To create the awareness on Braille used by approximately 1.3 billion people having some form of vision impairment, UN has observed 4th January 2019 as the first-ever World Braille Day, on the birthday of Braille script inventor Louis Braille.

The Singapore based Asia Competitiveness Institute's (ACI) EDB index, Andhra Pradesh topped the list followed by Maharashtra and Delhi.

Telangana High Court came into existence on 1st January 2019 and Governor of Telangana ESL Narasimhan administered the oath of Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.

The National Health Agency has been dissolved and restructured as the National Health Authority to effectively implement Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY). Now the National Health Authority will have full autonomy to implement PM-JAY.

The HQ of the North Central Railway is located in Allahabad (Prayag).

North Koel river is located in Jharkhand, the Mandal Dam project will help around one lakh eleven thousand hectares of agricultural land in Jharkhand and Bihar to get irrigation facilities.

Saurabh Kumar is a 1982-batch Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) officer. IOFS is a multi-disciplinary composite cadre consisting of technical - engineers & technologist and non-technical- administrative officers. Technical posts comprise about 87% of the total posts. Another civil service category named as Indian Ordnance Factories Health Service (IOFHS) is served by health professionals.

The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has recently approved the establishment of a Centre for Classical Language at the Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University in Tirur, Kerala.

Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic's Swiss team has won the 31st edition of the Hopman Cup tournament 2019 in Perth, Australia.

The Government of India (GoI) has amalgamated three Regional Rural Banks (RRB) -- Punjab Gramin Bank, Malwa Gramin Bank and Sutlej Gramin Bank -- into a single RRB with effect from January 1.

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has set up an inter-ministerial consultant note to rename Indian Forest Service as Indian Forest and Tribal Service.

Following sub-categories of people will be exempted from it (state may also decide as their own criteria): a) People owning over 5 acres of land, b) People owning a residential plot of more than 1,000 square feet, c) People owing plots of land more than 100 square yards in notified areas, and people owning plots of land more than 200 square yards in non-notified areas, d) People with annual incomes exceeding Rs. 8 lakh. Gujarat became the first state to implement this reservation measure.

The scheme, being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare comprises of two components namely National Programme for Bovine Breeding (NPBB) and National Mission on Bovine Productivity (NMBP).

Previously, under the right to education act, no state government could allow any schools to fail students up to class 8. Now, it's up to the state government to decide as per the latest amendment.

A currency swap is an agreement of foreign exchange between two parties to exchange a given amount of money for another and giving back the swapped money after a period of time.

In response to the petition by Shantantu Kumar, that has sought cancellation of 2017 SSC examination due to alleged tampering and leaking of question papers, SC has formed a three-member committee to suggest reform in competitive examinations. Nandan Nilekani & Vijay P Bhatkar are the members of the committee and SC has asked advocate Prashant Bhusan, appearing for the petitioner to name the third member.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed a 5-member committee headed by Nandan Nilekani to suggest ways to improve digital payments, review the existing status of digitization of payments in the country, identify the current gaps in the ecosystem and suggest ways to bridge them

Madhya Pradesh government has proposed to set up Adhyatmik Vibhag (Spiritual Department) by merging its Anand Vibhag (Happiness Department), Religious Trust and Endowment Department, Directorate of Religious Trust and Endowment, Madhya Pradesh Teerth Evam Mela Pradhikaran and Rajya Anand Sansthan.

The AI-Powered robot 'USTAAD' will scrutinize parts of train coaches in real time and transmit them over a WiFi connection.

A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold. The Panda Bond will be denominated in Chinese Yuan.

NALSA works in close coordination with the various State Legal Services Authorities, District Legal Services Authorities, and other agencies for a regular exchange of relevant information, monitoring and updating on the implementation and progress of the various schemes.

Rishabh Pant becomes the first Indian wicket-keeper to claim 20 catches in the 'Boxing Day Test' in Melbourne against Australia on December 30.

