• National

India Water Impact Summit-2018 begins in Delhi

• The Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated the three days ‘India Water Impact Summit 2018’ in New Delhi (5-7th December 2018).
• The IWIS-2018 being jointly organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga).
• A number of Indian Central Government Ministries, as well as all key decision makers responsible for delivering the rejuvenation of the Ganga, will also be present at the Summit.

• National

Gangotri, Yamunotri included under ‘PRASAD’

• The government of India has included Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttrarakhand, Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and Parasnath in Jharkhand under the ‘Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive’ (PRASAD) scheme.
• ‘PRASAD’ is a central scheme to develop pilgrimage and heritage destinations in the country.
• PRASAD scheme was launched by the Ministry of Tourism.

• Economy and Business

RBI left key interest rate unchanged

• The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% on 5 December 2018.
• The reverse repo rate was also kept unchanged at 6.5%.
• Repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends to other banks.
• This means that home loan and car loan rates will not change.
• The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel.

• Sports

Gautam Gambhir announces retirement from all forms of cricket

• Former India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir (37-year) has announced his retirement from all forms of Cricket.
• Gambhir played in 58 Tests (from 2004 to 2016), scoring 4,154 runs at an average of 41.95, with the help of 9 hundred and 22 fifties.
• He also played in 147 ODIs between 2003 and 2013, besides featuring in 37 T20 Internationals.
• Gautam Gambhir is a left-handed opening batsman who played domestic cricket for Delhi and captained Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
• Under Gambhir’s captaincy, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their IPL title in 2012 and again in 2014.

• Sports

IPL: Delhi Daredevils renamed as Delhi Capitals

• Delhi Daredevils was renamed as ‘Delhi Capitals’ after a poor track record over the past 11 IPL seasons.
• Co-owners Parth Jindal (representing JSW Sport) and Kiran Kumar Grandhi (GMR) unveiled the new name of the team.
• Shreyas Iyer will continue to lead the team despite the presence of Shikhar Dhawan.
• Dhawan returns to Delhi for the 2019 season after being traded by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
• Australian great Ricky Ponting will continue to coach the team.

• Sports

Budapest to host 2023 Athletics Championships

• The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced that Budapest will host the ‘World Athletics Championship’ in 2023.
• Budapest has twice hosted the IAAF world indoor championships and the European athletics championships.
• The 2019 ‘World Athletics Championship’ will be held in Doha and the 2021 edition in Eugene, Oregon.
• Budapest is the capital of Hungary.

• Important Days

World Soil Day being observed today

• The World Soil Day is being observed annually on 5th December to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocating for the sustainable management of soil resources.
• The theme for 2018 World Soil Day is ‘Be the Solution to Soil Pollution’.

• Science and Tech

ISRO's heaviest satellite GSAT-11 successfully launched from French Guiana

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched India’s heaviest satellite GSAT-11 (weighing 5,854 kg) by Ariane-5 VA246 rocket from Kourou Launch Zone, French Guiana in South America.
• The GSAT-11 (also called -Big Bird) will deliver multi-spot beam coverage over the Indian mainland and nearby islands bringing significant advantages to the user community.
• The GSAT-11 is the next generation high throughput communication satellite that will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country.
• It will also provide a platform to demonstrate new generation applications such as in flights internet connectivity.

• States

Bihar govt sets Rs 100 fee for family property split

• Bihar state’s cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has fixed Rs. 100 as the charge for people to get their property registered after the division of family’s immovable assets.
• Earlier, the charges for registration of property was 5% (3% stamp duty & 2% registration fee) of the value of property registration fee, as per the prevailing minimum value register (MVR) of the area.
• This is a decision related to public welfare and will reduce tension, disputes, violence and cases in society.

• Miscellaneous

Admiral Sunil Lanba releases book titled ‘Blue Waters Ahoy’

• Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba has released a book ‘Blue Waters Ahoy’, chronicling the history of Indian Navy from 2001-2010.
• The unveiling was part of Navy Day reception at the Navy House in presence of President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi.
• The book has been authored by Vice Admiral Anup Singh.
• Vice Admiral Anup Singh is retired Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command in 2011.

• Agreements

National Rail Museum & Madame Tussauds Wax Museum join hands to boost tourism

• National Rail Museum and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum have joined hands to provide combo offer to Delhi NCR tourists.
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Ministry of Railways and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in New Delhi.
• Now, a special discount of 35% on ticket prices will be offered to Rail Museum visitors when they visit the Madame Tussauds Museum.
• Similarly, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum visitors will be getting discount of 30% on combo packages of National Rail Museum.
• School children will be able to enjoy both museums at a 45% discount.

• Agreements

India, UAE sign two agreements, including one on currency swap

• Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs Minister) and Abdullah bin Zayed (UAE minister) jointly co-chaired the 12th session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting for Economic and Technical Cooperation in Abu Dhabi.
• India and the United Arab Emirates have signed two agreements, one on currency swap and the second agreement would enable both sides to undertake development projects in Africa.
• Currency Swap is a pact between two countries that allows trading in their own currency and payments to import and export trade at pre-determined exchange rate without bringing in a third benchmark currency like the US dollars.