National News

Rajya Sabha passed Boilers Bill 2024

• The Rajya Sabha passed the Boilers Bill 2024 on 4th December, which repeals the Boilers Act, 1923.
• Specific provisions have been made to ensure the safety of persons working inside a boiler and the repair of boilers undertaken by qualified and competent persons.
• Provisions related to the decriminalization have also been incorporated in the Bill.

About Rajya Sabha

Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024

• The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024 introduced in the Lok Sabha aims to empower the Railway Board and streamline its functioning.
• It repeals the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905, merging its provisions with the Railways Act, 1989, simplifying the legal framework.

About Lok Sabha

India’s first Google Safety Engineering Centre

• Google has chosen Hyderabad to set up India’s first Google Safety Engineering Centre (GSEC).

About Google

Sex Ratio at Birth of girl child

• The Government in Rajya Sabha has said that the Sex Ratio at Birth of girl child in the country has improved from 918 in 2014-15 to 930 in 2023-24.

What is Sex Ratio?

63rd conference of ISAM

• Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine (ISAM) organised its 63rd annual conference themed 'Collaborate for Research', at Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), Bengaluru.

About IAM

State Special

Assam banned beef

• The Assam government has announced a complete ban on serving and consuming beef in restaurants, hotels, public functions, and other community spaces.

About Assam

Economy and Banking

MoU between India and Kuwait

• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Al Yahya signed an MoU in New Delhi to establish a Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC) at the foreign ministers' level.
• The JCC will oversee bilateral ties through Joint Working Groups in trade, investment, education, technology, agriculture, security, and culture.

About Kuwait

India's CPI by SBI

• According to a report by the State Bank of India (SBI), India's consumer price inflation (CPI) is expected to remain above 5% for the rest of 2024.

About SBI

OECD raised India’s economic growth

• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) raised India’s economic growth forecast for 2024-25 to 6.8% from 6.6%.

About OECD

Trade Watch Quarterly by NITI Aayog

• The Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog, Suman Bery released NITI Aayog’s “Trade Watch Quarterly”.
• It analyses India’s trade statistics for the first quarter of the financial year 2024 (April to June), which offers a holistic snapshot of India’s trade position.

About NITI Aayog

Environment and Biodiversity

742 species of flora and fauna in the Congo Basin of Central Africa

• According to a new study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), 742 species of flora and fauna were discovered between 2013 and 2023 in the Congo Basin of Central Africa, the second-largest rainforest in the world.

About WWF

World Drought Atlas

• According to the World Drought Atlas launched by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the European Commission Joint Research Centre, around 75% of the population will be affected by drought by 2050.

About UNCCD

Sports

Men's Junior Asia Cup 2024

• Indian hockey team clinched Men's Junior Asia Cup 2024 over their arch-rivals Pakistan, in Muscat, Oman, to claim their record-extending fifth title.

Hockey

Defence

Operational Demonstration of Indian Navy

• The Indian Navy displayed its operational prowess and capabilities through an 'Operational Demonstration' at the pristine Blue Flag Beach, Puri, Odisha.
• President of India Droupadi Murmu was the Chief Guest for the event.

About Indian Navy

Awards and Honours

Turner Prize

• Scottish artist Jasleen Kaur has won the prestigious Turner Prize, a major UK contemporary art award, for her exhibition Alter-Altar, which features a unique installation of a Ford Escort car decorated with a giant doily.

ESIC bagged 4 certificates of merit in different categories at RSSF Asia-Pacific

• The Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has been awarded one certificate of merit with special mention from the jury for its mobile application (Ask An Appointment - AAA+) and 3 certificates of merit for Occupational Accident and Disease, Sustainable Investment and System Resilience at the Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific (RSSF Asia-Pacific), organized by the International Social Security Association (ISSA) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

About ESIC

5-star SVAGRIHA rating of IMT

• The Intermodal Terminal (IMT) of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) at Kalughat, Bihar has received a five-star SVAGRIHA rating from the GRIHA Council for energy and waste management initiatives.

About IWAI

Appointments

Devendra Fadnavis

• Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis has sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a third time.

About Maharashtra

Important Days

International Cheetah Day

• International Cheetah Day is observed annually on December 4, to raise awareness about the urgent need to save cheetahs from extinction.

International Volunteers Day

• International Volunteers Day observed on December 5, it is found that 61.7% of the volunteering for social causes is taken up by females.

World Soil Day

• World Soil Day is celebrated on 05 December 2024 under the theme 'Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage'.

Classification of Soils

Miscellaneous

Ranking of International Airlines and Airports by AirHelp

• India’s largest airline IndiGo has ranked among world’s worst airlines at the 103rd spot out of a total of 109 airlines in the rankings by European air passenger claims processing and facilitating agency AirHelp.