The Hindu Review: December 2017 for RBI Assistant Mains ... · PDF fileThe Hindu Review:...

The Hindu Review: December 2017 for RBI Assistant Mains & IBPS SO Prelims

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The Hindu Review: DECEMBER 2017 Banking Current Affairs

Agri service solutions provider Sohan Lal Commodity Management (SLCM) having operations across India and Myanmar has tied up with HDFC Bank and IndusInd

Bank to provide collateral management services. As per SBI, its board has approved raising Rs 8,000 crore

through various sources, including masala bonds, to meet Basel III capital norms.

Bank of Baroda has entered into MoU with POORTI Agri

Services Pvt. Ltd to enable the farmers to purchase agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, seeds etc. provided by POORTI.

US buyout giant KKR & Co has become the first foreign investor to fully own an asset reconstruction company

(ARC) in India as it received approval from the Reserve Bank of India.

Public sector IDBI Bank has received the capital infusion

of Rs 2,729 crore from the government of India. State-run Bank of India has received capital infusion of Rs.

2,257 crore from the government. Allahabad Bank has entered into an agreement with state-

run National e-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) for utilizing the latter’s Information Utility Services envisaged under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Reserve Bank of India has put Kolkata-based United Bank of India under the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework.

Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has raised the investment limit for foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in central government securities to over 1.91 lakh crore from January 2018.

Reserve Bank of India has placed Bank of India under the Prompt Corrective Action Framework, consequent to the onsite inspection under the Risk-Based Supervision Model carried out for the year ended March 2017.

Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the scheme of amalgamation between IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion.

AU Small Finance Bank has announced signing an MoU with Sahaj e-Village for extending its banking service in remote areas through Business Correspondent Agent (BC) model.

YES Bank and the European Investment Bank will co-finance $400-million funding for renewable power generation in the country.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on Syndicate Bank for non-compliance with its directions on "Cheque Purchase or Discounting, Bill Discounting, and Know Your Customer (KYC)" norms.

As per the IT Ministry, the government will bear the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges on transactions up to Rs 2,000 made through debit cards, BHIM UPI or Aadhaar-enabled payment systems to promote digital transactions.

The government has engaged private lender ICICI Bank to enable online payments at 470 mandis integrated with the national portal of electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).

Axis Securities, a subsidiary of Axis Bank become the first-ever broking arm of a bank to take membership of a commodity exchange by registering itself with NCDEX.

BSE's India International Exchange (India INX) received approval from SEBI for the listing of debt securities. This will enable Indian & foreign issuers to issue masala bonds, Eurobonds, and foreign currency bonds from India INX at International Financial Service Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tech (GIFT) for the first time.

Govt. fixed Rs 2,890 per gram as the price of new series of sovereign gold bonds (SGBs). Govt. decided to offer a discount of Rs 50 per gram to investors applying online and making payments digitally. Minimum investment in the bonds is one gram, with a maximum limit of 500 grams per person, per financial year.

RBI increased the limits for investment by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) for the January-March 2018 quarter by Rs 6,400 crore in Central Government Securities (G-Secs) and Rs 5,800 crore in State development loans (SDLs). Revised investment limit for FPIs in G-Secs will be Rs 2,56,400 crore against the existing limit of Rs 2,50,000 crore.

State Bank of India introduced a loyalty program for its valued customers named as State Bank Rewardz, which gives the customers several opportunities to earn reward points and earn many times faster at Max Get More partner outlets.

RBI imposed Rs 3 crore penalty on IndusInd Bank for breaching rules on income classification norms.

RBI has triggered prompt corrective action (PCA) against Corporation Bank, in view of high non-performing loans and requirement to raise capital. This makes Corporation Bank eighth bank to face restriction.

OBOPAY announced that the company has secured a license for Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) from RBI to operate a semi-closed loop wallet in the country.

Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6%. RRR under the LAF remains at 5.75%, & MSF rate & Bank Rate at 6.25%. The projection of real GVA growth for 2017-18 of 6.7% has been retained.

Govt. has fixed 2,952 rupees per gram as price of new series of sovereign gold bonds (SGBs). Govt., in consultation with RBI decided to offer a discount of Rs.

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50 per gram to investors applying online & making payments digitally.

Paytm Payments Bank rolled out Paytm FASTag to enable electronic toll fee collection on highways across the country.

Paytm Payments Bank is the only bank providing zero balance accounts & zero charges on digital transactions. It unveiled 'Paytm Ka ATM' outlets that allows customers to open Saving A/c & deposit/withdraw money from their A/c.

Corporation Bank launched its RuPay Select & RuPay

Platinum credit cards. Jai Kumar Garg, MD & CEO unveiled it.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the creation of a new virtual currency named 'Petro' to ease the country's economic crisis.

Schemes/Portals/Missions Launched The government had formally launched the ‘Ganga Gram’

project at the Ganga Gram Swachata Sammelan in New

Delhi. The Ganga Gram project is an integrated approach for the holistic development of villages situated on the banks of the holy river with the active participation of villagers.

With an aim to bring the foreign policy to the masses the External Affairs Ministry has come up with an initiative called SAMEEP - 'Students and MEA

Engagement Programme'. Under this MEA official will talk to students to help them better understand foreign policy. The main objective of SAMEEP is to take Indian foreign policy and its global engagements to students across the country.

Union Minister of State (I/C) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr

Jitendra Singh launched the electronic-Human Resource

Management System (e-HRMS) in New Delhi. Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Shri

Radha Mohan Singh has launched Livestock Disease Forewarning –Mobile Application (LDF-Mobile App). The app is developed by ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (ICAR-NIVEDI), Bengaluru.

To enhance standards of cleanliness on beaches, the

environment ministry has launched a pilot project 'Blue

Flag' for its clean-up and development. With the prime objective of enhancing standards of cleanliness, upkeep and basic amenities at beaches, the ministry has launched a pilot project, also striving for the 'Blue Flag' certification for such identified beaches.

Uttar Pradesh launched a free household power

connection scheme for the poor in the state to mark former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary. The scheme is driven by government’s motto ‘Prakash hai

to Vikas hai’ (the barometer of development is light). The

government also introduced Kisan Uday Yojana, a novel scheme for farmers.

Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha launched DARPAN- “Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India” Project to improve the quality of service, add value to services and achieve 'financial inclusion' of the unbanked rural population.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju, inaugurated the first national-level training of trainers program to sensitize various Central Ministries and Departments on the utilization of Sendai Monitor for developing action plans for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in New Delhi.

Jammu and Kashmir Bank launched a special financial scheme for journalists of the state. The scheme "J&K Bank Sahafat Finance Scheme" was launched by the bank's chairman and CEO Parvez Ahmad.

Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has approved the Ministry of Railways' transformative initiative to set up India's first ever National Rail and Transport University (NRTU) in Vadodara, Gujarat to skill its human resources and build capability.

CCEA given its approval for a new skill development scheme covering the entire value chain of the textile sector excluding Spinning & Weaving in organized Sector, titled "Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS)" from 2017-18 to 2019-20 with an outlay of Rs. 1300 crore. The scheme will have National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) compliant training courses.

President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, laid the foundation stone of the 'Nyaya Gram project' of the High Court of Allahabad in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. 'Nyaya Gram' is a residential and training complex of Allahabad High Court.

A Public Procurement Portal named ‘MSME Sambandh’ was launched by Shri Giriraj Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for MSME in New Delhi. The objective is to monitor the implementation of Public







Procurement from MSEs by Central Public-Sector Enterprises.

Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched first NIC-CERT (Computer

Emergency Response Teams), a setup of National Informatics Centre to prevent and predict cyber-attacks on government utilities.

State in News Senior BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur took oath as the 6th

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. He has replaced Virbhadra Singh. Vijay Rupani was sworn in at a grand ceremony in the

State capital of Gandhinagar as the Chief Minister of

Gujarat state. Governor Om Prakash Kohli administered the Oath of Office and Secrecy to 21 ministers including Mr Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel.

Mumbai has got India's first ever AC suburban local train as Christmas gift. The first service of the 12-coach EMU will commence between Borivali and Churchgate.

Karnataka's capital city Bengaluru has become the first

Indian city to have its own logo after the state government launched it.

