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Current affairs : December 27, 2016 for all competitive exams


Sagarmala Development Company
The government recently inaugurated the Sagarmala Development Company (SDC). The Cabinet had approved the formation of the SDC under the administrative control of the Ministry of Shipping in July 2016.
  • The Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) has been incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013.
  • The company has an initial Authorized Share Capital of Rs. 1,000 Crore and a subscribed share capital of Rs. 90 Crore.
  • The main objective of the company is to identify port-led development projects under the Sagarmala Programme and provide equity support for the project Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) set up by the Ports / State / Central Ministries and funding window and /or implement only those residual projects which cannot be funded by any other means / mode.

Centre releases special stamp on freedom fighter “Shri Gaya Prasad Katiyar”
Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications has brought out a Special Cover on freedom fighter “Shri Gaya Prasad Katiyar”.

  • He was one of the most dedicated soldiers of India’s freedom struggle.
  • He was born at Jagadishpur (UP). He joined Hindustan Socialist Republican Association in 1925 and got connected with Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh.

Odisha Governemnt Launches Malaria control programme DAMAN
The Odisha government has decided to intensify state sponsored malaria elimination scheme 'Daman' (Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran) in eight remote districts of the state.
  • The state government has approved the scheme to be implemented in 8,000 villages of these districts and adding the programme is an innovative and integrated approach for control and prevention of malaria.

Odisha Names Mega Lift Irrigation Scheme after the freedom fighter Parbati Giri

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.
  • The scheme was named after Parbati Giri by the Chief Minister of state, Naveen Patnaik at a cabinet meeting.
  • 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.

Maharashtra CM launched 'Transform Maharashtra' initiative
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched an initiative 'Transform Maharashtra' at IIT Bombay's 'Mood Indigo' festival.
  • Under it, the chief minister will address issues related to youth in governance.

BSP account under scrutiny for receiving “Rs. 104 crore as cash deposits”
Alleged deposits of more than Rs.104 crore in a Delhi bank account of the Bahujan Samaj Party after the demonetisation of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes on November 8 have come under the lens of financial agencies.
  • The Income Tax Department is empowered to scrutinise the bank account details of political parties, which are required to keep a record of the donations they receive.

G S Singhvi named arbitrator for $1.5-billion ONGC-RIL dispute
The government has named former Supreme Court Judge G S Singhvi on the three-member arbitration panel that will decide on the validity of its $1.55 billion compensation claim from Reliance Industries for "unfairly enriching" and producing natural gas belonging to ONGC. 
  • RIL and its its partners BP Plc of the UK and Canada's Niko Resources, who had on November 11 slapped an arbitration notice against the government disputing the $1.55 billion demand, have named former UK high court judge Bernard Eder to the panel. 
  • RIL is the operator of the KG-D6 block with 60 per cent interest while BP holds 30 per cent. The remaining 10 per cent is with Niko Resources. 

Last Hurdle for Ken Betwa link over
Wild life board has cleared the Ken Betwa river link project. Now, the government is all set to start the work once the funding pattern is decided.
  • The Ken and Betwa rivers in the states of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP) are to be linked under an historic agreement that marks the first such project in India’s ambitious and controversial national river-linking project.
  • The project envisages construction of a dam across river Ken in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh to irrigate 6.35 lakh hectare area of land, drinking water purposes and generation of 78 MW hydropower

Remission power lies with State: SC
Noting that the power to grant remission is exclusively that of the State government and not the judiciary, the Supreme Court refrained itself from allowing any reprieve to four convicts who have served 25 years of their life sentence in Kolkata.
  • The court has declined to intervene, simply observing that “this is a power which can be exercised by the State.”

New Regional Institute of Education at Nellore:
Ministry of Human Resource Development is opening a new Regional Institute of Education at Nellore (Andhra Pradesh). 
  • Presently NCERT, an apex body of Government of India on School Education, has five RIEs in the country at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysore and Shillong.
  • The opening of the new RIE at Nellore will be give an impetus to the strengthening of School Education and Teacher Education in the region and benefit not only Andhra Pradesh but also the adjoining States of Telegana, Tamil Nadu, Pudduchery etc.

Karnataka govt launches 25 bio-diesel buses in the state
In an effort to reduce pollution caused by diesel buses, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has launched 25 bio-diesel buses in the state. 
  • These eco-friendly buses will ply on four routes, including Tirupati and Chennai. 
  • Costing around Rs90 lakh each, bio-diesel buses eject 60-70% less emissions than diesel buses and would reportedly save the Corporation Rs80 lakh each year.

