Introduction
The article CA December 2018 One Liners includes One Liners with an explanation, analysis and issues of current events, including political or industrial controversy or public policy issues in the month of December.
Dec 2018
1. International News
- A Chinese space probe is moving into position to land on the dark side of the moon for the first time. The probe, the Chang’e-4, entered a planned orbit “to prepare for the first ever soft landing on the far side of the moon”.
- The name given to Havelock Island located by Andaman and Nicobar islands by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Swaraj Island.
- Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has consistently won a majority in general elections for the third time.
- Justice G Rohini (retd), who is heading the five-member panel, set up to suggest parameters for an equitable distribution of OBC reservation.
- The number of ATMs has declined marginally to 2.07 lakh in FY18 from 2.08 lakh in FY17, primarily due to branch rationalisation by a few public sector banks, the Reserve Bank said in its annual report.
- The unique Chapparam (Chariot) festival was celebrated with traditional rituals and festivities in the famous Madurai Meenakshi temple, in Tamil Nadu.
- Microsoft has selected Kerala Police’s Facebook page, which has over 10 lakh followers, to study the organisation’s new age media interactions.
- Arunachal Pradesh was given a permanent battalion of the National Disaster Response Force and Chief Minister Pema Khandu laid the foundation stone for the 12th battalion headquarters at Hollongi, Itanagar.
- Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his annual address to the Parliament announced 2019 as the ‘Year of Active Investment and Social Development’
- Recovery of Indian banks improved in 2017-18 after the implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and amendment of the Sarfaesi Act, according to the Trends and Progress Report.
- India defeated Australia by 137 runs in the third Test at Melbourne to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.
- New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 423 runs to claim the Test series and jump above South Africa into the third spot in the ICC Test team rankings. India, who lead 2-1 after three Tests in Australia,
- India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has become the highest wicket-taker in international cricket in 2018 after picking up 9 wickets in the Melbourne Test against Australia.
- Cricket Australia have added seven-year-old Archie Schiller in the 15-member squad for the third Test of the series against India, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Boxing Day, December 26.
- The Sports Ministry has earmarked Rs 100 crore for the funding of athletes under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) for their preparations for 2020 Olympics, according to Sports Authority of India Director General Neelam Kapur.
- Swachh Surveksahan 2018 award for Best Capital City in the Solid Waste Management was conferred to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
- Rahul Chhabra who is presently the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Kenya has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Federal Republic of Somalia, with residence in Nairobi, Kenya.
1. International News
- Prime Minister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering is on a 3 day visit to India. This is his 1st foreign visit after taking charge as PM of the Himalayan Nation.
- Russia has finished building a 60-kilometre security fence separating annexed Crimea from mainland Ukraine.
- Saudi Arabia had imposed a travel ban on Lebanon last year over a political crisis following the resignation of PM Saad Hariri.
- German authorities today gave their approval to an $8 billion rail and road tunnel linking Denmark and Germany.
- The newly-formed Madhya Pradesh government today announced it is forming an Adhyatmik Vibhag (spiritual department) by merging several existing departments.
- Nepal imposed a monthly limit on the amount of Indian currency its citizen can spend in India. A spokesperson of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) stated that a Nepali citizen would be unable to spend more than INR 1 lakh per month while paying for goods and services in India.
- The Union Cabinet approved the Gaganyaan project under which a three-member crew will be sent to space for at least seven days, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stated.
- Chariot festival was celebrated in Madurai Meenakshi temple in Tamil Nadu. The Chapparam (Chariot) festival symbolizes the importance of preserving all kinds of food and fodder.
- The Thrissur, Kerala-based ESAF Small Finance Bank has received the Reserve Bank approval to operate as scheduled bank making it the fifth scheduled bank that operates from Kerala after Federal Bank
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the relaxation offered to banks for offering liquidity support to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) until March 31st 2019.
- Public Sector Banks have approved more than 1.12 lakh loan applications of MSMEs worth of 37,412 crore rupees under the government’s ’59 minutes’ loan scheme.
- Pakistan Cabinet approved the issuance of Pakistan’s one-of-its-kind Panda Bonds after a meeting presided by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
- The 7 minutes long “Finding Beauty in Garbage”, film received the Best Short documentary film award in Asia South East International Short Film Festival at Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
- Telangana’s MNJ Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centre entered Guinness Book of World Records ‘for organising the largest men’s Health Awareness programme on prostate cancer on a single day.’
- Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India announced that Mr. Y.K. Sailas Thangal who is the ambassador of the India to the Republic of Cote d’ Ivoire has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Liberia with residence in Abidjan.
- Rahul Chhabra who is presently the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Kenya has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Federal Republic of Somalia, with residence in Nairobi, Kenya.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has released a booklet titled “A Handbook for Students on cyber Safety” to inform the school children about the different aspects of cyber safety.
- The book titled “Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From” written by Tony Joseph, was released.
- legendary filmmaker and Phalke awardee, Mrinal Sen, passed away at 95 in Kolkata. He was a National Award-winning director and recipient of Padma Bhusan award.
1. International News
- A 33-year-old man Colin O'Brady from the United States has become the first person to complete a solo trek across Antarctica without any assistance.
- Portuguese airline Hi Fly decided to bring about a change by introducing single-use plastic free flight. The flight took off from Lisbon to Natale, Brazil, without a single piece of single-use plastic on board.
- According to Gallup survey former President Barack Obama was named the Most Admired Man in America For the 11th year in a row, Present President of USA, DonaldTrump ranked 2 for the fourth consecutive year.
- The Israeli Parliament (the “Knesset”), passed the 16th amendment to Dangerous Drugs Ordinance on December 25, that concerns the governance and regulatory aspects of exporting medical cannabis from Israel.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Varanasi and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. During the visit, he laid the foundation stone of medical College in Ghazipur in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
- The Union Cabinet approved amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
- The 42nd Indian Social Science Congress was inaugurated by Manipur governor Dr Najma Heptulla at KIIT University campus in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
- The Union government declared the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) a banned organization. A Home Ministry order stated the decision was taken under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.
- India’s institutional framework to support microfinance would get a boost with Reserve Bank of India clearing a proposal to dig in an existing Rs 1000-crore corpus for funding microlenders.
- According to data furnished by the Reserve Bank of India, between 2015 and 2017, private lender ICICI Bank penalized the highest number of employees for defrauding bank .
- State-owned United Bank of India announced that the government has decided to infuse Rs 2,159 crore in the bank as part of Rs 28,615 crore capital infusion to be done in about half a dozen banks.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will capture the payment habits of individuals in six cities Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Guwahati.
- Croatia captain Luka Modric was named Balkan Athlete of the Year becoming only the second soccer player to scoop the prize after Bulgaria’s former European Footballer of the Year Hristo Stoichkov in 1994.
- Former President Barack Obama has been voted the man most admired by Americans. It is the 11th consecutive year he was at the top of the list, including one year as president-elect, eight as president and two as former president.
- An Indian-American teenager has won the inaugural “Digital Transformation Hackathon” at Cornell University for designing a device to detect the actual pain level of a patient during a diagnosis.
- Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh conferred with the ‘Champions of Change’ award by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu for exemplary leadership in bringing about transformation in governance in the Northeastern state.
- Air Marshal Rajeev Sachdeva has taken charge as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations) He has earlier served in three out of the four wings of Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) headquarters.
- Ambika Prasad Panda has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), the largest coal producing company of the country.
- Former Nigerian President Shehu Shagari passed away in the country’s capital city of Abuja at the age of 93.
- Amos Oz, Israel’s most successful and internationally recognized author passed away Oz was born in Jerusalem in 1939. He studied philosophy and literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
1. International News
- Pakistan’s cabinet has approved the issuance of first-ever renminbi-denominated bonds to raise loans from China’s capital markets, as the country moved a step forward to give the Chinese currency
- Japan has decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and will resume commercial whaling July next year.
- Turkmenistan has launched its first messaging app BizBarde. The privately developed BizBarde app will allow the exchange of messages, files, photos and videos, the state Yaslyk television station announced.
- Nepal imposed a monthly limit on the amount of Indian currency its citizen can spend in India. A spokesperson of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).
Static Gk:
2. National News
- Nepal Capital: Kathmandu
- Currency: Nepalese rupee
- Turkmenistan Capital: Ashgabat
- Currency: Manat
- India will contribute Rs 4,500 crore to Bhutan for the 12th five-year plan, announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) hosted the 12th Annual Indian Subcontinent Decision Sciences Institute (ISDSI) Conference at SPJIMR, Mumbai.
- The 41st meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee was held in New Delhi. In the meeting, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.
- President R.N. Kovind inaugurated the centenary celebrations of The Yoga Institute, the world’s oldest organized institute of yoga studies, which turned 100 recently.
- Airports in India will be able to use body scanners from next year and spare “clean” passengers physical frisking.
- The NHRC launched a toll-free number and also a facility to file complaints through Common Service Centre (CSC). Justice (retd) H L Dattu, the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission.
- The government is likely to infuse Rs 28,615 crore into seven public sector banks (PSBs) through recapitalization bonds by the end of this month.
- According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Foreign Direct Investment in the non-conventional energy sector totalled $ 3,217.43 million in the April 2015 to June 2018 period.
- The Centre‟s fiscal deficit has exceeded 114 per cent of the Budget estimate over the first eight months of the current fiscal.
- Finance Ministry state that the seventh tranche of electoral bonds sale will take place from January 1 -10 The government notified the Electoral Bond Scheme in January this year.
- The Mrs. India My Identity Beauty Pageant 2018 finale was held in Delhi and Divy a Patidar Joshi was crowned with the prestigious honour.
- Rajesh Subramaniam, an IIT-Bombay graduate from Thiruvananthapuram, has been named as the president and chief executive officer of US multinational courier delivery giant FedEx Express.
1. International News
- Nepal imposed a monthly limit on the amount of Indian currency its citizen can spend in India, Nepali citizen would be unable to spend more than 1 lakh per month.
- Russia has successfully conducted its final test of a hypersonic glider capable of carrying nuclear warheads The weapon, dubbed Avangard, detaches itself from a rocket after being launched and glides back to Earth at speeds faster than the speed of sound.
- Thailand has approved the use of medical marijuana, making it the first country in southeast Asia to do so. The country’s interim parliament voted on the amendment in the Narcotics Bill.
- An American adventurer has become the first person to complete a solo trek across Antarctica without assistance of any kind. Mr Colin O’Brady, 33, took 54 days to complete the nearly 1,600km crossing of the frozen continent from north to south.
Static Gk:
2. National News
- Thailand Capital: Bangkok
- Currency: Thai baht.
- Prime Minister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering reached New Delhi on a three-day official visit to India.
- Railway minister Piyush Goyal, announced that Train 18 is now the fastest train in India. India’s first indigenously built engine-less train, meant for intra-day travel, can cut down travel time by 10 to 15 per cent compared to the Shatabdi.
