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Current Affairs PDF: December 2016
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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Cabinet approves Indias negotiating position adopted at Kigali conference to Montreal
Protocol
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the negotiating
position adopted by the Government of India at the 28th Meeting of Parties(MoP) to the Montreal
Protocol of the Vienna Convention for Protection of Ozone Layer that took place during 6-14
October, 2016, in Kigali, Rwanda.
The negotiations at Kigali were aimed at including Hydrofluoro Carbons (HFCs) in the
list of chemicals under the Montreal Protocol to regulate their production and consumption
and phase them down over a period of time with financial assistance from the Multilateral
Fund created under the Montreal Protocol.
Cabinet approves rehabilitation package for displaced families from PoKJ, Chhamb
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved a Central
Assistance of Rs. 2000 crore for 36,384 displaced families from Pakistan occupied areas of
Jammu & Kashmir (POJK) and Chhamb based on an announcement of Prime Ministers
Development Package for Jammu & Kashmir-2015 in November, 2015.
As per the package, Rs. 5.5 lakh cash benefit per family will be disbursed to the
displaced families to enable them to earn an income and live their livelihood. The amount
will be released to the State Government of J&K to be disbursed to eligible families
through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
Out of these 28, 15 were new entries, 9 were synonyms or sub-castes of the castes which
were already in the list and 4 were corrections.
Union HRD Ministry Launched Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan for Cashless Economy.
Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar launched a
campaignVittiya Saksharata Abhiyan (VISAKA) in New Delhi on December 1, 2016
The Campagin was launched through a Video Conference with all Higher Education
Institutions at National Informatics Centre (NIC) to make people aware about the cashless
economic system.
Highlights of Conference
i. Union Minister appealed to the faculty and students to come forward and join Vittiya
Saksharata Abhiyan to encourage, create awareness and motivate all people around them to use
a digitally enabled cashless economic system for transfer of fund. He called upon young students to
educate at home and in their surroundings to create digital financial literacy.
ii. HRD Minister launched a webpage where students can register themselves, give continuous
feedback and suggestions on the initiative as well as upload the progress of their work.
Supreme Court Sanctions Centres Graded Response Action Plan to Tackle Pollution
i. The Supreme Court on December 2, 2016, given its approval to the Centres Graded
Response Action Plan to tackle different levels of pollution in Delhi-NCR.
ii. A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A K Sikri & Justice S A Bobde has
also directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to upgrade its existing infrastructure
and set up additional monitoring stations in Delhi-NCR within six months.
iii. The action plan proposes common pollution code for Delhi. The code categorises the severity
of the pollutants present in the air into four categories depending upon the level of pollutants in
air: Moderate To Poor, Very Poor, Severe, Emergency
NITI Aayog to Provide Rs. 5 Lakh to each district to Promote Digital Payment
i. To encourage each district in the country to encourage digital payments for day to day financial
transactions without fear, the NITI Aayog has taken an initiative to transfer Rs.5 lakh to
each district to implement the move.
ii. Aim: to give a boost to cashless digital payment systems across districts, talukas and
panchayats.
iii. The central government has taken number of measures such as incentives for digital
payments for day to day financial transactions like buying or selling goods/services, and
transferring money to promote the transition to the cashless digital payment systems.
Railway Ministry Mandates Aadhaar-based ticketing system for senior citizensfrom April
1
i. Railway Ministry has come up with a decison to implement Aadhaar-based ticketing system
for senior citizens.The programme will be implemented in a two-phased manner.
ii. Phase 1: From January 1 to March 31, 2017, requirement of Aadhaar verification for getting
concessional tickets for senior citizens will be on a voluntary basis.
iii. Phase 2: From April 1, 2017, reservation of rail tickets for senior citizens will be directly linked
to Aadhaar or Unique Identification (UID) cards on a mandatory basis for availing concessions at
both counter and e-tickets.
Horse racing not cruelty, but tonga races on metal roads are: SC
i. The Supreme Court has ruled that horse racing as such is not animal cruelty.A Bench of
Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, issued a notice to the Rajasthan government
on a petition challenging a High Court order banning Tonga Races in the State, observing
that Horse racing as such is not cruelty, but tonga races on metal roads are.
ii. Supreme Court judgment clearly differentiated bulls as bovine animals which are unfit for
running, while horses as solid-hoofed quadruped, domesticated for riding.
Union Cabinet approved Reforms to boost employment generation and exports in Made-
ups Sector
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on December 7, 2016 gave the
approval to the reforms to boost employment generation and exports in the Made-ups
Sector.
Aim: To improve competitiveness and generate large scale dirct and indirect jobs in
the textile sector through labour reforms employing upto 11 lakh persons over the next three years
in the made-ups sector.
Important Approvals Made
The government approved provision of additional subsidyof 10 per cent to be given for
made-up garments through the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS).
The Pradhan Mantri Paridhan Rozgar Protsahan Yojana (PMPRPY) scheme has been
extended in the made-ups sector that will require additional 3.67 per cent share of
employers contribution along with earlier 8.33 per cent of the employers contribution for
the first three years to every employee.
iv. The training program is being attended by 28 delegates of Election Management Bodies (EMBs)
from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan.
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 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.
Lifeline Express gets two new Coaches cancer, family health services
i. The Lifeline Express, worlds 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 Pradesh from December 15, 2016 to January 5, 2017.
Uttarakhnad High Court to Ban Liquor in State from next Fiscal Year
i. Uttarakhand High Court on December 8, 2016 directed the State Government to impose
complete ban on liquor in three districts namely, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, where
Chardham is located, from next financial year.
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ii. Aim: to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living in the society
iii. A bench of Judges, Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Alok Singh gave these orders after a
petion was signed against a bar which was operating without licence in Haridwar district.
FSSAI bans use of newspapers for Packing and Wrapping food items
i. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on December 7, 2016 announced
its decision to ban the use of newspapers for wrapping or packing of food items.
ii. Printing inks used in newspaper contains bioactive materials, harmful colors and other hazardous
items that may affect the health of common people.
iii. FSSAI has directed the commissioners of food safety of all states and Union territories to
take necessary steps regarding the order to restrict the use of newspapers for packing, serving
and storing of food items.
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Railway Starts Giving Free Accidental Insurance Cover for Booking Railway Ticket Online
i. In order to promote Digital Transaction after demonetization of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency
note, the Indian Railways has started to give free accidental insurance coverto the
passengers who booked their tickets through online mode, from December 10, 2016.
ii. The move was implemented after, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a free accident
insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh for passengers who buy railway tickets online, to promote the
cashless transaction.
iii. Under the scheme, Rs. 10 lakh was given to beneficiary in case of the death of the passenger,
along with Rs 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains.Passenger was entitled to get Rs. 10 lakh
in case he gets permanently disabled, Rs 7.5 lakh in case of partial disability, while Rs 2 lakh for
the hospitalization expense.
Madhya Pradesh CM Launches Five Months Long Narmada Seva Yatra at Amarkantak
i. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched Narmada Seva Yatra at
Amarkantak on December 11, 2016.
ii. The five months long Yatra which will continue till May 11, 2017 aims to turn the Narmada
river pollution free.
iii. The Narmada Sewa Yatra will cover more than 1,900 kilometres in 16 districts and create
awareness about the conservation of the river.
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Cabinet Approves Replacing Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 by the Major Port Authorities
Bill, 2016.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi approved the proposal of
Ministry of Shipping to replace the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 by the Major Port Authorities
Bill, 2016.
The new Act will empower the Major Ports full autonomy in decision making enabling them to
perform with greater efficiency and modernize the Institutional structure of Major Ports.
The new Major Ports Authority Bill, 2016 would help to impart faster and transparent decision
making that will help in better project execution capability.
The features of new Major Ports Authority Bill
The number of sections in the new Bill has been reduced to 65 from 134 by eliminating
overlapping and obsolete Sections compared to the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963
According to the new Bill, Board of Port Authority will comprise of 11 members from
the present 17 to 19 Members.
Port Authority has been given powers to fix tariff which will act as a reference tariff for
purposes of bidding for PPP projects. The Board of the Port Authority has also been
delegated the power to fix the scale of rates for other port services and assets including
land.
An independent Review Board has been proposed to look into disputes between ports
and PPP concessionaires, to review stressed PPP projects and suggest measures to revive
such projects and to look into complaints regarding services rendered by the ports/private
operators operating within the ports would be constituted.
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introduced by the Union minister for social justice and empowerment Mallikarjun
Kharge.
Important Features of the Bill
Bill will benefit larger group of disabled people
19 disabilities recognized against previous 7
Allows 5% reservation from earlier 3% - The Bill provides for all the establishments (Public
and Private) to ensure that persons with disabilities are provided with barrier-free access in
buildings, transport systems and all kinds of public infrastructure including hospitals and
polling booths.
According to the Bill, the District courts may provide two types of guardianship for mentally
ill persons.
Legal action for violating the Act
The Bill also includes penalty for violating the rules of the Act which was not present in 1995
Act.
Centre sanctions Rs 30 crore for 21 states and union territories under the Solar Cities
Development Programme.
i. The Government of India on December 15, 2016, announced that funds worth over Rs 30
crore have been sanctioned for 21 states and union territories under the Solar Cities
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Development Programme.
ii. The funds were sanctioned since last three years till November 30 2016.Power and Renewable
Energy Minister Piyush Goyal announced in Lok Sabha that out of the total sanctioned amount of Rs
30.36 crore, around Rs 12.98 crore have been released.
iii. 60 places have been included in the solar cities programme including Gaya (Bihar), Mysore
(Karnataka), Kochi (Kerala), Pune (Maharashtra), Panaji City (Goa), Howrah (West Bengal), Imphal
(Manipur), Aizawl (Mizoram), Kohima (Nagaland), Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) and Moradabad (Uttar
Pradesh).
ii .The state Home Minister, Pradipsinh Jadeja informed that the penalty for running the bar
would be imprisonment of 1-3 years and fine between Rs Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 50,000.
Suresh Prabhu Flagged off First Humsafar Express from Gorakhpur via Video conference
i. Indian Railways new train, Humsafar Express, was flagged off from Gorakhpur in eastern
Uttar Pradesh by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu via video conferencing in Rail Bhawan, New
Delhi on December 16, 2016.
ii. The first Humsafar Express, with 16 AC III tier coaches and two power cars, would run
between Anand Vihar in Ghaziabad to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Center Plans to Deploy Zila Swachh Bharat Preraks to Boost Swachh Bharat mission
i. In a move to boost Swachh Bharat mission started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
the Central government has planned to deploy around 600 young professionals in each
district of India.
ii. The professionals will be called Zila Swachh Bharat Preraks (ZSBPs). They will be
responsible to provide their technical and management support to the respective districts
collectors among other authorities to implement the goals by coordinating the various sanitation-
related activities in the district.
iii. The ZSBPs would also ensure integration of the youth in the mission to bring in fresh ideas,
energy and enthusiasm to the Mission and hence accelerate the progress of achieving an Open
Defecation Free (ODF) India.
Manipur Chief Minsiter inaugurates two new districts amid Naga protests
i. Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh inaugurated two new
districts Pherzawl and Noney on December 16, 2016.
ii. Pherzawl carved out of Churachandpur district, and Noney from Tamenglong district in
Manipur.Now, the total number of district is 11.
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Environment Ministry Notifies Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Pet Shop) Rules, 2016
i. The Union Environment minister, Anil Madhav Dave, on December 16, 2016, announced the
notification of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Pet Shop) Rules, 2016.
ii. Aim: To regulate the pet shops across the country and prevent cruelty against animals kept in
such pet shops.
iii. As per the rules, it will be mandatory for all pet shop owners to register themselves with
the State Animal Welfare Board of the respective State Government. Such a registration will
only happen after inspection by the representatives of State Board, a veterinary practitioner and a
representative of Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Government Soon to launch toll free number 1955 to Report call drops
i. The Union government has decided to launch a toll-free number 1955 in order to take a
feedback from the telecom subscribers on call drop issue. The code has been allotted for
Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) on call drops.
ii. According to the Department Of Telecom (DoT), the provisioning of the new number would be
mandatory for all telecom operators along with making the number accessible for local and STD
calling.
iii. State-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has been
directed to configure the short code.
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For the first time NSG may participate in Republic Day Parade
The elite counter-terror force, National Security guard (NSG) may participate in the Republic
Day celebrations on January 26, 2017 at Rajpath for the first time in the history.
Decision in this regard was taken after a meeting between the Union Home and
Defence Ministries following which the National Security Guard (NSG) began
preparations to choose a contingent of about 60 commandos to showcase its prowess and
commando-style fast march past.
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Till now the troops of Armys Special Forces were the only commando force to take part in
the Rajpath during January 26 celebrations.
The NSG contingent is expected to include commandos from both the army and
paramilitary-based units of the force.
Indo Tibetan Border Police to procure local yaks and ponies to sustain troops at Indo-
China Frontier
i. To strengthen Indias positions along the Indo-China frontier, the Indo Tibetan Border
Police (ITBP) has launched a drive to procure local varieties of tough mules and yak to carry
supplies for the troops at snow-hit posts.
ii. The border guarding force, which secures 3,488 km of this icy frontier from the Karakoram Pass
in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh, has launched an aggressive drive to purchase sturdy
livestock like horses, mules, ponies, yak and dogs from the locals living in these areas.
President Pranab Mukherjee gives fifth assent to amend Enemy Property Ordinance
i. President Pranab Mukherjee on December 22 approved re-promulgation of The Enemy
Property (Amendment) Fifth Ordinance for the fifth time in a year but at the same time
expressed his displeasure to the centre over using this route repeatedly for promulgating law.
ii. The ordinance was re-promulgated after the government failed to get a bill passed in the Winter
Session of Parliament to amend the 50-year-old Enemy Property Act, which guards
against succession claims or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan
and China after 1965 and 1968 wars.
iii. The Enemy property refers to any property belonging to, held or managed on behalf of an
enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm. There are 16,547 enemy properties worth Rs 1
lakh crore across India. The Union Home Ministry acts as the custodian of the enemy properties.