President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, dedicated to the people of Andhra Pradesh four projects of the State Government. The Projects were Andhra Pradesh Fibregrid Project, Andhra Pradesh Surveillance Project, Drone Project; and Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) system. The President focused on the 24/7 hyper-connected world and the online presence of the government.

Nirmala Sitharaman has launched a start-up incubation centre called the Centre for Entrepreneurship

Opportunities and Learning (CEOL) in Mangaluru, Karnataka.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar laid foundation stones for more than 100 projects worth Rs 700 crore in Nalanda district as part of his state-wide "Vikas Samiksha Yatra".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 60-megawatt Tuirial hydroelectric power project from Aizawl, Mizoram.

Assam government has signed an MoU with Isha Foundation to conserve and rejuvenate the rivers of Assam.

The Telangana state government’s prestigious Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) has finally got the Green Nod from central government.

Goa has celebrated its 56th Liberation Day. The state was liberated on 19th December in 1961 from Portuguese control after almost 450 years of colonial rule.

Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved a scheme to provide a pension of Rs 1500 to transgenders above 18 years of age in the state. Under this scheme, the transgenders will be provided ration cards, plots, and scholarships, also skill development for financial stability.

Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated eastern India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) stations for scooters in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Kacheguda Railway Station in Hyderabad under South Central Railway (SCR) earned the unique distinction of being the first Energy Efficient ‘A1 Category’ Railway Station on Indian Railways. It achieved 100% energy efficiency by replacing 1,312 conventional lights with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, among other steps.

Kerala govt. lead by Left Democratic Front (LDF) has decided to raise the legal drinking age from 21 to 23 years.

Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to launch free email addresses in Hindi (in Devanagari script) for its residents, as per state IT department Principal Secretary Akhil Arora.

Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district was included in the National Capital Region (NCR), taking the total number of districts in the NCR to 23.

Uttar Pradesh becomes the first state to endorse the Centre's draft bill that makes instant triple talaq a cognizable & non-bailable offense. As per the draft law, its three years' imprisonment & a fine to a Muslim man trying to divorce his wife by uttering "talaq" three times.

Nagaland is all set to celebrate the 54th Statehood Day

& the 18th Hornbill festival 2017 at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama.

PM Modi inaugurated unique world-class hospital at Swaminarayan Gurukul Vidyapeeth Pratisthanam in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. This world-class hospital aims at providing top of the line medical & health care on subsidized rates.

Madhya Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a Bill awarding death to those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 & below. With this, Madhya Pradesh becomes

the first State where those convicted of such rapes will face the gallows.

Air Force & Coast Guard have launched a massive rescue operation off the Kerala coast to save hundreds of fishermen stranded in the rough sea hit by Cyclone Ockhi.

Andhra Pradesh assembly unanimously passed the Kapu reservation bill which will provide the community with a 5% quota in education & employment in the state.

New Appointments (National & International)







Bharatiya Janata Party has named Jairam Thakur as legislature party leader in Himachal Pradesh, effectively making him the state’s next chief minister.

Lieutenant General B S Sahrawat took over the reins of National Cadet Corps as its Director General.

Former football star George Weah has been elected as Liberia's president. He succeeded Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Shri M. Subbarayudu, presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Peru.

Actress Anushka Sharma named as the PETA's Person

of the Year by animal rights organisation People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Senior IPS officer Abhay was appointed Director

General of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He is at present working in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Vijay Rupani will continue as chief minister of Gujarat and Nitin Patel as his deputy chief minister, as per the Bhartiya Janata Party.

Government has appointed Justice U D Salvi as officiating chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) following the superannuation of Justice Swatanter Kumar.

National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar retired from the post after completing his five-year tenure.

A conservative billionaire and former president, Sebastian Pinera, has won Chile's presidential election run-off. Sebastian Pinera has replaced Michelle Bachelet.

R Hemalatha has been appointed as the new Director of the country’s premier National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad.

Shri Azar A.H. Khan, presently Consulate General of India, Istanbul has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Turkmenistan.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan named noted Indian businessman, Deepak Parekh, as 'International Ambassador' who will be tasked with championing the UK capital across the globe.

Sarvesh Kumar Tiwari, was appointed as the President of Para-Sports Foundation (PSF), India.

iUma Shankar, chief general manager (CGM) in charge of RBI's financial inclusion and development department has taken over as executive director (ED).

Senior IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India. He assumed charge from Rajiv Bansal.

Indian National Congress announced that Rahul Gandhi has been elected as its new President, taking over from his mother Sonia Gandhi. He is the 16th president of the Congress since Independence and sixth from the Nehru-Gandhi clan to take over the party reins.

Nakul Chopra, President of AAAI and Senior Advisor, Publicis Communications, has been elected as the next Chairman of BARC India. He succeeds Viacom18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats.

Buddhist monk Dhammapiya from Tripura has been elected as the new secretary general of the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC).

The new Director General of Ordnance Factories (DGOF) & Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is Shri Sunil Kumar Chourasia.

Infosys appointed Salil S. Parekh as it new CEO & MD. Veteran journalist A Surya Prakash was appointed as

the new Chairman of Prasar Bharati Board. The new appointed President of the National

Restaurant Association of India is Rahul Singh. Online food delivery start-up Swiggy appointed Vishal

Bhatia as it new CEO. Pakistan's law minister Zahid Hamid resigned from his

post. Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed for his

Second 5 year term. The new Mayor of Yuba city in California is Preet

Didbal. She is the first Sikh woman to hold the position in USA.

The newly appointed UN Environment’s Goodwill Ambassador for India is the Former Miss Asia Pacific Dia Mirza.

Economy & Business Current Affairs Economy Current Affairs

India’s first home-grown high purity gold reference standard - the Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BND-4201) - launched at the India Government Mint, Mumbai. BND-4201, which is the reference material for gold of ‘9999’

fineness (gold that is 99.99 per cent pure), will be beneficial to the consumers and public at large to ensure purity of gold. Sectoral regulator IRDAI issued regulations for

insurance firms to carry out offshore business from







Gujarat-based GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). Under the regulations, for the first time

in the country, foreign insurers are permitted to open IFSC Insurance Office (IIO) at GIFT IFSC.

SEBI stated that cross-holding in credit rating agencies

(CRAs) will be capped at 10 percent and also decided to raise the minimum net worth requirement to Rs 25 crore from the current Rs 5 crore.

Cryptocurrency dealer 'Pluto Exchange' announced the launch of India’s first mobile application for transacting in virtual currencies.

GST Council has decided to implement the e-way bill mechanism throughout the country by June 1st after reviewing the readiness of the IT network.

Indian economy is expected to witness cyclical growth recovery, with real GDP growth likely to accelerate from 6.4 % this year to 7.5% in 2018 and further 7.7% in 2019, as per report of Morgan Stanley.

Indian economy is likely to grow by 7.2% in 2018 and 7.4% in 2019 as per the ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects 2018’ report was unveiled by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

ADB lowered India’s GDP forecast for the current fiscal by 0.3% to 6.7 %. & 7.3% from March 2018.

Provisional figures of Direct Tax collections up to November, 2017 show that net collections are at Rs. 4.8 lakh crore which is 14.4% higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year.

Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley holds his 5th Pre-Budget Consultation Meeting with the leading Economists in New Delhi.

As per Finance Minister, India has recorded an average growth of 7.5% from 2014-15 to 2016-17.

The fiscal deficit as a ratio of GDP stood at 3.9% in 2015-16 and 3.5% in 2016-17 and is budgeted to be 3.2% for the Current Financial Year 2017-18.

CBDT entered into 2 Bilateral Advance Pricing

Agreements (APAs). These Agreements are the first ever Bilateral APAs with the Netherlands. With this, the total number of APAs by the CBDT has gone up to 186. This includes 171 Unilateral APAs & 15 Bilateral APAs.

GOI increased the budget of Agricultural Education by

47.4% this year as compared to the financial year 2013-14. Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu stated that

the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)

incentive rate will be raised by 2% across the board for labor-intensive/MSME sectors.

Business Current Affairs

Amazon has bought an Andover, Massachusetts-based company 'Blink' that makes Internet-connected doorbells and security cameras.

Smartphone manufacturer Samsung launched its 'Bill

Payments' on its flagship payments service, Samsung Pay in partnership with Axis Bank.

