A2Z Current Affairs PDF for Canara Bank Exam December 2018 · Kovind [s visit, one in the area of...

1 www.aspirantszone.com|Download AspirantsZone’s Mobile App | Follow us on Facebook www.asp

www.aspirantszone.com December 2018 CA PDF for Canara Bank Exam

A2Z Current Affairs PDF

for Canara Bank Exam

December 2018

www.aspirantszone.com

http://www.aspirantszone.com/

http://aspirantszone.com/apps/index.html

http://www.facebook.com/aspirantszone/






MOU/Agreement Countries

Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has entered into an arrangement with the World Bank to put in place a

single framework that will make co-financed projects more efficient.

India has signed an agreement with Iran to pay for crude oil it imports from the Persian Gulf nation in rupees. The

memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed following the US letting India and seven other nations to keep

buying Iranian oil despite sanctions were reimposed on the Islamic state on November 5.

Two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) have been signed between Myanmar and India during President

Kovind’s visit, one in the area of judicial training and another on science and technology cooperation.

MOU Industry/States/Others

Amazon’s Indian arm signed an MoU with the Federation of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(FISME) to support sellers in the segment under which the e-commerce major would provide the platform and

logistics, while FISME would provide support in the area of policy and regulations.

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.

The Economic Development Board (EDB), the investment promotion arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Government to provide a framework for Co-

operation between the two authorities to promote FinTech in their respective markets.

Appointments and Resignations

Name Post Other Info

Atul Sahai New India Assurance CMD

Shamila Batohi head of South Africa’s National

Prosecuting Authority

Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian Chief Economic Advisor (CEA)

Arundhati Bhattacharya SWIFT India Chairman

Shaktikanta Das RBI Governor

K Chandrasekhar Rao Chief Minister of Telangana

Zoramthanga Mizoram CM

Kamal Nath Madhya Pradesh CM

Ashok Gehlot Rajasthan CM

BP Singh president of the Film and Television

Institute of India (FTII) Society

Brahm Dutt Yes bank Interim Chairman

Raninder Singh Vice-president of the International

Shooting Sport Federation

U C Dhyani head of the three-member

committee to oversee rejuvenation








work of the Ganga river by NGT

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Mexico President

Ajay Narayan Jha Finance Secretary

AS Rajeev MD & CEO of Bank of Maharashtra

Jon Ridgeon CEO of The International Association of

Athletics Federations

RESIGNATIONS:

Raman Singh resigns as Chhattisgarh CM.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan resigns as MP CM.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla Resigns.

Economist Surjit Bhalla resigns from PM’s Economic Advisory Council.

Awards and Recognitions

India’s National Academy of Letters, Sahitya Akademi has announced the names of prestigious annual Sahitya

Akademi Awards for litterateurs 2018 in 24 languages. 7 Books of Poetry, 6 of Short Stories, 3 of Literary Criticism

and 2 of Essays have won this years Sahitya Akademi Awards 2018.

Four Indian-origin women have been named by Forbes among America’s top 50 female technology moguls, a list

titled ‘America’s Top 50 Women in Tech 2018’ that includes IBM CEO Ginni Rometty and Netflix executive Anne

Aaron.

Award Name Person/Institution Extra Knowledge

Sahitya Akademi’s Bhasha Samman

for South (2017)

Centenarian lexicographer G.

Venkatasubbaiah

Glinka World Soil Prize 2018 Rattan Lal Awarded at the Rome

headquarters of the UN’s Food

and Agriculture Organization

(FAO) for his outstanding

contribution to sustainable soil

management.

