Current Affairs Update – 22nd December, 2016

Exampundit.in

5 years ago

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 22 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 – 22nd December, 2016

Snapdeal, on Thursday announced
the launch of a “Cash@Home” service, which allows users to order cash and
have it delivered at their doorstep.
Sun Pharma has acquired a branded oncology product, Odomzo
(sonidegib), from Novartis for an upfront payment of $ 175 million (about Rs 1180 crore) and additional milestone
payments.
The Union Cabinet on 21 December 2016 approved the creation of Indian Enterprise
Development Services. A decision in this regard was taken at a
Cabinet meeting headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 19 December 2016 announced to issue Rs
500 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (new) series with inset letter ‘R’
in both the number panels.
Information technology company Cisco
on Thursday has signed a memorandum of
understanding with Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) for cyber security
cooperation.
Union Minister of Power Piyush Goyal on 20 December 2016 launched the GARV-II mobile app
with an aim to provide village-wise and habitation-wise base line data
on household electrification for all the states.
Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung
submitted his resignation to the Union Government on 22 December 2016. He resigned 18 months short
of his tenure.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 December 2016 laid the foundation
stone of a Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Center in
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The dedicated cancer centre will be built
at an expense of Rs 500 crore.
Luggage maker American Tourister has appointed India Test skipper Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador.
The Additional Chief Secretary
and Commissioner of Land Administration, Girija Vaidyanathan has been appointed as the new Chief
Secretary of Tamil Nadu state, replacing P Rama Mohana Rao.
India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran
Ashwin on Thursday was named the International Cricket Council’s (ICC)
Cricketer of the Year, while Test skipper Virat Kohli was chosen to lead the
ODI Team of the Year.
Praful Patel, President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF),
announced on 21 December 2016 that Jeje Lalpekhlua has
been nominated as the 2016 AIFF Player of the Year.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on 21 December 2016 made it a rare instance of two Indian bowlers topping the ICC Test
rankings.
Hong Kong, the special
administrative region of China has withdrawn its previous visa-free facility
for Indians. The announcement was made by the Hong Kong Immigration Department
on its official website.
Sahitya Akademi on 21 December 2016 announced the Sahitya Akademi Awards for the year 2016 in 24 languages.
National Mathematics Day was observed on 22
December 2016 across India. The day marks the birth anniversary of
Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Finance/Banking –

Snapdeal launches Cash@Home will deliver Rs 2,000 at your doorstep

Snapdeal, on Thursday announced
the launch of a “Cash@Home” service, which allows users to order cash and have it
delivered at their doorstep.
The service is a goodwill gesture
by Snapdeal to allow users to easily access cash without having to queue up at
their bank or at the ATMs. Snapdeal will be using the cash that it receives
through Cash on Delivery (CoD) to operate this facility.
Snapdeal will charge a nominal
amount of Re 1 as convenience fee, which will need to be paid through
FreeCharge / through a debit card at the time of booking the order.
At the time of cash delivery, the
consumers will need to swipe their ATM card on the PoS machines, which
Snapdeal’s courier partners will carry for all such deliveries. Once
transaction is successful, the courier person will hand over Rs 2000 in cash.
A user can request Rs 2000 per
booking and any bank’s ATM card can be used to pay for the cash. The customers
are not obligated to order anything else from Snapdeal to access the
“Cash@Home” facility.

Sun Pharma acquires Novartis’ oncology brand Odomzo for $175 mn

Sun Pharma has acquired a branded
oncology product, Odomzo (sonidegib), from Novartis for an upfront payment of $
175 million (about Rs 1180 crore) and additional milestone payments.
The agreement has been signed
between subsidiaries of both the companies and will close following anti-trust
clearance and further closing conditions.
Odomzo, approved by the US FDA in
July 2015, is a hedgehog pathway inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult
patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (laBCC) that has recurred
following surgery or radiation therapy, or those who are not candidates for
surgery or radiation therapy.
Approximately 70 percent of the
prescribers are dermatologists and rests are oncologists for this class of
drug.

