NATIONAL NEWS
Global Agriculture & Food Summit 2018 Held in Jharkhand
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated Global Agriculture and Food Summit 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Seven countries, including China, Israel and Malaysia are participating in the two-day Summit. The aim of the Summit is to promote Jharkhand as a key player to attract investment in the agriculture sector.
- The summit will focus on organic farming in horticulture, dairy, poultry and fisheries, and food processing.
Indian Navy to conduct 'Exercise sea vigil'
The Indian Navy will conduct a large-scale coastal defence exercise next month to test the robustness of the entire coastal security apparatus.
- The 'Exercise sea vigil' will involve all stake holders across mainland and Island territories, and will see the participation of all operational ships, submarines and aircraft as well as units of Indian coast guards, Indian Army and the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said.
- Theatre level operational readiness exercise 'Tropex' will begin from January and culminate in March, next year.
UP-Nepal to sign MoU declaring Ayodhya-Janakpur twin cities
The Uttar Pradesh and Nepal governments will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to declare Ayodhya and Janakpur as twin cities. Adityanath also agreed to visit the Himalayan nation on December 12 to participate in the festivities of Lord Ram and Sita that are held every year.
- Janakpur is the birth place of Goddess Sita. He also informed the Nepalese delegation that work on the four-landing of the Ram-Janki road has begun.
Delhi government launches 'One' card for commute on metro, buses
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.
- Known as 'One', the newly designed card will be available for sale on all Delhi Metro stations and DTC pass counters from 4 December. The existing Metro smart cards will continue to stay valid but any new card or replacement will be through 'ONE' card.
Tuhin becomes first Indian to scale Sahayadri mountain range
Bouldering sensation Tuhin Satarkar pushed his limits as he scaled three routes in the treacherous Sahayadri mountain range in 12 days, from November 16 to 28, to become the first Indian to ever achieve the feat. The Sahayadri range has one of the most daunting mountains in Maharashtra.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Katowice Climate Change Conference 2018 Held in Poland
Following a year of devastating climate disasters around the globe, from California to Kerala, and Tonga to Japan, the annual 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. The 12-day conference will conclude on December 14.
- The World Bank has unveiled 200 billion US Dollars in climate action investment for 2021 to 2025, adding that this amounts to a doubling of its current five-year funding. The breakdown of 200 billion dollars would comprise approximately 100 billion in direct finance from the World Bank. Around one-third of the remaining funding will come from two World Bank Group agencies with the rest private capital mobilised by the World Bank Group.
- The move represents a significantly ramped up ambition to tackle climate change and sends an important signal to the wider global community to do the same.
- Extra info.:
Poland Capital: Warsaw
Currency: Polish zloty
Qatar to withdraw from OPEC in 2019
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.
- Qatar joined the organisation consisting of 15 oil producing countries in 1962. The decision was taken as Qatar's wants to focus its efforts to increase its natural gas production.
- Extra info.:
OPEC, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, accounted for half of the global oil production and around 80 per cent of the world proven oil reserve. - Extra info.:
Qatar Capital: Doha
Currency: Qatari riyal
BANKING & FINANCE
Mauritius’ SBM Gets RBI Approval To Merge Operations With Its Indian Subsidiary
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, India with SBM Bank (India) Limited which has been granted licence by the Reserve Bank to carry on the business of banking in India through Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) mode under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
- All the branches of SBM Bank (Mauritius) Limited in India will function as branches of SBM Bank (India) Limited with effect from December 01, 2018.
- SBM Bank is the first foreign bank to set up a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS), to provide universal banking service with a focus on wholesale banking, trade finance, capital market and retail banking.
- State Bank of Mauritius, which has received a licence recently as a scheduled commercial bank in India, appointed Sidharth Rath as managing director.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Moody's estimates India's real GDP to grow at 7.2% in FY 2018-19
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 global rating agency stated that the growth will be driven by investment growth and strong consumption. It also stated that the operating environment will be stable, supported by robust economic growth.
- Extra info.:
Moody's Corporation Headquarters: New York, United States
India to have over 800 mn smartphone users by 2022: Cisco study
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. This proliferation of smart devices will propel India's per capita data consumption to nearly 14 gigabytes (GB) by 2022 from 2.4 GB in 2017, according to Cisco's latest "Visual Networking Index (VNI)" report.
- By 2022, the smartphone data consumption will increase by five time in India. The report added that India will be a major driver of this with the total number of Internet users reaching 840 million (60 per cent of the population) by 2022 from 357 million (27 per cent of the population) in 2017.
- Extra info.:
CISCO Systems Headquarters: San Jose, California, US
Odisha, ADB sign agreement for skill development
The Odisha government signed a loan agreement of $85 million with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to train 1.5 lakh youths in the state. With this assistance, youths in the age group of 15-34 years will be given skill development training to make them competent to get better work and higher paying jobs.
- The total cost of the project is $193 million with the Odisha government contributing $108 million.
SPORTS
Atlawim Debebe of Ethiopia Wins Pune International Marathon
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. Both of them are also from Ethiopia. In women’s Full Marathon Pascalia Chepkogei from Kenya stood first with the timing of 2 hour 50 minutes 27 seconds. Belew Mekonnen and Fekede Tilahun of Ethiopia claimed second and third position.
- Along with 100 foreign runners, more than 15 thousand people participated in this oldest International Marathon this year. This is 33rd year of Pune International Marathon.
- Extra info.:
Ethiopia Capital: Addis Ababa
Currency: Ethiopian birr
APPOINTMENTS
AS Rajeev Appointed MD & CEO of Bank of Maharashtra
State-owned Bank of Maharashtra announced that A S Rajeev has joined the lender as its Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer. Prior to this, he was Executive Director of Indian Bank.
- Rajeev is having about three decades of professional experience in three Banks - Syndicate Bank, Vijaya Bank and Indian Bank.
Ajay Narayan Jha takes over as Finance Secretary
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. The seniormost secretary in the Finance Ministry is normally designated as the Finance Secretary.
- His appointment was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
IMPORTANT DAYS
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Every year, 3rd December is celebrated as International Day of Disabled Persons. The global observance, promoted by the United Nations since 1992, aims to increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability as well as celebrate their achievements and contributions.
- The theme for this year’s event is ‘Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality’.
World Computer Literacy Day
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, and is intended to encourage the development of technological skills, particularly among children and women in India.
- It aims to "create awareness and drive digital literacy in underserved communities worldwide".
- Extra info.:
NIIT Headquarters: Gurugram
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