1st December, 2018 (National & International Current Affairs)

The United Nations added reggae music, born in the 1960s and made famous by artists like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, to its list of “intangible heritage” for the world to treasure. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization added the genre to its list of global cultural treasures deemed worthy of protection and promotion The other items added to the list of intangible heritage include • Chidaoba, an ancient form of martial art practised by men in Georgia; • Hurling, an Irish field game; • Japan’s Raiho-shin, the ritual visits of deities in masks and costumes; • Jordan’s As-Samer, which consists mainly of dancing and singing on special occasions; and the • Traditional spring festive rites of horse breeders in Kazakhstan. Note: In a historic joint bid, both North and South Korea applied together to include traditional Korean wrestling known as ssirum or ssireum to the list. Among the Indian items on the list are Ramlila, recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the Himalayan region, Chhau dancefrom eastern India, yoga, and the Kumbh Mela.

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is an Indian not-for-profit company set up to address the need for providing skilled manpower across various industry sectors. It was founded in 2009 by the Ministry of Finance and is currently under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India. NCDC has a differentiated focus on 21 sectors for understanding of their viability and make every sector attractive to private investment.

The 13th edition of G20 summit 2018 was held at Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina under the theme ‘Building Consensus for Fair and Sustainable Development

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched its earth observation satellite ‘ Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) into orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Beside HysIS, ‘PSLV-C43’ successfully injected 30 small satellites of 8 nations into their designated orbits. With this launch, India will have an eye in the sky to capture the images of the earth surface in high definition. The satellite HysIS can send pictures and data in multiple frequencies with high resolution. Its data will be useful in many fields including agriculture, forestry, soil survey, geology, coastal zone studies, inland water studies, environmental monitoring and pollution detection from industries. The primary mission of the HysIS, whose mission life is five years, is to study the earth’s surface in visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. In simple words, HysIS is the India’s first hyperspectral imaging satellite for advanced Earth observation and ISRO's first full-scale working satellite with this capability.

The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is a humanitarian fund established by the United Nations General Assembly on December 15, 2005 and launched in March 2006. With CERF’s objectives to 1) promote early action and response to reduce loss of life; 2) enhance response to time-critical requirements; and 3) strengthen core elements of humanitarian response in underfunded crises, CERF seeks to enable more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to those affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts. The fund is replenished annually through contributions from governments, the private sector, foundations and individuals.

Raiho-shin is Japanese rituals used to admonish laziness and teach children good behavior. Recently UNESCO added Raiho-shin to its list of global cultural treasures deemed worthy of protection and promotion

In a surprise move, the former Prime Minister of Norway Kjell Magne Bondevik held meetings with Kashmiri separatists, strengthening speculations over possible mediation efforts for peace in Kashmir. Notably, it was under his leadership that Norway negotiated peace between the Sri Lankan government and LTTE rebels in 2005. Bondevik, who held the position of Prime Minister of Norway till 2005, is presently the head of Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights. As per reports, he was accompanied by a representative of spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar’s Art of Living for his Kashmir visit. The rather intriguing meet with Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was held at Geelani's Hyderpora residence and was facilitated by the Art of Living representative,

Keibul Lamjao National Park is a national park in the state of Manipur in India. It is the only floating park in the world, located in North East India, and an integral part of Loktak Lake. The national park is characterized by many floating decomposed plant materials locally called phumdis. Recently searchers reported the presence of a small population of hog deer in Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), Manipur. The hog deer is an endangered species in the IUCN Red List and is protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

The GSAT-11 weighing 5,854 kg is the heaviest satellite built by ISRO. It will be launched from Kourou Launch Zone, French Guiana in South America using Ariane-5 VA246 heavyweight rocket of Arianespace. It will operate from 74 deg. East. The GSAT-11 advanced communications satellite, produced by ISRO, will deliver multi-spot beam coverage over the Indian mainland and nearby islands bringing significant advantages to the user community. The GSAT-11 is the next generation high throughput communication satellite that will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country. It will also provide a platform to demonstrate new generation applications such as in flights internet connectivity. The satellite is expected to have a lifespan of 15 years.

The Laffer Curve is a theory developed by supply-side economist Arthur Laffer to show the relationship between tax rates and the amount of tax revenue collected by governments. The curve is used to illustrate Laffer's main premise that the more an activity — such as production — is taxed, the less of it is generated.

The Minsk Protocol (later known as Minsk-1) with the Minsk Memorandum of September 2014 and the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements (Minsk-2) are agreements between Ukraine and Russia to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine. There are only two parties to the Agreements, Ukraine and Russia. France, Germany, and the OSCE oversee the negotiations

Jordan’s As-Samer, which consists mainly of dancing and singing on special occasions is added to UNESCO’s list of global cultural treasures deemed worthy of protection and promotion Note: Till now 14 Intangible Cultural Heritages have been added into this list from India

Qatar has announced its decision to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from January 2019 and focus more on the production of natural gas.

Pawan Singh has become the first Indian to be elected one of seven member's of the Judges Committee of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF).