Current affairs : December 16, 2016 for all competitive exams
Nation pays tribute to bravehearts of 1971 Indo-Pak war on Vijay Diwas
The nation is paying
tributes to the bravehearts on 16 December 2016, who laid down their
lives during 1971 India-Pakistan war on the occasion of Vijay Diwas which is
observed on 16 December of every year.
- On the occasion, Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar along with three Service chiefs paid tributes to the bravehearts at Amar Jawan Jyoti.
NITI Aayog announces launch of the schemes – Lucky Grahak
Yojana and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana – for incentivising digital payment
NITI Aayog has announced the launch of the schemes Lucky Grahak Yojana and
the Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana to give cash awards to consumers and merchants who
utilize digital payment instruments for personal consumption expenditures.
- The primary aim of these schemes is to incentivize
digital transactions so that electronic payments are adopted by all
sections of the society, especially the poor and the middle class.
Lucky Grahak Yojana [Consumers]:
- Daily reward of Rs 1000 to be given to 15,000 lucky
Consumers for a period of 100 days.
- Weekly prizes worth Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10,000 and Rs.
5000 for Consumers who use the alternate modes of digital Payments.
Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana[ Merchants]:
- Prizes for Merchants for all digital transactions
conducted at Merchant establishments.
- Weekly prizes worth Rs. 50,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs.
2,500.
Liquor vends on National, State highways banned
The Supreme Court has banned States and Union Territories from granting
licences for the sale of liquor along National and State highways across the
country, noting that drunken driving was the main culprit behind a large number
of road accidents in the country.
- It ordered that no shop for sale of liquor should be
visible from the National and State highways. Neither should they be
directly accessible from the highways nor should they be situated within a
distance of 500 metres from the outer edge of the highways or service
lanes.
Second Meeting of Interim Board of CEPI
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science &
Technology, Government of India is partnering in the Coalition for Epidemic
Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI), a new global alliance between governments,
industries, academia, philanthropy, inter-governmental institutions, the World
Health Organization, and civil society.
- The DBT is hosting the Second Meeting of the Interim
Board of CEPI at New Delhi. The meeting is focused on identifying disease
priorities, future strategy and setting of Permanent Secretariat for CEPI.
Shri Rajnath Singh chairs a meeting of Gorkhaland
Territorial Administration
The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh recently chaired a meeting with
the delegation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
- During the meeting, it was decided to
sympathetically examine and appropriately consider the long pending
demands of the Gorkhas, the Adivasis and other people of Darjeeling
district and the Dooars region.
Nasscom launches
Techstartup.in
IT industry body Nasscom
added Hyderabad to the list of cities across the country where it has
introduced Techstartup.in, a digital platform that allows startups, investors
and venture capitalists to network.
- It was first launched in Bengaluru last year followed by Delhi and Mumbai this year. Announcing the launch, in partnership with IBM.
In memoriam: The fallen air warriors book
by Bharat Kumar:
In memoriam: The fallen air warriors, authored
by Air Marshal Bharat Kumar (retd) released by Marshal of the Air Force Arjan
Singh
- The book chronicles the names of air warriors who
died in aviation accidents.
- Recollecting some of his experiences with the
British Indian Air Force prior to 1947, Marshal Singh, the only five-star
officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF), said the British thought we could
never fight as much as we did.
Fifth India-Arab partnership forum in Oman
Fifth India-Arab partnership forum is being held in Oman. Minister of State
for External Affairs, M J Akbar is leading the Indian delegation to the fifth
India-Arab Partnership Conference.
- The conference is being organised by Oman Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (OCCI) in collaboration with Arab League
Secretariat, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI), General Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the Arab
Countries (GUCCIAC) and Federation of the Arab Business (FAB).
- The theme of the fifth India-Arab Partnership
Conference is “Partnership towards Innovation and Information Technology
Co-operation.”
Seventh Edition of bilateral
Exercise ‘EKUVERIN’ commences in Maldives
The Seventh edition of
Exercise EKUVERIN will be held from 15 to 28 Dec 2016 at Kadhdhoo, Laamu Atoll,
Maldives.
- The Exercise is a 14-day platoon level joint
military exercise between the Indian Army & the Maldives National
Defence Force conducted on a yearly basis.
- The aim of the exercise is to conduct military
training with emphasis on amphibious & counter-insurgency/
counter-terrorism operations with a view to enhancing interoperability
between the two armies.
- The previous edition of the exercise was held in India at Trivandrum, Kerala.
Pakistan Successfully test-fired Babur:
Pakistan has successfully test-fired an enhanced version of an indigenously-designed
cruise missile that can hit targets at 700 kms with all kinds of warheads.
- It was recently test fired by the Pakistan Army Called ‘Babur’ after Mughal invader and founder of the dynasty of same name, the missile is part of Babur Weapon System version- 2 and is an enhanced version of the earlier missile.
Indian-American woman elected
as Mayor of Californian city
For the first time, an
Indian-American woman has been elected as the new Mayor of the key Californian
city of Cupertino, globally known for its Apple headquarters.
- Savita Vaidhyanathan, an MBA who worked as a high school Math teacher and an officer in a commercial bank as well as in non-profit management.
Nigeria's Amina Mohammed
confirmed as new UN deputy SecretaryGeneral
New United Nations (UN)
SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres has announced Nigeria’s Environment
minister, Amina Mohammed as his Deputy SecretaryGeneral (DSG) on 15th December
2016.
- Guterres also announced the appointment of two other
women into highprofile positions at the UN. Ms.Maria Viotti of Brazil
(Chef de Cabinet) and Ms Kyungwha Kang of the Republic of Korea as
Special advisor on policy, a new role he intends to create.
ICFA presents 'Global
Agriculture Leadership Award 2016' to Ratan Tata
Indian Council of Food and
Agriculture (ICFA) has presented 'Global Agriculture Leadership Award 2016' to
Tata Sons interim Chairman Ratan Tata in Mumbai on 15th December 2016.
- According to ICFA, the Leadership Awards jury conferred on Tata the 'Lifetime Achievements Award 2016' for his transformational role in scaling Tata Group as the globally admired group during his stint of two decades as Chairman.
