Current Affairs - December 6, 2018 Current Affairs

The Economic Development Board (EDB), the investment promotion arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maharashtra Government to promote FinTech in their respective markets. The MoU was signed by Dr. Simon Galpin, Managing Director of EDB, and Mr. S.V.R. Srinivas, IAS Principal Secretary, Directorate of Information Technology.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the 'Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana' which offers free travel packages for senior citizens from Delhi to five religious circuits. 1,100 senior citizens from every constituency of Delhi will be able to avail this facility at one go. Under this free pilgrimage scheme, a Delhi resident above 60 years will be eligible to take free pilgrimage along with his or her spouse.

The second meeting of the NITI Forum for the North East is being held in Guwahati, Assam. Minister of State for the Development of North Eastern Region, Dr Jitendra Singh and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Rajiv Kumar attended the meeting. NITI Forum for North East was constituted this year to periodically review the development status in the region. The members of the forum include Secretaries of various central ministries, Chief Secretaries of all eight North-eastern states, senior government officials and experts from various fields.

Tuhin Satarkar, became the first Indian to climb three routes in the treacherous Sahayadri mountain range in 12 days, from November 16 to 28. The pune based bouldering(rock climbing) sensation climbed- Dhodap, Jivdhan and Naneghat, three famous peaks which are known to have been ascended by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his Marathi Malvas. Both the parents ofthe Red Bull athlete Tuhin were also climbers. Tuhin took to the vertical sport at the age of eight and has been pushing boundaries ever since.

German firm BigRep claims it has produced the world's first fully functioning e-motorbike NERA using a 3D printer. According to the company, NERA has groundbreaking features like airless tires, embedded electronics, and forkless steering. The bike was conceptualized and developed in 12 weeks and includes 15 parts, which are all 3D printed except its motor and battery. The name is derived from the slogan "New Era".

India and UAE signed 3,500 crore currency swap agreement. This agreement will boost investment and enable direct trade without using dollars or other international currencies. The agreement was signed after the 12th India-UAE joint commission meeting co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. In 2015, China's central bank extended a currency swap agreement with the UAE Central bank worth $5.54 billion.

IN a move to reinforce brand Naveen and give it a national perspective after the success of the Hockey Men's World Cup, Odisha Government launched yet another initiative, Peoples Empowerment - Enabling Transparency and Accountability of Odisha Initiatives (PEETHA). The Scheme is aimed at creating awareness about various schemes and improving transparency in the distribution of individual and social benefits. This is part of the 3T initiative of Technology, Transparency and Team Work model. The PEETHA is a sub-scheme of the Odisha government's flagship Ama Gaon Ama Bikas Yojana.

The Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli has received a special honour as a signed jersey that he donated after scoring his hundred in the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) during India's tour of Australia in 2014-15 has been placed next to Sachin Tendulkar's portrait at the Bradman Museum. The Indian Captain Virat Kohli signed and presented his shirt to Cricket Australia Liaison Officer Pearce Gibbons in appreciation of his assistance to the Indian side throughout the summer at the conclusion of the fourth test and thereafter Pearce Gibbons donated the shirt to the museum for public display. Indian cricketers like the legendary Kapil Dev and Tendulkar have a memento celebrating their achievements placed at the iconic museum. The Museum is also known as 'The Home of Cricket Memories'.

Panama has become the first Latin American country to join China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China established diplomatic relations with Panama last year. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Panamanian counterpart, Juan Carlos Varela signed 19 deals, including: An extradition treaty An arrangement where China will provide a non-specified amount of non-reimbursable aid to carry out various projects. Memoranda of understanding on commercial, tourist, educational matters. Other deals on trade, infrastructure and banking.

December 3 is observed as United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities or World Disability Day.The theme for this year is "Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality". This theme focuses on the empowering persons with disabilities for the inclusive, equitable and sustainable development envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Estimated one billion people living with disabilities worldwide. Since 1992 December 03 is celebrated as United Nations international Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Bogibeel Bridge, India's longest rail-cum-road bridge, falling in the eastern part of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on December 25. This project was first cleared by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in 1997. The bridge spans over the Brahmaputra river in the north eastern state of Assam between Dhemaji district and Dibrugarh district.

The 80th Session of the Policy Commission of the World Customs Organization (WCO) was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra . The Session is being organized by the WCO and hosted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), India. The Indian delegation was headed by CBIC Chairman, S Ramesh. The custom heads of more than 30 countries participated in the 3-day long discussion on various matters related to customs. Some of the important topics discussed during the meeting include trade facilitation, controlling illicit financial flow, performance measurement, challenges of small island economies, etc. The WCO is the only global organization which defines global standards and procedures for customs clearances at the border and their implementation. It is headquartered at Brussels, Belgium.

A six-member committee has been constituted by the government which will look at selling as many as 149 small and marginal oil and gas fields of state-owned ONGC and Oil India to private and foreign companies to boost domestic output. The committee will be headed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar and includes Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, Oil Secretary M M Kutty, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker. Earlier on 12thOctober, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a meeting to review domestic production profile of oil and gas and the roadmap for cutting import dependence by 10 per cent by 2022 from the over 77 per cent dependence in 2014-15. But the dependence has only increased and is now over 83 per cent.

Phone calls, internet surfing may be allowed in flights from January 2019. The Telecom Commission - the highest policy-making body of the Department of Telecom - had cleared a proposal for allowing wider in-flight connectivity that is now available in most of the developed markets. A separate category of licensees - in-flight service providers - will be created for offering such services, and licence fee for such niche providers will be pegged at Rs 1.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Indian-origin Shamila Batohi as the country's first female chief prosecutor. Batohi will start her new role as the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) in February 2019. Batohi is a former state prosecutor from KwaZulu-Natal and has served as a senior adviser to the prosecutor in the International Criminal Court since 2009.

India signed an agreement with Peru for co-operation and mutual assistance in Customs Matters. It provides a legal framework for the sharing of information and intelligence between the Customs authorities of the two countries. The agreement will also help in the proper application of Customs laws, prevention and investigation of Customs offenses. According to the Finance Ministry, the agreement signed in New Delhi is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure the efficient clearance of goods traded between the two sides.

Paisabazaar.com, India's largest online marketplace for financial products has launched an industry-first feature that will help loan applicants choose their most-suited lender on its platform. Named 'Chance of Approval', this advanced predictive algorithm has been created by Paisabazaar.com by using the last four years of lending data. While this is the first such initiative in India, globally a few leading players, like Credit Karma in the US, have developed similar features to improve the acceptance rate on their platforms.

Moody's expects the real gross domestic product (GDP) in India to grow 7.2 per cent in the year ending March 2019 and 7.4 per cent in the following year. Earlier Moody's Investors service growth prediction for India was 7.5% in 2018-19, 7.5% in 2019-20 released on 23rd August,2018. This growth is driven by investment growth and strong consumption. The stable outlook is based on six parameters - operating environment, asset quality, capital, funding and liquidity, profitability and efficiency, and government support.

The government sanctioned 254 projects worth over 24 thousand crore rupees under National Mission for Clean Ganga. As per Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari, around five thousand crore rupees have been spent in the last four years under it. The Announcement was made at the India Water Impact Summit 2018 in New Delhi.

Salman Khan has been named the highest-earning celebrity in India for the third time in a row by Forbes, with earnings of ₹253.25 crore. The second spot was captured by Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli, with Rs 228.09 crore to his name, to become the first sportsperson to reach the position. Akshay Kumar came third on the Forbes India Celebrity 100 2018 with Rs 185 crore, followed by Deepika. The fifth spot went to former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who earned Rs 101.77 crore during 2018.