2018 Gleitsman Award Malala Yousafzai

‘Arets Stjerneskudd’ rising talent of

the year by the Norwegian Consulate

General

Actress Janhvi Kapoor

Miss World 2018 Vanessa Ponce de Leon 1st Mexican queen

Mister Supranational title Prathamesh Maulingkar(Goa)

Steel Users Federation of India (SUFI)

Lifetime Achievement Award

Ratan N. Tata

Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)

Coach of the Year Award

Sascha Bajin coach of the world number

five Naomi Osaka

United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC) award

Gujarat for women’s leadership with

low cost and sustainable

technology to tackle storms

‘Meethoileima’ Title Mary Kom By Manipur government








‘Breakthrough Table Tennis Star’ award

Manika Batra

Krishi Karman award in the rice

category

Jharkhand

Prime Minister’s Trophy for the ‘Best

Performing Integrated Steel Plant’ Tata Steel Limited

National Bravery Award Situ Malik

Shooting’s Highest Honour By ISSF Abhinav Bindra

Greg Norman Medal Minjee Lee first woman to win Greg

Norman Medal as the best

Australian golfer

Ballon d’Or 2018 Luka Modric

Hero to Animals Award Delhi Minister Imran Hussain For Ban On Chinese Manjha

Turner Prize for 2018 Charlotte Prodger Glasgow-based British artist

Jnanpith Award 2018 English author Amitav Ghosh

‘Sangeet Mahasamman’ award Shaan and Arijit Singh constituted by the West

Bengal government at the

inaugural session of the Bengal

music and folk culture festival

in Kolkata.

Conference and Summits

Summit Place Extra Knowledge

startup India centre capital summit Goa Theme: Mobilizing Global

Capital for Innovation in India.

Organised by The commerce

and industry ministry.

The 18th All India Annual Conference of the Heads of

Science Centre’s and Museums

Itanagar

conference on ‘Sustainable Water Management’ Mohali, Punjab

conference on “Sexual Exploitation of Children in

Digital Era”

Kolkata

Asia Pacific Summit-2018 Kathmandu

ASEAN – India Business Summit (AIBS) Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia

The India Health Summit New Delhi organized by the Confederation

Of Indian Industry

Global Agriculture & Food Summit 2018 Held Jharkhand

80th Session of the three-day Policy Commission of

the World Customs Organisation

Mumbai

International conference on bears Agra

1st India-ASEAN InnoTech Summit New Delhi

India Water Impact Summit-2018 New Delhi

WHO Global Forum on Medical Device Visakhapatnam








International News

German firm BigRep claims it has produced the world’s first fully functioning e-motorbike NERA using a 3D printer

The UAE now has the world’s most powerful passport, achieving the top ranking in an achievement hailed as a

tribute to the legacy of the Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, and the country’s diplomacy.

Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched the largest Arabic audio library

in the world. The Dubai Audio Library, which targets seven million visually impaired people in the Arab world, was

an initiative undertaken by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in collaboration with the website

Bookshare.org.

Luxembourg is set to become the first country in the worldto make all its public transport free. Fares on trains,

trams and buses will be lifted next summer under the plans of the re-elected coalition government led by Xavier

Bettel, who was sworn in for a second term as prime minister recently.

China has launched a rover that will land on the far side of the moon, a global first that would boost Beijing’s

ambitions to become a space superpower.

Israel became a full member of the global financial watchdog on money laundering and terror financing after

having previously been blacklisted by the organisation.

India has handed over 50 housing units in the Rakhine province to Myanmar during President Ram Nath Kovind‘s

maiden visit to the country. The housing units are part of a bigger developmental project, within which India is

building 250 houses in Myanmar’s Rakhine province.

Akademik Lomonosov, the world’s first “floating” nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas, has

been started and brought to 10 per cent of its capacity, Russian state-run atomic energy

corporation Rosatom announced.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached Janakpur, Nepal to participate in the celebrations of ‘Shri

Ram-Janaki Bibaha Panchami’ festival and offered prayers at the Janaki Mandir.

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, OPEC said in its Monthly Oil

Market Report.

Australia has become the first country in the world to recognise so-called orphanage trafficking as a form of

modern-day slavery. The legislation forms part of a wider drive to stop Australians taking part in “voluntourism”

schemes which harm rather than help the children.

Microsoft has overtaken Apple in market cap value for the first time in eight years. Microsoft briefly reached a

market cap value of $812.93 billion, followed by Apple at a market cap of $812.60 billion.

Based on the results of a popular vote, Cambridge Dictionary has named “nomophobia”, the “fear or worry at the

idea of being without your mobile phone or unable to use it” as word of the year.