Arunodoi Kendra of Assam are registered as Common Service Center (CSC).

As per the data from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, 23 state and Central universities and colleges offering B.Ed courses were found not recognized by the National Council for Teacher Education.

The amendment provides for insertion of section 10A in the principal Act to power centre and state governments to recognize trade unions and Federation of Trade Unions at Central as well as State level.

Earlier, the Nigerian military had suspended the UNICEF & accused it of training spies supporting Boko Haram jihadists.

ECO Niwas Samhita 2018 - an Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Buildings (ECBC-R) was launched on the occasion of the 2018 National Energy Conservation Day (NECD) celebrated on 14th December 2018.

Catriona Elisa Magnayon Gray is a Filipino-Australian model, stage actress, singer, visual artist, and beauty pageant titleholder.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), has been inaugurated on 18th December 2018 in Jhajjar, Haryana for public services. The National Cancer Institute will be formally operational from January 2019.

In the Gender Gap Index 2018 published by the World Economic Forum, Iceland has been ranked number one for the 10th consecutive year.

In accordance with Resolution 55/93 of the United Nations General Assembly on 4th December 2000, 18th December is observed as the International Migrants Day in many countries, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations through the dissemination of information on human rights and fundamental political freedoms of migrants, and through sharing of experiences and the design of actions to ensure the protection of migrants.

The Consumer Protection Bill, 2018 seeks to enforce consumer rights and to offer a mechanism for complaint redressal related to the deficiencies in goods and services for which Consumer Redressal Commissions will be set up at district, state, and national level.

"Asiatic Lion Conservation Project" has been launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change(MoEFCC), government of India.

The proposal made by India will enhance global awareness to bring back these nutri-cereals to the plate. FAO has also approved India’s membership to the Executive Board of the United Nations World Food Program for 2020 and 2021.

With the inauguration of the Kannur airport on December 9, 2018, Kerela becomes the first state to have four international airports in India, which is the highest of its kind.

INS Kalveri is a Kalvari-class submarine was the first submarines inducted into the Indian Navy. They were variants of the early Soviet Foxtrot-class submarines. Coincidentally, The Name of India's first submarine is the same as it's first MADE IN INDIA submarine.

Shaktikanta Das is a retired 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. Das was earlier a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission of India and India's Sherpa to the G20.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx- Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer found that liquid water was present at some time on Bennu’s parent body, a much larger asteroid. But, Bennu is too small to have ever hosted liquid water.

Set up by the Lokmat newspaper, DMK MP Kanimozhi has been selected for the Best Woman Parliamentarian (Rajya Sabha) 2018.

Subsidy payment for activities related to poultry, small ruminants, pigs etc. through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) will be provided by the ENSURE portal launched by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) India is a joint venture of top Indian public and private sector banks.

Sascha Bajin is the coach of the World No.5 five Naomi Osaka.

FATF was formed by the 1989 G7 Summit in Paris to combat the growing problem of money laundering. The task force was charged with studying money laundering trends, monitoring legislative, financial and law enforcement activities taken at the national and international level.

The law is passed to ban sexual extortion of woman in offices amended section 154, 161 and schedule of Criminal Procedure Code and Section 53 of Evidence Act to bring the Sextortion as similar offences prescribed under RPC.

The writer of non-fiction Antique Land (1992), Amitav Ghosh is an English fiction writer born in Calcutta in 1956 was awarded the Jnanpith Award 2018.

The PIL filed by Dr. Zaheer Ahmed stated that the government has failed in its responsibility to protect public health and fulfil its obligation under Article 21 of the constitution by allowing unchecked online sales.

The popular TV serial CID director, Brijendra Pal Singh has been appointed as the President of FTII.

Union Government has included Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttrarakhand, Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and Parasnath in Jharkhand under Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Argumentation Drive (PRASAD).

International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated every year on December 3.

Imran Hussain, the Delhi Environment minister, has been awarded the 'Hero to Animals' award by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India for banning the Chinese manjha.

