Changing the way of learning Daily Current Affairs Capsule 17 th December 2018 1. Sri Lanka: Ranil Wickremesinghe Sworn-in as Prime Minister Ending a 51-day political crisis in Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as the new Prime Minister of the island nation, following the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa after he fails to garner majority in the Parliament. India welcomes the resolution of the political situation in Sri Lanka. This is the fifth time Wickremsinghe has been sworn in as Prime minister which is a record in Sri Lanka.
Ranil Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan politician and the incumbent Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. He belongs to United National Party and has served as its leader since 1994. 2. Union Home Minister meets J&K school children under Youth Exchange Programme Watan ko Jano The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh met a group of school children from Jammu and Kashmir under the Youth Exchange Programme Watan ko Jano. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been organising programme Watan ko Jano to give exposure to the youth and children of J&K about the cultural and socioeconomic development taking place in other parts of the country. Youth and children hit by militancy and from weaker sections of the society have been identified for the purpose. It is organized by the Department of J&K Affairs, MHA in association with J&K State Rehabilitation Council, Social Welfare Department. 3. 47th Anniversary of Vijay Diwas India celebrated Vijay Diwas on 16th December 2018 marking the 47th anniversary of its victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war. On this occasion, the Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with the heads of the three armed forces paid tributes to the martyrs at Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate in New Delhi.
Vijay Diwas is celebrated on every 16th December in India. It marks the victory of Indian armed forces over Pakistan in the war of Independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971. At the end of the 1971 war, the Pakistani Army unilaterally and unconditionally surrendered resulting in the independence of East Pakistan, which was called as Bangladesh. On Vijay Diwas, every year, Citizens, senior officials, students & war veterans pay their homage and remember the sacrifices of the soldiers. 4. PM Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated 175 Km of sewerage network in Prayagraj National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) furthered its effort to reduce pollution in river Ganga before Kumbha when Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated projects in Prayagraj including 175 KM of sewerage network. The projects will now carry 7.8 Cr litres sewage water per day to existing STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants) at Salori, Kodra & Ponghat for treatment which earlier ended up in Ganga. Shri Narendra Modi also laid the foundation stone for two projects in the trans Ganga/Yamuna area under One City-One Operator scheme with sanctioned cost of Rs. 767.59 Cr. The project is based on Hybrid Annuity based PPP mode that includes Operations and Maintenance of all the sewerage infrastructure for 15 years. 5. Hubble Space Telescope discovers planet vanishing at record speed Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a planet GJ 3470b roughly the size of Neptune, evaporating at a rate 100 times faster than a previously identified exoplanet of similar size.
The planet is 96 light-years away and circles a red dwarf star in the general direction of the constellation Cancer. The speed and distance at which planets orbit their respective blazing stars can determine the rate of evaporation of a planet. The researchers said GJ 3470b's lower density makes it unable to gravitationally hang on to the heated atmosphere. Hubble found that exoplanet GJ 3470b had lost significantly more mass. 6. 37th Senior National Rowing Championship begins in Pune The 37th Senior National Rowing Championship will start in the Army Rowing Node in Pune from 17 December. Around 500 rowers and coaches from various rowing associations' across the country will take part in the Championship which will run up to 22nd of this month. The Rowers for the World Championships-2019 will be selected from this event. World Championship -2019 is the first qualifying Championship for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 7. Belgium wins Hockey World Cup 2018 Title Belgium Hockey team won their first ever Word cup title on 16th December 2018 after they defeated The Netherlands in sudden death. Belgium, which also won a silver medal in Rio Olympics 2016, made history by beating the opponents by 3-2 in the penalty shoot-out after finals ended without any goal.
The Hockey World Cup 2018 was held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha from 28 November to 16 December 2018. It was the 14th edition of the cup. Belgium finished first while India came at sixth place in the Hockey World Cup 2018. 8. Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore flags off special marathon 'Soldierathon' in New Delhi On the occasion of Vijay Diwas, Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore flagged off a special marathon 'Soldierathon' at JLN Stadium in New Delhi. The marathon was organised in the honour of Martyrs and wounded Soldiers. Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir were also present on the occasion. With over 12 thousand participants, the marathon was held in five categories. The proceeds from the event will be donated to Indian Army s Artificial Limb Centre for wounded soldiers to help them acquire state-of-the-art prosthesis at the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre.