CURRENT AFFAIRS

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Kolkata’s Sitalpati Gets place in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has registered Sitalpati or cool mat from the Cooch Behar district, West Bengal as an Sitlapati Intangible cultural heritage.

These mats are used for sitting or to hang on doors or by windows during summer. The mats are made up of weaved green cane slips of murta plants which are indigenous to the region. The gradual decline of sitalpati weaving was arrested by the proactive efforts of chief minister Mamata Banerjee who helped this traditional product gain global recognition.

2. Ellen becomes most awarded person in People’s Choice history

Actress and comedienne Ellen Degeneres made People’s Choice Awards history by becoming the most decorated celebrity in the TV ceremony’s 43 years.

• The ‘Finding Dory’ star, who hosts her own top-rated daytime talk show in America, picked up her 20th, 21st and 22nd awards at the Microsoft Theater.
• Singer-actor Justin Timberlake presented her with the favourite daytime TV host and favourite animated movie voice trophies.

INDIAN AFFAIRS

3. Cabinet approves amendment in Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme

In a bid to incentivise investments and move towards the goal of ‘net zero imports’ in the electronics sector by 2020, the Union cabinet approved on Wednesday amendments to the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS).

• The cabinet had cleared the M-SIP scheme in 2012 to promote large scale manufacturing in the electronic system design and manufacturing sector (ESDM).
• It provided subsidies for capital expenditure—20% for investments in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and 25% in non-SEZs. In August 2015, the scheme was amended to enhance its scope and simplify procedure.

4. ‘Passport Mela’ to be held in Mumbai on January 21

The Regional Passport Office (RPO), Mumbai will organise a ‘Passport Mela’ in the city to address complaints regarding passport issuance, an official said. The prime objective of the Passport Mela is to deal with the growing demand for passports and tackling problems related to their issuance in our region.

The event would be held at all the Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) under the jurisdiction of RPO, Mumbai to meet the increasing demand for passport services and address occasional difficulties faced by citizens in obtaining an appointment.

5. Karnataka allows sale of white kerosene in open market

The Karnataka government has decided to allow the sale of white kerosene in open market. Those interested in selling white kerosene in open market can approach the office of the Food and Civil Supplies in their districts.

• On the other initiatives, he said the government will take steps to distribute pulses to the PDS (public distribution system) cardholders below the poverty line.
• In his Independence Day address, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced that PDS cardholders below the poverty line would get protein-rich commodities in addition to the carbohydrate-rich ones. As part of this, pulses will be distributed from next month.

6. West Bengal Set to Give Legal Protection to Hilsa Fish

The hilsa fish is on the brink of extinction because of migration barriers, poppulation and over-fishing. It is soon possible that anyone who buys or sells the fish weighing more than 500gms can be arrested. The state of West Bengal is planning to introduce this provision under penal code very soon. The hilsa that is also known as the Indian Shad migrates to the Bay of Bengal every monsoon for breeding.

7. Govt launches ‘ShaGun’ web portal for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

An innovative progress in elementary education sector of the country by continuous monitoring of the flagship scheme – Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has launched a dedicated web portal ‘ShaGun’, which has been prepared by World Bank in collaboration with Ministry of Human Resource Development. On this occasion, the Union Minister also reiterated government’s commitment for improving the ‘Quality’ of Education.

8. CCEA approves listing of five general insurance PSUs at the stock exchanges

The government has decided to list five state-owned general insurers and said it will bring down its stake in these insurance companies to 75%. The decision was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) .

These companies are New India Assurance Company, United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance Company, National Insurance Company and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC). The listing will allow companies to raise capital for expansion and not be dependent on government.

9. India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge to be completed in Dec

The country’s longest rail-cum-road bridge – the Bogibeel Bridge over the Brahmaputra in Dibrugarh – is likely to be ready by December this year.

MK Singh, the deputy chief engineer of the Northeast Frontier Railway in charge of the project, said 70% of the work had been completed.

