DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: DECEMBER 5, 2018

Daily Current Affairs ( December 5, 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

PM to inaugurate Bogibeel Bridge, India’s longest rail-road bridge, on December 25:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate on December 25 the Bogibeel Bridge, India’s longest rail-road bridge, connecting the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra, falling in the eastern part of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

• Bogibeel is part of infrastructure projects planned by India to improve logistics along the border in Arunachal Pradesh. The bridge is 4.94 km long.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurates India Water Impact Summit 2018 in New Delhi:

• Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated India Water Impact Summit 2018 in New Delhi.

• The three days summit is jointly organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies. 

• The Summit is an annual event where stakeholders will discuss and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water-related problems in the country. The discussions this year will be on the rejuvenation of the Ganga River Basin. 

Indian Navy to conduct ‘Exercise sea vigil’ next month to test robustness of coastal security apparatus:

• The Indian Navy will conduct a large-scale coastal defence exercise next month to test the robustness of the entire coastal security apparatus.

• “Theatre level operational readiness exercise” or ‘Tropex’ will begin from January and culminate in March, next year.

ISRO’s heaviest satellite GSAT-11 successfully launched from French Guiana:

• India’s most-advanced high-throughput communication satellite GSAT-11 was successfully launched from Spaceport in French Guiana. The satellite weighs 5854-kg GSAT-11 and is the heaviest satellite ever built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It has a mission life of 15 years.

First 2-day India-ASEAN InnoTech Summit held in New Delhi:

• The first ever India-ASEAN InnoTech Summit was held in New Delhi. It was organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Sector (FICCI) in affiliation with Department of Science & Know-how (DST) and Ministry of External Affairs.

• The theme of the Summit was: ‘India ASEAN InnoTech Summit: Accelerating towards innovative development‘. To enable commercialization of research and promote cross country partnerships.

Delhi government launches ‘One’ card for commute on metro, buses:

• The Delhi government has 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.

• The process of recharging these cards at metro stations will also remain the same with Rs.200 as the minimum recharge value and Rs.50 as the security fee on the card.

8^th Session of the foreign Office Consultations between India and Sudan held in New Delhi:

• The 8th session of the Foreign Office Consultations between India and Sudan was held in New Delhi. The two sides also exchanged views on issues of mutual concern at regional and multilateral levels.

• The Indian side was led by Joint Secretary (West Asia and North Africa) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Dr B. Bala Bhaskar. The Sudanese side was headed by, Mahmoud Fadl Abdel Rasoul Mohammed, Director General of Arab and Asian Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan. 

EX SHINYUU Maitri-2018 With JASDF Commences:

• The Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) is in India for a bilateral air exercise SHINYUU Maitri-18 with Indian Air Force from 03-07 Dec 18 at A F Station Agra.

• The theme of the exercise is joint Mobility/Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) on Transport aircraft.

• The JASDF C2 aircraft along with aircrew/observers are part of this first air exercise between the two Air Forces. IAF is participating with An-32 and C-17 aircraft with aircrew & observers. The focus of the exercise is set for the IAF and JASDF crews to undertake Joint Mobility/ HADR operations.

Railway Ministry, Madame Tussauds Museum join hands to bolster tourism in Delhi:

• The Ministry of Railways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum for providing discounts to tourists at the National Rail Museum (NRM) and the wax museum in Delhi.

• The MoU aims at bolstering the footfall at both the tourist attractions in the national capital. A 35 per cent discount will be given to NRM visitors who go to the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, while 30 per cent discount will be given to the wax museum visitors on NRM combos.
  

Tuhin Satarkar, First Indian To Scale Sahayadri Mountain Range In 12 Days:

• 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.

About Sahyadri Mountain:

• Western Ghats also known as Sahyadri is a mountain range that runs parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, located entirely in India.

• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight “hottest hot-spots” of biological diversity in the world. It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India.

• The range starts near the Songadh town of Gujarat, south of the Tapti River, and runs approximately 1,600 km (990 mi) through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu ending at Marunthuvazh Malai, at Swamithope, near the southern tip of India

INTERNATIONAL

India, UAE sign currency swap deal:

• UAE and India has inked a currency swap agreement, which means businesses can now can do trade using local currencies of rupee and dirham, instead of dollar.

