Evening New 8 December

Alappuzha in top 5 UN Clean city list

• The Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the report titled “Solid Approach to Waste: How 5 cities are beating pollution”.
• The report highlights the way world’s five cities are beating pollution and their approach towards disposal of waste.
• Five Cities: Osaka (Japan), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Penang (Malaysia) and Cajica (Colombia) and Alappuzha (Kerala, India).
• India’s Alappuzha also called Allepey, in order to dispose solid waste introduced Aerobic BIN method of waste management.
• As part of Aerobic BIN method, a number of aerobic bins are installed in various parts of the city. Solid waste is put in to the bin where it is converted in to fertile compost which is used as manure for farming.
• Dduring the British Raj, Viceroy Lord Curzon referred to the city as “Venice of the East” and it is famous for its coir industry.

Source: DD News

UNESCO inscribes 'kumbh Mela' as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

• The Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage under UNESCO inscribed the 'Kumbh Mela' on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its 12th session held at Jeju, South Korea.
• The Kumbh Mela joins 31 new elements from Botswana, Colombia, Venezuela, Mongolia, Morocco, Turkey, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates among others on the UNESCO list.
• The committee observed that 'Kumbh Mela' is the largest peaceful congregation of pilgrims on earth. The festival, held once in 12 years in Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik, represents a syncretic set of rituals related to worship and ritual cleansing in holy rivers in India.
• The inscription of elements on the list helps countries which are a part of UNESCO’s Convention for Safeguarding Cultural Heritage to mobilize international cooperation and assistance for ensuring that communities continue to practise and transmit such aspects of their heritage.
• From South Asia the traditional art of Shital Pati weaving of Sylhet in Bangladesh was also inscribed on the list.

Source: UNESCO

Power Ministers' meet: States agree on 24X7 power for all

• The Conference of 'Ministers for Power and New & Renewable Energy of States & Union Territories' concluded in New Delhi on 07 December 2017.
• Chaired by Union Power Minister RK Singh, the conference was attended by Power and Energy Ministers of States and Union Territories (UTs) of 17 States and 1 UT. The conference resolved to:
• 24X7 power for all
  • Electrify all remaining Census inhabited un-electrified villages by December 2017.
  • Provide electricity connections to all willing households by December 2018.
  • Provide infrastructure for seamless power supply to the consumers by March, 2019.
  • States resolve to clear all current years Government dues of DISCOMs along with 25% of arrears so that entire old dues are paid by March, 2019.
• Energy Conservation
  • States resolve to adopt ECBC 2017 for all new commercial buildings to make them energy efficient
  • Promote use of BEE Star Rated Energy Efficient Pumps for agricultural purposes.
• New and Renewable Energy
  • Submit proposals for solar parks under additional 20000 MW capacity under Solar Park scheme
  • Promote solar rooftops and ensure hassle free grid connectivity
  • Identify at least one city for making it 100% Renewable Energy city.

Source: PIB

SEBI proposes to allow mutual funds enter commodity derivatives sector

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposes to permit mutual funds (MFs) and portfolio managers (PMs) to participate in exchange-traded commodity derivatives.
• This is the market regulator's second move to allow institutional participants in commodity derivatives. Earlier, it had decided to allow category-III alternative investment funds or hedge funds.
• As of now, only gold is a permissible commodity for institutional investors and are allowed through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
• SEBI has proposed three ways of allowing MFs in the commodity segment. First, ETFs based on commodity derivatives. Second, open-end schemes (passive/active) based on commodity derivatives. Third, commodity arbitrage funds. It has sought views on what else could be done.

Source: Business Standard

Tokyo Olympics bug-eyed mascot probables unveiled

• Tokyo Olympic organisers unveiled a shortlist of three official 2020 Games mascots - from bug-eyed cartoon heroes to cuddly raccoons.
• The competing mascots are instantly recognisable as "Made in Japan", ranging in appearance from sci-fi cool to a glum- looking fox closer in spirit to the country's beloved "yuru- kyara" (soft characters).
• Last month, Tokyo opened its first new permanent venue for the 2020 Olympics - a welcome boost after plans for the main stadium were torn up by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe two years ago over its $2 billion price tag.
• The Olympic and Paralympic designs, which celebrate the themes of harmony, diversity and resilience, were unveiled by pupils at a Tokyo elementary school.

Source: The Hindu

International Conference on Sports Medicine & Sports Sciences inaugurated

• 1st Intl. Conference on Sports Medicine & Sports Sciences SAICON 2017 inaugurated in Delhi, by the Minister of State (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore.
• In modern sports, the secret behind performance enhancement lies in the application of science & technology in the training of athletes.
• SAICON 2017 will promote scientific temperament in the country and inspire students, researchers and educationists alike to take up sports science and research to the next level.
• Organized by Sports Authority of India, the 3-day conference is being attended by about 1000 national and international delegates.

Source: PIB

China to establish robot station on Moon

• China is planning to establish a robot station on the moon to conduct bigger and more complicated experimental research on lunar geography.
• The station could slash the costs of returning rock samples to Earth. The base can conduct bigger, more complicated research and experiments.
• China plans to land the Change-4 lunar probe on the dark side of the moon in 2018. The Change-5 probe will be launched next year.
• Chinas first Mars probe is scheduled to be launched on a Long March 5 by 2020 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, South Chinas Hainan Province. The probe will hopefully orbit, land and deploy a rover on the Red Planet.

Source: India Today

RBI rationalises charges on debit card transactions

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced differentiated merchant discount rates (MDR) for debit card transactions, prescribing separate caps for small and large traders.
• MDR charges for small merchants  with an annual turnover of up to Rs 20 lakh have been fixed at 0.40 per cent with a cap of Rs 200 per transaction by debit cards through Point of Sale (PoS) machines or online transactions.
• These charges will come into effect from January 1, 2018. It’s the duty of the banks to ensure the MDR levied on the merchant does not exceed the prescribed cap.
• The rationalisation of the charges is being undertaken with a view to achieve the twin objectives of promoting debit card acceptance by a wider set of merchants, especially small traders, and ensuring sustainability of the business for the entities involved.

Source: Indian Express

Govt. ropes in ICICI Bank to enable cashless payments on e-NAM

• The government has engaged private lender ICICI Bank to enable online payments at 470 mandis integrated with national portal of electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).
• ICICI Bank will enable BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on the e-NAM portal for making cashless payments.
• The e-NAM model aims at revolutionising agri markets by ensuring better price discovery, bringing in transparency and competition to enable farmers to get improved remuneration for their produce moving towards One Nation, One Market.

Source: India Today

Cristiano Ronaldo wins 2017 Ballon d’Or

• Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Ballon d'Or award as soccer's best player of the year for a record-equaling fifth time.
• Ronaldo won the trophy awarded by France Football magazine at a ceremony held at the Eiffel Tower. He finished ahead of contenders Messi and Neymar, who left Barcelona in the offseason to join Paris Saint-Germain for a world record transfer fee of 222 million Euros.
• The 32-year-old Portugal forward also took home the Ballon d'Or prize in 2013 and 2014, and in 2008 when playing for Manchester United.

Source: TOI