DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: DECEMBER 19, 2018

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: DECEMBER 19, 2018

Daily Current Affairs (December 19, 2018) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness , Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

NATIONAL

Ayushman Bharat: Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh top beneficiaries

• West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh emerged the largest beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat, Narendra Modi government’s flagship healthcare insurance scheme. The government has spent Rs 798.34 crore on the scheme till November end, minister of state for health and family welfare Anupriya Patel informed the Rajya Sabha.

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) under Ayushman Bharat offers up to Rs 5 lakh annual hospitalisation coverage for poor families. The scheme is funded by the central and state governments in the ratio of 60:40.

ICAR approved registration of record 15 new breeds of livestock and poultry in 2018:

• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has approved registration of record 15 new breeds of livestock and poultry this year.

• 15 newly registered breeds include two cattle breeds – Ladakhi (J&K) and Konkan Kapila (Maharashtra & Goa); three buffalo breeds – Luit (Assam & Manipur), Bargur (Tamil Nadu), Chhattisgarhi (Chhattisgarh); one sheep breed – Panchali (Gujarat); six goat breeds – Kahmi (Gujarat), Rohilkhandi (UP), Assam Hill (Assam & Meghalaya), Bidri (Karnataka), Nandidurga (Karnataka), Bhakarwali (J&K); one pig breed – Ghurrah (UP); one donkey breed – Halari (Gujarat) and one chicken breed – Uttara (Uttarakhand).

To discourage misuse, government to levy fee on ground water extraction from June 2019:

• Revised guidelines for extraction of ground water were notified by the Central Ground Water Authority, which will be effective from June 1, 2019.

• The high rates of WCF are expected to discourage setting up of new industries in over-exploited and critical areas as well as act as a deterrent to large-scale ground water extraction by industries, especially in over-exploited and critical areas.

4th WHO Global Forum held on Medical Devices in AMTZ-Kalam Convention Centre, Visakhapatnam, India:

• The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, along with the World Health Organization organized the “4th WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices “Increasing access to medical devices” to be held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.

• The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India has been a strong proponent of World Health Organization’s initiative to convene the Global Forum on medical devices to improve access to safe, effective, innovative, accessible, affordable and appropriate medical devices.

BANKING & BUSINESS

Amazon India signed MoU with FISME to empower MSME sector:

• Amazon India has announced a partnership with FISME (The Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises) to empower Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to leverage growth opportunities in the e-commerce sector.

• As per the MoU, Amazon.in in collaboration with FISME will conduct various events and workshops across the country that will enable and encourage the MSMEs in India to sell their products to millions of consumers from India and across the globe by leveraging e-commerce marketplace solutions.

Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sign a $60 Million Loan Agreement to reduce floods and the riverbank erosion in Assam:

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India has signed a $60 million loan to continue financing riverbank protection works, renovation of flood embankments, and community-based flood risk management activities in critically flood-prone areas along the Brahmaputra River in Assam.

• The tranche 2 loan is part of the $120 million multitranche financing facility (MFF) for the Assam Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program approved by ADB in October 2010.

IRDAI allowed single compulsory personal accident cover for multiple vehicles:

• From January 1, 2019 onwards, customers will not have to purchase separate Compulsory Personal Accident (CPA) cover for each new vehicle they buy, as per a notification of insurance regulator IRDAI. Insurance regulator IRDAI has decided to unbundle the compulsory personal accident (CPA) cover and allow the issuance of a standalone CPA cover for owner-driver.

• In September this year, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had raised the minimum insurance cover for owner-driver to Rs 15 lakh for an annual premium of Rs 750.

FDI inflows to South, South West Asia down 6 pc to USD 63 billion in 2017: UN report

• FDI inflows to South and South-West Asia decreased by 6 per cent in 2017 due to a drop in foreign funding flow to countries like India and Turkey, a United Nations report.

• As per the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) report, the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to South and South-West Asia stood at USD 63 billion in the last calendar year.

SEBI amends norms for start-ups listing, OFS framework for companies:

• Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has announced relaxation in norms for e-commerce, data analytics, biotechnology and nanotechnology firms to raise funds through stock exchange listing. The Institutional Trading Platform would be renamed as Innovators Growth Platform, where the new companies can list as per the amended rules.

