CURRENT AFFAIRS
APPOINTMENTS
- SP Vaid appointed as new J&K police chief
The State Cabinet has confirmed the name of senior Indian Police Services (IPS) officer S.P. Vaid as new Director General of Police (DGP) of Jammu and Kashmir, as incumbent DGP K. Rajendra’s term comes to an end. The decision was taken in the State Cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu.
INDIAN AFFAIRS
2. Union Cabinet approves ordinance to make possession of old notes penal offence
The Cabinet approved the promulgation of an ordinance extinguishing the Reserve Bank of India’s liability for cancelled Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as the logical conclusion to the government’s demonetisation initiative. The move will also give the finance ministry enough time to factor into the budget the amount of cash that hasn’t been returned to the system if required
The ordinance is expected to provide a limited window for depositing the cancelled notes at select RBI branches until March 31and also prescribes a monetary penalty for anyone holding such currency in large quantities after the deadline.
3. Meghalaya to host National Games 2022
Meghalaya will host National Games in the year 2022, as the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has accepted the State’s bid for the games. The year 2022 will also mark the 50 years of its statehood. The announcement regarding the hosting was recently made at IOA meeting held in Chennai. The state had pledged 5 crore rupees as a bid amount for the National Games.
4. AIADMK passes resolution to appoint Sasikala as party chief
The era of VK Sasikala in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has begun. The ruling party of Tamil Nadu appointed VK Sasikala, an aide of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa as the general secretary in a general council meeting in Vanagram, Chennai.
The resolution was moved by party presidium chairman E Madusudanan and Panneersevlam and Edapadi Palanisamy. The resolution makes it clear that Sasikala will be formally elected as party General Secretary at a later date in keeping with the stipulations of the party constitution.
5. Government launches Swachh Swasth Sarvatra initiative
Swachh SwasthSarvatra’, an inter-ministerial joint initiative between the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was launched in the Capital. The objective of the ‘Swachh Swasth Sarvatra’ initiative is to build on and leverage achievements of two complementary programmes – Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and Kayakalp – of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare, respectively.
6. World Bhojpuri Conference begins in Varanasi
High Commissioner of Mauritius to India, Jagdishwar Goburdhun has said that a ‘World Bhojpuri Conference’ will be held from December 30 2016 to January 1 2017, in which participants from over 18 countries are likely to be present. The conference will deliberate over culture, religion, language and business among other issues.
The conference is an effort to strengthen the links of the people of Indian-origin, who once belonged to the Bhojpuri-speaking belt in India and had migrated to different parts of the world.
7. Government launches IVRS platform to tackle call drops
The government has launched an Integrated Voice Response System (IVRS) system at multiple locations including Delhi and Mumbai to obtain direct feedback from subscribers on call quality. The feedback will be shared with operators so they can take corrective steps in the problem areas and address the issue of call drops.
In order to obtain direct feedback from subscribers and use that feedback to solve the problem of call drops, DoT launched an IVRS system in Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Goa on 23rd December 2016
8.Haryana police gets India’s 1st digital investigation centre
The Haryana police have set up the country’s first centre for digital investigation and training in Gurgaon in a bid to enhance cyber policing and monitor social media content. The state-of-the-art facility — Digital Investigation Training and Analysis Centre (DITAC) — on the third floor of Traffic Tower in Sushant Lok 1 was inaugurated by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
9. No jail term for holding old notes, minimum fine of Rs.10,000
Government has made holding of more than 10 junked Rs 500/1000 notes a penal offence punishable with a minimum Rs 10,000 fine, but the harsher four-year jail term has been dropped.
The Specified Bank Notes Cessation of Liabilities Ordinance, approved yesterday by the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, allows individuals to hold no more than 10 notes of the old currency. It allows 25 such currencies to be held by research scholars.
BANKING AND FINANCE
10. Mori in Andhra gets Smart Digital village tag
Mori, a tiny village under Sakhinetipalli mandal in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, today sealed its place on India’s digital map by transforming completely into a Smart Digital Village, in every sense of the term.
All the 1189 households in the village with a population of 4500 became fully digital as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu finally launched the AP FiberNet project that will provide internet at a speed of 15 mbps, WiFi, a telephone connection and 250 cable television channels (using a triple-play set-top box) for a total price of Rs 149 per month.
11. MobiKwik to allow payment of utility bills through e-wallet
MobiKwik, a mobile wallet company, has announced that it had got an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to set up Bharat Bill Payments Operating Unit (BBPOU). This company will now be integrated in Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), a bill payment system by NPCI, offering interoperable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
12. China launches 2 high resolution remote sensing satellites
China has successfully launched a pair of high-resolution remote sensing satellites to get commercial images. The satellites were launched today from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi Province.
The satellites, SuperView-1 01/02, blasted off at 11:23 am Beijing time on the back of a Long March 2D rocket. They are able to provide commercial images at 0.5-meter resolution.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
13. Union Cabinet approves ratification of International Solar Alliance
The Union Cabinet has gave post facto approval to India’s ratification of the framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) launched last year jointly by India and France at Paris on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of Parties on climate change.
The ISA, headquartered in India with an interim secretariat at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) premises in Gurugram, aims bring together more than 121 nations for coordinated research, low cost fina ..
SPORTS
14. Former world number one Ana Ivanovic retires from tennis
Former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic has announced her retirement from tennis. The 29-year-old Serbian held the top spot for 12 weeks in 2008, the season when she claimed her sole Grand Slam success by winning the French Open.
OBITUARY
15. Transformer of Modern Physics and Astronomy Vera Rubin Dies at 88
Vera Rubin, who transformed modern physics and astronomy with her observations showing that galaxies and stars are immersed in the gravitational grip of vast clouds of dark matter, died in Princeton, N.J. She was 88.
Her work helped usher in a Copernican-scale change in cosmic consciousness, namely the realization that what astronomers always saw and thought was the universe is just the visible tip of a lumbering iceberg of mystery.
16. Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher passes away at 60
Carrie Fisher, the actress best known as Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars, has died after suffering a heart attack. She was 60. In 2005, Fisher was recognized with the Women of Vision Award by the Women in Film & Video – DC. Three years later, Fisher’s Wishful Drinking autobiography was turned into a one-woman stage show and eventually an HBO documentary.
