Current Affairs Current Affairs December 2018

 Legendary filmmaker Mrinal Sen passed away at the age of 95 in Kolkata. He was a Padma Bhushan and Dada Saheb Phalke awardee. A recipient of 12 international film awards including Cannes Film Festival, Mrinal Sen was also a member of the Indian People’s Theatre Association.
Source: News on AIR

  Croatia captain Luka Modric was named Balkan Athlete of the Year, becoming only the second soccer player to scoop the prize after Bulgaria’s former European Footballer of the Year Hristo Stoichkov in 1994. Ballon d’Or winner Modric won the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup with his Spanish club Real Madrid as well as being instrumental in helping Croatia reach the World Cup final in Russia. He was awarded the tournament’s Golden Ball Award.
Source- BBC Sports

 The Union government declared the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) a banned organization. A Home Ministry order stated the decision was taken under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 for the outfit’s alleged involvement in the killing of innocent people and police officers and several bombings on civilian targets in India. The KLF and all its manifestations have been declared outlawed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Source- AIR World Service

  A 33-year-old man Colin O’Brady from the United States has become the first person to complete a solo trek across Antarctica without any assistance. He finished the 1,500km journey across the frozen continent in 54 days, lugging his supplies on a sledge as he skied in bone-chilling temperatures from north to south.
Source- The Guardian

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will capture the payment habits of individuals in six cities Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Guwahati. For the purpose, the central bank has launched a ‘Survey on Retail Payment Habits of Individuals (SRPHi)’. According to RBI release, the survey will cover a sample of 6,000 individuals from various socio-economic backgrounds across six cities. Sigma Research & Consulting Pvt Ltd has been engaged to conduct the fieldwork of the survey on behalf of the RBI.
Source- The Economic Times

  State-owned United Bank of India announced that the government has decided to infuse Rs 2,159 crore in the bank as part of Rs 28,615 crore capital infusion to be done in about half a dozen banks.  The government has decided to pump Rs 28,615 crore into seven public sector banks (PSBs) through recapitalization bonds soon. Out of these seven PSBs, Bank of India is likely to get the highest amount of Rs 10,086 crore.
Source- The Moneycontrol

  According to data furnished by the Reserve Bank of India, between 2015 and 2017, private lender ICICI Bank penalized the highest number of employees for defrauding bank assets in the last three year out of 60 scheduled commercial banks operating in India. It is followed by State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank. In all, banks took action against a staggering 13,949 officials, of which 16%, or 2,236, belonged to ICICI.
Source- RBI

  India’s institutional framework to support microfinance would get a boost with Reserve Bank of India clearing a proposal to dig in an existing Rs 1000-crore corpus for funding microlenders. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) had kept this money for some other purposes and had recently sought RBI’s approval for using it for the microfinance sector. The development bank will now use the money to offer soft loans to MFIs on a condition that end borrowers should get loans at 15-17% rate, which is significantly lower than the prevailing 20-22% market rate.
Source- The Economic Times

 The 42nd Indian Social Science Congress was inaugurated by Manipur governor DrNajma Heptulla at KIIT University campus in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The theme of the Congress was ‘Human Future in Digital Era.’
Source- Odishadiary.com

 The Union Cabinet approved amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The changes prescribe stringent punishment, including the death penalty for aggravated penetrative sexual assault of children. Further, hefty fine would be imposed for not deleting, not destroying child pornographic material or not reporting child pornography. Attempt to inject hormones in children to make them major has been made an aggravated offence under Section 9 of the POCSO Act.
Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)


You need to login to perform this action.
You will be redirected in 3 sec spinner