India's largest mobile-first financial services platform, Paytm announced that its app has crossed the 100 million milestone on Google Play Store in the second week of December 2017.

Airtel Payments Bank Chief Executive Shashi Arora has quit the company after a recent controversy surrounding India’s largest telecom operator and its payment bank’s alleged violation of rules on using Aadhaar for its electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) verification process.

SBI Card, the credit card issuer and Bharat Petroleum, the leading petroleum company in India announced the launch of the BPCL SBI Card – the most rewarding fuel co-branded credit card in the country.

India's largest mortgage lender HDFC has sold its realty brokerage business HDFC Realty and its digital real estate business HDFC Developers which owns HDFC RED (Real Estate Destination) to online classifieds player Quikr.

Bharti Airtel Ltd has entered into a definitive agreement with Millicom International Cellular S.A., under which Airtel Rwanda Ltd will acquire 100% equity in Tigo Rwanda Ltd.

Ola, operated by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd has acquired food delivery start-up Foodpanda India Pvt. Ltd from its German parent Delivery Hero AG in an all-stock deal that will see the ride-hailing major infuse $200 million in Foodpanda’s India operations.

Dish TV India Limited (Dishtv), Asia Pacific’s largest direct-to-home (DTH) company and part of the Essel Group has received the final approval for closing of the merger of Videocon d2h with DishTV.

Samsung India has entered into a partnership with UNESCO to launch virtual reality content and 360-degree videos on Indian heritage sites.

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki became India's sixth most valued firm, crossing India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI). Reliance Industries is the country's most valued company firm in India.

Sports Indian boxers have claimed three gold, a silver, and a

bronze medal at the Galym Zharylgapov Boxing

Tournament in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. In the event, the country’s Gold Medal winners were K Shyam Kumar in

49kg, Naman Tanwar in 91kg and Satish Kumar in the

91kg category claimed gold medals. 19-year-old Naman

Tanwar was also adjudged the best boxer of the tournament.

India’s ace chess player Viswanathan Anand won the World Rapid Chess tournament title in Saudi

Arabia by beating Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev. Saudi Arabia hosted the world chess tournament for the first time. The women’s title was won by China’s Ju Wenjun.







Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim has appointed as General Manager (Cricket Operations) of the BCCI. He will assume office from 01st January and he will report to CEO Rahul Johri.

Vijender Singh defended his WBO Oriental and Asia Pacific super middleweight titles against Ghana’s Ernest Amuzu at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Sushil Kumar was wanted by all the teams ahead of the new season of Pro Wrestling League (PWL) and the bidding war created history in New Delhi.

Haryana shooter Anisa Sayyed won the women’s 25m

pistol gold with a new record at the ongoing 61st National Shooting Championship Competitions (61st NSCC), in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

The emblems of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games have been named “Winter Dream” and “Flight,” respectively.

The central English city of Birmingham will host the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Gold Coast, Australia, will host the next Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Lionel Messi, the star forward of Barcelona, has received La Liga’s top scorer and best player awards for the 2016-2017 football season.

Indian junior boxers had clinched total 11 Medals (six gold, four silver and a bronze medal) at the fifth International Sven Lange Memorial Tournament, to finish as overall champions in the German city of Schwerin.

India’s top-ranked junior shuttler Aakarshi Kashyap won

U-17 and U-19 singles titles at Badminton junior Nationals in Guwahati, Assam.

Double Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar clinched a gold

medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships

in South Africa. He defeated New Zealand's Akash

Khullar. Top Indian shuttler P V Sindhu won the Silver medal in

women’s singles summit clash of the Dubai World Super

Series Final in Dubai. She was defeated by World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

Former AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder Kaka, who lifted the 2002 World Cup with Brazil, announced his retirement from football.

World 10,000m champion Sir Mo Farah has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017. He becomes the

first long-distance runner to win the Sports Personality award since Paula Radcliffe in 2002. Real Madrid earned the honor of being able to wear the

official FIFA World Champions Badge on their competition jerseys for the duration of 2018 by defeating Gremio in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017.

Nagpur’s Kanchanmala Pande created history as she became the first Indian to secure pole position at the World Para-Swimming Championship in Mexico. She won gold in 200-meter medley event in the S-11 category and was also the only Indian to qualify for the women’s category.

FIFA, has lifted a two-year suspension against Kuwait’s football association that has prevented the country from participating in international tournaments.

Indian Diving Team won 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze Medals in Indonesia Open Aquatic Championship 2017. The Championship was concluded in Indonesia's Jakarta.

India defeated Germany 2-1 in the Hockey World League Final to grab the bronze medal at the event, in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Australia beat Argentina 2-1 in the final of the Hockey World League Final (HWLF) to win gold at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

India is all set to host the 2023 World Cup, the global cricketing event’s 13th edition after the BCCI confirmed the host nation. India will also host the upcoming Champions Trophy in 2021. ICC World Cup 2019 will be held in England and Wales.

India's Saurabh Chaudhary qualified for the Youth Olympics Games with a gold medal and a junior world record in 10m air pistol at the ongoing Asia Youth Olympics Games qualification tournament in Wako City, Japan.

Pistol aces Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu bagged a bronze at the 10th Asian Championship 10m Rifle/Pistol in Wako City, Japan. Jitu won an individual bronze in the men's 10m Air Pistol while Heena claimed an individual bronze in the women's 10m Air Pistol.

India has become the first-ever team to register 300+ totals 100 times in ODIs, after posting 392/4 against Sri Lanka in Mohali.

21-year-old Indian Golfer Shubhankar Sharma claimed his maiden European Tour victory in the Joburg Open, in South Africa.

Board of Control for Cricket in India decided to lift the ban on the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) provided former IPL chief Lalit Modi stays away from its functioning, the Board decided in its Special General Meeting (SGM).

Virat Kohli surpasses Brian Lara for Most Double Centuries as Captain by scoring his 6th Double Century in Delhi.







Mumbai's 18-year-old batsman Prithvi Shaw named the captain of the Indian Under-19 team for the 2018

U-19 World Cup to be held in New Zealand. Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh will be promoting a

UNICEF sports initiative for youngsters in South Asia. He launched the "Power of Sports to Shape the Future

of Adolescents" campaign in South Asia. Mujeeb Zadran From Afghanistan Becomes First

Cricketer to Born in 21st Century. 16-year-old off-spinner, became the youngest ever from Afghanistan to play International cricket.

The final draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup was held

in the Russian capital of Moscow. The ceremony was held at the State Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia.

India has won the first-ever South Asian Regional Badminton Team Championship. In the title clash played in Guwahati, India defeated Nepal, 3-0.

Indian archers produced an impressive performance, grabbed three gold, four silver & two bronze medals at the Asian Championships in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

India's Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan won gold medal at Asian Luge Championships at Altenberg, Germany.

India’s Deepika Kumari won bronze medal at the

Indoor Archery World Cup Stage 2 held in Bangkok, Thailand.

Russia was banned from the 2018 Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee over its state-orchestrated doping programme.

National & International Current Affairs National Current Affairs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that Republic Day celebration in 2018 would be "remembered through the ages" because the government for the first time in India's history would host leaders of 10 ASEAN countries as chief guests on 26th January 2018.

India is set to leapfrog Britain and France in 2018 to become the world’s fifth-largest economy in dollar terms.

Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) consultancy’s 2018 World Economic League Table painted an upbeat view of the global economy, boosted by cheap energy and technology prices. Top 3 Economies of the

world according to the World Economic Forum are- USA ($18 trillion), China ($11 trillion), & Japan ($4.4 trillion).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become the first PM in 20 years to attend the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual celebration of the global elite. The meeting will be held in Davos town of Switzerland.

India is all set to get its first runway on a ‘sea bridge’, as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been given a nod to extend Lakshadweep’s Agatti Airport.

Government of India, the Government of Tamil Nadu and the World Bank signed a $318 million loan agreement for the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization Project to promote climate resilient agriculture technologies, improve water management practices, and increase market opportunities for small and marginal farmers.

The World Bank has committed $125 million (around Rs800 crore) loan to India for the STRIVE project for skill development.