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.

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.

UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has declared 2019 as the “Year of Tolerance”, highlighting the country

as a global capital for tolerance, through its goals to enhance the role of the country in instilling the values of co-








existence and peace in local, regional and international communities. This is the fifth in theme-based observation of

years in the United Arab Emirates.

Sri Lanka’s disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from his post, signalling an end to nearly a two-

month-long political crisis that has kept the island nation without a functional government.

National News The number of patents granted by India shot up by 50 % in 2017, keeping up a trend of steep increases, according

to the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The patents granted by India increased from 8,248 in

2016 to 12,387 last year, the WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators 2018 report released in Geneva said.

In an attempt to tackle smuggling, the Central government has approved Anti-Smuggling National Coordination

Centre (SCord) under the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

The Centre approved additional assistance of Rs 3,719.07 crore to Kerala, Nagaland and Andhra Pradesh that were

affected by floods, landslides and cyclone over the past few months.

India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, accounting for 7 per cent of global emissions in

2017, a study by the Global Carbon Project released recently.

The Indian Coast Guard has conducted the Regional Level Marine Oil Pollution Response Exercise titled ‘Clean Sea –

2018’ at sea off Port Blair. The preparedness of all agencies during the exercise was conducted under observation

of Inspector General Maneesh V Pathak, Commander Coast Guard Region (Andaman and Nicobar Islands).

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, arrived in India on an eight-day visit to the

country. Thordarson is scheduled to address the Iceland-India Business Seminar at The Oberoi hotel in New Delhi

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 with

an aim to double farmers’ income by 2022.

Women are paid the most unequally in India, compared to men, when it comes to hourly wages for labour. On

average, women are paid 34 per cent less than men, a recent report by the International Labour Organization

(ILO) has found.

India continue to have the dubious distinction of registering the highest number of road fatalities across the

globe. According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety, India reported a maximum of about 1.51 lakh road

deaths in 2016 and globally the toll of road deaths increased from 1.25 million to 1.35 in a span of three years.

India is set to get its first underwater museum off the Puducherry coast, giving a boost to tourism in the Union

territory. INS Cuddalore, a minesweeper decommissioned in March after it travelled 30,000 nautical miles in 30

years, will be turned into a museum.

Union minister of state for human resource developmentUpendra Kushwaha, resigned from the Union Council of

Ministers. The Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief is likely to quit the BJP-led NDA alliance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the fourth Partners’ Forum, an international conference organised to

improve the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents, with about 1,500 participants from 85

countries.

The Agriculture Ministry launched online portal Ensure to connect with direct benefit transfer and provide simple,

useful and transparent system to the beneficiary. Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha

Mohan Singh launched the portal ENSURE- National Livestock Mission- EDEG developed by NABARD and operated

under the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries.

India’s first Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence established by the European Union was inaugurated at the

Department of European Studies (DES) at Manipal Academy of Higher Education by Ambassador of the European

Union (EU) to India and Bhutan, Tomasz Kozlowski.

The government has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to vet the

recommendations of a high-level panel on stressed power projects. The panel, headed by Cabinet Secretary P K

Sinha, had submitted its report last month.








South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be the Chief Guest at the 2019 Republic Day celebration in New

Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs said.

With women’s safety in mind, Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced a pan-India single-number “112” under an

emergency mobile app. It will have a special women safety feature to get immediate assistance from police and

volunteers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed that India will host the G20 summit in the year 2022 when the country

will complete 75 years of independence.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj and the Foreign Minister of Mozambique Jose Condungua Antonio

Pacheco co-chaired the 4th India-Mozambique Joint Commission meeting in New Delhi, where the two leaders held

discussion on co-operation in commercial, investment, defence, development and social sectors.

Indian Railways unveiled ‘eDrishti’ software that will help Union Railway Minister to keep track of punctuality of

trains as well as freight and passenger earnings and much more from anywhere in the country.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched a media campaign calling for the elimination of

industrially produced trans-fat in the food supply.

Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences has launched a campaign to spread a pan-India awareness about hepatitis

disease. Empowering People Against Hepatitis: The Empathy Campaign was launched at Metro Bhawan, New Delhi.

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.

The Centre has proposed prohibition of the use of animals for performances, exhibition at any circus or mobile

entertainment facilities, a move hailed by animal rights activists as “progressive and laudable”.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj inaugurated the Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum in Abu Dhabi along

with Foreign Minister of UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Centre has included Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttrarakhand, Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and Parasnath in

Jharkhand under a central scheme to develop pilgrimage and heritage destinations in the country.

National Rail Museum and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum have joined hands to provide combo offer to Delhi NCR

tourists. As a part of the collaboration, a special discount of 35 per cent on ticket prices will be offered to Rail

Museum visitors when they visit Madame Tussauds Museum.

A severe cyclone, Phethai, is likely to hit the Andhra Pradesh coast and north Tamil Nadu, the India Meteorological

Department (IMD) warned in its latest weather forecast.

Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal has dedicated India’s first railway university to the Nation in Vadodara. The

Railway University will be first of its kind institution in the nation and the third in the world after Russia and China.

State News

Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh Environment and Forest Minister Nabam Rebia inaugurated the “Innovation Hub and Space

Education Centre” situated at Arunachal Pradesh Science Centre, Itanagar.

Arunachal Pradesh got its 23rd district with the formal inauguration of Shi Yomi, carved out of the West Siang

district. The district, consisting of four circles Mechuka, Pidi, Tato and Monigong. Two more districts would be

created, which would increase the total number of districts to 25.

The 24th district of Arunachal Pradesh Lepa Rada was formally inaugurated a day after Shi Yomi became a new

district. Lepa Rada is carved out of the Lower Siang district, comprising four administrative circles – Tirbin, Dari,

Sago and Basar.








Delhi

The Delhi government launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’ which offers free travel packages

on five religious circuits for senior citizens from the national capital. The scheme, approved by the Cabinet in July,

was launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat.

The Delhi government launched a 10-day special drive to check whether minimum wage rules set by it are being

followed in the national capital.

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.

Gujarat

Surat, renowned as a diamond processing and trading hub in Gujarat, would be the world’s fastest growing city in

the 2019-35 period, averaging more than 9 per cent, according to a global economic research report. The report

prepared by Oxford Economics. It further said all the top ten fastest-growing cities in the world in 2019-35 will be

from India.

Haryana

The three-day Military Literature Festival (MLF) 2018, kick-started in Chandigarh. The festival is a joint initiative of

military historian and Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore.

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the 13th edition of CII Agro Tech India-2018 in

Chandigarh.

Haryana’s prestigious International Gita Mahotsav-2018 will be organised from December 7 to 23 in

Kurukshetra. Mauritius would be the partner country and Gujarat would be the partner state in the celebrations

of the festival.

Jammu & Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir has become the first state in the country to have a law banning sexual exploitation of

women by those in positions of authority, having a fiduciary relationship or a public servant.

Uttarakhand

The Uttarakhand Government constituted a four-member committee under tourism minister Satpal Maharaj to

probe complaints related to the film ‘Kedarnath’. The government will take a decision on screening the movie in

Uttarakhand after the committee submits its report.

Maharashtra

To bring transparency to cash transactions, the Pune district court administration is starting an e-payment

facility in the Shivajinager district and sessions court. This is the first time in India that practising lawyers and

litigants in various cases will be able to make payments online.

In a bid to transform rural Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched a unique initiative

called “SMART”, which stands for State of Maharashtra’s Agribusiness and Rural Transformation. This World

Bank assisted project aims to revamp agricultural value chains, with special focus on marginal farmers across 1,000

villages.

The Indian Owl Festival, the country’s first owl fest, was held at Pingori village in Purandar taluka of Pune from

November 29. The two-day festival, organised by Ela Foundation, an NGO working towards nature education and

conservation.








Nagaland

Nagaland became the first state in the Northeast and second in the country, after Himachal Pradesh, to

launch a pan-India single-number emergency mobile application which will have a special women safety

feature for immediate assistance from police and volunteers.

