Avantee mega Food Park inaugurated in MP’s Dewas

1.2019 NATO Summit held in United Kingdom

The leaders of 29 countries gather in London at the NATO summit.The year 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the summit. It was attended by NATO leaders and chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

NATO was founded in the wake of the Second World War by the U.S. and the main European powers as a means of military defense against Soviet Russia.

2.Exercise INDRA 2019 to be conducted from Dec 10-19

Exercise INDRA 2019, a joint tri-services exercise between India and Russia, will be conducted from December 10-19, simultaneously at Babina (near Jhansi), Pune and Goa.The INDRA series of exercise began in 2003 and the first joint tri-services exercise was conducted in 2017.

The exercise will consist of a five day training phase consisting of a comprehensive training curriculum.

The contingents of both the countries will share expertise and their professional experience.

3.Canada’s CPPIB to invest up to $600 million in Indian infrastructure fund

Canada’s biggest public pension fund is investing up to $600 million in India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), as it seeks to grow its infrastructure bets in Asia’s third-largest economy.The deal includes a commitment of $150 million in NIIF’s Master Fund and co-investment rights of up to $450 million in future opportunities to invest alongside the Master Fund, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

India needs investments worth about $778 billion for highways, urban transport and renewable energy by 2022, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation, a government body.

4.India 5th worst country for people’s privacy, biometric data collection

According to a new report from Britain-based tech research firm Comparitech India is the fifth worst country in terms of extensive and invasive use of biometric data.India is behind China, Malaysia, Pakistan and the US.

India shares the fifth position with Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines, said the study.

Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, the UK and Romania emerged as the five best countries in terms of collection, storage and use of biometric data, the results showed.

5.Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy launches YSR LAW Nestham

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched ‘YSR Law Nestham Scheme’ at his camp office at Tadepalli.Under this scheme, a stipend of Rs 5,000 has been credited in the accounts of beneficiary junior lawyers with the click of a button.

Lawyers thanked the Chief Minister for granting Rs 100 crore to Lawyers’ Welfare Fund and also for giving a stipend of Rs 5,000 to junior lawyers.

6.Punjab Cabinet approves amendment to create rural land banks for industrial development

The Punjab Cabinet led by Captain Amarinder Singh gave in-principle approval to amend the Punjab Village Common Land (Regulation) Rules, 1964, to create land banks in rural areas to boost industrial development in the city.It was, however, decided to further fine-tune the amendments to ensure that the Panchayats get their dues, with all decisions to be taken on a case to case basis, keeping their interests in view.

The Cabinet cleared the proposal to provide special provision for transfer of Shamlat Lands for development of industrial infrastructure projects, to be implemented by Industry Department and Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation.

7.Avantee mega Food Park inaugurated in MP’s Dewas

In Madhya Pradesh, Union Minister for food processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated Avantee mega Food Park in Dewas.This first food park of central India is spread over 51 acres and has been constructed at a cost of about 150 crore rupees.

About 5 thousand local people will get employment from this Mega Food Park. 

Processing of soyabean, gram, wheat and other grains and vegetables will be done in the park. Warehouses will also be opened in Indore, Ujjain, Dhar and Agar in the next phases.

8.Payment Banks can become SFB after five years under new RBI norms

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI)’s new draft guidelines for on-tap licensing of small finance banks (SFBs) allows payment banks to convert into SFBs after five years of operations.If the promoter of a payments bank desires to set up an SFB separately, both the banks should come under the non-operative financial holding company (NOFHC) structure.

The central bank also raised the minimum paid-up capital requirement for SFBs from ₹100 crore to ₹200 crore. It said the promoter should hold a minimum of 40% of the paid-up voting equity capital for five years.

9.HDFC ERGO launches My:Health Woman Suraksha – A special health insurance for women

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, India’s third-largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector, announced the launch of ‘my:health Woman Suraksha’ policy.The my:health Woman Suraksha policy is specially designed to cover women against numerous illnesses and contingencies they may face during their lifetime, thereby providing financial aid in case of medical contingencies.

According to the National Health Portal of India, women in India face numerous health issues like breast cancer, malnutrition, lack of maternal health.

This policy will cover various types of cancers & related surgeries, pregnancy and neonatal (newborn baby) complications and assaults & burns.

10.K Vijay Kumar appointed senior security advisor in MHA

Former advisor to the Governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, K Vijay Kumar, has been appointed as a senior security advisor in the Union Home Ministry headed by Amit Shah.The 1975 batch officer of Indian Police Service will “advise the ministry on security-related matters of Union Territory of J&K and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States.

The appointment order is issued by the Union Home Ministry on December 3 stated that 67-year-old Kumar will be in the position for a period of one year from the date of his taking charge.

Kumar has served as Director-General of CRPF, Director of the National Police Academy in Hyderabad and his most talked-about stint was as the chief of the Tamil Nadu police special task force that killed forest brigand Veerappan in 2004.