- Central Railway has developed an AI-powered robot which would click pictures and record videos of the under-gears of trains and send them to engineers for repairs and maintenance.
- The NITI Aayog ranked Jharkhand’s Pakur district the worst and Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar the best among the nation’s 111 backward districts.
- In Assam, the third Dwijing Festival has begun on the bank of Aye river at Chirang district. Around 15 lakh tourists are expected to participate in the festival.
- The 26th National Childres’s Science Congress has been inaugurated by the Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar.
Static Gk:
3. Banking and Economy
- Bhutan Capital: Thimphu
- Currencies: Bhutanese ngultrum
- King: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
- India’s budgetary fiscal deficit for the April-November period at Rs 7.17 lakh crore has exceeded the target for the full fiscal, accounting for 114.8 per cent.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in consultation with the government, has set up a six-member committee to review the economic capital framework of the central bank.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a survey to understand the “Retail Payment Habits of Individuals” (SRPHi).
- Tightening norms for e-commerce firms having foreign investment, the government barred online marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon from selling products of companies where they hold stakes.
- India’s manufacturing sector growth as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with the base year 2011-12 has been consistently increasing over the past three years.
- Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting became the 25th player from his country to be inducted into the ICC hall of fame.
- With his 82-run knock against Australia in the first innings of the third Test, India captain Virat Kohli took his tally of runs in away Test matches in 2018 to 1,138.
- Ex-Australia fast bowler Dennis Lillee has criticised the pitch used for the second Australia-India Test at the new Optus Stadium in Perth for having variable bounce.
- Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh was conferred the “Champions of Change” award by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu for exemplary leadership in bringing about transformation in governance.
- Aadi Sai Vijaykaran created history by winning the Junior Debate Championship at the World Scholar’s Cup held at Yale University, the USA.
- Dr. Hamidi Kashmiri, the tallest literary figure in the world of Urdu anguage, literature and literary criticism passed away. He was a prolific creative writer, an acclaimed critic and propounder of “Iktishaafi Tanqueed”.
1. International News
- The first meeting of the Follow-up Committee for implementation of the Trilateral Chabahar Agreement between India, Afghanistan and Iran was held in the port city of Chabahar in Iran.
- Italy’s Mount Etna, Europe’s highest and most active volcano erupted , sending a huge column of ash into the sky and causing the closure of Catania airport on Sicily’s eastern coast.
- Indian firm India Ports Global Limited formally took over the operations of Chabahar's Shaheed Behesti port in Iran, which opens a trade route between India and central Asia bypassing Pakistan.
Static Gk:
2. National News
- Iran Capital: Tehran
- Currency: Iranian rial
- President: Hassan Rouhani
- The government plans to make all electricity meters smart prepaid in three years in a bid to cut transmission and distribution losses.
- PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the Bogibeel Bridge in Assam. The 4.94-kilometer long Bogibeel bridge on Brahmaputra river will connect the two northeast states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
- 'Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana' has been launched in Uttarakhand. Under the scheme, each household in the state will be able to avail medical treatment of up to 5 lakh rupees annually.
- Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh released the list of best-performing police stations across the nation during the ongoing DGP conference. On the top of the rank-list stands Kalu police station of Rajasthan.
Static Gk:
3. Banking and Economy
- Uttarakhand Governor: Baby Rani Maurya.
- Investments in the Indian capital market through participatory notes climbed to Rs 79,247 crore in November after hitting a nine-and-a-half year low at the end of preceding month.
- The Reserve Bank of India will soon introduce Rs 20 notes with additional features. The new notes are being introduced under the Mahatma Gandhi series.
Static Gk:
4. Sports
- RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikanta Das
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.
- American Mikaela Shiffrin became the youngest woman to win 50 World Cup ski races with victory in the slalom in the French Alps recently.
- Mithali Raj, captain of the Indian women’s cricket team and the official ambassador for Rio Tinto’s Australian Diamonds programme, was honored with the Senco Gold & Diamonds, Swarna Samman award at a star-studded event held in Kolkata.
- The Mohammed Rafi Award, instituted by an NGO Spandan Arts headed by Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, was bestowed upon late music composer Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and playback singer Usha Timothy.
- Noted sitar player Manju Mehta has been conferred with the ‘Tansen Samman’ for 2018 by the Madhya Pradesh government for her contribution in the field of music.
- Dronacharya awardee C A Kuttappa has taken over as India’s chief boxing coach. The 39-year-old Kuttappa
- Social worker and Padma Shri awardee Sulagitti Narasamma passed away in Bengaluru. She was 98 years old.
1. Important days
- Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday is being celebrated as Good Governance Day across the country on 25 December.
- The repressive central Asian nation of Turkmenistan, where the likes of Facebook and Whatsapp are banned launched its first messaging app.
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)will deposit $3 billion in Pakistan’s central bank to support its financial and monetary policy. The UAE’s support comes amid the current financial crisis in Pakistan.
- Pakistan, China and the country which has recently signed an agreement for cooperation against terrorism Afghanistan
- The death toll from a volcano-triggered tsunami in Indonesia has risen to 373, with more than 1,400 people injured, the national disaster agency said.
- Sadaiv Atal, a memorial of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was dedicated to the nation on his 94th birth anniversary.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s longest rail-road Bogibeel Bridge, which is expected to reduce the distance between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh by around 700 kilometers.
- A 25 feet high statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be installed in the Lok Bhawan in Lucknow, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced
- Marking the 94th birth anniversary celebrations of the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched the ‘Bharat Ratna Atal Bihar Vajpayee International Schools’ for students in mofussil areas.
- Union Minister for Science and Technology and Environment Harsh Vardhan said India is firmly on its course to become one of the top two scientifically advanced nations in the world by 2030.
- Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced to name all the Child Care Institutes being run in the state as ‘Jagannath Ashrams.’
- On the event of AtalBihari Vajpayee’s 94th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a Rs. 100 commemorative coin in the memory of the former premier.
- State owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a special card for Kumbh Mela 2019 The bank has partnered with the Uttar Pradesh government to create a model for digitization at this edition of Kumbh Mela.
- Government announced another round of capital infusion into public sector banks (PSBs), Bank of India and Corporation Bank seem to the frontrunners among the four-five PSBs to resume normal lending operations outside the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework from FY2020.
- The central bank has already issued new-look currency notes in the denominations of Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100, and Rs 500, besides introducing Rs 200 and Rs 2000 notes after demonetisation.
- Radiant Life Care Ltd. backed by private equity firm KKR, agreed to merge with Max Healthcare Ltd. in a complex deal that will make the combined entity India’s third-largest hospital and diagnostics company.
- After claiming a historic fifth World Drivers’ Championship, Lewis Hamilton has added to an ever-growing list of accolades after taking home the inaugural Drivers’ Driver of the Year.
- India’s Arjun Bhati bagged the first position against Americas Aksel Moe during the three-level final match in the US Kids Junior Golf World Championship in Malaysia.
- The government has appointed P.V. Bharathi as the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Corporation Bank.
- President Donald Trump announced Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will leave his post on January 1, He statedthat deputy Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan will take over as acting secretary to cover the accelerated departure.
- Former Union Minister Captain Jai Narain Prasad Nishad passed away at the age of 88. Nishad was a former Union Minister and an ex-parliamentarian from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha Constituency.
- Legendary Bengali singer Dwijen Mukhopadhyay, gifted with a resonant voice and considered the last surviving colossus of the golden generation of Rabindra Sangeet, passed away at his Salt Lake residence in Kolkata.
- Sahitya Academy Award-winning Bengali writer Nirendranath Chakrabarty, known for his beautiful poetry, passed away at a private hospital in Kolkata.
- Veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Nirupam Sen, credited as the architect of West Bengal’s industrial drive during the Left Front rule, passed away at a city hospital after a prolonged illness.
1. Important days
- The National Consumer Day was observed across India on 24 December with the theme “Timely Disposal of Consumer Complaints”.
- Scientists have created the world’s smallest tic-tac-toe board using dynamic DNA origami tiles microscopic organic structures that can be programmed to transform into predesigned patterns.
- Indians placed at 12th rank in the “misperception index” according to the MORI Perils of Perception Survey 2018, done by Ipsos India, an independent market research company.
- External Affair Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi co-chaired the first-ever meeting of India-China High-Level Mechanism on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges in New Delhi.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a stamp and a coin to commemorate the Paika rebellion of 1817 in Odisha.
- One of the earliest Buddhist settlements in Odisha, Lalitgiri, where excavations have yielded ancient seals and inscriptions, has been converted into a museum.
- The country’s first music museum will be set up with assistance from the Central government in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamilnadu, the birth place of Saint Tyagaraja, one of the Trinities of Carnatic music.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has shortlisted six major IT companies, including TCS, Wipro and IBM India, to set up a digital public credit registry (PCR) for capturing details of all borrowers and wilful defaulters.
- ICICI Bank projected the GDP to increase to 7.4% in 2019-20. Its growth forecast for FY2019 is at 7.2 mainly due to slow consumption.
- India’s national accreditation body, the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), got recognition for its accreditation programme for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) Certification Bodies in Asia- Pacific region.
- Indian woman Vedangi Kulkarni has become the fastest Asian to cycle the globe. Hailing from a suburb of Pune, 20-year old Vedangi cycled into Kolkata completing the 29,000 kilometers’ distance required to qualify as bicycling across the globe.
- Bala Rafique Shaikh clinched the Maharashtra Kesari title by defeating Abhijeet Katke of Pune in the wrestling duel held at Azad ground in Jalna, Maharashtra.
- The seven day 37th Senior National Rowing Championship concluded at Army Rowing Node, College of Military Engineering in Pune.
- The Railways has won 17 awards at the ‘National Energy Conservation awards 2018’, held in New Delhi. This is the highest number of awards bagged by a single organisation.
1. Important Days
- National Farmers’ Day (Kisan Diwas) 2018 was celebrated all over India on 23rd of December. It is celebrated in the honour of the former Prime Minister of India Chaudhary Charan Singh with the focus on the upliftment of the status of farmers.
- Burundi declared the small central city of Gitega the country’s new political capital, in line with a presidential promise, made a decade ago.
- IIT Bhubaneswar’s new campus is set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 December, during his Odisha visit.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the institution of a new award named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which would be given every year for “outstanding efforts” in the field of furthering national integration.
- In an effort to have more intense relations with countries in the Indian Ocean region, India inaugurated an Information Fusion Centre Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR)
- India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable long-range Inter Continental Ballistic Missile Agni-IV, with a strike range of 4,000 km.
- Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have emerged as top performing states in Niti Aayog’s SDG India index 2018.
- India achieved another milestone when Indian Stock market overtakes Germany for the first time in seven years to become the world’s seventh largest stock market.
- According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, the country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 613.9 million to USD 393.12 billion .
- Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) released the Global football ranking topped by Belgium who have 1727 points as per FIFA calculations.