In Nagaland, the 19th edition of the Hornbill Festival 2018 began with a colourful extravaganza of music and

dance. Inaugurating the opening ceremony, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh conveyed his greetings to the

people of Nagaland on the occasion of Statehood Day on 1 December.

Odisha

An international storytelling festival “BhuFeSto” was organised for the differently- abled children in

Bhubaneswar where special storytelling sessions for children with visual and hearing disabilities was organized.

A seven-member search committee headed by Justice Amitabh Ray has been constituted for the appointment

of Lokayukta in the state. The selection committee of the Lokayukta under the Chairmanship of Odisha Chief

Minister Naveen Patnaik and Orissa High Court Chief Justice, Justice KS Jhaveri set up the search committee.

India’s first international indigenous film festival will take place in February next year in Odisha. An initiative

of activist film collective Video Republic, that has been campaigning for indigenous communities in the State,

the three-stop event will kick off in Bhubaneswar on February 19.

With an aim at creating awareness about various schemes of the state government and improve transparency

in distribution of individual and social benefits, chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced PEETHA initiative.

Punjab

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the implementation of

the Shahpurkandi Dam Project, Punjab on river Ravi. For this, central assistance of Rs. 485.38 crore (for

irrigation component) would be provided over five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Kerela

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Kannur

international airport making Kerala the only state in the country to have four international airports.

Telangana

India’ first private sector unit for manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) opened at Adani

Aerospace Park in Hyderabad. Built by the Adani Group and Israel-based Elbit Systems, the 50,000 square feet

facility will develop Hermes 900 medium altitude long-endurance UAVs for the Indian and global markets.

Uttar Pradesh

The government said it has given its nod to develop a Rs 156 crore freight village in Varanasi adjoining the inland

waterways terminal on river Ganga that will boost the logistics industry in the holy city.

Finance and Banking News Leading Investment Bank Axis Capital said its MD & CEO Dharmesh Mehta has stepped down. The bank also said it

has elevated Salil Pitale and Chirag Negandhi as Joint Managing Directors and Co-Chief Executive Officer.

SEBI renamed ‘Institutional Trading Platform’ (ITP) of start-ups’ listings as ‘Innovators Growth Platform’. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Centre has decided to increase its contribution to the NPS for the central

government employees to 14 per cent and also made the entire withdrawal amount tax free at the time of

retirement.

Reserve Bank of India has allowed Bandhan Bank to open as many as 40 more branches, first time after it put a

restriction on the bank’s branch opening spree three months back. RBI has come down heavily on Bandhan Bank in








the last week of September for its failure to bring down promoters’ stake to 40% as per the licensing agreement.

The regulator barred the bank from opening branches without prior approval.

The RBI said NSFR norms that mandate banks to maintain a stable funding profile in relation to the composition of

their assets and off-balance sheet activities will be operational from April 2020.

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.

ICICI Securities, along with the BSE, has launched a facility wherein clients of the domestic brokerage entity would

be able to receive the pay-out within 30 minutes of selling the shares. This is much quicker than the current system

in which it takes at least two days after the transaction for investors to get the money in their bank account.

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

app YONO.

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, India’s leading private sector general insurance company and Federal

Bank, announced tie-up for the distribution of HDFC ERGO’s range of non-life insurance offerings to the customers

of the Bank through its network branches.

Business News In a bid to further cement its position in the global music space, Apple has reportedly acquired London-

based creative services and music start-up Platoon for an undisclosed sum.

Media consumption in India grew at an annual per capita rate of 9 per cent over the last six years, far outpacing the

US and China in this regard, according to a joint report released by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and

the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The chief executive officer of Myntra, a unit of Walmart Inc-owned Flipkart. Myntra CEO Ananth

Narayanan‘s position will be abolished as Flipkart’s Amar Nagaram is set to head the unit.

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.

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 Rs. 31,700

crore.

Economy News Fitch Ratings slashed India’s GDP growth forecast to 7.2 per cent for current fiscal, from 7.8 per cent projected in

September, citing higher financing cost and reduced credit availability.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has approved India’s proposal to observe an International Year of

Millets in 2023, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said in New Delhi. Singh had made the demand in

August this year, which has been accepted by the ongoing FAO Council in Rome.