Union Cabinet approved creation of Indian Enterprise Development
Services

The Union Cabinet on 21 December
2016 approved the creation of Indian Enterprise Development Services. A
decision in this regard was taken at a Cabinet meeting headed by the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.

Details related to Indian
Enterprise Development Services

The service was created by
subsuming 11 trades, recruitment to which had been done differently following
different rules.
Subsuming of the 11 trades into
one umbrella service is also indicative of the government’s emphasis on
promoting ease of doing business.
These 11 trades were created in
the 1950s and 1960s when there was a prevalence of a license, permit and quota
raj in the Indian economy.
The new service will be created
in the Office of Development Commissioner (MSME) of the Ministry of Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
It will help in achieving growth
in MSME sector through a specialised and dedicated cadre of technical officers.
The service is expected to boost
the capacity and efficiency of the MSME.
The Indian Enterprise Development
Services will have initial cadre strength of 617 officers. Among them, 6
officers will be having joint secretary level status.
These officers will oversee the
functioning of 72 field offices of the Development Commissioner as well as the
headquarters in New Delhi.
Out of these 72 field offices, 30
are MSME development institutes and 28 are branch institutes.

RBI to issue Rs 500 banknotes with the inset letter ‘R’

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
on 19 December 2016 announced to issue Rs 500 denomination banknotes in Mahatma
Gandhi (new) series with inset letter ‘R’ in both the number panels.
These new notes will bear the
signature of Urjit R Patel, Governor of Reserve Bank of India. The year of
printing ‘2016’ will be printed on the reverse side of the banknote.
The design of these notes will be
much similar in all respects to the Rs 500 banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (New)
Series which are currently in legal tender.
However, all Rs 500 bank notes
issued earlier after 8 November 2016 in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) series will
continue to be a legal tender. These banknotes came with the inset letter ‘E’
in both the number panels. Swachh Bharat Logo was also printed on the reverse
side of the note.

Cisco inks MoU with MeitY for cyber security cooperation

Information technology company
Cisco on Thursday has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ministry of
Electronics and IT (MeitY) for cyber security cooperation.
Under the MoU, Cisco and Indian
Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In, under MeitY) will establish a threat
intelligence sharing programme wherein personnel from Cisco and CERT-In will
work together to address cyber-security threats and incidents, identify and
shape emerging security market trends, share leading practices, and learn new
approaches to enhance cyber-security.
The company will also open a new
Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Pune to provide a broad range of services,
from monitoring and management to comprehensive threat solutions and hosted
security that can be customised to meet customer needs.

India –

Union Government launches GARV-II mobile app and citizen engagement
window SAMVAD

Union Minister of Power Piyush
Goyal on 20 December 2016 launched the GARV-II mobile app with an aim to
provide village-wise and habitation-wise base line data on household
electrification for all the states.
This GARV-II mobile app is an
upgraded version of the GARV mobile app that was launched in October 2015 for
the efficient monitoring of the village electrification programme. This version
has till now mapped the data of only 18452 un-electrified villages.

Highlights of the GARV-II
mobile app

Data of about 6 lakh villages
having 17 crore people has been mapped in the app for tracking progress on
household electrification in each of the habitations of the villages.
Status of village-wise works
sanctioned under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana and release of
funds to the states for these projects has been mapped in the app to monitor
the progress.
All the data will be made
available in the app to ensure transparency and enhance accountability of
various stakeholders along with facilitating view of real time progress.

Citizen Engagement Window
‘SAMVAD’

The Union Ministry also launched
the Citizen Engagement Window SAMVAD with an aim to enhance the participation
of public at large.
This window will take in the
feedback and suggestions from the people which will be then automatically
forwarded to the concerned Managing Director and Superintending Engineer.
The information will be given
through SMS and e-mail for online monitoring and further action.

Najeeb Jung resigned as Lieutenant Governor of Delhi

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi
Najeeb Jung submitted his resignation to the Union Government on 22 December
2016. He resigned 18 months short of his tenure.
He didn’t cited ant reason for
his resignation. In an official press release, he thanked Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for all his cooperation during his tenure as Lt Governor.
He also thanked Arvind Kejriwal,
the Chief Minister of Delhi, for his association in past two years. He also
thanked people of Delhi for their support especially during the one year’s
President Rule in Delhi.

