Current Affairs Update – 8th January, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 8th January, 2016. These are important for the upcoming LIC AAO 2016, SIDBI Assistant Manager and Syndicate Manipal PO Exam.

• Quikr on 7 January 2016 announced acquisition of the
  property search website Commonfloor.com for an undisclosed amount in a majority
  stock-swap transaction.
• Quikr bought the website in a distress sale orchestrated by
  Tiger Global Management Llc.
• After the deal, Quikr will be valued at about 1.5 billion US
  dollars based on the share-swap ratio.
• The merger is expected to be completed over the next two to
  three months. It will also give Commonfloor access to Quikr’s 30 million
  consumers and harness the potential of the cross-category nature of the
  platform. QuikrHomes will benefit from CommonFloor’s structured data and domain
  expert.

• The Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) on 7 January
  2016 approved the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
  (AMRUT) for Punjab and Uttarakhand for the year 2015-16.  The plans were approved by an
  inter-ministerial Apex Committee under the State Annual Action Plans (SAAP).

• Punjab Government will invest 720 crore rupees in improving
  basic urban infrastructure in 16 cities.
• Under the SAAP for 2015-16, Punjab Government will invest
  365 crore rupees in 46 water supply related projects.
• It will invest 288 crore rupees in 37 sewerage and septage
  management projects, 56 crore rupees for improving urban transport in Amritsar
  and 12 crore rupees for providing open parks and green spaces in 16 mission
  cities.
• In Punjab, coverage of households in 16 mission cities with
  water supply connections is ranged from 28 percent in Khanna to 93 percent in
  Mohali.

• Uttarakhand will spend 267 crore rupees in 6 cities under
  action plan.
• Uttarakhand Government has proposed to spend 133 crore
  rupees in 20 water supply related projects in 6 mission cities.
• It will invest 110 crore rupees in 6 sewerage and septage
  management projects, 18 crore rupees in 5 storm water drainage projects and 6
  crore rupees on provision of open parks and green spaces.
• In 6 Atal Mission cities in Uttarakhand, coverage of
  households with water connections is 11 percent in Rudrapur, 15 percent in
  Kashipur, 49 percent in Rourkee, 78 percent in Dehradun, 80 percent in Haldwani
  and 90 percent in Haridwar.

• India and France on 8 January 2016 started their eight-day
  counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency joint exercise Shakti-2016 in
  Rajasthan. This is the third edition in the series of bilateral exercises under
  this banner and is being held in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan’s
  Bikaner.
• The exercise will be focused on counter terrorism operations
  in backdrop of semi-urban terrain under United Nations Mandate. It is an
  important step for the armies to train together and gain from each other’s rich
  operational experience.
• French contingent comprising 56 personnel of 35th Infantry
  Regiment of 7th Armoured Brigade, which had taken part in the Afghan war, will
  participate in the Shakti-2016. The contingent led by Major Thibaut De Lacoste
  Lareymondie arrived Jodhpur on 6 January 2016.

• The Rajasthan Government on 7 January 2016 signed Memorandum
  of Understanding (MoU) with Cairn Enterprise Centre Society, supported by oil
  and gas exploration company Cairn India.
• The MoU aims at providing clean drinking water in Barmer
  district.

• The MoU was signed between state government’s Public Health
  Engineering Department and Cairn Enterprise Centre Society.
• As per the agreement, water plants will be established and
  maintained to provide clean drinking water to more than 800 villages in Barmer,
  a part of the Thar Desert where drinking water is a precious commodity.

• Kerala Government on 6 January 2016 decided to implement a
  health care project, Sampoorna Arogya Keralam (SAK) announced in the 2015-16
  State budget. The project will benefit about 42 lakh people of the state.
• The decision was taken at a state Cabinet meeting at
  Thiruvananthapuram.
• The project will bring together different schemes in health
  sector under one umbrella and ensure that beneficiaries get financial aid up to
  2 lakh rupees. It would cover families in the income group of less than 3 lakh
  rupees per annum.

• Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on 7 January
  2016 decided to implement the Bharat Stage (BS) VI norms from 1 April 2020 to
  curb vehicular pollution.
• The decision was taken at an inter-ministerial meeting was
  chaired by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
• At present, BS-IV emission norms are in progress and they
  would be switched over to BS-VI emission norms by skipping BS-V emission norms
  altogether.
• Bharat Stage emission standards were introduced in 2000 in
  line with recommendations made by RA Mashelkar Committee. These are emission
  standards that have been set up the Union Government to regulate the output of
  air pollutants from internal combustion engine equipment, including motor
  vehicles.