The government has extended the last date of filing annual Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns by three

months till March 31, 2019 providing much-needed relief to businesses struggling to comply with the year-end

deadline.

India is expected to receive a total remittance of $80 billion in 2018, said the latest edition of the World Bank’s

Migration and Development Brief. Among major remittance recipients, India retains its top spot, with remittances

expected to total $80 billion this year, followed by China ($67 billion), Mexico and the Philippines ($34 billion each),

and Egypt ($26 billion).








India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to 2.9 per cent of the GDP in the second quarter of the fiscal

compared to 1.1 per cent in the year-ago period, mainly due to a large trade deficit, the RBI said.

The CAD, or the difference between outflow and inflow of foreign exchange in the country’s current account, was

USD 19.1 billion during the quarter ended September 30, 2018.

The Asian Development Bank retained India’s economic growth forecast at 7.3 per cent for the current

fiscal and 7.6 per cent for 2019-20, despite downside risks posed by stress in the non-banking sector, limited fiscal

space as well as escalating trade tensions.

India has the fastest growing online retail market among top global economies. The country’s online retail market

witnessed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53% for the period 2013 to 2017, according to a latest report

by consultancy firm Bain & Company.

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.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said about 60 thousand crore rupees would be spent on Mahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guarantee Act, MGNREGA this year.

Crisil cut India’s growth forecast for current financial year 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.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) pegged India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the financial year

2018-19 at 7.4 per cent and 7.2 per cent in H2.

In view of the “current and evolving macroeconomic situation” in the country, the Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.5 per

cent. The decision was taken at the fifth bi-monthly meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI.

Assuming a normal monsoon in 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that inflation is likely to stay in the range

of “2.7-3.2 per cent in H2 of 2018-19 and 3.8-4.2 per cent in H1 of 2019-20, with risks tilted to the upside.”

Science & Technology The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its heaviest and most-advanced high

throughput communication satellite, GSAT-11, from the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Defence News

Russian Federation Navy (RuFN) ships Varyag, Admiral Panteleyev and Boris Butoma arrived in Visakhapatnam to

participate in INDRA NAVY-18, the bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the Russian Federation

Navy.

Ex Aviaindra 2018, a service-specific exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Russian Federation Aerospace

Force (RFSAF) will commence at Air Force Station, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, from December 10 to 21.

The Indian Navy will conduct a large-scale coastal defence exercise, ‘Exercise sea vigil’ next month to test the

robustness of the entire coastal security apparatus.

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 December at A F Station Agra. The theme of the exercise is ‘Joint Mobility/Humanitarian

Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) on Transport aircraft’. India and China began the 7th round of their ‘Hand-in-Hand’ military drills in the Chinese city of Chengdu as part of

the focussed efforts by the two militaries to improve ties after last year’s standoff at Doklam.








Sports News

Tournament Winner Runner Up 2018 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Shubhankar Sharma

Pune International Marathon Atlawim Debebe of Ethiopia Teshome Getachew

62nd National Shooting Championship

Competitions (NSCC) for shotgun events

Rajasthan’s Maheshwari

Chauhan

Punjab’s Ganemat Sekhon

Sports

Kenya’s marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and Colombian jumper Caterine Ibarguen were honoured

as IAAF athletes of the year at athletics’ annual awards ceremony in Monaco.

Breaking an 82-year-old record, Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah became the fastest bowler in the world to reach the

milestone of scalping 200 Test wickets.

The Hungarian capital city of Budapest was awarded the IAAF World Athletics Championships in 2023 at the IAAF

Council in Monaco which means the World Championships will return to European soil after a six year hiatus

following Doha in 2019 and Eugene in 2021.

Anushka, Chaitanya youngest winners at U.S. Kids Golf’s first event in India.

Khelo India Youth Games-2019 will be held in Pune of Maharashtra.

Madhya Pradesh opener Ajay Rohera etched his name in the record books by slamming the highest first-class score

on debut, an unbeaten 267 against Hyderabad in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game in Indore.

