Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 13 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.
Current Affairs at a Glance – 13th December, 2016
- Nitin Gadkari, the Union
Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping laid the foundation stones for 17 road
projects on 11 December 2016 during two
functions held at Jiribam and Imphal. The project’s overall cost is
estimated to be around Rs 1152 Cr. - India and Indonesia on 12 December 2016 signed three agreements to boost the
bilateral relations between the two nations. They also resolved to deal
with terrorism. - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in December 2016 signed an agreement with a consortium
of six companies to deliver India’s first industry-built satellite by late 2017. - Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the third
edition of the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale (KMB) at an inaugural event in Parade Ground, Fort Kochi on
13 December 2016. - The Punjab Government on 12 December 2016 launched
country’s first amphibious bus project at the Harike wetland near Amritsar.
The project was launched nearly two years after it was announced. - Cyclone Vardah struck coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The severe cyclonic storm made
a landfall on the east coast near the Pulicat Lake on 12 December 2016. - Indian Actress Priyanka Chopra
has been appointed as United Nations
Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) newest Global Goodwill Ambassador. - Pulkit Trivedi was on 12 December 2016 appointed as Industry Director of Facebook
India for e-commerce, retail, travel and financial services verticals. - Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo has won the esteemed 2016 Ballon d’Or award.
- To tackle the world’s worst
inflation, Venezuelan
Government announced
demonetisation of Bolivar Fuerte 100 banknotes. The demonetisation will be
effective in next 72 hours.
Finance/Banking –
Nitin Gadkari lays foundation stones for Rs 1152 Cr projects in Manipur
- Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister
for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping laid the foundation stones for 17
road projects on 11 December 2016 during two functions held at Jiribam and
Imphal. The project’s overall cost is estimated to be around Rs 1152 Cr. - Also present in the function at
Jiribam was the Union Minister of Human Resource Development- Prakash Javedkar
along with other BJP leaders. The function at Imphal, on the other hand, was
attended by the Chief Minister of Manipur, O Ibobi.
Key Highlights
- Gadkari announced that the Union
Government will be handing over the responsibility of Imphal-Jiribam highway
(NH 37) to National highways and infrastructure development corporation Limited
(NHIDCL) from the Border Roads Organisation of Indian Army. - The national highway was until
now maintained mostly by transporters and people of Manipur. - The repair work will mainly focus
on two bridges on the highway-Barak and Makru, as they aren’t strong enough to
support heavy trucks and vehicles. - The whole project is expected to
be completed within three years at a cost of about Rs 141 Cr. - The Ministry-owned NHIDCL will
also take over the Ukhrul -Toloi-Tadubi projects that cover a stretch of 115
km, costing about Rs 64 Cr. - Other projects that will be
handed over to NHIDCL include Churachandpur- Singhat- Sinzawl-Tuivai project
and Tamenglong-Khongsang road. While the former covers a stretch of 162 km with
a total estimated cost of Rs 168 Cr, the latter covers 40 km at a cost of about
Rs 19 Cr.
India –
India, Indonesia signed three agreements including cooperation in
Sports
Sports
- India and Indonesia on 12
December 2016 signed three agreements to boost the bilateral relations between
the two nations. They also resolved to deal with terrorism. - The agreements were signed in New
Delhi after delegation-level talks that were held between the two nations
during the visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to India. President Widodo
was on a two-day visit to India from 12 December to 13 December 2016. This was
the first bilateral visit of an Indonesian President to India. - Agreements signed during this
visit of President Joko Widodo to India include - MoU on Youth and Sports
Cooperation: It was signed between the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and
Sports and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Indonesia. - MoU on Standardization
Cooperation between the Bureau of Indian Standards and the National
Standardization Agency of Indonesia. - Joint Communiqué on the Voluntary
International Cooperation to Combat Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU)
Fishing and to promote Sustainable Fisheries Governance between the Union
Government and the Government of Indonesia.
ISRO signs deal with consortium of six companies to build satellite
privately
privately
- The Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) in December 2016 signed an agreement with a consortium of
six companies to deliver India’s first industry-built satellite by late 2017. - The agreement was signed between
M Annadurai, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) and the consortium lead
Alpha Design Technologies P Ltd. - ISAC assembles India’s satellites
for communication, remote sensing and navigation. It is for the first time that
ISRO outsourced the construction of entire satellite.
Highlights of the agreement
- It includes assembly, integration
and testing (AIT) of two spare navigation satellites in a row in around 18
months. - The consortium is led by Alpha
Design Technologies P Ltd, a defence manufacturing contractor. - The others in the consortium are
Newtech Solutions, Aidin Technologies and DCX Cables of Bengaluru, Vinyas
Technologies of Mysuru and Avantel Systems of Hyderabad. - The development work will start
around January 2017 and the first satellite will be out in around nine months.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Inaugurated 3rd edition of Kochi-Muziris
Biennale
Biennale
- Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan inaugurated the third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) at an
inaugural event in Parade Ground, Fort Kochi on 13 December 2016. - Titled ‘Forming in the pupil of
an eye’, the three-month long festival will witness participation from 97
artists from thirty-one countries across the world. The Biennale is considered
to be one of the largest celebrations of contemporary art in South Asia and
similar to its last two editions, this time also the venues of art display are
scattered across Kochi. - In his speech, the Chief Minister
acknowledged the rise in credibility of the Biennale in the global contemporary
art scene and stated that the government is looking to give it a permanent
home. He further added that the Biennale
provides an ideal platform for the conglomeration of global thoughts and
expression and the free flow of culture.
