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Current Affairs Capsule – 8 December 2019

December 8, 2019
Posted by: Team CP
Category: Current Affairs Capsule

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Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the first food park of Central India – Avantee Mega Food Park – in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Spread over 51 acres, it has been constructed at a cost of about 150 crore rupees. The food park aims to establish a direct linkage from farm to processing and then to consumer markets. It will be connected through a network of collection centres and primary processing centres.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the creation and launch of Bharat Bond Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to create an additional source of funding for the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), Central Public Financial Institutions (CPFIs) and other government organizations. The Bharat Bond ETF would be the first corporate Bond ETF in the country.
The Union Ministry of Defence has authorized the Indian Coast Guard under the Coast Guard Act, 1978, to board, search and seize any suspicious vessel and arrest people for offences within the maritime zone of India extending up to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The permission also includes seizing of any artificial island or any floating or moored object or any underwater object, including any maritime property involved or suspected to be used in the commission of any offence.
The Union Cabinet approved the Personal Data Protection Bill, which lays down legal framework to preserve sanctity in data sharing, to be tabled in the Lok Sabha. The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018, was prepared by a high-level expert group headed by former Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna. The bill makes it compulsory for the social media platforms collecting data to store the data within the territory of India.
The fifth bi-monthly monetary policy statement for the year 2019-20 was released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The repo rate continues to remain 5.15% while the reverse repo rate stands at 4.9% and the bank rate at 5.4%. The Committee handling the monetary policy has also mentioned that the global economic activity has slowed down since the last meeting.
Artificial Intelligence has been introduced in CBSE schools for classes VIII to X by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development. Several organizations like Intel, IBM and Microsoft have collaborated with the Central Board of Secondary Education to create the module of Artificial Intelligence. Teachers were also trained on tools such as Flipgrid, OneNote, Outlook, Minecraft, etc and underwent a three-day project on tools to create BOTs, digital story-telling and concepts focusing on artificial intelligence.
INDRA 2019, the joint tri-service exercise between India and Russia, is scheduled to be held between 10th December to 19th December, 2019 in Pune, Maharashtra. The exercise will be held simultaneously in Pune and Goa with fighter aircrafts, company sized mechanized contingents and ships of respective armies participating. The forces will be trained in tactical operation end drills like handling and neutralization of Improvised Explosive devices, arms smuggling prevention and anti-piracy measures. INDRA began in 2003 but the first joint tri-service exercise was conducted in 2017.