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Dexter Academy Page 2
1st December Review
World
Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar
today left for a two-day visit to Bangladesh.
During his visit, Parrikar is scheduled to meet
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, who also holds the
defence portfolio, ahead of her visit to India next
month.
He would also meet President Abdul Hamid and
other top leadership.
Important Point to Note : This is the first ever
visit of an Indian Defense Minister to Bangladesh.
Nepal's government has proposed amending its
Constitution to create a new state to meet the
demands of the Indian-origin Madhesi
community.
This comes after protests across the country for a
bigger federal state last year left over 50 dead.
Nearly 20 countries, including France and the UK,
will attend a New York event celebrating the Diwali
postage stamp recently issued by the United States.
The event, co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of
Belarus and India to the United Nations, will be
held on December 5.
Note : It will also honour Ranju Batra, the chairman
of the Diwali Stamp Project.
Thailand's Parliament has invited Crown Prince
Maha Vajiralongkorn, who will be formally
known as King Rama X or the 10th king of
Chakri dynasty, after the recent death of King
Bhumibol Adulyadej.
India is going to host the 6th Heart of Asia
Conference.
This conference will take place in Amritsar, Punjab
during 3rd and 4th December 2016.
INS Darshak has completed Hydrographic
Survey for Tanzania.
The survey was undertaken under the MoU signed
for Foreign Cooperation in the field of Hydrography
between Tanzania and India on exchange of
hydrographic data to promote development and
cooperation through conducting surveys, exchange
of data, capacity building and infrastructure
strengthening.
India
The National Anthem should be compulsorily
played at all cinema halls across the nation
before movie screenings, the Supreme Court
ordered today.
It should also be accompanied by the National flag
onscreen and any abridged version of the Anthem
would not be permitted.
Everyone present in the halls must rise and pay
respect to the National Anthem, the court added.
According new data from Civil Registration
System ( CRS) released by the Office of the
Registrar General of India, Sex Ratio at Birth
(SRB) continues to worsen in India.
The SRB has declined to 887 in 2014 from 898 in
2013.
The ratio has been declining since 2011 when the
figure was 909.
Awards & Appointments
BJP chief Amit Shah today appointed actor-
turned-politician Manoj Tiwari as theBJP's
Delhi unit President.
He has replaced Satish Upadhyay.
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BJP leader Nityanand Rai was appointed as the
BJP's Bihar unit chief.
Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography 'Playing It
My Way' has won the Crossword Book of the
Year Award in the autobiography category.
The book was co-written by cricket historian Boria
Majumdar and released in November 2014.
Note : Earlier, the book had entered the Limca Book
of Records for the 'Bestselling Adult Hardback on
Release', logging most orders on the first day of
publication.
Ranveer Singh was named the 'International
Man of the Year' at the 2016 Esquire 'Man At
His Best Awards' held in Dubai.
Note : Deepika Padukone was awarded the title of
'International Woman of the Year'.
Sports
Hashim Mansoor, a seven-year-old boy from
Kashmir's Bandipora district, has won a Gold
medal at the Asian Youth Karate
Championships in New Delhi.
Mansoor won the gold in the sub-junior category
(below 25 kg) after defeating a Sri Lankan opponent
in the final.
He has now qualified for the World Championship,
to be held next year in September.
Business & Economy
In order to protect farmers and rural account
holders from money launderers, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) today limited the cash
withdrawal from KYC-linked Jan Dhan
accounts to ₹10,000 a month.
Withdrawals beyond ₹10,000 will be allowed by
bankers only after ascertaining the genuineness of
such withdrawals.
Note : Jan Dhan deposits rose by 60% in two weeks
after note ban.
Starting today, Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
operated Currency Presses have started printing
the new ₹500 notes as two government-owned
presses are running behind schedule.
The RBI presses hope to print around 1 billion of
the new ₹500 notes by December end.
Note : Until now, the RBI operated presses were
printing only ₹2,000 and a few lower denomination
notes.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has crossed the 5
crore subscribers mark in record 83 days since its
launch in September.
Jio has reportedly added 1,000 customers per
minute since launch.
Important Points to Note :
Airtel reached the 5 crore subscribers milestone in
12 years.
Vodafone and Idea took 13 years each.
2nd
December Review
World
Today (1st December) is World AIDS Day.
This day is dedicated to raising awareness of the
AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV
infection, and mourning those who have died of the
disease.
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Theme of World Aids Day 2016 : Hands up for
HIV Prevention
Important Note :
World AIDS Day is one of the eight official global
public health campaigns marked by the World
Health Organization (WHO).
Remaining are,
World Health Day,
World Blood Donor Day,
World Immunization Week,
World Tuberculosis Day,
World No Tobacco Day,
World Malaria Day and
World Hepatitis Day.
Pakistan PM's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj
Azizis going to visit India on Sunday to attend
the Heart of Asia conference.
The two-day conference will be held in Amritsar
from December 3rd.
It focuses on regional cooperation between
Afghanistan and its neighbours for improving
connectivity and tackling security threats.
Online English source for word meanings,
Dictionary has named 'Xenophobia' as Word of
the Year for 2016.
Xenophobia refers to the fear or hatred of
foreigners, people from different cultures or
strangers.
According to Dictionary, the word was most looked
up by users after Brexit, or when UK voted to leave
the European Union, and during US presidential
elections.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau today approved a
controversial pipeline from Alberta oil sands to
the country's Pacific Coast.
Environmentalists criticised the pipeline over fears
of oil spills as it'll bring oil tankers to Canadian
waters.
The Dutch Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in
favour of a ban on wearing burqas in designated
public places including schools, hospitals and on
public transport.
The rule, which still needs approval from the
Senate, also outlaws all face-coverings including ski
masks and helmets.
Note : Similar laws have already been implemented
in France, Belgium, and Bulgaria.
The ceasefire agreement signed between India and
Pakistan in 2003 recently completed 13 years.
The accord is the first ceasefire arrangement
between the two countries that covered the
International border, Line of Control, and the
Siachen Glacier.
Note : There have been 2,058 instances of ceasefire
violations since the pact was signed.
India
Nagaland is celebrating 53rd statehood day.
Note : It was on this day in 1963 that Nagaland
became the 16th state of India.
Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav today flagged
off the Lucknow metro train, whose trial run will
take place on 8.5 km stretch.
They completed the metro work in 26 months,
which is a record for any metro rail project in India.
Further, the metro train service will be made
available for the people after March 2017.
The government today announced that NGOs
and Voluntary Organisations (VOs)need to
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register themselves with NITI Aayog to receive
grant-in-aid from the Centre.
It also mandated that the NGOs and VOs sign up on
'NGO-DARPAN' portal and obtain a system-
generated unique ID for any grant.
It added that 81,353 NGOs/VOs have signed up on
the portal as of November 24.
In an attempt to promote cashless transactions post
note ban, Maharashtra Cabinet today mandated the
linking of Aadhaar with its schemes for the poor.
The amount related to the scheme will directly be
transferred to the beneficiaries' accounts.
A cyclone dubbed NADA is going to hit the
Tamil Nadu coast on December 2 with heavy
rainfall predicted in north coastal Tamil Nadu
and Puducherry.
The cyclone is at present about 770 km south-east
of Chennai and expected to move west and
intensify.
NITI Aayog held 1st meeting of Committee of
Chief Ministers to examine & measures to
promote Digital payments systems.
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for
inclusion of 15 new castes and modification in 13
other castes in the Central list of Other Backward
Classes (OBCs) in respect of 8 states.
Note : These 8 states are Assam, Bihar, Himachal
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand.
Awards & Appointments
Bollywood Actor Salman Khan has been
appointed the Ambassador of Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation's Drive against open
defecation and litter.
Salman's non-profit organisation 'Being Human
Foundation' will reportedly donate five mobile
toilets to the BMC, to be placed at Bandstand,
Mumbai.
Gareth Southgate was named as England’s
Permanent Manager on a four-year contract .
He is going to replace Sam Allardyce who departed
67 days into the job.
Southgate, a former England Under-21 manager,
has led England to two wins and a draw in the
team's three 2018 World Cup qualifiers so far.
Sports
Pakistan is going to host its first Davis Cup tie in
13 years on home soil against Iran in February
next year.
Note : International cricket teams have refused to
play in Pakistan after an attack on the Sri Lankan
team in 2009.
The All India Football Federation has been
nominated for the Asian Football Confederation's
Member Association (Developing) Award for 2016
alongside Vietnam and Malaysia.
The award is given to a member association in
recognition of its professional administration and
governance as well as its contribution to the
development and promotion of the sport at all levels
within the country.
Business & Economy
The government has today announced that the
Jewellery/gold purchased through disclosed
income or reasonable household savings will not
become tax able under the amended I-T Act.
The Act will also not apply to ancestral jewellery.
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Further, there will be no seizure of gold jewellery
up to 500 grams per married lady, 250 grams per
unmarried lady and 100 grams per male in I-T
searches.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) today reached an agreement
to cut their production of oil at a meeting in
Vienna in an effort to raise crude oil prices.
The cartel will now cut production by 1.2 million
barrels per day, which accounts for nearly 1.3% of
the entire world's daily oil production.
The Union Cabinet today approved a ₹2,000-
crore development package for refugees from
Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).
Relief for the refugees' families was first announced
as a part of the ₹80,000-crore package for J&K by
PM Narendra Modi in November last year.
Over 36,000 families have been found to be eligible
to get relief under the package.
MOUs & Agreements
India today signed a ₹5,000-crore deal with the
US to buy 145 M777 lightweight Howitzer guns
for the Army.
The deal was approved by Defence Ministry in
October to strengthen the Army, which has
reportedly been facing a crunch in this weaponry
segment.
While 25 guns will come in ready-to-use condition,
the remaining 120 will be assembled in India.
3rd
December Review
World
Today is International Day for the Abolition of
Slavery.
This day has been adopted by the General Assembly
of the United Nations convention for the prevention
of the human trafficking and of the exploitation of
the human being and of others.
This Day was first celebrated in 1986.
The focus of this day is on eradicating
contemporary forms of slavery, such as trafficking
in persons, sexual exploitation, the worst forms of
child labour, forced marriage, and the forced
recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.
Theme of the year 2016 : "Remember Slavery:
Celebrating the Heritage and Culture of the African
Diaspora and its Roots"
Thailand's Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn
was formally proclaimed as King Rama X, the
10th king of the Chakri dynasty.
Vajiralongkorn was proclaimed king after he
accepted the invitation from the country's
parliament.
The coronation ceremony for King Rama X will
take place next year after his recently-deceased
father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej's cremation.
The UNESCO today included Yoga in its 'List of
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity'.
UNESCO also included Beer culture in Belgium,
Bhojpuri folk songs in Mauritius, and Carnival of
Granville in France among others in the list this
year.
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
from India :
Buddhist chanting of Ladakh : recitation of sacred
Buddhist texts in Ladakh region of Jammu and
Kashmir.
Chhau dance : classical Indian dance originated in
the eastern Indian states.
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Kalbelia : folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
Koodiyattam : Sanskrit Theatre of Kerala
Mudiyett : theatre ritual of Kerala
Ramlila : Traditional Performance of the
Ramayana.
Ramman : religious festival and ritual theatre of
Garhwal Himalayas.
Sankirtana : singing, drumming and dancing ritual
of Manipur.
Tradition of Vedic Chanting.
Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil of
Thatheras of Punjab.
Russia's Interior Ministry has announced that
fingerprinting will become a compulsory procedure
for all foreigners arriving in the country, starting
next year.
This reportedly will improve law enforcement,
including blocking suspected terrorists and
preventing illegal migration.
India
Today is National Pollution Control Day
This day is celebrated every year in India in order to
give the honor and memorialize the thousands of
human beings who had lost their existence because
of the Bhopal gas calamity.
Bhopal gas tragedy was happened in the night of
2nd and 3rd December in the year 1984 because
of the unintentional discharge of the poisonous
chemical known as Methyl Isocyanate (also
called MIC) as well as some other chemicals
released from the Union Carbide Chemical Plant
positioned in the city.
Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan (VISAKA) was
launched by the Union Ministry for Human
Resource Development (HRD) to make people
aware about cashless economic system.
It was launched by Union HRD minister Prakash
Javadekar in New Delhi.
The Hornbill Festival began in the Naga
Heritage village of Kisama, coinciding with
Nagaland Statehood Day.
The annual festival aims to promote tourism in the
state, and pays tribute to the Hornbill, revered by
the Nagas.
NITI Aayog today scrapped the old five-year
plan scheme and unveiled a new vision, strategy
document along with an action plan for the
country, Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya
said.
Awards & Appointments
The government today appointed Gujarat-cadre
1984 batch IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as the
Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI).
Cheng Wei, Co-founder and CEO of Chinese
ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has been named
Forbes Asia's 2016 Businessman of the Year.
Singer Katy Perry was honoured with the 'Audrey
Hepburn Humanitarian Award' for her work as
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador at a UNICEF event
in New York today.
She was presented the award by 2016 Democratic
US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
The second Indian Council for Cultural
Relations (ICCR) Ideologist Award for the year
2016 was awarded to Prof. Yu Long Yu of
China.
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He was presented with this award by President
Pranab Mukherjee at a function in Rashtrapati
Bhavan, New Delhi.
Business & Economy
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani
has announced the 'Jio Money Merchant
Solutions' app for small merchants and shop
owners to receive payments from users of Jio
Money e-wallet.
It will enable person-to-person transfers and
transactions at places like mandis and bus ticket
counters.
The app, which will launch on December 5, is
expected to be used by 10 million merchants.
Andhra Pradesh's Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams, which manages the Sri
Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati, has
roped in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to
manage the upsurge in donations after
demonetization.
TCS will provide electronic modes of donations to
the visiting pilgrims.
The temple has also made arrangements for e-
donations, e-hundi, e-challan, e-darshan, e-
accommodation and e-seva.
Sports
Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen
beat Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin to
clinch his third consecutive World Chess
Championship.
Note : Carlsen last defeated Vishwanathan Anand in
both the 2013 and 2014 World Chess
Championships.
The All-India Football Federation won the Asian
Football Council's Developing Member
Association of the Year Award in Abu Dhabi
today.
The award is given on the basis of organisation of
courses, seminars and competitions, grassroots,
youth development and women's programmes and
special projects.
In 2014, AIFF had earlier won the AFC President's
Recognition Award for grassroots football.
Former Pakistani pacer Wasim Akram has been
appointed as the Sri Lankan cricket team's
bowling mentor, ahead of the team's tour to
South Africa.
Science & Technology
The Internet Archive, which keeps a store of
everything on the internet, announced plans to
shift its data to Canada from the US, to keep it
"safe" after Donald Trump was elected US
President.
Trump had earlier suggested "closing up" the
internet to prevent children and ISIS recruiters from
using it.
Bengaluru-based aerospace startup Team Indus
has become the first private entity to secure a
dedicated Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from
ISRO.
Team Indus is the only Indian team in Google's $20
million Lunar XPRIZE competition to become the
first privately funded team to land a robot on the
Moon that successfully travels 500 meters.
4th
& 5th
December Review
World
India is going to train the Qatari police for
handling the security during the FIFA World
Cup in the nation, scheduled to be held in 2022.
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The agreement for the training was reached upon by
the visiting Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah
bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani and India's Union
Home Minister Rajnath Singh today.
The US Senate has unanimously passed a
legislation to extend sanctions against Iran by 10
years.
It was forwarded to President Barack Obama, who
is expected to sign it into law delaying any
potentially tougher actions until next year.
While Iran warned that this would violate the Iran-
US nuclear deal, US lawmakers denied the
allegation and said it was "necessary".
India
India celebrates 45th Navy Day today
The day is celebrated to commemorate the start of
Operation Trident during the 1971 India-Pakistan
War.
Chief of Naval Staff : Admiral Sunil Lanba
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has
initiated online issuance of birth and death
certificatesfollowing the civic body's decision to
digitise payment of taxes and factory licensing.
Post this move, all birth and death certificates
registered after 2003-04 can be obtained
electronically.
The UNICEF has teamed up with the Indian
government to conduct the first-ever national
survey to measure nutrition levels of children
across the country.
According to the survey, the data aims to quantify
the micronutrients, vitamin and mineral
deficiencies, as well as worm infestation among
children.
A total of 1,20,000 children in the age group 0-19
years will be surveyed.
The Centre has approved the inclusion of 15 new
castes and the modification in 13 other castes in
the Central list of Other Backward Classes
(OBCs).
This will make the castes eligible for benefit under
the existing welfare schemes and scholarships for
the OBCs that are being administered by the Central
Government.
Awards & Appointments
US President-elect Donald Trump has named
General Motors CEO Mary Barra to his
economic and job-creation panel.
The panel, set to meet for the first time in February,
consists of CEOs from JPMorgan Chase, Walt
Disney, Boeing, and other companies.
Note : Barra is one of the only two women on the
panel, the other being IBM CEO Ginni Rometty.
Donald Trump has also announced that he will be
appointing James 'Mad Dog' Mattis as US Secretary
of Defence.
India's representative Srinidhi Shetty has been
crowned Miss Supranational 2016, an
international beauty pageant.
This marks the second time that India has won the
pageant following the win by Asha Bhat in 2014.
Sanjeev Sonawane, a visually impaired
educationist who has developed educational
programmes for hundreds of young blind people,
was awarded the Helen Keller Award 2016 in
the "role model supporter of increased
employment opportunities for disabled persons"
category.
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He is the head of education and extension
department at the Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Deaths
Two-time Olympic gold medallist diver Sammy
Lee (96) passed away.
Lee, a Korean-American, became the first ever
Asian-American to win an Olympic gold medal for
the US after winning gold in the 1948 London
Olympics.
Science & Technology
US defence agency DARPA has announced plans
to launch an online gaming portal titled
'Gamifying the Search for Strategic Surprise
(GS3)' to find ways to combat national security
threats.
Business & Economy
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today
announced it will shortly issue ₹20 and ₹50
banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005.
The new ₹50 notes won't have inset letters in the
number panels and new ₹20 notes will have inset
letter 'L', while both notes will have 2016 printed on
them.
The old ₹20 and ₹50 banknotes will, however,
continue to be legal tender.
The US House of Representatives has passed a
Defence Bill pledging $900 million (around
₹6,100 crore) in assistance to Pakistan.
A major part of the money is dependent on the
Pentagon certifying that Pakistan is taking action
against the militant group Haqqani Network.
Note : Earlier this year, US denied $300 million in
aid to Pakistan for failing to get the certification.
Sports
India clinched the Women's T20 Asia Cup 2016
after defeating Pakistan by 17 runs in the final in
Bangkok today.
Note : This is India's sixth successive Asia Cup
title.
Question of the Day
Why is December 4 celebrated as Navy Day in
India?
On 4th December 1971, the Indian Navy
successfully executed Operation Trident, which was
a devastating attack on Pakistan Naval Headquarters
in Karachi.
The operation, which marked the first use of anti-
ship missiles in the region, did irreparable damage
to the Karachi port during the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
To commemorate this, December 4 is celebrated as
the Indian Navy Day.
6th
December Review
World
Today (5th December) is World Soil Day.
Theme of 2016 : 'Soils and pulses, a symbiosis for
life'
Today (5th December) is International Volunteer
Day.
This day is an international observance designated
by the United Nations since 1985.
It offers an opportunity for volunteer organizations
and individual volunteers to make visible their
contributions - at local, national and international
levels - to the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
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2016 Theme : Global Applause – give volunteers a
hand
Cuban President Raúl Castro today announced
that the government would prohibit naming
public monuments or streets after his brother
and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.
The decision is in line with Fidel Castro's personal
desire to avoid developing a personality cult.
The 6th Ministerial Conference of Heart of Asia
summit was held in Amritsar today.
This conference was attended by over 40 delegates,
including 14 from southeast and central Asian
member countries.
Under the 'Amritsar Declaration' adopted at the
summit, terrorism was declared the biggest
threat to the peace, stability, and prosperity of
the Asian nations.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key today
announced his resignation as the country's
leader in a surprise move, effective from 12
December.
India
The Rajasthan government is going to launch a
mobile application on December 13 that intends
to reduce the road accidents’ casualties by half
by 2020.
The app will be integrated with the details of
hospitals, police station, ambulance service,
emergency services and the user can assess contact
details, can seek help or ambulance or report an
accident.
A 3-day Bird festival is being organised by the
Uttar Pradesh government in Chambal.
The festival was inaugurated on Friday by Cabinet
Minister Abhishek Mishra.
Tim Appleton, who reportedly started the world's
first bird fair in England, was also present during
the inauguration.
The festival will feature talks by prominent
ornithologists and workshops by professional
photographers.
Awards & Appointments
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the
reader's poll for the TIME's Person of the Year
with 18% votes in his favour, beating Barack
Obama, Donald Trump and Julian Assange,
each with 7% votes.
Modi also fared above personalities like Hillary
Clinton and Mark Zuckerberg.
The magazine's editors will declare the final Person
of the Year on December 7.
The 23rd Star Screen Awards, an annual awards
ceremony held in India honouring professional
excellence in the Bollywood Film Industry was
recently held in Mumbai.
Amitabh Bachchan and Alia Bhatt bagged top
honours for the their films Pink and Udta Punjab
respectively, with the hard-hitting Pink winning the
coveted Best Film Award as well and two other
trophies.
Rekha was honoured with the Lifetime
Achievement Award, while Deepika Padukone was
adjudged the Best Style Icon for 2016.
Check complete winners list of Star Screen Awards
2016 from here
Singer Taylor Swift (26), with earnings of $170
million, has been named the world's highest paid
musician of 2016 by Forbes.
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With earnings of $110 million, English-Irish pop
boy band 'One Direction' ranked second, while
Adele, with earnings of $80.5 million stood third.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel today announced
the appointment of Sunil Taldar as the Chief
Executive Officer and Director for its DTH
business.
Taldar will take over Shashi Arora, who after
serving for approximately five years as CEO, has
moved as MD and CEO of Airtel Payments Bank.
Note : Airtel digital TV had 1.24 crore customers in
quarter ended September.
Science & Technology
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has
announced that it is all set to launch PSLV-C36
carrying 1,235 kg remote sensing satellite
RESOURCE SAT-2A from the spaceport of
Sriharikota on December 7.
The satellite would carry a high-resolution Linear
Imaging Self Scanner camera, medium-resolution
LISS-3 camera and an advanced wide field sensor
camera that operates in various bands.
Business & Economy
The Finance Ministry today made it mandatory
for the government departments to make
payments above ₹5,000 to suppliers, contractors,
grantee/loanee institutions, among others,
through e-payment.
Further, the Ministry has directed all the
departments to implement the new order with
immediate effect.
This comes amid PM Modi's advocation for a
cashless economy to end corruption and black
money.
The government has declared an incentive of ₹10
for individuals who have transited to digital
payment modes and have undertaken at least
two successful transactions through it.
These transactions could be from payment modes
like Unified Payment Interface, Aadhaar card-
enabled payment mode, e-wallets, and RuPay cards.
E-commerce major Amazon today launched its
global startup program 'Launchpad' in India, an
online portal featuring over 400 products from
different startups including 25 Indian startups.
The program will also help Indian startups to sell
their products overseas.
First started in 2015, Amazon Launchpad is now
available in seven regions.
Switzerland plans to increase international
cooperation by implementing Automatic
Exchange Of Information (AEOI) in its banking
practices and will reportedly share private client
information with other countries.
The AEOI on bank accounts will be spread to 22
other countries including India.
The move aims to stop wealthy foreigners from
hiding their illicit income in Swiss banks.
Sports Current Affairs
51 year old Indian Golfer Mukesh Kumar
became the oldest golfer to win an Asian Tour
title after lifting the Panasonic Open today.
Mukesh, who has 123 PGTI titles under his belt,
won his first ever title on the Asian Tour in the form
of the Panasonic Open.
7th
December Review
World
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The annual bilateral maritime exercise Konkan
16 between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy
(British Navy) was started in Mumbai,
Maharashtra.
This exercise will be held from 5th December to
16th December 2016.
Yangon city in Myanmar recently
hosted Mingalabar, a three-day festival that
celebrated 55 years of cultural relations
between France and Myanmar.
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe today announced that
he will visit Pearl Harbor this month with US
President Barack Obama.
With this move, he will become Japan's first leader
to travel to the site of the Japanese attack 75 years
ago.
Note : Japan's attack on the navy base at Hawaii
had killed over 2,400 US soldiers and triggered
America's entry into the World War II.
India
The 6th edition of ‘Heart of Asia- Istanbul
Process of Aghanistan‘ conference, an annual
regional gathering of Asian and other countries
was recently held in Amritsar, Punjab (India).
It was inaugurated jointly by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
It concluded with adaptation of Amritsar
Declaration with its prime focus on terrorism.
Theme of this year's Conference : “Addressing
Challenges, Achieving Prosperity”.
The 7th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) was
recently held at Science City in Kolkata, West
Bengal.
It was organised by the World Ayurveda
Foundation with the support of the Union Ministry
of AYUSH to facilitate development and growth of
AYUSH system of medicine comprising Ayurveda,
Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and
Homoeopathy.
Theme of this congress : “Strengthening the
Ayurveda Ecosystem“.
Awards & Appointments
Gigi Hadid was felicitated with the 'International
Model of the Year' award at the British Fashion
Awards 2016 in London today.
Alexander McQueen was named the 'Best British
Brand'.
American fashion designer Ralph Lauren was given
the 'Outstanding Achievement' award.
The award of 'New Fashion Icon' went to
siblings Jaden and Willow Smith.
American comedian and talk show host Jimmy
Kimmel will host the 89th Oscar Awards
ceremony in February 2017.
Kimmel, who previously hosted 2016 Emmy
Awards, will be hosting the Academy Awards for
the first time.
Actor Samuel L Jackson will receive the Lifetime
Achievement Award at the Dubai International
Film Festival (DIFF) at the opening of the
festival on December 7.
He is known for his role as 'Ultimate Nick Fury' in
Marvel films and for films like 'Pulp Fiction'.
Independent candidate and pro-
European Alexander Van der Bellen has
won Austria's re-run presidential election with
around 53.5% votes.
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Bellen won against anti-immigration and
eurosceptic Norbert Hofer.
Uzbekistan's Prime Minister Shavkat
Mirziyoyev became the country's
second President after winning 88.61% vote in
the first presidential election since the death of
the authoritarian leader and President Islam
Karimov.
Following the death of Tamil Nadu CM
Jayalalithaa, her aide and senior AIADMK leader O
Panneerselvam took oath as the new Chief Minister
of Tamil Nadu.
Science & Technology
Amazon has unveiled a technology to run a
grocery store where customers can enter by
scanning their phones and leave without paying
for the items.
Called 'Amazon Go', the store will be able to detect
the items picked and charge the customers
accordingly through a dedicated app. The first such
store will be launched in Washington in early 2017.
Banking & Economy
Venezuela's central bank said it will issue new
higher-value notes of its currency, the Bolivar,
from mid-December to aid consumers who are
dealing with unprecedented inflation.
This comes after bolivar suffered its largest monthly
fall, down 60% in November against the dollar on
the black market.
Important Note : Currently, the largest bolivar
note is worth $0.02 (around ₹1.36) on the black
market.
India has received over US $300 billion US
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)milestone
between April 2000 and September 2016.
The cumulative FDI inflows during the period
amounted to US $310.26 billion.
With this, India firmly established its credentials as
a safe investment destination in the world.
Hailakandi district of Assam has become
the first district to pay wages to tea garden
workers through individual bank accounts.
It completed this task before the December 15, 2016
deadline set by the state government for cashless
transactions of salary payments to the plantation
workers.
Sports
The hashtag used for the Rio Summer
Olympics, #Rio2016 was the most popular
hashtag in India and globally this year, as per
Twitter's #YearOnTwitter 2016 report.
The second-most popular hashtag in India
was #INDvPAK, following the teams' ICC World
T20 encounter in March, with more than 1.1 million
tweets recorded. #WT20 and #PVSindhu were also
among the most-used hashtags.
