Current Affairs Update – 15th December, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 15 December, 2016. These are important for the upcoming IPPB PO Mains, NIACL AO Mains, IBPS Clerk Mains and RBI Assistant Mains 2016-17.

• Andhra Bank has pledged Rs
  1,300-crore loan for first phase construction of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation
  project, for which the Telangana government has been raising funds from banks
  and financial institutions.
• The consortium of lenders led by
  Andhra Bank has estimated the project cost in phase one to be about Rs 7,400
  crore, the government said.
• Andhra Bank managing director
  Suresh N Patel today handed over the loan sanction letter to chief minister K
  Chandrasekhara Rao.
• Andhra Bank is also extending Rs 1,935
  crore loan for Telangana government’s drinking water grid project( Mission
  Bhagiratha), Rs 1,000 crore to the state civil supplies corporation and Rs 400
  crore to the state seed development corporation, Patel informed on this
  occasion.

• Paytm has announced a program to
  increase the digital inclusion in the country wherein it is calling upon
  consumers and merchants across India to teach others on how to use Paytm to pay
  and accept money.
• The campaign is aimed at
  transforming user behaviour and further accelerate the country’s ongoing shift
  from cash to digital payments.
• As a part of the drive, Paytm has
  also announced an incentive including Rs one crore grand prize along with
  additional prizes like motorcycles, smartphones, laptops and other exciting
  gifts. All users transacting between December 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017 are
  eligible to win these prizes.
• The company has also announced Rs
  2100 in scholarship for 10,000 users who help increase digital inclusion and
  adoption of Paytm and certificates for one lakh further users across all major
  districts. The winners will be selected on the basis of their efforts to
  promote digital payments and onboard merchants for payments through Paytm.
• The company has even waived off
  its one percent transaction fee for transferring money to the Bank for
  KYC-enabled merchants to facilitate this shift in merchant behaviour.

• Airtel Payments Bank on Thursday
  launched its pilot services across 12,000 retail outlets in Karnataka, in
  addition to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the southern market.
• 70% of these retail outlets,
  which are essentially banking points, are in rural areas, the company said.
• Airtel Payments Bank, a
  subsidiary of the country’s leading mobile phone operator Bharti Airtel, rolled
  out pilot services across 10,000 Airtel retail outlets in Rajasthan in
  November. It facilitates cashless purchases of goods and services through mobile
  phones, giving an impetus to the digital payments ecosystem amid the cash crunch
  effected by demonetisation.
• The payments bank offers basic
  banking services to customers by leveraging Airtel’s retail network. It offers
  highest annual interest rate of 7.25 per cent and an insurance of Rs 1 lakh per
  account
• Customers opening a savings
  account with Airtel Payments Bank will also get one minute of Airtel mobile
  talk time for every Rupee deposited.

• Amazon, the American e-commerce
  company, has introduced Amazon Prime Video Service in India, posing a tough
  competition to other online streaming services like Netflix and Hotstar.
• Amazon Prime video will provide
  Amazon Prime users with the access to the largest collection of ad-free new
  releases including Bollywood and Hollywood movies, television shows and
  award-winning Amazon original series and kid’s programmes. The app is available
  for download on both Google Play store and Apple app store.
• The decision was announced by the
  Director and Country Head of Amazon Video India, Nitesh Kripalani. The best
  part about this service is that it will be provided to the Prime members on top
  of the unlimited free one-day and two-day delivery options that they have
  already been given, with no extra charge. So, the Prime members can enjoy
  unlimited ad-free streaming by just paying Rs 499 annually.

• The Supreme Court on Thursday
  ordered a ban on all liquor shops on national as well as state highways across
  the country and made it clear that licences of existing shops will not be renewed
  after March 31 next year.
• A three-judge bench headed by
  Chief Justice T. S. Thakur also directed that all signages indicating presence
  of liquor vends will be prohibited on national and state highways.
• The bench also comprising
  Justices D.Y.Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao said the existing licenses of
  liquor shops across the highways will not be renewed after March 31, 2017.
• Last week, the apex court had
  expressed concern over 1.5 lakh fatalities every year in road mishaps, saying
  it may direct closure of liquor vends on national and state highways across the
  nation, besides removal of the signages indicating their location.
• The apex court, while reserving
  verdict on December 7 on a batch of pleas seeking a direction to amend excise
  laws to ensure that no liquor is sold alongside highways, came down heavily on
  the Punjab government for seeking relaxation and permitting liquor shops near
  highways if they are “elevated” ones and the vend are under or near it.

• Sarbananda Sonowal, the Chief
  Minister of Assam, on 14 December 2016 inaugurated a Solar Battery Station at
  Bindhakata Tengapukhuri village in Dibrugarh.
• The Solar Battery Station, which
  is one of the biggest projects in Assam, would help in fulfilling the power
  requirements of 287 households of four villages of the area, namely Gerekigaon,
  Mulukghat, Mirigaon and Tengabri.
• The project has installed two
  solar battery charging stations of 6-kilowatt capacity.
• The two central battery-charging
  stations have been installed in two different buildings with a provision of two
  lights and one fan in each household along with one solar battery.

