 Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Girish Chandra Murmu inaugurated the 72-metre long Multi Cell Box Type Load Class 70 bridge to the Nation in Rajouri. The bridge spans over Draj nallah and connects Draj Area to Tehsil Kotranka area under District Rajouri. The bridge has been built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The Draj bridge is an important bridge for military as well as for socio-economic development of the Rajouri District as a whole. This bridge will facilitate all weather and speedy movement of Army troops as well as locals. |
| Source: The Press Information Bureau |
 Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) distributed 500 Bee Boxes, 500 Electric Pottery Wheels and 200 Leather Tool Kits in an event organised by KVIC in Boondi District, Rajasthan. Event was organised to support the weaker section of the society as well as to commemorate 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. KVIC has been running a mass campaign for the revival of bee keeping, pottery and leather industry under the Honey Mission, Kumhar Sashaktikaran Mission and Leather Mission respectively. |
| Source: The Press Information Bureau |
 Destination at the 26th edition of the World Travel Awards (WTA) being held in Muscat, Oman. This is the 7th time in a row that Abu Dhabi has been selected for this coveted award. The award is the latest in several prestigious accolades gained by Abu Dhabi this year, including being selected as the West Asia’s Leading Business Tourism Destination at the West Asia edition of WTA and Best City Break at the UK’s Selling Travel Agents’ Choice Awards. Abu Dhabi shined as a premium destination once again for sports tourism in 2019 after hosting so Abu Dhabi me of the world’s top sporting events, such as the FIFA Club World Cup 2017 and 2018, the first edition of the UAE Tour, the AFC Asian Cup 2019, the Special Olympics World Games 2019, the UFC 242 showdown and the Brazil vs South Korea international friendly match. Sports tourism has been labelled by the United Nations World Travel Organisation, UNWTO, as one of the fastest-growing sectors of tourism worldwide. World Travel Awards was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 The UNESCO-recognized Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) conducted a special service for foreign tourists. 71 tourists from several countries, including the USA, the UK and France travelled by a special steam engine service from Coonoor to Ooty. They were presented with special mementoes and gift hampers as well as served with the replica of the original Edmonton type cardboard ticket. The NMR is one of the few railways in the world that uses the unique rack and pinion system, with its special third rail to negotiate gradients en route from Mettupalayam in the foothills of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu to Ooty, the Queen of Western Ghats. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) and Suadi Aramco (Asia) for the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ecosystem in India in Oil & Gas Sector. The MoU will pave a way for accredited Indian MSMEs to carve out a space as vendors in Global space. |
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 The United Nations Development Programme released the Human Development Index for 189 countries on December 9, 2019. The rankings were listed by the report titled “Beyond Income, Beyond Averages, Beyond Today: Inequalities in Human Development in 21st century”. India ranked 129 among them, which is one rank ahead of its previous positions. In 2018, India ranked 130. The rankings were listed based on the assessment of poverty, education, life expectancy and access to health care. |
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 The Appeal Court of the World Trade Organization that acts as trade dispute settlement body for the members was shut down by the United States on December 9, 2019. The seven-member body that was cut down to a 3-member body in 2018 is now completely blocked by the United States. Without WTO’s appellate body, the dispute settlement will return to pre-1995 GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) status quo. |
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 On 9 December 2019, Parliament passed the landmark ‘The Recycling of Ships Bill 2019’ for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in India. Passing of this Bill will have far reaching effects in Indian Ship Recycling industry and is also a giant step and historical moment in Indian Maritime arena. |
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 Malaysia has reported the first case of Polio in 27 years, when a three-month-old Malaysian infant boy was diagnosed with polio. The last polio case in Asia-Pacific country occurred in 1992, and in 2000, after which the country was declared polio-free. In this recent case, the child was confirmed to be infected with vaccine-derived poliovirus Type 1 (VDPV1) on 6 December 2019. |
| Concern: Those who have been immunized/vaccinated will be protected from infection, but, in unsanitary environments, the virus can infect others who have not been immunised against polio and thus can spread in communities whose polio immunisation rates are below 95%. The longer the virus spreads in community, it will undergo genetic mutation until it once again becomes an active virus. Also, the resurgence of Polio in Malaysia comes just months after Philippines, north of Borneo, reported its 1st cases of polio since 1993 in September 2019. |
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 The Photo Division, under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, has invited entries for the 8th National Photography Awards. The Division confers these Awards every year, to promote various facets of the country such as art, culture, development, heritage, history, life, people, society, and tradition through the medium of photography, and to encourage professional and amateur photographers across the country. |
The National Photography Awards are conferred under three categories:
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| The Lifetime Achievement Award carries a Cash Prize of Rs. 3,00,000. This year’s theme for Professional Photographers is ‘Life and Water.’ The awards under the Category for Professionals are one ‘Professional Photographer of the year’ award with a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000. This year’s theme for the Amateur Photographers is ‘Cultural Heritage of India.’ The awards under the Category for Amateurs are one ‘Amateur Photographer of the year’ award with a cash prize of Rs.75,000. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
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