The Bogibeel Bridge project has been 14 years in the making and has earned the dubious distinction of being one of the slowest-moving infrastructure projects in the northeast.

10. 58th India International Garment Fair starts at New Delhi

The 58th edition of India International Garment Fair (IIGF) is beginning in New Delhi. Organized by Apparel Export Promotion Council India, the event is one of the largest and most popular platforms in Asia, from which overseas garment buyers can source products and forge business relationships with India’s finest players in the apparel and fashion accessories domain. Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani will inaugurate the three-day long fair.

11. ‘Mawlynnong’ the cleanest village of Asia becomes role model for cleanliness

Mawlynnong village in Meghalaya has become a role model for other states in maintaining cleanliness and also tourists’ hotspot.  It is also claimed as Asia’s cleanest village. Over 500 tourists from across the country and abroad visit the village daily.  Through cleanliness, the villagers have created opportunities to earn money as the village has become tourists’ prime destination in North East.

12. Prez Mukherjee inaugurate 28th Dantan Gramin Mela in West Bengal

President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the 28th Dantan Gramin Mela in West Midnapore district in West Bengal in a few hours’ time. He is on a four-day visit to West Bengal. The fair will display the rural handicraft skills of the people of the region. The different goods ranging from textile to terracotta will be on display.

13. Madhya Pradesh Government launches Aanandam Scheme to help poor

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh launches Anadam Scheme to help the poor and the needed person. Under this scheme the people who are economic sound can donate items for the needed person. The state government of Madhya Pradesh has fixed the places in each district of the state where the people can donate items for the poor people. People can donate items like jackets, sarees, blankets, utensils, school bags for the poor people under Anandam Scheme.

14. Bengaluru tops in world’s most dynamic city list released at WEF

To remain competitive in economic landscape, cities have to keep innovating and adjusting to constantly changing circumstances. Bangalore, India’s tech hub (now officially called “Bengaluru”), appears to be willing to refashion itself to thrive. It’s now the world’s fastest-changing city, triumphing over established global IT capitals like Silicon Valley and London, according to the JLL City Momentum Index.

15. Cabinet approves India’s Membership in the International Vaccine Institute

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the proposal for India’s taking full membership of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) Governing Council. The move involves payment of annual contribution of US $ 5,00,000 to the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Seoul, South Korea.

International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Seoul, South Korea, established in 1997 on the initiatives of the UNDP, is an international organization devoted to developing and introducing new and improved vaccines to protect the people, especially children, against deadly infectious diseases.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

16. World witnesses hottest year on record in 2016: UN

The world has just witnessed the hottest year on record, surpassing the exceptionally high temperatures of 2015, the United Nations weather agency reported highlighting new records in indicators of human-caused climate change, as well as loss of Artic sea ice.

The globally averaged temperature in 2016 was about 1.1 degree Celsius higher than the pre-industrial period, according to a consolidated analysis by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), continuing the trend in which 16 of the 17 hottest years on record will have been during this century (1998 is the outlier).

SPORTS

17. 65-year-old sets record at National Shooting Championship

Nirmal Yadav, aged 65, set a national record at the recently concluded 60th National Shooting Championship in Pune. The shooter from Delhi shot 341/400 to set the meet record in the Veteran Women’s 10m Air Pistol event. Nirmal, who has trained at the TopGun Shooting Academy in the capital, started shooting only two years back. The wife of a former Major General had also won gold at the Dr. Karni Singh Memorial Shooting Championship in Jaipur last year.

OBITUARY

18. Former Chhattisgarh minister Tarun Prasad Chatterjee is no more

Senior Congress leader and former state minister Tarun Prasad Chatterjee passed away in Raipur this evening following a cardiac arrest.  He was 68. A popular leader among the down-trodden SECTIONSof the society, Tarun Prasad Chatterjee was a four-time MLA (from Raipur rural constituency) and three-time Mayor of Raipur Municipal Corporation