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merged.
iii. As per the new rules, applicants born after January 26, 1989 are not required to submit
a proof of date of birth (DOB) which was mandatory till now.
iv. Another key step aimed at simplifying the process is that attestation by a magistrate or
notary will no longer be necessary. Self-declaration on plain paper will do.
v. It is no more compulsory to provide the name of both father and mother while applying for the
passport. Besides, single parents can also apply for passports of their children.
vi .Married applicants do not need to provide any marriage certificate. The applicant need not
provide the name of her/his spouse in case of separated or divorced persons.
iii. The Seva service will be supported by 198 Twitter accounts of Missions and High
Commissions across the world and 29 Regional Passport Offices (RPOs) in India and eight
other handles such as @MEAIndia, @Indiandiplomacy and @MEAQuery.
Govt launch mobile App Smart Consumer & OCMC to provide speedy redressal of
consumer grievances
i. The Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan launched a mobile App Smart
Consumer and an Online Consumer Mediation Centre (OCMC) to provide speedy redressal of
consumer grievances in New Delhi on the occasion of National Consumer Day on December 24,
2016
ii. He also launched the Microsite based on the theme Digitally Safe Consumer Campaign to
help consumers for being vigilant and not falling prey to cyber frauds.
Centre gives Rs 1,982 crore for Andhra Pradeshs Polavaram project through NABARD
i. The Centre released Rs 1,982 crore for the multipurpose Polavaram irrigation project in
Andhra Pradesh on December 26, 2016.The funding is being done through NABARD, which has
now started funding irrigation projects. NABARD sanctioned the long term irrigation fund
under Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana.
ii. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley handed over the cheque to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
Chandrababu Naidu at a function in New Delhi. Mr Jaitley also handed over cheques for Rs 463
crore rupees to Gujarat and Rs 756 crore rupees to Maharashtra for state projects.
iii. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on December 26
revealed that so far it has sanctioned loans worth Rs 35,322 crore under Long Term Irrigation
Fund (LTIF)
iv. LITF initiative would ensure doubling of farmers income by 2022 under the ambitious
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).
Centre releases special stamp on freedom fighters & Hardayal Municipal Heritage Public
Library
Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Smt Anupriya Patel released the few new postage
stamps in New Delhi on December 26, 2016
The New Postage stamps were
i. Special Cover on freedom fighter Shri Gaya Prasad Katiyar
ii. A set of eight Commemorative Postage Stamps on Personalities Series: Bihar . The eight
personalities are Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha, Karpoori Thakur, Dashrath Manjhi, Vidyapati ,
Kailashpati Mishra, Kunwar Singh, Phanishwar Nath Renu and Sri Krishna Sinha
iii. Stamp on Hardayal Municipal Heritage Public Library.
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Registration of Pakistani Hindus as Indian Citizen reduced from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 100
i. The registration fees for Hindus and other minority community people from three
neighboring countries comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, to register as Indian
citizens have been reduced drastically to Rs 100 from Rs 15,000.
ii. The changes have been made after amending various provisions of the Citizenship Rules 2009.
iii. The new rules will be applicable to minority communities including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists,
Jains, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and living in India on
long term visa.
iv. But for minority community people from countries other than the three, the fees will be Rs
10,000 for registration in India and Rs 15,000 if registered elsewhere.
PM Modi Lays the Foundation Stone of Char Dham Highway Development Project
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Char Dham Mahamarg
Vikas Pariyojna in Uttarakhands Dehradun on December 27, 2016. The Prime Minister also
addressed a public rally at the citys Parade Ground.
The Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna, or the Chardham Highway Development
Project, is an ambitious initiative to improve connectivity to the Char
Dham (Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath) pilgrimage centres in the
Himalayas.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs. 12000. The entire project is likely to
be completed by 2018.
ii. The developer of such park will be eligible for 100 per cent reimbursement of stamp duty paid
on sale or lease of the land for setting such park.
iii. BT Park developer will be given 100 per cent reimbursement for electricity duty paid for a
period of five years.
iv. For individual BT manufacturing units having gross fixed capital investment(GFCI) up to Rs 50
crore, government would give capital subsidy up to Rs 10 per cent of the GFCI with a ceiling of
Rs 5 crore.
v. BT units with borrowings up to Rs 50 crore shall be entitled to an interest subsidy at the rate of
5 per cent with a ceiling of 2.5 crore per annum
NBWL gives Green signal for the Ken-Betwa Inter-Linking of Rivers Project
i. The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) on December 26 gave its approval for the Ken-
Betwa inter-linking of rivers (ILR) project which will benefit Uttar Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh in terms of meeting irrigation, drinking water and electricity needs of people across
six districts in the two states.
ii. The project worth Rs 9,000 crore had got the Cabinet clearance in July 2014 but work could
not begin since it required clearance from the NBWL who were opposing the project citing its
impact on tiger reserve and wildlife sanctuaries.
iii. The Ken-Betwa ILR project will transfer surplus water from the Ken river to the Betwa basin
through a 221-km canal. The concrete canal will pass through Jhansi, Banda and
Mahoba districts of UP and Chhatarpur, Panna and Tikamgarh districts of MP.
Cabinet Approves Ordinance to Penalize Person with Scrapped Notes Post March 31
The Cabinet on December 28, approved promulgation of an ordinance to make possession of a
large number of scrapped banknotes a penal offence beyond March 31, imposing a penalty
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Centre gives ex post facto approval for ratification of ISAs Framework Agreement
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on December 28, gave its ex
post facto approval to the proposal of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy for ratification of
the International Solar Alliances (ISA) Framework Agreement by India.
About International Solar Alliances (ISA)
ISA was launched jointly by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on
30th November, 2015 at Paris on the side-lines of the 21st CoP meeting of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The United Nations Development Programme and World Bank have already announced their
partnership with the ISA. Till now, 25 nations have signed the Framework Agreement.
Maharashtra Approves Proposal to Create New Ministry for VJNT OBCs & Special
Backward classes
i. The State Government of Maharashtra on December 27, 2016, decided to create a new
ministry for welfare of Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) OBCs and Special Backward
classes.
ii. The proposal to create the new ministry was approved by the cabinet which was presided over
by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The separate ministry would be headed by an
independent minister.
Kerala Government Seeks Centres approval to Use Antlers for Ayurveda Medicine
i. The Kerala State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) under chairmanship of CM Pinarayi Vijayan held a
meeting on December 27 to decide over a proposal of using antlers of spotted deer and sambar
for Ayurveda medicines.
ii. The State Government decided to approach the Union Government to get the proposal approved
as it requires clearance by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) and Ministry of Environment and
Forests.
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iii. SBWL seeks to get the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 amended to get the permission for
using the antlers for medicinal purposes.
Uttar Pradesh CM lays the Foundation Stone of Film Television and Liberal Arts Institute
i. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, laid the foundation stone for Film Television
and Liberal Arts Institute on December 27 in Lucknow.
ii. A token amount of Rs 10 crore has been allotted by the state government for the institute and
14 acres has been allotted for the institute under Awadh Vihar Yojna near Lucknow Haat on
Shaheed Path.
iii. To promote the shooting of films in the state, the Chief Minister also distributed Rs 9.41
crore to film industry people.
with 21% posts reserved for Extremely Backward Class (EBC), 12% for Other Backward
Class (OBC), 16% for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 1% for Scheduled Tribe (ST).
iv. The 50 percent quota will be reserved in appointment of both services conducted by the BPSC to
fill the posts of Judicial Magistrates and Munsif Magistrates along with appointments conducted by
the Patna HC to fill the posts of Additional District and Sessions Judges.
v. Besides, the cabinet also decided 35 percent reservation for women in each category,
besides one percent post would be reserved for ortho-physically differently-abled persons.
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Mehbooba Mufti launches IT-Enabled Systems to Boost Education System of the State
i. Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti launched School Management
Information System (SMIS) on December 30, 2016, to provide a complete database of all
the government schools spread across the state.
ii. SMIS been developed by the J&K Education Department in collaboration with National
Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), ISRO, Digital India and
MHRD.
iii. It is a comprehensive IT-enabled Database System to highlight important features of all
Government Schools such as Staff strength, Student-Teacher ratio among others.
iv. Besides, the chief minister also launched a Unified Data Information System for Education
(U-DISE) to provide the details about the enrolments and pupil-to-teacher ratios from school to
school.
v. Mehbooba also inaugurated the GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping of schools,
in which the geographical locations and 3D structures of the schools have been distinctly marked. It
also informs about the school infrastructure and school cluster structure zone-wise in a district. As
many as 28,000 schools are being taken up under GIS mapping in the state.
vi. The chief minister also launched, Vocational Monitoring Details, an online portal for
monitoring the implementation of various vocational courses in the state.
vii .The Minister also launched an e-Office for online management of files in the school education
department to address the critical infrastructure gap and ensure time management.
transferring or receiving SBNs as illegal with provisions for penalty for violating any provisions
of the Ordinance.
iii. The ordinance provides for amending the Reserve Bank of India Act to provide legislative
support for extinguishing the demonetized banknotes that are not returned.
iv .According to the Ordinance, holding of old 1,000 and 500 rupee notes after 31st of March 2017
will considered as an offence and attract a fine of Rs. 10,000 or 5 times the cash held, whichever
is higher. Also not more than 10 notes of demonetized currency can be held after December 30.
Supreme Court Rejects J&Ks Claim, Says no vestige of sovereignty outside the
Constitution of India
i .The Supreme Court on December 16, 2016, rejected the Jammu and Kashmir High Courts
claim that the states sovereignty cannot be challenged or altered, stating that the state has no
vestige of sovereignty outside the Constitution of India.
ii. A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Nariman also rejected the J&K High Courts
view that the J&K Constitution was equal to the Constitution of India.
iii. The bench pointed the Section 3 of the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir, which stated
that the State of Jammu & Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India and
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the residents of Jammu & Kashmir are governed first by the Constitution of India. The court stated
that there is no dual citizenship and it was completely incorrect to describe the state as being
sovereign and distinct class itself.
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PM Modi also addressed his sixth Parivartan Rally in Kanpur as a part of BJPs election
campaign for the ensuing assembly elections in the state.
The event also witnessed joint partnerships with various industries that will train and
employ nearly four lakh youths over the next 3 years.
National Apprentice Promotion Scheme
PM Modi announced the National Apprentice Promotion Scheme in Uttar Pradesh. The state
government will have a major role in the successful implementation of the scheme.
In the financial year target for 2016-17, the government wants to ensure enrollment of at
least 5 lakh apprentices across the country.
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs) and Drivers Training Institutes
The Prime Minister also announced the launch of 31 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras
(PMKKs).
MSDE plans to open one Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) in each district of the
country to create career opportunities for the youth.
Kaushal Pradarshini (Skill Exhibition)
PM Modi inaugurated the Kaushal Pradarshini (Skill Exhibition) for the youth of Uttar
Pradesh.
The exhibition showcased vocational training practices across different sectors. It will be open
for public at Railway Grounds, Kanpur between December 19-22.
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courts functioning on premises of mosques in Tamil Nadu, to safeguard the interests of a large
number of innocent Muslims whose fate was being decided by such illegal Sharia courts and
councils in the state.
ii. A two bench of Chief Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sundar ordered the ban of
all such unauthorised courts in the state and asked for a status report from the police within four
weeks.
iii. The Sharia court on the premises of Makka Masjid Shariat Council was dealing with
matrimonial disputes, summoning parties and passing divorce orders like a regular court.
PLACES IN NEWS
First Cyber Crime Police Station inaugurated in Himachal Pradesh
i. Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh inaugurated the states first Cyber Crime Police
Station was inaugurated at the state police headquarters, Shimla.
ii. Objective: To deal with increasing incidents of crime in cyberspace.
iii. It will register and probe cyber crimes such as hacking of government web sites and its data,
online fraud and cyber terrorism.
Himachal Pradesh Raj Bhawan adopts cashless system for all kinds of Transactions
i. Himachal Pradesh, Governor Acharya Devvrat has directed the Raj Bhawan staff in
Shimla to adopt cashless system or cheque in all kind of payments to ensure that all transactions
are made online.
ii. Governor has also appealed students, teachers and NGOs to make common people aware about
cashless system
iii. Himachal Rajbhawan is the first in country to adopt these cashless techniques so promptly.
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Hailakandi District in Assam becomes first to Pay Wages to Tea workers via Bank Account
i. Hailakandi has become the first district in Assam to pay wages to Tea Garden Workersthrough
individual bank accounts before the December 15 deadline set by the state government for cashless
transactions to the plantation workers.
ii. Following demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1000 currency notes from November 9, Assam
government had set December 15 as the deadline for cashless transactions to tea plantation
workers.
iii. At least 504 workers of Burnie Braes Tea Estate received their wages through bank accounts
and the payment was made through five Banking Correspondents (CSPs) of Assam Gramin
Vikash Bank.
L&T bags contract to convert Sardar Patel Stadium to worlds biggest cricket stadium
i. Larsen & Turbo (L&T) has bagged a contract from Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) to
make Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium of Gujarat the worlds biggest cricket stadium in terms of
seating capacity.
ii. Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium is situated in Motera, Ahmadabad in Gujarat. After the renovation
it will take over the Melbourne Cricket Ground of Australia in terms of seating capacity.
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PM Narendra Modi lays foundation stone of Pt Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre in Varanasi
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone for Pt Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre and a
150-bed ESIC super speciality hospital in his Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi on December
22, 2016
ii. He visits Kabir Nagar area to inspect laying of underground cables, installation of heritage
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Haryana Organises Countrys First Digi Dhan Mela to spread digital literacy
i .In order to promote cashless economy, the state government of Haryana organized the
countrys first Digi Dhan Mela in the Gurugram, Haryana on December 26, 2016 post
demonitization.
ii. The centre has planned to organise as many as 100 such melas throughout the country up to
April 14, 2017 for educating the people.
iii .The mela inspired the people to go for digital and cashless transactions. Everything in the mela
was cashless, ranging from food courts, E-Thelas, cultural events among others.
