Current Affairs Update – 3-5 December, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 3, 4 and 5 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.

• YES Bank, India’s fifth-largest
  private sector bank, has partnered Ola to set up mobile ATMs for cash
  withdrawal.
• The service will be made
  available in over 30 locations across 10 cities including Mumbai, Delhi,
  Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Jaipur.
  Customers can swipe debit cards of any bank to withdraw an amount of up to Rs.
  2,000 per card.
• This is enabled using Point of
  Sales machines available in Ola cabs stationed near YES Bank branches across
  locations in these cities.
• Ola is into digital technology
  and enables convenience for consumers.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  on 4 December 2016 announced to issue Rs 50 and Rs 20 denomination banknotes.
• However, the old Rs 50 and Rs 20
  notes will also continue to be legal tender.

• These notes of the Mahatma Gandhi
  Series-2005 will not have inset letter in both the number panels.
• It will bear the signature of Dr
  Urjit R Patel, Governor of Reserve Bank of India.
• The year of printing that is
  ‘2016’ will be printed on the reverse of the banknote.
• The design and security features
  of these banknotes will be similar to the banknotes of old Rs 50 denomination
  with the ascending font of numerals in both the number panels and without
  intaglio print that was issued earlier in Mahatma Gandhi Series- 2005.

• The new Rs 20 denomination
  currency notes will be printed with inset letter ‘L’ in both the number panels.
• It will bear the signature of Dr
  Urjit R Patel, Governor of Reserve Bank of India.
• The year of printing ‘2016’ will
  be printed on the backside of the banknote.
• The design and security features
  of these banknotes will be similar to the old banknotes of Rs 20 with the
  ascending font of numerals in both the number panels and without intaglio print
  that was issued earlier in Mahatma Gandhi Series- 2005

• The Indian e-commerce market is
  set to overtake the US and become the second largest in the world in less than
  two decades, going head-to-head with China for the position of biggest
  e-commerce market; this according to new research from Worldpay, the leader in
  global payments.
• For its Global Payments Report
  2016, Worldpay analysed 30 markets around the world, including India, China,
  Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Australia in
  Asia-Pacific. The Global Payments Report is an annual Worldpay report compiled
  using a combination of Worldpay’s data and insights, external findings from
  Euromonitor, Datamonitor andystats.com and secondary data from other
  independent sources.
• This year, Worldpay’s research
  has discovered increasing complexity in the global payments market and found
  that e-commerce is expected to grow exponentially. This growth will occur
  around the world, but emerging markets are leading the charge particularly
  India, where e-commerce is predicted to mature by 28 per cent per year from
  2016 to 2020. According to Worldpay projections, India will be the world’s
  second largest e-commerce market by 2034, thanks to massive surges in internet
  penetration, a swelling millennial population and the rising uptake of mobile
  phones.

• Assam’s Hailakandi district
  becomes the first in the state to pay wages to tea garden workers through bank
  accounts.
• The move follows Assam
  government’s directive of making cashless transactions to the plantation
  workers. It has, however, come much before the set deadline of 15 December
  2016.

• Five correspondents from the
  Assam Gramin Vikash Bank assisted the payment process.
• It covered at least 504
  plantation workers who are employed at the Burnie Braes tea estate. They all
  received their wages through their individual bank accounts.
• The move was made possible
  through the efforts put in by the District Deputy Commissioner Moloy Bora, who
  held back-to-back meetings with bank officials along with the tea garden
  management and mobile service providers.
• This move supports Prime Minister
  Narendra Modi’s Cashless India drive, following the shocking demonetization of
  old ₹500 and ₹1000 currency notes on 9
  November 2016.

• India and Qatar on 3 December
  2016 signed four agreements to boost the bilateral relations between the two
  nations.
• The agreements were inked in New
  Delhi after delegation level talks held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi
  and Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani.
  Emir Al Thani was on a two-day visit to India.