- International Cricket Council (ICC) Dispute Resolution Panel ordered Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to pay 60% of the cost demanded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
- Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has conferred the Skoch Golden Jubilee Challenger Award at the 55th Skoch Summit in New Delhi.
- Fencing Association of India (FAI) president Rajeev Mehta has been made the head of the South Asian body for a four-year term.
- The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi appointed Mohinder Pratap Singh as the next Ambassador of India to Mongolia. He is presently Director at the headquarters of the ministry.
- The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has appointed Riva Ganguly Das as the new High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh.
1. Important days
- Every year, the country celebrates National Mathematics Day on December 22 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
- US regulator Federation of Aviation Administration (FAA) retained the highest aviation safety ranking for India.
- 22 December 2018 Current Affairs: External Affair Minister Sushma and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will co-chair the first-ever meeting of India-China High-Level Mechanism on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges in New Delhi.
- India will receive loan to the tune of Rs 6668.46 crore from Japan for various development projects. The loan will used to develop the phase two of the Chennai metro project.
- The 15th edition of a two day Global SME Business Summit was organised by the Ministry of MSME and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Government e-marketplace in New Delhi.
- Addressing scientists after inaugurating the Atal Complex for the International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean) at the INCOIS campus.
- According to the MORI Perils of Perception Survey 2018, done by Ipsos India, an independent market research company, Indians stood at 12th rank in the misperception.
- Bandhan Bank is in talks with HDFC Ltd to buy its subsidiary Gruh Finances, RBI has asked the bank to reduce its promoter holding from current 82.28 percent to 40 percent by August 2018.
- According to the RBI data The country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $613.9 million to $393.12 billionon account of a fall in foreign currency assets.
- 33 Items Moved From 18% GST Slab To 12%, 5% GST, the government’s biggest tax reform, sets rates from 28 per cent to 5 per cent on most items.
- Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu has climbed 3 spots to Number 3 in the latest world badminton rankings.
- Belgium will end the year as No. 1 ahead of world champions France in the global rankings released by FIFA recently.
- Assam’s eminent vocalist DipaliBorthakur passed away. She was winner of multiple prestigious awards and honours including the Padmashree, DipaliBorthakur was the wife of noted artist NeelpawanBaruah.
1. Important days
- December 21 is the smallest day of the year. It is the night of the night, the longest night of the year. Google has created a doodle of winter solstice on this day.
- US Defense Secretary Jim Matisz has resigned a day after US President Donald Trump decides to remove the army from Syria
- India is Afghanistan's most reliable regional partner and the largest contributor of development assistance in the region, the US' Defence Department said in its semi-annual report to the Congress.
- The then Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq and Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping convinced the US over aid to Pakistan, claiming India would be pro-Soviet.
- During a telephonic conversation with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Pakistan PM Imran Khan said that Kashmir is not a "bilateral issue between Pakistan and India, but an internationally recognised dispute", a statement by the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office said.
- The Lok Sabha passed the Consumer Protection Bill, 2018 that seeks to replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
- The ‘Adopt A Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan’, scheme is a collaborative effort by Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), to enhance tourism potential and cultural importance in a planned and phased manner.
- National Film Archive of India (NFAI), and Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for transfer of three acres of land for the construction of storage facility for films and film material.
- The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh launched the iGOT (Integrated Government Online Training Programme).
- The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” to protect and conserve the population of Asiatic Lion and its associated ecosystem.
- Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha launched an official mobile application for Global Aviation Summit 2019.
- The Reserve Bank of India, in consultation with the government, has decided to have a rule-based dynamic limit for outstanding stock of External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) at 6.5% of GDP at current market prices.
- The government will infuse an additional Rs 41,000 crore into cash-starved public sector banks (PSBs). The outlay will go up from Rs. 65,000 crore to Rs. 1,06,000 crore in the current financial year to propel economic growth
- The International Cricket Council has rated the pitch for the second Test between India and Australia at Perth as "average". The categories for the pitch ratings demarcated by ICC are - very good, good, average, below average and poor.
- A FIFA report stated on Friday that a combined global audience of 1.12 billion watched the World Cup final between France and Croatia in July.
- Ex-India batsman and BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) member VVS Laxman has revealed the committee wanted Anil Kumble to continue as India's coach but the ex-captain thought the right decision was to quit and move ahead.
- Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur were named as Indian women's ODI and T20I captains respectively for the tour of New Zealand which starts next month.
- The Australian Open has joined Wimbledon in introducing a final set tiebreak from next year's competition. According to the new rules, which will come into force at the January event.
- W V Raman has been appointed the new coach of the Indian women's cricket team. Raman is a vastly-experienced coach having been in charge of Tamil Nadu and India U-19 teams in the past.
- Riva Ganguly Das, Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at present, has been named as India's new High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
- Infosys announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Bharti Airtel Ltd’s global CFO Nilanjan Roy as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company, effective March 1, 2019.
- Shringla, a 1984-batch Indian Foreign Service diplomat will succeed Navtej Sarna. At present, Shringla is serving as Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
1. Important days
- The United Nations’ International Human Solidarity Day is observed every year on December 20 to celebrate unity in diversity.
- Between the growing dispute over the United Nations immigration agreement, the country's Prime Minister Charles Mitchell has resigned from his post Belgium.
- The U.N. General Assembly voted nearly unanimously to adopt a framework to strengthen the international response to the global refugee crisis.
- In this country of Oceania, regulations for mandatory phase-out of single-use plastic shopping bags will take effect from July 1, 2019 New Zealand.
- Wided Bouchamaoui of this country, a joint winner of the 2015 prize, announced her intention to nominate Macedonia's Zoran Zaev and Greece's Alexis Tsipras for the 2019 peace prize Tunisia.
- The Department of Posts will honour all important people who have not been given their due place in history by issuing commemorative postal stamps in their names, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that government will infuse Rs 83,000 crore in public sector banks in the next few months of the current fiscal.
- Ayurvedic products, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will inaugurate World Herbal Forest Project, a collaboration of Patanjali and Haryana Government, in Morni Hill which is located 45 kilometres away from Chandigarh.
- India’s largest cancer institute, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has been soft launched at Haryana’s Jhajjar area.
- The state in which the President's rule has been implemented from December 19, 2018 after the completion of six months governor's rule Jammu and Kashmir
- Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) signed MoU with Maruti Suzuki India Ltd for training rural youth for skill development in presence of Minister of Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar.
- Lok Sabha has passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 which is aimed at prohibiting commercial surrogacy and unethical practices relating to it.
- Assam government has announced three schemes for the welfare of farmers. The schemes are the Assam Farmers’ Credit Subsidy Scheme (AFCSS), Assam Farmers’ Interest Relief Scheme (AFIRS) and Assam Farmers’ Incentive Scheme (AFIS).
- NITI Aayog unveiled its comprehensive national Strategy for New India titled ‘Strategy for New India @75’, which defines clear objectives for 2022-23.
- IDFC Bank and non-banking financial company (NBFC) Capital First has announced the completion of their merger.
- Paisabazaar.com, India's largest online marketplace for financial products, and Karnataka Bank announced a strategic partnership to offer the bank's home loan product to customers on the Paisabazaar platform.
- The Global Institution by which the report released states that in the list of 137 countries, India is at 80th place for reliable power supply World Bank
- RBI said the bank violated KYC norms while adding new customers and failed to maintain the prescribed net worth of ₹100 crore. Paytm Payments Bank also violated the end-of-the-day ₹1 lakh limit per account, RBI added.
- Odisha has been ranked as “Top Performer” in the State Startup Ranking-2018 organised by the Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) of the Central government.
- India’s former World Cup winning captain Anup Kumar announced his retirement from Kabaddi, ending a 15-year iconic career.
- Former Indian cricketer WV Raman has been chosen by the Board of Control for Cricket in India-appointed ad-hoc committee as the head of women cricket team.
- All-rounder Jayant Yadav has been traded from Delhi Capitals to Mumbai Indians ahead of Indian Premier League 2019.
- The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced that Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Romania’s Simona Halep have been named the 2018 ITF World Champions.
- The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi appointed Harsh Vardhan Shringla as the new Ambassador of India to the United States of America.
- Senior bureaucrat Pranab Kumar Das has been appointed as chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the apex policy-making body for indirect taxes.
- The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) appointed Harsh Vardhan Shringla as the new Ambassador of India to the United States of America.
- The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recently cleared the name of Arti Chhabra Srivastava, a 1990-batch Indian Ordinance Factory Services officer, as SEBI CVO.
- Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released his book titled "Changing India" at an event in New Delhi.
1. Important days
- Goa Liberation Day is being celebrated. Goa was liberated on 19th December 1961, from around 450 years of Portuguese rule.
- The Prime Ministers of Macedonia and Greece, Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras, have been nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
- The European Union (EU) forged ahead with plans to slash carbon dioxide emissions from new cars and vans by 2030. The targets will require new cars sold in 2030 to emit 37.5 percent less carbon dioxide on average compared to 2021 levels.
- UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan declared 2019 as the Year of Tolerance, an extension of the Year of Zayed which has run this year.
- Merriam-Webster has declared ‘Justice’ as the 2018 Word Of The Year. As per Merriam-Webster says, the word ‘Justice’ is used in many phrases like racial justice, social justice and obstruction of justice.
- It could take 202 years for women to earn as much as men because the global pay gap is so vast and the pace of change so slow, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has said in a report.
- Russia reveals Kalashnikov drones designed to patrol the Arctic and claims they can warn of craft approaching its facilities from 62 MILES away.
- South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha arrived in New Delhi on a two-day visit to the country. She is in India at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to co-chair the ninth meeting of India-Republic of Korea (ROK) Joint Commission.
- The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) rolled out the mini version of Train 18 as it launched the new generation Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) with underslung equipment and some features from the Train 18.
- The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), that frames policy for the I-T department, ordered creation of a 12-member committee of senior officials to accomplish the task within the next three months.
- The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered to constitute an official panel to screen and identify new tourism projects in the state under the Prime Minister’s Development Package(PMDP).
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) communicated that India is adhering to safety standards of International Civil Aviation Organization and India’s International Aviation Safety Assessment rating remains Category 1.
- President’s rule will be imposed in Jammu and Kashmir from 20 December with President Ram Nath Kovind signing a proclamation to give effect to the recommendation of the state Governor Satya Pal Malik.
- Haryana Government has started mobile app ‘Shiksha Setu’ which would have all information related to attendance, fee, online admission and scholarships in all government colleges of the state besides having details of lecturers of government colleges and officers of the Directorate.
- A mobile application “Chuppi Tod” (break your silence) was launched in Patna to fight the rampant social evil of child marriage and sexual harassment.
- New generation private sector IDFC Bank and non-banking financial company Capital First announced completion of their merger, creating a combined loan asset book of Rs 1.03 trillion for the merged entity IDFC First Bank.