Lok Sabha passed the Muslim Women (Protection of

Rights on Marriages) Bill 2017 making instant triple talaq

illegal with up to three years in jail for the husband. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and

her Jordanian counterpart Ayman Al Safadi held a bilateral meeting in New Delhi and discussed deepening bilateral ties across multiple sectors.

In a move aimed at combating black money stashed abroad, India signed an agreement with Switzerland that would allow automatic sharing of tax-related information from January 1, 2018.

India's first and only design university, 'World University of Design' opened its campus at Sonipat, Haryana.

In a significant development, elite export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) decided to admit India as its new member.

India has been declared free from infectious Trachoma which is a contagious bacterial infection of the eye. It causes inflamed granulation on the inner surface of the lids.

Half a billion people have gained access to electricity in India since 2000, almost doubling the country’s electrification rate, as per the World Energy Access report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA). This puts India on course to achieving access to electricity for all in the early 2020s.

The winter session of Parliament begins with PM Modi urging all political parties to extend co-operation for smooth conduct and pressing for a "national consensus" on the issue of simultaneous elections in the country. It will end on 5th January 2018 has only 14 proposed sittings.

Union Cabinet cleared the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, or the Triple Talaq bill, which makes the practice a non-bailable offense. It proposes a three-year jail term for men who practice instant Triple Talaq.

India re-elected to the Council of the International

Maritime Organisation under Category B. Indian High Commissioner to the UK Y K Sinha represented India at the assembly.

The Government to Government Umbrella Agreement between India & Germany concerning Financial Cooperation in 2016 (II) signed to formalize an amount

up to Euro 200 million for Financial Cooperation in form of loan for the project ‘Climate Friendly Urban







Mobility III’ & Euro 11 million Accompanying measures in form of grant for four projects.

India & Cuba signed MoU for enhanced cooperation in the health sector.

Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh with H.E Maurizio Martina, Italian Minister for Agriculture Food & Forestry Policies have signed a new MoU for cooperation in Agriculture & Phytosanitary issues.

PM Modi inaugurated the BR Ambedkar International

Centre in New Delhi. He also unveiled two statues of the Dalit icon at the center in Janpath.

Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi has approved setting up of National Nutrition Mission (NNM) with a 3-year budget of Rs.9046.17 crore commencing from 2017-18. The program through the targets will strive to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anemia & low birth weight babies.

International Current Affairs

Prince Harry has been named the president of African

Parks, a conservation group that manages a dozen wildlife areas across the continent.

US President Donald Trump has signed into law a sweeping overhaul of the US tax code. Congress passed the 1.5 trillion dollars overhaul, set to impact every corner of the economy through dramatic tax cuts for corporations and temporary reductions for individuals.

The world’s longest glass bridge has been opened in China for the public. Located in Shijiazhuang, the magnificent bridge lies 218 meters above hanging between the two cliffs in Hongyagu Scenic Area in Pingshan county.

The world's largest human genome research project of 100,000 people was launched by China to document their genetic makeup for a study that aims to help generate the precision medicines of the future.

World Health Organisation has declared Gabon a "polio-free country", given the lack of new reported or suspected cases in the central African country.

France's parliament has approved a law banning all exploration and production of oil and natural gas by 2040 within the country and its overseas territories.

Washington resident Shree Saini has been crowned Miss India USA 2017.

Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia for the first time to become India's top crude oil supplier in the current fiscal, according to the Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

President of USA Donald Trump announced that the US now recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, overturning decades of official US policy.

China Three Gorges New Energy Co. is building a 1 billion yuan ($151 million) floating solar power plant, the world’s biggest, in the nation’s eastern province of Anhui.

Mount Hope, in the British Atlantic Territory, recently re-measured and found to be 377 metres taller & thus Becomes UK's New Highest Mountain.

Saudi Arabia will have its first public cinemas in more than 35 years after the government announced the lifting of the ban on movie theatres.

Google announced that it will open a research lab focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Beijing, China. It will be its first such center in Asia.

Norway became the world's first country to shut down national broadcasts of its FM network by completing its transition to digital radio.

IMF approved a new USD 88 billion credit line for

Mexico which will boosts Mexico’s ability to immediately deal with a potential need for liquidity.

Raj Shah who holds a key position in the White House, gaggled with reporters on board US Presidential chopper Air Force One, becoming the first Indian-American to enjoy the privilege.

The first phase of Chabahar port inaugurated by

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The port, located in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province.

ADB Board of Directors has approved debt financing & partial risk guarantees totaling $583 million to develop the Reliance Bangladesh Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) & Power Project.

US Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump’s travel ban to take full effect pending appeal, for people coming from six Muslim-majority countries. As a result of the SC's ruling, Trump's travel ban, which restricts travel to the US by people from Iran, Libya,

Syria, Yemen, Somalia & Chad without bona fide connections to the US, can take full effect while legal challenges proceed.

Australia’s parliament legislated for marriage equality,

passing a bill almost unanimously to allow two people, regardless of sex, to marry. Australia becomes the 25th country to recognize same-sex marriage.

International Solar Alliance (ISA) has now become a treaty-based international intergovernmental organization. ISA is India's global initiative & was jointly launched by PM Modi & president of France in November 2015 in Paris.







Defence Current Affairs

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has allowed Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)

manufactured Dornier 228 to be used for civilian flights. The 19-seater aircraft has, till now, been used by defence forces and is the first plane to be made in the country for commercial flights.

India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) supersonic interceptor missile, capable of destroying any incoming ballistic missile at low altitude, from a test range in Odisha.

The two-week long eighth edition of the Indo-Maldives

joint military exercise, ‘Ekuverin’, came to an end at Belagavi, Karnataka.

Indian Naval Ships Trikand and Teg are deployed to Oman for bilateral exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’ or ‘Sea Breeze’. This exercise is the 11th edition. Indian Army's Southern Command had conducted

exercise 'Hamesha Vijayee' in the deserts of Rajasthan to

evaluate the capability of the armed forces to strike deep into the enemy territory in an integrated air-land battle.

Indian Navy in collaboration with its Sri Lankan counterpart successfully completed the second phase of the joint oceanographic survey conducted off the South-Western Coast of Sri Lanka.

Surface to Air Missile AKASH with indigenous radio frequency seeker against target Banshee has been successfully launched from the Launch Complex-III at ITR Chandipur, Odisha.

South Korea & USA launched their largest-ever joint aerial drills called Vigilant Ace.

UAE Armed Forces along with the UK, US & French armies are participating in joint exercises in Abu Dhabi. The drill code is named as “Flag4”.

Ranks/ Indexes Released Vin Diesel has been named the top-grossing actor of 2017

by Forbes, with $1.6 billion in global ticketing receipts from his film 'The Fate of the Furious'.

India has the highest level of non-performing assets (NPA) among BRICS countries and is ranked fifth on a

list of countries with the highest levels of NPAs, as per the report by CARE Ratings. The only countries ranked higher than India on the list are Greece, Italy, Portugal,

and Ireland. United Kingdom topped Forbes' rankings of best countries

in the world for business in 2018 for the first time, up from fifth last year. The list ranks 153 countries on 15 factors including property rights, innovation, taxes and red tape. UK is followed by New Zealand and the Netherlands, while India was ranked 62nd on the list.

Delhi has emerged as one of the most expensive premium office locations in the world. Ranked 7th in the list, rent of Delhi’s premium office location is higher than San Francisco and Dubai, according to the latest report by JLL India, a real estate services firm. Mumbai is at 16th position in the list. The top spot is again taken by Hong Kong and there is the huge margin between the rent rates between Hong Kong and London (West), which is second in the list. New York was at the third position.

India currently ranks 60th out of 127 countries on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017 as compared to 66th rank on GII 2016. The list was topped by Switzerland.

With earnings of Rs232.83 crore, actor Salman Khan has topped the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list 2017 for the second consecutive year.

Since 1980, India led to substantial increase in inequality so much that top 0.1% of earners has continued to capture more growth than all those in the bottom 50% combined, as per the World Inequality Lab in its World Inequality Report 2018.

“The Silence Breakers”, the vanguard of a global movement by millions of women to share their stories of sexual harassment and abuse, was revealed to be Time magazine’s Person of the Year.

