Current affairs : December 26, 2016 for all competitive exams
Agni 5, India’s Longest Range Nuclear Capable Missile,
Successfully Test Fired
Agni-5, India’s longest range nuclear capable missile, was recently
successfully test fired from the Kalam Island off Odisha coast by the Defence
Research and Development Organisation or DRDO.
- The intercontinental surface-to-surface nuclear
capable ballistic missile, the latest in India’s “Agni” family of medium
to intercontinental range missiles, has been through four trials now.
- Agni-5 has a range of over 5,000 km and can carry
about a 1,000-kg warhead. It can target almost all of Asia including
Pakistan and China and Europe.
Lucky Grahak Yojana, Digi Dhan
Vyapar Yojana launched
Government of India has
launched Lucky Grahak Yojana for Consumers and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana for
Merchants to promote digital transaction.
- The schemes are aimed at encouraging people to move
towards significantly higher usage of digital transactions through the
offer of incentives.
- The first Lucky Grahak Yojana draw was held in the presence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and name of 15 thousand lucky winners were announced.
PM Modi lays foundation stone
of Pune Metro Rail
PM Narendra Modi laid the
foundation stone of Pune Metro project's Phase-I.
- PM Modi said the government is actively working on
the Rurban Mission, which caters to the places that are urbanising
quickly.
- The government needs to improve the quality of life in villages as well as mitigate the challenges that the urban areas are facing.
Assam CM launches Atal-Amrit
Abhiyan across the State
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal
has launched 'Atal-Amrit Abhiyan' Scheme across the State .
- The initiative is a health assurance scheme which
will give comprehensive coverage for six diseases and cover all
individuals in eligible families with annual income below Rs 5 lakh.
- 437 diseases are covered under this scheme.
SBI adopts village of
Maharashtra for Aadhaar-based payments
The State Bank of India
(SBI) has adopted Shirki village in Pen taluka in Maharashtra for driving the
Aadhaar-based merchant payment initiative.
- Under the initiative, the merchants in the village
have been provided with simple android phones with a USB-based fingerprint
capture device.
- The merchant is required to have a bank account with an Aadhaar number needed.
Amaravati to
host biodiversity park
Sakhamuru, a nondescript
village in Thullur mandal of Andhra Pradesh will host the single largest lung
space in the State’s capital region in the form of a 200-acre botanical garden.
- The botanical reserve will have a rich variety of
plants intended to act a repository of diverse types of flora from the
region.
- The AP Biodiversity Board lists 2,800 plants as important, of which 1,800 are used in traditional medicine.
Anti-Airfield Weapon
The Defence and Research Development Organization (DRDO) recently
successfully flight tested the Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW), from an
Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft.
- SAAW is an indigenously designed and
developed 120 kg. class smart weapon. It is developed by DRDO.
- It is capable of engaging ground targets with high
precision up to a range of 100 kms.
Land of religious body can be acquired: HC
Allahabad High Court has ruled that land belonging to religious body can be
used for public purpose.
- High Court made its remark while asking the Church
of North India Association and NHAI to “work out modality” for “demolition
or shifting” of a church for construction of a six-lane road.
Kuchipudi performers dance their way into Guinness
Records
Andhra Pradesh’s own classical dance ‘Kuchipudi’ has found a place in the
Guinness World Records yet again when a record 6,117 dancers came together to
present a show at the IGMC Stadium in Vijaywada recently. In 2012, a similar
feat was achieved when 5,900 dancers performed ‘Kuchipudi’ in Hyderabad.
- The “Maha Brunda Natyam” (grand group dance) was
organised as part of the ‘5th International Kuchipudi Dance Convention’
organised by the state Department of Language and Culture.
Pakistan urges World Bank to fulfill commitment under
Indus treaty
Pakistan has urged the World Bank to fulfil its commitment in accordance
with the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) under which no party can pause the
performance of its role.