9th
December Review
World
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-
661 crashed
i. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), PK-661
flight which was carrying 48 passengers including 5
crew member and one ground engineer, crashed on
the way to Islamabad from Chitral on December 7,
2016.
ii. According to the report of the Civil Aviation
Authority confirmed there are no survivors from
crash. 46 bodies out of 48 have been recovered.
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iii. Pakistani pop star, actor and TV presenter Junaid
Jamshed was among those who perished when the
plane crashed.
iv. The PK-661 Flight which was an ATR-42
aircraft departed from Chitral around 3:30pm and
was
expected to land at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto
International Airport at around 4:40pm but crashed
in Havelian near Abbottabad within few minutes
after a danger call was sent to the control tower.
India
Various MoUs and Schemes Approved by Union
Cabinet on December 7, 2016
i. The Cabinet Committee headed by Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi on December 7, 2016, gave the
approval for the development of the Phase-I of the
Rs 11,420 crore Pune metro rail project.The project
will cover a length of 31.254 km and consist of two
corridors.
ii. The Union Cabinet on December 7, 2016,
approved MoU between India and Vietnam on
Cooperation in the field of IT.
iii. The Union Cabinet approved the MoU between
India and Afghanistan on cooperation in the
peaceful uses of outer space.
iv. The Union Cabinet gave the approval to the
reforms to boost employment generation and
exports in the Made-ups Sector.
v. Cabinet approved the MoU signed between India
and United Kingdom (UK) in area of Ease of Doing
Business in India.
vi. Government on December 8, 2016, announced
the Zero Effect Zero Defect (ZED)certification
scheme which will guide and assist MSMEs across
the country in Make in India sectors through quality
control cells and rate them after carrying out
assessment of their products.
Training on Election Management for SAARC
Nations Organized at IIIDEM
i. A training program has been organized by
Election Commission of India on Election
Management of SAARC Countries, at the India
International Institute of Democracy and Election
Management (IIIDEM) under the sponsorship of
Union Ministry of External Affairs, Government of
India.
ii. Aim: to conduct free, fair, peaceful and inclusive
elections in the country.
iii. The training program started on December 5,
2016 and will continue till December 15, 2016.
iv. The training program is being attended by 28
delegates of Election Management Bodies (EMBs)
from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives,
Bhutan and Afghanistan.
v. The program aims to train officials on various
aspects of election management like capacity
building of stakeholders, code of conduct, voter
inclusion and registration etc.
South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) :
♦ SAARC was founded in Dhaka in 1985 and has
it’s headquarter in Kathmandu.
♦ SAARC is the regional intergovernmental
organization and geopolitical union of nations in
South Asia.
♦ Its member states include Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Triple Talaq is unconstitutional and no personal
law board is above the Constitution: Allahabad
High Court
i. The Allahabad high court on December 7, 2016,
passed an order, over the Islamic practice of
divorcing a woman by saying the word ‘talaq’ three
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successive times, that it is completely
“unconstitutional” and violates the rights of Muslim
Women.
ii. The High Court Judge, Justice Suneet Kumar
gave the judgment while hearing a petition filed by
a woman who claimed that her husband divorced
her without mutual consent.
iii. Justice Kumar added, no personal law board is
above the Constitution.However, the All India
Muslim Personal Law Board has questioned against
the order, saying that constitution has no right to
question the practices of any religion.
iv. Even in Supreme Court, several women have
filed a petition to abolish the tripletalaq practice.
Haritha Keralam Mission launched by Kerala
CM Pinarayi Vijayan
i. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on
launched Haritha Keralam Mission in
Thiruvananthapuram on December 8, 2016.
Haritha Keralam Missionii. Aim: To clear and
remove waste from all the water bodies in the state,
ensure disposal of solid waste and removal of waste
water and measures to increase the area of land
under cultivation
iii. It is a comprehensive program for creating new
development perspectives by maximum utilization
of opportunities through waste management, water
resources and agricultural development using
organic farming.
iv. Renowned singer KJ Yesudas and actor Manju
Warrier are brand ambassadors of this proeject
Himachal become 18th State To Join
UDAY(Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana)
i. Virbhadra Singh lead Himachal Pradesh
government signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with Government of India for
operational and financial turnaround of the
DISCOM under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance
Yojana (UDAY)
ii. HP has become the 18th state to join UDAY, a
central scheme for revival of debt stressed power
distribution companies, availing a net benefit of
about Rs 823 crore.
Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) :
♦ Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) is
the financial turnaround and revival package for
electricity distribution companies of India
(DISCOMs) initiated by Shri Piyush Goyal in
November 2015.
♦ Jharkhand was the first state to join UDAY
The scheme comprises four initiatives :
1.Improving operational efficiencies of discoms
2.Reduction of cost of power
3.Reduction in interest cost of discoms and
4.Enforcing financial discipline on discoms through
alignment with state finances.
Lifeline Express gets two new Coaches cancer,
family health services
i. The Lifeline Express, world’s first hospital train
was equipped with two new coaches in addition to
the existing five on December 8, 2016.
ii. The new coaches were inaugurated by the Union
health minister JP Nadda and railways minister
Suresh Prabhu.
iii. One coach will be used for detecting and
controlling oral, breast and cervical cancer while
other will be used for preventing stroked and
providing family health services.
iv. With the installment of the new coaches, Lifeline
Express will start its operation at Satna in Madhya
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Pradesh from December 15, 2016 to January 5,
2017.
v. Other projects is scheduled in 2017 for
Telangana, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat.
Lifeline Express
♦ Lifeline Express started 25 years ago in 1991,
with three wooden coaches to give medical care to
the remotest parts of the country. Now it has seven
steel coaches.Lifeline Express
♦ Impact India Foundation initiated the Lifeline
Express project that has treated around one million
poor people in rural parts of the country free of cost.
Nearly 2,00,000 medical professionals from around
the world provide their services.
♦ The seven coaches of the Lifeline Express have
operation theatres, a pathology lab, a
mammography unit, a gynecology examination
room, a dental unit, a pharmacy, consultation
cubicles, X-Ray services, among others.
♦ The train is Wi-Fi enabled which, for example,
helps a doctor sitting in a city examine a patient’s
X-ray report and other images.
Minister of Railways Launched Website of
National Rail Plan, 2030
i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu
launched a website of National Rail Plan, 2030
(NRP-2030) on December 8, 2016 Rail Bhawan,
New Delhi.
ii. Aim: to develop the Indian Railways in terms of
service in travelling and freight across the country.
iii. The website is available for access at
http://www.nationalrailplan.in.
iv. Ministry of Railways have decided to develop
National Rail Plan (NRP 2030) to have a concrete
strategic planning for Railway, in consultation with
all the stakeholders including State Governments,
public representatives and other relevant Central
Ministries.
v. NRP-2030 will make an attempt to integrate the
rail network with other modes of transport and
create synergy for achieving seamless multi modal
transportation network across the country.
Business & Economy
Two Banks of Abu Dhabi to Merge as the
Biggest Bank in Gulf Nation
i. Stockholders of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi
and First Gulf Bank on December 7, 2016,
approved to merge into the biggest bank of all Gulf
Countries with an asset of $ 178 billion.
ii. After the merger the combined company will be
named as NBAD.
iii. The FGB shareholders will receive 1.254 NBAD
shares for each FGB share they hold and FGB
stockholders will own 52% of the new bank.
iv. According to Moody, this merger would make
the new NBAD the largest bank across Gulf Arab
nations, with some $170 billion in assets.
Coverfox inks pact with Uber for car insurance
i. An online insurance broking portal Coverfox.com
has inked an partnership with Uber in India to
facilitate car insurance solutions for the latter’s
driver partners on December 8, 2016
ii. Under this partnership, Coverfox car insurance
services will be available to Uber cars across 11
cities in India includes Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru,
Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai,
Kochi, Guwahati and Coimbatore.
Coverfoxiii. The insurance cover is offered as part
of UberCLUB’s rewards programme.
iv. Recently Uber launches app UberFLEET to help
drivers achieve maximum performance and run
fleets more efficiently
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Coverfox :
♦ Founded: 2013
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai
Pakistan Lifts Undeclared Ban on Import of
Ginned Cotton from India
i. Pakistan has removed an “undeclared” ban on
import of ginned cotton from India.
ii. Earlier from November 23, The Department of
Plant Protection (DPP) of the Ministry of National
Food Security and Research had banned the cotton
imports from India through Wagah and Karachi port
as the shipments did not fulfil phyto- sanitary
conditions.
iii. Due to the rising border tensions between the
two neighbours, Islamabad imposed a ban on
10,000 bales of cotton worth USD 3.3 million from
India.
iv. However the DPP has agreed to issue permits for
importing cotton from India via Wagah but the DPP
has also made it clear to importers that only seed
free cotton will be accepted and allowed into the
country.
India to set up center of excellence at Al-Azhar
University, Egypt
i. In order to enhance cooperation in education
sector between India and Egypt, Center has decided
to set up a center of Excellence in Information
Technology at the Al-Azhar University which is the
oldest and most prestigious University of Egypt.
ii. Regarding the establishment of the excellence
Center, a meeting was held between Indian
ambassador to Cairo, Sanjay Bhattacharyya and
Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, on
December 5, 2016 to discuss various ways to
enhance cooperation.Al-Azhar University
iii. The Government of India will pay completely
for the project which will be set up in the
engineering department of the Al-Azhar University
and start operating early next year.
Egypt :
♦ Capital: Cairo
♦ Currency: Egyptian pound
♦ President: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Awards & Appointments
Donald Trump Named as TIME’s Person of the
Year 2016
i. US President elect Donald Trump was chosen as
the TIME’s Person of the Year 2016 on December
7, 2016, for his outstanding victory in the US
election.
ii. According to the Time magazine’s editors, the
Republican president-elect had more global impact,
“for better or worse,” than any other individual
across the past 12 months.
iii. Trump defeated five other contenders, including
his election rival Hillary Clinton, musician
Beyonce, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, to be named “the person who had the
greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events
of the year
Alphabet Named Company of the year by
Fortune
Google parent Company, Alphabet has been named
as the Company Of The Year by Fortune magazine
in its annual Blue Ribbon ranking.
Blue Ribbon List
i. The list recognizes the best among the best
companies that have been appeared on four or more
out of the seven Fortune lists including Fortune 500,
Global 500, Best Companies to Work For, Change
the World list, World’s Most Admired Companies,
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100 Fastest-Growing Companies, and
Businessperson of the Year in a particular year.
ii. For the year 2016, Alphabet has topped the Blue
Ribbon List by appearing on 5 of Google
♦ Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational
conglomerate founded on October 2, 2015, by the
two founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey
Brin.
♦ It is the parent company of Google and several
other companies previously owned by them.
♦ CEO: Larry Page
♦ President: Sergey Brin
♦ Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United
States
BEML Honored with CII National Quality
Award
i. Bharat Earth Movers Limited Ltd (BEML) Ltd
has been awarded the ‘CII National Quality 2016
Award’ for practicing various EFQM Models
(European Foundation for Quality Management).
ii. The award was received by Deepak Kumar Hota,
Chairman & Managing Director, BEML, at a
function held at Bengaluru.
iii. The award is jointly instituted by the
Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Export
Import Bank (EXIM).
Bharat Earth Movers Limited
♦ BEML Limited (Bharat Earth Movers Limited), a
Miniratna-Category-1’ firm, was established in May
1964 as a Public Sector Undertaking and operates
under three major Business: Mining &
Construction, Defence and Rail & Metro.
The Confederation of Indian Industry
♦ The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works
to create and sustain an environment which suitable
for the development of India and civil society
through advisory and consultative processes.
EXIM Bank :
♦ Export–Import Bank of India is the premier
export finance institution in India, established under
Export-Import Bank of India Act 1981.
♦ Founded: 1982
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai
♦ Chairman & Managing Director: Yaduvendra
Mathur
Michael Jordan Ranked Top among Highest Paid
Athletes by Forbes
i. Michael Jordan, former basketball player, has
been named as the highest-paid athlete of all times
by Forbes, with $1.7 billion total wealth.Michael
Jordan Ranked Top among Highest Paid Athletes
by Forbes
ii. His overall salary over the 15 seasons was
counted to be $93 million, while the earning from
endorsing various brands also paid him huge sum.
iii. Jordan was paid about $100 million from Nike
for endorsing the Jordan brand in 2016. Apart from
this Jordan also endorsed Coca-Cola, Gatorade,
McDonald’s, Hanes among others.
iv Forbes publishes a large range of lists each
year.The list of the highest-paid athletes in the
world is calculated based on earnings derived from
salaries, bonuses, prize money, endorsements and
licensing income each year and does not deduct
taxes or agents’ fees.
Vistaar appoints ex-Sebi chief C B Bhave as non-
exec Chairman
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i. Former Sebi chairman C B Bhave was appointed
as non-executive Chairman and Independent
Director of Vistaar Financial Services on December
8, 2016
ii. Prior to SEBI, he has worked as the Chairman
and Managing Director of National Securities
Depositories Ltd (NSDL).
Science & Technology
Researchers at TIFR made discovery that
challenges theory of superconductivity
i. A team of researchers at the Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, have
discovered that bismuth semi-metal in bulk form
becomes a superconductor when the temperature is
lowered to 530 microKelvin (about -273 degree C).
ii. With this discovery, the researcher’s team, lead
by Dr. S. Ramakrishnan of the Department of
Condensed Matter Physics and Material Sciences at
TIFR have challenged the conventional
understanding of superconductivity.
iii. A superconductor is a material that can conduct
electricity with no resistance. This means no heat,
sound or any other form of energy would be
released from the material when it has reached
“critical temperature” (Tc), or the temperature at
which the material becomes superconductive.
iv. Till now the theory of superconductivity was
based on Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory
that explains superconductivity in most low Tc
(critical temperature) superconductors.
v. However, BCS theory even at 10 milliKelvin, did
not find superconductivity in bismuth, and thus fails
to explain the superconductivity seen in bismuth.
vi. The discovery has led to the formulation of a
new theory and mechanism to understand
superconductivity in bismuth.
vii. The discovery also provides an alternative path
for the discovery of new superconducting materials
totally different from the conventional
superconductors.