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FOREIGN VISITS
Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Abdullah on His Two Day Visit to India
Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani arrived in New Delhi on
December 2, 2016 on a two day visit to India to hold discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of common interest.
This is the first visit of Sheikh Abdullah to India and the third high-level bilateral
engagement between the two countries in the past two years, which underlines Indias
growing ties with Qatar.
During the visit, India and Qatar signed 5 agreements in areas such as
visas, cyberspace and investments.
About the Agreements
1.Visa :An agreement was signed that allows holders of diplomatic, special and official passports of
the two countries, visa-free travel between the two countries.
2.Cyberspace: A protocol on technical cooperation in cyber space and combating cyber crime
was signed between the Ministry of Home Affairs of India and the Ministry of Interior of Qatar.
3.Investment: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed between Supreme
Committee for Delivery and Legacy of Qatar and Confederation of Indian Industry.
The MoU will provide a framework for project experts for Indian companies in Qatar, including
participation in infrastructure projects in Qatar undertaken for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
4.Another MoU was signed for encouraging greater collaboration and exchange in the field
of national ports management.
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government officials.
Aim: To deepen security ties and Boost up a Defence Cooperation Agreement that is likely to be
signed when Hasina visits India in December.
Important Highlights of the visit
i. The minister met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also holds defence portfolio, on
December 1, 2016 and discussed measures to strengthen military and security ties between the
two countries.
ii. Parrikar, was accompanied by 11-member high-powered delegations and met President Abdul
Hamid who assured India that it has zero tolerance policy against terrorism and sought expanded
military ties.
iii.The Defence Minister also met Hasinas security adviser Major General (Retd) Tariq
Ahmed and discussed bilateral military and security cooperation.
The agreement aimed to build a strong economic and development partnership to strengthen the
flow of trade, capital and people between the two countries.
Apart from the three agreements, both the countries also agreed to cooperate in defence
and maritime security to ensure safety and security of sea lanes, disaster response and
environmental protection
The two countries agreed to increase the partnership for combating terrorism, organized
crime, drugs and human trafficking.
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Mukherjee also complimented the Kyrgyzstan President on the successful conduct of the
parliamentary elections in October last year and for successfully steering a referendum on
constitutional amendments earlier this month.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Pakistan-China start direct rail and freight service
i. China and Pakistan launched the direct rail & sea freight service between Kunming and
Karachi as a part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project (CPEC) which was launched in 2015
ii. The first cargo train loaded with 500 tonnes of commodities left Kunming, capital of Yunnan,
an inland province in south-west China departed for Karachi
iii. It will reduce the transport cost by over 50 per cent
British Scientists Gives Green Signal to the use of Three Parent Baby
i. British scientists on December 1, 2016, gave green signal to the use of three-parent
baby fertility treatments, thus becoming the first in the world to officially introduce the
procedures.
ii. The treatment will involve the embryo to receive the usual nuclear DNA from the mother and
father, as well as a small amount of healthy mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) from a female donor
iii. An independent panel of experts were tasked to review the safety of mitochondrial gene therapy
who recommended that the practice should be cautiously adopted only in specific
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circumstances where inheritance is likely to cause death or serious disease and where there is no
other alternatives.
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ii. According to the report of the Civil Aviation Authority confirmed there are no survivorsfrom
crash. 46 bodies out of 48 have been recovered.
construction and domestic sectors of Qatar and other gulf countries. The system requires a local
sponsor -individual or company- and need their permission to switch jobs or leave the country.
Indus Waters Treaty processes between India & Pakistan paused by World Bank
i. The World Bank has paused the Indus Waters Treaty processes initiated
by India and Pakistan to allow the two countries to consider alternative ways to resolve their
disagreements.It was announced by Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon.
ii. It was paused to resolve conflicting interests under the Treaty and its application to two
hydroelectric power plants
Work Bank cancelled $100 million loan to Pakistan
The World Bank has cancelled a $100 million loan to Pakistan for a natural gas efficiency project
which to be carried out by Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC)
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Islamic revolution, the new bill offered the first clear list of principles that could be used to check
the performance of state institutions.
iv. Rouhani said the authorities should respect limits on their powers, accusing them of
ignoring human rights.
Japan Approves Record $43.6 billion Increase in Military Spending to Counter North
Korea and China
i. The government of Japan headed by Shinzo Abe approved a 1.4 percent increase in military
spending on December 22, 2016 in order to counter the military power of North Korea and
China. With this the total military budget of Japan has now reached a record level of $43.6
billion or 5.13 trillion Japanese Yen for the year starting April 1.
ii. Japan is planning to strengthen its presence in the East China Sea along with making
preparations to improve its ballistic missile defense.
iii. The military might of China and North Koreas progress in its missile and nuclear program has
created great concerns for Japan. Large military budget will help Japan to counter other regional
military powers.
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Report finds India as second largest arms purchaser after Saudi Arabia
i. As per the report of Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations 2008-
2015 released by Congressional Research Service (CRS), India has emerged as the second
largest purchaser of arms among developing nations after Saudi Arabia.
ii. According to the report, between 2008 and 2015, India purchased defence equipment worth $34
billion while in the same period, Saudi Arabias purchase was worth $93.5 billion.
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The declaration states the welcoming of the agreements between the international
community and Afghanistan for continued financial support to the Afghanistan National
Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) until 2020.
The declaration welcomes the MOU on Jointly Building the Silk Road Economic Belt and
the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road between China and Afghanistan.
BRICS Heads of Revenue and Experts on Tax Matters, Meet held in Mumbai
The BRICS countries Heads of Revenue, namely the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian
Federation, the Republic of India, the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa
held a meeting on December 5-6, 2016 in Mumbai.
The meeting aimed to discuss the potential areas of cooperation and exchange opinions and views
based on their existing commitment to openness, solidarity, equality, mutual understanding,
inclusiveness and mutually beneficial cooperation.
The BRICS Experts discussed matters such as:
i. Sharing of best practices in BRICS countries on improving compliance through non intrusive
means
ii. Progress and issues arising out of implementation of BEPS action point 13 relating to Country
by Country reporting and
iii. The Heads of Revenue expressed their continued support to all international initiatives towards
reaching a globally fair and universally transparent tax system.
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Sixth Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development Held in New
Delhi
i. The sixth edition of Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development
(APMCHUD) was held in New Delhi from December 14-December 16, 2016.The conference was
inaugurated by Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
ii. Aim: The aim of the conference was to address issues ranging from crowded city centres to
peripheral expansion, metropolitan based urban population growth, megacities and urban corridors
among others.
iii. Theme of the conference: Emerging Urban Forms Policy Responses
and Government Structures.
iii. They agreed to enhance cooperation amongst the BRICS countries for capacity development
of human resources in public health and clinical medicine.
iv. The BRICS also agreed to adopt the TB cooperation plan to create a research consortium on
TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria.
v. The 7thBRICS Health Ministers meeting and Meeting of Senior Health Officials will be held in
China in 2017.
The fifth edition of the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCSS) to be hosted by India in
2017.
i. IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on December 20, 2016, informed that India has
been selected to host the fifth edition of the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCSS) in
2017.
ii. The conference is likely to be held in last quarter of 2017. Over 100 countries are expected
to participate in it with ministerial level delegations.
iii. The opportunity to host the conference comes as a recognition to Indias emerging role as big
cyber power accelerated by Digital India which has gained international fame.
iv. GCCS will deliberate on issues related to promotion of cooperation in cyberspace, norms for
responsible behavior in cyberspace and to enhance cyber capacity building.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh chairs Southern Zonal Council meet at Thiruvananthapuram
i. The 27th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council was chaired by the Union Home
Minister Shri Rajnath Singh at Thiruvananthapuram on December 28, 2016.
ii. The conclusion of the meeting marks the end of the three Zonal Councils (Eastern, Western and
Southern) meeting. The meetings of the remaining two Zonal Councils (Central and Northern) are
also expected to be held soon with the next meet to be held in Karnataka.
iii. The aim of the Zonal Councils is to provide a common meeting ground for the States
to promote and facilitate coordinated efforts for fostering economic and social development.
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iii. Obama, Trump and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, received 7% of the vote while Facebook
founder Mark Zuckerberg got 2% vote and US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton got 4% vote.
Sachin and Binny Bansal co-Founders of Flipkart named Asians of the Year
i. Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal have been chosen for the 2016 Asian of
the Year by Straits Times of Singapore as part of a group called the The Disruptors.
ii. The other names included in the disruptors group are the founders of Tencent, Go-Jek, Razer
and Grab.
Social Development Report Finds Disabled Children Miss Out Due to Lack of Support
Services
i. According to the Social Development Report (SDR) 2016, in India, 45 percent of Persons with
Disability (PWD) are illiterate.
ii. The theme of the report for 2016 is Disabilities Rights Perspectives
iii. The report revealed that 38 percent of PWD males were illiterate while 55 percent of
female PWD.Even in Kerala, which is known as a state associated with complete literacy, 33.1
percent of PWDs were illiterate.
iv. In India, Sikkim, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep had the highest incidence of
disability, while Tamil Nadu, Assam and Delhi had the lowest proportions of the PWDs.
v. Kerala performed the worst in giving employment to the PWDs, with a non-worker rate of
74.52 per cent, worst than national average.
India Achieves 4th rank in Global Wind Power Installed Capacity Index
i. India has been ranked 4th in the Global Wind Power Installed Capacity index after China,
USA and Germany with cumulative installed wind power generation capacity of 28,279 MW in
2016.
ii. The Government is aiming to increase share of clean energy through massive development and
deployment of new and renewable energy in India to meet Energy security, Electricity
shortages, Energy access and Climate change among others.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Named in Top 100 Global Thinkers 2016 list
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been named among the top 100 global
thinker by the US based Foreign Policy magazine.
Swaraj was named in the Global Thinkers of 2016 List under the Decision-makers
category along with the Democratic nominee for US President Hillary Clinton, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US Attorney
General Loretta Lynch among others.
She was favored for her Twitter diplomacyand evacuating Indians from Yemen as well
as helping to replace lost passports.
Apart from Swaraj, the magazine also listed the co-founders of Sampark
Foundation, Anupama Nayar and Vineet Nayar, under the the Moguls category for
transforming learning techniques in Schools.
Other Indians who were listed in the Global Thinkers Of 2016 List includes:
Nitesh Kadyan, Nikhil Kaushik, and Anirudh Sharma of Graviky Labs, which is an Indian firm
that uses polluted air to create art supplies were named under the Stewards
Category.Immunologist Gursaran Prasad Talwar was named under the Healers category for
the vaccine developedby him that could decrease leprosy rates by 65 per cent over three years.
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India Surpasses Saudi Arabia and Russia to become Fourth Largest Defence Spender
i. According to the 2016 Janes Defence Budgets Report, released by research firm IHS
Markit on December 12, 2016, India has become the fourth largest defence spender in the
world, after US, China, and the UK.
ii. India, which is Asias third-largest economy spent $50.6 billion in 2016, from previous $46.6
billion in 2015.
iii. The US, China, and the UK remained the top three defence spenders respectively.India was
followed by Saudi Arabia and Russia at fifth and sixth positions respectively. Russia, which was at
the fourth place in 2015, slipped to the sixth spot in 2016.
Indian Origin Apoorva Mehta, Vivek Ramaswamy Listed In Forbes List Of US Richest
Entrepreneurs Under 40
i. Two Indians have been listed in Forbes magazines second annual list of wealthiest entrepreneurs
under the age of 40.
ii. Vivek Ramaswamy, a successful biotech entrepreneur has been ranked 24th on Americas
Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 2016 list having a networth of 600 milliondollars while Apoorva
Mehta stands at 31st spot with a 360 million dollars networth.
iii. Ramaswamy, 31, a Harvard University and Yale School of Management alumnus, is in the
biotech business along with deals and drug development plans.
iv. Apoorva Mehta after engineering from University of Waterloo worked at Blackberry, Qualcomm,
and then Amazon. In 2012, he cofounded Instacart, a grocery delivery service that partners with
grocery chains.
v. The list has been topped by Zuckerberg, whose Facebook shares and net worth is now worth
USD 50 billion.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ranks among Forbes Top 10 Worlds Most Powerful People
Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi has been ranked among the top 10 most powerful
people in the world by Forbes. Modi ranked 9th on the Forbes list of 74 Most Powerful People in
the World. Forbes said that Indias populist prime minister is hugely popular in his country of 1.3
billion people.
Top 5 Most Popular People List
Gujarat-born activist, Jayaben Desai on BBCs most influential women of the past 70
years list
i. Jayaben Desai, a Gujarat-born activist, who led a campaign against low pay for women workers
at a UK factory in the 1970s, has been named in the BBCs most influential women of the past
70 years list which was released on December 14, 2016.
ii. She was a prominent leader of the two-year industrial dispute against the Grunwick Film
Processing Laboratories in North London in 1976.
iii. The seven women list was topped by Margaret Thatcher, Britains first female Prime Minister.
iv. The seven women listed was chosen to mark the 70th anniversary of BBC Radio 4
Womans Hour.
Global Wage Report shows India to be among the worst levels of gender wage disparity
According to the Global Wage Report 2016-17 released by the International Labour
Organisation (ILO), India is among one of the Worlds worst gender gaps in wages.The
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report showed that men earned more than women in similar jobs, with the gap exceeding 30
percent. Women are paid 33% less than men in hourly wages in India.
Important points of the report
The report showed that, in India, women represented 63 percent of the lowest paid wage
labor while only 15 percent of the highest wage-earners were female.
Not only were women paid less with wide gender gap at bottom level but there were
fewer women in highly paid occupations.
Among the major economies, Singapore had among the lowest, at 3 per cent
while South Korea fared worse than India, with a gap of 37 per cent.
The report also found that the share of women among wage earners was among
the lowest in South Asia. Compared to a global average of 40 per cent, and an Asia-
Pacific average of 38 per cent, in South Asia (whose dominant economy is India), only 20
per cent of wage earners were women.