PM Modi laid foundation stone of Cancer Center in Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
22 December 2016 laid the foundation stone of a Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer
Center in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The dedicated cancer centre will be built at
an expense of Rs 500 crore.
After laying the foundation stone
of the cancer centre, Modi said that the role of technology in medical science
has increased and that’s why his government is making all efforts to provide
best medical facilities across India. This is a time when quality and
affordable healthcare should be provided to people, especially the poor.
Modi is on a one-day visit to his
Parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
PM Modi visited Swatantrata
Bhavan of Banaras Hindu University (BHU).
He laid the foundation of super
speciality block of Institute of Medical Science of BHU.
He attended a cultural event
being organised under Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav from BHU premises.
During his visit to BHU, Prime
Minister called upon people to adopt digital economy for cashless transactions.
This adoption would help him to curb regeneration of black money.

Appointments –

American Tourister appoints Virat Kohli as brand ambassador

Luggage maker American Tourister
has appointed India Test skipper Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador.
The signing of this cricketer
coincides with the launch of new backpack collection by American Tourister for
2017, it said in a statement today.
The luggage brand has signed the
ace cricketer to feature in a new integrated marketing communications campaign,
which will be publicised in India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman,
Bahrain, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, kick starting in March, 2017, it
added.

Girija Vaidyanathan appointed new Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu

The Additional Chief Secretary
and Commissioner of Land Administration, Girija Vaidyanathan has been appointed
as the new Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu state, replacing P Rama Mohana Rao.
The announcement was made through
an official statement by the government of Tamil Nadu. Along with being the
Chief Secretary, Girija will also hold the position of Vigilance Commissioner
and Commissioner for Administrative Reforms.
This appointment follows the
shocking removal of P Rama Mohana Rao from the top post. Rao was sacked a day
after an Income Tax raid seized hidden cash and gold from his residence and
other properties in Chennai on 21 December 2016.
A total of Rs 30 lakh cash in the
new currency and 5 kg of gold was recovered during the raid, following which
opposition parties started demanding for his removal.

Sports –

Ravichandran Ashwin becomes the ICC Cricketer of the Year

India’s premier off-spinner
Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday was named the International Cricket Council’s
(ICC) Cricketer of the Year, while Test skipper Virat Kohli was chosen to lead
the ODI Team of the Year.
Ashwin was the only Indian in
ICC’s Test Team of the Year and was also named the Test Cricketer of the Year.
Batsman Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were named in the ODI
team.
Pakistan captain Misbah-Ul-Haq
won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award, becoming the first player of his country
to win the award.
South Africa’s Quinton de Kock
was selected the ODI Cricketer of the Year.
Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad
was named the ICC Associate Cricketer of the Year while the West Indies
all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite won the T20 International Performance of the
Year.

Jeje Lalpekhlua declared 2016 AIFF Player of the Year

Praful Patel, President of the
All India Football Federation (AIFF), announced on 21 December 2016 that Jeje
Lalpekhlua has been nominated as the 2016 AIFF Player of the Year. The
announcement was made at the AIFF Annual General Body Meeting held at the AIFF
Football House in New Delhi.
Jeje will be presented a prize of
Rs. 2.5 lakh along with a trophy.
On the other hand, Sasmita Malik
was chosen for the 2016 AIFF Woman Footballer of the Year. She will be bestowed
with a prize of Rs. 2 lakh along with a trophy.
Also, AIFF selected Gurpreet
Singh Sandhu and Uvena Fernandes for the 2016 AIFF Award for Special
Recognition awards. They will be bestowed with Rs. 1 lakh besides a trophy.
Gurpreet is the first Indian to feature in a Europa League fixture. He
represented Stabaek FC in the Europa League. On the other hand, Uvena is the
first Indian Official to officiate in a World Cup final match.
The 2016 AIFF Emerging Player of
the Year went to Rowllin Borges, whereas Sanju was selected for the 2016 AIFF
Emerging Women Footballer of the Year award.