In 2013 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization declared the first World Soil Day. The Sixty-eighth session of the U.N. General Assembly declared 2015 the International Year of Soils (IYS), to raise awareness of the importance of soils for food security and essential ecosystem functions.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recently announced a new initiative ‘PEETHA’ to create awareness about various government schemes and improve transparency.

Supreme Court of India has approved the Witness Protection Scheme framed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in response to PIL seeking protection of witness. The apex court held that the scheme will become law under Article 141/142 of the constitution till enactment of parliamentary and state legislation of the subject. SC has also directed States/UTs to put up the vulnerable witness deposition complexes (VWDCs) within a period of 1 year.

24 poets and authors have been awarded 2018 Sahitya Akademi Award. Sananta Tanti bagged the award for his poetry collection "Kailoir Dinto Amar Hobo".

Two litterateurs from Assam have bagged Sahitya Akademi Awards – Assamese poet Sananta Tanti for his poetry collection – Kailoir Dinto Amar Hobo – and Bodo fiction writer Rituraj Basumatary for his short story collection – Dwngse Lama.

YONO- You Only Need One

The satellite is initially placed in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and will be raised to the Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) through phase-wise orbit-raising manoeuvres in the days ahead, using its on-board propulsion systems. GSAT-11 will be positioned at 74-degree east longitude in the geostationary orbit.

The global passport index rank upon how conveniently a citizen gets the visa of other countries. India stood 6th in this rank.

The world bank funded project SMART- State of Maharashtra’s Agribusiness and Rural Transformation, aims to revamp agricultural value chains, with special focus on marginal farmers across 1,000 villages.

IAAF- International Association of Athletics Federations. Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan distance runner and Caterine Ibarguen is a Colombian long & triple jumper.

ISSF-International Shooting Sport Federation

The position was left vacant after Arvind Subramaniam after a working period of 4 years. D Krishnamurthy Subramaniam, working as an Associate Professor and the executive director at the Indian School of Business (IBS), Hyderabad has been appointed for a period of 3 years.

According to the report of Global Carbon Project, India stood 4th by accounting for 7% of global emissions in 2017.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh has launched the single emergency number 112 to implement Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) 112. The number will replace all emergency numbers such as 110, 108 etc to a single window. Also, Nagaland become the second state in India to launch this service.

Recently former Indian Postal Service officer Arvind Saxena has been appointed as the chairperson of the UPSC.

An unique initiative called Bhasha Sangam to introduce school students to all 22 Indian languages of Schedule VIII of the Constitution. The initiative, under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, was launched on 22nd of November and will continue till the 21st of December. The aim of the programme is to enhance linguistic tolerance and respect, and promote national integration.

eDrishit software will track of punctuality of trains as well as freight and passenger earnings and much more from anywhere in the country.

After Major General Alenka Ermenc took over as Head of the army of Slovenia, it becomes the first NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) nation to appoint a female Chief of Armed Forces.

Assam Day or Sukaphaa Divawkh or Axom Divas is celebrated to commemorate the advent of the first king of the Ahom kingdom in Assam after his journey over the Patkai Hills.

AERB- Atomic Energy Regulatory Board

Girls and women tied rakhis to 50,033 Bilaspur police personnel on August 25, a day before Raksha Bandhan

Nomophobia is the irrational fear of being without your mobile phone or being unable to use your phone for some reason, such as the absence of a signal or running out of minutes or battery power.

After the assent of the Governor of Assam on 22nd April 1994 on the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994, the first Panchayat election in Assam was conducted in October 1996. In December 2018, the fifth Panchayat election in Assam is being conducted.

The survey was jointly conducted by Wheebox, PeopleStrong, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), AICTE and UNDP. The employability levels of B.Tech/B.E have increased across all the sectors at 63.11% as against last year's 42.08%. However, the employability levels of MBA and polytechnic stand low between 47.18% and 45.90%.

