Current affairs : December 14, 2016 for all competitive exams
National Resource Centre for Tribal Livelihood to be launched
Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with UNDP and National
Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC) is all set to
launch “Vanjeevan” the National Resource Centre for Tribal Livelihood issues at
Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
- Vanjeevan will be a programme to identify the
problems in livelihood issues in select districts of six states having low
HDI of tribal people in the first phase. The states are Assam, Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Telangana.
Centre to review IT Act to bolster cyber security
The government is mulling a review of the more than 15-year-old Information
Technology (IT), Act to strengthen cybersecurity infrastructure, following the
push for digital payments post-demonetisation.
- A closed group, under IT Secretary Aruna Sundarajan,
has been set up to look into various aspects of the Act in line with the
changing times.
- The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has also
set up a separate ‘digital payments’ division under Indian Computer
Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) — its cyber security arm — to monitor
and strengthen cashless transactions.
India Signs Grant Agreement with the IBRD
An agreement for Global Environment Facility Grant of USD 5.19 Million for
“Additional Financing for Financing Energy Efficiency at MSMEs Project-
Programmatic Framework for Energy Efficiency” was recently signed between India
and IBRD.
- The proposed additional financing (AF) would be used
to help further scale up the initiatives taken up under the parent
project- India: Financing Energy Efficiency at MSME Project (FEEMP).
Sushma Swaraj, Vineet Nayar in FP's Global Thinkers 2016 list
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and philanthropist couple Anupama
and Vineet Nayar are among the Indians who have been named in the Global
Thinkers of 2016 List compiled by the Foreign Policy magazine.
- Swaraj was named in 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.
‘Courts
of India – Past to Present’ by Supreme Court of India – Bar & Bench
The book titled ‘Courts of India – Past to Present’ released by the Supreme Court of India.
The book titled ‘Courts of India – Past to Present’ released by the Supreme Court of India.
- 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.
- 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.
International conference on housing & urban
development
Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu recently inaugurated an
international conference on housing and urban development in Asia Pacific
region.
- The sixth edition of ‘Asia Pacific Ministerial
Conference on Housing & Urban Development (APMCHUD)’ seeks to address
issues ranging from crowded city centres to peripheral expansion,
metropolitan based urban population growth, megacities and urban
corridors, among others.
Indra Navy – 2016:
INDRA NAVY is a bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian and Russian
navies and epitomizes the strategic relationship between the two
countries. Initiated in 2003, the exercise has matured over the years with
increase in scope, complexity of operations and level of participation.
- The 9th edition of exercise INDRA NAVY, an annual
bilateral maritime exercise between Indian Navy and Russian Navy has begun
in the Bay of Bengal.
- The primary aim of exercise INDRA NAVY-16 is to increase inter-operability amongst the two navies and develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations.
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Achieves
Carbon Neutral Status
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), has achieved neutral status with regards to carbon emission.
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), has achieved neutral status with regards to carbon emission.
- Hyderabad Airport has become the first airport in Asia-Pacific
region under the 5-15
Million Passengers Per Annum
category and second among all categories
in the Asia-Pacific region to achieve the Carbon Neutral status.
- Hyderabad International Airport has been credited
with Level 3+, Neutrality under Airport Carbon Accreditation programme by
the Airports Council International (ACI).
- Accreditation programme is assessment standard of
airports’ efforts to manage and reduce carbon emissions and a significant
achievement.
‘War against malaria far from over’
According to the recently released World Malaria report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the global fight against malaria is in “urgent need” of
more funding.
- There were 212 million new cases of malaria and
4,29,000 deaths worldwide in 2015. Further, nearly 78% of Plasmodium vivax
malaria cases in 2015 occurred in just four countries: Ethiopia, India,
Indonesia and Pakistan.
Rio Gets UNESCO World Heritage Status
The Marvelous City or Rio de Janeiro officially entered into the
UN’s list of world heritage sites while UNESCO status was
announced in 2012 in
recognition of its soaring granite cliffs, urban rainforest and beaches.
- The UN cultural body, UNESCO given
this status to Rio to highlighted the “extraordinary fusion” of man-made
and natural beauty in certifying Rio on the world heritage list.