Sports
PR Sreejesh Appointed as Goalkeeping Mentor
of Indian Junior Hockey Team
i. Captain of the senior National Men’s Hockey
Team and one of the finest hockey goal-PR
Sreejeshkeeper in the world, PR Sreejesh has been
roped in as the Goalkeeping Mentor of the India
Under-21 Hockey Team from December 8, 2016.
ii. India is seen as one of the powerful contenders to
win the Junior World Cup to be held from
December 8 to 18 at the Major Dhyan Chand
Stadium in Lucknow. India will play its first match
against Canada on December 8, 2016.
iii. Sreejesh will replace South African Dave
Staniforth, who was appointed by Hockey India to
train the junior goalkeepers for a short term period
of three-week for the World Cup.
iv. According to Harendra Singh, India junior team
head coach, Sree is currently one of the finest
goalkeepers in the world. He is also a great
motivator and fun loving guy.
v. Sreejesh is known for his sound technical
knowledge and is also considered a great motivator
in and out of the field. He has also been nominated
for FIH Goalkeeper of the Year 2016.
Important Days
Plastic-free day observed on December 8 in
Kochi
Plastic Free Dayi. Plastic Free Day is observed on
December 8, 2016 by the Kochi Corporation as a
part of the Haritha Keralam Mission.
ii. Objective: Cleanliness and water conservation
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iii. People were instructed not to use plastic carry
bags on December 8(Plastic free day) and shop-
keepers are supported to this initiative programme.
10th
December Review
World
Today (9th December) is International Anti-
Corruption Day.
This Day was launched on 9th October 2003 by the
General Assembly of the United Nations as a way
of raising awareness of corruption and highlighting
the role of the United Nations Convention against
Corruption in combating and preventing it.
Theme of the year 2016 : United against
corruption for development, peace and security
The United States today finalised India's
designation as a 'Major Defense Partner' of the
United States.
The designation is "unique to India" and "ensures
enduring cooperation into the future", a joint
statement by the two countries said.
Note : This would allow the US to share technology
with India at the same level as its closest allies and
partners.
India was ranked 8th in the list of countries most
impacted by terrorism in 2015, according to the
Global Terrorism Index (GTI), 2016, released by
an Australia-based think-tank.
Top 10 Countries in the List
Iraq
Afghanistan
Nigeria
Pakistan
Syria
Yemen
Somalia
India
Egypt
South Korea's Parliament today voted 234-56 in
favour of impeaching President Park Geun-hye,
following weeks of protests over her involvement
in an influence-peddling scandal.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will be acting
president until the court delivers a ruling.
Important Note : Geun-hye will be the first
democratically elected President of South Korea to
be impeached.
The UK advertising regulator today announced
a ban on advertising unhealthy food and drinks
in children's non-broadcast media, including
print media, cinemas and social media sites.
The regulator also banned such advertisements from
using celebrities popular with children.
Note : The ban comes into effect in July 2017 and
already extends to television.
The European Union has reached an agreement
to grant visa-free travel to Ukrainians and
Georgians, after their governments brought in
EU-sponsored reforms.
English has been ranked first in the top 10 most
powerful languages in the world according to the
2016 World Power Language Index (PLI).
The index was published by World Economic
Forum (WEF).
Indian language Hindi was ranked 10th in the 2016
PLI.
Top 10 Languages in the List
English
Mandarin
French
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Spanish
Arabic
Russian
German
Japanese
Portuguese
Hindi
India
Kerala Government has launched Haritha
Keralam Mission, a comprehensive programme
for creating new sustainable development
perspectives in the state.
It was launched by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan
in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
Important Note : Singer K.J. Yesudas and actor
Manju Warrier are the ambassadors to this mission.
The Supreme Court today exempted people with
physical disabilities from its recent ruling of
making it mandatory for everyone to stand
during the National Anthem to be played
compulsorily before film screenings in theatres.
The apex court further clarified that the doors of the
cinema halls will be closed, but not bolted when the
National Anthem is played.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of
India (FSSAI) has banned use of newspapers for
wrapping and packing of food items.
In this regard, FSSAI has issued an advisory all
states and Union territories and asked
commissioners of food safety to restrict the use of
newspapers for packing, serving and storing of food
items.
The 2016 India International Science festival (IISF)
has started at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory
(NPL) Campus in New Delhi.
This year's theme : “Science for the masses”.
Business & Economy
The Indian government today informed the
Parliament that a decision has been taken to
print plastic currency notes.
Further, the process of procurement of material for
the same has been initiated, Minister of State for
Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal stated.
Note : Such notes have an average life span of
nearly five years and are difficult to counterfeit.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today
announced that it will shortly issue new ₹500
denomination banknotes in the new Mahatma
Gandhi Series without any inset letter.
The notes will bear current RBI Governor Urjit
Patel's signature and the year of printing '2016'
printed on the back.
All ₹500 notes issued post demonetisation will
continue to be legal tender.
The World Bank has cancelled a $100 million
(around ₹674 crore) loanpromised to Pakistan
for a natural gas efficiency project, citing a lack
of interest by the Pakistani gas distribution
company.
The project was aimed at reducing losses of gas in
the pipeline system.
Rating the project "unsatisfactory", the World
Banks warned that levels of unaccounted-for gas
remained high.
India has scrapped its 10% import duty on
wheat after droughts in the past two years
depleted stocks, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
informed the Parliament today.
The cut is effective immediately with no end date,
Jaitley added.
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Note : The removal of import duty comes after local
wheat prices hit a record high last month.
Science & Technology
NASA has commissioned a new type of satellite
dubbed as 'Restore-L Spacecraft Bus', that will
be able to refuel and repair other satellites while
they are still in orbit around Earth.
The spacecraft will help prolong the life of existing
satellites and reduce operation costs.
It could also be used for cleaning space debris or
testing asteroid capture platforms.
Dutch not-for-profit organisation Mars One,
which aims to establish a permanent human
settlement on Mars, has pushed back the launch
of its first manned mission from 2026 to 2031.
The company, which was recently acquired by
Switzerland-based company InFin Innovative
Finance, has cited a new financial strategy as the
reason behind the delay.
Books & Authors
A memoir on gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who
finished fourth in Rio Olympics, is being written
by Vimal Mohan, Digvijay Singh Deo, and her
coach Bishweshwar Nandi.
The book, tentatively titled 'Dipa Karmakar: The
Small Wonder' is slated to release in August next
year and will have untold stories of 23-year-old
Dipa's struggle and triumph.
Amazon, which started as an online book
retailer, has announced Harry Potter and the
Cursed Child as the best-selling book of 2016.
The playscript by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne and
John Tiffany, was also named this year's 'Most
Wished For' and 'Most Gifted' book.
Three Harry Potter-related books have been
included in 2016's 'Kids and Teens' bestsellers list.
Sports
The world's largest cricket stadium by seating
capacity is set to come up in Ahmedabad, the
Gujarat Cricket Association announced today.
Ahmedabad's existing Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium,
which will be rebuilt by construction company
Larsen & Toubro, will overtake the 1,00,024-
capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground to house
1,10,000 people.
The new stadium will be ready in two years.
Deaths
Former US aviator, astronaut John Glenn (95)
passed away today.
He is the last surviving member of the Mercury
Seven Mission.
He was first American to orbit Earth and had circled
three times earth in 1962 aboard Friendship 7 space
capsule.
11th
& 12th
December Review
World
Today (11th December) is International
Mountain Day.
This day was designated by the United Nations
General Assembly in 2003.
This year, the celebration of this Day aims to
highlight Mountain Products. Mountain peoples,
who are largely family farmers, base their
livelihoods on highly diversified activities.
2016 Theme — "Mountain Cultures: Celebrating
diversity and strengthening identity"
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'Greenery' has been announced as the 'Color of
The Year' for 2017 by Pantone Color Institute, a
world renowned authority on colours.
India has abstained from voting on a UN General
Assembly resolution demanding an immediate
ceasefire in Syria.
India has abstained from voting on the resolution in
line with its traditional approach that it doesn’t mix
humanitarian issues with political issues.
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 122 in
favour, 13 against and 36 abstentions on Friday.
India
Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Arup Raha today
announced that India will get the first set of
Rafale fighter jets from France in the next three
years.
He further said that the Rafale jets will
tremendously increase the IAF's capability.
J & K CM Mehbooba Mufti flagged off the first
children special train in the Valley today.
About 612 children of various schools will board
the train.
The railways department is planning to run it on
every second Sunday.
It is seen as an initiative to bring back normalcy in
the volatile state.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly today allotted ₹15
crore to build a memorial for late CM J
Jayalalithaa near her mentor MG
Ramachandran's memorial at Chennai's Marina
beach.
It passed a resolution to rename MGR memorial to
'Bharat Ratna Dr MGR and Jayalalithaa' memorial.
It also decided to request the Centre to install
Jayalalithaa's bronze statue inside the Parliament
campus.
A nationwide toll-free helpline number '14444'
will be launched soon to educate people and
provide support related to cashless mode of
transactions.
Andhra Pradesh CM Nara Chandrababu
Naidu todyay launched a website of Andhra
Pradesh Economic Development Board in
Vijayawda.
The website 'apedb.gov.in' aims at providing
repository of knowledge on investing in state,
policies of various sectors & also gives investor the
various investment opportunities the state has to
offer.
Banking & Economy
Airtel Payments Bank is going to extend services
in Southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana, and Karnataka within a week, CEO
Shashi Arora has announced today.
The bank had launched its pilot in Rajasthan, and
has opened over a lakh savings accounts within a
fortnight of its rollout.
Important Point to Note : Airtel had become the
first to launch a payments bank in India last month.
To promote cashless transactions, government
think-tank NITI Aayog has suggested a scheme to
reward winners of digital payments based on
weekly and quarterly lucky draw of e-transaction
numbers.
NITI Aayog has asked the National Payments
Corporation to conceptualise the scheme.
The scheme would also provide recognition to
urban and rural local bodies, who innovate to
promote electronic payments.
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As a part of the demonetisation process, the
government is going to amend the RBI Act to
invalidate ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes printed before
November 9.
A reference to this effect would also be reportedly
made in the next year's budget.
The government, for now, has resorted to a
provision under RBI Act to scrap the high-value
notes.
MOUs & Agreements
The consortium of oil producing
countries OPEC and non-OPEC
producers today reached their first deal since
2001 to cut oil output and ease global
oversupply.
The non-OPEC countries decided to cut production
by 5.58 lakh barrels per day, their highest-ever
contribution.
This comes after OPEC earlier agreed to slash
output by 12 lakh barrels a day from January 1.
Science & Technology
The Japanese city of Iruma has employed
a system to keep track of elderly people with
dementia by attaching barcode
stickers containing personal information to their
fingers and toes.
The 1 cm square water-resistant stickers include an
address, telephone number and unique identity
number.
Note : Japan has an ageing population, with more
than 25% citizens aged at least 65.
Sports
Mumbai's Iqbal Sayed, who works as a civil
engineer with Reliance Infrastructure and
Mumbai Metro, became the first Indian to win a
medal at the Mr Olympia event, after securing a
silver medal in the event.
Sayed beat participants from 20 countries to finish
second in the Olympia Amateur Asia 2016's Classic
Bodybuilding category.
14th
& 15th
December Review
World
Israel today got the first two of its 50 F-35 stealth
fighter jets from US-based company Lockheed
Martin.
With this Israel became the first country after the
US to get the warplanes.
The 9th edition of exercise INDRA NAVY, an
annual bilateral maritime exercise between Indian
Navy and Russian Navy began in the Bay of Bengal
today.
Aim of INDRA NAVY-16 : to increase inter-
operability amongst the two navies and develop
common understanding and procedures for
maritime security operations.
The exercise will be held in two phases. They are,
Harbour Phase : will be held from 14 to 18
December 2016
Sea Phase : will be held from 19 to 21 December
2016
India
Today (14th December) is National Energy
Conservation Day.
This day is observed in India to make people aware
about the importance of energy as well as saving or
conserving the more energy by using less energy.
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Important Points to Note :
The Energy Conservation Act in India was executed
by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in the
year 2001.
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is a
constitutional body which comes under
Government of India and helps in the
development of policies and strategies in order to
reduce the energy use.
Gujarat tops the list of states in distribution of
LED bulbs as part of country-wide campaign for
reducing power consumption.
Gujarat has distributed 2.70 crore LED bulbs till
December 12 from the date of its launch earlier this
year.
Maharashtra, ranked second, has distributed
over 2 crore LED bulbs so far.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, which
will replace the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995,
was passed in the Rajya Sabha today.
The legislation, which has brought in a total of 119
amendments, had been pending in the Parliament's
Upper House since February 2014.
This new bill has recognized 21 disabilities (the
previous Act identified only seven disabilities).
After making Aadhaar mandatory for JEE-
Mains, the engineering entrance exam, the
government is planning to link Aadhaar with
exams like CAT, NEET and NET from the year
2017.
The CBSE Class XII board examinations may also
see Aadhaar playing a role.
During these exams, a biometric attendance system
using fingerprint recognition will be used for
identity verification.
The 6th edition of Asia Pacific Ministerial
Conference on Housing and Urban Development
(APMCHUD) began in New Delhi.
It was inaugurated by Union Urban Development
Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
The three days conference seeks to address issues
ranging from crowded city centres to peripheral
expansion, metropolitan based urban population
growth, megacities and urban corridors etc.
The National Green Tribunal today banned the sale
and use of glass-coated thread, including Chinese
manjha, used to fly kites in India.
Business & Economy
Reliance Industries Chairman and India's
richest person Mukesh Ambani and Tata Sons
Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata with Bill Gates,
Jack Ma and other billionaires have created a $1
billion fund to invest in clean energy.
Called the Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the fund
will invest the sum to fight climate change through
innovation in clean energy over the next 20 years.
Awards & Appointments
A study conducted by Mumbai-based
consultancy company Final Mile on the
trafficking of sex workers from West Bengal to
Mumbai has won the ESOMAR excellence
award for the best paper.
The study found that most of the girls are sent to the
city by their fathers, who are misled into believing
that their daughters will get employment or get
married.
Actors Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor have
been named the hottest vegetarians of 2016 by
animal rights organisation PETA India.
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Actor Chris Evans has been named 'Hollywood's
Best Actor For The Buck In 2016' by Forbes for the
second time.
