GEM launches national outreach programme ‘GeM Samvaad’

1.International Migrants Day: 18 December

The United Nations declared to observe 18th December as the International Migrants Day every year.On International Migrants Day, we celebrate the many contributions that migrants make to communities across the globe.

The International Organization for Migration use International Migrants Day to highlight the contributions made by the roughly 272 million migrants) and the challenges they face.

2.Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf gets death penalty in treason case

Pakistan’s ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf was sentenced to death in the high treason case by a special court in Islamabad.A three-member bench of the special court handed Musharraf death sentence in the long-drawn high treason case against him for suspending the Constitution and imposing emergency rule in 2007, a punishable offence for which he was indicted in 2014.

The former Army chief left for Dubai for medical treatment in March 2016 and has not returned since, citing security and health reasons.

Musharraf is a Pakistani politician and retired four-star general of the Pakistan Army, who was the 10th President of Pakistan.

3.GEM launches national outreach programme ‘GeM Samvaad’

Government e-commerce portal GeM has launched a national outreach programme, GeM Samvaad, to bring on-board more local sellers.The outreach programme will take place with stakeholders across the country and with local sellers to facilitate on-boarding of local sellers on the marketplace.

The programme was launched by Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan in New Delhi.

The programme will take place till the 17th of February next year and will cover all the States and Union Territories of the country.

GeM has more than 15 lakh products and around 20,000 services, more than 3 lakh registered sellers and service providers and more than 40 thousand government buyer organizations.

4.SSB starts laser fencing along Indo-Nepal border

Sashastra Seema Bal has started laser fencing along the Indo-Nepal border.The main purpose of laser fencing is to prevent third party nationals from entering without permission.

SSB Director General K Rajesh Chandra gave this information during a press conference held on the occasion of 56th Foundation Day of SSB in New Delhi.

He said that cases of unauthorized entry of Third Party Nationals have increased this year as compared to previous years.

The SSB is deployed to guard the 2450-km-long border with Nepal and Bhutan.

5.India’s gender gap widens, slips 4 places in WEF survey

India has slipped four places to rank 112th globally in terms of gender gap amid widening disparity in terms of women’s health and survival and economic participation.While Iceland remains the world’s most gender-neutral country, India has moved down the ladder from its 108th position last year on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report.

It ranks below countries like China (106th), Sri Lanka (102nd), Nepal (101st), Brazil (92nd), Indonesia (85th) and Bangladesh (50th).

Yemen is ranked the worst (153rd), while Iraq is 152nd and Pakistan 151st.

6.Three capitals for Andhra Pradesh

The  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy indicated that the State could have three capitals following the decentralisation concept. The Chief Minister said, the existing Capital Amaravati could become the “Legislative Capital”, the Port city Visakhapatnam the “Executive Capital” and  the  Kurnool the “Judiciary Capital”. 

Meanwhile he also added that a final call would be taken only after the  Expert  Committee constituted to look into the issue submitted its report. 

7.Five-day music festival ‘Tansen Samaroh’ begins in Gwalior

In Madhya Pradesh, popular classical music festival ‘Tansen Samaroh’ began with traditional style in Gwalior.The five-day festival is celebrated every year in the memory of one of the most eminent singers of Indian history, ‘Mian Tansen’.

Tansen Samaroh, the oldest and esteemed classical music festival in India is organised by Ustad Alauddin Khan Kala Evam Sangeet Academy, under the Madhya Pradesh culture department.

It attracts thousands of musicians and aspiring singers from all over the country.

It is the 95th year of the festival. Artistes from Greece, USA, Iran and Belgium will perform in different sessions of Tansen festival.

8.Sridhar Patra appointed NALCO CMD

Sridhar Patra was appointed as the chairman-cum-managing director of NALCO.Patra is at present Director (Finance) in the National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO).

He has been appointed as the CMD of NALCO till the date of his superannuation, i.e. October 31, 2024.

9.Amitabha Bagchi wins 2019 DSC Prize

The 8th edition of the IME Nepal Literature Festival at Pokhara, concluded with the announcement of the winner of DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019.The $25,000 award went to Amitabha Bagchi for his 2018 novel, Half the Night is Gone.

The DSC Prize, instituted in 2010, awards fiction from the South Asian region, which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as well as from the diaspora.

10.Veteran actor Shriram Lagoo passes away

Veteran actor Shriram Lagoo passed away in Pune.Lagoo played an important role in the growth of theatre movement in Maharashtra in the post-Independence era.

His roles in Marathi plays such as “Natsamrat” and “Himalayachi Saoli”, and films such as “Pinjra” made him popular.

In Hindi, he essayed memorable roles in films such as “Ek Din Achanak”, “Gharonda” and “Lawaris”, to name a few.