Current Affairs Update – 13th December, 2016

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
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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
    .
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Indian Actress Priyanka Chopra
    has been appointed as United Nations
    Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) newest Global Goodwill Ambassador
    .
  8. Pulkit Trivedi was on 12 December 2016 appointed as Industry Director of Facebook
    India for e-commerce, retail, travel and financial services verticals
    .
  9. Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo has won the esteemed 2016 Ballon d’Or award.
  10. 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

  • 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

  • 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
  • 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
  • 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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Regards

Team ExamPundit

This post was last modified on March 19, 2021 9:40 am