Current Affairs Update – 1 December, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 1 December, 2016. These are important for the upcoming IPPB PO Mains, NIACL AO Mains, IBPS Clerk Mains, IBPS RRB Office Assistant Mains and RBI Assistant Mains 2016-17.

• The Central Statistical Office
  (CSO) on 30 November 2016 announced that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
  accelerated to 7.3 percent in the second quarter (July-September) of 2016-17
  financial year from a provisional 7.1 percent expansion in the previous
  quarter.
• On the other hand, the Gross
  Value Added (GVA) increased to 7.1 percent. While GDP growth accelerated in the
  second quarter from the 7.1 percent seen in the April-June quarter, GVA growth
  slowed from the 7.3 percent registered in that period.
• Both GDP and GVA growth were
  slower in Q2 of this financial year as compared with the Q2 of 2015-16. The Q2
  of 2015-16 showed a GDP growth of 7.6 percent and GVA growth of 7.3 percent.

• The agriculture sector maintained
  the overall growth by registering a 3.3 percent GVA growth rate in Q2 of this
  financial year in comparison with 2 percent in Q2 of 2015-16.
• The manufacturing sector saw a
  significant slowdown as it registered a GVA growth of 7.1 per cent in Q2 of
  this financial year as compared with 9.2 percent in Q2 of 2015-16.
• The mining and quarrying sector
  slowed down by 1.5 percent in Q2 compared with the contraction of 0.4 percent
  in the first quarter and a growth of 5 percent in Q2 of 2015-16.
• Output in sectors such as
  manufacturing, electricity, mining, services and others show a fall in the
  September quarter because they are not supported by demand.
• There was a drop in outputs
  across all sectors except for agriculture, construction and public
  administration.
• Gross fixed capital formation was
  only 29 percent of GDP in Q2 of this financial year as compared with 32.9
  percent in Q2 of 2015-16.
• On the other hand, Government
  final consumption expenditure was 13 percent of GDP in the second quarter of
  this financial year compared with 12.1 percent in the previous year.
• Government final consumption
  expenditure (GFCE) grew 18.8 percent in Q1 of FY 2016-17 and 15.2 percent in Q2
  of FY 2016-17.
• Union Government’s Capital
  Expenditure (Plan and non-Plan) declined 12.81 percent to Rs 124959 crore in the
  quarter against Rs 143329 crore in the year-ago period.

• Insurance Regulatory and
  Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has allowed insurance companies to
  invest in Additional Tier 1 (Basel III compliant) perpetual bonds. Earlier,
  there was no clarity on insurers investing in these instruments and they
  perceived it risky.
• In a circular issued to insurance
  companies today, IRDAI said that the rating of the AT1 bonds should not be less
  than ‘AA’. Further, it said that the aggregate value of the AT1 bonds held in
  any particular bank cannot exceed 10 per cent of the total outstanding AT1
  bonds at any time. These bonds will be a part of “equity” under
  investment regulations.
• Insurers have been told that they
  cannot invest more than 10 per cent in AT1 bonds offered through IPO. Also, the
  regulator said insurers can only invest in AT1 bonds of those banks that have
  declared dividends for preceding two years.
• Further, insurers cannot invest
  in AT1 bonds of their promoter group bank or where the bank is their corporate
  agent.
• A perpetual bond is a financial
  instrument with no maturity date. These bonds are not redeemable but pay a
  steady stream of interest forever. Here, the price of a perpetual bond is, therefore,
  the fixed interest payment, coupon amount, divided by a constant discount rate,
  which represents the speed at which money loses value over time (partly because
  of inflation).

• Raj Bhawan of Himachal Pradesh on
  30 November 2016 adopted the cashless system for all kind of payments. Governor
  Acharya Devvrat has directed Raj Bhawan’s official in Shimla to use a cashless
  system or cheque in all kind of payments.
• The direction was issued after
  the Prime Minister’s appeal in this regard.
• As per the reports, the payments
  of Raj Bhawan would be made online, through cheques or another mode of
  e-payments.
• Apart from this, Governor Devvrat
  has also appealed students, teachers and NGO are to make common people aware
  about the cashless system.
• Possibly, Himachal Rajbhawan is
  the first in the country to adopt these cashless techniques so promptly.
• Besides, Andhra Pradesh is also
  planning to launch a mobile wallet with the name ‘AP Purse’ to help the public
  in the adoption of cashless payments. The plan was announced by Chief Minister
  N Chandrababu Naidu. He said that his government would be the first state in
  India to switch to digital transactions.

