Weekly Current Affairs December 2018 (Week-I)

Banking and Financial Awareness:

• ➛State Bank of India increased fixed deposit rates 
• 6.8% interest rate on FDs with maturity period of one to two years, earlier it was 6.7%.
• 7.30% for senior citizens with tenure between one year and two years, from 7.2% earlier. 
• ➛for violating stock broker norms, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has fined brokerage house Anand Rathi Rs 1 lakh. 
• ➛Reserve Bank has relaxed norms for External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) by reducing the mandatory hedging provision to 70% from the current 100% between 3 and 5 years. 
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Appointments

• ➛Anil Manibhai Naik appointed as the Chairman of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). 
• ➛Arvind Saxena appointed as the Chairman of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). 
• scientist Nageshwara Rao Guntur appointed as the Chairperson of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). 
• ➛IAS officer Sunil Arora appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). 
• ➛United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has appointed singer Nahid Afrin of Assam as the first 'Youth Advocate' of the north-eastern region to fight for child rights. 
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Important Days

• ➛International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (IDEVAW) - 25 November. Theme - "Orange the World: #HearMeToo". 
• ➛Indian Constitution Day - 26 November. 
• ➛National Cadets Corps (NCC) day - fourth Sunday of November. 
• ➛Indian Organ Donation Day - 27 November 
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MOU’s, Agreement and Summits

• ➛First Sustainable Blue Economy Conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya. 'The Blue Economy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development' was the theme. 
• ➛G-20 Summit 2018 held at Buenos Aires, Argentina 
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Important news – world

• ➛To bring together key business figures, India Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue was held at St. Petersburg in Russia. 
• ➛European Commission is the first economy to set its sight on achieving climate neutrality by 2050. 
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Important News- India

• ➛Himachal Pradesh has become the first state to implement Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), which will provide a single emergency response number across the country. 
• ➛'CASIO', Japanese electronics company has launched world's first Goods and Services Tax (GST) calculator in India for simplifying the GST calculations for tax payers. 
• ➛To boost Intellectual Property Right (IPR) culture in indigenous defence industry, 'Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti' launched by Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. 
• ➛For Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched 'PAiSA' – Portal, designed and developed by Allahabad Bank, during the National Workshop on Municipal Finance and Urban Planning held in New Delhi. 
• ➛To spread the message of Gita to the world, International Gita Festival 2018 will be organised in Kurukshetra in Haryana. 
• ➛70-feet tall statue of Lord Buddha unveiled by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at Rajgir in Nalanda district of the state. 
• ➛To assess rise of water level in rivers and reservoirs by rain, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has developed a new technology called 'Impact Based Forecasting Approach'. 
• ➛The Dehradun airport, Uttarakhand renamed after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 
• ➛To celebrate and cherish the spirit of tribal culture, craft, cuisine and commerce, 4th edition of annual “Aadi Mahotsav”, a National Tribal Festival held at Dilli Haat, Shri Aurobindo Marg, INA, Delhi. 
• ➛United Nations has selected Uttar Pradesh’s Noida and Greater Noida to participate in its Global Sustainable Cities 2025 initiative. 
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Sports News

• ➛Mary Kom has won gold medal which was sixth medal in World Boxing Championships at the World Women's Boxing Championships held in New Delhi. 
• ➛Sameer Verma has won the Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold badminton title 2018 in men's singles category. 
• ➛India’s shooter Esha Singh won the Women’s, Youth Women’s and Junior Women’s 10m Air Pistol competitions at the National Shooting Championship at Thiruvananthapuram.