Current Affairs Questions for IBPS Clerk and Canara Bank PO: 8th December 2018

Since 1949, 07 December is observed as Armed Forces Flag Day throughout India to honour the martyrs as well as men and women in uniform, who valiantly fight on our borders to safeguard the country’s honour. The ‘Armed forces Flag Day Fund’ (AFFDF) has been constituted by the Government of India for the welfare and rehabilitation of the Ex-Servicemen (ESM) community.

Team Italy won the Admiral’s Cup 2018. The ninth edition of ‘Admirals Cup’ Sailing Regatta (2018) concluded with a glittering closing ceremony at Ettikulam Beach at Indian Naval Academy (INA), Ezhimala.

Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has extended a credit facility of USD 500 million to Tanzania for water supply projects in the country. Exim Bank signed an agreement in May 2018, with the Tanzania government for making available a Government of India-supported line of credit of USD 500 million for the purpose of financing water supply schemes.

The ninth edition of ‘Admirals Cup’ Sailing Regatta (2018) was concluded at Ettikulam Beach at Indian Naval Academy (INA), Ezhimala in India.

Luxembourg is set to become the first country in the world to make all public transport free, implementing the move in 2020. The move is aimed at addressing environmental issues and the problem of traffic congestion. Earlier, Luxembourg introduced free transport for all people under the age of 20.

Noida-based IT major HCL Technologies will acquire seven IBM products by mid-2019 for $1.8 billion (over Rs 12,700 crore) in its biggest ever acquisition so far. The all-cash deal entails software in areas including security, marketing, collaboration solutions, and represents a total addressable market of over $50 billion. The deal includes the transfer of some IBM employees as well.

The Union cabinet approved an export policy for agriculture, lifting all restrictions on organic and processed food, to help the government’s efforts to double farmers’ income by 2022.

Kolkata-Patna is India’s new Inland Water Transport (IWT) origin-destination pair for containerised cargo movement on the National Waterway-1. After the success of container cargo being shipped from Kolkata to Varanasi earlier this year, Bihar’s capital Patna will be witness to a new landmark in India’s IWT sector.

On the 62nd death anniversary of B R Ambedkar, Social Justice and Empowerment minister Thaawarchand Gehlot launched the website of a first-of-its-kind media school, Dr. Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar School Of Media Empowerment (ASME), to train Dalit and tribal youth in journalism.

The Union cabinet approved an export policy for agriculture, lifting all restrictions on organic and processed food, to help the government’s efforts to double farmers’ income by 2022. The ‘Agriculture Export Policy, 2018’ seeks to double farm exports to $60 billion by 2022 from $30 billion currently and will invest 1,400 crore to set up specialised clusters in different states for different produce to push exports. Policy for sensitive farm goods such as onions will be reviewed from time to time.

A former senior Indian diplomat, Preeti Saran, has been elected unopposed to an Asia Pacific seat on the UN’s Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). Saran was elected to the CESCR for a four-year term beginning on the 1st of January 2019.

NITI Aayog organised ‘AI 4 All Global Hackathon’ to source sustainable, innovative and technologically-enabled solutions to address various challenges in the development space, with the vision of ‘Artificial Intelligence, AI for All’. Taking the initiative forward, NITI Aayog is now partnering with Perlin – a Singapore-based AI start up – to launch the ‘AI 4 All Global Hackathon’, and is inviting developers, students, start-ups and companies to develop AI applications to make significant positive social and economic impact for India.

The Union Cabinet has approved the launching of National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to be implemented by the Department of Science and Technology at a total cost of Rs 3,660 crore for a period of five years. The NM-ICPS is a comprehensive mission which would address technology development, application development, human resource development, skill enhancement, entrepreneurship and start-up development in CPS and associated technologies.

The government appointed Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian as the new Chief Economic Advisor. Dr. Subramanian will have a tenure of three years. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared his name. He is currently working as an Associate Professor at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Government of Goa, hosted the annual Startup India Venture Capital Summit in Goa. The theme of the Summit was ‘Mobilizing Global Capital for Innovation in India.’ The event showcased the Indian startup opportunity for funds from around the world. The key objectives of the Summit were to showcase the India opportunity, increase capital flow for Indian startups and further promote ease of doing business.