The Taj Mahal, India's iconic ivory-white marble mausoleum in Agra, is the second-best UNESCO world heritage site in the world, as per survey by TripAdvisor. It is rated after Cambodia's Angkor Wat.

The waste management system being implemented in Kerala's coastal town of Alappuzha has been recognized by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of the five models across the world for fighting the pollution menace. Alappuzha listed in the UNEP environment report entitled, 'Solid approach to waste: how five cities are beating pollution' alongside cities like Osaka in Japan, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Penang in Malaysia and Cajica in Colombia.

Musician Diddy was on the top of Forbes’ annual world’s highest-paid musician list shows.

Indian diaspora is the largest in the world, with over 15 million migrants from India living abroad, as per the World Migration Report 2018 published by International Organisation for Migration, UN migration agency. World's 3 largest diasporas- India Mexico and Russia. United States remained the top destination for migrants in the world in 2015.

In the latest list released by Forbes, Michael Jordan has been named as the highest-paid athletes of all time.

India has upgraded its ranks in ‘The Legatum Prosperity Index 2017’ and is now on 100th position. Norway tops the prosperity index by regaining the first spot from New Zealand.

In the Fortune’s ‘Businessperson of the Year’ 2017, Aditya Puri, MD of HDFC Bank ranked at 18th. The list is Topped by Nvidia’s Mr. Jensen Huang.







As per the Foreign Policy magazine's 2017 list of '50 Leading Global Thinkers', Indian-American senator Kamala Harris ranked 1st.

In the Time magazine readers’ Person of the Year, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman named as the Person of the Year.

Important Days 1st December observed as the World AIDS day with the

theme 'Right to health'. 1st December celebrated as the BSF Raising Day. International Day of Disabled Persons was observed on 3rd

December with the theme“Transformation towards sustainable & resilient society for all”.

4th December 2017 observed as the Indian Navy Day. World Soil Day was celebrated with the theme ‘Caring for

the Planet starts from the Ground’ on 5th December 2017. 7th December was observed as the Armed Forces Flag Day

to honor the martyrs & the men in uniform who valiantly fought on our borders to safeguard the country's honor.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December. The Campaign is named as #standup4humanrights.

The National Energy Conservation Day is celebrated annually on 14th December.

Vijay Diwas is celebrated across the Nation on 16th December.

International Migrants Day is organized across the world on 18th December. The theme for IMD 2017 is 'Safe Migration in a World on the Move.'

The famed Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’s birth anniversary on December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day.

Kisan Diwas (Farmer's Day) is observed every year on 23 December to celebrate the birth anniversary of the fifth prime minister of India Chaudhary Charan Singh.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday is being celebrated as Good Governance Day across the country on 25th December.

Agreement Signed Uttar Pradesh government signed an MoU with South

Korea to enhance cooperation in the field of tourism, skill development, culture and farming.

An agreement for IBRD Credit of USD 40 Million from

World Bank for “U.P. Pro-Poor Tourism Development

Project” was signed between India and the World Bank. Loan agreement signed between India and Germany for

providing additional funding of EUR 20 million for the Pare Hydroelectric Plant project under Indo-German Bilateral Development Cooperation. The government of Andhra Pradesh has entered into an

agreement with the moonshot factory of Alphabet (earlier Google) X to bring the breakthrough Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) technology in order to provide internet through the government Fibergrid project.

The Skill Development Ministry and Maruti Suzuki have signed an agreement to impart training to youth and enhance their employment potential.

India and Myanmar signed MoU on Rakhine State Development Programme and on Government to Government agreement on long-term socio-economic development of the state.

India & Singapore signed agreement on enhancing the naval cooperation between both the countries.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved its first loan to China, its largest shareholder, to reduce its

dependence on coal by over 600,000 tonnes annually by building a natural gas distribution network for villages. USD 250-million-loan will fund a project to connect

216,750 households in approximately 510 villages to the natural gas distribution network.

Financing Agreement for IBRD loan of USD 250 million (equivalent) for the “Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) Project” was signed with the World Bank by India.

India and Morocco signed an MoU for enhanced cooperation in the health sector in New Delhi. Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Dr. Abdelkader Amara, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Morocco signed the MoU.

Awards & Recognition Veteran singer K S Chitra has been selected for

prestigious 'Harivarasanam' award 2017, instituted by the Kerala government.

Authors Mamang Dai and Ramesh Kuntal Megh have won this year's Sahitya Akademi award for their work The Black Hill, a novel, and Vishw Mithak Sarit Sagar, a literary criticism, in English and Hindi respectively.







Eminent Bengali poet Joy Goswami will be given the 31st Moortidevi Award for the year 2017.

G. Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri and Director General, Missiles and Strategic Systems, has been conferred with the prestigious National Design Award.

Joda East Iron Mine (JEIM) of Tata Steel has been honored with the prestigious Golden Peacock Innovation Management Award for the year 2017 for driving innovation in mines.

Cristiano Ronaldo (from Portugal) won the Ballon d'Or for a fifth time to move level with rival Lionel Messi.

Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has conferred 'Yeraringan' Award to Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, in Chennai.

Jitesh Singh Deo from Lucknow was declared the winner of the 2017 Mr. India pageant which was held in Mumbai. Indian footballer Prathamesh Maulingkar won the title of Mr. India Supranational.

World youth champion Sachin Siwach was named the Asian Boxing Confederation’s best youth boxer of the year 2017.

The famous British singer & songwriter Ellie Goulding appointed as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Environment.

24-year-old model & Miss Korea Jenny Kim bagged the title of Miss Supranational 2017 held in Poland.

16-year-old Mohamad Al Jounde from Syria awarded the International Children's Peace Prize for his efforts to ensure the rights of Syrian refugee children.

Visits Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin arrived

in New Delhi. He will co-chair the meeting of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ockhi affected Lakshwadeep, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to take stock of the situation, meets affected people. He announced the relief package of Rs 325 crore for all 3 states and ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased.

Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu is in Buenos Aires, Argentina to attend the 11th Ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Singapore Defence minister Ng Eng Hen was in India & signed the agreement with Defence Minister Seetharaman.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit at Sochi in Russia.

Summits/Events Held The seventh edition of the India International Coffee

Festival (IICF) will be held in Bengaluru from January 16-19. As per the officials, IICF 2018 would be a precursor to the International Coffee Organization’s World Coffee

Conference being hosted by India in Bengaluru in 2020. President Ramnath Kovind inaugurated the 100th Annual

Conference of the Indian Economic Association at Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur of Andhra Pradesh.

The three-day long 78th session of the Indian History

Congress begun in Kolkata, West Bengal. India will host a meeting of WTO member countries in

February 2018 to muster support for food security and other issues. The announcement was made by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu in New Delhi.

First International Conference on Sports Medicine and Sports Sciences SAICON 2017 inaugurated in New Delhi by Minister of State (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore.

International conference on the Groundwater issues in the country with a theme of “Groundwater Vision 2030- Water Security, Challenges, and Climate Change Adaptation” was organized by National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the aegis of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge) Dr. Mahesh Sharma inaugurated the ‘Bodhi Parva: BIMSTEC Festival of Buddhist Heritage’ in New Delhi.

As per the External Affairs Ministry, New Delhi will host the two-day long Asean-India Connectivity Summit (AICS) on the theme "Powering Digital and Physical Linkages for Asia in the 21st Century".

UN Women in collaboration with Facebook inaugurated event in Mumbai titled 'We The Women' to empower and recognise the magnificent contribution of women in our society.

Foreign Ministers of Russia, India, and China (RIC) held a trilateral meeting in New Delhi. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Wang Yi have arrived in New Delhi for the summit.

The second UN World Tourism Organization/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture was held in Muscat, Capital city of Oman. Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge) and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma led the Indian delegation.

India will host the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) at Mumbai in June 2018. The Theme of the Annual Meeting, 2018 will be “Mobilizing Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration”.







14th Inclusive Finance India Summit began in New Delhi to build consensus on strategies and a unified vision for achieving universal financial inclusion in India.

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar hosted the 4th India-Australia-Japan Trilateral Dialogue with Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia Ms. Frances Adamson and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Mr. Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, in New Delhi.

The Shared Value Summit 2017 with the theme “Equity & Empowerment” held in New Delhi. Minister of Industry & Commerce, Suresh Prabhu was the chief guest of the summit.