- Indian economy is projected to be the fastest growing major economy in 2018-19 and 2019-20. The government has said the share of the Indian economy in the world increased from 2.6 percent in 2014 to 3.2 percent in 2017
- 2019 IPL Auction will see a total of 346 players go under the hammer to fill 70 slots in Jaipur on December 18.
- Late lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir has been awarded the UN Human Rights Prize for 2018. Her daughter Munizae Jahangir received the prestigious award on behalf of her mother.
- Union Minister of Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani, presented awards to handicrafts exporters for their outstanding performance in exports for the year 2015-16 and 2016-17.
- Actress Sonam Kapoor, a vegan, has been named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India's Person of the Year for 2018.
- CBI's Joint Director M Nageswara Rao, who is currently the interim CBI Director, was promoted to the rank of Additional Director by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
- Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has resigned amid pressure on his government over his support for the UN global compact on migration.
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched geostationary communication satellite GSAT-7A onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV-F11.
- An ‘e-Drishti’ interface has been unveiled for the Union Railway Minister. This software includes an interface which provides summary information on punctuality of trains for the previous day.
- Former Prime Minister of Nepal Tulsi Giri has passed away in Kathmandu. He was 93. Giri was suffering from liver cancer for a long time.
1. Important Days
- The International Migrants Day 2018 observed on 18th December across the world. In accordance with the Resolution 55/93 of the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA).
- External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Affairs Minister of Denmark Anders Samuelsen on December 17 co-chaired the 2nd session of Joint Commission Meeting in New Delhi.
- United Arab Emirates (UAE) President H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has declared 2019 to be the “Year of Tolerance.” to highlight UAE as the Global Capital of Tolerance.
- India commits USD 1.4 billion financial aid to Maldives. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced USD 1.4 billion financial assistance to Maldives after he held extensive talks with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
- Germany has agreed to one-time payments for survivors, primarily Jews, who were evacuated from Nazi Germany as children, many of whom never saw their parents again.
- New Zealand will hold a referendum on whether to legalise cannabis for recreational use at the general election in 2020, a week after legalising the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modilaunched infrastructure and housing projects worth about Rs 41,000 crore in Maharashtra.
- Jammu and Kashmir has become the first state in the country to enact a law banning sexual exploitation of women “by those in positions of authority, having a fiduciary relationship or a public servant”, Under Section 354E of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
- India has welcomed Zambia as a member of the International Solar Alliance, with Vice President Venkaiah Naidu expressing hope for an early ratification of the Framework Agreement by Zambia.
- The National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Jhajjar, Haryana, which is also India’s largest cancer hospital, opened for public service with the formal inauguration to be held in January.
- The Union Cabinet approved setting up of two new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Madurai, Tamil Nadu, at a cost of Rs 1,264 crore and at Bibinagar, Telangana.
- Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced financial aid of Rs 10 crore for establishment of Odiya Cultural Centre in Gujarat’s Surat for their social celebrations.
- According to a data released by the RBI, over ₹1.10 lakh crore has been lost due to bank frauds since 2015. The number of such frauds has gone up from 4,693 to 5,917 between 2015-16 and 2017-18.
- The 37th Senior National Rowing Championship began in the Army Rowing Node in Pune. Around 500 rowers and coaches from various rowing associations across the country are taking part in the Championship.
- Actress Sonam Kapoor, a vegan, has been named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India’s Person of the Year for 2018.
- 'Period. End of Sentence' has made it to the Oscar shortlist in the Documentary Short Subject category. This is a film about women in India fighting against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation and delving upon the work of real-life ‘Pad Man’ Arunachalam Muruganantham.
- Senior bureaucrat Pranab Kumar Das has been appointed as Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the apex policy-making body for indirect taxes.
- The Central government appointed advocate Madhavi Divan the Additional Solicitor General (ASG). Divan will represent the government in the Supreme Court and will hold office till June 30, 2020.
- Star India's Chairman and CEO Uday Shankar has been elected Vice President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for 2018-19.
- Former Nepalese Prime Minister Tulsi Giri passed away in Kathmandu. He was 92. The veteran politician breathed his last in his residence at Budhanilkantha after suffering from liver cancer.
1. International News
- Sri Lanka’s ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn into office two months after being removed by President Maithripala Sirisena, thus bringing an end to the weeks-long political crisis in the country.
- India announced financial assistance of USD 1.4 billion to the Maldives as the island nation’s President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih undertook his maiden visit, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi said would enhance “trust and friend” between the two nations.
- Bangladesh in its 47th anniversary of the ‘Victory Day’, 16th December, honoured 12 Indian war veterans, marking its emergence as an independent nation following the 1971 Liberation War.
- A new artificial archipelago of five islets was created in Markermeer, one of Europe's largest freshwater lakes under an ambitious project.
- India and France also agreed to enhance their strategic partnership through cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, civil nuclear, defence and security, space, trade and economic sectors.
- The Nepal government has banned the validity of Indian currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 denominations in the country.
Static Gk:
2. National News
- Maldives Capital: Male
- Currency: Maldivian rufiyaa
- Foreign Affairs Minister of Denmark Anders Samuelsen arrived in New Delhi for a two-day official visit and is scheduled to meet Minister of commerce and industry Suresh Prabhu at Udyog Bhawan.
- Geographical Indications Registry at Chennai has granted GI tag to Silao Khaja, the traditional delicacy of Nalanda district of Bihar.
- Besides dedicating the new IIT Bhubaneswar campus, Modi will lay the foundation stone for IISER, Berhampur.
- The Indian Navy will be formally inaugurating the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) for the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) this week.
- Equipped with Bharat Heavy Electricals supplied Nuclear power equipment, the 220 MW Unit 1 at the indigenously developed Kaiga Atomic Power Station (KAPS) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL).
- Belgium pipped the Netherlands via a penalty shootout to lift their maiden title of the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.
- Indian Cricket Team captain Virat Kohli became the second fastest player to score 25 Test Centuries after scoring 123 runs on the third day of Second Test against Australia at Perth.
- PV Sindhu defeated world number five Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to record her 300th career match victory across categories and clinch the BWF World Tour Finals women's singles title.
- Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep were named as the 2018 ITF world champions by the governing body of global tennis.
- Tsingtao and Yanjing have been named the official beers of the 2022 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing.
- Catriona Elisa Gray from Philippines was crowned Miss Universe 2018 at a gala ceremony, where representatives from South Africa and Venezuela secured the first runner-up and second runner-up spots.
- Indian-American Shree Saini has been crowned Miss India Worldwide 2018 at a pageant held in the Fords City of New Jersey.
- Producer Ashok Amritraj was honoured with the French Knight of the National Order of Merit. Mr. Amritraj has been the producer of Hollywood films such as Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance with Nicholas Cage and 99 Homes starring Andrew Garfield.
- Congress veteran Kamal Nath was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh after his party won the Assembly elections, ending 15 years of BJP rule.
- The England and Wales Cricket Board announced that, Former international spinner Ashley Giles has been appointed as the new managing director of England men's cricket.
- Leading industry chamber Ficci announced that it has elected Sandip Somany as the association’s President for 2018-19.
- The Government appointed Ramphal Pawar as the new Director of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB). An IPS officer from the West Bengal cadre, Mr Pawar was Joint Secretary in NATGRID.
- Actress Yami Gautam has been named the goodwill leader of Super Sniffers campaign initiated by TRAFFIC India along with World Wildlife Fund India (WWF).
- Scientists from the Aalto University and the University of Helsinki in Finland have developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool that can successfully predict whether a patient is at risk of developing a serious, and possibly life-threatening infection after surgery.
- A Study from Sheppard Pratt Health System in the US has found that Probiotics, commonly referred to as 'good bacteria', may help treat bipolar disorder and other psychiatric mood disorders.
- NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured the image of the InSight lander which recently touched down on Mars, the Red Planet.
- Renowned classical singer Pandit Arun Bhaduri passed away at a city hospital in Kolkata after a prolonged illness.
1. International News
- The 18th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) was recently held in New Delhi.
- Iranian movie 'Dark Room', which revolves around the efforts of the parents of a boy to identify the abusers of their child, bagged the 'Suvarna Chakoram'.
- Sonata Software, an IT software services and solutions provider, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire U.S.-headquartered Sopris Systems,
- Haj agreement 2019 was signed between India and Saudi Arabia by Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, and Haj and Umrah Minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- Maldives’ new President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih arrived in New Delhi on a three-day state visit during which he will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.
- As part of its proposed manned space mission, India will launch the Indian Data Relay Satellite System (IDRSS) to improve data relay and communication links with its remote sensing/earth observation satellites.
- Bhupesh Baghel is the new Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. Being the state’s Congress chief, he led the party in Chhattisgarh from the front.
- The Delhi High Court rejected the Centre’s decision to ban the manufacture and sale of oxytocin by private firms. Oxytocin is a drug which induces labour and controls bleeding during childbirth.
- The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) terminated the contract of Larsen & Toubro and Scomi Engineering (LTSE) for the Mumbai Monorail.
- Google developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model that can detect diabetic retinopathy with a level of accuracy on par with human retinal specialists.
- India‘s first private sector unit for manufacturing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) was inaugurated by Telangana’s Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali at Adani Aerospace Park in Hyderabad, Telangana.
- The Andhra Pradesh government is going to install a 197-foot-tall statue of former Chief Minister of the state NT Rama Rao (NTR) in Amravati.
- The facility was launched by Union Minister for Communication (independent charge) Manoj Sinha at National Media Centre, New Delhi.
- OBOPAY Card: new generation pre-payment instrument for enterprise customers launched by OBOPAY, Federal Bank and MasterCard.
- The government has constituted a seven-member panel to select managing directors of public sector insurance companies. The panel would be headed by Banks Board Bureau (BBB) chairman B P Sharma.
- The global debt has reached an all-time high of USD 184 trillion, with three countries — the United States, China and Japan — accounting for more than half of it, the International Monetary Fund .
- Ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu lifted the prestigious season-ending World Tour Finals trophy at Guangzhou, China. The Olympic silver medallist defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-19, 21-17 in the summit clash.
- Indian-American Shree Saini has won Miss India Worldwide 2018 title at a pageant held in the Fords City of New Jersey.
- Producer Ashok Amritraj was honoured with the French Knight of the National Order of Merit. French Minister of Europe and Foreign Minister, Mr. Jean-Yes Le Drian presided over the occasion.
- This is the 3rd time Baghel has won from the Patan seat in Chhattisgarh, winning twice when the constituency was part of undivided Madhya Pradesh.
- Ranil Wickremsinghe sworn-in as Sri Lankan Prime Minister by President Maithripala Sirisena. He was removed as Prime minister on October 26 and was replaced by Mahinda Rajapaksa who resigned yesterday after failing to garner majority in Parliament.
- United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was swore-in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. This comes after disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was appointed by President Sirisena.
