1. Cindy Hook appointed CEO of 2032 Olympic organising committee
Tags: Person in news Sports News
American executive Cindy Hook has been appointed as CEO of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The organising committee announced her appointment.
Important facts
She is currently a member of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Singapore Economic Development Board.
US-born Cindy Hook, 58, led Deloitte's Asia Pacific branch for nearly three years before stepping down in June this year with the intention of retiring from corporate work.
She previously worked for the international professional services network in the U.S. and in Australia, moving to Sydney in 2009 to lead the auditing practice for six years and later becoming CEO of the Australian operation in 2015.
Brisbane 2032 chairman Andrew Liveris described Hooke as someone who knows what it takes to run a multi-billion dollar business on time and on budget.
The International Olympic Committee in July last year decided to host the 2032 Games in Brisbane as part of a revised process.
Australia has twice previously hosted the Summer Olympics, at Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.
2. Neeraj Chopra becomes the most written-about athlete in 2022
Tags: Sports Person in news
According to the World Athletics, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra of India was the most written about track and field athlete in 2022, displacing the Jamaican legend Usain Bolt from the top lists.
Quoting the data collated by media Analysis Company Unicepta the World Athletics body on 16 December 2022 said that there were 812 articles written about Neeraj Chopra in 2022.
Neeraj Chopra was followed by Jamaican trio of Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah (751 articles), 100m world champion Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce (698 articles) and 200m world champion Shericka Jackson (679 articles).
Neeraj Chopra had a very successful 2022. He won the silver medal at the World Athletic Championships 2022 in Eugene, Oregon, becoming only the second Indian to win a worlds medal after Anju Bobby George’s bronze in the women’s long jump in 2003.
Neeraj Chopra also became the first athlete from India to win the Diamond League final this year.
3. Denmark gets a new coalition government with Mette Frederiksen as Prime Minister
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Denmark finally got a government after an agreement was reached between three political parties to form a coalition government with Mette Frederiksen as the Prime Minister. Mette Frederiksen who became the youngest prime minister of Denmark in June 2019 called an early parliamentary election on 1 November 2022.
However no political party was able to secure a majority and Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democratic Party emerged as the single largest party.
After 42 days of talk the three main parties; Liberal Party, Social Democratic Party and Moderate announced to form a government of 15 December 2022 with Mette Frederiksen as the Prime Minister
The new coalition government of Liberal Party, Social Democratic Party and Moderate party control 89 seats in the 179 seat Danish parliament.
The Danish Parliament is called Folketing, and has a term of 4 years.
Capital of Denmark: Copenhagen
Currency of Denmark: Danish Krone
4. PM participated in a programme commemorating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in a programme commemorating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary, on 13th December, 2022 via video conferencing.
Important facts
The Prime Minister released a commemorative coin and postage stamp in honour of Sri Aurobindo at the event organised at Kamban Kalai Sangam, Puducherry under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
About Sri Aurobindo
Aurobindo Ghose was born in Calcutta on 15th August 1872.
He was a revolutionary, nationalist, poet, educationist, yogi and philosopher.
At the age of seven he was taken to England for education. There he studied at St. Paul's School, London, and at King's College, Cambridge.
He became a state service officer on his return to India in 1893.
He worked for the next thirteen years in the service of the Maharaja in the princely state of Baroda and as a professor at Baroda College.
Aurobindo's practical strategies to break free from British rule marked him as the "prophet of Indian nationalism".
From 1902 to 1910, he participated in the struggle to free India from the British.
As a result of his political activities, he was imprisoned in the year 1908 (Alipore Bomb Case).
In Pondicherry he established a community of spiritual seekers, which took shape in the year 1926 as the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Aurobindo Ghose died on December 5, 1950.
5. Jos Buttler, Sidra Ameen win ICC Player of the month awards
Tags: Person in news Sports News
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on 12 November announced the winners of the ICC Player of the Month awards for November 2022.
Important facts
England's T20 World Cup-winning captain Jos Buttler was named the ICC Player of the Month for the first time after his stellar performance in November.
Playing his 100th T20 match against New Zealand in Brisbane, opener Buttler played a key role in the victory, scoring 73 off 47 balls.
Butler has achieved this award by leaving behind his compatriot spinner Adil Rashid and Pakistan's star fast bowler Shaheen Afridi.
Pakistan's Sidra Amin became the country's second consecutive winner of the Women's Player of the Month award after a stellar performance in the ODI series win against Ireland.
