On December 4, 2018, MD & CEO of Axis Capital, Mr. Dharmesh Mehta stepped down.

On December 4, 2018, the second meeting of the newly constituted ‘NITI Forum for North East’ commenced in Guwahati, Assam. The meeting was co-chaired by: Vice Chairman NITI AAYOG, Dr Rajiv Kumar and Minister of State (IC) for DoNER, Dr Jitendra Singh. The meeting mainly focused on issues pertaining to five critical sectors – Tourism, Bamboo, Dairy, Fisheries and Tea.

On December 4, 2018, a two-day “Conference on EU-India Partnership for Cultural Heritage Conservation” commenced at the National Museum Auditorium, Janpath, New Delhi. It concluded in December 5, 2018. Its objective is to enhance EU-India collaboration in the field of cultural heritage conservation. The conference was inaugurated by: Minster of State (I/C) Shri. Hardeep Singh Puri. As part of this, the Delegation of the European Union together with the National Museum Institute, Government of India, will convene 20 Indian and 18 European experts. It also marked the pinnacle of the European Year of Cultural Heritage (EYCH), which will conclude on December 6-7, 2018.

The Delhi government has recently launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’ for senior citizens — which offers free travel packages on five religious circuits for senior citizens from the national capital. The scheme will enable 1,100 senior citizens from each Assembly constituency of Delhi per year to undertake free pilgrimage, the expenses for which will be borne by the Delhi government. Under the scheme, any resident of Delhi above 60 years of age will be eligible for the scheme and those above 70 years can have one attendant. The scheme does not have any income criterion, but preference will be given to those who are from the economically weaker section. It will be given out on first-come-first-served basis. The pilgrimage duration will be of three days and two nights and will be for any of the following routes: Delhi-Mathura-Vrindavan-Agra-Fatehpur Sikri-Delhi; Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Neelkanth-Delhi; Delhi-Ajmer-Pushkar-Delhi; Delhi-Amritsar-Wagah border-Anandpur Sahib-Delhi; or Delhi-Vaishno Devi-Jammu-Delhi.

The International Volunteer Day (IVD) is observed every year by The United Nations (UN) on December 5 to recognise the volunteers worldwide and their efforts in making peace and sustainable development a reality. It offers an opportunity for volunteer-involving organizations and individual volunteers to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national and international levels. The 2018 theme “Volunteers build Resilient Communities” focuses on how volunteers can build resilient communities. The IVD 2018 celebrates volunteer efforts that strengthen local ownership and the resilience of the community in the face of natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks.

Luxembourg is set to become the first country in the world to make all its public transport free by 2019. The move is aimed at addressing environmental issues and the problem of traffic congestion. Apart from providing free public transport, Luxembourg also intends to legalise cannabis and introduce two new public holidays. Earlier, Luxembourg introduced free transport for all people under the age of 20.

The World Soil Day (WSD) is observed every year on December 5 to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocating for the sustainable management of soil resources. The 2018 theme is ‘Be the Solution to Soil Pollution’. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Soil holds 3 times as much carbon as the atmosphere and can help meet the challenges of a changing climate. It further stated that 815 million people are food insecure and 2 billion people are nutritionally insecure, but it can be mitigated through soil. 95% of food comes from soil and 33% of the global soils are already degraded. In wake of this cause, the Government of India (GoI) has launched nationwide Soil Health Card Scheme (SHCS) to take care of Soil Health for the first time in a uniform manner to evaluate the soil fertility across the country. Soil health card provides information to the farmers on fertility status of their soil and enables them to apply soil health card based recommended dosages of fertilizers including micro-nutrients, bio-fertilizers, manures as well as soil ameliorants. It is helpful in checking the declining fertility of agriculture land and improve the fertility of soils to increase productivity besides enhancing farmers income.

