Current Affairs Update – 30 December, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 30 December, 2016. These are important for the upcoming IPPB PO Mains, NIACL AO Mains and RBI Assistant Mains 2016-17.

Current Affairs at a Glance – 30 December, 2016

  1. Chinese infrastructure and
    construction major, Pacific Construction Group (CPCG), has signed a
    memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat Government’s iNDEXTb to
    invest $ 5.5 billion (approx Rs. 37,000 crore)
    for developing
    infrastructure facilities in the State.
  2. Bank of Baroda (BoB) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
    with Heritage
    Foods (HFL)
    to provide dairy
    loans to farmers through the lender’s branches across the country. BoB and HFL
    will work jointly to provide dairy loans to the farmers which will benefit them
    in increasing their productivity and earnings under allied activities.
  3. The Centre has appointed Archana Nigam as the next Controller General of Accounts
    in the Finance Ministry
    .
  4. J P Nadda, Union Minister for
    Health & Family Welfare and Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Human
    Resource Development, on 29 December 2016 launched Swachh Swasth Sarvatra in New Delhi.
  5. Venezuela’s oldest daily
    newspaper, El
    Impulso
    , a sharp critic of President Nicolas Maduro, is halting
    production because of a paper shortage, its publisher said today.
  6. China on 28 December 2016
    successfully launched two high-resolution remote sensing satellites SuperView-1 01
    and SuperView-1 02
    with an aim to
    get commercial images.
  7. Beipanjiang Bridge, the
    world’s highest bridge that connects the province of Guizhou and Yunnan in the
    remote mountainous part of China
    was opened to traffic on 29 December 2016.
    The bridge spans 1850 feet (564 meters) above a gorge over the Beipan River.
  8. Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds,
    mother of actress Carrie Fisher, passed away on 28 December 2016 following a
    brief illness. She was 84.

Finance/Banking –
China’s Pacific Construction Group inks $5.5-bn MoU with Gujarat govt

  • Chinese infrastructure and
    construction major, Pacific Construction Group (CPCG), has signed a memorandum
    of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat Government’s iNDEXTb to invest $ 5.5
    billion (approx Rs. 37,000 crore) for developing infrastructure facilities in
    the State.
  • The MoU was signed by Pacific
    Construction Group Chairman Yan Hao and iNDEXTb Managing Director Rajkumar
    Beniwal in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani, in
    Gandhinagar.
  • The Chinese company is keen to
    invest in the areas of infrastructure sector, knowledge sharing, education
    innovations, GIFT City and iCreate through the MoU. Pacific Construction Group
    is positioned among the world’s top 100 construction companies.
  • A government statement said that
    Pacific Construction Group will be provided all support in connection with the
    necessary permissions, infrastructure facilities and incentives to implement
    its projects under the MoU.

Bank of Baroda inks MoU with HFL to provide dairy loans to farmers

  • Bank of Baroda (BoB) has inked a
    Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Heritage Foods (HFL) to provide dairy
    loans to farmers through the lender’s branches across the country. BoB and HFL
    will work jointly to provide dairy loans to the farmers which will benefit them
    in increasing their productivity and earnings under allied activities.
  • Heritage Foods is in the business
    of procurement, processing and sale of milk and milk products.
  • Bank of Baroda is a pioneer in
    various customer centric initiatives in the Indian banking sector. The Bank
    offers products and services such as deposits, loans, credit & debit cards,
    demat services, remittances, ECS (electronic clearing services), government
    business, etc.

Appointments –
Archana Nigam is new Controller General of Accounts

  • The Centre has appointed Archana
    Nigam as the next Controller General of Accounts in the Finance Ministry.
  • Prior to this appointment, Nigam
    was involved in the critical task of setting up of the accounting framework for
    the GST regime to be launched by Government in next financial year.
  • Nigam, who is expected to assume
    charge as CGA on Monday, has been appointed in the place of M.J.Joseph, who is
    to superannuate on Saturday.

India –
Union Government launches Swachh Swasth Sarvatra initiative

  • J P Nadda, Union Minister for
    Health & Family Welfare and Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Human
    Resource Development, on 29 December 2016 launched Swachh Swasth Sarvatra in
    New Delhi.
  • The programme was launched to
    commemorate Good Governance Day. It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of
    Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to
    achieve better health outcomes through improved sanitation and increased
    awareness and healthy lifestyles.

Key highlights of Swachh
Swasth Sarvatra
  • The Swachh Swasth Sarvatra is a
    part of the Union Government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission.
  • The initiative is focused on the
    twin objectives of constructing toilets and enabling behavioural change along
    with achieving open defecation-free India by 2019.
  • The initiative incorporates three
    components.

World –
Venezuela’s oldest daily shuts over paper shortage
  • Venezuela’s oldest daily
    newspaper, El Impulso, a sharp critic of President Nicolas Maduro, is halting
    production because of a paper shortage, its publisher said today.
  • Founded in 1904, the paper will
    suspend publication from Saturday because the state company charged with
    importing paper has stopped delivering its orders, publisher Carlos Eduardo
    Carmona said.
  • The paper’s editor-in-chief, Juan
    Carmona, told AFP it would give employees a holiday through mid-January.
  • If no paper is received by then,
    the company will shut its print edition and maintain only its website — but
    will not back off its critical line on the socialist government, he said.
  • El Impulso is a regional paper
    based in the western city of Barquisimeto.

China launches remote sensing satellites SuperView-1 01 and 02
  • China on 28 December 2016
    successfully launched two high-resolution remote sensing satellites SuperView-1
    01 and SuperView-1 02 with an aim to get commercial images.
  • These satellites were launched
    on-board of Long March 2D rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in
    Shanxi Province.
  • These satellites will provide
    commercial images at 0.5-meter resolution.
  • They will be used for scientific
    purposes as well as on a commercial basis.

China operationalises world’s longest bullet train line
  • China in the last week of
    December 2016 commenced operations of Shanghai-Kunming line, one of the world’s
    longest high-speed railways.
  • The link joins the prosperous
    eastern coast to the less-developed southwestern part of the country.
  • The launch of the
    Shanghai-Kunming line signifies that China’s high-speed rail grid has taken
    shape and connects almost all provinces on the Chinese mainland.
  • The line is a part of the China
    Railway High-speed’s system of high-speed rail corridors, beginning in Shanghai
    and ending in Kunming.

Beipanjiang Bridge, ‘world’s highest bridge’ standing 1850ft above a
gorge opens

  • Beipanjiang Bridge, the world’s
    highest bridge that connects the province of Guizhou and Yunnan in the remote
    mountainous part of China was opened to traffic on 29 December 2016. The bridge
    spans 1850 feet (564 meters) above a gorge over the Beipan River.
  • Build at an expense of about USD
    146.7 million dollars Beipanjiang Bridge will help in reducing the road travel
    time between Xuianwei to Liupanshui from five hours to two.
  • As per reports, the bridge
    surpassed the 1837-foot-tall Sidu River Bridge for its world record title.

Obituaries –
Hollywood actress Debbie Reynolds passes away
  • Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds,
    mother of actress Carrie Fisher, passed away on 28 December 2016 following a
    brief illness. She was 84.
  • Her death came just one day after
    the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher, who died on 27 December 2016 following
    a heart attack.

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Regards

Team ExamPundit