1) India to Achieve ‘Electricity for all’ by Early 2020s: IEA
•Half a billion people have gained access to electricity in India since 2000, almost doubling the country’s electrification rate, according to the World Energy Access report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
•This “remarkable” growth puts India on course to achieving access to electricity for all in the early 2020s, the report added. Since 2012, more than 100 million people per year have gained electricity access, an acceleration from the rate of 62 million people per year seen between 2000 and 2012.
2) Suresh Prabhu in Argentina to Attend 11th Ministerial Conference of WTO
•Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu is in Buenos Aires, Argentina to attend the 11th Ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
•Trade in Services remains an area of key interest to India and other developing countries.
3) India Declared Free from Trachoma, an Infection of Eye
•India has been declared free from infectious Trachoma which is a contagious bacterial infection of the eye. It causes inflamed granulation on the inner surface of the lids.
•Health Minister J P Nadda released the National Trachoma Survey Report (2014-17) in New Delhi. The Survey results indicate that active Trachoma is no longer a public health problem in the country.
4) Giriraj Singh Launches Public Procurement Portal for MSEs - MSME Sambandh
•A Public Procurement Portal ‘MSME Sambandh’ was launched by Shri Giriraj Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for MSME in New Delhi.
•The objective of the portal is to monitor the implementation of the Public Procurement from MSEs by Central Public Sector Enterprises.
5) Mahesh Sharma Inaugurates ‘Bodhi Parva: BIMSTEC Festival of Buddhist Heritage’
•Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge) Dr. Mahesh Sharma has inaugurated the three days ‘Bodhi Parva: BIMSTEC Festival of Buddhist Heritage’ in New Delhi.
•India is hosting the “Bodhi Parva: BIMSTEC Festival of Buddhist Heritage” from 8 to 10 December as part of celebrations of 20th anniversary of BIMSTEC.
6) India's GDP Growth to Rise to 7.5 pc in 2018: Morgan Stanley
•The Indian economy is expected to witness cyclical growth recovery, with real GDP growth likely to accelerate from 6.4 percent this year to 7.5 percent in 2018 and further to 7.7 percent in 2019, says a report of Morgan Stanley.
•According to global financial services major Morgan Stanley, corporate return expectations and balance sheet fundamentals are improving, and a strengthening financial system should be able to meet investment credit demand.
