Current Affairs

 The state government launched an ambitious project State of Maharashtra Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (SMART) in 10,000 villages with an objective to achieve sustainable farming within the next three years. The project SMART will be assisted by the World Bank. Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis launched the project, which was followed by the signing of 50 memorandum of understandings (MoUs) between big corporates and farmers producer groups. The project will cover almost one-fourth of Maharashtra.
Source: The Indian Express

 Food and Agriculture organisation, FAO Council has approved India’s proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh stated that the 160th session of the FAO Council, in Rome approved the proposal. The FAO Council has also approved India’s membership to the Executive Board of the United Nations World Food Program for 2020 and 2021.
Source: News on AIR

 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has launched a new framework, the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, to combat the scourge of international terrorism and coordinate efforts across the peace and security, humanitarian, human rights and sustainable development sectors. The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Task Force will replace the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, which was established in 2005 to strengthen UN system-wide coordination and coherence of counter-terrorism efforts.
Source: Air World Service

 The second-largest Ebola outbreak in history has spread to a major city in eastern Congo. Butembo, with more than one million residents, is now reporting cases of the deadly hemorrhagic fever. The outbreak declared in August is now second only to the devastating West Africa outbreak that killed more than 11,300 people a few years ago. The Ebola virus spreads via bodily fluids of those infected, including the dead.
Source: AIR World Service

 US President Donald Trump nominated State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauertas the US Ambassador to the United Nations. The former Fox News presenter’s appointment to the UN role will have to be approved by the US Senate. Nauert will replace Nikki Haley, who will be leaving the post by the end of 2018. She became the State Department’s spokeswoman in April 2017 and was named as the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs in early 2018.
Source: Aljazeera

   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.
Source: The Hindu

 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. The fund collection throughout the country is managed by local arms of the Kendriya Sainik Board, which is part of the Ministry of Defence.
Source: Press Information Bureau

 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. The fund collection throughout the country is managed by local arms of the Kendriya Sainik Board, which is part of the Ministry of Defence.
Source: Press Information Bureau

 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.
Source: The Economic Times

 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. The Ministry of Shipping is developing NW-1 (River Ganga) under Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) from Haldia to Varanasi (1390 Km) with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs 5369 crore.
Source: Press Information Bureau


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