15th Finance Commission first meeting under the Chairmanship of Shri N.K. Singh & other members held in New Delhi.

1st International exhibition & Conference on AYUSH & Wellness sector- AROGYA 2017 with the theme 'Enhancing the global potential of Ayush' held in New Delhi.

The 6th International Tourism Mart-2017 held in Guwahati, Assam.

VP M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated 12th Annual convention of central information commission in New Delhi.

International Conference on Climate Change, 'Resilient Hindu Kush Himalaya: Developing Solutions towards a Sustainable Future for Asia' inaugurated by Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari held in Nepal.

3rd Dialogue between the NITI Aayog & Development Research Council of China, co-chaired by VC Dr. Rajiv Kumar, & Mr Li Wei, President (Minister), DRC held in Beijing, China.

Miscellaneous Committees Formed

The High-level committee set up by the Govt. to address the problem of stressed assets in India's power sector will be Headed by NITI Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant.

Other Miscellaneous Current Affairs

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the Centenary celebrations of the Yoga Institute in Mumbai.

Acclaimed Bengali singer Jatileswar Mukhopadhyay passed away in Kolkata following a prolonged illness. He was 82.

Famed Bengali film actor Partha Mukhopadhyay had passed away. He was 70.

Legendary South African musician Robbie Malinga passed away. Bob Givens, one of the animators behind designing

the iconic characters Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, died at the age of 99.

Lalji Singh, a pioneer of DNA fingerprinting technology in India and former Vice-Chancellor of Benares Hindu University, BHU (2011 to 2014), passed away.

Veteran journalist Sukharanjan Sengupta died due to old age-related health problems.

Bollywood actor, writer, and filmmaker Neeraj Vora, in the coma since a year, died at a Mumbai hospital.

Johnny Hallyday, France's biggest rock star passed away recently.

The famous Actor, Director & Producer Shashi Kapoor passed away recently.

The book, The Way I See It - a Gauri Lankesh

Reader, has been edited by writer and sociologist Chandan Gowda.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan launched a book based on Indian cinema. It is titled 'Bollywood:

The Films! The Songs! The Stars!', is a coffee table book, co-authored by S.M.M. Ausaja, Karan Bali, Rajesh Devraj & Tanul Thakur.

Frenchman Francois Gabart smashed the world record for the fastest non-stop solo navigation of the globe, completing the mammoth feat in 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.

UNESCO inscribed 'Kumbh Mela' on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of

Humanity. The largest-ever floating solar power plant in India

inaugurated by state power minister MM Man at the Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad, Kerala. The solar power plant that floats on the surface of the water has a capacity of 500 kilowatts.

The word 'populism' has been announced as Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year 2017.

The Nation on 3rd December 2017 remembered India's first President Rajendra Prasad on his 133rd birthday.

India's first Madame Tussauds wax museum has been opened in New Delhi.

State-Run Banks' NPAs Touched Rs 7.34 Lakh Crore- RBI Data

i. Bad loans of Public sector banks (PSBs) stood at Rs 7.34 lakh crore by the end of second quarter this fiscal, a bulk of







which came from corporate defaulters, private sector banks' NPAs were considerably low.

ii. Moreover, for the recovery of the bad loans, the network of Debt Recovery Tribunals have been expanded to 39 at present, as compared to 33 in 2016-17, as per data by by the RBI and the government.

iii. The gross non-performing assets of the public sector and private sector banks as on September 30, 2017, were Rs 7,33,974 crore and Rs 1,02,808 crore, respectively.

iv. Among the major government-owned banks, State Bank of India had the highest level of NPAs at over Rs 1.86 lakh crore, followed by Punjab National Bank (Rs 57,630 crore) and Bank of India (Rs 49,307 crore).

v. Up to end-September, among private banks, ICICI Bank

had the most amount of NPAs at Rs 44,237 crore, followed by Axis Bank (Rs 22,136 crore) and HDFC Bank (Rs 7,644 crore).

Small Savings Schemes’ Interest Rates Cut by 20 bps

Government slashed interest rates on small savings schemes, including National Savings Certificate (NSC) & Public Provident Fund (PPF), by 0.2 percentage point for

the January-March period from the rates applicable in the previous quarter. This will prompt banks to lower deposit rates. As per the finance ministry notification, rates have been

reduced across the board for schemes such as National Savings Certificate (NSC), Sukanya Samriddhi Account, Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and Public Provident Fund (PPF). However, interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 percent annually.

Instrument Rate of Interest

National Savings Certificate (NSC) 7.6%

Sukanya Samriddhi Account 8.1%

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) 7.3%

Public Provident Fund (PPF) 7.6%

Senior Citizens Savings Scheme 8.3%

Savings Deposit 4%

5 Years Recurring Deposit 6.9%

All About the Star Screen Awards 2017 held in Mumbai

The annual film awards recognises the best of talent in Hindi films. Vidya Balan bagged the award for Best Actress (Critics) for Tumhari Sulu, Irrfan won the Best Actor Award for his performance in Hindi Medium. Rajkummar Rao won the Best Actor Award (Critics) for Newton & Best Actor in a Supporting Role Award for Bareilly Ki Barfi as well. The complete list of winners are as follows:

Best Film (Critics): Newton Best Director: Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal) Best Actress (Critics): Vidya Balan (Tumhari Sulu) Best Actress: Konkona Sen Sharma (Lipstick Under My

Burkha) Best Actor (Critics): Rajkummar Rao (Newton) Best Actor: Irrfan Khan (Hindi Medium) Best Supporting Actor: Rajkummar Rao (Bareilly Ki

Barfi) Best Supporting Actor (Female): Neha Dhupia

(Tumhari Sulu) Best Dialogues: Nitesh Tiwari & Shreyas Jain (Bareilly

Ki Barfi) Best Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya (Dangal) Best Music Director: Pritam (Dangal) Best Debut Director: Suresh Triveni (Tumhari Sulu) Best Playback Singer: Arijit Singh (Raees - Zaalima &

Jagga Jasoos) Best Playback Singer: Shashaa Tirupati (Kanha -

Shubh Mangal Savdhaan)

Center Enhances Monetary Allowances for Gallantry Award Winners

Govt. enhanced the monetary allowances for the Gallantry Award winners. Jangi Inam (a Pre-Independence Gallantry Award) (100% Increase) Gallantry Award Revised rate of Monetary Allowance

(Rupees per month)

Jangi Inam 1000

Post-Independence Gallantry Awards (100% Increase)

Gallantry Award Revised rate of Monetary Allowance

(Rupees per month)

Param Vir Chakra (PVC) 20,000

Ashoka Chakra 12,000

Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) 10,000

Kirti Chakra (KC),000 9,000

Vir Chakra (VrC) 7,000

Shaurya Chakra (SC) 6,000

Sena/Nao Sena/Vayu Sena Medal

2,000

Pre-Independence Gallantry Awards

Gallantry Award Revised rate of Monetary Allowance







(Rupees per month)

Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

8,000 (From 4000)

Indian Order of Merit (10M) 8,000 (From 4000)

Indian Distinguished Service Medal(IOSM)

8,000 (From 4000)

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)

6,000 (From 2800)

Military Cross (MC) 6,000 (From 2800)

Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for Officers

6,000 (From 2800)

Distinguished Service Medal (DSM)

6,000 (From 2800)

Military Medal (MM) 6,000 (From 2800)

Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) for Other Ranks

6,000 (From 2800)

Note: Chief of Army Staff- Bipin Rawat| Chief of Navy

Staff- Sunil Lanba. | Chief of Air Staff- Birender Singh Dhanoa.

11th WTO Ministerial Conference Held in Argentina

Eleventh World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC11) took place in Buenos Aires,

Argentina. The Conference was chaired by Minister

Susana Malcorra of Argentina. Indian Delegation was led by Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu. Key Highlights of the conference- 1. Three proponent groups announced new initiatives to advance talks at the WTO on the issues of electronic

commerce, investment facilitation, and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). 2. The European Union contributed EUR 1 million (over

CHF 1.2 million) to improve the trading capacity of

developing countries and to help them play a more active role in trade negotiations. 3. The United Kingdom government announced at the WTO’s Ministerial Conference with a commitment of £16

million (around US$ 21.3 million) to 51 of the world’s poorest countries. 4. For the first time in the history of the WTO members and observers have endorsed a collective initiative to increase the participation of women in trade.