- Bharat Bhushan Vyas has been appointed as a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). UPSC Chairman Arvind Saxena administered him the oath of office and secrecy.
- Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov, the world’s first Floating Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) has become operational. It was constructed by Russian state nuclear power firm Rosatom.
- Amazon India on Thurs day announced a partnership with FISME (The Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises) to empower Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to leverage growth opportunities in the e-commerce sector.
- Google is working on "rolling out this diabetic retinopathy initiative in clinics in India with Verily" an Alphabet-owned company which works on life sciences research and development, Kent Walker, SVP of Global Affairs at Google.
- Ajayan, noted film maker and director of classic Malayalam movie Perumthachan, passed away at Thiruvananthapuram. Ajayan had directed the movie Perumthachan, scripted by MT Vasudevan Nair, in 1990.
1. International News
- UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has declared 2019 as the “Year of Tolerance”, highlighting the country as a global capital for tolerance.
- Sri Lanka’s disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from his post, signalling an end to nearly a two-month-long political crisis that has kept the island nation without a functional government.
- The German legislature voted Friday to include a third, neutral gender in addition to male and female on government forms
- India's monthly oil imports from Iran plunged to their lowest in a year in November with Tehran dropping two places to become only the sixth biggest supplier after New Delhi cut purchases due to the impact of US sanctions.
- Ministry of Power has launched the ECO Niwas Samhita 2018, an Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Buildings (ECBC-R).
- The government has constituted a seven-member panel to select managing directors of public sector insurance companies.
- Jammu and Kashmir has become the first state in the country to have a law banning sexual exploitation of women by those in positions of authority, having a fiduciary relationship or a public servant.
- Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal has dedicated India’s first railway university to the Nation in Vadodara.
- India’s first private Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drone manufacturing facility has been inaugurated in Hyderabad.
- Visakhapatnam is set to emerge as a major hub for manufacture of medical devices in the country, meeting the requirements of the domestic market as well as the export market, according to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
- Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep have been named as the 2018 International Tennis Federation (ITF) world champions by the governing body of global tennis.
- English writer, Amitav Ghosh has been announced as 2018’s Jnanpith Award winner for “outstanding contribution towards literature”.
- Jharkhand has been selected for "Krishi Karman" award in the rice category from the Union Ministry of Agriculture.
- Popular singers Shaan and Arijit Singh were handed over the ‘Sangeet Mahasamman’ award constituted by the West Bengal government at the inaugural session of the Bengal music and folk culture festival in Kolkata.
- Ashok Kumar Singh, Lok Sabha Secretariat Service, Additional Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat has assumed charge as Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).
1. Important Days
- National energy conservation day is celebrated every year by the people all over India on 14th of December.
- Akademik Lomonosov, the world's first "floating" nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas, has been started and brought to 10% of its capacity, Russian state-run atomic energy corporation Rosatom announced.
- The 39th Gulf Cooperation Council Summit was inaugurated by the King Salman of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. It was announced at the conclusion of the summit that the 40th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit will be held in the United Arab Emirates.
- Saudi Arabia and India signed on Thursday the bilateral agreement for the Haj of 2019. Minister of Haj and Umrah Muhammad Saleh Benten and India’s Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi inked the agreement at a ceremony held at the minister’s office in Jeddah.
Static Gk:
3. National News
- Russia Capital: Moscow
- Currency: Russian ruble.
- Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, announced setting up of a National Medical Devices Promotion Council under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
- Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) has partnered with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
- India's Minister of Defense Nirmala Sitharaman met with Russian Federation General Sergei Shoigu in New Delhi, marking the 18th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC).
- The government has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to vet the recommendations of a high-level panel on stressed power projects.
- A bench of the Delhi High Court of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice VK Rao has passed the interim order on a plea seeking a ban on "illegal" sale of drugs and medicines online.
- The Central Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been appointed for the post of Indian Film and Television Institute (FTII) on December 13, 2018 Brijendra Pal Singh.
- The state's start-up help As Green has been honored by the United Nations for contributing to clean the Ganga river Uttar Pradesh
- Recently, who took oath of office and secrecy as a member of the Union Public Service Commission Bharat Bhushan Vyas.
- India’ first private sector unit for manufacturing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) opened at Adani Aerospace Park in Hyderabad.
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $60 Million Loan Agreement in New Delhi.
- The government is considering additional capital infusion of up to Rs 30,000 crore in public sector banks as they have been unable to raise required funds from the markets.
- Reserve Bank of India has allowed Bandhan Bank to open as many as 40 more branches, first time after it put a restriction on the bank’s branch opening spree three months back.
- Amazon’s Indian arm signed an MoU with the Federation of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME).
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) has maintained its estimate of the percentage of India's economic growth in the current financial year 7.3%.
Static Gk:
5. Sports
- Bandhan Bank CEO: Chandra Shekhar Ghosh
- Headquartersm: Kolkata
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) has roped in Indian alcobev brand Royal Stag as official sponsor for the next five years.
Static Gk:
6. Awards and Honors
- ICC Chairperson: Shashank Manohar
- Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- CEO: Dave Richardson
- Jharkhand has been selected for Krishi Karman award in the rice category from the Union Ministry of Agriculture.
- Eight parliamentarians were honoured by Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu for their contribution in strengthening parliamentary democracy.
- Private steel major Tata Steel Limited said it has been declared as the winner of the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the ‘Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant’ in the country for 2016-17.
- A minor boy from a far-flung village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district has been selected for the National Bravery Award for exhibiting exemplary courage in saving his paternal uncle from a crocodile attack.
- BP Singh, the director-producer of popular television series ‘CID’, has been named the new president of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Society and Chairman of Governing Council.
- Yes Bank Ltd is likely to name independent director Brahm Dutt as the bank’s non-executive interim chairman after former finance secretary Ashok Chawla resigned from the position last month.
- The Congress declared that Ashok Gehlot will be the Rajasthan Chief Minister while state Congress chief Sachin Pilot will be his deputy.
1. Important Days
- The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on 2 February 2017, declaring 12 December as the International Day of Neutrality.
- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has not revised its forecast for global economic growth, and it remains at 3.7 per cent for 2018 and at 3.5 per cent for the next year.
- Sri Lanka’s former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe won the vote of confidence from a majority of Sri Lankan parliamentarians, including 14 from the opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA)
- Japan has chosen the symbol meaning "disaster" to define the year 2018. Television stations broadcast the announcement live as the master of an ancient temple in Kyoto wrote the winning term on a white panel.
- China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser.
- The Climate Change Performance Index was released on the sidelines of COP24 Un Summit in Katowice, Poland.
- The Meghalaya High Court asked the Centre to bring in a law to let people of religious and ethnic minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan to be given citizenship without any cut-off year.
- In Mizoram, the new government of Mizo National Front (MNF), headed by Mr Zoramthanga will be sworn in on Saturday.
- The Bombay High Court imposed Rs.1 lakh penalty on the State government for not coming up with a new building for the district and sessions court in Sangli.
- Congress picks Kamal Nath as the new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Kamal Nath is a nine-time Lok Sabha MP for Chhindwara.
- The Tamil Nadu State government has declared four districts, Nagapattinam, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur, as districts severely affected by Cyclone Gaja.
- The bank which has announced to open 40 new branches across the country till December 31, which will increase the number of its total branches to 978 Bandhan Bank.
- The Asian Development Bank retained India’s economic growth forecast at 7.3 per cent for the current fiscal and 7.6 per cent for 2019-20.
- Steel Authority of India's Hockey Academy beat Army XI Danapur to clinch the 115th All India Aga Khan Gold Cup hockey tournament held at Major Dhyan Chand hockey stadium in New Delhi.
- Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) announced to rebrand its Allan Border Medal to Australian Cricket Awards from 2019 onwards.
- Manika Batra won the 'Breakthrough Table Tennis Star' award at the prestigious International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Star Awards in Incheon, South Korea.
- Mary Kom honoured with Meethoileima title She was honored by Chief minister N.Biren Singh who also handed over a cheque of Ten lakh rupees.
- Congress party has chosen MP statue unit president Kamal Nath as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. He will replace outgoing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
- Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Telangana. for the second time. A few ministers will also swear-in on the occasion at a ceremonial programme to be held at the Raj Bhavan.
- In Mizoram, the new government of Mizo National Front (MNF), headed by Mr. Zoramthanga will be sworn in on 15th December.
- CAG has announced that Comptroller and Auditor General Rajiv Mehrishi has become the Vice-Chair of the UN Panel of Auditors.
- Manipal by Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to India and Bhutan, Tomasz Kozlowski. The award comes with a grant of €1,00,000 to pursue India-EU interdisciplinary studies in culture, literature, education and society.
- The United States is the only country to successfully operate a spacecraft on the Martian surface. InSight represents NASA's ninth attempt to put a spacecraft on Mars; only one effort failed.
- The name of NASA's space shuttle, which recently set the record for reaching the end of the solar system Voyager-2
1. Important Days
- Universal Health Coverage Day is celebrated annually on December 12 and is promoted by the World Health Organization.
- Akademik Lomonosov, the world’s first “floating” nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas, has been started and brought to 10 per cent of its capacity.
- Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached Janakpur to participate in the celebrations of ‘Shri Ram-Janaki Bibaha Panchami’ festival and offered prayers at the Janaki Mandir.
- Israel became a full member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body set up to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other threats to the international financial system.
- TRS secures majority, set for 2nd straight term in Telangana. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Tuesday won the 119-member Telangana Assembly elections and is set to secure a second straight term in the youngest state of India.
- The Congress has emerged as the single-largest party in Rajasthan, winning 99 seats, while the BJP got 73, the State Election Commission Office said Wednesday.
- Congress has secured the required majority in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly and will form the government in the state for the first time in 15 years.
- The first international conference on “Sexual Exploitation of Children in Digital Era” will be held in Kolkata on December 14-15 to spread awareness among people.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the fourth Partners’ Forum, an international conference organised to improve the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents, with about 1,500 participants from 85 countries.
- Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan resigning from the post. Governor Anandiben Patel has invited Congress leader Kamal Nath.
- The Delhi government launched a 10-day special drive to check whether minimum wage rules set by it are being followed in the national capital.
- Madhya Pradesh Assembly election 2018 (230-seat Assembly) declared by the Election Commission after 24 hours of counting, the Congress won 114 seats while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 109 seats.
- The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Indian Bank for violating cybersecurity norms.
- Route Mobile Limited (Route Mobile), a cloud-communication platform service provider and a member of Oracle Partner Network (OPN).
- Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched a portal ENSURE- National Livestock Mission-EDEG developed by NABARD.
- The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today signed in New Delhi a Loan Agreement for $31 million to build-up the State Tourism Industry and boost visitor arrivals.
- Jana Small Finance Bank in association with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has launched Jana Bankable Debit Card.
- Rookie Madhya Pradesh opener Ajay Rohera on Saturday etched his name in the record books by slamming the highest first-class score on debut, an unbeaten 267 against Hyderabad in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game here.