- The demand was made by Pakistan in response to the
World Bank’s decision to pause the process of empanelment of the Court of
Arbitration
World’s most heat resistant material found
Scientists have identified materials that can withstand temperatures of
nearly 4,000 degrees Celsius, an advance that may pave the way for improved
heat resistant shielding for the faster-than-ever hypersonic space vehicles.
- Researchers from Imperial College London in the UK
discovered that the melting point of hafnium carbide is the highest ever recorded for a material.
- Tantalum carbide (TaC) and hafnium carbide (HfC) are
refractory ceramics, meaning they are extraordinarily resistant to heat.
Online safety campaign by Google:
Google has teamed up with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in India to launch
a country-wide ‘Digitally Safe Consumer’ campaign in order to raise awareness
and protect consumer interest on the internet.
- As part of the campaign, Google will work on educating consumer organisations in India, help in training members of the Consumer Affairs department, and also work with officials in the National Consumer Helpline.
‘Google Tax’ detrimental to startup ecosystem: Experts
The equalisation levy, also known as Google Tax’ which the government is
imposing on online advertising revenue by non-resident e-commerce companies
earned in India, is expected to adversely affect the startup ecosystem going
forward, according to tax experts.
- The levy which is at 6% presently became effective
on June 1. If passed on to startups, the applicable tax is expected to be
in excess of 22%, including the 15% service tax and could further increase
if GST comes into effect.
Paytm to invest
₹50 cr. to educate merchants on digital payments
E-wallet major Paytm said it
would invest ₹ 50 crore to set up a 100-member strong merchant help desk to
educate them on various aspects of digital payments.
- Under this program, merchants will be educated on all the important aspects, which are currently becoming a concern, and also dispelling a lot of myth around safety, security and delay in money transfer to the bank account.
Five global reinsurers,
including RGA, Swiss Re, get final licence from Irda
The Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority of India (Irda) has approved the R3 application and
granted certificate of registration to five global reinsurers to opens shops.
- The R3 is the final approval from the regulator to
begin branch operations.
- The five global reinsurers that were granted final
approval by the regulator are the US-based reinsurer Reinsurance Group of
America (RGA), Munich Re and Hannover from Germany, Swiss Re from
Switzerland and French reinsurance major Scor.
Hyderabad girl
wins ‘Brain Bee’ regional competition
Ria Thimmaiahgari, a class
11 student of Indus International School, has won the ‘Brain Bee’ regional
competition and qualified for the national-level event likely to be held in
Ahmedabad.
- The competition is a neuroscience
contest which was created to encourage science students explore
neuroscience, understand the need for discovering cures for diseases
related to the human brain and the central nervous system, and make
students realise the opportunities in the area of biomedical research.
- The competition had four phases —
written test followed by three phases of orals —conducted by Subhash Kaul,
head of the Neurology Department, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences.
Co-Artist of national emblem
Dinanath Bhargava died at 89
Dinanath Bhargava, a
co-artist in the team that sketched the national emblem ‘Lion Capital of
Ashoka’ and decorated the pages of the Constitution’s manuscript, died at the
age of 89 in Indore.
British singer George Michael
dies at 53
British singer George
Michael who launched his career with Wham in the 1980s and continued his
success as a solo performer.
- He has died on 25 December 2016 at the age of 53 and cause of death was heart failure.
Pankaj Advani won National
title in 6-red Snooker
Sixteen-time world champion
Pankaj Advani ended the year on a high by bagging the National title in 6-red
snooker, the shorter format of the game.
- Starting off as the favourite, Advani lived up to
the expectations and reclaimed the title, which he had won during the
inaugural
- edition in Bengaluru in 2010.
- In the final, Advani prevailed over local youngster
Ishpreet Chadha 7-4 to clinch the title.
Yuki Bhambri
clinches title
Third seed Yuki Bhambri
defeated second seed Shintaro Imai of Japan 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the
$10,000 ITF Futures tennis tournament here on Sunday.
- It was the 11th singles title in the Futures circuit for Yuki, who has five Challenger titles as well.
