NATIONAL NEWS
Govt, Ficci to organise global aviation summit in Jan 2019 in Mumbai
More than 1,000 delegates and over 50 global CEOs are expected to participate in the two-day global aviation summit scheduled to be held on January 15 and 16 next year in Mumbai, according to the Civil Aviation Ministry.
- The ministry along with industry body FICCI would be organising the summit with the theme 'Flying for all especially for the next 6 billion'.
ISRO launches HysIS, 30 other satellites on PSLV-C43
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched its workhouse rocket PSLV-C43 carrying India's earth observation satellite HysIS and 30 other satellites from eight countries the US (23 satellites), Australia, Canada, Columbia, Finland, Malaysia, Netherlands and Spain (one satellite each) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
- The HysIS satellite will take photographs of planet Earth in multiple frequencies with a mission life of over five years. These satellites have been commercially contracted for launch through Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO.
India-UK joint naval exercise begins at Goa
India-UK joint naval exercise "Konkan-2018" has started at Goa and would go on till December 6. The Royal Navy of UK will be represented by HMS Dragon, a Type 45 Class Destroyer equipped with an integral Wildcat helicopter.
- The Indian Navy will field INS Kolkata, the first ship of latest Kolkata class destroyers, equipped with integral Seaking and an IN submarine during the sea phase between December 2 to 6.
- The bilateral Konkan exercise provides a platform for the two navies to periodically exercise at sea and in harbour, so as to build interoperability and share best practices.
India home to a third of world's stunted children: Report
Stunting among children under five has fallen globally from 32.6 per cent in 2000 to 22.2 per cent in 2017, but India is home to almost a third of the world's stunted children, according to Global Nutrition Report published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
- The report states that India tops the list of countries, with 46.6 million stunted children, followed by Nigeria with 13.9 million and Pakistan with 10.7 million.
World-class autism township set to come up near Kolkata
In a one-of-its-kind initiative, a private firm, in association with the state government, is set to build a world-class autism township near Kolkata, where children and adults suffering from the developmental disorder can receive training, treatment and boarding facilities.
- The India Autism Center (IAC) a non-profit organization under Section 8 of Companies Act, 2013 is expected to come up over a 52-acre plot at Sirakol in South 24 Parganas in the next five years.
- A joint effort by Ratnabali Group and the state - the estimated cost for building the township has been pegged at Rs 500 crore.
Mumbai start-up launches 'personal robots' for kids
Mumbai based startup Emotix, an advanced robotics company founded by three IITians, has launched a conversational child companion robot, Miko2.
- In a world of working parents and technology fatigue, founders Sneh Vaswani, Prashant Iyengar and Chintan Raikar envisioned Miko to be something/someone that the child can converse with while also improving their cognitive skills.
- The robot can hold long conversations, track the child’s mood and is controlled from an app on the parents’ smartphone.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
G-20 Summit starts in Buenos Aires, PM Modi to attend
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in two important trilateral meetings with world leaders in Argentina's capital during which they would discuss major global challenges and developments.
- Prime Minister Modi, who arrived in Buenos Aires to attend the G-20 summit, will participate in the first-ever trilateral meeting between Japan, America and India and the 2nd Russia, India China (RIC) trilateral, which is taking place after 12 years.
First Sustainable Blue Economy Conference held in Nairobi , Kenya
The first Sustainable Blue Economy Conference was held in Nairobi, capital of Kenya. It was organized by Kenya and co-hosted by Japan and Canada.
- India endorses the growth of the Blue Economy in a sustainable, inclusive and people centered manner through the framework of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
RBI relaxes norms for NBFC loan securitisation
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased the minimum holding period (MHP) norm for the NBFC sector companies to sell or securitise their loans in order to ease the liquidity crunch.
- The MHP requirement has been relaxed to securitise loans with original maturity of above 5 years after retaining them for a period of six months. Earlier, they were supposed to hold it for at least a year.
- However, the RBI mandated that a minimum retention requirement (MRR) for "such securitisation or assignment transactions shall be 20 per cent of the book value of the loans being securitised or 20 per cent of the cash flows from the assets assigned".
Government to transfer Rs 29,000-crore AI debt to SPV
The Central government has decided to transfer Air India's debt worth Rs 29,000 crore to a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The decision to transfer the Rs 29,000-crore debt to the SPV was taken by an inter-ministerial panel Air India Specific Alternate Mechanism which has been formed to look after the divestment of the national carrier.
- The move assumes significance as it will lessen the interest payment obligation of the airline on its total outstanding debt of over Rs 50,000 crore.
- In addition, the inter-ministerial panel had decided to divest the government's stake in Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL).
- The decision by the panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley envisaged that the amount raised from the divestment of AIATSL will be used to retire some of the accumulated debts of Air India.
SPORTS
Magnus Carlsen defeats Fabiano Caruana to retain world chess title
Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen has retained his World Chess Championship title after defeating America's Fabiano Caruana 3-0 in a tie-break contest. With the defeat, Caruana missed the chance of being the first US chess champion since Bobby Fischer who won the title in 1972.
Croatia clinch 3-1 victory over France to win Davis Cup 2018
Marin Cilic beat France's Lucas Pouille in straight sets to give Croatia an unassailable lead in the Davis Cup final. Cilic won to dethrone defending champions France and secure Croatia's second Davis Cup, 13 years after their first. Croatia won all three singles matches in straight sets.
Haryana beat Manipur to win junior football national c'ship
After a gruelling contest, it was Haryana who came through as the champions of the 2018-19 BC Roy Junior National Championships (Tier II), beating Manipur by a slender 1-0 margin in the final at Railways Ground, Rajkot.
AWARDS
Indian pilots awarded 'Asian of the Year' for Kerala floods rescue
Indian Navy pilots Commander Vijay Varma and Captain P. Rajkumar have been awarded "Asian of the Year" award, jointly given to four entities, including the two Indians, by Singapore newspaper The Strait Times for their "death-defying rescue flying" during the Kerala floods and courageous conduct in the face of natural calamity.
- The late Singaporean para-glider Ng Kok Choong, along with Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) and Mercy Relief, a Singapore NGO, were the other three awardees.
Indian Social Entrepreneur Wins the First UN Geospatial Ambassador Award
Sanjay Kumar, Founder and CEO of Geospatial Media & Communications, was conferred the 'Global Geospatial Industry Ambassador' Award by UN-GGIM (United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management) recently at the United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress held at Deqing city in China.
- Kumar has been a geospatial evangelist for over 20 years, and in 2018 also helped found the World Geospatial Industry Council in association with top geospatial companies in the world. The UN award recognizes Kumar's perseverance to create awareness about geospatial technologies, to connect communities and build networks.
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Geospatial Media is an India-headquartered global geospatial industry think tank which provides information on the use of spatial technologies in governance, businesses and daily lives, and advocates on policy issues.