- Sascha Bajin, coach of the world number five Naomi Osaka, has become the first-ever recipient of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Coach of the Year Award.
- Manipur Government honored AIBA World Women Boxing Gold medalist MC Mary Kom with the title “Meethoileima” (par excellent queen) at a function in Imphal, Manipur.
- Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in October 2018 at his country’s Istanbul consulate, has been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” alongside several other journalists.
- India’s Gujarat got a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) award for women’s leadership with low cost and sustainable technology to tackle storms.
- Manika Batra became the first ever Indian table tennis player to be decorated with the ‘Breakthrough Table Tennis Star’ award at the prestigious ITTF Star Awards in Incheon, South Korea.
- The government has appointed Shaktikanta Das as the new RBI governor, a day after Urjit Patel resigned as RBI Governor. He is the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
- SWIFT India on Monday said it has appointed former SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya as the new Chairman of its board.
- Former Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian said both demonetisation and implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) led to moderation of the Indian Economy.
- Senior Congress leader and former Kerala minister CN Balakrishnan passed away in Kochi due to pneumonia.
1. Important Days
- The United Nations General Assembly designated 11 December “International Mountain Day” As of 2003, it has been observed every year to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life.
- Israel became a full member of the global financial watchdog on money laundering and terror financing after having previously been blacklisted by the organisation.
- India and China began the 7th round of their ‘Hand-in-Hand’ military drills in the Chinese city of Chengdu as part of the focussed efforts by the two militaries to improve ties after last year’s standoff at Doklam.
- India has handed over 50 housing units in the Rakhine province to Myanmar during President Ram Nath Kovind‘s maiden visit to the country.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Centre has decided to increase its contribution to the NPS for the central government employees to 14 per cent and also made the entire withdrawal amount tax free at the time of retirement.
- An international storytelling festival “BhuFeSto” was organised for the differently- abled children in Bhubaneswar where special storytelling sessions for children with visual and hearing disabilities was organised.
- The 24th district of Arunachal Pradesh Lepa Rada was formally inaugurated a day after Shi Yomi became a new district.
- The Tamil Nadu government launched a 24-hour helpline for women, among others, facing domestic violence and sexual harassment.
- A seven-member search committee headed by Justice Amitabh Ray has been constituted for the appointment of Lokayukta in the state.
- Economist Dr Surjit S Bhalla announced that he has resigned as a part-time member of EAC-PM (Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister).
- Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla evening submitted his resignation to Governor Kummanam Rajasekhar after the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of opposition Mizo National Front (MNF).
- Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh resigned taking moral responsibility for the BJP’s stunning defeat in Assembly election. He said that he had sent his resignation to Governor Anandiben Patel.
- A project to boost tourism in Tamil Nadu will be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the tune of $31 million (about Rs 222.84 crore). An agreement in this regard was signed between the government of India and ADB.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that it will implement an ‘Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions’ covering services provided by entities falling under Reserve Banks regulatory jurisdiction.
- Virat Kohli had to wait for seven long years to be part of a winning Test team in Australia. However, when he did so, he became the first-ever Indian captain to help the visitors take a 1-0 lead on an Australian tour.
- In the latest ICC cricket rankings, India Captain Virat Kohli maintains his top spot. Cheteshwar Pujara‘s knocks of 123 and 71 were the cornerstone of India’s victory in the opening Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
- Steel Authority of India’s Hockey Academy beat Army XI Danapur 2-1 to clinch the 115th All India Aga Khan Gold Cup hockey tournament.
- Slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is on the shortlist for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2018. Apart from Khashoggi, prominent world figures also feature in the list including United States President Donald Trump.
- Sascha Bajin, coach of the world number five Naomi Osaka, has become the first-ever recipient of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Coach of the Year Award.
- The Asian Academy Creative Awards (AAA’s) have been established to serve the creative industries as the pinnacle of their achievement in content creation and media production.
- Goa's Prathamesh Maulingkar has created history by becoming the first Asian/Indian to win Mister Supranational title in a competition held at Krynica-Zdroj, Poland.
- The government appointed former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das as the new RBI Governor, a day after Urjit Patel suddenly resigned.
- Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Wasim Khan, CEO of Leicenstershire County Cricket Club as the Managing Director of PCB.
- Ananth Narayanan Chief Executing Officer (CEO) of online Fashion Retailer Myntra which is a unit of Walmart Owned Flipkart has resigned from his post.
- Rashtriya Lok Samata Party(RLSP) president Upendra Kushwaha resigned from the Union council of ministers on account of seat sharing for 2019 elections.
- The indigenously built Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile Agni-5 has been test-fired successfully from Abdul Kalam island under Chandipur Interim Test Range.
- Scientists from the Fujian Normal University in China developed a “rewritable” paper that can be drawn or printed on over and over again by changing the temperature.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully concluded combined guided weapons firing of Surface-to-Air Missiles from the Air Force Station at Suryalanka in Andhra Pradesh, as part of a first-of-its-kind two-day exercise codenamed- CROSS BOW 18.
- Professor Mushirul Hasan, a renowned historian, and former vice-chancellor Jamia Millia of Islamia, passed away at the age of 71.
1. Important Days
- Human Rights Day is commemorated every year all over the world on 10 December. It was first announced to be celebrated every year by the United Nations General Assembly on 10th of December in the year 1948.
- China has launched a rover that will land on the far side of the moon, a global first that would boost Beijing’s ambitions to become a space superpower.
- Joint practice between 'IAF' and the country's air force 'X AVIIndra -2018' began in Jodhpur, Rajasthan Russia.
- The country which has recently imposed a penalty of 10 million euros (about Rs 81 crore) on Facebook Italy
- The board of Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) has approved a $400-million loan for a water sanitation project in Andhra Pradesh
- India is set to get its first underwater museum off the Puducherry coast, giving a boost to tourism in the Union territory.
- In order to promote sustainable policies for water management, India is organising the first international conference on ‘Sustainable Water Management’ on December 10-11 in Mohali
- Arunachal Pradesh got its 23rd district with the formal inauguration of Shi Yomi, carved out of the West Siang district.
- Russian Federation Navy (RuFN) ships Varyag, Admiral Panteleyev and Boris Butoma arrived in Visakhapatnam to participate in INDRA NAVY-18.
- A service-specific exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Russian Federation Aerospace Force (RFSAF) will commence at Air Force Station, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, from December 10 to 21.
- EX AVIAINDRA-2018 is the second in the series of bilateral joint exercise, which is planned in two phases between India and Russia.
- Union minister of state for human resource development Upendra Kushwaha, resigned from the Union Council of Ministers. The Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief is likely to quit the BJP-led NDA alliance.
- The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) passed a slew of relaxations for start-ups in sectors like e-commerce, data analytics and bio-technology to raise funds and list them on stock exchanges.
- India’s Current Account Deficit (CAD) widened to 2.9 per cent of the GDP in the second quarter of the fiscal compared to 1.1 per cent in the year-ago period, mainly due to a large trade deficit, the RBI said.
- The chief executive officer of Myntra, a unit of Walmart Inc-owned Flipkart. Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan‘s position will be abolished as Flipkart’s Amar Nagaram is set to head the unit.
- India has won the first match of any Test series in Australia by defeating the number of runs defeated by Australia in Adelaide 31 runs
- Khelo India Youth Games-2019 will be held in Pune of Maharashtra. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore said, nine thousand youth will participate in this edition of the game.
- Eminent industrialist Ratan N. Tata was conferred the Steel Users Federation of India (SUFI) Lifetime Achievement Award for his association and contribution to the industry.
- Sahitya Akademi Award – Shri Shyam Sundar Besra, Chief Inspector of Ticket [Novel “Marom” in Santhali language]
- SWIFT India Domestic Services, the local unit of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) global that facilitates international payments functions for banks, has appointed Arundhati Bhattacharya
- Former Colombian president Belisario Betancur, who steered his country through one of its most turbulent periods in the 1980s, passed away.
- Public Relations Officer (PRO) in the prime minister’s office and senior journalist Jagdish Thakkar passed away in New Delhi.
- Historian Mushirul Hasan, who has extensively written on India’s Partition, passed away on 10 December. He was 69 years old.
1. International News
- According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety, India tops in road deaths with 1.51 lakh road deaths in 2016 and globally the toll of road deaths increased from 1.25 million to 1.35 in a span of three years.
- Two day 175th Meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC) Conference & one day 5th OPEC and Non OPEC Ministerial Meeting concluded in Vienna, Austria.
- Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, launched the Dubai Audio Library, the largest Arabic audio library in the world.
- Women are paid the most unequally in India, compared to men, when it comes to hourly wages for labour. On average, women are paid 34 per cent less than men, a recent report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found.
- India continue to have the dubious distinction of registering the highest number of road fatalities across the globe. According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety.
- Union Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Kannur international airport making Kerala the only state in the country to have four international airports.
- The 18th All India Annual Conference of the Heads of Science Centre’s and Museums began at Itanagar. Inaugurating the three-day conference, Arunachal Pradesh Environment and Forest Minister Nabam Rebia .
- India is expected to receive a total remittance of $80 billion in 2018, said the latest edition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief.
- Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) announced extension of credit facility of USD 500 million to Tanzania for water supply projects in the country.
- India retain its position as the world’s top recipient of remittances this year with its diaspora sending $80 billion back home.India is followed by China ($67 billion), Mexico and the Philippines ($34 billion each) and Egypt ($26 billion).
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to 2.9% of the GDP in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal, against 1.1% in the year-ago period, mainly due to a large trade deficit.
- Australia surpassed Qatar to become the world’s leading exporter of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) for the first time.
- Rookie Madhya Pradesh opener Ajay Rohera etched his name in the record books by slamming the highest first-class score on debut, an unbeaten 267 against Hyderabad in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game in Indore.
- Australian batsman Shaun Marsh broke an unwanted 130-year-old record in Australian cricket when he ended up gifting his wicket for just 2 runs to Ravichandran Ashwin on Day 2 of the first Test between Indian and Australia in Adelaide.
- Vanessa Ponce de Leon of Mexico was crowned as Miss World 2018 by outgoing queen Manushi Chhillar in the coastal city of Sanya, China.
- Goa’s Prathamesh Maulingkar has become the first Indian to win the title of Mister Supranational. The 27-year-old defeated over 30 other contestants from all over the world in the final round to win the 2018.
1. International News
- External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj participated in the two day 12th session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) for Economic and Technical Cooperation in Abu Dhabi.
- According to Oxford Economics report, the top 10 fastest growing cities in the world from 2019 to 2035 are in India. Gujarat’s Surat tops the list followed by Uttar Pradesh’s Agra.
- India has signed an agreement with Iran to pay for crude oil it imports from the Persian Gulf nation in rupees.
- The Strategic Central American Nation, Panama became the first Latin American Country to join China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative after the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Panama.
