Facts- December
National Anthem:
Context: On December 27, 1911, the National Anthem was first sung at the Calcutta session of the Congress.
Key facts:
‘Jana Gana Mana’ was adopted as the country’s National Anthem by the Constituent Assembly of India on January 24, 1950, the last day of its last session.
Reverence to the National Anthem is a Fundamental duty as per Article 51A (a) of the Constitution.
Originally written in Bengali, it is the first of five stanzas of a poem written and later set to notations by Rabindranath Tagore.
Tibetan Gazelles:
- Also known as the Goa (Procapra picticaudata).
- A species of antelope that inhabits the Tibetan plateau.
- IUCN Status- Near Threatened.
- Their fur lacks an undercoat, consisting of long guard hairs only, and is notably thicker in winter.
- They are almost restricted to the Chinese provinces of Gansu, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, and Sichuan, with tiny populations in the Ladakh and Sikkim regions of India.
Typhoon Phanfone:
- It is a typhoon that lashed the central Philippines👀 recently.
- It is known as Ursula👀 in the local language in the Philippines.
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for almost one-third of the world’s annual tropical cyclones.
Nari Shakti Puraskar:
- To acknowledge Women’s achievements, the Government of India confers Nari Shakti Puraskars on eminent women and institutions in recognition of their service towards the cause of women empowerment.
- The Awards were initiated in the year 1999👀.
- The Ministry of Women and Child Development👀 announces these national level awards for eminent women, organisations and institutions.
- The Nari Shakti Puraskar carries a cash award of Rs.1 Lakh and a certificate for individuals and institutions.
Jnanpith Award:
Eminent Malayalam poet Akkitham👀 has been chosen for 55th Jnanpith Award for the year 2019.
About: Instituted in 1961.
Eligibility: Any Indian citizen who writes in any of the official languages of India is eligible for the honour.
Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu:
Union Government is planning to set up a new rocket launch pad here.
Background: At present, the Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO) has two launch pads at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDCC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Kulasekarapattinam Location
Operation ‘Clean Art’:
It is first pan India operation👀 to crackdown on the smuggling of mongoose hair.
Conceived by WCCB👀.
Aim: To ensure that the mongoose hair brush trade should be closed down👀 across the country.
Protection: Mongoose is listed in Schedule II Part 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act. Any smuggling or possession of its body part is a non-bailable offence.
eBkry portal:
Objective: To enable online auction by banks of attached assets👀 transparently and cleanly for the improved realization of value.
Key features:
- It is framework for promoting online auction of assets attached by the banks.
- It is equipped with the property search features and contains navigational links to all PSBs e-auction sites.
- The framework aims to provide single-window access to information on properties.
Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR)
- The government has launched a web portal, ‘Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR)’, to facilitate blocking and tracing of stolen/lost mobile phones in Delhi.
- The web portal was first launched in Mumbai👀.
Services provided: The launch of the project in Delhi will facilitate – request for blocking of stolen or lost mobile phone by customers; blocking of such mobile phones across mobile networks; sharing of traceability data with the Police; and unblocking of recovered/ found stolen or lost mobile phones.