• The Indian Ministry of Home
  Affairs in an alert on 13 December 2016 alleged that Pakistan intelligence
  agencies are spying on Indian security forces using four mobile applications.
• The Home Ministry stated that
  these intelligence agencies are sending malwares through gaming, music and
  entertainment apps like Top Gun, Mpjunkie, Bdjunkie and Talking Frog to steal
  confidential information.
• The Ministry also added that when
  users having these apps use mobile banking on their smartphones, chances of
  cyber crime become higher. So, in order to prevent such a fraud these apps
  should be deleted immediately.
• A similar alert was issued by
  Minister of State for Home Affairs, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary during Lok
  Sabha proceedings earlier in May this year. At the time, he had said that the
  Indian security forces have been made aware of such fraud applications and a
  set of guidelines have been issued to all ministries and departments to prevent
  such cyber attacks.

• The Government of Haryana on 14
  December 2016 launched the Mahila Police Volunteer initiative for the safety of
  women. The initiative was launched by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal
  Khattar.
• With this launch, Haryana has
  become the first State in the country to adopt the scheme. The scheme is a part
  of a number of initiatives taken up by the Union Government to achieve gender
  equality.
• It is a joint initiative of the
  Union Ministry of Women and Child Development and Union Ministry of Home
  Affairs.
• Its objective is to create a link
  between the police authorities and the local communities in villages.

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT)
  put a temporary nationwide ban on the use of manja on 14 December 2016.
• The order was passed by a bench
  chaired by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar, who said that the sharp glass
  coated manja used for flying kites poses a serious threat to humans, birds and
  animals alike. The panel stated that the ban would apply on nylon, cotton and
  Chinese manjas that are coated with glass and metal.
• Apart from this, the Manja
  Association of India has been told to submit a report on the harmful effects of
  the kite strings to the Central Pollution Control Board.
• The move followed a plea by senior
  advocate Sanjay Hedge and advocate Shadan Farasat on the behalf of the animal
  rights body -People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)-seeking a ban on
  the use of the kite strings, especially since Makar Sankranti is approaching
  and manja would be used then for flying kites.
• The advocates also sought a ban
  on the manufacture, sale, import and use of the kite strings and referred to
  Allahabad High Court’s November 2015 order, which banned the use of Chinese
  manja in Uttar Pradesh, to support their case.

• The Union Cabinet on 14 December
  2016 approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Indian Space
  Research Organisation (ISRO) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) for
  Cooperation in the use of US Land Remote Sensing Satellite Data.
• This MoU is aimed at enabling
  ISRO to receive USGS’s Landsat-7 & 8 in India. On the other hand, USGS will
  receive ISRO’s Resourcesat-2 data of US region.
• ISRO has always been pursuing space
  cooperation actively with many organisations of United States including
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States Geological
  Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

• The Forbes’ magazine’s annual
  list of World’s Most Powerful People was released on 14 December 2016. Prime
  Minister Narendra Modi was ranked among the top 10 most powerful people in the
  world. He was ranked at 9th place on the list of 74 people.
• The list was topped by Russian
  President Vladimir Putin for the fourth straight year. Putin is followed by
  President-elect of the US Donald Trump (2nd), German Chancellor Angela Merkel
  (3rd) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (4th).

1. Vladimir Putin (64) – Russia
2. Donald Trump (70) – The United
   States
3. Angela Merkel (62) – Germany
4. Xi Jinping (63) – China
5. Pope Francis (79) – Roman
   Catholic Church
6. Janet Yellen (70) – The United
   States
7. Bill Gates (61)  – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
8. Larry Page (43) – Alphabet
9. Narendra Modi (66) – India
10. Mark Zuckerberg (32) – Facebook

• Two-time academy award winner AR
  Rahman is in the Oscar race again for his work in the American biographical film
  ‘Pele: Birth of a Legend’.
• The film directed and written by
  Jeff and Michael Zimbalist is based on the early life of the legendary
  Brazilian footballer Pele. The film’s score is entirely composed by the Indian
  music maestro Rahman.
• According to the initial list of
  Oscar nominations released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
  the singer is in contention for the Academy Award nomination in two categories-
  Best Original Score and Original Song category. The list was released on the
  body’s official website on 13 December 2016.

• Nobel Prize-winning economist
  Thomas Schelling, who used game theory to explain nuclear strategy, has passed away,
  according to a colleague.
• Longtime friend and colleague
  Richard Zeckhauser says Schelling died Tuesday at his home in Bethesda,
  Maryland. The former Harvard University and University of Maryland professor
  was 95.
• Schelling was awarded the Nobel
  Prize in economics in 2005 along with Robert Aumann. The Nobel committee said
  the economists’ work “enhanced our understanding of conflict and
  cooperation through game-theory analysis”.

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