- The UNESCO status was announced in
2012, but only became official after the Brazilian authorities were given
four years to report on their plans for protecting the likes of Flamengo
Park, Sugarloaf Mountain, the Corcovado, and the Copacabana beach
Cuba signs deal with Google for faster internet access
Google and the government of Cuba signed a deal on December 12, 2016, that
will enable Cuba to have faster access to internet content from the US
technology giant. Google had no direct data link to the Cuba island.
- The deal was signed between Mayra Arevich, head of
Cuban state telecommunications company Etecsa and executive chairman of Google parent
company Alphabet, Eric Schmidt.
- Under the deal, the internet giant will install servers called Google Global Cache, on the island that will store company’s most popular content from sites like Gmail and Youtube on the local servers to provide faster access to its data.
Qatar Ends Controversial kafala labour system
Labour Minister of Qatar, Issa bin Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi on
December 13, 2016, formally announced the end of its controversial “kafala” system,
which was the biggest ever labour reform in Qatar.
- Kafala System is a system used to
monitor migrant laborers, working primarily in the 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.
- The Kafala system provide workers with little
protection and was open to abuse. But the system was replaced with new contract-based system that aims to improve and protect the rights of
the worker along with providing freedom of movement, right to change the
job.
- Qatar is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Malaysia enthrones 15th king, Sultan Muhammad V
Malaysia government has been installed its 15th king Sultan Muhammad V in the Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur(KL) on December
14, 2016.
- Muhammad succeeds Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah who was king previously in the 1970s and he was the first
person to hold the position twice.
- He was elected to ascend the throne for a five-year reign by the Conference of Rulers in October, 2016.
ADB Trims 2016 India’s Growth Estimate to 7%
The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) lowered the 2016 growth
estimate for India to 7 per cent from the previous 7.4 per cent on December 13,
2016, due to demonetisation, weak investment and agricultural slowdown.
- However, India’s growth forecast for 2017 remained
unchanged at 7.8 per cent.
- China’s was projected to grow 6.6 per cent in 2016 and 6.4 per cent in 2017.
Paytm
partners with NHAI for digital payments at toll plazas
Indian e-commerce website Paytm has announced partnership with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to enable cashless payments at all national and city toll plazas.
Indian e-commerce website Paytm has announced partnership with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to enable cashless payments at all national and city toll plazas.
- Travellers can pay their toll charges instantly with Paytm app by scanning the QR code placed at toll payment counters.
Vodafone
launches e-wallet M Pesa Pay for retailers
Vodafone India launched Vodafone M
Pesa Pay to enable merchants and retailers
to receive payments from their customers on December 13, 2016.
- It will also enable to M Pesa customers.
- M Pesa Pay replaces the need for point of sale (PoS) machine.
Kannan
takes charge as new Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) chief
V G Kannan took charge as Chief Executive of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) on December 14, 2016. He replaced M V Tanksale.
V G Kannan took charge as Chief Executive of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) on December 14, 2016. He replaced M V Tanksale.
- Kannan had working as Managing Director & Group Executive (Associates & Subsidiaries) of State Bank of India till July 31, 2016.
Legendary
Horse Trainer and Jockey Swinburn dies at 55
Renowned English jockey and horse trainer Walter Swinburn, passed away on December 12, 2016, in London suffering from epilepsy at the age of 55.
Renowned English jockey and horse trainer Walter Swinburn, passed away on December 12, 2016, in London suffering from epilepsy at the age of 55.
- Swinburn won the Britain’s
richest horse race ‘Epsom Derby’ three times in his career including the
legendary Shergar Derby at the age of 19 in 1981.
- Swinburn won the other Derby’s on
Shahrastani in 1986 and Lammtarra in 1995
Shiva Thapa and Manoj Kumar wins gold in 1st Elite Senior Men’s Nationals held in
guwahati
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)
- This was the 1st Elite Senior Men’s Nationals Boxing Championship and was held at the Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium, Sarusajai in Guwahati
Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber named 2016 ITF World Champions
The International Tennis Federation(ITF) named Andy
Murray of Great Britain and Angelique 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.
- 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.