In a bid to transform rural Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched a unique initiative called “SMART”, which stands for State of Maharashtra’s Agribusiness and Rural Transformation. This World Bank assisted project aims to revamp agricultural value chains, with special focus on marginal farmers across 1,000 villages. The initiative will support post-harvest value chain and bring efficiency to benefit economy at large. Stimulating small and medium enterprises within the value chain, the project seeks to establish partnership between the various stakeholders in the agri-business segments including farmer organisations, start-ups, SMEs and large corporates along with women’s self-help groups. The project will entail an investment of $300 million of which World Bank would contribute $210 million. Almost 50 MoUs, involving top corporate houses like Amazon and Tata were signed on the occasion.

The Indian Coast Guard has conducted the Regional Level Marine Oil Pollution Response Exercise titled ‘Clean Sea – 2018’ at sea off Port Blair on December 6. Coast Guard ships Viswasth, Vijith, Rajveer, Rajshri, 4 interceptor boats and its air assets Dornier and Chetak helicopters participated in the exercise.The preparedness of all agencies during the exercise was conducted under observation of Inspector General Maneesh V Pathak, Commander Coast Guard Region (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) and was overseen by Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Administration Shri Chetan B Sanghi, who embarked onboard Coast Guard Ship Vijith.

The book titled ‘Blue Waters Ahoy!’ has been authored by Vice Admiral Anup Singh, who retired as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command in 2011. The book, which chronicles the Indian Navy’s History from 2001-10, has recently released by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff. This is, in fact, the 6th volume of the Navy’s history; the first five having covered the period from 1945 to 2000. This unique undertaking by the Indian Navy can be traced back to 1968, when the Service established a History Cell. The idea was collation and subsequent analysis of historical data relevant to the evolution of the Navy. Generally, each such volume has covered the period of a decade, and it has been a tradition to release it on the occasion of Navy Day (4th December).

On December 5, India Water Impact Summit (IWIS-2018) has been inaugurated by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi. The discussions this year will be on the rejuvenation of the Ganga River Basin. Here, the spotlight will be on 5 states viz. Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi and Bihar, to showcase the efforts and works going on within the respective states. The 2018 Summit also introduced the inaugural Ganga Financing Forum (GFF) that will bring a number of institutions to a common knowledge, information and partnership platform. The 3-days summit is jointly organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga). The Summit is an annual event where stakeholders will discuss and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water-related problems in the country. Nearly 200 domestic and international participants from nearly 15 countries are participating in the summit.

The Glasgow-based British artist Charlotte Prodger has won the prestigious £25,000 Turner Prize 2018 for her film work examining landscapes and gender identity. She has been hailed for her work ‘Bridgit’, which was shot using her phone, and for the multi-format film ‘Stoneymollan Trail’, exhibited at Bergen Kunsthall. Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie presented the award at a ceremony held at Tate Britain in London. The Turner Prize award, named after the 19th-century English painter J. M. W. Turner since 1984, is £40,000 with £25,000 going to the winner and £5,000 each for the other shortlisted artists. Beside Prodger , the other 2018 shortlisted artists were Forensic Architecture, Naeem Mohaiemen, and Luke Willis Thompson.

Ajay Narayan Jha, a 1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre, has been appointed the new Finance Secretary of India. He succeeded Hasmukh Adhia. The Finance Secretary is the Permanent Secretary-level civil servant, who plays a leadership role in the bureaucracy of the Finance Ministry.

Luka Modric, Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder, has been honoured with the perstigiuos 2018 Men’s Ballon d’Or award. With this, he ended Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s decade-long dominance in the men’s awards. Modric won his third successive Champions League title in May 2018 and also captained Croatia to its first FIFA World Cup final in Russia. He was named player of the tournament despite his side losing 4-2 to France. For the first time in the history of the Ballon d’Or prize, the female player category was awarded in 2018. Hence, Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg has become the first-ever recipient of the women’s Ballon d’Or. The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French magazine France Football.