• Agreement on the exemption from
  visa requirement for holders of diplomatic, special and official passports: The
  agreement allows holders of diplomatic, special and official passport of the
  two countries to visa-free travel between the two countries.
• Protocol on Technical Cooperation
  in cyber space and combating cyber crime: This Protocol adds an important
  dimension of bilateral Technical Cooperation in Cyber Space and Combating Cyber
  Crime to the existing framework agreement in the field of security signed on 10
  November 2008.
• Letter of Intent regarding
  negotiations on an Agreement on the grant of e-Visa for businessmen and
  tourists of the two countries: This allows negotiations on an agreement on the
  grant of e-visa to businessmen and tourists of the two countries.
• MoU between Supreme Committee for
  Delivery & Legacy of Qatar and Confederation of Indian Industry: This MoU
  will provide the framework for project experts for Indian companies in Qatar,
  including through participation in infrastructure projects in Qatar undertaken
  for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra
  Modi was the clear winner of online reader’s poll for the TIME ‘Person of the
  Year 2016’.
• Amoung the total votes cast, 18
  percent went to Modi, which is almost two times more than the percentage of yes
  votes received by U.S President Barack Obama, US President-elect Donald Trump
  and Founder of Wikileaks Julian Assange, who all got 7% votes each. The results
  were calculated on the basis of votes received until the midnight of 4 December
  2016.
• The Indian elected head was also
  way ahead of U.S presidential nominee Hillary Clinton who received 4 percent
  votes and the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, who just received 2 percent
  votes in his favour.
• However, this is not the first
  time that Narendra Modi has dominated the online reader’s poll for the ‘Time
  Person of the Year’ title. He was at the top of the list in 2014 as well
  securing almost 16 percent of the total five million votes cast. That was the
  same year when he was elected as the Prime Minister of India, with his party
  gaining a landslide victory.
• The official result for the TIME
  ‘Person of the Year’ will be announced on 7 December 2016. The winner’s name
  will be decided by the editors of the magazine.

• After Time Magazine put Flipkart
  Founders – Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal – on the list of 100 Most Influential
  People in the world, the Straits Times of Singapore has chosen them for the
  prestigious “2016 Asian of the Year” as part of a group called the
  “The Disruptors.”
• “Flipkart’s innovative
  steps, aimed at transforming commerce in India through technology, have truly
  disrupted the market and it makes us proud to be recognized for this
  achievement.We accept this honor on behalf of all Indians,” Sachin Bansal
  and Binny Bansal said in a joint statement.
• Earlier this year, Time Magazine
  put Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal on the list of 100 Most Influential People
  in the world.
• In 2014, the award was given to
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in 2015, it was awarded posthumously to Lee
  Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father, the statement said.
• The Asian of the Year 2016 awards
  recognises entrepreneurs “operating at the frontiers of technology’s
  interface with business”, who have launched companies that have disrupted
  traditional business model for the benefit of end-consumers.

• The International Volunteer Day
  (IVD) was observed across the world on 5 December 2016 with the theme Global Applause–
  give volunteers a hand.
• This year’s theme recognizes the
  volunteers worldwide and their efforts in making peace and sustainable
  development a reality.
• To mark International Volunteer
  Day, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme released the data showing
  the increase in keyboard volunteers that is online volunteers. By volunteering
  online, volunteers work for sustainable human development by supporting the
  activities of development organizations.

• The World Soil Day (WSD) 2016 was
  observed on 5 December 2016 at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
  headquarters in Rome. The theme for the day is “Soils and pulses, a symbiosis
  for life.”
• The theme for the 2016 WSD
  focuses on the positive contributions of pulses to soil properties, such as
  fixing the atmosphere nitrogen and improving its biodiversity, fertility and structure.
• The observance of World Soil Day
  aims at connecting people with soils and raising awareness on their critical
  importance in lives of human beings.
• On the other hand, 2016 was
  declared the International Year of Pulses (IYP).

• The National Pollution Control
  Day 2016 was observed on 2 December 2016 in India with an aim to make aware the
  people and industries about the need of Pollution Control Acts.
• This day is observed every year
  to give honour to thousands of human beings who lost their lives in 1984 due to
  the Bhopal gas tragedy and who were left severely affected due to leakage of
  poisonous gas from Union Carbide plant in Bhopal.
• This catastrophe was the worst in
  the world’s industrial history and people there still continue to witness
  physical and mental disabilities.

• The International Day of Persons
  with Disabilities (IDPD) 2016 was observed across the world on 3 December 2016.
  The theme for the day was Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want.
• In 2016, the goal of the IDPD is
  assessing the current status of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
  Disabilities (CRPD) and SDGs. The day also looks forward for laying the
  foundation for a future of greater inclusion for persons with disabilities.
• The observance of the 2016
  International Day of Persons with Disabilities coincides with the 10-year
  anniversary of the adoption of the CRPD. The CRPD is one of the most quickly
  and widely ratified international treaties put forth by the United Nations till
  now.