• SEBI has reduced the minimum application size for such listings from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 2 lakh and done away with any requirement of minimum reservation of allocation to a specific category of investors. It has also brought down the minimum number of allotted to 50 from 200 and kept the minimum offer size at Rs 10 crore.

RANKING & INDEXES

4 Indian PSUs in top 100 arms producers: SIPRI

• Four Indian companies figure among the world’s top 100 arms producers in 2017, according to the latest rankings released by SIPRI, a Stockholm-based think tank. They are Indian Ordnance Factories (37^th); Hindustan Aeronautics (38^th) Bharat Electronics (64^th); Bharat Dynamics (94^th). The List is topped by Lockheed Martin (USA).

• Arms sales of the four Indian companies, all state-owned, totaled $7.52 billion in 2017, up 6.1% from the previous year.

OPEC keeps forecast for Global Economic Growth in 2018 unchanged at 3.7 %: Report

• The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has not revised its forecast for global economic growth, and it remains at 3.7 per cent for 2018 and at 3.5 per cent for the next year.

• The growth in the United States and in the Euro-zone remains unchanged, standing at 2.9 percent and 1.9 percent for 2018, and at 2.6 percent and 1.7 percent for 2019 respectively.

AWARDS & HONOURS

15-year-old Odisha boy to receive Nat’l Bravery Award from PM:

• Fifteen-year-old Situ Malik from Kendrapara district will be awarded with the National Bravery Award 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for exhibiting exemplary courage in saving his uncle from a crocodile attack in February this year.

• He will receive the coveted award, instituted by Indian Council for Child Welfare, from the Prime Minister on January 23, 2019.

SPORTS

Men’s Hockey: Belgium crowned new World Champions

• In Hockey, Belgium has claimed their first ever World Cup title. They defeated Netherlands 3-2 in a dramatic shoot-out in the final of the Men’s World Cup in Bhubaneswar.

• Belgium has won the trophy after sixteen years. The win proved to be third time lucky for the Red Lions, who finished runners-up at both the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the Euro Hockey Championships in 2017.

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore flags off special marathon ‘Soldierathon’ in New Delhi:

• On the occasion of Vijay Diwas, Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore flagged off a special marathon ‘Soldierathon’ at JLN Stadium in New Delhi.

• With over 12 thousand participants, the marathon was held in five categories. The proceeds from the event will be donated to Indian Army’s Artificial Limb Centre for wounded soldiers to help them acquire state-of-the-art prosthesis at the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre.

ICC ropes in Royal Stag as official sponsor:

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has roped in Indian alcohol brand Royal Stag as official sponsor for the next five years.

• The partnership, which runs through 2023, will cover international events, including the upcoming big-ticket calendar events – the ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC T20 World Cup and ICC World Test Championship.

Allan Border Medal to be rebranded as Australian Cricket Awards:

• With the increase in recognition of women’s cricket and the popularity of the T20 format, Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) has announced to rebrand its Allan Border Medal to Australian Cricket Awards from 2019 onwards.

• The event is held on an annual basis to celebrate the performances of Australian players across national and domestic cricket. The 2019 Australian Cricket Awards is slated to be held on February 11 at The Crown Palladium, Melbourne.

OBITUARY

Nancy Wilson, Grammy winning jazz singer, dies at 81:

• Nancy Wilson, the Grammy-winning “song stylist” and torch singer whose polished pop-jazz vocals made her a platinum artist and top concert performer, has died.

Oscar-nominated actress Sondra Locke died at 74:

• Oscar-nominated actress Sondra Locke has died of cancer at the age of 74. She had been battling breast and bone cancer.

Thoppil Ajayan, National award-winning director, passed away at 66:

• National award-winning Malayalam film director Thoppil Ajayan, who won laurels with his only feature film “Perumthachan”, died at a hospital in Kerala.

Nepal: Former PM Tulsi Giri passes away at 93

• Former Prime Minister of Nepal Tulsi Giri at his residence in Kathmandu. He was 93. Dr. Giri was suffering from liver cancer for a long time.

• He twice served as the prime minister of Nepal first from 1962 to 1964 and again from 1975 to 1977.

CLICK HERE TO Attend Current Affairs Quiz of December 19, 2018