Current Affairs - December 1, 2018 Current Affairs

India's Olympic gold medal-winning shooter Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to be honoured with the Blue Cross by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) for his contribution to the sport of shooting. The Blue Cross is the highest laurel for shooters given by the ISSF. Bindra won an Olympic gold (2008), a World Championship gold (2006), 7 CWG medals and 3 Asian Games medals.

Renowned flautist Pandit Keshav Ginde has been selected as the recipient of 2018 Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Lifetime Achievement Award for Classical Music. In 1984, Pt. Ginde invented and played his creative innovation, the 'Keshav Venu' flute, a 42-inch long flute which can produce 3.5 octaves compared to the maximum 2.5 octaves by regular flutes. This unique flute has been preserved by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in its national archives. The flute has also been recognized by the Limca Book of Records as the only flute that can produce 3.5 octaves.

India's 13-year-old shooter Esha Singh won the Women's, Youth Women's and Junior Women's 10m Air Pistol competitions at the National Shooting Championship at Thiruvananthapuram. She beat Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu to win three gold medals in women's air pistol events at the 62nd National Shooting Championships. The Telangana shooter prodigy shot 241.0 in the women's final to leave behind Bhaker, who finished second with 238.9. Heena Sidhu finished 6th with a score of 154.9.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 19th Hornbill Festival in Nagaland on 55th Nagaland Statehood Day. In 1963, Nagaland attains its statehood and was declared as the 16th state of the Indian Union, by Dr. Sarvapelli Radhakrishnana, the then President of India. The fest aims to display the rich traditions and the vibrant culture of Nagaland through colourful performances, crafts, sports, food fairs, games, and ceremonies. US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster was invited as the guest of honour.

Australia has become the first country in the world to recognise 'orphanage trafficking' as a form of modern slavery. Children from smaller countries are recruited in orphanages in the West for the purpose of profit through foreign aid. According to the US State Department, "many orphanages use the children to raise funds by forcing them to perform shows for or interact and play with potential donors to encourage more donations". As per estimates, 80% of children living in the world's orphanages have at least one living parent.

Supported by ICAO, IATA, ACI and CANSO, the 1st Global Aviation Summit will be held on January 15 and 16, 2019 at The Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. It aims to focus on the celebration of 'Flying for All' and to provide a platform to the aviation fraternity to highlight the challenges of the sector in the newly-developing growth spots.

K Krishnankutty sworn in as the new Water Resources Minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet of Kerala. He replaced Matthew T. Thomas who resigned from the position. He replaced Matthew T. Thomas who resigned from the position. He was previously elected to the Kerala Assembly in 1980, 1982 and 1991.

Delhi University has been ranked A+ in the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) review held in the last week of October. The grading provided by the council is crucial for funds and grants allotted to a university by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The grading provided by the council is crucial for funds and grants allotted to a varsity by UGC. Last year, the Jawaharlal Nehru University was ranked A++ in the NAAC review. DU got a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.28. The CGPA for A++ accreditation is between 3.51 to 4.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga organised a two-day international workshop on 'Developing a Ganga Museum Concept: Exchanging Experiences and Ideas between India and Europe' in Delhi. Experts from India and the European Union met and discussed various aspects of the proposed museum. Director General of NMGC, RR Mishra stated that the museum will be part of Namami Gange Programme.

The 3rd ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) India Business Summit was organised by the ASEAN India Business Council (AIBC) Malaysian Chapter in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Summit consisted of 3 events: ASEAN India Business Conference, ASEAN India Business Excellence Awards and Gala Dinner. It was organized under the guidance of Ministry of International Trade and Industries. The award ceremony was presided by the Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry YB Datuk Ignatius Darell Leiking.

The first ever India Indonesia Business forum (IIBF) was held at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The forum was held as part of policies of Delhi and Jakarta to extend their strategic partnership in the Indo-Pacific Region including Indian Ocean Region. It aimed to improve the commercial and people to people linkages between Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India with Aceh and North Sumatera Province of Indonesia. Members of Andaman Chamber of Commerce and officials of Andaman and Nicobar Administration also participated.

US President Donald Trump, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau signed the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). US President Donald Trump, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau signed the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The India Rivers Week (IRW) 2018, a unique meeting on rivers in India was held at the World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF), New Delhi, from November 24 to 26, 2018. The focus of this year's three-day meet was 'Can India Rejuvenate Ganga?' The meeting this year took stock of the current progress on the rejuvenation of the Ganga, the appropriateness or effectiveness of the current road map and on developing a plan for the future that needs to be adopted if the Ganga is ever to be restored to its original state. The meeting this year took stock of the current progress on the rejuvenation of the Ganga, the appropriateness or effectiveness of the current road map and on developing a plan for the future that needs to be adopted if the Ganga is ever to be restored to its original state.

The 41st President of the US, George HW Bush has passed away on at the age of 94.

Salome Zurabishvili, a French-born Georgian politician, has elected the first woman president in the history of Georgia. She will be inaugurated as President of Georgia on 16 December 2018. The President of Georgia is head of state and a guarantor of national independence and unity of the country. He/she is elected on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot, for a period of five years. The President ensures the functioning of state bodies in accordance with the Constitution.

Casio India has announced the launch of the world's first GST calculator with two new innovations MJ-120 GST and MJ-12GST dedicated to the Indian market. It will make manual invoicing easy and hassle-free. The key features of the Casio MJ-12 GST and MJ-120GST calculators are In-built GST tabs:All the five (0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%) GST are in-built in MJ-120GST and MJ-12GST and The tax slabs are changeable as per the industry needs. Gross value (net value + Tax),net value and tax paid under different GST slabs stay stored in the GST+0, GST+1, GST+2, GST+3, GST+4 buttons and the overall value in the five slabs stays stored in the GST GT button. Tax- Mode application: a TAX- feature for all the five tax slabs to calculate the base value from MRP was introduced and will help in its application in calculating base value and net profit earned. Multi-industry use: GST+/tax- key can calculate values in multiple formats.

World AIDS Day is designated on 1 December every year since 1988. The day provides an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness. More than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history. The theme for the World AIDS Day 2018 is "Know Your Status". This will also be an occasion to celebrate the 30th anniversary of WAD.

The Government launched 'Bhasha Sangam', a unique initiative to introduce school students to 22 Indian languages. Bhasha Sangam launched under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. It is a programme for schools and educational institutions to offer multilingual exposure to students in Indian languages. The main aim is to improve linguistic tolerance and respect and promote national integration.