Current Affairs Update – 5th and 6th December, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs Update of 4th December, 2015. These are important for the upcoming IBPS Clerk Mains and Insurance Exams.

Finance/Insurance
Irdai to launch
portal “ROHINI” for health insurance plans information

  • With a view to bring all relevant information regarding
    health insurance policies at one place, Irdai chairman T S Vijayan will launch
    here tomorrow a portal ‘Registry of Hospitals in Network of Insurers’ (Rohini).
  • The portal will be having all the information like treatment
    facility, cost of treatment and cost of claims among others relating to the
    35,000 hospitals which are registered by Irdai-promoted Insurance Information
    Bureau (IIB). “It’s a unique initiative of Irdai which going forward will help
    insurance companies and hospitals and all the insured under various health
    insurance schemes to get all relevant data at one place,” Insurance
    Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) member Nilesh Sathe told
    PTI.
  • Every hospital across the country connected with insurance
    companies for cashless payment on registration has been given a unique
    identification number under the initiative by Irdai so as to make IIB able to
    monitor the patterns of health insurance claims from all those hospitals.

Direct benefit
transfer scheme sets Guinness Record
  • The Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG or PAHAL scheme, has been
    acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World records as the largest cash transfer
    programme in terms of number of households.
  • The scheme won the achievement on June 30 when it crossed
    12.57 crore households. As on December 3, 14.62 crore households are part of
    the scheme.
  • As on April 1, 2015, there were 18.19 crore registered LPG
    consumers and 14.85 crore active consumers implying a gap of 3.34 crore
    connections that were either duplicate, fake or inactive accounts and have now
    been blocked under PAHAL.

Rural-focused e-tail
firm StoreKing partners with Indian Oil
  • Assisted e-commerce platform StoreKing has tied up with
    Indian Oil to provide its services across petrol bunks in tier III and rural
    areas across the country. The partnership will give StoreKing access to 25,000
    touch points across the country, out of which 7,500 are in rural locations.
  • The program which is being piloted in Karnataka, will see
    the setting up of kiosks at petrol bunks where customers will be able to order
    for products online, pay for them and pickup deliveries. StoreKing and Indian
    Oil plan to setup 250 such centres across the state by March next year.
  • StoreKing, which is trying to disrupt the e-commerce model
    in rural and semi urban areas shares between five and eight percent of the
    margins on each sale with franchise owners. While the tie up will help Indian
    Oil petrol bunk owners earn additional income, the oil company is looking at
    the partnership as a way to improve walk-ins.

India
India’s forest and
tree cover increased by 5081 sq km: India State of Forest Report 2015

  • The Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on 4
    November 2015 released the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015. The report
    states that India’s forest and tree cover has been increased by 5081 sq km.
  • The total forest and tree cover is 79.42 million hectare,
    which is 24.16 percent of the total geographical area. While the total forest
    cover of the country has increased by 3775 sq km, the tree cover has gone up by
    1306 sq km.

Highlights of the
India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015
  • The total carbon stock in the country’s forest is estimated
    to be 7044 million tonnes, an increase of 103 million tonnes.
  • Majority of the increase in forest cover has been observed
    in open forest category mainly outside forest areas, followed by Very Dense
    Forest.
  • While Open Forest area has increased by 4744 sq km, which is
    9.14 per cent of the geographical area.

India the Second Most
Ignorant Nation of the World: Survey

  • India has the “dubious honour” of being the second
    most ignorant nation in the world after Mexico, according to a survey which
    posed questions on issues like inequality, non-religious population, female employment
    and internet access.
  • The survey conducted by Ipsos MORI, a London-based market
    research firm, polled 25,000 people from 33 countries and found that while
    people “over-estimate what we worry about”, a lot of major issues are
    underestimated.
  • “Mexico and India receive the dubious honour of being
    the most inaccurate in their perceptions on these issues, while South Koreans
    are the most accurate, followed by the Irish,” the survey said.
  • The rankings of the nations were based on the “Index of
    Ignorance” which was determined by questions about wealth that the top one
    per cent own, obesity, non-religious population, immigration, living with parents,
    female employment, rural living and internet access.
  • Most Indians “underestimate” how much of their
    country’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of the top 1 per cent, the survey
    said, adding that the top 1 per cent actually own an “incredible” 70
    per cent of all wealth.