His movies returned an average $135.80 at the box
office for every $1 he was paid owing to his
nominal fees.
Note : Chris Pratt was the second Hollywood actor
with the best returns while Scarlett Johansson
ranked third on this list.
Malaysia today installed its 15th king, Sultan
Muhammad V, in a ceremony marked by
honour guards and Islamic prayers in the
national palace in Kuala Lumpur.
Note : The ruler of Malaysia is changed every five
years between rulers of its nine states.
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has been named an
'Integrity Ambassador' by the Badminton World
Federation to promote "clean, fair and
honourable sport."
Science & Technology
Google has announced that it will replace Adobe
Flash Player content with HTML5 as the default
option on its Chrome browser, over the next two
months.
This means that unless a website has an HTML5
content player, the Flash content will not display,
and users will have to enable Flash manually on a
site-by-site basis.
Augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go
officially launched in India today, nearly five
months after it was rolled out in the US.
The game was launched in India by its developer
Niantic in partnership withReliance Jio.
Sports
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu was
honoured with the Most Improved Player of the
Year award by Badminton World Federation
today.
In 2016, Sindhu won her maiden Superseries title
and also qualified for the World Superseries Finals
for the first time.
Sindhu started 2016 as 12th ranked and achieved
her career-best rank of 7 in December.
Opener Smriti Mandhana is the lone Indian in ICC's
first-ever women's team of the year.
Mandhana, who is the second Indian to play in
Australia's Women's Big Bash League, made 320
runs in eight ODIs and 286 in 17 T20Is this year.
Two-time Olympian and World Championships'
bronze medalist Shiva Thapa won a Gold medal at
the National Boxing Championships, his first in the
lightweight (60 kg) category, in Guwahati today.
16th
December Review
World
Today (15th December) is International Tea
Day.
This day aims to draw global attention of
governments and citizens to the impact of the global
tea trade on workers, small growers and consumers.
Note : The first International Tea Day was
celebrated in New Delhi on 15 December 2005.
Qatar has announced to end its 'kafala' labour
sponsorship system which ties foreign workers to
a single employer.
With over 21 lakh foreign workers, it adopted a new
contract-based law to give workers job flexibility
and protection.
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The country has been facing criticism over its
labour laws ever since it won the bid to host the
2022 football World Cup.
India has topped Asia in innovation and has
emerged as the third biggest country worldwide
in terms of New Innovation Centres, according
to research by consulting firm Capgemini.
Bengaluru, where 3 new innovation centres opened
between March and October, was ranked fifth
among top innovation hubs globally.
The Indian Government today announced that it
has extended the e-Tourist Visa facility to
citizens of 161 countries.
The number of foreign tourist arrivals on e-Tourist
Visa from January to November this year has grown
168.5% over the same period last year.
French Parliament today voted to extend the
country's state of emergency until July 2017
until after the presidential elections.
This is the fifth extension since the emergency was
imposed after the Paris attacks in November last
year.
Hindus have the lowest level of educational
attainment among all the major religions of the
world, a Pew Research Center study has
claimed.
Hindus and Muslims have the least formal
schooling (5.6 years), while 41% Hindus and 36%
Muslims have no formal schooling at all, it found.
Important Note : Jews are the most educated
religious group in the world, the study claimed.
The 7th edition of India, Maldives bilateral exercise
EKUVERIN 2016 began at Kadhdhoo, Laamu
Atoll, Maldives.
Aim of this exercise : to conduct military training
between armies of both countries with emphasis on
amphibious & counter insurgency, counter terrorism
operations.
MOUs & Agreements
The Union Cabinet today approved
memorandum of understanding (MoU) between
India and Kyrgyzstan on cooperation in field of
agriculture and food related industry.
The proposed agreement covers various activities in
the field of agriculture and allied sector.
The Union Cabinet has also approved the protocol
amending agreement between India and Tajikistan
for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of
fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
The protocol will enable sharing of information
exchanged under Double Taxation Avoidance
Agreement (DTAA) with other law enforcement
agencies for non-tax purposes after it enters into
force.
India
The Supreme Court today ordered the closure of
all liquor shops near national and state highways
across the country from April 1.
While no new liquor vending license would be
issued, the existing shops can continue to operate
till the expiry of their licenses.
The court further said the liquor shops should be at
least 500 metres from the highways.
The Supreme Court also ordered that Indian Air
Force personnel could not keep a beard.
The court said the regulations did not interfere with
an individual's religious freedom as they are meant
to ensure discipline and uniformity.
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Awards & Appointments
Google's parent company Alphabet's CEO Larry
Page has been named the world's most powerful
CEO by Forbes, with his company having a
market capitalisation of over $550 billion.
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff
Bezos have been ranked second and third
respectively. Tesla's Elon Musk and Walmart's
Doug McMillon have also featured on the list.
Jayaben Desai, a Gujarat-born activist who led
a campaign against low pay to women workers at
a UK factory in the 1970s has been included in
BBC's most influential women of the past 70
years list.
Known as the sari-clad leader, she was one of the
seven women on the list topped by Margaret
Thatcher (Britain's first female Prime Minister).
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been
named as the World's Most Powerful Person by
Forbes, for the fourth consecutive year.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi featured 9th
in this list.
Top 10 in the list :
Vladimir Putin (Russian President)
Donald Trump (US Presiden)
Angela Merkel (Germany Chancellor)
Xi Jinping (Chinese President)
Pope Francis
Janet Yellen (US Federal Reserve
Chairperson
Bill Gates (Bill & Melinda Foundation
Chairman)
Larry Page (Google Founder)
Narendra Modi (Indian Prime Minister)
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO)
Important Note : Reliance Industries Chairman
Mukesh Ambani has been ranked 38, while India-
born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been ranked
51.
Music composer AR Rahman's soundtrack for
footballer Pele's biopic 'Pele: Birth of a Legend'
has been selected in the first shortlist for 'Best
Original Score' by the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences for the Oscars 2017.
Rahman's song 'Ginga' is also in the running for
Best Original Song.
Note : Earlier, Rahman won two Oscars in these
categories in 2009 for the movie "Slum Dog
Millionaire".
Science & Technology
Pakistan Army has successfully test fired an
enhanced version of an indigenously-designed
Babur cruise missile.
The missile incorporates advanced aerodynamics
and avionics that can strike targets both at land and
sea with high accuracy.
E-commerce major Amazon today successfully
made its first-ever fully autonomous drone
delivery without any human pilot.
It took the drone only 13 minutes to make the
delivery.
Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
International airport today became India's first
airport to introduce self bag-drop facility.
This will allow passengers that have already
checked in online to quickly tag and drop their
baggage before heading directly to the gate.
Business & Economy
NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today
announced to give daily, weekly, and mega
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awards worth ₹340 crore for consumers and
merchants making payments digitally.
The awards under the 'Lucky Grahak Yojana' and
'Digi Dhan Vyapari Yojana' that are aimed at
boosting digital payments will run from December
25, 2016, to April 14, 2017.
The exemptions for the use of old ₹500 notes will
end today, making the currency note invalid for the
payment of utility bills, gas cylinders or hospital
charges after midnight.
The old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes can now only be
deposited in the banks till December 30 and at
specific Reserve Bank of India offices till March
31, 2017.
The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by
25 basis points to 0.5%-0.75% today, making it
the second hike in a decade.
The Fed also hinted at three more rate hikes over
the next year, reportedly indicating a stable
economic situation.
This comes amid US President-elect Donald
Trump's promises to boost growth through tax cuts,
spending and deregulation.
India today announced it will contribute ₹3.3
crore to the UN Central Emergency Response
Fund (CERF) for the year 2016-17 "despite (its)
own resource constraints".
India's cumulative contribution since the fund was
launched in 2006 now stands at ₹40 crore.
Note : 29 countries promised ₹1,851 crore to the
CERF after outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-
moon made a plea for funds.
Australia is considering a proposal to demonetise
its $100 currency note in an attempt to target tax
evaders.
The Australian government is also setting up a task
force to curb black money and will appoint
representatives during its mid-year budget meeting.
Important Note : After India, Venezuela had
scrapped its 100-bolivar note, giving its holders ten
days to swap their old currency.
17th
December Review
World
Britain has become the first country in the world
to legally offer "three-parent baby" fertility
treatments after regulators gave approval.
The technique, which uses DNA from two women
and a man, would allow mothers who carry disease-
causing mutations in their mitochondrial genes to
give birth to children free of the illness.
The 5th edition of the India-Arab Partnership
Conference was held in Muscat, Oman from
December 14 to 15, 2016.
This conference was organised by the Oman
Foreign Ministry, Arab League Secretariat in
association with the Union Ministry of External
Affairs of India.
Aim of the conferences : to enhance flow of
investments from both sides, accelerate the
investment projects of prioritized sectors, provide
conducive environment for export promotion.
Theme of this year's Conference : ‘Partnership
towards innovation and cooperation in IT’.
Rio de Janeiro, nicknamed the Marvellous City,
officially entered the UN’s list of world heritage
sites today in recognition of its soaring granite
cliffs, urban rainforest and beaches.
India
Today (16th December 2016) is Vijay Diwas
(Victory Day).
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We observe this day to remember the martyrs who
laid down their lives for the nation during 1971
India-Pakistan war.
Today is the 47th anniversary of the 1971 India–
Pakistan war.
This is the first war after World War-II that the
Indian Army won conclusively.
This is the only war that the independent Indian
Army planned, executed and carried out with
precision and captured 93,000 prisoners.
Today mar s the th anni ersary of brutal
Nirbhaya gang rape case.
4 years have passed since a young student in New
Delhi died after she was gang raped on a moving
bus by 6 men, including a minor.
Note : The juvenile convict of this case walked free
on 20th December 2015 and currently working in a
Dhaba in South India.
The Lok Sabha today passed the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities Bill 2016 two days after
the Rajya Sabha passed it with amendments.
The new Bill aims at securing and enhancing the
rights and entitlements of differently abled citizens.
The Bill recognises more disabilities compared with
the 1995 Act and also stipulates upto two-year jail
term and a maximum fine of Rs 5 lakh for any kind
of discrimination against differently abled people.
The list of disabilities now includes mental illness,
autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular
dystrophy and chronic neurological conditions
among others.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today
announced that the ministry has cleared the
names of new Indian Army and Air Force chiefs
and an announcement on it will be made soon.
Kochi's Sahaj International School will be
inaugurated on December 30 to become India's first
transgender school.
Haryana became the first state in the country to
launch Mahila Police Volunteer (MPV) initiative
for safety of women.
It was launched by Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today
inaugurated the Air Ambulance Service at the
HAL airport in Bengaluru.
During first phase it covers the five southern states
namely, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Kerala,
Andhrapradesh, Telangana.
Note : Helicopter H130 is medically configured for
air ambulance.
The Gujarat Cabinet today cleared an ordinance
which seeks to impose a total ban on hookah
bars across the state, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani
said today.
The Supreme Court today ordered the setting up of
a three-member panel to redress issues like racial
discrimination and violence faced by the citizens
from the North Eastern region of the country.
The panel will be comprised of the Joint Secretary
(North East) in the Home Ministry and two others,
who will be nominated by the Centre.
New Appointments
Former Information and Broadcasting Secretary
Sunil Arora has been appointed as the Director
General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA),
a think tank that comes under the Corporate
Affairs Ministry.
VK Sharma has been appointed as the new
Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India
(LIC).
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He will have tenure of five years.
Nigeria’s En ironment Minister Amina
Mohammed was named as the Deputy Secretary-
General of United Nations.
It was announced by incoming UN Secretary-
General Antonio Guterres.
Deaths
Renowned economist Thomas Schelling (95) who
won a Nobel Prize in economics in 2005 for using
Game Theory to explain nuclear strategy passed
away.
His best-known book was The Strategy of Conflict
(1960), in which he had used game theory (a
mathematical analysis of strategies used in
competitive situations) to analyse negotiations
between nuclear powers.
Sports Current Affairs
New Zealand women's team captain Suzie Bates
became the first female cricketer to win both
ICC's ODI and T20I Player of the Year awards.
Bates, who had previously won the ODI Player of
the Year award in 2013, won her maiden T20I
Player of the Year award this year.
Note : Bates was 2016's highest run-scorer in T20Is
and second-highest in ODIs.
18th
& 19th
December Review
World
Today (18th December) is International
Migrants Day.
On 18 December 1990, the UN General Assembly
adopted the international convention on the
protection of the rights of migrant workers and
members of their families.
Theme of 2015 : A Day without Migrants
The UN Security Council today unanimously
passed a draft resolution extending the
peacekeeping mission in South Sudan by a year.
It asked the peacekeepers to increase efforts to
prevent and respond to sexual attacks there.
The council also proposed a 4,000-troop Regional
Protection Force, in addition to the nearly 13,000
peacekeepers already there, to ensure the safety of
civilians.
India
Today (18th December) is Minorities Rights Day.
This day is celebrated to protect rights of the
minority communities as well as bringing the better
understanding among religious minorities in India.
On this day in 1992 that the United nations adopted
the declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging
to National or Ethnic National or and Linguistic
Minorities declaring that: “States shall protect the
existence of the national or ethnic, cultural,
religious and linguistic identity of minorities within
their respective territories and encourage conditions
for the promotions of that identity”.
Himachal Pradesh has achieved 100% Aadhaar
saturation on the basis of the 2015 population,
making it the sixth state to achieve the
milestone.
Important Note : Delhi, Telangana, Haryana,
Punjab and Union Territory Chandigarh have
already achieved full coverage.
Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways
Nitin Gadkari has declared 1.65 lakh kilometre
length of roads as National Highway and said the
National Highways would be increased to 2 lakh
kilometre.
Adding that government's port-led industrialisation
strategy will have a major impact in the future,
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Gadkari claimed that the infrastructure sector can
boost the country's GDP growth by 3%.
Business & Economy
Amazon India has launched an online wallet
called 'Amazon Pay Balance' which can only be
used to make Amazon-based transactions.
Amazon Pay Balance can be credited with money
using internet banking or credit or debit cards and
used to make payments for purchases from the e-
commerce portal.