Narendra Modi Inducts Scorpene-Class Submarine

Kalvari into Indian Navy Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India's first modern conventional submarine, INS Kalvari, into Navy's fleet in Mumbai, a first in almost two decades.

Kalvari is the first of the six Scorpene-class submarines handed over by shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL). Key facts to know about Kalvari Submarine- 1. Dreaded Tiger shark- Kalvari is named after the dreaded tiger shark, a deadly deep-sea predator of the Indian Ocean. 2. French naval defense's design- The submarines, designed by French naval defense and energy company DCNS, are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in Mumbai as part of Project-75 of the Indian Navy. 3. Scorpene class submarine- The Navy is inducting six Scorpene-class submarines on a 3-billion dollar contract. Construction for the first submarine, designated as MDL

Yard 11875 commenced in December 2006.

Static Take Aways December 2017 Current Affairs K K Sharma is the Director Genereal of BSF.

Headquarters- New Delhi. SIMBEX is the Joint Military Exercise between India &

Singapore. Halimah Yacob was recently (September 2017) named

Singapore's first female president. Mexico- a Country in North America, Capital- Mexico

City.

Nagaland CM- T R Zeliang, Governor- Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya.

CBDT Chairperson- Sushil Chandra, Headquarters- New Delhi

Pakistan PM- Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Capital- Islamabad.

Miss Supranational 2016 was India's Srinidhi Shetty. Poland Capital- Warsaw, Currency- Polish zloty.







Secretary-General of IMO- Kitack Lim, Headquarters- London, UK.

Russia Capital- Moscow, President- Vladimir Putin. Kenya Capital- Nairobi, Currency- Kenyan shilling. 2018 Youth Olympics will be held in Buenos Aires,

Argentina. Germany Capital- Berlin, Chancellor- Angela Merkel. Headquarters of UN: New York, USA | Secretary

General: Antonio Guterres Admiral Sunil Lanba- Chief of Naval Staff (CNS). Nepal PM- Sher Bahadur Deuba, Capital- Kathmandu,

Currency- Nepalese rupee. Gujarat CM- Vijaybhai R. Rupani, Governor- Om

Prakash Kohli. Andhra Pradesh CM- Chandra Babu Naidu, Governor-

ESL Narsimhan. HDFC Bank- India’s largest private bank by market

capitalization USA President- Donald Trumph (45th), Capital-

Washington DC. AYUSH- Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy,

Unani, Siddha & Homoeopathy. AYUSH Minister- Shripad Yesso Naik. New Zealand Capital- Wellington, Currency- New

Zealand Dollar. Thailand Capital- Bangkok, Currency- Thai baht. The 21st FIFA World Cup will be held from June 14 to

July 15, 2018, at 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities. Food & Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations headquarters in Rome, Italy. Rome is the Capital city of Italy. Germany capital- Berlin. Chancellor of Germany-

Angela Merkel. President of ADB is Takehiko Nakao. Founded on 19 December 1966 ADB has its

Headquarter in Manila, Philippines. Chief Minister of Kerala is Pinarayi Vijayan. Capital of

Kerala Thiruvananthapuram. Venezuela Capital- Caracas, Currency- Venezuelan

bolivar. UAE Capital- Abu Dhabi, Currency- UAE dirham Dr. Urjit Patel is the 24th Governor of RBI. RBI

Headquarters in Mumbai. M Venkaiah Naidu is the 13th VP if India. Dr. Jitender Singh: Minister of State for the Ministry of

Development of North Eastern Region. Assam CM- Sarbananda Sonowal, Governor- Jagdish

Mukhi. Assam Capital - Dispur. The ISA, headquartered in India, has its secretariat

located in the campus of National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurgaon, Haryana.

Madhya Pradesh CM- Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Governor- Om Prakash Kohli. Capital of Madhya Pradesh is Bhopal.

USA President- Donald Trump (45th), Capital- Washington D.C.

Saudi Arabia Capital- Riyadh, Currency- Saudi riyal. Syria Capital- Damascus, Currency- Syrian pound. South Korea Capital- Seoul International Olympic Committee headquarter-

Lausanne, Switzerland. ICC CEO- David Richardson, ICC headquarters -

Dubai, United Arab Emirates. UNICEF Headquarter - New York, United States. Afghanistan Capital- Kabul, President- Ashraf Ghani. UP CM- Yogi Adityanath, Governor- Ram Naik. Defence Minister of India- Nirmala Sitharaman. BR Ambedkar- Independent India's first law minister.

Passed Away: 6 December 1956. His Place of Birth: Mhow in Central Provinces (currently Madhya Pradesh).

NITI- National Institution for Transforming India.

Chairperson- Narendra Modi, Vice Chairperson- Dr. Rajiv Kumar.

J. P. Nadda- Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare.

Cuba Capital- Havana, Currency- Cuban peso. Italy Capital- Rome, Currency- Euro. Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the Chairman of the Paytm

Payments Bank. UNESCO- United Nations Educational, Scientific &

Cultural Organization. France's Audrey Azoulay- 11th DG of UNESCO,

Headquarters- Paris, France. Australia Capital- Canberra, Australian PM- Malcolm

Turnbull. The Netherlands (April 2001)- was the First Nation to grant the same-sex couples.

Sriharsha Majety- CEO & Co-founder of Swiggy.

The Legislature or Parliament is headed by the President of India.

As per the World Bank, Financial inclusion means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way.

Australia Capital- Canberra, Currency- Australian dollar.







Japan Capital- Tokyo, Currency- Japanese yen. Forbes- American business magazine, Founded

in- 1917. Headquarters- New York City, USA. Finance Minister of India- Arun Jaitley. Google CEO- Sundar Pichai, Headquarters-

California, USA. SBI Present Chairman- Rajnish Kumar,

Headquarter- Mumbai. IndusInd Bank Chairman- R. Seshasayee.

Headquarter- Mumbai, Owner- Hinduja Group. PCA- Prompt Corrective Action. Corporation Bank Managing Director & CEO- Jai

Kumar Garg, Headquarter- Mangalore, Karnataka.

Indian Navy Chief of Naval Staff (CNS)- Admiral Sunil Lanba.

IBRD- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

World Bank President- Jim Yong Kim (12th), Headquarters- Washington DC, USA.

Minister of State (IC) of Power and New & Renewable Energy- R.K. Singh.

Capital of Morocco- Rabat, Currency- Moroccan dirham.

Norway Capital- Oslo, Currency- Norwegian krone.

OBOPAY Established in- 2005, Chairman- D. Padmanabhan, Head Office- Bengaluru, Karnataka.

BCCI President- Vinod Rai. ICC CEO- Dave Richardson. Japan Capital- Tokyo, PM- Shinzo Abe, Currency-

Japanese Yen. Australia Capital- Canberra, PM- Malcolm

Turnbull.

Argentina Capital- Buenos Aires, President- Mauricio Macri.

BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council)

India is an industry body set up to design, commission, supervise and own an accurate, reliable and timely television audience measurement system for India. BARC India CEO- Partho Dasgupta.

CM of Tamil Nadu- Edappadi Palaniswami. UN Secretary-General: Antonio Guterres,

Headquarters- New York, USA. Saudi Arabia Capital- Riyadh, Currency- Saudi

Riyal. UK PM- Theresa May, Capital- London,

Currency- Pound sterling. The first finance minister of independent India

was R. K. Shanmukham Chetty, who also presented its first Budget.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) was established in 1976. Smt. Neeta Verma- Director-General of NIC, Headoffice- New Delhi.

International Buddhist Confederation is the biggest religious Buddhist confederation, based in Delhi, India.

Rajasthan Capital- Jaipur, CM- Vasundhara Raje, Governor- Kalyan Singh.

Founded on 19 December 1966 ADB has its Headquarter in Manila, Philippines. President of ADB is Takehiko Nakao.

RBI current & 24th Governor- Dr. Urjit Patel, Headquarter- Mumbai, Nationalized in - 1949.

AIIB Headquarter- Beijing, China, Commenced operations in- January 2016. AIIB President- Mr. Jin Liqun.