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin occupy top two spots in ICC
Test bowling chart

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra
Jadeja on 21 December 2016 made it a rare instance of two Indian bowlers
topping the ICC Test rankings.
Jadeja’s maiden 10-wicket match
haul against England in the Test match on 20 December 2016 in Chennai made him
achieve the second position in the rankings. His performance earned him 66
points and brought him within eight points of Ashwin, who is grabbing the first
position in the rankings.
Interestingly, it is the second
time that the top two spots in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers are
occupied by India players. In 1974, left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi and
leg-spinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar were ranked one and two in the rankings,
respectively.
Also, Jadeja gained one place in
the recent rankings to reach a career-best third rank in the list of
all-rounders, which is also led by Ashwin.

World –

Hong Kong withdraws visa-free facility for Indians

Hong Kong, the special
administrative region of China has withdrawn its previous visa-free facility
for Indians. The announcement was made by the Hong Kong Immigration Department
on its official website.
According to the Immigration
department’s statement, all Indian tourists will have to complete a pre-arrival
registration in order to gain permission to enter the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR).

Key Highlights

The pre- arrival registration for
Indian Nationals will be implemented from 23 January 2017. Its online service
has already been opened.
The registration will not be
required for Indians in direct transit by air and those who will not be leaving
the airport transit area.
This new rule is a setback for
millions of Indians who travel to the region for trade, business and leisure
purposes.
Earlier, Indians with valid
passport were permitted to enter Hong Kong for a period of 14 days without
having a visa. The facility has been reportedly revoked due to the rise in the
number Indian asylum seekers.

Nepal to hold military exercise with China

Nepal is all set to hold its
first-ever military exercise with China on 10 February 2017. The decision to
initiate this new level of bilateral engagement was taken during Nepal’s Army
Chief General Rajendra Chhetri’s visit to Beijing in March 2016.
The military exercise called
Pratikar-1 will focus on training Nepali forces in dealing with extreme
situations like hostage situation involving international militant groups. This
will make Kathmandu more prepared in dealing with terror attacks like the one
that happened in Dhaka’s Holey Artisan bakery in July 2016, causing the death
of numerous innocent civilians.
Nepal has conducted similar
military drills with India as well.
Though this new relationship
between Nepal and China does not violate the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace
and Friendship, it does not stand well for India either due to its strained
relationship with the latter.

Awards & Honors –

Sahitya Akademi Award 2016 announced

Sahitya Akademi on 21 December
2016 announced the Sahitya Akademi Awards for the year 2016 in 24 languages.
Eight books of poetry, seven books of short stories, five books of novel, two
books of criticism, one book of essays and a book of play have won the
prestigious awards for the year.
The awards were recommended by
distinguished jury members representing 24 Indian languages and approved by the
Executive Board of the Sahitya Akademi, under the Chairmanship of Dr.
Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, President of the Akademy.
The prestigious award will be
presented to the winners at a special function to be held on 22 February 2017
in New Delhi. The Award includes a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque,
a shawl and a cheque of Rs. 100000.

Important Awardees

Nasira Sharma – Hindi
Sitanath Acharya – Sanskrit
Nizam Siddiqui – Urdu
Jerry Pinto – English

Days –

National Mathematics Day observed on 22 December 2016

National Mathematics Day was
observed on 22 December 2016 across India. The day marks the birth anniversary
of Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
This observation was first
introduced by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 26 February 2012. The announcement
was made at Madras University on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of
Ramanujan. The year 2012 was also observed as the National Mathematics Day.
His discoveries in mathematics
include Ramanujam Prime and Ramanujam theta. These discoveries also propelled
further research on the subject.
He along with Godfrey Harold
Hardy, a British Mathematician, discovered the smallest number represented as
sum of two cubes 1729. This number is known as Hardy–Ramanujan number 1729.

:: DOWNLOAD TODAY’S PDF ::

IBPS Clerk VI Mains Mock Series – 3 Full Mocks @ 75/- – Click here

8 General Awareness & Computer Sectionals for IBPS Clerk VI mains – Click Here

5 Professional Knowledge Sectionals for IT Officers – SBI and IBPS – Click Here

6 Banking Awareness Sectionals – Click Here

Download the Expected Questions for IBPS CLerk VI Mains – Click here ⏎