Paytm has launched ‘Each one, teach one’
campaign to increase the digital inclusion in the
country.
The campaign aims transforming user behavior and
further accelerating the country’s ongoing shift
from cash.
It calls upon consumers and merchants across India
to teach others on how to use Paytm to pay and
accept money.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro today
suspended the elimination of the country's
largest denomination bill, after it led to cash
shortages and nationwide unrest.
The measure would be postponed until early
January.
The move came after Venezuela's decision to
demonetise the 100-bolivar note led to vast lines at
banks, looting at shops, and anti-government
protests.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave
permission to HDFC to raise Rs. 3,000 crore by
issuing ‘masala bonds’ after it exhausted a Rs.
5,000 crore limit to issue these bonds.
Note : Through the ‘masala bond’ route, an Indian
company raises money overseas denominated in
Indian rupees.
In collaboration with Bharat Sanchar Nigam
Limited (BSNL), the State Bank of India (SBI) has
launched State Bank MobiCash Mobile Wallet.
Initially, this wallet services will be available in
Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar and
expanded pan-India by the end of December 2016.
Important Points to Note :
MobiCash will allow smartphone users to deposit
cash through BSNL retail outlets and withdraw
funds from their account.
SBI already has an application named SBI Buddy
for smartphone users.
MOUs & Agreements
State-owned power producer National Thermal
Power Corporation (NTPC) and aluminium
producer National Aluminium Co. Ltd
(NALCO) have signed MoU to establish a 2.4
giga watt (GW) Coal based power project at
Gajmara, Odisha.
The MoU will facilitate setting up of a Joint
Venture (JV) Company between NTPC and
NALCO.
It also seeks to set up one million tonne aluminium
production facility in Odisha.
Science & Technology
The world's first communications satellite was
launched on this day (December 18) in the year
1958.
Named Project SCORE (Signal Communications by
Orbiting Relay Equipment), the satellite
broadcasted a Christmas message from then-US
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President Dwight Eisenhower via an on-board tape
recorder.
Awards & Appointments
SIES-Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati
National Eminence Award Winners List :
Science & Technology Category : A S Kiran Kumar
(ISRO chairman)
Public Leadership Category : Devendra Fadnavis
(Mahrashtra Chief Minister)
Social Thinkers, Philosophers and Pravachana
Karthas category : Kamala Murthy (Hari Katha
exponent)
International Category : John Marr (English
musician, songwriter and singer)
Jodhpur has been listed among the top ten
preferred destinations for travellers in 2017,
according to 'TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice
Awards for Destinations on the Rise'.
The list is based on feedback from travellers and the
booking interest for the destination. The list was
topped by San Jose del Cabo in Mexico, followed
by Kihei in Hawaii and Baku in Azerbaijan.
Sports
Indian boxer Vijender Singh retained his WBO
Super Middleweight Asia-Pacific title after
knocking out Tanzania's Francis Cheka in the
title fight in Delhi today.
Vijender has now extended his unbeaten run in
professional boxing to eight bouts.
Note : The 31-year-old boxer knocked out Cheka in
the third round to post his seventh knockout victory.
Hosts Chhattisgarh emerged as the overall
champions at the National School Games
Championship 2016 that was held in Jagdalpur.
Maharashtra was ranked second in the
championships, while West Bengal was placed
third.
Important Note : Jagdalpur was the host of the 62nd
edition of the National School Games
Championship, which saw participation of teams
from several states.
India were crowned junior Hockey World
champions after defeating Belgium 2-1 in the
final in Lucknow today.
Important Note : This is India's second junior World
Cup title after first winning it in 2001.
20th
December Review
India
Today (19th December) is Goa's Liberation Day.
It was on December 19, 1961, that Goa was
liberated from the Portuguese rule after a prolonged
freedom struggle and military operation.
Nation paid tributes to Ram Prasad Bismil &
Ashfaqulla Khan, remembering the sacrifices of
these revolutionaries.
These both were hanged on this day (19th
December) in the year 1927 by British rulers during
Kakori Revolution (Kakori Conspiracy)
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today
announced that non-smartphone users of the
Indian Railways will soon be able to book tickets
through their mobile phones.
He also announced that the Indian Railways is
going to introduce e-wallets and encouraging
payment through mobile applications.
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Prabhu added that his ministry's focus remained on
promoting 'Digital India' campaign.
The Union Power Ministry is going to launch
new mobile application GARV-II to provide real
time data of all six lakh villages of the country.
Aim of this mobile application : to ensure
transparency in implementation of rural
electrification programme.
An NIA court today awarded Death Sentence to
five Indian Mujahideen terrorists, including
Yasin Bhatkal, for their involvement in the 2013
twin blasts in Hyderabad, wherein 21 people
were killed.
The terrorists Yasin Bhatkal, Zia-ur-Rehman,
Asadullah Akhtar, Tahseen Akhtar and Ajaz Sheikh
were convicted on December 13.
Note : The prime accused in the case, Riyaz
Bhatkal, is still absconding.
To promote health and health education in villages,
the Union AYUSH Ministry has launched
‘Swasthya Raksha Programme’.
This programme was initiated through Central
Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
(CCRAS), Central Council for Research in
Homoeopathy (CCRH), Central Council for
Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) and Central
Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS).
The Department of Telecom (DoT) is going to
launch a portal named ‘Tarang Sanchar’ to let
users check radiation compliance status of
mobile towers and transmitters across country.
Using this portal user can also request to get a
particular BTS tested by DoT to assess its electro-
magnetic frequency (EMF) compliance level.
Awards & Appointments
Actress Priyanka Chopra will be the Brand
Ambassador for Assam Tourism.
State Tourism Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said
that she would work to promote Assam tourism
globally.
The Assam government have made an agreement
with her for two years.
Puerto Rico's 19-year-old Stephanie Del Valle
has been crowned as the Miss World 2016 at an
event held in Maryland, US.
Miss Dominican Republic Yaritza Miguelina Reyes
Ramirez was the first runner-up.
Important Note : Valle is the second Puerto Rican to
hold the title after Wilnelia Merced won it in 1975.
India's Priyadarshini Chatterjee also reached
the top 20.
The island of Bali has been picked by travelling
reviewer website TripAdvisor as the most popular
year-end destination for South East Asian travellers.
Banking & Economy
Retirement fund body Employees' Provident
Fund Organisation (EPFO) today fixed 8.65% as
the interest on provident fund deposits for 2016-
17.
This is against the 8.8% rate provided in 2015-16.
The lower interest rate is due to the poor rate of
return on investments made by the EPFO in all
spheres.
Nepal's central bank has developed a software to
facilitate exchanging banned Indian notes in the
country.
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This comes while Nepali banks have been facing an
extensive shortage of 100-rupee notes for people
who want to visit India.
Note : The RBI reportedly indicated that they would
only allow exchange facilities for up to ₹25,000 to
each Nepali citizen.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed
stiff restrictions on depositing more than 5,000
rupees in the scrapped 500 and 1,000 rupees
notes.
The bank said, it can be deposited only once per
account till December 30th, that too after explaining
to bank officials the reasons for not having done
that so far.
Deaths
Henry Heimlich (96), the doctor who came up
with the Heimlich manoeuvre which saved
thousands of choking victims, died of a heart
attack today.
Heimlich came up with the technique in 1974 after
reading about high death counts in restaurants
caused by diners choking on food.
Heimlich won the prestigious Lasker Award for
public service in 1984.
Sports
After claiming his second Wimbledon title and
maiden ATP World Tour Finals crown, Britain's
world number one Andy Murray won a record
third BBC Sports Personality of the Year award
today.
Murray previously won the award in 2013 and 2015
after his London 2012 Olympic gold and maiden
Wimbledon title in 2015.
Indian batsman Karun Nair, who is playing his
career's third Test match, today became the
fastest Indian to score maiden double ton in
Tests.
Nair surpassed Vinod Kambli, who took four
innings to score a double ton.
This is also Nair's maiden Test ton, with his
previous best innings score being 13.
21st December Review
World
Indians will not be eligible for visa-free entry to
Hong Kong beginning January 23, with the
Hong Kong Immigration Department
implementing a 'Pre-arrival Registration for
Indian Nationals'.
The Immigration Department said India is a "testing
point" as many asylum-seekers come from the
country.
Note : This is the first time Hong Kong has
implemented such a restriction for any country.
Dubai is going to build Al Maktoum
International airport, a second airport in the
south of the city, which will become the world's
largest airport on completion.
It will spread across 35,000 acres and be able to
accommodate about 220 million passengers
annually.
This will be completed in an estimated period of 12
years.
India ranked 4th in the Global Wind Power
Installed Capacity index with cumulative
installed wind power generation capacity of
25,088 MW in 2015.
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The index was released as part Global Wind Report:
Annual Market, flagship publication of the Global
Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
This list was topped by China followed by USA and
Germany.
Top 10 in the List are
China
USA
Germany
India
Spain
United Kingdom
Canada
France
Italy
Brazil
Banking & Economy
Today is 104th foundation day of India's first
SWADESHI BANK 'Central Bank of India".
Central Bank of India was completely owned and
founded by Indians with out any Britishers share.
It was established on 21 December 1911 by Sir
Sorabji Pochkhanawala with Sir Pherozeshah Mehta
as Chairman.
Sorabji Pochkhanawala is the only banker in
who's honour postage stamp was released by the
President of India.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today withdrew
the restrictions imposed on deposits of ₹5,000 and
above for KYC (Know Your Customer) compliant
accounts.
This comes two days after RBI announced deposits
above ₹5,000 in old banknotes can be made only
once till December 30.
Note : KYC is a process by which banks obtain
information about the customers' identity and
address.
Deutsche Bank from January next year will offer
all its Male employees in India six months of
childcare leave if they happen to be primary
caregivers.
The policy also covers surrogacy and adoption and
aligns it with parental leave entitlements.
The printing of each new ₹2,000 note costs the
Reserve Bank of India ₹3.54, while the ₹500 note
costs ₹3.09, an RTI response has said.
Note : Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private
Limited, a subsidiary of RBI, prints the new ₹500
and ₹2,000 currency notes at the same price as that
of old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes respectively.
India
The Black Cat commandos of the elite counter-
terrorism force National Security Guard will
participate in the Republic Day celebrations for
the first time in 2017.
Till now, NSG's association with the celebrations
was limited to sanitising the venue and ensuring
security along the parade route.
Note : Special forces only from the Army
participated in the parade till now.
The Delhi Literature Festival (DLF) is set to take
place between February 10 and 12 in Dilli Haat.
The three-day literary festival will host panel
discussions, book launches, book readings,
workshops, and theatre and poetry performances,
among others.
The festival has been held every year since it began
in 2013.
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Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi
today announced the implementation of 3%
reservation for differently-abled persons in
government jobs in the Union Territory.
Union minister for Textiles Smriti Irani launched
India's second centre of excellence for sericulture in
Bengaluru to boost the silk industry.
Note : India's first such centre was set up in Ranchi
by the Central Silk Board.
India is currently importing nearly 4,000 metric
tonnes of high quality raw silk from China.
Armed forces will be able to cast their votes in the
upcoming Punjab elections by using electronic
postal ballots for the first time in the country,
Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer VK Singh today.
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG)
will be conducted in 8 languages from next
academic year.
Those languages are,
Hindi
English
Gujarati
Marathi
Bengali
Assamese
Telugu
Tamil
The Haryana government today issued Petro Cards
to drivers working with the state government for
cashless payments of fuel.
Two oil companies, namely Indian Oil and Bharat
Petroleum have been shortlisted for this purpose.
Awards & Appointments
The Church of England today appointed Woyin
Karowei Dorgu, its first black bishop in 20
years.
Dorgu, who was born and brought up in Nigeria,
will be the 13th bishop of Woolwich, and will be
consecrated on 17 March.
England's Queen Elizabeth II is stepping down as
the patron of Wimbledon and will be replaced by
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.
The 90-year-old queen has been the patron of
Wimbledon since 1952.
Science & Technology
India successfully test-fires nuclear capable
cruise missile Nirbhay from Integrated Missile
Test Range in Chandipur, Odisha.
This test was conducted by the Defence Research
and Development Organisation (DRDO).
This is third launch of Nirbhay.
The maiden launch was conducted in March 2013
and second test was conducted in October 2014.
The Northern Hemisphere of the planet is today
observing the Winter Solstice, which is the
shortest day and longest night of the year.
A Solstice is an astronomical event when the tilt of
Earth's axis with respect to the Sun is maximum.
This day also marks the longest day of the year in
the Southern Hemisphere, called the Summer
Solstice.
Sports
The International Boxing Association (AIBA)
today unanimously voted to induct the Boxing
Federation of India (BFI) as one of its permanent
members.
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Note : India was provisionally suspended in
December 2012 for “possible manipulation” in the
erstwhile Indian Amateur Boxing Federation’s
elections.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja
currently occupy the top two spots in the latest
ICC bowlers rankings, making it the first time in
42 years of two Indians at the top two positions.
The only other instance of two Indians leading the
rankings was in 1974 when Bishan Singh Bedi and
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar occupied the first two
positions.
The Indian team registered 9 wins out of the 12
Tests it played in 2016, making it the most
successful year in India's 84-year Test history.
Important Points to Note :
India's previous best year was 2010 when it won
eight of the 14 Tests it played.
India is also the only Test team to remain unbeaten
this year, drawing the remaining three Tests.
23rd
December Review
World
The French postal service has announced a
Drone Delivery program to deliver parcels on a
14-kilometre route once a week, becoming the
world's first national postal service to use drones
regularly.
The drones have a range of 19 km and a top speed
of 30.5 kmph.
They also have parachutes for safe emergency
landing and will help reach mountainous regions.
China has banned internet users from posting
user-generated audio or video, reportedly one of
few sources of information outside state-
controlled media.
China already has one of the strictest censorship
worldwide, ranking only behind countries like
North Korea and Syria.
The ban comes after a draft law was passed, giving
police censorship powers in case of natural
disasters.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has
become the first force to induct yaks for
strategically pivotal logistic support duties and
the animal is being used along the Indo-China
border in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
Yaks, referred as the 'ships of the cold ITBP
deserts', are employed by the ITBP Veterinary
Wing which works in the two states.
