Current Affairs Update 4 December 2018

Current Affairs is an important part for many exams. Be prepared for this section with ByScoop which brings all the important Current Affairs in one place. 4 December 2018

India Water Impact Summit-2018 to be held in New Delhi from December 5

• The annual India Water Impact Summit 2018 will be held from 5-7 December 2018 in New Delhi. 
• Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate the event.
• Theme: Showcasing and Enhancing Impacts of National and International Efforts on Ganga Rejuvenation.
• The 3 day Summit is being jointly organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga).
• The Summit provides a platform to stakeholders to get together to discuss, debate and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water related problems in the country. 

Delhi launches ‘Operation Minimum Wage’ to implement minimum wage

• Delhi government has launched a 10-day drive ‘Operation Minimum Wage’ and a helpline number for people to register their complaints in order to ensure minimum wage to all workers.
• Under the drive, 10 teams of five officials each have been formed which will conduct raids at different locations across the city and will keep a check on the wages paid to the labourers according to their skills. violations or non-compliance will attract strict action as per the Minimum Wages Act, 2017.
• The minimum wage for the unskilled labourers is Rs 14,000 per month while that for semi-skilled is Rs 15,400 per month and for skilled is Rs 16,962 per month.

Odisha announces PEETHA initiative to ensure transparency in implementation of schemes

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced Peoples Empowerment – Enabling Transparency and Accountability of Odisha (PEETHA) Initiatives to create awareness about the government’s welfare schemes, and improving transparency in the implementation of the same.
• The initiative is a sub-scheme of the government’s flagship “Ama Gaon Ama Bikas” scheme.
• PEETHA is a part of the 3-T initiative of Technology Transparency and Teamwork model.

International Conference on Bears Begins in Agra

• For the first time, India is hosting the International Conference on Bears Care from December 3-6 at Agra Bear Rescue Facility in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
• The four-day conference is aimed at sharing knowledge on principles of the welfare of bears and other wild animals in zoos, sanctuaries and rescue centres.
• The conference has been hosted by Wildlife SOS in collaboration with Advanced Bear Care Group from the US and Canada and will be attended by over 80 delegates from 11 nations.

2nd meeting of the NITI Forum for the North East held in Guwahati

• The second meeting of the ‘NITI Forum for North East’ was held in Guwahati, Assam on December 4, 2018.
• The meeting was Chaired by Vice Chairman, NITI AAYOG, Rajiv Kumar while Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh co-chair it.
• The meeting mainly focused on issues pertaining to five critical sectors – tourism, bamboo, dairy, fisheries and tea.

Government Forms 6 Member Panel to Look at Selling 149 ONGC, OIL Oil fields

• The government has constituted a six-member committee headed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar to look at selling as many as 149 small and marginal oil and gas fields of state-owned ONGC and OIL to private and foreign companies to boost domestic output.
• The other members of the panel includes:
  1. Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha,
  2. Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg,
  3. Oil Secretary M M Kutty,
  4. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and
  5. ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker.

Crisil cuts India’s growth forecast to 7.4% for FY 2018-19

• Crisil cut India’s GDP growth forecast for financial year 2018-19 to 7.4 per cent from the earlier 7.5%.

Indian Navy to Conduct ‘Exercise TROPEX’ From January 2019 to test robustness of coastal security apparatus

• The Indian Navy will be conducting its flagship Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise, (TROPEX),from January 2019 end till early March 2019.
• The inter-service military exercise aims to test the combat readiness of the Indian naval units, as well as the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard. It also seeks to strengthen interoperability and joint operations in a complex environment.
• As part of TROPEX, the Indian Navy would also be conducting a large-scale coastal defence exercise‘Exercise Sea Vigil’ which will involve all stakeholders across mainland and island territories. 
• The aim of such an exercise is to test the robustness of the entire coastal security apparatus through this massive exercise.

India, Japan Joint Air Exercise SHINYUU Maitri 18 Begins in Agra

• The first edition of the bilateral air exercise “SHINYUU Maitri-18” between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) is being held from December 3-7, 2018 at the Air Force station in Agra, Uttar Pradesh
• The theme of the exercise is Joint Mobility and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) on Transport Aircraft.
• The IAF is participating with ‘AN-32’ and ‘C-17’ aircraft with aircrew and observers while the JASDF’s ‘C2’ aircraft along with aircrew and observers are part of this first air exercise.

Shri A. N. Jha Appointed as new Finance Secretary

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Mr Ajay Narayan Jha as the new Finance Secretary.
• 59-year old A.N. Jha, is a 1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre.
• He replaces Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) who retired on November 30.

Jon Ridgeon appointed as CEO of IAAF

• The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has announced the appointment of Jon Ridgeon as its new CEO. Ridgeon will take up the new role in March 2019.
• IAAF President: Sebastian Coe 

Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric bags 2018 Ballon d’Or

• The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by France Football since 1956 to honour the best player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year.
• Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric has bagged the 2018 Ballon d’Or, becoming the first player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the award in more than a decade.
• The 2018 Ballon d’Or was the 63rd annual award ceremony and for the first time in its history, the Ballon d’Or Féminin and Kopa Trophy were awarded to the best female and male under-21 footballer, respectively.
  1. Ballon d’Or Féminin: Ada Hegerberg (Lyon)
  2. Kopa Trophy: Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)

Indian Navy Day 2018: December 4

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