India’s first amphibious bus project launched in Punjab
- The Punjab Government on 12
December 2016 launched country’s first amphibious bus project at the Harike
wetland near Amritsar. The project was launched nearly two years after it was
announced. - The water bus, Punjab Harike
Water Cruise, will enter the Harike Pattan wetland after transversing on-road
and off-road terrains. The project has cost the state government over Rs 11
crore. - This amphibious bus project was
launched by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. After launching the
project, Badal took the inaugural ride of the bus with officials and media on
Satluj-Beas confluence. He informed that this amphibious bus can travel on land
as well as water.
Cyclone Vardah struck coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
- Cyclone Vardah struck coastal
areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The severe cyclonic storm made a
landfall on the east coast near the Pulicat Lake on 12 December 2016. - The storm affected the normal
life in Chennai, Nellore District in Andhra Pradesh and Bengaluru in Karnataka. - The low pressure wind system was
first noticed in the Bay of Bengal on 5 December. - It went onto grew into a very
severe cyclonic storm. But at the time of landfall it was weakened into a
severe cyclonic storm.
Appointments –
Priyanka Chopra appointed UNICEF Global Goodwill Ambassador
- Indian Actress Priyanka Chopra
has been appointed as United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) newest Global
Goodwill Ambassador. - The decision was announced by the
world-renowned soccer player David Beckham and British actress Millie Bobby
Brown on 12 December 2016 on the eve of UNICEF’s 70th anniversary at United
Nations headquarters in New York. Also present at the grand affair were other
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors such as Orlando Bloom, Jackie Chan, Ishmael Beah,
Kidjo and Femi Kuti. - While accepting the esteemed
honour, the actor thanked UNICEF for the experience she had gained through
field trips to villages and centers across India and the work they had achieved
in the country. She further pledged to become a driver of change and work
towards ensuring that every child’s voice is heard and that their rights are
protected and respected world over.
Pulkit Trivedi appointed as Industry Director of Facebook India
- Pulkit Trivedi was on 12 December
2016 appointed as Industry Director of Facebook India for e-commerce, retail,
travel and financial services verticals. - Trivedi will lead in building and
maintaining strategic relationships with clients in India. - Recently, Pulkit held the
position of Head of Industry and e-commerce at Google India. - He has over 18 years of extensive
industry experience covering sales, business development and partnerships in
companies such as Google, Intel, Microsoft IBM and HCL.
Sports –
Cristiano Ronaldo Wins 2016 Ballon d’Or Award
- Portuguese football star
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the esteemed 2016 Ballon d’Or award. The decision was
announced by France Football magazine in Ballon d’Or ceremony on 12 December
2016. - This is Ronaldo’s fourth Ballon
d’Or award. He won his first award in 2008, the same year in which he won the
FIFA World Player of the Year. He subsequently won the 2013 and 2014 honours as
well. In 2015, he was beaten by Argentina’s Lionel Messi. - The voting was done by 200
respected football journalists from across the world, each of whom picked their
top 3 from the 30 short-listed names. - Ronaldo won by a good margin.
Messi came second followed by France’s Antoine Griezmann in the third position.
Luis Suarez and Neymar also made it into the top 5.
Pankaj Advani won World Billiards title in Bengaluru
- India’s ace cueist Pankaj Advani
on 12 December 2016 won the World Billiards title. To win the title, he
defeated Peter Gilchrist of Singapore 6-3 in the summit clash held in
Bengaluru. - For Advani, it was the 11th world
billiards champion title in his over 15-year long international billiards
career. - In early 2016, he won the Asian
6-Red snooker title in May and a bronze medal at the IBSF World snooker
championship in December. - Pankaj Advani is the only player
in the world to win world titles in all formats of snooker and billiards. So
far, he won 16 titles in both the formats.
World –
Viola Desmond to appear on new Canadian $10 banknote
- A black civil rights leader Viola
Desmond will appear on the new Canadian $10 banknote. The announcement was made
by Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau in December 2016. - She will be the first Canadian
woman to figure on a banknote. She replaced the Canada’s first Prime Minister
John A Macdonald. Macdonald will now move to a higher bill when new banknotes
will go into circulation in 2018. - Desmond is popularly known for
her struggle against anti-black segregation and racism in Canada in the 1940s.
Venezuela demonetises Bolivar 100 banknotes
- To tackle the world’s worst
inflation, Venezuelan Government announced demonetisation of Bolivar Fuerte 100
banknotes. The demonetisation will be effective in next 72 hours. - President Nicolas Maduro on 11
December 2016 announced that the Bolivar 100 banknotes, worth only two US cents
on the black money, will be withdrawn from the market on 14 December 2016. He
also gave 10-days time to Venezuelans to exchange the notes at the central bank
of the country. - In addition to this demonetisation
of the country’s biggest banknotes, Venezuelan President also ordered the
closure of the border with Colombia for 72 hours. This closure would help him
in cracking down on currency smuggling by what he has called mafias trying to
destabilise the socialist-run economy. - The border closure comes as
Maduro is trying to curb Venezuela’s galloping inflation and roll out a new
range of bank notes after announcing that the government would pull from
circulation a 100-bolivar bill.
China launches advanced weather satellite Fengyun-4
- China in December 2016
successfully launched the advanced weather satellite Fengyun-4 satellite into
geostationary orbit. The satellite was launched onboard of Long March-3B
carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province. - This launch marked the 242nd
mission of China’s Long March series of rockets.
Highlights of the Fengyun-4
Satellite
Satellite
- Fengyun-4 Series is China’s
second-generation geostationary meteorological satellites series after
Fengyun-2 satellite series. - It is also the country’s first
quantitative remote-sensing satellite in highest orbit. - It was launched with an aim to
make high time, spatial and spectral resolution observations of atmosphere,
space environment and clouds of China and its surrounding regions. - It will extensively help in
improving capabilities of weather and climate forecasts and will also improve
the accuracy of forecasts.
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Team ExamPundit
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