Daily Current Affairs, 07th December 2018

1) Armed Forces Flag Day: 07 December

•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.

2) NITI Aayog Launches ‘AI 4 All Global Hackathon’

•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.

3) Cabinet Approves Agriculture Export Policy

•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.

4) Union Minister Gehlot Inaugurates Website of Media School ASME

•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 media school, ASME supported by the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), will have its branches in Pune, Assam, Uttarakhand, and other regions. The Punebranch will begin shortly.

5) Annual Startup India Venture Capital Summit 2018 Held In Goa

•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.

6) Kolkata-Patna Becomes India’s Second Container Cargo Sector On Inland Waterways

•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.

7) Luxembourg To Become First Country To Make Public Transport Free

•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.

8) Preeti Saran Elected To UN’s Socio-Economic Cultural Panel

•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.

•All States are obliged to submit regular reports to the committee on how the rights are being implemented. The committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of concluding observations. The panel meets in Geneva and holds two sessions per year.