Current Affairs Update – 23 December, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 23 December, 2016. These are important for the upcoming RBI Assistant Mains, IPPB PO Mains, NIACL AO Mains and RBI Assistant Mains 2016-17.

Current Affairs at a Glance – 23 December, 2016

  1. The government of Tripura has decided to adopt for cashless payment in
    all public transactions
    , starting from 1 January 2017.
  2. Indian Railways, National High Speed Rail
    Corporation and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA
    ) on 21
    December 2016 signed a Memorandum for General Consultancy.
  3. Amul, the popular Indian dairy
    cooperative is planning to invest Rs 200 Cr in a Centralised Milk Processing
    Plant in West
    Bengal
    .
  4. The Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik on 22 December
    2016 formally inaugurated the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy
    (NEIAH) in Shillong, Meghalaya
    .
  5. Government think tank Niti Aayog
    on Friday launched a performance index on health services ‘Performance on Health Outcomes index’
    to nudge states to improve health outcomes and improve data collection systems.
  6. Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has unseated his actor Shah Rukh Khan to become the top
    earning celebrity of 2016 in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 List
    with
    an estimated income of Rs. 270.33 crore.
  7. Sheva Keshavan, the Winter
    Olympian from India, won the gold medal at Asian Luge Championship on 23
    December 2016. He braved an injury to clinch the gold at the championship in
    Nagano.
  8. China on 22 December 2016
    launched TanSat
    satellite
    , a global carbon dioxide monitoring satellite, to
    understand the climate change.
  9. An Indian-American engineer Pradeep Gupta has been elected as Mayor of South San Francisco city in the US state of California.

Finance/Banking –
Tripura to adopt cashless payment system in public transactions from
New Year

  • The government of Tripura has
    decided to adopt for cashless payment in all public transactions, starting from
    1 January 2017.
  • The government has already
    initiated the process of opening bank accounts including issuing RuPay cards to
    people who do not have any bank accounts.
  • According to the Chief Secretary
    of the state, Yashpal Singh, 80% people in Tripura already have at least one
    bank account. So, the state government took the initiative of opening bank
    accounts for those who don’t have such as the tea garden and brick kiln
    workers.
  • By New Year, the government plans
    to convert the state into a cashless economy by ensuring that all its state
    departments deal mostly in digital payments.
  • Apart from this, the government
    is also building digital infrastructure in the Agartala government medical
    college & hospital, Tripura medical college and hospital and Indira Gandhi
    Memorial hospital. The move has been made to help families of patients, to
    enable them to make digital payments.

Indian Railways partnered with JICA for Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed
Rail Project

  • Indian Railways, National High
    Speed Rail Corporation and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on 21
    December 2016 signed a Memorandum for General Consultancy.
  • Under the tripartite consultancy
    agreement, JICA promotes smooth implementation of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High
    Speed Railway Project.

Highlights of the Memorandum for
General Consultancy
  • The general consultancy involves
    providing design and bidding assistance for the public works and systems
    required for the construction of the project.
  • The JICA will bear the cost of
    general consultancy up to 2020.
  • The memorandum is an outcome of
    the Japan-India Summit level talks in December 2015.

Amul all set to invest Rs 200 Cr in Bengal

  • Amul, the popular Indian dairy
    cooperative is planning to invest Rs 200 Cr in a Centralised Milk Processing
    Plant in West Bengal.
  • The plant is located at Kandua
    Food Park in Howrah district’s Sankrail town. The work on the plant is expected
    to start in 2017 and be completed by the end of 2018. The proposed plant will
    process milk and other products such as UHT milk, ghee and yoghurt.

About Kandua Food Park
  • It has been developed by WBIDC to
    cater to the needs of producers and manufacturers of food and agricultural
    products.
  • Built on the concept of an
    industrial cluster, the park is an attempt to bring together different
    agricultural processing units and their support facilities to one single
    location so that they all benefit from the shared infrastructure.

India –
North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy inaugurated in
Shillong
  • The Minister of State for AYUSH
    Shripad Yesso Naik on 22 December 2016 formally inaugurated the North Eastern
    Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy (NEIAH) in Shillong, Meghalaya.
  • The objective of the NEIAH is to
    provide good quality medical graduates in traditional medicine generate
    employment and promote tourism in the North East.

About North Eastern Institute
of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy (NEIAH)
  • It is an autonomous Institute
    under Union Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and
    Homoeopathy (AYUSH).
  • With this inauguration, the
    institute has become the second Ayurvedic College in the North East Region with
    a Homeopathy college.
  • It is the only Central Academic
    Institute of AYUSH in the North East Region.
  • Its primary aim is to produce
    quality human resource in the area of AYUSH in general and the Ayurveda and
    Homeopathy in particular.

