Current affairs : December 7, 2016 for all competitive exams
Ambedkar's birth anniversary to be observed as 'Water Day' in the country
Dr BR Ambedkar's birth
anniversary to be observed as 'Water Day' across the country on 14 April, will
be observed as “Water Day” across India.
The day will be observed to
mark Ambedkar’s contribution in water resource management of the country.
- Union Minister for Water Resources,
River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti announced the same
while addressing a National Seminar on Marching ahead on Dr Ambedkar’s
path of water resources management for inclusive growth.
HC seeks RBI
reply on plea by the blind
The Bombay High Court has
asked the Reserve Bank of India to file within six weeks its response to a
public interest litigation (PIL) petition highlighting the difficulty faced by
blind persons in identifying currency notes and coins in recent years.
- NAB secretary Joaquim Rapose filed
the PIL seeking directions to the RBI to include special features in coins
and currency notes so that the blind could identify them easily.
BRICS nations vow to automatic sharing of tax information
BRICS nations, including India, have pledged to share tax information
automatically and adopt global standards on tax transparency to check cross
border tax evasion. This was taken during the recently concluded meeting of the
heads of Revenue of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).
- BRICS leaders have also resolved to
support other developing nations in increasing their tax administrations’
capacity to implement the OECD/G20 standard on Automatic Exchange of
Information (AEOI).
Final notification on Eco-Sensitive Zone in Sanjay Gandhi
National Park
The Government has issued the Final Notification for an Eco-Sensitive Zone
area of 59.46 sq kms of which 19.25 sq km is forest land and 40.21 sq km is
non-forest land in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai suburb.
- The Notification also provides that
in areas around Housing Societies and with high human habitation, and in
view of the fact that the National Park has a large population of
leopards, a high wall with fencing may be erected to ensure that
man-animal conflict is avoided.
TIFR discovery challenges theory of
superconductivity
Researchers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai,
have made a landmark discovery that challenges the conventional understanding
of superconductivity.
- Researchers have discovered bismuth
semi-metal in bulk form becoming a superconductor
when the temperature is lowered to 530 microKelvin (about -273 degree C),
which is three orders of magnitude higher than the theoretical prediction.
Winter Fog Campaign:
To better understand the science of fog formation over New Delhi, the Ministry of Earth
Sciences recently inaugurated the Winter Fog Campaign at the New Delhi
Airport.
- This move is aimed at understanding
different physical and chemical features of fog and factors responsible
for its genesis, intensity and duration.
45th All India Police Science Congress:
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) and Kerala Police
are jointly organizing the 45th All India Police Science Congress at Kovalam,
Thiruvananthapuram.
- The main objective of this
prestigious national event is to provide a common platform to the various
police forces/units, social scientists, forensic experts and other
stakeholders to deliberate on selected themes of topical interest to the
Indian Police.
J.S. Khehar
tipped to be next CJI
Chief Justice of India T.S.
Thakur on Tuesday recommended the senior-most pusine judge in the Supreme
Court, Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, as his successor and the 44th Chief
Justice of India.
- Justice Khehar, who led the Constitution
Bench which scrapped the government’s National Judicial Appointments
Commission law, will be the first Chief Justice from the Sikh community.
He will be sworn in on January 4 and will hold the post for over seven
months till August 27, 2017.
Mongolia
seeks support against China’s ‘blockade’
Mongolia has asked for
“clear support” from India against a transport-obstruction imposed by China.
- After Ulan Bator hosted the Dalai
Lama in November, China has hiked tariffs on Mongolian trucks passing through
Chinese territory.
Bernard Cazeneuve named as new
French prime minister
Bernard Cazeneuve, currently
French interior minister, will replace Manuel Valls as the country's new prime
minister.
- Valls is stepping down in order to
seek the Socialist Party's nomination to be its presidential candidate in
the 2017 election.
Pakistan honours its first Nobel laureate Abdus
Salam
Pakistan plans to rename a university centre for
physicist Abdus Salam, its first Nobel laureate, after more than 30 years of
all but disowning his achievements, as a member of a minority sect barred from
identifying itself as Muslim.
- Salam, the first Muslim to win the
prize for science.
- The office of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said it had given approval for the National Centre for Physics at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, the capital, to be renamed after Salam.
2017
Oscars: Jimmy Kimmel to host '89th Academy Awards'
Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel will host the 2017 Oscars.
- The 49-year-old comedian has been
tapped to host the '2017 Academy Awards', which will be produced by
Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd.
- This will be his first time Kimmel is hosting the Oscar event.
RBI to launch
new Rs. 100 currency note soon
The Reserve Bank will
shortly issue Rs. 100 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005,
without inset letter in both the numbering panels.
- The notes with ‘2016’ printing year
will be similar in design with the existing Rs. 100 notes in the Mahatma
Gandhi Series-2005 having ascending size of numerals in the number panels,
bleed lines, and enlarged identification mark, on the obverse.
MSME award for Corporation
Bank
Corporation Bank has bagged
the ‘Best MSME Bank Award 2016’ instituted by Assocham.
- Corporation Bank is a public sector banking company headquartered in Mangalore, India.
Vijaya Bank bags SME award
Vijaya Bank has been adjudged
‘Best Bank for SME Lending award’ by Assocham.
- The award was received by Kishore
Sansi, Managing Director & CEO of the bank under ‘Best SME Lending’
category for public sector banks at the fourth SMEs Excellence Award
function in New Delhi.
Artist Helen Marten wins 2016
Turner Prize
Multimedia artist Helen
Marten on 5 December 2016 won the Turner Prize, which is Britain’s top award
for contemporary art.
- The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50.