Sidra played an unbeaten inning of 176 runs against Ireland in the month of November, this was also the highest score of his cricket career.
Sidra has won this award leaving behind Thailand's Natthakan Chantham and Ireland's Gabby Lewis.
6. Justice Dipankar Dutta takes oath as judge of Supreme Court
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Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta was on 12 December administered the oath of office as a Supreme Court judge by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud.
Important facts
The number of judges in the apex court has now increased to 28. The sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court is 34, including the Chief Justice of India.
Justice Datta, born on February 9, 1965, turned 57 this year and will have a tenure till February 8, 2030, in the Supreme Court where the retirement age is 65.
The Supreme Court Collegium headed by then Chief Justice of India UU Lalit in the meeting held on September 26, 2022, has recommended the elevation of Justice Datta to the Supreme Court.
Justice Datta, son of the late Justice Salil Kumar Datta, a former judge of the Calcutta High Court, was elevated as a permanent judge to the bench of the Calcutta High Court on June 22, 2006.
He was made the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on April 28, 2020.
He was awarded the LLB degree by the University of Calcutta in 1989 and started practising as an advocate on 16 November 1989.
7. Bhupendra Patel sworn-in as Gujarat CM for 2nd consecutive term
Tags: Person in news State News
BJP leader Bhupendra Patel took oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for a second straight term in Gandhinagar on 12 December in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Important facts
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath as the 18th Chief Minister of the state.
Patel was sworn in as the 17th Chief Minister of Gujarat on September 13, 2021.
The BJP created history in Gujarat with a landslide and 7th consecutive victory in the 2022 elections.
Breaking his own record, Patel won the 2022 election once again from Ghatlodia constituency with a huge margin of 1,91,000 votes.
The BJP won 156 seats in the 182-member assembly, its best ever performance in the state.
The opposition Congress could win only 17 seats while Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party had to be content with just 5 seats.
Three seats went to independent candidates, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) won one seat in the state.
In the last assembly elections in 2017, BJP won 99 seats, Congress won 77 seats and NCP, BTP and Independent candidates secured 1, 2 and 3 seats respectively.
8. Mopa International Airport Goa named after Manohar Parrikar
Tags: place in news Economy/Finance Person in news State News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the international airport at Mopa in north Goa on 11 December 2022. He named the airport after late Goa Chief Minister and former Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Manohar Parrikar was a towering leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Goa .He was the Chief Minister of Goa 2000 to 2005, 2012 to 2014 and from 14 March 2017 until his death in March 2019.
Manohar Parrikar was also the Union Defence Minister from October 2014-March 2017. He was awarded Padma Bhushan posthumously in January 2020.
Mopa Airport
In November 2016, the PM laid Mopa airport's foundation stone. It will be the second airport in the state, the first airport in Goa is at Dabolim.
9. 25th SIES Award for public leadership 2022 conferred on former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu
Tags: Awards Person in news
Former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu received the 25th SIES national eminence award 2022 for public leadership in a function held at Mumbai on 10 December. Last year the South Indian Education Society (SIES) award for public eminence was conferred on Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in 2021.
Other awardees in various categories included the Governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan, eminent industrialist Ratan Tata, renowned cardiologist Marthanda Varma Sankaran Valianathan, Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Ajay Sood and famous Harikatha artiste Vishakha Hari.
Venkaiah Naidu was the 13th Vice President of India from 11 August 2017-11 August 2022.
The SIES was set up in 1932 by M. V. Venkateshwaran in Mumbai.
The SIES award is given annually in the field of Public eminence, Community leadership, Science and Technology, Social thinkers and International category.
10. Veteran Marathi Lavani Singer Sulochana Chavan no more
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Legendary Marathi Lavani singer Sulochana Chavan died in Mumbai on Saturday10 December 2022. She was 92 years old. She was awarded Padma shri in 2022.
Known as 'Lavani Samradnyi' (Queen of Lavani), Sulochana Chavan was one of the most well-known singers in this traditional Maharashtrian musical genre closely associated with the folk theatre form Tamasha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as well as Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari condoled her death.
Dances of Maharashtra
- Dhangari Gaja
- Dindi and Kala are the religious folk dances in Maharashtra,
- Koli dance is the dance form of Koli fisher folk of Maharashtra.
- Povadas Dance, This dance form describes the events in the life of the great Maratha ruler, Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
- Tamasha, The word tamasha in Persian language means fun and entertainment. The tamasha dance form has been believed to be derived from the ancient form of Sanskrit drama - the 'Prahsana' and the 'Bhana'.
