Daily Current Affairs, 10th December 2018

1) Human Rights Day: 10 December

•Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December. On this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

•This year, Human Rights Day marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. #StandUp4HumanRights is the global campaign launched on for year 2018.

2) Kannur International Airport In Kerala Begins Operations

•The Kannur international Airport-KIAL in Kerala began its operations with Union minister for civil aviation Suresh Prabhu and Kerala Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayanjointly lighting the lamp inside the terminal building, marking the inauguration of the airport.

•Later the first flight from the Airport to Abu Dhabi was flagged off. With this, Keralabecame the only state in the country with four international airports.

3) RLSP Chief Upendra Kushwaha Quits As Union Minister

•Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) Chief Upendra Kushwaha resigned as Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development. This comes a day ahead of the start of the Parliament’s Winter Session, triggering a realignment of political equations in Bihar.

4) 1st International Conference on ‘Sustainable Water Management’ Held in Mohali

•The first International Conference on ‘Sustainable Water Management’ was held at Indian School of Business (ISB) in Mohali, Punjab. The conference was organized by Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) under the aegis of the National Hydrology Project of the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

•The theme of the international conference is ‘Sustainable Water Management’. The inaugural session of the conference was attended by Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat, who was the chief guest of the event and UP Singh, Secretary at the Union Ministry of Water Resources, who was the guest of honour.

5) CAD Widened To 2.9 % Of GDP In Q2

•Current account deficit (CAD) widened to 2.9% of GDP for the July-Septemberquarter due to higher trade deficit compared with 1.1% during the same period of the previous year, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

•The deficit for the second quarter was $19.1 billion compared with $6.9 billion in the year-earlier period. The CAD for the April-June quarter was 2.4% of GDP or $15.9 billion.

6) SEBI Renamed ITP as ‘Innovators Growth Platform’

•In a major push to kickstart listing of start-ups in India in a big way, capital markets regulator SEBI has lined up a slew of relaxations for new-age ventures. The proposed changes include renaming the Institutional Trading Platform (ITP) that the regulator had created for such listings as Innovators Growth Platform (IGP).

•The changes include doing away with the requirement of at least 50% of pre-issue capital being held by qualified institutional investors.

7) RBI Governor Urjit Patel Resigns

•A day before the results of polling in the five states, Reserve Bank of India governor Urjit Patel stepped down from his post. 

•Patel, who cited “personal reasons” behind his decision, was in a conflict with the Union finance ministry over matters related to the monetary policy. 

8) Atul Sahai Appointed CMD Of New India Assurance

•Atul Sahai has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the country’s largest general insurance company New India Assurance. The post had been lying vacant since July 2018 after former chairman and managing director G Srinivasanretired.

•The appointments committee of the cabinet announced that Sahai who is the General Manager at Oriental Insurance will be appointed for a period of five years. Sahai’s name was recommended by the department of financial services after interviews were held for the position almost three months back.

9) Khelo India Youth Games To Be Held In Pune

•Khelo India Youth Games-2019 will be held in Pune of Maharashtra in January. Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore announced that 9000 youth will participate in this edition of the game.

•Under Khelo India programme, the government is providing scholarships to 1500 students from across the country. Last year around 3500 school children had participated in the event. In this edition of Khelo India Youth Games university players will also take part.