www.study4u.in: Weekly Current Affairs (December I Week)

Banking and Financial Awareness

●The six-member monetary policy committee of RBI has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6% under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) consequently; the reverse repo rate and bank rate also remained unchanged at 5.75% and 6.25% respectively.
●Corporation Bank has launched its RuPay Select and RuPay Platinum credit cards.
●Paytm Unveils 'Paytm Ka ATM' Partner Outlet for Banking Operations also it is the only bank providing zero balance accounts and zero charges on digital transactions.
●Axis Securities, a subsidiary of Axis Bank, has become the first-ever broking arm of a bank to take membership of a commodity exchange by registering itself with NCDEX.
●India's GDP Growth to Rising to 7.5 pc in 2018: Morgan Stanley
●Paytm Payments Bank rolled out Paytm FASTag to enable electronic toll fee collection on highways across the country, from December 1.
●Paytm Acquires Stake in online Loans Firm CreditMate.
●Paytm Introduces BHIM UPI for Seamless Money Transfer.

●Preet Didbal has been elected as the mayor of Yuba city in California, who is the first Sikh woman to hold the position in the United States.
●Azar A.H.Khan Appointed Next Ambassador of India to Turkmenistan.
●London Mayor Names Deepak Parekh as First International Ambassador.
●Swiggy Appoints Vishal Bhatia as CEO of New Supply Business.
●Ellie Goulding Honored as UN Environment Global Goodwill Ambassador.
●Rahul Singh, New President of the National Restaurant Association of India.

●Dangal Wins Best Asian Film Award at AACTA.
●President Ramnath Kovind confers 'National Awards for Divyangjan 2017' on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, in New Delhi.
●The 23rd edition of the Star Screen Awards was held at Mumbai.

●India's first President Rajendra Prasad 133rd birthday - 03rd December 2017
●World Soil Day: 5 December 2017
2017 Theme: ‘Caring for the Planet starts from the Ground’.
●International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development – 5th December.
Theme – Volunteers act first, here, everywhere.
●Armed Forces Flag Day- 07 December
●International Civil Aviation Day – 7th December.
Theme – Working together to ensure no country is left behind.

●India and Cuba Sign MoU for Enhanced Cooperation in Health Sector.
●Indian and Italy Sign MoU for Cooperation in Agriculture and Phytosanitary Issues.
●India and Germany Sign Govt- to-Govt Umbrella Agreement.

●British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding has been appointed as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Environment.
●Venezuela has launched its own cryptocurrency called Petro.
●The US and South Korea have started their largest-ever joint air exercise Vigilant Ace. North Korea has labelled this exercise an "all-out provocation".
●Russia Banned From Winter Olympics 2018.
●A 16-year old boy Mohamad Al Jounde from Syria has been awarded the International Children's Peace Prize.
●The Silence Breakers’ Named Time’s Person of the Year for 2017. The "Silence Breakers" is a group of five women who came forward to share their experiences of sexual assaults and harassment at workplace.
●Christiano Ronaldo Wins 5th Ballon d'Or 2017.
●ADB Funds $580 Million for Reliance’s Bangladesh Power Plant Project.
●Iranian President Inaugurates First Phase of Chabahar Port.
●Supreme Court Allows Trump's Travel Ban to go into Full Effect.
●USA Now Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's Capital.

●The first international conference and exhibition on AYUSH and wellness systems, International Arogya 2017, was inaugurated in Delhi by Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry.
●India's largest floating solar power plant in the country at the Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad was inaugurated by Kerala Electricity Minister M M Mani.
●Clean Sea-2017’, the Regional Level Marine Oil Pollution Response Exercise conducted by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) at sea off Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
●Minority Status for Hindus: George Kurien Committee Constituted.
●Kumbh Mela, the largest congregation of pilgrims on the planet has secured its place in UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
●One of the seven wonders of the world and the symbol of eternal love Taj Mahal is UNESCO's second-best World Heritage Site in India.
●Amitabh Kant Panel to Tackle NPA in Power Sector.
6th International Tourism Mart to Begin in Guwahati.
●India’s Largest Floating Solar Power Plant Opens in Kerala.
●Kacheguda Railway Station in Hyderabad Becomes India’s First Energy-Efficient Railway Station.

●UAE, UK, US and French Armies Hold Joint Exercises in Abu Dhabi
●The Surface to Air Missile AKASH Successfully Launched.
●India has added another feather in its cap of indigenously built missiles by successfully testing surface-to-air Akash missile at Chandipur.
●South Korea, US Launch Largest Air Exercise.

●Andhra Pradesh Assembly Passes Kapu Reservation Bill.
●UP's Shamli Becomes 23rd District to be Included in NCR.
●The 6th edition of International Tourism Mart 2017 was inaugurated in Guwahati by the Governor of Assam Shri Jagdish Mukhi.
●UP, First State to Endorse Centre's Triple Talaq Draft Bill.
●Kerala to Raise Minimum Liquor Drinking Age from 21 to 23.

●A visually impaired Reserve Bank of India employee has brought laurels to India by claiming gold at the World Para-Swimming Championship in Mexico.
●India Wins First-Ever South Asian Regional Badminton Team Championship.
●Yuvraj Singh Launches UNICEF-ICC's Adolescent Campaign.
●Russia Banned from 2018 Winter Olympics.
●Prithvi Shaw Named India's Captain for 2018 U-19 World Cup.
●Deepika Kumari Wins Bronze at Indoor Archery World Cup.