List & Indexes –
NITI Aayog launches Performance on Health Outcomes index

  • Government think tank Niti Aayog
    on Friday launched a performance index on health services to nudge states to improve
    health outcomes and improve data collection systems.
  • “This initiative (launch of
    ‘Performance on Health Outcomes’ index) is envisioned to bring about the
    much-required improvements in the social sector outcomes, which have not kept
    pace with the economic growth in the country. It will be used to propel action
    in the states to improve health outcomes and improve data collection
    systems,” Niti Aayog said in a statement.
  • The index is launched along with
    Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
  • It is meant to capture the annual
    incremental improvements by states rather than focus on historical
    achievements, it noted.
  • Secretary-Health C K Mishra and
    CEO Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant jointly released the guidebook for the exercise in
    the first of a series of regional workshops to be conducted across the country
    until February, it added.
  • The government’s think tank
    further said it is anticipated that the index will assist in the state-level
    monitoring of performance, serve as an input for providing performance-based
    incentives and improvement in health outcomes, and meet citizens’ expectations.
  • The statement said the index has
    been developed over several months with inputs from domestic and international
    experts, including academicians and development partners, seeking feedback from
    states.

Salman Khan tops Forbes India Celebrity rich list

  • Bollywood superstar Salman Khan
    has unseated his actor Shah Rukh Khan to become the top earning celebrity of
    2016 in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 List with an estimated income of Rs.
    270.33 crore.
  • The other leading names in the
    list include skipper Virat Kohli, actor Akshay Kumar and M S Dhoni
    chronologically.
  • However, the 50-year-old Salman
    is ranked at No 2 in terms of fame, which is topped by ace cricketer Kohli.
  • In the fifth rich 100 celeb list
    released by Forbes India, the ranking is based on two parameters: estimates of
    entertainment-related earnings and estimates of fame during the period October
    2015 to September 2016.
  • The magazine attributed the rise
    of Salman to his box office hits — the Sooraj Barjatya-directed ‘Prem Ratan
    Dhan Payo’ in late 2015 and then ‘Sultan’ in 2016.
  • The magazine further said
    Salman’s estimated total earnings constitutes 9.84 per cent of the total wealth
    of the top 100 celebs at Rs. 2,745 crore for the year.
  • SRK at No 2, has reportedly
    earned Rs. 221.75 crore and also comes at No 3 in terms of fame. He lost his
    perch at the top in what was a mixed year for him both in terms of box office
    success and brands endorsed.
  • When it comes to fame ranking,
    Test cricket captain Virat Kohli is the most popular celebrity and this has
    improved his earnings rank to No 3 with a reported Rs. 134.44 crore earnings.
    In 2015, Kohli was ranked No 7.

Sports –
Shiva Keshavan won gold at Asian Luge Championship
  • Sheva Keshavan, the Winter
    Olympian from India, won the gold medal at Asian Luge Championship on 23
    December 2016. He braved an injury to clinch the gold at the championship in
    Nagano.
  • Keshavan who dominated the event
    finished the 2 heat race in 1:39.962 seconds. 103.4 km/hr was his top speed in
    the race.
  • Tanaka Shohei of Japan clinched
    the silver medal in the event with a combined time of 1:44.874 seconds. His top
    speed was 124.6 km/hr. On the other hand, the bronze medal went to Chinese
    Taipei’s Lien Te-An. He completed the race in 45.120 with a top speed of 126.3
    km/hr.

India wins bronze at women’s U18 Hockey Asia Cup
  • India on 22 December 2016
    defeated South Korea 3-0 to secure the bronze medal at the 4th Women’s U18 Asia
    Cup 2016 hockey tournament in Bangkok.
  • After the win, Hockey India
    announced cash rewards of Rs.1 lakh for each player. It also announced Rs.50000
    for each member of the support staff.
  • In the first half of the game,
    both teams played were goalless. The best chance of the half fell to India’s
    Mahima Choudhary. India took the lead minutes after the break as Ritu scored
    the opener off a penalty corner. Sangita Kumari scored in the 55th and 58th
    minutes.
  • China was the winner of the Women
    Under-18 Asia Cup. The country emerged victorious with a 4-2 victory over
    defending champions Japan in the final at the National Hockey Training Centre.

World –
China launches TanSat satellite to monitor global carbon emissions
  • China on 22 December 2016
    launched TanSat satellite, a global carbon dioxide monitoring satellite, to
    understand the climate change.
  • This 620-kg satellite was put
    into orbit by Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in
    northwest China’s Gobi Desert. China is the third country to monitor greenhouse
    gases through its own satellite after Japan and the US.
  • This was the 243rd mission of the
    Long March series rockets. Besides TanSat, the rocket also launched a
    high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for
    agricultural and forestry monitoring.

Appointments –
Indian-American Pradeep Gupta elected Mayor of California
  • An Indian-American engineer has
    been elected as Mayor of South San Francisco city in the US state of
    California.
  • Pradeep Gupta, an IIT Chennai
    alumni, was sworn in as the Mayor of the city early in December, a media
    release said.
  • With this he has become the
    second Indian-American to be elected as the Mayor of the Californian city.
  • Gupta was appointed to the South
    San Francisco City Council for a one-year term on December 31, 2012 and was
    elected to a full four-year term in November 2013.
  • Prior to his appointment to the
    City Council, he was on the South San Francisco Planning Commission for three
    years, serving as the Commission’s Chair in 2011.

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