India
Today (22nd December) is National Mathematics
Day.
Nation observed this day to commemorate 130th
birthday of great Indian Mathematician Srinivasa
Ramanujan who made extraordinary contributions
to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite
series, and continued fractions.
He compiled more than 3900 mathematical results
and equations.
On his 125th birth anniversary in 2011, India
declared the birthday of Ramanujan, 22 December,
as 'National Mathematics Day' and the year 2012
was celebrated as the National Mathematics Year.
Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, the
Uttar Pradesh government today approved a
proposal to include 17 Other Backward Classes
(OBCs) in the Scheduled Class list.
Important Points to Note :
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The Centre had last week included 15 new castes in
the central list of OBCs.
The new inclusions in the central list include
Gadheri/Itafarosh from Bihar and Jhora from
Jharkhand, among others.
Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu today launched
'Google Toilet Locator' mobile application as
part of the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' (Clean
India Mission) to help people locate the nearest
toilet.
As per reports, the toilet locator will have details on
location of all toilets in Delhi-NCR and Madhya
Pradesh for now, to be followed by other states
soon.
Kerala government has decided not to conduct
separate entrance examinations for medical and
other professional courses except for engineering
courses.
The decision will be implemented from the next
academic year and admissions to the courses will be
done using the rank list given by National
Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), conducted
by CBSE.
State-run telecom firm BSNL has partnered with
Jaipur-based DataMail for providing free email
addresses to its broadband users in eight Indian
languages including Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu.
BSNL Managing Director : Anupam Shrivastava
Creating history, Aizawl (Mizoram) became the
first free Wi-Fi city in the North-East region today.
Free wi-fi is a pilot project of the Aizawl Municipal
Corporation.
The government is going to to celebrate December
25 as Good Governance Day to mark the birthday
of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Banking & Economy
E-commerce platform Snapdeal has started a
new ser ice called 'Cash@Home’ where it is
delivering cash up to ₹2,000 to customers' home
at a convenience fee of ₹1.
Snapdeal personnel will arrive at customers'
doorstep with PoS machines where ATM cards can
be swiped for hard cash up to ₹2,000.
As of now, the service is live in Gurgaon and
Bengaluru.
List of Indians who became billionaires in 2016
Patanjali co-founder Acharya Balkrishna made
his debut on Forbes list of India's 100 Richest
People in 2016 with a net worth of around
₹17,000 crore ($2.5 billion).
Hero MotoCorp CEO Pawan Munjal also entered
the list, taking his father Brijmohan Lall Munjal’s
place, who died in November 2015.
Directi Group's Bhavin and Divyank Turakhia
were also among the new entrants.
In a bid to encourage cashless transactions in the
country, the Union Cabinet today approved a draft
ordinance to allow digital payment of salaries.
The cabinet said this would allow businesses and
industrial establishments to pay salaries through
direct bank transfers or by cheques.
Major events that took place at RBI in 2016
The RBI witnessed major events in 2016 from
Governor Raghuram Rajan's exit and appointment
of Urjit Patel to demonetisation of old ₹500 and
₹1,000 notes.
A six-member Monetary Policy Committee
(MPC) was formed in October for price stability
and inflation targeting.
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Demonetisation of old notes is still considered as
the one of the most important decisions taken in
2016.
Science & Technology
Japan's space agency today announced that it
successfully launched a 26-metre-long rocket
named Epsilon-2, which put a satellite that helps
study radiation belts in orbit.
Epsilon-2 is part of a new generation of solid
propellant rockets which can reduce launch costs up
to one-third.
Reduction in cost can allow countries to put more
communication and weather satellites in space.
Awards & Appointments
Five-time world champion and Olympic bronze
medalist MC Mary Kom was given the AIBA
Legends award by the International Boxing
Federation (AIBA) at the body's 70th
anniversary in Montreux, Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Asian Games' bronze medalist Vikas
Krishan Yadav was awarded the AIBA Pro Boxing
Best Boxer trophy.
Senior IAS officer Girija Vaidyanathan
appointed new Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary.
She is going to replace P Rama Mohana Rao whose
properties were raided by Income Tax officials.
Actress Priyanka Chopra has become the first
Indian to be appointed as the global ambassador of
the hair care brand 'Pantene'.
Recent Books in News
Actor Hrithik Roshan has launched a children's
book series 'Tactabet', written in Braille format,
which is being published for visually impaired
people.
Available in both Hindi and English, the book series
is on the alphabets.
Sports
Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has
been named the ICC Cricketer of the Year and
Test Cricketer of the Year during the year-end
ICC awards.
Important Note : He is also the only Indian in the
ICC Test team of the year.
South Africa's Marais Erasmus has been named
the ICC Umpire of the Year and the recipient of
the David Shepherd Trophy.
South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de
Kock has been named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the
Year.
Pakistan captain Misbah-Ul-Haq today became
the first Pakistani player to win the ICC Spirit of
Cricket Award.
The previous winners of the award include MS
Dhoni (2011), Daniel Vettori (2012), Mahela
Jayawardena (2013), Katherine Brunt (2014) and
Brendon McCullum (2015).
Former South African batsman Alviro Petersen
has been banned from cricket for two years after
he admitted sitting in on meetings where plans
were hatched to fix matches in the domestic
Twenty20 competition.
Petersen cannot be involved in any international or
domestic match sanctioned by Cricket South Africa
(CSA) or the International Cricket Council until
November 12, 2018.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has
beaten Barcelona's Lionel Messi to 2016's FIFA
Best Player of the Year award.
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Note : Ronaldo claimed his fourth Ballon d'Or
award earlier this month.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian, has
confirmed his retirement from the Games.
25th
& 26th
December Review
World
Christmas being celebrated across the world
with traditional fervour and gaiety.
US President Barack Obama has signed a $618-
billion (around ₹42 lakh crore) defence policy bill,
which "enhances security cooperation between the
US and India".
The bill also provides aid for Pakistan, on the
condition that it can prove it is taking
"demonstrable steps" against the militant Haqqani
network.
Hindus and other minority communities from
Pakistan, living in India on long-term visa, can
now register for the Indian citizenship for ₹100.
Earlier, this fee used to be as high as ₹15,000.
The relaxation also applies for Hindus, Sikhs,
Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from
Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
For other countries, the fee will be ₹10,000.
In a bid to lessen the power shortage of Nepal, India
today agreed to export an additional 240 MW of
electricity.
In this regard, an agreement was signed between
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and state-owned
NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN).
India
"3rd Good Governance Day" is being observed
today.
India observes this day to celebrate the 92nd
birthday of former Prime Minister Bharat Ratna
Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Note : He was the only non-Congress politician to
be elected as the country's Prime Minister thrice,
and the only non-Congress PM to complete a full
term.
A 100-day campaign will be launched across the
country with the theme "good governance" on
the occasion.
Under the campaign, MPs will travel across India to
highlight the Centre's key initiatives.
Today is 155th birth anniversary of social
reformer (Bharat Ratna) Pandit Madan Mohan
Malaviya.
Great Independence Activist, politician and
Statesman Bharat Ratna C Rajagopalachary's Death
Anniversary today.
The government has sanctioned over 9,000
assault rifles, 34 armoured vehicles and more
than 760 patrolling bikes to Sashastra Seema Bal
(SSB) which is tas ed to secure the country’s
frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan.
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has today
announced that the government is coming out
with a new policy under which the existing
penalty for illegal parking on roads would be
increased from ₹200 to ₹1,000.
Further, those who complain about illegal parking
will be rewarded with ₹200 each.
Google India has partnered with the Ministry of
Consumer Affairs for a campaign called
'Digitally Safe Consumer' to help protect
consumer interest online.
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The company has said it will provide training
material to over 1,200 consumer organisations and
consumer affairs departments of all Indian states.
Google is also working with schools to spread
awareness about internet safety among the
youth.
Narendra Modi today announced the start of Lucky
Grahak Yojana and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana to
promote cashless transactions.
Awards & Appointments
Actor Shah Rukh Khan will be conferred an
honorary doctorate by Hyderabad-based
Maulana Azad National Urdu University.
Note : The actor also received an honorary
doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in 2015.
Deaths
Dinanath Bhargava (89), a co-artist in the team
that sketched the National Emblem 'Lion
Capital of Ashoka', passed away.
Bhargava was in his early twenties when he was
chosen in the team, which also designed the pages
of the Constitution's manuscript.
Banking & Economy
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today opened a
Banking Ombudsman Office in Dehradun,
Uttarakhand.
This office receives and considers complaints
relating to deficiencies in banking or other services
filed by consumers.
It is the 3rd ombudsman office in North India after
Kanpur and Chandigarh.
With this, the total numbers of RBI ombudsman
offices have increased to 17.
The Dharamshala vegetable market has become
the first cashless market in Kangra district of
Himachal Pradesh.
The swipe machine facility for this purpose was
installed by ICICI Bank and was launched by Chief
Minister Virbhadra Singh.
Science & Technology
The Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) has successfully flight
tested the Smart Anti-field Weapon (SAAW) at
the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur off
Odisha coast.
Capable of engaging ground targets with high
precision covering a range of around 100 km,
SAAW precision-guided bomb is an indigenously
designed and developed class smart weapon
weighing 120 kg.
Sports
Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli has featured on
top of the Lord's Cricket Ground's Top 20
Players of 2016.
Kohli is this year's top scorer across the three
formats of the game with 2595 runs in 41 innings.
Ravichandran Ashwin (3), Ajinkya Rahane (13) and
Cheteshwar Pujara (18) were the other Indians who
made it to the list.
27th
December Review
India
PM Narendra Modi today announced that the
'Benami' property law, which directs up to 7
years of imprisonment for holding tax-evasive
properties, will be operationalised soon.
What are Benami Properties ?
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'Benami' properties are those in which the real
owner does not buy the property in his/her own
name, but takes direct or indirect gains from it.
Properties bought in the name of a child or spouse,
or joint properties with relatives can be 'benami' if it
is paid for out of unknown income sources.
Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
inaugurated eight public libraries constructed
under the Swaraj Fund.
These libraries have been built from the citizen
local area development fund also known as Swaraj
fund, and were taken up after people chose them as
priority projects in mohalla sabhas conducted in
various assembly constituencies.
Haryana government has connected 100 villages
with Wi-FI services and decided to rename all
common service centres and E-disha centres as
"Atal Seva Kendras", which will provide e-
services to people.
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar also launched
'Knowledge Warehouse', which will promote start-
ups through video-conferencing.
MOUs & Agreements
The Centre has signed a deal with the
Infrastructure Architecture Lab of
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for
developing ferry services at 18 locations across
six cities.
All these cities, including Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna
and Kolkata, are located on National Waterway 1, the
longest waterway in India.
Note : India has approximately 14,500 km of
navigable waterways.
Science & Technology
India test launched its indigenously developed
intercontinental surface-to-surface nuclear
capable ballistic missile Agni-5 from the Wheeler
Island off Odisha coast.
The missile is capable of striking a target more than
5,000 kilometre with nuclear warhead carrying
capacity of more than one tonne.
Banking & Economy
Italy's cabinet has approved a bailout for the
world's oldest and the country's third-largest
bank, Monte dei Paschi.
The bank had requested a capital injection from the
government after it failed to raise €5 billion (around
₹35.4 thousand crore) from private investors.
The bailout is expected to hit retail investors, who
collectively hold around €2 billion of the bank's
bonds.
The State Bank of India (SBI) has disabled the
option to transfer money to Paytm wallets from
its internet banking services.
We recommend using State Bank Buddy mobile
(bank's own wallet) app for Android and iOS
devices.
The government is going to amend the law to
introduce stringent punishment for bounced cheques
from 2017.
This would be a deterrent for defaulters in India,
which is saddled with over 18 lakh lawsuits on
dishonoured cheques.
Under the proposed changes, the defaulter could be
put in jail without bail at the court’s discretion.
Deaths
Singer George Michael (53) passed away.
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Michael, who sold over 100 million records, was
known for the songs 'Careless Whisper', 'Last
Christmas' and 'Freedom! 90'.
Awards & Honors
Shah Rukh Khan today conferred Honorary
doctorate by Moulana Azad National Urdu
University in Hyderabad.
Sports
Some of the great sports personalities retired in
2016 :
Michael Phelps (Celebrated Olympian American
swimmer)
Abhinav Bindra (India's only individual Olympic
gold medallist)
Miroslav Klose (Top goalscorer in FIFA World Cup
history)
Brendon McCullum (Cricketer)
Tillakaratne Dilshan (Cricketer)
The Sports Ministry has derecognised Yoga, 15
months after declaring it a 'priority sport'.
The decision was communicated to National Sports
Federations and the Sports Authority of India after
the government concluded it will not be possible to
conduct competitions.
Yoga will now come under the prerogative of the
Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and
Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy).
Question of the day
Which country has the most nuclear weapons ?
Russia with 7,300 warheads has the most number of
nuclear weapons in the world while only 9 countries
are believed to possess such weapons. The US
comes at second position with around 6,970 nuclear
weapons. Reportedly, US President-elect Donald
Trump recently said that let there be a nuclear arms
race, and the US will "outmatch" and "outlast" other
countries.
28th
December Review
World
Saudi Arabia is going to introduce an "expat
levy" on foreign workers with dependents from
2017, which was revealed during the country's
budget announcement.
The fee will start at $26 (₹1,760) per month in July
2017 and will rise each year to reach $106 (₹7,178)
a month in July 2020.
China's legislature has passed a law to levy
environment tax on polluters, including heavy
industries.
This comes while the country's 24 major cities were
on red alert due to heavy smog cover.
The new law will reportedly improve tax payers'
environmental awareness, reduce government
interference and force companies to upgrade
technology and shift to cleaner production.
China today re-established diplomatic relations
with African island nation Sao Tome and
Principe.
This comes after Sao Tome cut diplomatic ties with
Taiwan over the refusal of monetary help.
General Knowledge
Indian national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' was
first sung on this day (27th December) in the
year 1911, at the Calcutta session of the Indian
National Congress.
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India had no official national anthem at the time of
independence as 'Jana Gana Mana' was adopted as
the national anthem by the Constituent Assembly on
24th January 24 1950.