Researchers create bacteria-powered battery on a single sheet of paper
Scientists have developed a bacteria-powered battery on a single piece of paper, which they say could be a cheap and easily manufactured power source for medical sensors in remote and developing areas.
  • The paper battery, which is foldable, is the latest example of what are known as bio-batteries, which store power generated by organic compounds. In this case, the power is generated by common bacteria found in wastewater.

First functional biological pacemaker developed
Scientists have developed the first functional pacemaker cells from human pluripotent stem cells which can regulate heart beats with electrical impulses, paving the way for an alternate, biological pacemaker therapy.
  • Pluripotent stem cells have the potential to differentiate into more than 200 different cell types that make up every tissue and organ in the body. These cells were coaxed in 21 days to develop into pacemaker cells by the researchers.

Farmers get additional 60 days to repay crop loans: RBI
In a relief to farmers hit by demonetisation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given an additional 60 days to repay their crop loans due in November-December, 2016 and prompt repayment would be eligible for the extra 3% interest subsidy. 
  • The government has been implementing the Interest Subvention Scheme since 2006-07. As per the scheme for the year 2016-17 besides subvention of 2 per cent per annum, an additional interest subvention of 3 per cent is also provided to prompt payee farmers from the date of disbursement of the crop loan. 

Registration of Pakistani Hindus as Indian Citizen reduced from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 100
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.



China Passes Environment Tax Law to Curb Pollution
China has passed a new law to levy environment tax on polluters, especially on heavy industries. 
  • The environment tax law was adopted by the legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC) standing committee at a meeting in Beijing. 
  • The law will be implemented on January 1, 2018.
  • Battling recurring pollution enveloping its cities,The Environment Tax Law was adopted by the legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

China tests prototype of fifth-generation fighter jet
China has tested the latest version of its fifth-generation stealth fighter, as it tries to end the West’s monopoly on the world’s most advanced warplanes.
  • The test comes as the nation flexes its military muscles, sending its sole aircraft carrier the Liaoning into the western Pacific in recent days to lead drills there for the first time.
  • The newest version of the J-31 — now renamed the FC-31 Gyrfalcon — took to the air for the first time.
  • The so-called “fifth-generation” twin-engine jet is China’s answer to the U.S. F-35, the world’s most technically advanced fighter.
  • The new FC-31 has “better stealth capabilities, improved electronic equipment and a larger payload capacity” than the previous version which debuted in October 2012, the newspaper said, quoting aviation expert Wu Peixin.

IDFC Bank rolls out Aadhaar Pay for cashless payments to merchants
IDFC Bank has announced the nationwide launch of IDFC Aadhaar Pay, the country’s first Aadhaar-linked cashless merchant solution that uses a retailer’s own Android smartphone to enable cashless payments.
  • Developed by IDFC Bank in association with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

KVGB launches ‘Bank Sakhi’ scheme
The Karnataka Vikas Grameen Banks (KVGB) has come up with ‘Bank Sakhi‘ innovative scheme for employing women in villages to promote and improve the cashless transactions in rural areas.
  • The Bank Chairman S.Ravindran revealed that the bank would appoint women business correspondents called 'Bank Sakhi' in select villages where this scheme would be implemented. 
  • In order to start this, the bank had hired 11 'Bank Sakhi' and had plans to appoint a minimum of 50 such women in different districts.
  • The 'Bank Sakhi' will provide a range of financial services on behalf of the bank to her community.

Salman Khan launches his app 'BeingInTouch' on 51st birthday
Actor Salman Khan on Twitter has announced the launch of his app, 'BeingInTouch', on his 51st birthday 27 December 2016. 
  • The app will provide access to Salman's social media accounts, along with his unseen pictures and videos. 
  • The app users can also avail discounts from various brands on the app. 
  • It is currently available for download on Google Play store.

Shah Rukh Khan to be conferred honorary doctorate
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is slated to be conferred with honorary doctorate by the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad.
  • President Pranab Mukherjee is the chief guest at the sixth convocation of the university where nearly 48,000.

Dr Barbara Jatta becomes first ever female director of Vatican Museums 
Dr Barbara Jatta(54) has appointed as the first female director of Vatican Museums by Pope Francis. 
  • It will be effective from January 2017 Jatta is currently working as the Deputy Director of the museums Since June 2016 
  • With this appointments she will become the highest-ranking female administrator in the Vatican.

Actor Mithun Chakraborty resigns from Rajya Sabha
Actor Mithun Chakraborty ha resigned from the Rajya Sabha citing health issues. 
  • The 66-year-old actor was nominated to the Upper House by West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). 
  • He still had nearly two years of tenure remaining in the Rajya Sabha.

Former Sri Lankan prime minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake passes away
Former Sri Lankan prime minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake died.
  • He was admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital last week. Wickremanayake had served as prime minister during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s term as president from 2005 to 2010.



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