Current Affairs - December 15, 2017 Current Affairs

Madhya Pradesh State Government has approved Rs 7546-crore project for linking Narmada River with Parvati River. This project aims to create irrigation facilities on two lakh hectares of agriculture land in Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. The project is to be implemented in four phases, wherein each phase will create irrigation facilities on at least 50000 hectares of agricultural land.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has unveiled a new multi-coloured logo for the Kumbh Mela that is scheduled to be held in Allahabad in January 2019. The logo, which comprises temples, seers, a Kalash (pitcher) and a 'Swastika', was launched by the governor at a function in the Raj Bhawan here last evening. He launched the Kumbh's tagline "Chalo Kumbh Chalo-Chalo, Kumbh Chalo".

Telangana government under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is gearing up for the five- day long mega literary festival of World Telugu Conference beginning from tomorrow. For the first time after the bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, the international convection is being organized at Hyderabad. Around 8,000 delegates and 250 cultural organizations across the globe would be participating in the five-day long Conference at LB Stadium. The amount of Rs 50 crore has already been sanctioned by the Telangana government.

The Eleventh World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC11) took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Conference was chaired by Minister Susana Malcorra of Argentina. Indian Delegation was led by Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu.

25 'Europen Union' nations signed the landmark PESCO pact to establish closer defence ties. The projects is seen as a major step towards establishing the 'Eurpoean Defence Union'. This was followed by the announcement for setting up a 5.5-billion euro European Defence Fund. Currently, the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) has been signed. Currently, Britain, Denmark, Malta & Ireland are the only EU members who haven't taken up the deal.

Russia and Egypt have signed an agreement for state-owned Rosatom to construct Egypt's first nuclear plant. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Egypt and Russia signed a contract which commences the construction of the Dabaa nuclear power plant in Marsa Matrouh.

The Kerala Government is organising a Petrochemical Investor Meet 18 at Crowne Plaza to highlight the opportunities being opened up by the new Petrochemical Park. The objective of setting up the park is to assist downstream units that can utilize the niche petrochemical products from BPCL Kochi Refinery for manufacturing number of products like adhesives, plasticisers, water based chemicals, sealants etc.

Sri Lanka became the 163rd nation to accede to the anti-personnel mine ban convention. Sri Lanka's Permanent Mission to the UN Rohan Perera deposited the Instrument of Accession to the Convention of the Prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction. It prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines. Sri Lanka, in March 2016, had pledged that it will be acceding to the convention to become the 163rd state of the Convention.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling brought a touch of magic to Buckingham Palace as she was made a Companion of Honour. She received the prestigious award from Prince William as recognition of her services to literature and philanthropy.

The National Institute of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission launched the Atal Tinkering Lab's Community Day in New Delhi. The day marks Community Drive Initiative in which 25 young Mentors engaged with more than 200 students who are not enrolled in the formal education system. The initiative is aimed at maximizing impact of Atal Tinkering Labs by extending innovation to children in the community who do not have access to formal educational institutions.

World youth champion Sachin Siwach was named the Asian Boxing Confederation's best youth boxer of the year 2017 after winning an online poll conducted by the continental body. Siwach polled 36.2 % votes in this category. Siwach claimed the Asian youth championships silver this year besides a gold at the Youth Commonwealth Games. India also fetched the Best Asian International Technical Official (ITO) award with Lenny D'Gama winning the online poll. D'Gama polled 45.5%.

As per Forbes, Michael Jordan named as the highest-paid athletes of all time. The 54-year-old has a whopping $1.7 billion in the bank. Former world number one golfer Tiger Woods is standing at the second spot. Late America golfer Arnold Palmer is at No.3 with incredible $1.4 billion to his name.

Yes Bank has collaborated with advisory services firm, Pantomath Advisory to develop a Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) ecosystem focused on Maharashtra and Gujarat. Yes Bank is following 'Alliances, Relationships & Technology (ART)' approach to digital banking and is thereby entering into partnership with financial technology (Fintech) firms to offer unique financial solutions to its customers. This collaboration with Pantomath Advisory is also a part of this approach and aims to enable better access to capital, knowledge and skills for helping MSMEs to scale up their businesses.

Norway became the world's first country to shut down national broadcasts of its FM network by completing its transition to digital radio. The transition will allow for better sound quality, a greater number of channels and more functions, at a cost eight times lower than FM radio. The transition concerns only national radio channels.

In an apparent move to rebuild its presence in China, Google announced that it will open a research lab focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Beijing, China. It will be its first such centre in Asia. The "Google AI China Centre" will join the other AI research groups that the company has in other parts of the world, including in New York, Toronto, London and Zurich. The main Focused on basic AI research, the lab will consist of a team of AI researchers in Beijing, supported by the company's engineering teams.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) 90th Annual General Meeting at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Rashesh Shah, the Chairman & CEO of Edelweiss Group took charge as FICCI President. The theme for this year's AGM is 'Indian Business in a New India'. Highlights of PM Modi's address: Over 5 crore toilets were built in the last three years. There have been 3 crore new entrepreneurs in the last three years.

14th Inclusive Finance India Summit began in New Delhi on December 11, 2017. This summit is being held with an objective to deliberate upon strategies for achieving universal financial inclusion in India. The two-day 14th Inclusive Finance India Summit is divided into 17 sessions. 90 leaders from across the world will be attending this event. It will offer a platform to leaders and industry experts to debate and discuss the challenges and issues faced in furthering financial inclusion in India.