Based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) studies, the report found that strong labour market
institutions and policies such as collective bargaining and minimum
wages lowered the pay gap.
The gender pay gap was found to be smallest (8 per cent) in the group of countries where
the collective bargaining rate is at least 80 per cent, and widest in countries with weak
collective bargaining and no or very low minimum wages.
In India, in the area of high income inequality, the top one percent earned 33
times what the bottom 10 per cent did. The top 10 per cent also earned 43 per
cent of all wages.
However, the report also highlighted a positive aspect that average wages
grew by 60% in India since 2006 and wage inequality decreased. The average wage
more than doubled in China in last decade.
Salman Khan Ranks Top in 2016 Forbes India Celebrity 100 List
i. Based on the 2016 Forbes India Celebrity 100 list released by Forbes, Salman Khan has
bagged the top position in the coveted list leaving behind Shah
Rank Name
Rukh Khan at second place. Player Virat Kohli was placed third. 1 Salman Khan
2 Shah Rukh Khan
ii. The ranking was based on two parameters: estimates of
3 Virat Kohli
entertainment related earnings and estimates of fame. The 4 Akshay Kumar
5 M.S Dhoni
period under consideration was 1 October 2015 to 30
September 2016.
Report Finds Tribal Community to Lag in Various Social Parameters than other Groups
According to latest released annual report of the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the tribal
population in India lags behind other social groups on various social parameters such as child
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mortality and infant mortality and womens health, education, poverty etc.
Findings of the Report
i .As per the report a vast majority of tribal population is engaged in agricultural labour and women
face higher incidence of Anaemia when compared to other social groups.
ii. The community also had the highest child mortality and infant mortality rates, when
compared to other social groups.
iii. Though the educational achievements on the whole has improved but the data showed that
the gross enrolment ratio among tribal students in the primary school level has declined from 113.2
in 2013-14 to 109.4 in 2015-16 along with high dropout rate.
iv. The overall poverty rates among the tribal population was found to be low when compared to
previous years but still they remained relatively poorer when weighed against other social groups.
v. The report found that the health infrastructure experienced vast shortage in tribal areas. At an
all-India level, there is a shortfall of 6,796 Sub Centres, 1267 Primary Health Centres and 309
Community Health Centres in tribal areas as on March 31, 2015.
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RBL Bank Launches Aadhaar Payment Bridge System for cashless loan disbursements
i. Maharashtra based private sector lender RBL Bank has launched Aadhaar Payment Bridge
System (APBS) on November 30, 2016, for small ticket micro-finance loan disbursements.
ii. According to bank Head Rajeev Ahuja, it is the first bank to launch the APBS on its platform to
implement the governments idea of digital banking.
iii. APBS system aims towards cashless loan disbursements, which otherwise is dominated by
physical cash.
RBI extends deadline for deployment of Aadhaar based PoS terminals till June of next
year
i. The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has been decided to extend the time for deployment of Aadhaar-
enabled devices till June 30, 2017.
ii. The time was extended by six months because of the rate of deployment of acceptance
infrastructure has slowed down owing to the mismatch between demand and supply of such
Aadhaar-enabled devices.
iii. RBI had informed that Aadhaar enabled PoS terminals were to be mandatorily installed
by January, 2017
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worth Rs. 20,000 crore using Multiple Price Auction method. CMBs will have the generic
character of Treasury Bills.
MMTC to tie-up with SBI to sell govt minted Indian Gold Coin
i. Indias largest public sector trading body MMTC(Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation )
tie-up with the State Bank of India (SBI) to sell government-minted Indian Gold Coin(24
Karat)which will be available in denominations of 5gm, 10gm and 20 gm bar.
ii. It has set a target of selling 5 lakhs units in the next few years under Gold Monetisation Scheme
which was launched in 2015 by PM Modi
iii. The coin will be manufactured by Security Printing and Minting Corp and it is made from the
yellow metal under Gold Monetisation Scheme of the Central government.
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ii. The Point of Sale (PoS) enabled ATMs will be stationed in Ola cabs from where customers of any
bank can withdraw up to Rs 2,000 per card.
HDFC Life launched two micro insurance products, Jeevan Suraksha and Credit Suraksha
i. Life insurance provider HDFC Life has launched two micro-insurance scheme named Jeevan
Suraksha and Credit Suraksha to provide financial security to its customers
ii. Aim : To address the needs of the Employees of Micro Finance Institutions, Co-operatives and
Members / Employees of other homogenous groups to provide financial security at a nominal cost
in the event of unfortunate death of a Member / Employee.
iii. Jeevan Suraksha :
It will provides insurance cover maximum 2 lakhs against untimely death.
3 premium payment options Yearly renewable, Single pay & Regular pay.
iv. Credit Suraksha :
It will provides insurance protection against outstanding loan liability up to Rs 2 lakhs in the
event of untimely demise of the insured member.
5% discount on premium of the younger life assured.
Vijayawada Parliamentary constituency becomes first to have health insurance for all
i. AP government with Tata Trusts has launched a health insurance scheme, Swatha
Kutumbam in Vijayawada which became Indias first constituency to have health insurance for all
people include new born for a year from December 1, 2016 to November 30, 2017.
ii. Under this insurance scheme every individual has to pay Rs 1 per day or Rs 120 per month per
family as premium.
iii. It covered medicines, diagnostics, and post-surgery care will be covered.
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RBI says Bank will have to bear full liability in case of online security breach
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed the Additional Factor Authentication(AFA)
norms for online transactions up to Rs. 2,000 to save time transaction time of customers and also
promote governments digital payment program.
ii. However, RBI has also notified that the banks will have to bear the full liability in case of any
security breach in the authorised card network information.
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iii. To avail the AFA facility, banks which will issue the cards will also offer the payment
authentication solutions of the respective card networks to the customers on an optional basis.
Paytm launched Toll Free Number 180018001234 for Transactions Without Internet
connection
i. Indian e-commerce website Paytm launched its toll-free number 180018001234 to enable
transaction through mobile phones without an internet connection on December 7, 2016.
ii. Customers can use basic mobile phones to transact money using this service, before that they
need to register with Paytm their mobile number and set a four digit paytm PIN.
iii. Paytm is one of the 11 entities have obtained payment bank license from RBI in August
2015.Ahead of the launch of its Payments Bank, merging One97 Communications owns wallet
business with payments bank operation.
Mahila E-haat ties up with India Post, State Bank of India for Wider Payment Option
i. The Women and Child Development Ministry has tied up with India Post and State Bank of
India to offer more payment options to buyers and simplify shipping of products bought
from Mahila E-haat.
ii. SBI users can use various options for making payments such as draft, cheque, e-banking and e-
wallet through SBI Buddy application while SBI customers abroad can make use of SBI
Global.
iii. One can also take the advantage of options like general insurance for insuring the item being
couriered.
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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.
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iii. She would replace Canadas first Prime Minister, Sir John A Macdonald, on the $10 bill coming
into effect in 2018.
UBI adopts two villages in Tripura to implement schemes in line of digital India
programme
i. Kolkata based United Bank of India has adopted Patunagar and Sachindranagar Colony in
the state of Tripura to implement schemes in the line of digital India program.UBI will make
necessary steps to change the villages into truly cashless villages.
ii. To implement this initiative, the bank has begun campaign to empower villagers to use various
mobile applications like Mobile banking, United UPI, e-Passbook etc to facilitate their everyday
banking operations.
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Instead of bank account number and IFSC code, the virtual payment address is used to pay
through the UPI.
India and IBRD signs Grant Agreement for Additional Financing in MSME Project.
i. India on December 13, 2016, signed a Grant Agreement of USD 5.19
million with International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for Additional
Financing for Financing Energy Efficiency at MSMEs Project- Programmatic Framework for Energy
Efficiency.
ii. The agreement was signed by Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary at Department of Economic Affairs on
behalf of the Union Government and Junaid Ali Ahmad, Country Director of World Bank (India) on
behalf of IBRD.
iii. The agreement signed was a part of the parent project India: Financing Energy Efficiency
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at MSME Project (FEEMP) that was initiated from September 29, 2010 with Grant amount of US$
11.3 million.
RBI Slashes Charges on Debit Card Payment and MDR to Boost Digital Transaction
i. To encourage digital transactions, the Reserve Bank on December 16, 2016, has announced
several measures that would come into effect from January 1 to March 31, 2017.
ii. RBI has directed the banks to cut MDR charges on payments made through debit card. The
Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) for debit card payments, including for payments made to
government, will be capped at 0.25 per cent for transactions up to Rs 1,000 and 0.5 per
cent between Rs 1,000-2,000.
iii. The existing MDR cap is 0.75 per cent for transactions up to Rs 2,000 and 1 per cent for over Rs
2,000. However, there is no RBI cap on MDR on credit card payments.
iv. RBI has also asked banks and prepaid payment instrument issuers not to levy any charges for
transactions up to Rs 1,000 using Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), USSD-based *99# and
Unified Payment Interface (UPI) systems from January 1 to March 31, 2017.However, these
measures will not apply to ATM transactions.
after November 9 to stop the misuse of banking channels to deposit unaccounted money.
ii. RBI on December 15, 2016, imposed restrictions on withdrawal & deposit if more than Rs 2
lakh has been deposited after November 9 in an account which has a balance of over Rs 5 lakh.
iii. As per a RBI notification, withdrawal or transfer of funds will not be permitted in accounts
without giving PAN number or submission of Form 60 for those persons who do not have PAN.
iv. Besides, the RBI said the monthly limit for withdrawal and transfer from a small accountwill
remain Rs 10,000. Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts which are not KYC compliant accounts will
be treated as small accounts.
Bank of Baroda, First Indian Company to Support FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017
i. Bank of Baroda has become the first Indian company to sign up as a National Supporter for the
FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, which will be held from 6 to 28 October 2017.
ii. This will be the first time that India will be hosting FIFA international football competition. FIFA
U-17 World Cup India 2017 will see participation from 24 countries including India and matches will
be played at six different venues.
iii. With the signing of the agreement, Bank of Baroda has claimed the first out of six National
Supporter slots for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017. The tournament FIFA will be signing 5
more national supporters ahead of the tournament.
BRICS bank approves USD 75 million loan for Shanghai Solar Power Project
i. The New Development Bank, jointly found by the BRICS countries approved USD 75
million (525 million yuan) loan for a solar power project in Shanghai, China on December 20,
2016.
ii. The power project Shanghai Lingang Distributed Solar Power Project is being developed
by Shanghai Lingang Hongbo New Energy Development Co.
iii. The loan with a maturity period of 17 years was approved under an agreement signed
between New Development Bank (NDB), the Ministry of Finance and the Shanghai municipal
government.
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of Section 11(3) of FEMA 1999, taking into account, the violations of the
instructions/directions/guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India, from time to time.
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to weigh on capacity utilisation in the second half of 2016-17, delaying capacity expansion plans of
the private sector.
AU Financiers (India) gets RBIs final approval to start Small Finance Bank
i. Jaipur-based Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC), Au Financiers (India), received final
approval of the Reserve Bank of India on December 27 to start operations as Small Finance
Bank in India.
ii. The company was among the 10 entities that received in-principle approval of RBI in September
2015 to set up small finance banks.
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World Bank approved USD 235 Million Credit for Bihar Rural Roads Project
i. World Bank has approved a USD 235 million credit for the Bihar Rural Roads Project to upport
the construction of about 2,500 km of rural roads in Bihar under the Mukhiya Mantri Gram
Sampark Yojana (MMGSY)
ii. The fund is allocated from the International Development Association (IDA) with a maturity
of 25 years, including a 5-year grace period.
CBDT signs 2 unilateral unilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs) with Indian
taxpayers
i. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed two new unilateral advance pricing
agreements (APAs) with Indian taxpayers on 29 December 2016. With this the total number of
APAs entered into by CBDT has increased two 117. This includes 110 unilateral APAs and 7 bilateral
APAs.
ii. The two unilateral APAs signed on 29 December includes Information
Technology and automobile sectors. The international transactions which are covered under the
agreements include software development services, IT enabled services, manufacturing and
business support services.
Central Government invites views of general public and stakeholders on the Report of the
Financial Redressal Agency
i. Central Government has invited the views of general public and stakeholders on the report on the
Report of the Financial Redressal Agency latest by 31st January 2017.
ii. The concept of Financial Redressal Agency (FRA) was introduced in the Budget Speech of
2015-16 by Shri Arun Jaitley from the recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative
Reforms Commission (FSLRC)of 2013. The role defined for FRA is to address the grievances of
retail consumers against all Financial Service Providers (FSPs).
iii. As per the Task Force under the present system customer has to undergo unnecessary stress as
they have to visit various redressal agency. FRA simplifies this process. The Task Force has
recommended an initial budget of about Rs.100 crore to operationalise the FRA.
Delhis per capita income 3 times national average and highest among all states
i. As per a Statistical Handbook released by Deputy Chief Minister of New Delhi Manish Sisodia,
New Delhi registered the highest increase in per capita income among all the states and Union
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territory of India.
ii. The per capita income of New Delhi is Rs 2,80,142 during 2015-16. The figure is
approximately 3 times the national average per capita income for 2015-16 which stands at Rs
93,293 during 2015-16 as per the official statement.
iii. The second position was occupied by Chandigarh, with a per capita income of
Rs 2,42,386 while Sikkim with per capita income of Rs 2,27,465 was on the third spot.
NPCIs RuPay Card usage at Merchant Terminals Increases 7 times after demonetisation
i. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has informed that post demonetization,
the usage of RuPay Card has been increased to over 2.1 million from 3 lakh per day, at the PoS
terminals, which is seven times more since the announcement of the demonitization.
ii .The payment retail payment gateway is targeting a daily volume of 5 million transactions
through RuPay cards by next December.
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can transfer funds from such PPIs to their own linked bank accounts up to Rs 50,000 per month,
without any limit per transaction.