Note : The anthem was composed by Bengali poet
Rabindranath Tagore.
India
At least 9 Nobel Prize winners have confirmed
their participation in the 8th Vibrant Gujarat
Global Summit.
A 5-week long Nobel Prize Series Exhibition will
also be held.
Note : Vibrant Gujarat 2017 is scheduled to be held
from 10-13 January 2017.
Assam Government rolled out a health insurance
scheme titled ‘Atal-Amrit Abhiyan’, to pro ide
coverage against several critical illnesses.
This scheme is claimed to be the biggest health care
initiative undertaken by any State Government in
the country and is aimed to make quality health care
affordable to every individual member of a family
in the state.
To detect cases of latent infection, the Union Health
Ministry has launched a door-to-door screening
campaign for Tuberculosis.
The campaign aims to find patients before they
develop full-blown TB and put them on preventive
medicine.
Launched in five states – Kerala, Bihar,
Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim – the
campaign will be scaled up to other states from July
2017.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid the
foundation stone of the Char Dham Highway
Development Project in Uttarakhand's
Dehradun.
The project aims to improve connectivity to the
Char Dham pilgrimage centres of Gangotri,
Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
Note : Around 900 km of national highways will be
developed in Uttarakhand under the project at an
approximate cost of ₹12,000 crore.
The Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
has launched Twitter Seva to directly engage
with citizens in country and abroad, tourists and
business travellers for speedy resolution of their
visa and passport queries.
The NDA government is planning a Ganga Act to
penalise those found guilty of polluting the Ganga
river.
Once it is finalised, the bill will be taken up for the
Cabinet's nod.
Water Resources Minister : Uma Bharti has said.
In view of the rise in crimes against women, the
Centre has decided to set up 200 special
investigating units in the most crime-prone
districts.
The Investigative Units on Crime Against
Women will be set up on a 50:50 cost sharing
basis with the states.
In an effort to reduce pollution caused by diesel
buses, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation
(KSRTC) has launched 25 bio-diesel buses in the
state.
These eco-friendly buses will ply on four routes,
including Tirupati and Chennai.
Costing around ₹90 lakh each, bio-diesel buses
eject 60-70% less emissions than diesel buses and
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would reportedly save the Corporation ₹80 lakh
each year.
Deaths
American astronomer who helped find evidence
of dark matter, Vera Rubin (88) passed away
today.
The astronomy pioneer examined more than 200
galaxies in her lifetime.
Rubin was the second female astronomer to be
elected to the National Academy of Sciences and
also received the National Medal of Science in
1993.
Science & Technology
China has successfully tested the latest version of
its fifth-generation stealth fighter jet J-31 (now
renamed the FC-31 Gyrfalcon).
The newest version of twin-engine FC-31 took to
the air for the first time recently.
It is considered as China’s answer to the US F-35,
the world’s most technically advanced fighter.
Banking & Economy
The government is going to bring in an
ordinance to penalise people caught in possession
of scrapped notes worth over ₹10,000 after
December 30.
This could draw a fine of minimum ₹50,000 or five
times the amount in question, whichever is higher.
Sports
Nicobari Deborah Herold won gold in the
Women Elite's 500m individual time trial event
in the 69th Senior National Track Cycling
Championship in Kerala.
Herold, who finished the race in 36.377 seconds,
had borrowed her cycle from the SAI centre in Car
Nicobar.
Note : Herold survived the 2004 Tsunami by
spending over a week on a tree.
Cricket Australia has named Indian Test skipper
Virat Kohli as the Captain of the board's ODI
Team of the Year.
Note : Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah was the only
other Indian who made it to the list.
The team features five Australian players, two
South African players and one each from England
and Pakistan.
29th
December Review
World
India has emerged as the Second largest
purchaser of arms among developing nations.
The list was topped by Saudi Arabia.
Between 2008 and 2015, India purchased defence
equipment worth $34 billion as compared to Saudi
Arabia's $93.5 billion.
The foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey have
agreed to push for a ceasefire in Syria and to
prepare for possible peace talks planned in
Kazakhstan's capital Astana.
This comes after Russia's ambassador to Turkey
was shot dead by a policeman during a televised
speech in Turkey's capital Ankara.
India
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has inaugurated
an Online Geospatial Platform for tracking the
property tax collection across Bengaluru.
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This will enable residents to know the property tax
they have paid over the years.
The colour green on any property indicates tax
being paid since 2009.
Pink would mean a default for a year, and deep
pink would indicate a long-term defaulter.
The Telangana government is going to launch Bike
ambulances to help patients in remote areas.
They would be used in remote tribal areas and also
congested localities in cities like Hyderabad.
Airport employees across the country will have to
carry their Aadhaar cards to work along with their
entry passes from January 1.
The directive has been issued by the CISF, which is
responsible for the security at the airport.
The Bihar government today approved the
implementation of 50% reservation in both
Subordinate and Superior Judicial Services in
the state.
After this decision, 21% posts would be reserved
for Extremely Backward Class (EBC), 12% for
Backward Class, 16% for SC and 1% for ST.
Note : The government also approved 35% quota
for women in all these categories.
Banking & Economy
The Cabinet today cleared an ordinance to
penalise people for depositing over 10 old ₹500
and ₹1,000 notes after March 31, 2017.
The ordinance is to extinguish liability of
government and the Reserve Bank of India on the
demonetised high-denomination notes.
Note : The last day to deposit the old notes in banks
is December 30.
Ahead of the New Year, the Madhya Pradesh
Cabinet today approved an increase in the
dearness allowance by 7% for over 6 lakh
government employees, pensioners and others
working with local bodies like panchayats.
The hike would be effective from July 1, 2016.
Note : Dearness allowance and dearness relief are
provided to neutralise the impact of price rise on
earnings.
Awards & Appointments
The government today appointed Viral Acharya
as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI).
He will be joining the ranks of NS Vishwanathan,
SS Mundra, R Gandhi as one of four Deputy
Governors under RBI Governor Urjit Patel.
Retired bureaucrat Anil Baijal is going to
replace Najeeb Jung as the 21st Lieutenant
Governor of the National Capital Territory of
Delhi.
Baijal, a 1969-batch IAS officer, also served as the
Home Secretary in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee
government.
Suresh Kalmadi, accused of corruption in the multi-
crore 2010 Commonwealth Games scam, was
appointed as a Life President of the Indian Olympic
Association today.
Deaths
Actress Carrie Fisher (60), known for playing
Princess Leia in the 'Star Wars' film series,
passed away today.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Sunder Lal
Patwa (92) died of a heart attack today.
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He was made Chief Minister of the state twice, once
with the Janata Party and then with the BJP.
Richard Adams (96), the author of bestselling
children's book Watership Down, passed away.
The English author had won several awards for
Watership Down which was later made into an
animated movie.
Former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri
Wickremanayake (83) passed away.
The politician, who was elected twice as Prime
Minister, was serving as a senior advisor to
President Maithripala Sirisena.
People in News
Actress Scarlett Johansson has been named the
highest grossing actor of 2016 by Forbes.
Her films earned a total of over ₹8,000 crore ($1.2
billion) worldwide.
Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr shared the
second position, with over ₹7,000 crore ($1.15
billion) each.
Note : All three of them starred in 'Captain
America: Civil War', which became the top-
grossing film of 2016.
Sports
The Uttar Pradesh franchise in the upcoming
Pro Wrestling League 2 has been named 'UP
Dangal', after the recent Aamir Khan-starring
film.
Note : The UP franchise features wrestlers Geeta
and Babita Phogat, on whose lives 'Dangal' is based.
30th
December Review
World
India has eased the process of procurement of
Indian tourist visas for Bangladeshis by allowing
those with confirmed travel tickets to submit
their visa applications directly without prior
appointment starting January 1, 2017.
To promote religious accommodation, the New
York Police Department has decided to allow Sikh
officers to wear turbans and maintain beards.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman has launched a
fundraising campaign for Syrians displaced by
the five-year civil war, including those evacuated
from eastern Aleppo.
Saudi is one of the main supporters of rebels
fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Note : Around 1.1 crore Syrians or around half of
the population of the country have been displaced
due to civil war.
National Current Affairs
President Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated
the 77th Indian History Congress at
Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala today.
Governor Justice P. Sathasivam, Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan and other dignitaries have
attended the inaugural session.
Over 3,000 historians and research scholars have
attended the Congress.
In a bid to enhance cyber policing and monitor
social media content, the Haryana police have set
up the country’s 1st Centre for Digital Investigation
and Training in Gurugram.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar
inaugurated the facility today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the
nation on December 31 through public
broadcaster Doordarshan.
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Note : Modi had announced demonetisation through
a similar address and had sought a 50-day deadline
for the situation to normalise.
The Gujarat government today announced a
campaign, Karuna, to prevent birds from getting
injured by the manja used while flying kites
during Uttarayan festivities and tend to their
injuries.
Note : NGT had recently banned the use of glass-
coated manja for flying kites.
The 4-day World Bhojpuri Conference began in
Varanasi today.
Bhojpuri Ratna and World Bhojpuri Karmayogi
awards will be conferred on Mauritius PM Anerood
Jugnauth, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and Bollywood
actor Amitabh Bachchan, among others.
New Appointments
Former Union Home Secretary Anil Baijal will
take oath as the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi on
December 31st.
Earlier, Baijal had been the Vice Chairman of the
Delhi Development Authority and had headed
public sector companies like Prasar Bharti and
Indian Airlines.
He was also a part of the executive council of the
think-tank, Vivekananda International Foundation.
Banking & Economy
Mobile wallet MobiKwik has received in-
principle approval from the RBI to facilitate
payment of utility and convenience bills on its
platform.
MobiKwik will be integrated into Bharat Bill
Payment System to accept payments for utility
services like electricity, water, gas, telephone, and
Direct-to-Home (DTH).
Note : In October, MobiKwik launched Unified
Payments Interface on its platform with ICICI
Bank.
President Pranab Mukherjee has cleared an
ordinance to allow companies to pay their
employees' salaries up to ₹18,000 by cheque or
by direct credit into bank accounts without their
permission.
The ordinance, which comes into force with
immediate effect, was proposed by the Union
cabinet last week and amends the Payment of
Wages Act of 1936.
The National Stock Exchange today filed draft
papers with market regulator SEBI for its Initial
Public Offering (IPO), estimated to be around
₹10,000 crore, one of the biggest in recent times.
The existing shareholders will offer about 20-25%
shares to the public in the IPO.
The offer may give NSE a valuation of ₹50,000-
₹55,000 crore.
Deaths
Actress Debbie Reynolds (84)passed away, a day
after her daughter, Star Wars' actress Carrie
Fisher, died.
She became famous after the movie 'Singin' in the
Rain'.
Science & Technology
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
has today announced that it will launch record
83 satellites in one go in January next year.
Of the 83 satellites, 80 belong to Israel, Kazakhstan,
Netherlands, Switzerland and the US, while the
remaining three belong to India.
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Note : ISRO had set a record in June by
successfully launching 20 satellites in a single
mission.
China's space organisation today announced that
the government has decided to send its first
robotic probe to Mars by 2020 to carry out
orbiting and roving exploration, followed by a
second mission to collect surface samples.
The organisation further said they will send probe
missions to Jupiter and its moons, making China a
major space power by 2030.
Awards & Honors
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has been
voted the European Sportsperson of the Year by
the Polish news agency PAP.
Sports
Former world number one and 2008 French
Open winner Ana Ivanovic announced her
retirement from professional tennis.
The 29-year-old was out of action since August
following injury and dropped to 63 in world
rankings.
Ivanovic was world number one for 12 weeks in
2008 and won 15 singles titles in her 13-year-long
career.
Wrestler Sushil Kumar will make his WWE debut
in November 2017.
31st December Review
World
The Beipanjiang Bridge in southwest China is
now open to traffic.
It is the highest bridge in the world at 1,854 feet.
The 1,341-metre-long bridge, soars over a river and
connects the Guizhou and Yunnan mountainous
provinces.
Colombian lawmakers have approved an
amnesty law to protect Marxist FARC rebels
from prosecution for minor crimes committed
during the country's 52-year civil war.
The law is one of the contentious parts of a peace
deal signed between the government and rebel
forces, and will not pardon people who have been
accused of human rights violations or war crimes.
Banking & Economy
50-day deadline to deposit old 500 and 1000
rupee notes in banks ends today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched a
mobile payments application called BHIM (Bharat
Interface for Money), in the honour of Dr Bhimrao
Ambedkar.
Compatible with all Android phones, the app has a
maximum limit of ₹10,000 per transaction and
₹20,000 within 24 hours.
E-commerce major Amazon has launched a new
platform named 'Sell as Individual' that lets
users sell used goods in their city on paying a
fixed amount of fee.
Currently being operated in Bengaluru, users need
to share pictures and details of the products on
Amazon's website and the company will provide
doorstep pick-up, packing, and delivery of their
goods.
Technology major Apple will reportedly start
manufacturing or assembling iPhones in
Bengaluru from April 2017.
Manufacturing locally will make Apple products
cheaper in India and help the company open retail
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stores in the country, where products are currently
sold through resellers.
National capital Delhi has registered the highest per
capita income among all states and union territories
of the country, during 2015-16 at about ₹2,80,000.
Delhi's per capita income is over three times the
national average.
It is followed by Chandigarh and Sikkim with per
capita incomes of ₹2,42,386 and ₹2,27,465,
respectively.
Awards & Appointments
The Defence Ministry today appointed Navy
Chief Sunil Lanba as the Chairman of the Chiefs
of Staff committee (COSC).
The COSC post is given to the senior-most of the
service chiefs.
Lanba received the baton from the outgoing
Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha
in a ceremony at Defence Ministry in New Delhi.
A newly discovered Hawaiian coral reef fish has
become the 9th creature to be named after US
President Barack Obama.
Identified as Tosanoides obama, the fish was
discovered during an expedition inside
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in
Hawaii.
Apart from the fish, the US President also has a
spider, a lizard and a bird named after him.
Books & Authors
Filmmaker Karan Johar will launch his
biography, 'An Unsuitable Boy', in January
2017.
Co-authored by Karan and Poonam Saxena, it will
be published by Penguin Random House.
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