• Both leaders also agreed to boost cooperation in trade, security and defence. The leaders also decided to strengthen their resolve to combat extremism and terrorism in all its forms, regardless of the perpetrators and their intent.

About Currency Swap:

• It is a pact between two countries that allows trading in their own currencies and payments to import and export trade at a pre-determined exchange rate, without bringing in a third benchmark currency like the US dollar.

BANKING & BUSINESS

RBI Policy: MPC keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.50%; cuts SLR by 25 bps

• On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation at its meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to: keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.5 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75 per cent.

• The decision of the MPC is consistent with the stance of calibrated tightening of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth. The main considerations underlying the decision are set out in the statement below.

RBI

• Headquarters: Mumbai

• Governor: Urjit Patel

HUL board approves merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare India:

• FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) said its board has approved the merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India) through an-all equity deal, valuing the total business of the latter at ₹ 31,700 crore.

• The transaction is an all equity merger with 4.39 shares of HUL being allotted for every share in GSKCH India, which sells consumer healthcare products, including popular drink brand Horlicks.

India’s growth forecast cut by 10 bps to 7.4% on weakening global growth: CRISIL

• CRISIL cut India’s growth forecast for current fiscal to 7.4 per cent on the back of weakening global GDP and trade growth. India’s growth in the July-September quarter slipped to 7.1 per cent from 8.2 per cent in the April-June quarter.

AWARDS & HONOURS

Virat Kohli honoured by Bradman Museum ahead of India vs Australia 1st Test at Adelaide:

• 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.

• Bradman Museum celebrates Sir Don Bradman’s contributions to world cricket and tends to honour the greatest achievers of the game. Only a few special 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.’

APPOINTMENTS

Jon Ridgeon Appointed CEO of IAAF:

• Former international athlete and businessman Jon Ridgeon announced as new IAAF Chief Executive Officer. The IAAF has announced the appointment of Jon Ridgeon as its new CEO following approval by the IAAF Council on the first day of its 215th Council Meeting in Monaco.

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 senior most secretary in the Finance Ministry is normally designated as the Finance Secretary.

Ex-IRDAI chief TS Vijayan appointed as additional director of YES bank board:

• Yes Bank, which is in the middle of a leadership change, has appointed TS Vijayan, a former chairman of Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority to its board of directors after a series of resignations. The financial services veteran who also served Life Insurance Corporation of India would be an independent director.

IL&FS appoints ex-L&T executive N Sivaraman as group COO:

• Debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Company (IL&FS) said it has appointed N Sivaraman as group Chief Operating Officer (COO). Sivaraman will be responsible for day-to-day operations and provide hands on leadership and oversight to the groups asset monetization efforts.

State Bank of India ropes in Swapna Barman as brand ambassador for YONO:

• State Bank of India has roped in Asian Games gold medalist Swapna Barman as brand ambassador for its digital app YONO. 

• YONO (You Only Need One), the bank’s digital platform that makes both lifestyle and banking available through a single app, was launched exactly a year back. 

• Swapna won gold medal in Heptathlon in Jakarta Asian Games with a score of 6026 and is looking to break the 6200 score barrier to qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
  

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Book Release – ‘Blue Waters Ahoy!’ Chronicling the Indian Navy’s History from 2001-10:

• Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC Chief of the Naval Staff, released a book titled ‘Blue Waters Ahoy!’ – chronicling the Indian Navy’s History from 2001-10.

• The book has been authored by Vice Admiral Anup Singh, who retired as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command in 2011. This is, in fact, the sixth volume of the Navy’s history; the first five having covered the period from 1945 to 2000.

Noise Of “It’s Over Gauti” Got To Me: Gautam Gambhir Announces Retirement From All Forms Of Cricket

• Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir  announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The 37-year-old, who represented India in 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is
• His last outing would be for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy against Andhra Pradesh in the match starting December 6.

Aspirants can check the Whole planner of IBPS CLERK Prelims Exam 2018 from the below given link. 

IBPS CLERK prelims Exam 2018 – Planner