 The Asia Pacific Summit-2018 began in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The theme of two-day Summit is “Addressing the Critical Challenges of Our Time: Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity, and Universal Values”. Around 1500 participants from 45 countries, including India, attending the summit. They will discuss various global issues, including peace, development, good governance and role of parliamentarians, climate change and role of media. |
| Source- The Himalayan Times |
 The G-20 Summit 2018 was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. G-20 is a grouping of the world’s 20 major economies. This year, the theme of the summit was ‘Building Consensus for Fair and Sustainable Development’. |
| Following are the important agenda discussed during the summit: |
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| (i) PMJDY: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is a financial inclusion programme that aims at expanding and making affordable access to financial services to the last man in the row. Since its launch on August 15, 2014 till June 27, 2018, over 31 crore bank accounts were opened and over Rs. 7,92,00 crore were deposited under the scheme. (ii) MUDRA: It stands for Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency, is a financial institution set up in 2016 for development and refinancing micro units enterprises. It provides funding to the non-corporate small business sector through various last mile financial institutions like banks, non banking financial companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). (iii). Start-up India: Launched in January 16, 2016, the Startup India is an initiative of the Indian government to promote startups, generate employment and create wealth. |
| Source: The Hindu Business Line |
 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited United Arab Emirates to co-chair the 12th session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting for Economic and Technical Cooperation with UAE Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. Mrs Swaraj also inaugurated a Gandhi – Zayed Digital Museum in Abu Dhabi to mark the celebrations of 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth and centenary celebrations of the birth of Shaikh Zayed, founder of the modern UAE. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 The UN climate summits, i.e. so called COP (Conference of the Parties) are global conferences, in the course of which action for climate policy is negotiated. The Climate Change Conference 2018 was held in Katowice, Poland. Previously, Poland hosted them twice – in 2008, in Pozna? and in 2013, in Warsaw. For the first time, the climate summit took place in Katowice. This year’s summit included: 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24), 14th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 14) and the 1st Conference of Signatories to the Paris Agreement (CMA 1). |
| Source- BBC News |
 Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated Global Agriculture and Food Summit 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Seven countries, including China, Israel and Malaysia are participating in the two-day Summit. The aim of the Summit is to promote Jharkhand as a key player to attract investment in the agriculture sector. Several dignitaries attended the inaugural ceremony including Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant. The summit will focus on organic farming in horticulture, dairy, poultry and fisheries, and food processing. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) announced that its board has approved the merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India)through an-all equity deal, valuing the total business of the latter at Rs31,700 crore. The transaction is an all-equity merger with 4.39 shares of HUL being allotted for every share in GSKCH India, which sells consumer healthcare products, including popular drink brand Horlicks. Post the acquisition, the turnover of the company’s Foods and Refreshment (F&R) business will exceed Rs10,000 crore. |
| Source- The Hindu |
 Ex Cope India-18 is the fourth edition in the series of Bilateral Joint exercise held between IAF and USAF, which is conducted in India. This is the first time, the exercise is being planned at two Air Force bases, Kalaikunda and Panagarh (West Bengal). USAF is participating with 12 X F15 C/D and 03 X C-130. IAF is participating with the Su-30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 , C-130J & AWACS aircraft. The aim of exercise is to provide operational exposure and undertake mutual exchange of best practices towards enhancing operational capability. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) accorded approval for the acquisition of defence equipment worth nearly Rs 3000 crore which includes BrahMos Missiles, and Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARVs) for Battle Tank Arjun. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The DAC granted approval for procurement of indigenous BrahMos Missiles for two Indian Navy ships to be built in Russia. The indigenously designed BrahMos Missile is a tested and proven supersonic cruise missile and will form the primary weapon onboard these ships. The DAC also approved the procurement of Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARVs) for the Indian Army’s main battle tank Arjun. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 Since 1992, the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) has been annually observed on 3 December around the world. The theme for this year’s IDPD is “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality”. This theme focuses on the empowering persons with disabilities for the inclusive, equitable and sustainable development envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. |
| Source- The United Nations |
 Moody’s Investors Service’s annual Banking System Outlook on India estimated the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) for the current financial year and next fiscal to grow at 7.2% and 7.4%, respectively. In its banking system outlook, the global rating agency stated that the growth will be driven by investment growth and strong consumption. It also stated that the operating environment will be stable, supported by robust economic growth. |
| Source- The Economic Times |
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