• Bharti Airtel Limited on 5
  December 2016 announced the appointment of Sunil Taldar as the Chief Executive
  Officer and Director for its DTH business.
• Taldar will take over from Shashi
  Arora who moved as Managing Director and CEO of Airtel Payments Bank.
• Taldar will be a member of the
  Airtel Management Board and will report to Gopal Vittal, Chief Executive
  Officer at Bharti Airtel (India and South Asia).
• As per Airtel, Taldar will be
  “responsible for driving growth and innovation for Airtel Digital TV, which is
  a key growth driver within the company’s B2C portfolio.”
• Previously, Taldar worked with
  Cadbury as India Sales Director. He had also worked with Mondelez (Indonesia)
  as Country Head.

• Srinidhi Shetty, a girl from
  Mangalore, was crowned Miss Supranational 2016 in the first week of December
  2016. She was crowned at a ceremony held in Krynica Zdroj, Poland. With this,
  India became the first country to win Miss Supranational twice in three years.
• Along with the crown, Shetty, an
  engineer by profession, also received the prize amount of $30,000. In addition,
  she also won the title of Miss Asia-Oceania.

• Kehkashan Basu, a 16-year-old UAE-based
  Indian teenager won the International Children’s Peace Prize for her work
  towards climate justice and combating environmental degradation.
• The award was conferred to her by
  Bangladesh’s Nobel peace prize winner Mohammad Yunus at a ceremony held in The
  Hague. The teen in her award-winning speech stressed on the importance of
  continuing the fight against climate change and focusing on creating a more
  sustainable future.
• Her speech comes not long after
  the new President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump revealed his
  decision of withdrawing the U.S from a global agreement on climate change.

• In a surprising move, New
  Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key announced his resignation during a weekly
  press conference in Wellington on 5 December 2016. He cited family reasons for
  his sudden exit.
• Key will be leaving the post
  after almost eight years of service. Explaining his decision, he stated that
  there was no way he could have sat through an entire fourth term. He, however,
  does plan to stay long enough to avoid by-election for his seat.

• Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo
  Renzi announced that he would be stepping down after losing a referendum on
  constitutional reform.
• Interior Ministry projections
  suggested the No camp, led by the populist Five Star Movement, had won the
  referendum with the backing of 59.5 per cent of those who voted.
• Nearly 70 per cent of Italians
  entitled to vote yesterday cast their ballots, an exceptionally high turnout
  that reflected the high stakes and the intensity of the various issues
  involved.
• Renzi said he would be visiting
  President Sergio Mattarella to hand in his resignation following a final
  meeting of his cabinet.
• Mattarella will then be charged
  with brokering the appointment of a new government or, if he can’t do that,
  ordering early elections.

• India women’s cricket team on 4
  December 2016 defeated Pakistan to win the 2016 Asia Cup T20 at Bangkok,
  Thailand.
• India defeated Pakistan in the
  final of the regional tournament by 17 runs. The win is India’s sixth Asia Cup
  crown.
• In the final, India, who remained
  undefeated during the tournament, batted first and scored 121/5.

• Nine-time Olympic champion Usain
  Bolt on 2 December 2016 won the IAAF male Athlete of the Year award. He won the
  award for the record sixth time.
• Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana won the
  IAAF women Athlete of the Year award. Ayana broke the 10000m world record by
  over 14 seconds in winning Olympic gold in Rio in 2016.

• Male Rising Star: Canada’s Andre
  De Grasse
• Female Rising Star: Belgium’s
  Nafissatou Thiam
• Women in Athletics: Greece’s
  Polyxeni Argeitaki
• Coaching Achievement: USA’s Harry
  Marra
• President’s Award: Tegla Loroupe

• In an unexpected move, Nico
  Rosberg announced his retirement from Formula One on 2 December 2016, just five
  days after he grabbed his first-ever F1 World Champion title in the season’s
  final race at Abu Dhabi.
• The 31-year-old, who beat his
  Mercedes team-mate and three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton by five points,
  stated that he was retiring from the sport to spend more quality time with his
  wife, Vivian and baby daughter, Alaia.
• This is the first time that a
  reigning world champion has decided to quit the sport. Last time something
  similar happened was in 1993 when Alain Prost announced his retirement after
  winning his fourth driver’s title.

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