- The three-day Military Literature Festival (MLF) 2018, kick-started in Chandigarh. The festival is a joint initiative of military historian and Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore.
- Surat, renowned as a diamond processing and trading hub in Gujarat, would be the world’s fastest growing city in the 2019-35 period.
- Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act, 1951 Cabinet approved Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 to double agri exports.
- Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister laid the Foundation stone of Pusa Kisan Haat in Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR).
- The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has approved India’s proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023.
- India has signed an agreement with Iran to pay for crude oil it imports from the Persian Gulf nation in rupees.
- The government has extended the last date of filing annual Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns by three months till March 31, 2019.
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) has entered into an arrangement with the World Bank to put in place a single framework that will make co-financed projects more efficient.
- Shubhankar Sharma emerged as the 2018 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion following a dream season which saw him achieve many milestones and rewrite many Indian records.
- Golf in India took a major step towards the next level with the successful staging of the U.S. Kids Golf India Tours first event at the Jack Nicklaus designed Classic Golf and Country Club in Gurugram.
- Italy won the Ninth edition of International Admiral’s Cup Regatta 2018 with their consistent performance in all races held in Ettikulam Beach at Indian Naval Academy (INA), Ezhimala.
- Glasgow based artist and film maker Charlotte Prodger won the 2018 Turner Award, Britain’s prestigious contemporary art award, at Tate Britain in London, UK.
- Rattan Lal, has won the Glinka World Soil Prize 2018 in a ceremony at the Rome headquarters of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
- Actress Janhvi Kapoor will be awarded ‘Arets Stjerneskudd’ rising talent of the year by the Norwegian Consulate General in Mumbai.
- Maulana Asrar-ul-Haque Qasmi, noted Islamic scholar and Congress Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Kishanganj constituency, passed away.
1. Important Days
- International Civil Aviation Day is annually observed December 7 to raise awareness of the importance of international civil aviation and the role that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
- Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched the largest Arabic audio library in the world.
- Luxembourg is set to become the first country in the world to make all its public transport free. Fares on trains, trams and buses will be lifted next summer under the plans of the re-elected coalition government led by Xavier Bettel.
- Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, arrived in India on an eight-day visit to the country.
- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the implementation of the Shahpurkandi Dam Project, Punjab on river Ravi.
- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 with an aim to double farmers’ income by 2022.
- The government said it has given its nod to develop a Rs 156 crore freight village in Varanasi adjoining the inland waterways terminal on river Ganga that will boost the logistics industry in the holy city.
- Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has extended a credit facility of USD 500 million (about Rs 3,542 crore) to Tanzania for water supply projects in the African country.
- In a bid to further cement its position in the global music space, Apple has reportedly acquired London-based creative services and music start-up Platoon for an undisclosed sum.
- Media consumption in India grew at an annual per capita rate of 9 per cent over the last six years, far outpacing the US and China in this regard, according to a joint report released by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
- India’s National Academy of Letters, Sahitya Akademi has announced the names of prestigious annual Sahitya Akademi Awards for litterateurs 2018 in 24 languages.
- Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has been honoured by Harvard University for her global work promoting girls education.
- The Hungarian capital city of Budapest was awarded the IAAF World Athletics Championships in 2023 at the IAAF Council in Monaco.
- Prominent Indian-origin lawyer Shamila Batohi has been appointed to head South Africa’s prosecuting authority, the first woman to head the agency.
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian as the new Chief Economic Advisor (CEA).
1. International News
- German firm BigRep claims it has produced the world’s first fully functioning e-motorbike NERA using a 3D printer. The NERA has “groundbreaking features like airless tires, embedded electronics, and forkless steering,”.
- The UAE now has the world’s most powerful passport, achieving the top ranking in an achievement hailed as a tribute to the legacy of the Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, and the country’s diplomacy.
- The number of patents granted by India shot up by 50 % in 2017, keeping up a trend of steep increases, according to the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
- In an attempt to tackle smuggling, the Central government has approved Anti-Smuggling National Coordination Centre (SCord) under the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
- The Centre approved additional assistance of Rs 3,719.07 crore to Kerala, Nagaland and Andhra Pradesh that were affected by floods, landslides and cyclone over the past few months.
- The commerce and industry ministry is organising a day-long startup India centre capital summit in Goa with an aim to attract global capital into the country. The theme of the summit is ‘Mobilizing Global Capital for Innovation in India.’
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has entered into an arrangement with the World Bank to put in place a single framework that will make co-financed projects more efficient.
- India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, accounting for 7 per cent of global emissions in 2017, a study by the Global Carbon Project released recently.
- The Indian Coast Guard has conducted the Regional Level Marine Oil Pollution Response Exercise titled ‘Clean Sea – 2018’ at sea off Port Blair.
- To bring transparency to cash transactions, the Pune district court administration is starting an e-payment facility in the Shivajinager district and sessions court.
- In a bid to transform rural Maharashtra, Chief MinisterM Devendra Fadnavis has launched a unique initiative called “SMART”, which stands for State of Maharashtra’s Agribusiness and Rural Transformation.
- The Delhi government launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’ which offers free travel packages on five religious circuits for senior citizens from the national capital.
- The Uttarakhand Government constituted a four-member committee under tourism minister Satpal Maharaj to probe complaints related to the film ‘Kedarnath’.
- Nagaland became the first state in the Northeast and second in the country, after Himachal Pradesh, to launch a pan-India single-number emergency mobile application which will have a special women safety feature for immediate assistance from police and volunteers.
- Leading Investment Bank Axis Capital said its MD & CEO Dharmesh Mehta has stepped down. The bank also said it has elevated Salil Pitale and Chirag Negandhi as Joint Managing Directors and Co-Chief Executive Officer.
- Fitch Ratings slashed India’s GDP growth forecast to 7.2 per cent for current fiscal, from 7.8 per cent projected in September, citing higher financing cost and reduced credit availability.
- Kenya’s marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and Colombian jumper Caterine Ibarguen were honoured as IAAF athletes of the year at athletics’ annual awards ceremony in Monaco.
- Breaking an 82-year-old record, Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah became the fastest bowler in the world to reach the milestone of scalping 200 Test wickets.
- Centenarian lexicographer G. Venkatasubbaiah has been chosen for the Sahitya Akademi’s Bhasha Samman for South (2017).
- Rattan Lal, a distinguished university professor of soil science at the Ohio State University, has won the Glinka World Soil Prize 2018.
- The Government announced that Atul Sahai will be appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of New India Assurance (NIA) for a five year period.
- Seven-time former national champion swimmer Arun Kumar Shaw passed away following a prolonged illness. He was 82. He was the first swimmer from Bengal to receive the Arjuna Award in 1967.
- Noted agriculturalist Jayaraman, who pioneered the protection and propagation of indigenous paddy varieties in Tamilnadu, passed away in Chennai.
1. Important Days
- World Soil Day is celebrated annually on the 5th of December at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome.
- External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj inaugurated the Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum here on Tuesday along with Foreign Minister of UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
- President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Myanmar from December 10 to 14 during which he will hold talks with his counterpart U Win Myint and state counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, an official statement
- The country which has announced greater attention from the Organization-OPEC of Petroleum Exporting Countries to separate from January 2019 and to increase natural gas production Qatar
- India and UAE have signed an agreement on Currency Swap. The two countries also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Development Cooperation in Africa.
- The two-day conference on the partnership between the European Union and India for Cultural Heritage Conservation commenced in New Delhi.
- Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated India Water Impact Summit 2018.
- Ministry of Railways’ National Rail Museum (NRM) and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum join hands together to provide an amazing combo offer to Delhi NCR tourists.
- The Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) held a bilateral air exercise SHINYUU Maitri-18 with Indian Air Force at A F Station Agra.
- The Reserve Bank of India has kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.5%. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed down to 7.1% year-on-year.
- Government of India and ADB have signed a loan of $ 85 million for improving the Skill Development Environment System in this eastern coast state of India Odisha.
- The Central Government recently signed a loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank for the Odisha Skill Development Project $ 85 million
- The country whose all-rounder and former captain Mohammad Hafeez announced his retirement from Test cricket on December 04, 2018 Pakistan
- Badminton fans will witness 248 shuttlers from 13 countries as they battle it out for one of the most exciting and contested titles, the 11th edition of Tata Open India International Challenge 2018 (Tata Open).
- State Bank of India has roped in Asian Games gold medalist Swapna Barman as brand ambassador for its digital app YONO. The bank's digital platform that makes both lifestyle and banking available through a single app
- Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is the richest Indian celebrity, according to the 2018 Forbes India Celebrity 100 list. which he has topped for the third consecutive year.
- Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli jumped one spot to the second rank, with total earnings of Rs 228.09 crore, a sharp increase of 116.53 percent from the previous year.
- SpaceX successfully launched 64 small satellites, including India’s ExseedSAT-1 in the company’s largest-ever “rideshare” mission on a twice-reused Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off from a California launchpad.
- India’s heaviest, largest and most powerful satellite GSAT-11 was successfully launched by an Arianespace rocket from the French Guiana.
- Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff, released a book titled ‘Blue Waters Ahoy!’ – chronicling the Indian Navy’s History from 2001-10.
1. Important Days
- Navy Day is being celebrated in India on 4th December. The day is celebrated in honor of the maritime force’s role during the war with Pakistan in 1971.
- Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took the oath of office Saturday as Mexico’s first leftist president in over 70 years, marking a turning point in one of the world’s most radical experiments in opening markets and privatization.
- G20 summit: India holds first trilateral meeting with US and Japan, Modi names partnership ‘JAI’.
- India & UAE for the first time will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up projects in third countries beginning with Ethiopia during Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj's ongoing visit to the Gulf country.
- Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced a pan-India single-number emergency mobile app '112 India' and stated that it will have a special women safety feature 'SHOUT'.
- Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik launched the ambitious "Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)" scheme.
- Nagaland became the first state in the Northeast and second in the country, after Himachal Pradesh. To launch a pan-India single-number (112) emergency mobile application which will have a special women safety.
- The Economic Development Board (EDB), the investment promotion arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain signed a MoU with the Maharashtra Government.
- The European Central Bank launched a new system aimed at letting banks settle payments instantly across Europe, helping them to compete with PayPal and other global tech giants.
- WhatsApp Chief has written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), seeking a formal nod to expand payments services to all its 200 million users in India.
- The World Bank on Monday unveiled USD 200 billion in climate action investment for 2021-25, adding this amounts to a doubling of its current five-year funding.
- The Reserve Bank of India Saturday said it has approved merger of SBM (Mauritius), India with SBM Bank (India).
- Former India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, saying his time to continue with the game was over.
- Ullas Narayan became the first ever Indian individual medal winner in an international ultra running event by clinching a bronze in the 2018 International Association of Ultra Running (IAU) 24 Hour Asia & Oceania Championships in Taipei.