She won gold previously in the Women's World Boxing Championship in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2010 editions of the championship. Also, she won 2018 Women's World Boxing Championship.

Kartarpur Sahib is located in Punjab Pakistan.

Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched ‘PAiSA’ – Portal for Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access during National Workshop on Municipal Finance and Urban Planning in held in New Delhi. Allahabad bank has desiged and developed this portal.

The award is Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour).

Under Article 316 of the Indian Constitution, former Indian Postal Service officer Arvind Saxena has been appointed as the chairperson of the UPSC.

Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) and Annual Refresher Programme In Teaching (ARPIT)

The council has 12 States namely Jammu &Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, two districts of Assam namely Dima Hasao and KarbiAnglong and Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal.

It is promoted by Wildlife SOS which had established first elephant conservation and care centre in 2010 and is currently looking after 20 elephants requiring speciallized treatment.

Recently on 9th November, National Legal Service Day was celebrated to ensure fair and reasonable justice to the citizens.

Dr. Saroj Suman Gulati, Director, Blue Bells Group of Schools, was conferred with the coveted Global Education Leaders Award 2018 by His Highness Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Member of the Cabinet and Minister of State for Tolerance, UAE.

It is being established as part of year-long activities to commemorate 550th birth anniversary of first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikh religion Guru Nanak. Union Government has decided to commemorate 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak at national as well as international level.

Supreme Court has upheld presumption that couple who live together as husband and wife are legally married and woman can claim maintenance under Section 125 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Restoration of an aristocratic house from a state of partial ruin in Ladakh has won a UNESCO Asia-Pacific award for conservation.

Justice Pranoy Kumar Musahary, who retired as a judge of the Gauhati High Court, was sworn in on Tuesday, 6th November 2018 as the chairperson of Meghalaya's first Lokayukta.

Haryana’s Bajrang Punia has become the world No. 1 in the 65kg category of men’s freestyle wrestling. Punia topped the United World Wrestling (UWW) rankings released on Saturday.

India was celebrating Children's Day on November 20 (the date observed as Universal Children's Day by the United Nations). After the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, it was unanimously decided to celebrate his birthday as Children's Day in India.

SpiNNaker- Spiking Neural Network Architecture.

Gandhiji visited All India Radio Studio, New Delhi for the first & last time on 12th November 1947.

For the first time, Netaji hoisted the tricolor on 30 December 1943 at Cellular Jail, Port Blair.

It is the first of four Multi-Modal Terminals being constructed on National Waterways-I (NW1) on River Ganga as part of World Bank-aided Jal Marg Vikas project of the Inland Waterways Authority of India.

Govt. has authorized SBI to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 branches.

CSIR- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. SWAS-Safe Water Releaser, SAFAL- Safe Minimal Aluminum, and STAR -Safe Thermite Cracker. NGT- National Green Tribunal (NGT) is not a R&D organization, its a legal organization.

The tool uses a Platform Health Metric called the Iffy Quotient and will supposedly draw data from two external entities namely NewsWhip and Media Bias/ Fact Checker.

India’s first agri and food business online learning platform, SRiX Agri-Business Academy, was launched at SR Innovation Exchange (SRiX) Campus, Warangal, Telangana.

Anupam Kher has served FTII for only 11 months, which is also of the shortest tenure of a chairman since the formation of FTII.

For supporting the judicial system in the state, Andhra Pradesh government has planned to build the city using latest technology.

The Republic of Seychelles has launched the world’s first sovereign blue bond – a financial instrument designed to support sustainable marine and fisheries projects.

According to the BBC's list of the 100 best foreign language films, only one Indian film could find the spot. Satyajit Ray's 1955 film Pather Panchali made it to number 15 in the list.

CCTNS- Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System

Maharashtra cabinet has approved proposal for this project.

RBI has reduced minimum average maturity required for the ECBs in the infrastructure space raised by eligible borrowers to three years from earlier five years. Additionally, it also has reduced average maturity requirement for mandatory hedging to five years from earlier ten years.