Oman Capital- Muscat, Currency- Omani rial. Russia Capital- Moscow, Currency- Russian ruble. China Capital- Beijing, Currency- Renminbi,

President- Xi Jinping. SEBI- Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Chairman- Ajay Tyagi, Headquarters- Mumbai. Air India Founded: 15 October 1932 (as Tata

Airlines), Headquarters- Delhi Germany Capital- Berlin, Currency- Euro. Delhi CM- Arvind Kejriwal, Lt. Governor- Anil

Baijal. Minister of Water Resources, River Development

and Ganga Rejuvenation- Nitin J Gadkari. Kacheguda Railway Station- Situated in

Hyderabad. Kerala CM- Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor- P.

Sathasivam. USA President- Donald Trump (45th), Capital-

Washington D.C. Israel President- Reuven Rivlin. Wassenaar Arrangement Secretariat- Vienna,







Austria. The current Head of Secretariat- Ambassador Philip Griffiths (New Zealand).

Kerala CM- Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor- P.Sathasivam.

NCDEX- National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, Samir Shah- Managing Director, NCDEX. Arun Thukral- Managing Director, Axis Securities.

Turkmenistan Capital- Ashgabat, Currency- Turkmenistan manat

Mexico Capital: Mexico City, Currency: Mexican peso

WTO Director-General- Roberto Azevêdo, Established- 1 January 1995, Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland.

IEA Executive Director- Fatih Birol, Established in- 1974, Secretariat- Paris, France.

A.K. Panda- Secretary, MSME. BIMSTEC- The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-

Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. It came into being on 6 June 1997. BIMSTEC member states are India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Kuwait Capital- Kuwait City, Currency- Kuwaiti dinar.

FIFA President- Gianna Infantino. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,

Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Indonesia Capital- Jakarta, Currency- Indonesian Rupiah.

Mizoram CM- Lal Thanhawla, Governor- Lt. General (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma

Telangana CM- K Chandrasekhar Rao, Governor- E.S Lakshmi Narasimhan (Add. Charge).

Chief of Army Staff- General Bipin Rawat. The XXIII Olympic Winter Games will be held from 9

to 25 February 2018 in PyeongChang, the Republic of Korea.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister- N Chandrababu

Naidu, Governor- E.S Lakshmi Narasimhan. Odisha CM- Naveen Patnaik, Governor- S. C. Jamir. Libreville is the capital city of Gabon, a country on the

coast of Central Africa. Ali Bongo Ondimba is a President of Gabon.

CMD DishTV India Limited- Mr. Jawahar Goel. UNESCO- United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization. Director-General (Present)- France's Audrey Azoulay, Headquarters- Paris, France.

Chile Capital- Santiago, Currency- Chilean peso. Syndicate Bank MD & CEO- Melwyn Rego,

Headquarters- Manipal. ICICI CEO- Chanda Kochhar, Headquarter- Mumbai. Goa CM- Manohar Parrikar, Governor- Mridula Sinha. Non-Executive Chairman & an Independent Director

of ICRA- Arun Duggal, ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information and

Credit Rating Agency of India Limited) was set up in 1991.

Rwanda Capital- Kigali, Currency- Rwandan franc. CEO of Ola- Bhavish Aggarwal, Headquarters-

Bengaluru. Iraq Capital- Baghdad, Currency- Iraqi dinar,

President- Fuad Masum. Germany Capital- Berlin, Currency- Euro, Chancellor-

Angela Merkel. Assam CM- Sarbananda Sonowal, Governor- Jagdish

Mukhi. Lakshwadeep Administrator- Farooq Khan. Tamil Nadu CM- Edappadi K Palaniswami, Governor-

Banwarilal Purohit. Kerala CM- Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor- Justice (Retd.)

Palaniswamy Sathasivam. The two main rivers of Assam are Brahmaputra and

Barak. Minister of State for Skill Development &

Entrepreneurship- Anantkumar Hegde. Myanmar PM- Aung San Suu Kyi, Capital-

Naypyidaw. IBRD- International Bank for Reconstruction and

Development. World Bank President- Jim Yong Kim (12th),

Headquarters- Washington DC, USA. Capital of France- Paris, Currency- Euro| President-

Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister- Edouard Philippe. Bank of India was founded on 7th September, 1906.

Managing Director & CEO- Dinabandhu Mohapatra. Competition Commission of India (CCI) Chairperson-

Ashok Chawla. IndusInd Bank Chairman- R. Seshasayee, Headquarter-

Mumbai, Owner- Hinduja Group. AU Small Finance Bank headquarters- Jaipur,

Rajasthan, Started in- 1996, Chairman- Mannil Venugopalan.

YES Bank MD and Chief Executive- Rana Kapoor, Headquarters- Mumbai.







1st Railway Minister of Independent India- John Mathai.

Present Textile Minister of India- Smriti Zubin Irani. Forbes- American Business Magazine, Founded in-

1917. Headquarters- New York City, USA. Present Chief of Naval Staff- Admiral Sunil Lanba. MD and CEO of United Bank of India- Pawan Kumar

Bajaj, Headquarters- Kolkata, West Bengal. SEBI Chairman- Ajay Tyagi, Headquarters- Mumbai. Gold Coast, Australia, will host the next

Commonwealth Games in 2018. Gujarat Governor- Om Prakash Kohli. Switzerland Capital- Bern, President- Doris Leuthard. Haryana CM- Manohar Lal Khattar, Governor- Kaptan

Singh Solanki.

Oman Capital- Muscat, Currency- Omani rial. Russia Capital- Moscow, President- Vladimir Putin. Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister-

Nitin Gadkari. Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister- Uma Bharti. Srivatsa Krishna- Secretary, Coffee Board of Karnataka. Anil Bhandari- President, India Coffee Trust. Peru Capital- Lima, Currency- Sol. D. Rajkumar- Chairman & Managing Director of BPCL. Rajnish Kumar- Chairman of SBI. Quikr CEO- Pranay Chulet. HDFC CEO- Aditya Puri. UP CM- Yogi Adityanath, Governor- Ram Naik. Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change-

Dr Harsh Vardhan. NPA stands for Non Performing Assets. Dr Urjit Patel

is the present Governor of RBI. Founder and Executive Chairman of WEF- Klaus

Schwab, Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland. SLCM Group CEO- Sandeep Sabharwal. HDFC Bank CEO- Aditya Puri, Headquarters-

Mumbai. IndusInd Bank Chairman- R. Seshasayee, Headquarter-

Mumbai, Owner- Hinduja Group. Samsung is the Korean Based company. Dr. Oh-Hyun

Kwon- Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Samsung.

Axis Bank CEO- Shikha Sharma, Headquarters- Mumbai.

Kazakhstan Capital- Astana, Currency- Kazakhstani tenge.

IRDAI- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. T.S.Vijayan- Chairman of IRDAI.

GIFT City- Gujarat International Finance-Tec City HAL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD)- T.

Suvarna Raju. PETA is the largest animal rights organization in the

world. Ingrid Newkirk- President, PETA. Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia- Mohammed bin

Salman. Saudi Arabia Capital- Riyadh, Currency- Saudi riyal.

SBI Chairman- Rajnish Kumar, Headquarters- Mumbai, Established on- 1st July 1955.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the CEO of Paytm. Paytm headquarters in Noida.

Bank of Baroda Chairman- Ravi Venkatesan, Managing Director & CEO P.S.Jayakumar.

Maldives Capital- Male, Currency- Maldivian rufiyaa. SEBI- Securities and Exchange Board of India. SEBI

Chairman- Ajay Tyagi, Headquarters- Mumbai Saudi Arabia Capital- Riyadh, Currency- Saudi riyal. King of Jordan- Abdullah II. Jordan Capital- Amman,

Currency- Jordanian dinar. CM of West Bengal- Mamta Bannerjee, Governor-

Keshari Nath Tripathi. Liberia Capital- Monrovia, Currency- Liberian dollar. IDBI MD and CEO- Mahesh Kumar Jain, Headquarter-

Mumbai. Dinabandhu Mohapatra is Managing Director & CEO

of Bank of India. Headoffice of Bank of India- Mumbai. BC Tripathi- Chairman & Managing Director of GAIL. Governor of Bihar- Satya Pal Malik





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