuses he and his family suffered during the latter years of the country’s Cultural Revolution. The book was published in seven languages. His last book which was published recently was “Girl Under a Red Moon”.

7. “National Symposium of Poets 2020” organized by All India Radio.

• All India Radio organized the National Symposium of Poets 2020. Select poets of all 22 languages recognized in the constitution participated in the symposium.
• It is being held every year since 1956. The poets from all corners of the country gave their presentations and captivated the hearts of the people during the symposium.
• The symposium will be broadcasted on the eve of Republic Day and at all the centers of AIR.

Foot Notes:
Chairman of Prasar Bharti: A. Surya Prakash.

8. Mandu Festival begins at Mandu, Madhya Pradesh.

• The first edition of Mandu Festival begins at Mandu, picturesque fort city of Madhya Pradesh. The event is organized by Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board. The festival will witness a celebration of the historic heritage blended with the modern vibrancy of the city culture.
• The Mandu festival will offer an eclectic mix of performing arts, workshops, art installations, nature trails, walks, food, architecture and music to the visitors during the festival. The festival is based on the idea of “Khojne Me Kho Jao”.
• The Mandu festival will redefine the essence of the city & bring about the joy of establishing a new tourism hub in the state.

Foot Notes:
About Madhya Pradesh
Chief Minister: Kamal Nath.
Governor: Lal Ji Tandon.

9. Raksha Mantri launches DefExpo 2020 mobile app.

• Raksha Mantri has launched the “DefExpo 2020” mobile app of the forthcoming DefExpo 2020. The app has been developed by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence (MoD).
• It provides detailed information about the daily events, participating exhibitors, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), guest speakers of seminars/webinars, publications, and directions of the venues and city weather. The main features of the app constitutes inform, engage and feedback.

Foot Notes:
Union Defence Minister of India: Rajnath Singh.

10. Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, Gautam Adani among India's top 10 most Googled business tycoons.

• Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata emerged as India's most searched business tycoon on Google in 2019.
• Google released a Year in Search 2019 report shows what was trending on the world's largest search engine during the year in India.

Here is the top 10 list of trending searches for business personalities in India.
1) Ratan Tata
2) Azim Premji
3) Lakshmi Mittal
4) Cyrus S. Poonawalla
5) Anand Mahindra
6) Shiv Nadar
7) Gautam Adani
8) Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
9) Uday Kotak
10) Radhakishan Damani

Foot Notes:
About Google
Headquarters: Mountain View, California, USA
CEO: Sundar Pichai (Since 2015)

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Current Affairs 27 December, 2019

Current Affairs 26 December, 2019

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