Steel Authority of India’s Hockey Academy beat Army XI Danapur 2-1 to clinch the 115th All India Aga Khan Gold

Cup hockey tournament. Jay Prakash Patel scored the match-winning goal for the SAIL Hockey Academy (SHA) in

the final match played at Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium in New Delhi.

In the latest ICC cricket rankings, India Captain Virat Kohli maintains his top spot. Cheteshwar Pujara‘s knocks of

123 and 71 were the cornerstone of India’s victory in the opening Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. This

has given him the career-best ranking to top five.

Virat Kohli becomes first Asian skipper to win a Test in South Africa, England and Australia.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has roped in Indian alcobev 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.

Vinesh Phogat announced her return from injury after a successful day out by grabbing the 57 kilogram

title while Sakshi Malik emerged the champion in the 62 kg on the second day of the Tata Motors Senior Womens

National Championship in Gond, U.P.

Ullas Narayan became the first ever Indian individual medal winner in an international ultra running event by

clinching a bronze in the 2018 International Association of Ultra Running (IAU)24 Hour Asia & Oceania

Championships held in Taipei city, Taiwan.

The Hungarian capital of Budapest will host the 2023 World Athletics Championships, the International Association

of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced. The next worlds will take place in Doha in 2019 before going to Eugene,

United States, in 2021.

Former India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir, who won two World Cups and scored over 10,000 international

runs, announced his retirement from the sport.








Rankings

Index India’s Rank Other Information Climate Change Performance

Index

11 Sweden tops the index

Loans from Banks

Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has extended a credit facility of USD 500 million (about Rs 3,542 crore) to

Tanzania for water supply projects in the African country. Under this agreement, of the total credit by Exim Bank,

goods and services of value of at least 75 per cent of the contract price shall be supplied by the seller from India.

The board of Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) has approved a $400-million

loanfor a water sanitation project in Andhra Pradesh, taking the overall exposure of the bank to India to $2 billion

spread over nine projects.

A project to boost tourism in Tamil Nadu will be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the tune of $31

million (about Rs 222.84 crore). An agreement in this regard was signed between the government of India and

ADB.

India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $60 million loan agreement to reduce floods and the riverbank

erosion in Assam, the Finance Ministry said. The Tranche 2 loan is part of the $120 million multi-tranche financing

facility for the Assam Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program approved by

the ADB Board in October 2010.

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.

Books

Book Author Other Info Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy Arvind Subramanian

Obituaries

Name Profession Other Info Arun Kumar Shaw 7 times Former National Champion Swimmer

Jayaraman Noted agriculturalist

Maulana Asrar-ul-Haque Qasmi Islamic scholar and Congress Lok Sabha

MP from Bihar

Jagdish Thakkar Public Relations Officer (PRO) in the prime

minister’s office and senior journalist

Mushirul Hasan Historian In his book When Stone

Walls Cry, He presents the








unknown facets of prison

life of the Nehrus and how

that transformed their

vision and character.

C.N. Balakrishnan Senior Congress leader and former Kerala

Minister

Belisario Betancur Former Colombian president

George H W Bush 41st President of the United States of America








VISIT www.aspirantszone.com for New Pattern Questions in each section.

QUIZ ZONE:

Quantitative Aptitude

Reasoning

English

Computer

Weekly CA Quiz

Daily Current Affairs Quiz

Static GK

Banking Awareness

For any queries, contact us freely at [email protected]







http://www.aspirantszone.com/quantitative-aptitude/

http://www.aspirantszone.com/reasoning/

http://www.aspirantszone.com/quiz-zone/english/

http://www.aspirantszone.com/computer/

http://www.aspirantszone.com/weekly-ca-quiz/

http://www.aspirantszone.com/daily-current-affairs-quiz/

http://www.aspirantszone.com/static-gk/

http://www.aspirantszone.com/banking-awareness/

Date post:	21-Apr-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	1 times
Download:	0 times

A2Z Current Affairs PDF for Canara Bank Exam December 2018 · Kovind [s visit, one in the area of...

Documents