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No political party can accept donations in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes: FM Arun Jaitley
i. At the 2016 Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence, Mumbai, on December 17, 2016,
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley clarified that no political party can accept donations in Rs 500
and Rs 1,000 notes since they have been rendered illegal tender. Any party doing so would be in
violation of law.
ii. He declared that the government has not granted any new exemption to registered political
parties either after 8th November demonetization or with the introduction of the Taxation
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Amendment Act, 2016. He said income and donations of political parties fall in the purview of
Section 13A of the Income Tax Act 1961 and there is no change in its provisions.
RBI opposes Digital Payment Committee proposal to set up separate payments regulator
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opposed the view of Digital Payment Committee to
establish a separate entity to regulate payments and settlements.
ii. In September, the Centre had set up a 11-member committee on Digital Payments headed by
Finance Secretary Ratan Watal, and including the RBIs former deputy governor H.R. Khan and
Executive Director Chandan Sinha as its members.
Foreign Exchange Reserve of India Declines by 887.2 million dollars to 362.987 billion
dollars
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on December 16, 2016, announced that the Foreign
exchange reserves of India has declined by 887.2 million dollars to 362.987 billion
dollars in a week from December 9 due to fall in foreign currency assets.
ii. In the previous week, the reserves had declined by $1.431 billion to $363.874 billion.
BUSINESS
BHEL commissions first unit of Pulichintala hydro power plant in Andhra Pradesh
i. New Delhi based BHEL has commissioned the first unit of the 430 MW Pulichintala
Hydroelectric project (HEP) on December 1, 2016 in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh on the
river Krishna.
ii. The greenfield project is being set up by TSGENCO and the project design, manufacture, supply,
supervision of erection, testing and commissioning of Electrical & Mechanical (E&M) package work is
undertake by BHEL.
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Corporation (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) to accept payment through Ola Money in
petrol pumps
ii. Ola driver-partners and Ola customers can now pay for their fuel with Ola on Verifone-enabled
PoS devices in any of these fuel stations without having to use cash or their cards for payments.
Government of India and Intel ties up for Water and Air Quality Monitoring systems.
i. The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, haspartnered
with the US Technology Giant Intel on December 8, 2016, to conduct research on water and air
quality monitoring.
ii. Aim: to develop key technologies for sensing, communication and analysis of large-scale data
collected from autonomous networks of sensor nodes and acting accordingly for water and air
quality monitoring in real-time.
iii. The monitoring program will be administered by the Indo-US Science and Technology
Forum (IUSSTF).
low for more than two years disturbing the budgets and creating unrest in some countries.
iv. OPEC has agreed to put down the oil production 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from
January 1, with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting as much as 486,000 bpd.
Uttar Pradesh and Tata Trust Ties to Strengthen Public Distribution System
i. Akhilesh Yadav lead Uttar Pradesh Government has tied up with Tata Trusts to
acquire digital platforms to strengthen the public distribution system (PDS) in the state.
ii. Under the Agreement, Tata Trusts have installed electronic Point of Sale devices(ePOS) in
various urban region shops of Lucknow, to ensure operation of an Aadhaar-enabled Public
Distribution System (AePDS) at fair price.
(CSEC) in Delhi.
ii. It is the first such cyber security center of Microsoft to be bulid in India.The centre will
offer Microsoft capabilities to promote deeper cybersecurity collaborations with public and private
sector organizations in India.
Paytm launches campaign Each one, teach one to increase digital inclusion
i. To increase the digital inclusion in India, Paytm, a digital wallet, has announced a
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campaign, Each one, teach one, under which consumers and merchants across the country with
Paytm knowledge will be required to teach others to use Paytm.
ii. Aim: The aim of the campaign is to increase the use of digital wallet and shift the users from
cash to digital payments mode.
iii. Paytm has announced a grand prize of Rs. 1 core and many other prizes such as Motorcycles,
smartphones, laptops for the users as the part of the programme.
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Google India Collaborates Ministry of Consumer Affairs for Online Consumer Protection
i. Google India in collaboration with Ministry of Consumer Affairs has announced a
nationwide Digitally Safe Consumer campaign on December 24, 2016.
ii. Aim: the main aim of the campaign is to raise awareness about online safety and protect
the interest of the consumers against online fraud.
Government revises North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIP),
2007
i. The Government has revised North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy
(NEIIP), 2007 to stipulate mandatory disbursal of subsidies to all industrial units in northeast
through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism by Chief Controller of Accounts
(Industry).
ii. The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) said that the Industrial units
which had commenced production on or after December 1, 2014 and on or before March 31, 2017
as well as existing units which go in for substantial expansion and commence commercial
production on or before March 2017 will be eligible for incentives as per the revised norms of
subsidy.
iii. The subsidy for the existing and new industrial units going for substantial expansion will be
limited Rs 3 crore per industrial unit operating in services sector and Rs 5 crore per industrial unit
operating in manufacturing sector.
iv. The limit for automatic approval of subsidy at the rate of 30% of the investment in plant and
machinery will continue to be upto Rs 1.5 crore per unit. In case of grant for capital investment
subsidy higher than Rs 1.5 crore and upto a maximum of Rs 5 crore will be approved by
empowered committee, chaired by Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial
Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
Iran Finalizes 100-jet deal with Airbus with first delivery in January
i. Iran has finalized an agreement with Airbus to acquire 100 jetliners. The timing of the first
delivery of the Airbus A321 is expected to arrive before the January 20.
ii. Under the agreement, Airbus will supply four types of aircraft including both narrow-body and
wide-body aircraft: its medium-haul A320 and A321 aircraft and the long-haul A330 and A350.
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The UNESCO stated that the rumba brings a sense grace, sensuality and joy in mind and
since the rumba existed from poor communities in Cuba, the dance is an
enduring expression of resistance and self-esteem.
Yoga inscribed in UNESCOs representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Humanity
Yoga, one of the ancient practices of India, has now been included as an element in the UNESCOs
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during the 11th session of the
Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
Pranab Mukherjee conferred Chinese Professor with 2nd ICCR Distinguished Indologist
Award
i. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the second ICCR Distinguished
Indologist Award to Prof. Yu Long Yu of the Peoples Republic of China on December 1, 2016 at a
function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
ii. The President said that the contribution of foreign scholars to the development of
Indology has been critical and their efforts have led to the worldwide awareness of Indias rich
cultural and civilizational past.
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AIFF Conferred with AFC Developing Member Association of the Year Award
All India Football Federation (AIFF) has won the AFC Developing Member Association of
the Year Award at the Asian Football Confederations (AFC) Annual Awards held in Abu
Dhabi on December 1, 2016.
AIFF President Praful Patel received the Award from AFC Vice-President Ali Kafashian at a
glittering ceremony.In 2014, AIFF had won the AFC Presidents Recognition Award for grassroots
football.
Usain Bolt & Almaz Ayana Named World Athletes of the Year 2016
Jamaicas Usain Bolt and Ethiopias Almaz Ayana have been named the male and female World
Athletes of the Year at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2016, held at Sporting Monte Carlo on
December 2, 2016.
OTHER AWARDS
1.MALE RISING STAR: Andre De Grasse - At the age of 21, the Canadian sprinter earned the
Olympic 200m silver medal in Rio.
2.FEMALE RISING STAR: Nafissatou Thiam - The 21 year old Belgian all-round talent won gold
in the heptathlon at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
3.COACHING ACHIEVEMENT: Harry Marra - The US coach guided Ashton Eaton to his second
successive decathlon gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
4.PRESIDENTS AWARD:Tegla Loroupe - Loroupe was the Chef de Mission for the Refugee
Olympic Team in Rio.
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Vijaya Bank & Corporation Bank Wins Awards at the 4th SMEs Excellence Award-2016
i. Vijaya Bank has been honored with Best Bank for SME Lending award at the fourth SMEs
Excellence Award function held in New Delhi.
ii. The Best MSME Bank Award 2016 was given to The Corporation Bank by the Associated
Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)
ii. The award was received by the Vijaya Bank Managing Director & CEO of the bank, Kishore
Sansi and Managing Director and CEO of Corporation Bank , Jai Kumar Garg from the Minister of
State for MSME Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary
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).
Passengers Per Annum category and second among all categories in the Asia-Pacific region to
achieve the Carbon Neutral status.
Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, Selected for SIES- Kanchi Seer Award
Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, UK-based scholar John Ralston Marr, ISRO
chairman A S Kiran Kumar and Hari Katha exponent Kamala Murthy has been selected for the
SIES-Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati National Eminence Award and will be presented the award
at a function at the Shanmukhananda auditorium in Mumbai on December 18, 2016.
Chairman Ratan Tata by pioneer of Indias Green Revolution M.S. Swaminathan in Mumbai
by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) on December 15, 2016
ii. The award was presented for his transformational role in scaling Tata Group as the globally
admired group during his stint of two decades as Chairman.
Jerry Pinto, Nasira Sharma and Vannadhasan among 2016 Sahitya Akademi Award
winners
Mumbai-based writer Jerry Pinto, Tamil author Vannadhasan, Hindi writer Nasira Sharma are
among 24 writers named for the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Awards 2016.
Winners for Novels
1. Nasira Sharma: Hindi novel Paarijat
2. Jerry Pinto: English novel Em and the Big Hoom
3. Gita Upadhyay: Nepali novel Janmabhumi Mero Swadesh
4. Boluwaru Mohammad Kunhi: Kannada novel Swatantryada Ota
5. Edwin JF Dsouza: Konkani novel Kale Bhangar.
Winners for Poetry
Jnan Pujari (Assamese), Anju (Bodo), Kamal Vora (Gujarati), Prabha Varma (Malayalam), Sitanath
Acharya (Sanskrit), Gobinda Chandra Majhi (Santali), Nand Javeri (Sindhi) and Papini Svasankar
(Telugu).
Winners for Short Stories
Chhatrapal (Dongri language), Shyam Darihare (Maithili), Moirangthem Rajen (Manipuri), Asaram
Lomate (Marathi), Paramamita Satpathy (Odia), Bulaki Sharma (Rajasthani) and Vannadhasan
(Tamil).
Winners for Books on Criticism: Aziz Hajini (Kashmiri) and Nizam Siddiqui (Urdu)
Winner for Essay: Nrisinghaprasad Bhaduri (Bengali)
Winner for Play: Swarajbir (Punjabi)
Ravichandran Ashwin wins Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named ICC Cricketer of
the Year and Test cricketer of the Year
i. Ravichandran Ashwin, the Indian offspinner, was named the Cricketer of the Year and
the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2016 by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on December
22.
ii. Ashwin has become the third India player after Rahul Dravid (2004) and Sachin Tendulkar
(2010) and 12th player overall to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.
List of Awards by ICC
ICC Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Ravichandran Ashwin (India).
Trophy)
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year Ravichandran Ashwin (India).
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year Quinton de Kock (South Africa).
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ICC Womens ODI Cricketer of the Year Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
ICC Womens T20I Cricketer of the Year Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
ICC T20I Performance of the Year Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies )
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)
ICC Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan)
ICC Spirit of Cricket Award Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
ICC Umpire of the Year (David Shepherd Trophy) Marais Erasmus
2016 SASTRA-Ramanujan award jointly shared by Radziwill & Matomaki
i. The 2016 SASTRA-Ramanujan award for mathematics was presented jointly to Maksym
Radziwill of McGill University, Canada and Kaisa Matomaki of University of Turku, Finland at the
inauguration of the International Conference on Number Theory at SASTRA University at
Kumbakonam.
ii. The two were facilitated for their revolutionary collaborative work on short intervals in
number theory.
iii. The shared award comprising of a citation and prize money of $5,000 to each was presented
by Prof. Steven Weintraub from Lehigh University who is also the Associate Secretary of the
American Mathematical Society.
Andhra Pradesh Finds Place in Guinness World Records for Largest Kuchipudi Dance
Performance
i. The state dance of Andhra Pradesh, Kuchipudi has found a place in the Guinness World
Records once again when a record 6,117 dancers came together to present a show at the IGMC
Stadium in Vijaywada on December 25, 2016.
ii. Guinness judge Rishinath declared Jayamu Jayamu presented in unison by the participants
created a new record and handed over a certificate to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N
Chandrababu Naidu.
Shah Rukh Khan Conferred with Honorary Doctorate for promoting Urdu Language
i. Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, conferred the Bollywood superstar Shah
Rukh Khan with the honorary doctorate on December 26, 2016, for his contribution towards
promotion of Urdu culture.
ii. Shahrukh Khan was awarded the honorius causa (doctor of letters) at the 6th
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biographical film of Brazilian footballer Pele, directed by Jeff Zimbalist and Michael
Zimbalist.
Andy Murray Retains BBC Sports Personality of the Year for Record Third Time
i. Andy Murray was honored with the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2016 for a record
third time on December 18, 2016. The award was presented by Jessica Ennis Hill and Prince William
at a ceremony in Birmingham.
ii. Murray became the first British tennis player to reach No 1 in the world by winning Sports
Personality of the Year for a record third time along with Wimbledon in June 2016, the Olympics in
August 2016 and replacing Novak Djokovic as Tennis world number one in November 2016.
Varun Bhatt of Rajasthan Patrika and The Week wins IPI-India Award 2016
i. The weekly magazine The Week and Varun Bhatt of daily hindi magazine Rajasthan
Patrika have been named for the International Press Institutes (IPI) India Award for
Excellence in Journalism, 2016, for outstanding journalistic work done during 2015.
ii. Bhatt has been awarded for his investigative report exposing the apathy and negligence of the
authorities in fulfilling promises to build a memorial for 1500 tribals, killed during freedom struggle
in Mangadh, which is called the Jalianwalabagh of Rajasthan.
iii. The Week was selected for an exclusive interview and article by Rabi Banerjee which explained
the unknown life and struggles of human rights activist Irom Sharmila. The interview also gave out
for the first time the fact that she wanted to give up her prolonged fast and take to political work.
iv. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a trophy and a citation, to each winner.
The award will be presented at a function in New Delhi by the end of January 2017.