• The Competition Commission (CCI)
  in the last week of November 2016 approved the merger of Bharatiya Mahila Bank
  Ltd (BMBL) with the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI).
• Summary of the deal
• The combination is in the form of
  amalgamation whereby the business of BMBL, including its assets and
  liabilities, will be acquired by SBI.
• While SBI has global presence,
  including offices in 37 countries, BMBL is a nascent bank set up in November
  2013.
• In the case of BMBL, 44231510
  shares of SBI would be swapped for every 100 crore shares of face value of Rs.
  10 each.
• Post merger of the six entities,
  including BMBL, the consolidated entity will add Rs. 8 lakh crore to SBI’s
  assets.

• The Union Cabinet on 30 November
  2016 approved the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) Phase-III. The
  estimated cost of project is Rs 8679 crore with completion cost of Rs 10947
  crore.
• The project is expected to be
  completed in the next 5 years during 13th Plan period.

• Western Railway is running
  suburban services on the existing busy double line between Virar-Dahanu Road
  which is a part of main line Mumbai–Ahmedabad or Mumbai–Delhi route.
• Main line is already congested
  and there is no scope for supplementing suburban services on this line.
• Construction of additional double
  line between Virar-Dahanu Road will address the demand of commuters in this
  region.
• This will provide extension of
  suburban services from Churchgate to Dahanu Road.
• While, Panvel-Karjat double line
  suburban corridor will cater to the significant urbanization and population
  growth.              

• India on Wednesday signed the
  Letter of Agreement and Acceptance (LOA) with the US to purchase 145 M777
  ultra-light artillery guns, through the foreign military sale (FMS) route.
• The Cabinet on November 17
  approved the much-awaited deal, which would add tremendous firepower to the
  Indian Army, especially against China in eastern front.
• The air portable 155mm/39 calibre
  gun, with maximum range of 30 km, is manufactured by BAE Systems.
• The $737 million contract has a
  30 per cent offset clause worth around $200 million.
• Out of 145 guns, BAE will deliver
  25 guns and rest 120 will be assembled in India by Mahindra.

• The Supreme Court on 30 November
  2016 ordered status quo on land acquired for the construction of the
  Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal’s stretch in Punjab.
• Moreover, the court also
  appointed Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretary of Punjab and the Director
  General of Punjab Police as receivers in the dispute between Punjab and Haryana
  and sought a report from them by 15 December on the present status of land.
• A bench comprising Justice Pinaki
  Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy also made it clear that receivers cannot
  take over the possession of the land meant for the SYL canal project. They have
  been appointed only for the purpose of submitting a report on the ground
  situation.

• Solid waste from the Ghazipur
  landfill site will now be used for highway expansion projects by the National
  Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
• The announcement comes as a
  relief to the residents living around the area, as with the foul smell
  emanating from the decomposing garbage and frequent fires, the site had become
  a major cause of health concern.

• The project is being initiated
  under the new Solid Waste Management Rules.
• It aims to remove, reuse and
  dispose of the solid municipal waste generated in the capital.
• The collected waste will be
  divided and then processed to make it usable.
• It will be utilized for the
  expansion of National Highway 24 and other highways.
• The leachate generated during the
  process will be transported for processing and disposal to a sewage plant in
  Ghazipur itself.

• The United Nations Educational,
  Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 30 November 2016 added Cuba’s
  rumba dance and Belgian beer to its coveted list of “intangible” heritage.
• In addition, the UN body also
  included Portuguese pottery and Ugandan traditional music into the list at the
  meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The Cuban delegation dedicated
  the rumba’s selection to Fidel Castro, who passed away recently.

• The United Nations Department of
  Field Support (DFS) on 29 November 2016 launched a new strategy to maximize its
  peace operations’ efficiency in the use of natural resources. The strategy will
  also help in minimizing peace operations’ risk to people, societies and
  ecosystems.
• The step was taken to highlight
  the significance of environmental protection and management in the work of
  peacekeeping missions.

• The strategy’s aim is to reduce
  overall demand through increased efficiency, increase the proportion of energy
  from renewable sources such as solar arrays and reduce the level of pollution.
• Also, the scheme aims at
  conserving water and reducing the level of risk to personnel, local communities
  and ecosystems from wastewater management practices.
• The six-year long strategy is in
  line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• The World AIDS Day was on 1
  December 2016 observed across the world with the theme Hands up for #HIVprevention.
• The campaign #HIVprevention
  explores different aspects of HIV prevention and how they relate to specific
  groups of people, such as adolescent girls and young women, key populations and
  people living with HIV.
• On the 2016 World AIDS Day, the Joint
  United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) hosted a special event on 30
  November 2016 to commemorate the day and to reinforce the commitment to move
  forward together to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable
  Development Goals.

• Magnus Carlsen won the 2016 World
  Chess Championship on 30 November 2016 in New York City, USA.
• Carlsen defeated Sergey Karjakin
  to retain the World Chess Champion title. It’s the third time that Carlsen has
  won the championship. He has reigned as world champion since 2013.

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