Tata Trusts ties up
with Khan Academy for free online education

  • Tata Trusts today announced it will be supporting US-based
    non-profit Khan Academy to provide free online education to Indians through one
    of the biggest open-access online platforms.
  • Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata did not specify the
    aggregate value of resources which will be granted to Khan Academy during the
    five year partnership by Tata Trusts, which controls 66% of the shares of Tata
    Sons, the holding company of the over $100 billion group.
  • Tata said the promise of free access to quality education is
    a “new era” and a “compelling opportunity” with a potential
    to multiply literacy rates which attracted the Trusts towards making the
    commitment.

Days
International
Volunteer Day observed globally

  • The International Volunteer Day (IVD) was on 5 December 2015
    observed across the world with the theme The world is changing. Are you?
    Volunteer!.
  • This year’s theme challenges everyone to be a part of
    implementing the newly launched Global Goals, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
    Development. Through volunteerism the person can impact the sustainable
    development agenda by mobilizing and engaging governments and communities.

Awards
& Honors –
Punjabi Film Bags Top
Honour at Singapore Film Festival

  • Punjabi film “The Fourth Direction” was honoured
    with the Best Film Award here at the 26th Singapore International Film
    Festival.
  • Directed by Gurvinder Singh, the 115-minute drama highlights
    the 1984 Punjab separatist movement unfolding it through stories of two friends
    embarked on a train journey to Amritsar.
  • The film, also called “Chauthi Koot” is based on
    two short stories by by Waryam Singh Sandhu focus on the conflict between Sikh
    separatists and the military in 1984.
  • Singh’s first film in 2011 – “Alms for a Blind
    Horse” had also met international recognition besides several accolades
    and honours.
  • “Angry Indian Goddesses” was the second Indian
    film showcased at the festival held between November 26 to December 6, 2015.

World
China’s first
electricity-powered aircraft RX1E approved for production

  • China’s first domestically developed electricity-powered
    aircraft known as RX1E was on 4 December 2015 approved for production by Civil
    Aviation Administration of China.
  • RX1E electric light-sport aircraft was developed by Shenyang
    Aerospace University and it will be China’s first manned electric light
    aircraft.

Highlights of the
RX1E electric light-sport aircraft
  • This two-seater plane is powered by lithium batteries.
  • It is capable of flying a maximum altitude of 3000 meters.
  • A charging time of 90 minutes enables it to fly for 45 to 60
    minutes.

Obituaries
Veteran CPI Leader
R.P. Singh Dies
  • Veteran CPI leader and former MP Ramashraya Prasad Singh
    died following a protracted illness at a private hospital here. He was 93.
  • He had represented Jehanabad parliamentary seat for four
    terms between 1984 and 1996, besides being a Member of Legislative Assembly
    (MLA) from Ghosi Assembly seat in the same district during an illustrious
    political career lasting over four decades.
  • Mourning the death, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Singh
    was a dedicated and hardworking political leader who gave all his life to
    social service and welfare of the poor people.
  • Kumar said that the cremation of the departed leader would
    be made with state honours.

Veteran Dovish
Israeli Politician Yossi Sarid Dies, Aged 75
  • Yossi Sarid, a former Israeli government minister who was
    among the most vocal to advocate Israeli territorial concessions to resolve the
    conflict with the Palestinians, has died at age 75, his son says.
  • Sarid was known for the sharp and fiery comments he would
    fling at political opponents at parliament. His toughest exchanges came with
    hawkish lawmakers and ultra-Orthodox Jewish members.
  • He served in parliament for over four decades, including
    posts as education minister and environment minister. He led the dovish Meretz
    party before he retired in 2006.

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