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Chitra Ramkrishna quits as CEO & MD of NSE, J Ravichandran to take charge for interim
period
i. Chitra Ramkrishna, Managing Director (MD) and chief executive of the National Stock
Exchange of India (NSE) has resigned from her post, even as the countrys largest bourse is set
to go public.
ii. The NSE board met on December 2, 2016 and accepted her resignation.
iii. The board has set up a selection committee to find a replacement for Ramkrishna and has
appointed group president J Ravichandran as interim chief executive officer (CEO).
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi Resigns after losing referendum on constitutional
reform
i. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has resigned on December 5, 2016, after being defeated
in a referendum on constitutional reform over his plan to reform the constitution, throwing the
country and the euro zone into confusion.
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ii. A constitutional referendum was held in Italy on Sunday December 4, 2016. Voters were asked
whether they approve a constitutional law that amends the Italian Constitution to reform the
composition and powers of the Parliament of Italy, as well as the division of powers between the
State, the Regions, and administrative entities.
New Zealand Prime Minister and National party leader John Key resigns Unexpectedly
i. John Key, the New Zealand Prime Minister and leader of the National party, resigned from
the post, ahead of next years general election.
ii. Mr Key told he resigned due to a combination of factors, including a desire to spend more time
with his family and the need to make room for new political talent.
iii. His resignation will be effective from 12 December, when National MPs will meet to select a
new leader.
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ii. Prior o this, Adwaita is working as the director of the Bhubaneshwar-based KIIT School of Fine
Art.
29-year-old Rafia Qaseem Baig becomes first Pak woman to join Bomb Disposal Unit
i. Rafia Qaseem Baig(29) become the first Pakistani woman to join the Bomb Disposal Unit
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Akshaykumar Kale elected President of 90th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan
i. Marathi Writer and scholar Akshaykumar M Kale was elected as the President of the 90th Akhil
Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan which is scheduled to be held from February 3 to 5, 2017
at Dombivili in Maharashtra.
ii. The three-day annual conference is expected to be attended by Marathi litterateursfrom
Maharashtra and other parts of the country.
Priyanka Chopra is UNICEF global ambassador, joins David Beckham and Jackie Chan.
i. Bollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra is appointed as UNICEF Global Goodwill Ambassador for
campaign For Every Child.
ii. Chopra would be joined with Jackie Chan, Orlando Bloom and David Beckham to works towards
protecting childrens rights around the world.
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Mahinder Pal Singh becomes first Sikh cricketer in Pakistan to join national cricket
academy
i. For the first time, a Pakistani Sikh, Mahinder Pal Singh, has secured a place at
Pakistans National Cricket Academy.
ii. Mahinder Pal Singh, who hails from Nankana Sahib in Lahore, is among the list of top 30
emerging cricketers in the country.
Actor Mithun Chakraborty resigns from Rajya Sabha citing health reasons
i. West Bengal hailed Mithun Chakraborty has resigned from Rajya Sabha due to his health
problems.He has submitted his resignation to Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari on
December 26, 2016
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ii. Mithus is an Indian actor, singer, producer, writer, social worker, entrepreneur and Politician
iii. He was elected to the West Bengal Rajya Sabha Assembly by Trinamool Congress(TMC) in
2014
Tata Motors roped Akshay Kumar As Brand Ambassador For Commerical Vehicles
i. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar is appointed as brand ambassador for Tata Motors commercial
vehicle (CV) business unit on December 27, 2016
ii. Akshay will start his role as ambassador for commercial vehicles will be supported by a multi-
media campaign which will begin from January 2017.
Lt. Gen Bipin Rawat to serve as next chief of Army Staff while Air Marshal B.S. Dhanoa as
chief of Air Staff
i. Government on December 17, 2016, decided to appoint Lieutenant general Bipin Rawatas the
new chief of Army Staff while Air Marshal B.S. Dhanoa as the new chief of Air Staff.
ii. Rawat will succeed General Dalbir Singh, while Dhanoa will replace Arup Raha both of whom
are retiring on December 31. The two new chiefs will take charge on January 1, 2017.
Rajiv Jain appointed new IB chief while Anil Dhasmana to head RAW
Jharkhand cadre IPS officer Rajiv Jain has been appointed as the new chief of Intelligence
Bureau (IB) while Anil Dhasmana has been appointed as the next chief ofthe countrys external
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intelligence agency RAW. Both the officers will take over on January 1 and will have a tenure of
two years.
Facebooks Oculus has acquired an eye-tracking startup called The Eye Tribe
The virtual reality company of Facebook, Oculus has acquired eye-tracking software company The
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MoUs
India and Vietnam Signs Civil Nuclear Pact Along With Three Other Agreements
i. India and Vietnam signed a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (N-Pact) in New Delhi
on December 9, 2016, in the presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and President of
Vietnams National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
ii. The MoU was signed by Sekhar Basu, Secretary of Department of Atomic Energy and Pham
Cong Tac, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam to strengthen the bi-lateral
cooperation between the two countries.
iii. Three other agreements were also signed between the two countries.
1.Enhance aviation links,
2.Jointly work in the area of energy efficiency
3.Promotion of parliamentary cooperation.
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Aim: to develop a long-term sustainable cooperation in the areas of IT between the two
countries following each countrys laws and regulations.
Unoin Cabinet approved MoU between India and Afghanistan on Cooperation in the
Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
The Union Cabinet approved the MoU between India and Afghanistan on cooperation in the
peaceful uses of outer space.
Aim: cooperation between the two countries for application of space technologies in education,
agriculture, weather forecasting, telecommunications, rural health, sanitation, urban development,
resource mapping navigation, remote sensing etc.
Union Cabinet approved MoU between India and UK to support Ease of Doing Business in
India
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on December 7, 2016,
approved the MoU signed between India and United Kingdom (UK) in area of Ease of Doing
Business in India.
The MoU allows exchange of officials from both the countries to share best practises, offer
technical assistance and enhanced implementation of reforms.
iii. India-US MCG is a forum established to promote Defence Cooperation between HQ Integrated
Defence Staff (India) and US Pacific Command at the strategic and operational levels.
India Signs Open Skies Agreement with Six Countries at ICAN 2016
i. India has signed an Open Skies Agreement with six countries at the International Civil
Aviation Negotiations (ICAN), 2016 which were held in Nassau, Bahamas from December 5-
9, 2016.
ii. Open Skies Agreement was signed with Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain and Sri
Lanka to allows unlimited number of flights to six metro airports namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad,
Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai.
iii. The Conference was attended by 106 countriesout of ICAO membership of 191 countries.
India held negotiations with 17 countries and Memorandum of Understanding was signed
with 12 countries.
iv. Shri R.N. Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation led the Indian Delegations at the negotiation.
Cabinet approves MoU between ISRO and USGS for cooperation in the exchange and use
of U.S. Land Remote Sensing Satellite Data
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on December 14, 2016,
approved the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) that was signed on July 9,
2016 at Bengaluru, for cooperation in the exchange and use of U.S. Land Remote Sensing
Satellite Data.
According to the MoU ISRO will receive data from USGSs satellite, Landsat-7 & 8 in
India while USGS will receive data from ISROs RESOURCESAT-2 (AWiFS and LISS III)
satellite in US.
The MoU was signed with the mutual interest of both organizations in each others
satellites.
Cabinet Approves Signing MoU between India and Kyrgyzstan to Strengthen cooperation
in Tourism
The Union Cabinet, headed by Shri Narendra Modi also gave its approval for signing Memorandum
of Understanding between the Ministry of Tourism, Government of the Republic of India and
Ministry of Cultural, Information & Tourism of the Government of the Kyrgyzstan Republic for
strengthening cooperation in the field of Tourism.
The MoU will mutually benefit both the countries as each country will frame development
and promotion policies for tourism for the economic development of two nations. Besides,
the MoU will also increase the number of tourists of both the countries travelling in each
others nation.
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Cabinet gave Ex-Post Facto Approval & Renewal of MoU between ICAI and CBFS
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto
approval of the MoUs signed between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
and College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), Oman in 2008 and 2011 as well as the
renewal of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
ICAI has a strong membership base of over 6000 members in the Middle East region and
the MOU aims at providing assistance to CBFS by admitting Omani Nationals to the
membership of ICAI.
The aim is to work together to develop a mutually beneficial relationship in the best
interests of members, students and the institutes.
Cabinet Approves Signing Revised Air Services Agreement between India and Nigeria
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for
signing of the revised Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Nigeriawhich was
signed on 31th January, 1978.
The revised version of the Agreement will be as per latest International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) pattern, based on the latest developments in civil aviation sector
and with an objective to improve the air connectivity between the two countries.
The revised Agreement with strengthen the civil aviation relations between India and
Nigeria and has the potential to encourage greater trade, investment, tourism and
cultural exchanges between the two countries.
ii. Cuba was the only Latin American country that had no dialogue and cooperation deal with the
28-nation EU covering issues such as trade, human rights and migration.
iii. The deal was signed to end a 20-year policy, which stated that Cuba first had to improve its
human rights record before getting closer links with the bloc
UK and Argentina Signs Deal to Identify 123 Argentine soldiers buried on the Falkland
Islands.
i. The UK and Argentina have signed a deal to identify 123 Argentine soldiers buried on
the Falkland Islands.
ii. Britain and Argentina have signed an agreement on December 20, 2016, to identify the bodies of
more than 100 unknown Argentinian soldiers buried on the Falklands Islands after the 1982 war.
The move will strengthen the relation between the two countries.
iii. The 74-day war began when Argentina seized the islands and Britain sent a taskforce to retake
them. In the war 649 Argentinian and 255 British soldiers as well as three Falkland islanders lost
their lives.
India Signs Agreement with Bhutan for green and sustainable construction
i. India and Bhutan has signed an agreement for bilateral technical
cooperation in infrastructure engineering.
ii. The MoU was signed between Central Public Works Department (CPWD), under Indias
Ministry of Urban Development and the Department of Engineering Services, under Bhutans
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Indian Army partners with IIT Gandhinagar for critical technology requirements
i. Indian Army has inked an agreement with IIT Gandhinagar to set up a research and
development (R&D) cell at the IIT campus to identify problems and possible solutions for the
Indian Army.
ii. The agreement also enable the IIT and Indian Army to collaborate in areas including critical
technology requirements of Indian Army, sharing of professional and technical knowledge.
India and Singapore Signs Third Protocol for Amending Double Taxation Avoidance
Agreement (DTAA)
India and Singapore signed a Third Protocol on December 30, 2016, for amending the Double
Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of
fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
The decision follows Indias treaty policy to prevent double non-taxation, curb revenue loss
and check the menace of black money through automatic exchange of information.
India signed a similar Pact with Mauritius in 10th May, 2016 and Cyprus on 18th
November, 2016 to stop round-tripping of black money via the three countries, Mauritius,
Cyprus and Singapore, which earlier had no cap on capital gains.
SCHEMES
Goa Launches Yuva Sanchar Yojana for Free Internet data, talktime for Goa Youth
i. The Government of Goa is set to launch its ambitious scheme Goa Yuva Sanchar Yojana on
December 5, 2016, providing Limited Free Talktime and Internet Data to the youth in the state
to comply with the central governments Digital India initiative.
ii. The scheme will provide free 100 minutes talk time and 3 GB Internet data with a SIM card
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NITI Aayog Launches Two Schemes for Customers and Merchants to Boost Digital
Transaction
NITI Aayog, a Government of India policy think-tank on December 15, 2016, announced the
launch of two schemes, Lucky Grahak Yojna and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojna, to give cash
awards to for consumers and merchants who use digital payment instruments for any transaction.
Aim: the main aim of the scheme is to incentivize digital transaction so that all sections of the
society, especially the poor, lower middle class and small businesses adopt digital payment mode.
The scheme comprise of two major components, one for the Consumers and the other for the
Merchants:
Lucky Grahak Yojana (Consumers)
This scheme is for the consumers who will conduct daily transaction using electronic medium.
As per the lucky draw scheme, daily reward of Rs 1000 will be given to 15,000 lucky
consumers for a period of 100 days.
Besides, weekly prizes worth Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10,000 and Rs. 5000 will be given to
consumers who use the alternate modes of digital Payments
This will include all forms of transactions viz. UPI, USSD, AEPS and RuPay Cards but will
for the time being exclude transactions through Private Credit Cards and Digital Wallets.
3 Mega Prizes for consumers worth Rs 1 cr, 50 lakh, 25 lakh for digital transactions
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Odisha Government launches Biju Sishu Surakshya Yojana for HIV+ orphan children
i. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on December 22, launched Biju Sishu Surakshya
Yojana for care and protection of HIV positive orphan children in the state.
Important aspects of the scheme
ii. Under the scheme, the children would get financial support from the state
government for their studies till higher secondary along with Rs. 20,000 reward after passing
higher secondary.
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iii. State government would provide Rs. 7,000 to Rs 40,000 for technical education to the
beneficiary to meet the expenses like admission and tution fee, study material and other related
expenses
Odisha Names Mega Lift Irrigation Scheme after the freedom fighter Parbati Giri
i. The State Cabinet of Odisha on December 24 named the Mega Lift Irrigation Scheme worth
Rs. 7,600 crore, after the noted freedom fighter and social reformer Parbati Giri as a mark of
respect for her immense contribution to the freedom movement and service to the poor and needy.
ii. The scheme was named after Parbati Giri by the Chief Minister of state, Naveen Patnaik at a
cabinet meeting.
iii. The State Cabinet has approved tender for 13 mega lift irrigation schemes with a total
command area of 19,400 hectares in Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts.
iv.The Cabinet meeting approved the lowest bid of Rs. 517.77 crore by GVPR Engineers Limited.
iii. The first phase will be held between December 25 to 28, the second phase will be conducted
between January 3 and 15 and the third phase will take place between January 20 and
February 5.
iv. Teams of officers and employees of departments would be constituted in the first phase of the
campaign.
v. Ward Sabha will be held in the second phase. Status of infrastructure development and
beneficiaries oriented schemes will be assessed.