- Delhi Daredevils were on Tuesday renamed Delhi Capitals and the announcement was made in a function in the capital by owners GMR Group and JSW Sports.
- Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric won Ballon d’Or 2018 in Paris. In the process, he broke the decade-long duopoly over the award held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
- Delhi Minister of Food Supplies, Environment and Forest and Elections Imran Hussain was awarded by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)-India.
- The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced the appointment of Jon Ridgeon as its new CEO.
- Private sector lender Yes Bank Ltd appointed former IRDAI chief T.S. Vijayan as an additional director (Independent) for five years with immediate effect.
- 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).
- Ajay Narayan Jha, the Secretary of Department of Expenditure, has been appointed as new Finance Secretary to succeed Hasmukh Adhia who retired on November 30.
1. Important Days
- Every year, 3rd December is celebrated as International Day of Disabled Persons. The global observance, promoted by the United Nations since 1992.
- World Computer Literacy Day was launched by Indian computer company National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) to mark its 20th anniversary in 2001. It occurs annually on 2 December.
- UN climate change conference (COP24) opened in the Polish city of Katowice on December 3 with the goal of finalising the implementation guidelines for the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
- Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi announced that Qatar will withdraw from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in January 2019.
- Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated Global Agriculture and Food Summit 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
- The Indian Navy will conduct a large-scale coastal defence exercise next month to test the robustness of the entire coastal security apparatus.
- The Uttar Pradesh and Nepal governments will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to declare Ayodhya and Janakpur as twin cities.
- The Delhi government launched a common mobility card with a tagline of ‘One Delhi One Ride’ which would enable city commuters to access Metro and bus services with a single card at a 10 per cent discount.
- The Reserve Bank of India said it has approved merger of SBM (Mauritius), India with SBM Bank (India). The Reserve Bank of India has sanctioned the Scheme of amalgamation of the entire undertaking of SBM Bank (Mauritius) Limited.
- FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) announced that its board has approved the merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India).
- The World Bank said the move represented a "significantly ramped up ambition" to tackle climate change, "sending an important signal to the wider global community to do the same."
- Moody’s Investors Service’s annual Banking System Outlook on India estimated the country’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the current financial year and next fiscal to grow at 7.2 per cent and 7.4 per cent, respectively.
- The number of smartphone users is expected to double to 829 million by 2022 from 404.1 million in 2017, projects a new Cisco report.
- The Odisha government signed a loan agreement of $85 million with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to train 1.5 lakh youths in the state.
- Atlawim Debebe of Ethiopia won the Full Marathon with the timing of 2 hours 17 minutes 17 seconds. Teshome Getachew claimed second and Bekele Asefa third position.
- In Badminton, Lakshya Sen stormed into the finals of the men’s singles of the 11th Tata Open India International Challenge in Mumbai.
- NATHEALTH has announced the appointment of Siddhartha Bhattacharya as Secretary-General. In his new role, Siddhartha will lead the organization and work with key partners in realizing NATHEALTH's.
- State-owned Bank of Maharashtra announced that AS Rajeev has joined the lender as its managing director and chief executive officer. Prior to this, he was executive director of Indian Bank.
- Leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been sworn in as the new Mexican President following his landslide victory in the July 2018 presidential election.
- Expenditure Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha was appointed the new Finance Secretary. Jha, a 1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre, succeeds Hasmukh Adhia who retired on November 30.
Static Gk:
- Mexico Capital: Mexico City
- Currency: Mexican peso.
- Bank of Maharashtra Headquarters: Pune.
- Founded: 1935.
1. International News
- Based on the results of a popular vote, Cambridge Dictionary has named“nomophobia”, the “fear or worry at the idea of being without your mobile phone or unable to use it” as word of the year.
- India took over the chairmanship of Kimberley Process from EU during the four-day 15th Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) Plenary 2018, that was held in Brussels, Belgium, from 12th-16th November 2018.
- A report by UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund ) which was released ahead of AIDS day estimated that 1,20,000 children and adolescents aged 0-19 were living with HIV in India in 2017, the highest number in South Asia.
- Australia became the first country in the world to criminalize the act of falsely inducing children into orphanages as a form of slavery.
- The UK government amended the Offensive Weapons Bill 2018 to ensure right to possession of kirpans by Sikhs.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed that India will host the G20 summit in the year 2022 when the country will complete 75 years of independence.
- External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj and the Foreign Minister of Mozambique Jose Condungua Antonio Pacheco co-chaired the 4th India-Mozambique Joint Commission meeting in New Delhi.
- India’s first international indigenous film festival will take place in February next year in Odisha. An initiative of activist film collective Video Republic, that has been campaigning for indigenous communities in the State.
- Indian Railways unveiled ‘eDrishti’ software that will help Union Railway Minister to keep track of punctuality of trains as well as freight and passenger earnings and much more from anywhere in the country.
- The India Health Summit, organized by the Confederation Of Indian Industry will take place at the Le Meridien in New Delhi.
- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched a media campaign calling for the elimination of industrially produced trans-fat in the food supply.
- The RBI said NSFR norms that mandate banks to maintain a stable funding profile in relation to the composition of their assets and off-balance sheet activities will be operational from April 2020.
- India has the fastest growing online retail market among top global economies. The country’s online retail market witnessed a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 53% for the period 2013 to 2017.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) code mandatory for all market transactions regulated by the central bank.
- Reserve Bank of India increased the interest subsidy, called the Interest Equalisation rate, to 5 per cent from 3 per cent on post and pre-shipment export credit for MSME sector.
- Central Statistics Office (CSO) released a report showing that Indian Economy grew at 7.1 per cent in the second quarter (July-September) of 2018-19 which is lower than the first quarter in which GDP growth was 8.1 per cent.
- 22 Years old Australian Golfer, Minjee Lee became the first woman to win prestigious Greg Norman Medal as the best Australian golfer on the international stage after her brilliant performance in 2018.
- Barcelona striker Lionel Messi surpassed his long rival Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal after scoring his 106th Goal against PSV Eindhoven to reclaim the Champions League Record of having the most goals for a club.
- Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris, France revoked the honour of Freedom of Paris Award from the Myanmar Leader Aung San Suu Kyi due to failure on Myanmar’s Rohingya minority issue.
- Four Indian-origin women have been named by Forbes among America’s top 50 female technology moguls, a list that includes tech heavyweights IBM CEO Ginni Rometty and Netflix executive Anne Aaron.
Static Gk:
6. Appointments and Resignations
- Forbes Editor in chief: Steve Forbes
- Country: United States
- Founder: B.C. Forbes and Walter Drey.
- UIDAI(Unique Identification Authority of India) CEO Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey took over as the Revenue Secretary in the Finance Ministry after Hasmukh Adhia retires.
- 66 Years old Salome Zurabishvili has won Georgia’s presidential election, becoming the first woman to hold the office in the country. She will take oath for the office on 16th December 2018.
- Unilever’s Chief Executive Paul Polman will step down next month after ten years in the job. The Anglo-Dutch group was forced to ditch a controversial post-Brexit plan to move its headquarters from London to the Rotterdam, Netherlands.
- With promises of uprooting corruption, poverty and violence in the country, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was sworn in as the President of Mexico for a term of six years.
- Bollywood singer Mohammed Aziz passed away at 64. Born in Ashoknagar, West Bengal, he was famous for the evergreen tracks such as “My name is Lakhan”, “Aap ke aa jane se” and “Dil le gayi teri bindiya”.
1. Important Days
- World AIDS Day is observed on December 1 every year. The day is dedicated to spreading awareness about the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
- Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has appealed the people of the country to participate in the Armed Forces Week 2018 which is beginning from 1 December and will conclude on 7 December.
- On December 1, 2018, the Border Security Force, BSF along with Pakistan and Bangladesh celebrated its 54th Raising Day.
- Australia has become the first country in the world to recognise so-called orphanage trafficking as a form of modern-day slavery.
- The 3rd ASEAN – India Business Summit (AIBS), conclave organized under the aegis of Ministry of International Trade and Industries conducted its annual achievements awards ceremony at the St. Regis Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Microsoft has overtaken Apple in market cap value for the first time in eight years. Microsoft briefly reached a market cap value of $812.93 billion, followed by Apple at a market cap of $812.60 billion.
- The European Union sets a goal to become the first major economy to be ‘Climate Neural’ by 2050 after that the emissions of greenhouse gases needs to be offset by planting trees or burying the gases underground.
Static Gk:
3. National News
- ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Secretary-General: Lim Jock Hoi
- Headquarters: Jakarta, Indonesia.
- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be the Chief Guest at the 2019 Republic Day celebration in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs said.
- The Asia Pacific Summit-2018 began in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The theme of two-day Summit is “Addressing the Critical Challenges of Our Time: Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity, and Universal Values”.
- In Nagaland, the 19th edition of the Hornbill Festival 2018 began with a colourful extravaganza of music and dance. Inaugurating the opening ceremony, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
- Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced a pan-India single-number “112” under an emergency mobile app. It will have a special women safety feature to get immediate assistance from police and volunteers.
- The Indian Owl Festival, the country’s first owl fest, will be held at Pingori village in Purandar taluka of Pune from November 29. The two-day festival, organised by Ela Foundation.
- The Reserve Bank of India in a move to make more liquidity available to Non-Banking finance firms (NBFCs), has issued a circular to relax the secularization norms by relaxing the Minimum Holding Period (MHP) requirement.
- National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said that Indian economy is projected to grow at 7-7.4 % in the current fiscal citing comfortable agricultural sector outlook and a marked improvement in the external sector.
- Consultancy firm Bain & Company’s latest report states that, India has the fastest growing online retail market among top global economies.
- Vinesh Phogat announced her return from injury after a successful day out by grabbing the 57 kilogram title while Sakshi Malik emerged the champion in the 62 kg on the second day of the Tata Motors Senior Womens National Championship in Gond, U.P.
- The city of Paris will strip Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary freedom of the Paris award over her failure to speak out against a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.
- India’s Olympic and world champion shooter Abhinav Bindra has been conferred the sport’s highest honour for his outstanding services as the chairman of the International Shooting Sport Federation’s Athletes Committee.
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added Jamaican reggae, Georgian wrestling and Japanese raiho-shin rituals as among the new elements to its list of “intangible heritage”
Static Gk:
7. Appointments and Resignations
- Singapore Capital: Singapore City
- Currency: Singapore dollar
- Indian Navy Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS): Admiral Sunil Lamba
- Indian Navy Headquarters: New Delhi
- Raninder Singh has become the first Indian to be elected one of the four vice-presidents of the International Shooting Sport Federation. The 51-year-old Raninder also heads the National Rifle Association of India.
- The National Green Tribunal has appointed former Uttarakhand High Court judge, Justice U C Dhyani, as head of the three-member committee to oversee rejuvenation work of the Ganga river.
- The 41st President of the United States of America, George H W Bush, passed away on November 30.