Notes:
Ram Naik, the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, has officially launched the new multi-coloured logo for the Allahabad Kumbh Mela 2019 in Lucknow on December 12, 2017. The logo consists of temples, seers, a kalash (pitcher) and a ‘Swastika’. . All official documents, government advertisements and hoardings would carry the logo to remind people about the event. A website to facilitate tourists was also launched. Naik has also launched the Kumbh’s tagline “Chalo Kumbh Chalo-Chalo, Kumbh Chalo”, Uttar Pradesh Tourism’s slogan “UP Nahin Dekha to India Nahin Dekha” and a one-stop travel solution portal. Recently, Kumbh Mela was recognised by the UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” on December 7, 2017. The festival is held at Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik every four years by rotation and is attended by millions of people irrespective of caste, creed or gender.
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Notes:
According to ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects 2018’ report, India’s GDP growth is projected to accelerate from 6.7% in 2017 to 7.2% in 2018 and 7.4% in 2019 on the back of strong private consumption, public investment and the ongoing structural reforms. The report, which was unveiled by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), stated that overall, economic outlook for South Asia is seen largely favourable and steady for the short term, notwithstanding significant medium-term challenges. On India, the UN DESA report has projected a positive outlook despite the slowdown early this year and the lingering effects of demonetisation.

Notes:
Gurdev Singh Gill, the former captain of Indian football team, has felicitated by the Union Sports Minister Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for his contribution to the sport on December 12, 2017. Col. Rathore presented him a shawl, memento and a cheque of Rs. Five Lakh on the occasion. The felicitation ceremony was organised as Gurdev Singh Gill was away in Canada when Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitated the captains of Indian football teams that played in the Asian Games. Felicitation of Indian Captains by the Prime Minister was organised during the FIFA U – 17 World Cup in New Delhi on October 6, 2017. An Arjuna awardee, Gill had captained the Indian team at the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games.

Notes:
Uma Shankar has been appointed as the new Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). She has been elevated after Meena Hemchandra the executive director in charge of the central bank’s supervision department retired at the end of November. Currently, RBI has 11 EDs and each of them supervises the 34 departments headed by CGMs at the central bank. Prior to this post, Shankar was the chief general manager in charge of RBI’s financial inclusion & development department.

Notes:
The Bandhavgarh National Park (BNP) is located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh and covers an area of 105 square kilometres. The park has one of the highest density of Bengal tigers known in the world, and is home to some famous named tigers which are large in size and are beautiful.

Notes:
The Rajasthan government has decided to recognize political prisoners held in jails during emergency 1975-77 as ‘Loktantra Sainani’. The state Cabinet has decided to change the name of Rajasthan Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and Defence of India Rules (DIR) 2008 to the Rajasthan Loktantra Sainani samman Nidhi 2008. So far, only those persons who were detained under MISA and DIR and kept in any of Rajasthan jails were given the per month pension of Rs. 12,000 and a monthly allowance of Rs. 1200. After the cabinet decision, citizen of Rajasthan who were held in any jail in the country during emergency period will also be eligible for this pension. At the same time, such people will not need to produce the certificate of the respective Jail Superintendent or Superintendent of Police for getting pension. Now only self certification has to be given. The government will direct all the district collectors to invite such Loktantra Sainanis to the programs on Republic Day and Independence Day to be organized at district level.

Notes:
The 90th edition of Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has started in New Delhi, which was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 13, 2017. It was the Mr Modi’s first address to an AGM of a national business association after becoming the Prime Minister. It was his first major interaction with India Inc since the launch of GST. The theme of this year’s AGM is, ‘Indian Business in a New India’. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia are also scheduled to address different sessions of the AGM. Finance Ministers of Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir will speak on GST at a special session during the AGM.

Notes:
The Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate supply of sand for highways construction work on December 13, 2017. The concessionaires working on highways projects have been facing a shortage of sand at many sites. The MoU aims to fill this gap by facilitating the availability of sand for these concessionaires. As per the MoU, business intermediaries will ship and store this sand at various ports in India and market it in India. NHAI will facilitate the process by displaying the availability of sand at various stockyards at the ports. The headquarters of the DCI is located at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Notes:
The Bihar government has launched “Safe City Surveillance” scheme for checking crime against women at public places across the state. Patna will be the first district to be covered under this scheme, and an amount of Rs 110.68 crore has been sanctioned for the purpose. The scheme will bring all major public places under the watch of close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and improve the overall crime control in the state. It is especially being launched for checking crime against women, such as eve-teasing and molestation, harassment, snatching incidents and roadside scuffles etc. It will also help in keeping a track of miscreants.

Notes:
The Andhra Pradesh government has recently got approval from the Government of India (GoI) to set up India’s first-of-its-kind Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC). The EMC, coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 104 crore, will generate more than 50,000 jobs, directly or indirectly. The GoI through Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) announced in the year 2012 about setting up of Green Field EMC in India with grant-in-aid for establishing such clusters. The EMC is basically designed and developed for providing facilities and amenities and congenial eco system for manufacturing of mobiles and allied products.