On 3rd December 2018, the 80th Session of the Policy Commission of the World Customs Organization (WCO) was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra . The Session is being organized by the WCO and hosted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), India. The Indian delegation was headed by CBIC Chairman, S Ramesh. The custom heads of more than 30 countries participated in the 3-day long discussion on various matters related to customs. Some of the important topics discussed during the meeting include trade facilitation, controlling illicit financial flow, performance measurement, challenges of small island economies, etc. The WCO is the only global organization which defines global standards and procedures for customs clearances at the border and their implementation. It is headquartered at Brussels, Belgium.

Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the ‘Peoples Empowerment Enabling Transparency and Accountability’ (PEETHA) programme on 3 December 2018.

• The aim of the programme is to create transparency and awareness ​of various government schemes.
• ‘PEETHA’ is a sub-scheme of the Odisha government’s flagship ‘Ama Gaon Ama Bikas Yojana’.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik launched the ‘Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’ (AB-PMJAY) scheme on 1 December 2018.

• The scheme will benefit over 31 lakh residents in the state.
• The AB-PMJAY is the world’s largest healthcare scheme which aims at providing coverage of Rs 5 lakh per entitled family annually.

India Water Impact Summit 2018′ will be held in New Delhi from 5 December 2018 to 7 December 2018.

• The summit will be organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies.
• It is an annual event where stakeholders get together to discuss, debate and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water related problems in the country.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Sheikh Abdullah, Foreign Minister of the UAE jointly inaugurated the ‘Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum’ in Abu Dhabi on 4 December 2018. The inauguration is to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and centenary celebrations of the birth of Shaikh Zayed. Sheikh Zayed is the founding father of the modern UAE.

Bank of Maharashtra appoints A.S. Rajeev as MD and CEO. The 54-year-old previously served as the Executive Director of Indian Bank and had also been the CFO of Vijaya Bank. He will hold the position for a period of three years or till further orders, whichever is earlier.

The UK government has confirmed an amendment to a new weapons bill going through the Parliament to ensure that it would not impact the right of the British Sikh community to possess and supply kirpans, or religious swords.

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.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate & Myanmar leader, will be stripped of Freedom of Paris award over her failure to speak out against a crackdown on Myanmar’s Rohingya minority. The move, which follows similar decisions by Glasgow, Edinburgh and Oxford, would make Myanmar’s de facto leader the first person to lose the freedom of the French capital, a purely symbolic award. The move will be finalised by the city council at a meeting in mid-December 2018.

private sector lender Yes Bank Ltd appointed former IRDAI chief T.S. Vijayan as an additional director (Independent) for five years with immediate effect. He is already a key member of the search and selection committee (S&SC) set up to identify a suitable successor for CEO Rana Kapoor. Vijayan’s appointment would be subject to the approval of Yes Bank shareholders general meeting of the bank. Vijayan has also served as the Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced the appointment of Jon Ridgeon as its new CEO following approval by the IAAF Council on the first day of its 215th Council Meeting in Monaco. Ridgeon will take up the new role in March 2019.

The 24th meeting of Conference of Parties (COP24) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) began on December 3, 2018 at Katowice, Poland. Union Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is leading the Indian delegation at the conference. India expects that COP24 frames pragmatic guidelines and gives due consideration to challenges and priorities of developing countries.

Veteran leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been sworn in as the 58th President of Mexico. Obrador won a landslide victory in the July 1 Presidential Elections, the biggest win for any president and the first for a leftist since Mexico transitioned to multi-party democracy in 2000.

Croatian midfielder and Captain Luka Modric has won the 2018 Ballon d’Or. The 33-year old has become the first player other than Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo or Argentina’s Lionel Messi to claim the award in more than a decade. This year, Ronaldo came second behind Modric, while Messi finished fifth.

Ravindra Kumar Verma has taken charge as Technical Member in the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL), Ministry of Power, for a period of 3 years. Justice Manjula Chellur, Chairperson of APTEL, administered the Oath of Office and Secrecy to Ravindra Kumar Verma. Ravindra Kumar Verma has occupied various posts in Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for over 37 years. He had superannuated as Chairperson of CEA and Ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India on 30th June 2018. He has a vast experience in power sector related to Generation, Transmission, Distribution and Grid Operation.