• National

Raninder Singh Becomes 1st Indian to Be Elected ISSF’s Vice-president

• Raninder Singh has become the first Indian to be elected one of the four vice-presidents of the International Shooting Sport Federation.
• The 51-year-old Raninder also heads the National Rifle Association of India.
• The former trap shooter bagged 161 votes to occupy the coveted post.
• In 2017, Raninder was re-elected president of the NRAI for a four-year term with an overwhelming mandate in Mohali.

• International

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sworn in as Mexico president

• Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (65-year) has been sworn in as the new Mexican President.
• Lopez Obrador also reaffirmed his intentions to sell Mexico’s official presidential plane, to not live in the presidential palace.
• He has announced his intention to promote a recall referendum during his administration, adding the promise that he will never seek re-election.

• International

Qatar to quit OPEC in January 2019

• Qatar will withdraw from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in January 2019.
• Qatar is the first Gulf country to leave the bloc of oil-producing countries.
• Qatar is the world’s biggest supplier of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
• The OPEC is an intergovernmental organisation of 15 nations, founded in 1960 in Baghdad and headquartered in Vienna, Austria.

• Economy and Business

WCO policy commission commenced on 3 Dec

• The 80th session of the three-day Policy Commission of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) began in Mumbai from 3 December 2018.
• The meeting will conclude on 5 December 2018.
• Issues like trade facilitation and controlling illicit financial flow will be discussed at the meeting.
• The meeting is being organised by the WCO and hosted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

• Sports

Atlawim Debebe of Ethiopia wins Pune International Marathon

• Atlawim Debebe (Ethiopia) has won the Pune International Marathon (33rd year) with the timing of 2 hours 17 minutes 17 seconds.
• Teshome Getachew (Ethiopia) claimed second and Bekele Asefa ((Ethiopia) third position.
• In women’s Full Marathon Pascalia Chepkogei (Kenya) stood first with the timing of 2 hour 50 minutes 27 seconds.
• Dekebe Tafa and Degefa Gezmu both from Ethiopia are winners of the men’s and women’s half marathon.
• Karan Singh (Bombay Engineering Group) stood first in Men’s category among Indian runners this year.

• Sports

Vinesh won the national title in wrestling

• In Wrestling, Vinesh Phogat won the 57-kilogram national title at the ‘Tata Motors Senior National Championship 2018’ in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh on 1 December 2018.
• She had earlier won five national titles in a row from 2012 to 2016.
• Sakshi Malik also won the national title at the ‘Tata Motors Senior National Championship 2018’ in the 62-kilogram category.

• Appointments

Siddhartha Bhattacharya Joins NATHEALTH as Secretary-General

• NATHEALTH has announced the appointment of Siddhartha Bhattacharya as Secretary-General.
• In his new role, Siddhartha will lead the organization and work with key partners in realizing NATHEALTH’s vision/mission to spearhead the goal of high quality, affordable health for all.

• Important Days

International Day of Persons with Disabilities being observed today

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities is an international observance promoted by the United Nations (UN) since 1992.
• The theme for this year is “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality”.
• This year’s theme focuses on empowering persons with disabilities for an inclusive, equitable and sustainable development as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• Today, Vice President M Venkiah Naidu ill confer the National Awards on Individuals, Institutions, Organizations, States and Districts for their outstanding achievements and work done towards empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

• Important Days

34th anniversary of Bhopal gas tragedy being observed

• Today, Bhopal is observing 34th anniversary of gas leak tragedy as on the intervening night of 2nd and 3rd December in 1984.
• Several hundred people were killed, and scores of people were maimed for life when the Methyl Isocyanate gas was leaked from the pesticide plant of Union Carbide.

• Miscellaneous

‘Nomophobia’ declared ‘People’s Word of Year’

• Cambridge Dictionary has named ‘nomophobia’ as ‘People’s Word of 2018’.
• ‘Nomophobia’ means the fear or worry at the idea of being without your mobile phone or unable to use it.
• Nomophobia is a blend, which means it is made up of syllables from two or more words, in this case, it was made from ‘no mobile phone phobia’.

• Agreements

Hindustan Unilever Board Approves Merger with GSKCH India

• FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) announced that its board has approved the merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India) through an-all equity deal, valuing the total business of the latter at Rs31,700 crore.
• The transaction is an all-equity merger with 4.39 shares of HUL being allotted for every share in GSKCH India, which sells consumer healthcare products, including popular drink brand Horlicks.
• Post the acquisition, the turnover of the company’s Foods and Refreshment (F&R) business will exceed Rs10,000 crore.