Government achieves target of distributing 1.5 Crore LPG Connection within 8 months to
BPL Families
i. According to data released by the Ministry for Petroleum & Natural Gas on December 29,
2016, Government has achieved its target of providing 1.5 crore free LPG connections under
the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to the BPL households in less than 8 months.
ii. The Government had made a provision of Rs 2,000 crore in the Budget for providing LPG
connection free of cost to Rs. 1.5 crore poor BPL households in 2016-17. However, the Ministry of
Petroleum & Natural Gas informed that the effort to provide clean energy was met within 8 months.
iii. The top five states which experienced the maximum LPG connections are UP (46 lakh), West
Bengal (19 lakh), Bihar (19 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (17 lakh) and Rajasthan (14 lakh). These states
constituted nearly 75% of the total connections
COMMITTEE
Committee headed by Ratan P. Watal submitted its report to Finance Minster to boost
Digital Payment
i. The committee formed by Finance Ministry to boost Digital Payment system in India that was
headed by Shri. Ratan P. Watal submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 09
December 2016.
ii. The committee has recommended to bridge the gaps between those are digitally active and
those are not, by promoting competition, open access & interoperability in payments.
iii. The report also recommended including those group of citizens into the digital payment system
who are not well versed with it so that they can use it for their benefit and reduce dependence on
cash. Safeguarding of the digital security system should also be maintained.
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ii. Ajit Mohan of Hotstar will be the chairman of the committee while it will be co-chaired
by Uday Sodhi of SET India and Salil Kapoor of HOOQ. Other member of the committee
includes Star Plus, Digivive, Radio Mirchi, Shemaroo, Viacom 18, Netflix, Arre, Eros, among others.
iii. The aim of the committee is to safeguard the interest of the digital entertainment industry.
iv. The committee will take necessary steps to create a self regulatory code of conduct, measures
for standard and good business practices, create public awareness measures to minimize online
piracy and also take regulatory and legal actions as per requirement.
Government forms high-level task force on Indus Water Treaty headed by Nripendra
Mishra
i. The Central Government has formed an inter- ministerial task force to look into all the strategic
aspects of Indus Water Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan on December 17, 2016
ii. The Task force will be headed by PM Narendra Modi's Principal Secretary Nripendra Mishra.
Other team members included NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Secretaries in
ministries of Finance, Environment, Power and Water Resource.
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Periodic Table Expands With 4 Elements Named After Japan, Moscow, Tennessee
i. On November 30, 2016, the periodic table got larger after four new elements were officially
named and added to the chart, including nihonium which is the first ever element to be
discovered by Japanese scientists.
ii. Newly included elements are: nihonium, moscovium, tennessine and oganesson.
iii. The new name for element 113, nihonium, symbol Nh, a highly radioactive element with an
extremely short half-life, comes from Japans name in Japanese nihon, literally the land of the
rising sun.
Tribal Affairs Minister launched Stanpan Suraksha App to Promote Breast Feeding
i. A mobile application, Stanpan Suraksha, developed by an NGO Breastfeeding Promotion
Network of India (BPNI) to promote breast feeding and check on inappropriate promotion of
baby food items, was launched by Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram on December 2, 2016 in
New Delhi.
ii. The App has a feature to enable people report the inappropriate promotion of marketed baby
food around them, by enabling them to click pictures of advertisements, displays of such products
and send them to an NGO which then may take required legal action.
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have found a novel route to discover new drug targets and potential drugs for parasites that cause
several diseases such as Loa loa nematode (roundworm) and Schistosoma mansoni platyhelminths
(flatworm).
ii. Both these parasites cause a major health burden particularly in African countries.
iii. The novel approach of looking at the conserved region of the parasites is direct, quicker and
cheaper.
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the International Space Station (ISS), carrying a large magnetic space junk collector to divert
the space junk toward Earths atmosphere.
ii. JAXA designed the space junk collector with the help of a fishnet company.
iii. The cargo ship, Kounotori, Japanese Name for White Stork, was launched from
Japans Tanegashima Space Center on December 9, 2016. 15 minutes after the liftoff, the
satellite was removed from the rocket and put into the planned orbit successfully.
Kerala govt launches mobile apps ArisingKerala and Whistle Now to fight corruption
i. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched the mobile applications ArisingKerala and
Whistle Now on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day.
ii. Aim : To end corruption in the government and semi-government institutions as part of the
proactive policy of zero tolerance
iii. The mobile applications were developed by the state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption
Bureau as part of its series of innovative initiatives to fight graft.
ISRO Ties with Private Firms to Built First Joint Navigation Satellite
i. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a contract with a consortium of six
companies on December 9, 2016, to build two navigation satellite jointly with private firms by
March 2017.
ii. The contract was signed between M. Annadurai, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), and
the consortium lead Alpha Design Technologies P Ltd.
iii. The work will start around January 2017 and the first spacecraft will be brought out in around
nine months.
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iv. The contract includes assembly, integration and testing (AIT) of two spare navigation satellites
consecutively in around 18 months.
ii. The website www.haj.gov.in is a one stop facility to provide all necessary information relating
to Haj management in one place. It provides link for the prospective applicants to enable them to
apply online for Haj.
ii. Researchers collected stem cells from human amniotic fluid, which is a protective fluid that
surrounds the baby in the uterus and helps it to develop inside the mothers womb, and used them
to treat mice with brittle bone disease.
iii. The study showed that stem cell infusions led to 78% fewer fractures in mice with a brittle
bone disease along with actively increasing the strength, plasticity, and structure of the animals
bones.
Shri Piyush Goyal launches Coal Mitra portal to facilitate flexibility in utilization of
domestic coal
i. Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush
Goyal launched a web portal Coal Mitra on December 21, in New Delhi for allowing flexibility in
utilization of domestic Coal.
ii. The Coal Mitra Web Portal aims at optimum utilisation of coal by private as well as public
power companies.
iii. It facilitates transfer of the coal reserves to more cost efficient State/Centre owned or Private
sector generating stations, leading to lower generation costs and ultimately lesser cost of electricity
for the consumers.
iv. The portal allows coal swapping in transparent manner and also helps to reduce operational and
logistic costs, bringing power tariffs down for the consumers.
TeamIndus to Carry Along Japans Rover for Google Lunar XPRIZE Competition
i. Bengaluru-based TeamIndus has announced an agreement to carry Japanese team Hakutos
robotic rover in the Google Lunar XPRIZE, to the moon aboard TeamInduss spacecraft in late
2017.
ii. This is a first-of-its-kind collaboration of two private space enterprises competing in the Google
Lunar XPRIZE. The TeamIndus spacecraft, in addition to the Japanese rover, will also be carrying its
own indigenously designed and developed robotic rover, ECA (Ek Chhoti si Asha).
iii. TeamIndus can carry up to 20kg of payload of which the Japanese rover weighs four kg.
Team of Astronomers Discovers Universes Biggest Galaxy Supercluster Vela near the
Milky Way
i. A research team of astronomers from Australia, South Africa, and Europe has discovered one
of the universes biggest super clusters of galaxies, Vela super cluster, near the Milky Way. It
was undetected for long as it was hidden by stars and dust in the Milky Way.
ii. The study was published in the journal Monthly Notices Letters of the Royal Astronomical
Society.
iii. The Vela is massive and is at a distance of 840 million light-years from Earth. It is
estimated to carry 100,000 galaxies with trillions of stars.
System (IVRS) system in Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab, UP, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Goa. It will
be extended to others states.
ii. Aim : To obtain direct feedback from subscribers and use that feedback to solve the problem of
call drops.
iii. Subscribers will receive an IVRS call from the short code 1955. They will be asked a few
questions on the subject of call drops. The feedback of the subscribers will be shared with the
Telecom Service Providers.
PM Narendra Modi launches UPI based mobile payment app called BHIM
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched UPI based mobile payment application called BHIM
(Bharat Interface for Money)
ii. BHIM a rebranded version of UPI (Unified Payment Interface) and USSD
(Unstructured Supplementary Service Data), at the Digi Dhan Mela event in Talkatora stadium
in New Delhi.
iii. The app can be downloaded from Android app store. It can be used by a smart phone or feature
phone of Rs 1,000-1,200 and there is no need to have Internet connectivity.
iv. PM dedicated the new app to Dr B.R. Ambedkar and at the event Tihar Jail was announced a
cashless society.
v. PM also made payment to Khadi using the Bhim mobile application.
Telecom Ministry to Launch Portal Tarang Sanchar to test Towers radiation Level
i. Department of Telecom (DoT) is set to launch a website portal Tarang Sanchar that will help
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users get checked the radiation level of mobile towers and transmitters across the country.
ii. In order to get radiation of a particular tower tested, the applicant will have to pay a fee of Rs
5,000.
iii. The status of the towers will be available on the portal and those who want to get the radiation
level checked of towers will be done by the government and he will be informed.
DEFENCE
British and Indian Navy Exercise KONKAN-2016 begin at Mumbai
The 12 day annual bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the Royal
Navy KONKAN 16 began on December 5, 2016 at Mumbai. The exercise will be conducted in two
phases at Mumbai and Goa.
i. Phase 1 : 05 09 Dec 16 at Mumbai
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ii. The missile is part of Babur Weapon System version- 2. It incorporates advanced
aerodynamics and avionics that can hit targets at 700 kms both at land and sea with high
accuracy.
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Barack Obama signs $618 billion defence budget for 2017 to boosts security cooperation
with India
i. US President Barack Obama has signed a $618 billion defence policy bill for 2017 on
December 23, 2016, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to enhance security cooperation with India.
ii. The National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA), which was passed by both the House and the
Senate with veto-proof majorities earlier in December.
Long range nuclear-capable subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay fails Test for fourth Time
i. India successfully test-fired its long range subsonic cruise missile, Nirbhay, from the launch
complex 3 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha coast at 11: 56 hours on
December 21, 2016.
ii. The state-of-the-art surface-to-surface missile is developed by the Defence Research and
Development Organisation.
iii. It was fourth test of Nirbhay missile and out of four, three have ended in failure. The maiden
launch was conducted in March 2013 but it was failure, the second test was conducted in October
2014 was a big success while the third mission on October 16, 2015 was again a failure.
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The three-stage, solid propellant surface-to-surface missile was test-fired from a mobile
launcher from launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at 11:05 am in
Balasore district.
This was the fourth and final test of the missile. With the success of the final development
test, Agni-V is now ready for the induction into the strategic arsenal (collection of weapons) of
India.
The successful induction of Agni V will give India long-range strike capability.
ENVIRONMENT
Cyclone Nada Passed off Peacefully through the Karaikal coast.
i. Cyclone Nada passed off peacefully through the Karaikal coast of Puducherry at 5 am on
December 2,2016.
ii. Later it made landfall near Nagapattinam at a speed of 50 km per hour, after weakening into a
deep depression in the early hours.
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NGT bench Directs Rajasthan Government to Cancel illegal salt pans in Sambhar Lake
i. The central zonal bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Rajasthan
government to cancel allotments of salt pans in Sambhar Salt Lake that fall within the wetland
and run against to the order of Wetland Rules, 2010.
ii. The bench has given six months time to implement the recommendations which should not
exceed 2017 monsoon.
iii. A bench headed by Justice Dalip Singh and expert Satyawan Singh Garbyal gave the order
after a petition filed by Ajay Dubey, claiming that commercial and other activities harming the eco-
system of the wetland in and around the Sambhar Lake, were being carried out contrary to the
provisions of the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules framed under the Environment
Protection Acts of 1986 and 2010.
Mutated fish becomes 8,000 times more resistant to toxic waste discovered in US
i. US Scientists have discovered a Mutated fish in the east coast of the US, which has evolved to
be 8,000 times more resilient to toxic waste.
ii. The small striped mud minnow, or killifish, is known for living in heavily polluted estuaries
such as New Jerseys Newark Bay and Virginias Elizabeth River.
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NGT Imposes fine of Rs. 50,000 on aircrafts empting Human Wastes in Air
i. National Green Tribunal (NGT) passed an order on December 20, 2016, directing the
countrys aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to issue instructions
to all airlines, whose aircraft empties toilet tanks on air, to pay Rs 50,000 as environmental
compensation.
ii. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar passed a slew of directions while
hearing a plea of a retired army officer, Lt Gen (Retd) Satwant Singh Dahiya , alleging dumping of
human excreta by aircraft over residential areas near the IGI Airport.
Too hot to handle alarming rise in forest fires this year:Parliamentary committee
report
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology headed by Rajya Sabha MP Renuka
Choudhary, submitted its report recently to Parliament.
Highlights of Report :
i. Focus: Prevent the fires in the Himalayan forests spread across Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh,
and Jammu and Kashmir.
ii. Fires raging across forests has risen by a drastic 55 per cent in the past year.The number has
increased to 24,817 from around 15,937 fires in 2015.
iii. Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh contribute a third of the total forest fires.
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ii. The goat will be raised in a center for animal husbandry research conducted by experts from
agricultural universities and academies in southwest Chinas Yunnan Province and Inner Mongolia.
SPORTS
Magnus Carlsen defeats Sergey Karjakin to Win World Chess Championship
i. World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the world Chess championship which was
played in New York City, USA between 11 and 30 November, 2016 by defeating Russian
challenger Sergey Karjakin.
ii. This was his third win of the world championship match. Carlsen found the moves of Russias
Karjakin, extremely difficult to break down and had played a brilliant queen sacrifice to force a
checkmate for the win.
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Peter Gilchrist wins the Long Up title of 2016 IBSF World Billiards
Peter Gilchrist of Singapore defeated Sourav Kothari to win the 2016 IBSF World Billiards
Long Up title on 8 December 2016.
Chad le Clos broke his own world record in the 100 meter swimming
South African swimmer Chad le Clos broke his own world record in the mens 100m butterfly
final of FINA short course world swimming championships held at Windsor, Ontario.
Virat Kohli Completes 4,000 Test Runs and 1,000 run in 2016.
i. Indian Cricketer, Virat Kohli completed his careers 4,000 Test runs on December 10, 2016, at
the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
ii. Kohli completed 4,000 runs in 89 innings batting against England during the third day of the
fourth match and became sixth fastest Indian batsman to do so. Virendra Sehwag was the first
Indian to do so.
