• International

‘Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum’ inaugurated

• 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.

• Economy and Business

Union Government puts imports of gold dore in the restricted category

• Under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has put imports of gold dore in the restricted category.
• Now, the importer needs a license to import this commodity.
• It is a semi-pure alloy of gold and silver which is refined for further purification.
• It usually created at the site of a mine and then transported to a refinery for further purification.
• Refined gold bars are manufactured from gold dore bar.

• Sports

Pawan Singh first Indian to be elected in ISSF's judge's committee

• Pawan Singh (former coach of the Indian shooting team) has become the first Indian to be elected one of seven members of the Judges Committee of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF).
• The Judges Committee consists of a Chairman and seven members.
• Mr Singh also holds the post of the Joint Secretary General of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

• Sports

Maheshwari Chauhan retains women's skeet title

• Rajasthan’s Maheshwari Chauhan retained her women’s skeet title at the 62nd National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) for shotgun events in Jaipur.
• Maheshwari overcame Ganemat 52-51 in the final to clinch the gold.
• The bronze medal was won by Punjab’s Simran Preet Kaur Johal.

• Appointments

Shri A. N. Jha appointed as Finance Secretary

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) Chaired by PM Narendra Modi has appointed Ajay Narayan Jha (1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre) as the new Finance Secretary of India.
• Mr Jha (59-years) will succeed current Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia.
• Jha has BA (Honours) and MA in history from St. Stephen’s College at University of Delhi, a postgraduate degree in executive development from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
• Jha is a recipient of World Bank scholarship to pursue Masters in Economic Policy Management from McGill University in Canada.

• Important Days

Jon Ridgeon Appointed CEO of IAAF

• 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.

• Important Days

Navy Day is being celebrated today

• The Indian Navy day is observed every year on 4th December to celebrate achievements and role of the naval force in the country.
• The Indian Navy is commanded by the President of India as Commander-in-Chief. It is the marine branch of the Indian Armed Forces.
• Sunil Lamba is the current Chief of the Naval Staff.

• Defence

Air exercise ‘SHINYUU Maitri-18’ began

• Indian Air Force (IAF) and Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) began their air exercise ‘SHINYUU Maitri-18’ at Air Force Station Agra on 3 December 2018.
• The theme of the exercise is joint Mobility/Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) on Transport aircraft.
• IAF participated in the exercise with ‘An-32’ and ‘C-17’ aircraft with aircrew & observers.

• States

Jammu & Kashmir Government Launches AB-PMJAY Scheme

• Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has launched the “Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)” scheme at Teacher’s Bhawan, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
• It would benefit over 31 lakh residents in the state.
• The governor Satya Pal Malik also distributed golden cards among 10 eligible beneficiaries for availing the annual health cover facility.

• States

‘PEETHA’ programme launched in Odisha

• 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’.

• Science and Tech

Four new gravitational waves detected

• Scientists have made four new detections of gravitational waves emanating from separate black hole mergers.
• The gravitational waves were detected by the US-based LIGO and Europe-based VIRGO gravitational-wave detectors.
• The new waves are known as ‘GW170729’, ‘GW170809’, ‘GW170818’, and ‘GW170823’, in reference to the dates they were detected.