• Operation Green Hunt, an all-out offensive by India’s
  paramilitary forces and the state’s forces against the Naxalites came in news
  on 8 January 2016.
• The operation which is believed to start in November 2009
  along five states in the “Red Corridor” came in news after Maoists called
  a two-day bandh opposing it in Nuapada, Malkangiri and Kalahandi districts of
  Odisha.
• The bandh call was given by the Mainpur-Nuapada Divisional
  Committee of the CPI (Maoist). The Committee is protesting against the
  Operation by security forces against the ultras in the south-western part of
  the State.

• The Union Government on 7 January 2016 merged the Ministry
  of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
  in keeping with its broad principle of Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.
• With this merger, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, which used to
  be a flagship event of the MOIA will now be celebrated by the MEA on 9 January.
• The decision is expected to help government address
  duplication as well as unnecessary delays in various works.

• The Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on 7
  January 2016 was felicitated with the Central Banker of the Year Award (Global
  and Asia Pacific) for 2016. The award was given by the Financial Times Group’s
  monthly publication The Banker.
• The Central Banker of the Year 2016 Awards celebrates the
  officials that have best managed to stimulate growth and stabilise their
  country’s economy.
• The Banker is an English-language monthly international
  financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd. and edited in
  London.

• Azim Premji, who donated Rs 27,514 crore for education is
  the “Most Generous Indian” for the third year running followed by
  Nandan Nilekani and Narayana Murthy in the second and third place, respectively.
• As per the Hurun India Philanthropy List, which is a ranking
  of the most generous individuals from India, 70 years old Azim Hashim Premji
  was named as the most generous Indian as he donated Rs 27,514 crore for
  education.
• The Azim Premji foundation is working for empowering
  education in India. The foundation works in eight states and has more than
  3,50,000 schools.
• Nandan, Rohini Nilekani and family came in second with a
  donation of Rs 2,404 crore, towards the cause of urban governance, public
  policy and education while Narayana Murthy and family donated Rs 1,322 crore
  for encouraging entrepreneurship, social development and education.

• GMR Group Chairman G.M. Rao was honoured with the ‘Bulandh
  Bharath’ Award for his exemplary contributions towards nation building.
• SGK Kishore, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd
  accepted the award on behalf of GM Rao from K. Chandrashekar Rao, Chief
  Minister of Telangana and M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister for Urban
  Development and Parliamentary Affairs, during the 27th All India Builders’
  Convention (AIBC) organised today by Builders’ Association of India (BAI),
  Hyderabad Centre at Ramoji Film City.
• Bulandh Bharath Awards is an initiative by BAI to recognise
  and appreciate innovation and motivate others to be inspired to excel too.

• Amitabh Kant was on 7 January 2016 appointed as the Chief
  Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog. His appointment was approved by the
  Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). Kant will take over the office of
  CEO in March 2016, when he retires from service.
• On 1 January 2016, Kant was given the additional charge of
  the CEO of NITI Aayog following the completion of tenure of previous CEO
  Sindhushree Khullar on 31 December 2015.

• Bharti Airtel today named Rakesh Bharti Mittal as
  non-executive director in place of Rajan Bharti Mittal.
• Rajan Bharti Mittal quit his position effective January 7,
  2016.
• Both Rakesh and Rajan are vice-chairmen of Bharti
  Enterprises, of which Airtel is a group company.
• Bharti Enterprises has interests in telecom, financial
  services, retail, manufacturing, realty and agri business.

• Devender Kumar Sikri was on 7 January 2016 appointed as
  Chairman of fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI). He
  succeeds Ashok Chawla, whose tenure as the Chairman of CCI ended on 7 January
  2016 itself.
• Sikri will have a tenure of about two and half years, i.e.
  till he attains the age of 65 years.

• The Union Government on 8 January 2016 allowed the conduct
  of the traditional bull-taming sports, Jallikattu, in Tamil Nadu.
• The ban on the sports was lifted few days before the
  traditional harvest festival will begin in Tamil Nadu. Jallikattu is celebrated
  around pongal in southern state of Tamil Nadu.

• The Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena on 7 January 2016 was voted
  as the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of Month for December 2015.
• Tabuena won the award ahead of Thailand’s Phachara
  Khongwatmai and India’s Himmat Rai. The trio were nominated by a selection
  panel before going into a voting process.

• South Africa’s veteran freedom fighter of Indian-origin,
  Indres Naidoo, has passed away and will be accorded an official funeral, with national
  flags flown half-mast.
• South African President Jacob Zuma has declared a Special
  Provincial Official Funeral for Naidoo, 79, a stalwart of the liberation
  struggle and recipient of the National Order of Mendi for Bravery, who passed
  away at a military hospital in Cape Town on January 3.
• Zuma has directed that the national flag should be flown at
  half-mast at all stations in the Gauteng Province on Sunday, the day of his
  funeral.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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