Iqbal Sayed Becomes First Indian to Win Medal at Mr. Olympia Amateur Event
i. Iqbal Sayed of Mumbai won the silver medal at the Mr Olympia amateur event held in Hong
Kong, beating participants from 20 countries under the Olympia Amateur Asia 2016s Classic
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Bodybuilding category.
ii. 27-year old Iqbal, who works as a civil engineer with Reliance Infrastructure and Mumbai
Metro, has become the first Indian to win a medal at the Mr. Olympia amateur event.
Faf du Plessis the new test captain of South Africa as AB de Villiers steps down
Faf du Plessis is the new full time Test captain of South Africa after AB de Villiers voluntarily
stepped down from captaincy. The decision taken by deVilliers was to focus more on his fitness as
he has undergone an elbow surgery recently.
Indias Pankaj Advani beats Singapores Peter Gilchrist to clinch his 11th World Billiards
Championship
i. Indian snooker player Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in
Bengaluru on December 12, 2016.
ii. The Indian cueist, Advani beat multiple world champion, Peter Gilchrist of Singapore by 6-3
in the final match to claim his 11th World Billiards Championship and 16th overall world title.
Adelaide Oval, Australia to host first ever Day and Night Ashes
Cricket Australia (CA) has announced that the first ever Day and Night Ashes test match will be
played at Adelaide Oval from 2-6 December 2017. Out of the 5 match test series this will be
the 2nd test match which will be the first day and night Ashes.
Sochi, Russia wont host 2017 Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) announced that Russia will not
host the 2017 Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships. The reason cited by IBSF for
this was that Russia is accused of state-sponsored doping and IBSF wants to focus on sport rather
than accusations.
Shiva Thapa and Manoj Kumar wins gold in 1st Elite Senior Mens Nationals held in
guwahati
i. Shiva Thapa won Gold Medal in lightweight (60kg) National Boxing Championships held
on 13 December 2016 in Guwahati. He defeated Ankush Dahiya. Manoj Kumar also won a Gold
medal in 69 Kg category. He represented Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB)
ii. This was the 1st Elite Senior Mens Nationals Boxing Championship and was held at the Nabin
Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium, Sarusajai in Guwahati. The event organized by Boxing
Federation of India (BFI) saw the participants of more than 300 boxers.
Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber named 2016 ITF World Champions
i. The International Tennis Federation(ITF) named Andy Murray of Great Britain and Angelique
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Kerber of Germany as the 2016 ITF World Champions. They will receive the award at the 2017 ITF
World Champions Dinner on 6 June 2017 in Paris.
ii. This is for the first time that either of them has received this award. Gordon Reid of Britain has
been named as the 2016 ITF Wheelchair World Champion.
Suzie Bates 1st woman to win ICC ODI and T20I Player of Year
New Zealand cricketer Suzannah Wilson Bates became the first woman cricketer to win both
the ICC Womens ODI and T20I Player of the Year awards.
India beats Korea 3-0 to clinch bronze at 4th Womens U-18 Hockey Asia Cup
i. India surpassed South Korea 3-0 to finish with the bronze medal at the 4th Womens U18
Asia Cup 2016 hockey tournament in Bangkok on December 22, 2016
ii. The two teams played out a goalless first half, however, India finally managed to break the tie
via defender Ritu, who put India ahead in the bronze medal clash by converting a penalty corner in
the 45th minute while Sangita Kumari scored a couple of field goals later on.
iii. Hockey India announced cash rewards of Rs.1 lakh for each player, and Rs.50,000 for each
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ii. Advani is the only player in the world to win all titles National, Continental and World in
6-red Snooker.
Virat Kohli topped the Lords Cricket Ground 20 best players of 2016 list
i. Lords Cricket Ground has released its top 20 players for this calendar year. Indian test
skipper Virat Kohli got the number 1 spot in the ranking owing to his marvelous performance in all
format of the game.
ii. 4 Indians got place in the ranking. Apart from Virat the other 3 are off spinner Ravichandran
Ashwin at 3rd spot, Ajinkya Rahane at 13th and Cheteshwar Pujara at 18th spot.
iii. The top 5 cricketers are :
1.Virat Kohli (India)
2.Jonny Bairstow (England)
3.Ravichandran Ashwin (India)
4.Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)
5.Chris Woakes (England)
iv. Lords Cricket Ground is located in London and is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
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Virat Kohli named captain of Cricket Australias ODI team of the year
i. Indian Test cricket captain Virat Kohli has been named as the captain of Cricket Australias
ODI team of the year. He was preferred over Australian captain Steve Smith. Recently he was
also named the captain of ICCs ODI team of the year
ii. Out of 10 ODI matches played by Virat Kohli in 2016, he scored a score of 45+ in 8 matches and
has an average of greater than 90 in successful run chase for India.
iii. Another Indian cricketer who got place in the Cricket Australias ODI team is Jasprit Bumrah.
The unorthodox pace bowler had a great first year in international cricket.
Azhar Ali rewrites record books with historic double ton vs Australia
i. Azhar Ali became the first Pakistan batsman to score a double century in a Test in Australia
and also became the fourth batsman to score a double ton at the MCG.
ii. Mr.Ali also became the fifth Pakistan batsman to score a double century in Tests against
Australia.iii. He joined Saleem Malik, Younis Khan, Javed Miandad and Taslim Arif as the other
players to have smashed a double ton.
Gujarats Pruthviraj Ayachi equals the score of Olympic Gold Medalist to win
Championship
i. Gujarat based Pruthviraj Ayachi, won the gold medal in the finals of junior mens 50M Rifle
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7 Year Old Kush Bhagat Creates History at Asia Youth Chess Championship
i. Mumbais Kush Bhagat made history on December 29 after winning three gold medals in the
1st Western Asia Youth Chess Championship held in Al Ain Chess Club, UAE.
ii. The second standard student of the NSS Hill Spring International achieved the feat in all the
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three categories, rapid, blitz and standard, and became the only Indian in the world to bag all
the crowns in the competition.
Vijendra singh Defeats Francis Cheka to Retain WBO-Asia Pacific Super Middleweight
Title
i. Indian boxing star Vijender Singh defeated former world champion Tanzanias Francis
Cheka to retain WBO-Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title in New Delhi on December 17,
2016.
ii. Vijender took less than 10 minutes to beat Tanzanian boxer to defend his title at theThyagraj
Stadium. Vijender ended the game by playing the winning blow in the third round which was
scheduled to be a 10-round contest.
Atletico de Kolkata wins 2016 Hero Indian Super League beating Kerala Blasters 5-4
i. Atletico de Kolkata wins 2016 Hero Indian Super League trophy by beating Kerala
Blasters in the finals by 5-4. The final match was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadiumin Kochi
on 18 December 2016.
ii. This is the second time Kolkata has won the league. Atltico de Kolkata was also the winner of
the 1st season of ISL when it was started in 2014.
India Beat Belgium 2-1 to Win 2016 FIH Junior Hockey World Cup
i. India beat Belgium 2-1 in the final of the 2016 Junior Hockey World Cup on December 18,
2016, at Lucknows Major Dhyan Chand Stadium and reclaimed the crown after 15 long years.
ii. India has become the first nation to win the hockey junior World Cup at home ground.
iii. India won their first title in 2001 in Hobart, Australia. In 1997, India won silver after losing to
Australia in the final in Milton Keynes, England.
iv. The team lead by captain Harjeet singh, scored two goals in the first half through Gurjant
Singh and Simranjeet Singh.
OBITUARY
Marathi cinema veteran Shriram Gojamgunde no more
i. Noted Marathi film maker and actor Shriram Gojamgunde passed away in Mumbai on
December 1, 2016. He was 71.
ii. Gojamgunde well known for the movie Zatpat Karu De Khatpat, which led to other film
makers from the region take up producing films.
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Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL player Rashaan Salaam dies
i. US National Football Player Rashaan Salaam found dead in Colorado, US on December 6,
2016. He was 42.
ii. Salaam has won the U.S. college footballs highest honor Heisman Trophy in 1994.
Sri Lankan Politician and Two Time Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Passes
Away
Veteran Sri Lankan politician Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, who served twice as Prime
Minister, passed away after a brief illness on December 27, 2016.The 83-year-old leader was
admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of a leading private hospital on December 21.
About Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Wickremanayake first served as Prime Minister from August 2000 to December 2001. He
succeeded Sirimavo Bandaranaikeafter she resigned from the position at the age of 84.
In 2004, after the SLFP won the parliamentary elections, Wickremanayake was appointed
Minister of BuddhistAffairs, Public Security, and Law and Order, and Deputy Minister for
Defence.
He was sworn in for a second time as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Mahinda
Rajapaksaon 21 November 2005.
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BJP Leader and Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Sunderlal Patwa Dies at 92
i. Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and two-times Madhya Pradesh chief
minister Sunderlal Patwa passed away at Bansal Private Hospital in Bhopal on December 28 after
suffering a severe heart attack. He was 92.
ii. He was appointed chief minister for a brief period of two months in the year 1980 and again
from 1990 to 1992.
Former Planning Commission Member and noted Economist Saumitra Chaudhuri Passed
away at 63.
i. Noted economist and former Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri passed away
on December 18, 2016, at New Delhis Sir Gangaram Hospital, following a brief illness. He was
63.
ii. Saumitra Chaudhuri was born on January 11, 1954. He was a member of the Planning
Commission of India from 2009. Before that, he had been a member of the Prime Ministers
Economic Advisory Council from 2005onwards.
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Ravindra Kumar, First IAS Officer To Scale Mt Everest Pens Motivational Book
i. Ravindra Kumar, the first IAS officer as well as the first Seafarer of India, to climb the
Mount Everest has written a motivational book for students, which was released by the Cabinet
Secretary P K Sinha on December 12, 2016 in New Delhi
ii. The book titled Many Everests: An Inspiring Journey of Transforming Dream into
Reality is penned by Ravindra Kumar, a 2011 batch IAS officer.
Courts of India Past to Present by Supreme Court of India Bar & Bench
i. The book titled Courts of India Past to Present released by the Supreme Court of India.
ii. The book is a comprehensive history of courts and judicial system in India. It was authored
by the Editorial Board comprises members of both the Bench and the Bar.
iii. This board includes Justices SA Bobde, Rohinton Fali Nariman and UU Lalit and one judge from
the Delhi High Court, Justice Ravindra S Bhat. There are five members from the Bar Senior
Advocates Raju Ramachandran, Indu Malhotra and Sanjay Hegde and advocates K Parameshwar
and Gautam Bhatia.
IMPORTANT DAYS
Dec 1 2016
Remember Day: World AIDS Day
Purpose : To raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection
Organization:UN, WHO
Theme: Hands up for #HIVprevention
Remember Day: 51st Raising Day of BSF
Purpose : GOI
Dec 2 2016
Remember Day: International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
Purpose : To raise awareness of the atrocities of modern slavery.
Organization: UN
Dec 3 2016
Remember Day: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Purpose : To enable governments and organizations to implement measures to improve the life of
disabled persons all over the world.
Organization: GOI
Theme: Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want
Dec 4 2016
Remember Day: Navy Day
Purpose : To celebrate the magnificence, achievements and role of the naval force to the country.
Organization: GOI
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Dec 5 2016
Remember Day: International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
Purpose : To show volunteers contributions at the international, national and local levels in order
to get the Millennium Development Goals
Organization: UN
Theme: Global Applause give volunteers a hand.
Dec 7 2016
Remember Day: International Civil Aviation Day
Purpose : To promote safety, efficiency of air transport
Organization: UN
Theme: Working together to ensure no country is left behind
Dec 8 2016
Remember Day: Plastic Free Day
Organization: Kerala Gov
Dec 9 2016
Remember Day: International Anti-Corruption
Purpose : To engage the general public to effectively fight against corruption and fraud in
communities
Organization:UN
Theme: United against corruption for development, peace and security
Dec 10 2016
Remember Day: Human Rights Day
Purpose : To improve the physical, social, cultural and spiritual well being and welfare of the
vulnerable group of people globally
Organization: UN
Theme: Stand up for someones rights today!
Dec 11 2016
Remember Day: International Mountain Day
Purpose : To create awareness about the importance of mountains to life.
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Dec 12 2016
Remember Day: Universal Health Coverage Day
Purpose : To promote the human right to health
Organization: WHO
Dec 14 2016
Remember Day: World Energy Conservation Day
Purpose : To highlight the importance of energy consumption and its use in our day-to-day life.
Dec 16 2016
Remember Day: Vijay Diwas
Purpose ; 45th Anniversary of the win of the Indian Army in the Indo-Pak war on December 16,
1971.
Organization: GOI
Dec 18 2016
Remember Day: International Migrants Day
Purpose : To recognizes and celebrates the rights of migrants around the world.
Organization: UN
Dec 20 2016
Remember Day: International Human Solidarity Day
Purpose : To remind people on the importance of solidarity in working towards eradicating
poverty.
Organization: UN
Dec 22 2016
Remember Day: National Mathematics Day
Purpose : To mark the birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Organization: GOI
Dec 23 2016
Remember Day: Kisan Diwas (Farmers Day)
Purpose : To celebrate the birth anniversary of the fifth prime minister and kisan
leader,Ch. Charan Singh
Organization: India
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Dec 24 2016
Remember Day: National Consumer Day
Purpose : To promote the basic rights of all consumers
Organization: GOI
Dec 25 2016
Remember Day: Good Governance Day
Purpose : To honor Prime Minister Vajpayee by fostering awareness among the Indian people of
accountability in government.
Organization: GOI
April 14 2017
Remember Day: Water Day(Birthday of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar)
Purpose : To commemorate the great contribution of the Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar towards the
country
Organization: GOI
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Current Affairs
Current Affairs 2016
Current Affairs Today
Current Affairs PDF
Current Affairs Quiz
Current Affairs Mock Test
Study Materials PDF
Reasoning Questions
Quantitative Aptitude Questions
English Questions
Computer Questions
Banking Awareness Questions
General Aptitude
Reasoning
Letter Writing
Math Tricks
Computer Awareness
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