Current Affairs Update - 9 to 11 December, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 9 to 11 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.

• After a TV channel and a website to promote digital payments, a nationwide toll-free helpline number '14444' will be launched soon to educate people and provide support related to cashless mode of transactions.
• The service is expected to be operational within a week.
• "The government had sought Nasscom's help in providing support on a mass scale to people. We had requested for a single nationwide helpline, which is now assigned by the DoT as 14444. We are putting call centre support at the back-end. It is fairly in the advanced stage of operation," IT body Nasscom President R Chandrashekar said.
• "The helpline will assist people at the first level to zero in on the option which is most suitable for them, depending on the availability of feature phone, Aadhaar number and bank account of the person," Chandrashekhar added.
• To educate people on digital transactions, Ministry of Electronics and IT on Friday launched free-to-air channel DigiShala which will be available on Doordarshan's DTH platform and 'CashlessIndia' website to educate people about digital transactions.

• The India-UK Conference on Ease of Doing Business concluded on 10 December 2016 in New Delhi. This conference on Ease of Doing Business would act as an opportunity to enhance the strategic bilateral partnership between the two nations to the next level.
• The two-day conference was jointly inaugurated by Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Dominic Asquith, the British High Commissioner.
• This partnership on Ease of Doing Business of the two nations is important because it will play a role that the business environment plays in encouraging trade, investment, innovation and economic growth.
• The conference that included discussion on regulatory reform, inspection reform, tax administration and trade facilitation also brought together officials from state and central Government with UK experts.

• Union Information and Technology Minister Ravishankar Prasad in December 2016 launched Digishala TV Channel. Digishala TV is a free-to-air channel which will educate people about digital payment and is available on DD free DTH service.
• The channel was launched with an aim to encourage people for digital payment in their everyday life. It will be airing shows targeted at the rural and suburban population to inform them of various aspects of going digital like UPI, e-wallet, AADHAAR, USSD and usage of cards through talk shows and demonstrations.
• Apart from Digishala TV Channel, the minister also launched Digi Dhan Abhiyan. The Abhiyan seeks to enable every citizen, small traders and merchants to adopt digital payments in their everyday financial transactions. During the campaign, the citizens will be informed about various modes of digital payments. People will be educated to download, install and transact digital payments via their mobile.
• While launching Digishala TV Channel and Digi Dhan Abhiyan, the minister said digital mode of payment has witnessed an unprecedented upsurge from four hundred to one thousand percent. According to him, since demonetisation, the e-wallet has gone up to 63 lakh from 17 lakh transaction per day after demonetization. Transactions through Rupay cards have also gone up from 3.85 lakh to 16 lakh per day.

• The Union Government on 8 December 2016 announced the package of incentives and measures for promotion of digital and cashless economy in the country.
• The move came following the cancellation of the legal tender of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes,  as since then, there has been a surge in the digital transactions through use of credit/debit cards and mobile phone applications and e-wallets.

• The Petroleum PSUs will offer incentive by providing a discount at the rate of 0.75 percent of the sale price to consumers on purchase of petrol/diesel, if the payment is made through digital means.
• To expand digital payment infrastructure in rural areas, NABARD will extend financial support to eligible banks for deployment of 2 POS devices each in 1 Lakh villages with population of less than 10000.  This will benefit farmers of one lakh village covering a total population of nearly 75 crore.
• NABARD will also support Rural Regional Banks and Cooperative Banks to issue Rupay Kisan Cards to around 4.32 crore Kisan Credit Card holders to enable them to make digital transactions at POS machines/Micro ATMs/ATMs.
• Railways, through its sub urban railway network, will provide incentive by way of discount of up to 0.5 percent to customers for monthly or seasonal tickets from January 2017, if payment is made through digital means.
• Passengers buying online ticket will be given free accidental insurance cover of up to Rs 10 lakh. With this, nearly 11 lakh passengers will be covered in a day under the accidental insurance scheme.
• Railways will provide a discount of 5 percent for paid services like catering, accommodation, retiring rooms etc., if payment is made through digital means.

• To enhance the bilateral ties between the two nations, India and Vietnam on 9 December 2016 signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement. The agreement was signed in New Delhi in presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and visiting President of Vietnam's National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
• Ngan is the first woman to head the National Assembly of Vietnam.
• The MoU on civil nuclear cooperation was inked by Secretary of Department of Atomic Energy Sekhar Basu and Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam Pham Cong Tac.
• This is the second nuclear pact signed by India within a month. Earlier in November 2016, India signed a similar civil nuclear agreement with Japan.

• The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the state government to impose a blanket ban on the sale and consumption of liquor in three districts of the state.
• The ruling came in response to a writ petition filed by Udit Narayan Tiwari, seeking a ban on a bar serving liquor in Haridwar, stating that it violated the government order passed in February 2002.The order had prohibited the sale and consumption of liquor in Haridwar given its religious prominence.
• The PIL was heard by a division bench comprising Justices Rajeev Sharma and Alok Singh who ordered a complete ban on liquor in Rudraprayag, Chamoli, and Uttarkashi districts, effective from next fiscal year.

• The Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan on 8 December 2016 launched the Haritha Keralam Mission in Thiruvananthapuram. It is a comprehensive programme to make the state clean, protect its water sources and soil.
• The Mission aims at creating new development perspectives by maximum utilization of opportunities through waste management, water resources and agricultural development.
• Eminent Carnatic vocalist and playback singer K J Yesudas is the Brand Ambassador of the mission.

• India on 8 December 2016 was formally designated as a ‘Major Defence Partner’ of the United States. It was announced in the India-US joint statement on US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter’s visit to New Delhi.
• Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had invited US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter to India. It marked the seventh interaction between the two leaders.
• The designation is a status unique to India and institutionalizes the progress made to facilitate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level at par with that of the United States’ closest allies and partners.

• The Human Rights Day 2016 was on 10 December 2016 observed across the world. 
• The day aims at promoting and raising awareness of the two Covenants of Human Rights Day. They are: International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
• For the year 2016, the day calls on everyone to stand up for someone's rights. To commemorate the day, a campaign "Stand up for someone's rights today” was launched to encourage, support and amplify what one does in one’s everyday life to defend human rights.

• The International Anti-Corruption Day 2016 was observed across the world on 9 December 2016 with the theme United against corruption for development, peace and security.
• The day was observed to raise public awareness about corruption and what people can do to fight it.
• On the occasion of the International Anti-Corruption Day, all the Governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, the media and citizens around the world joined forces to fight the crime.
• The 2016 joint international campaign focuses on corruption as one of the biggest road blocks to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• The international financial institution, World Bank has cancelled a $100 million loan to Pakistan that was meant to be for a natural gas efficiency project.
• The loan was cancelled, as the gas distribution company that was responsible for the project, failed to make any progress in achieving its developmental objectives and showed very less interest in the project overall.
• The company in question is Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and it was supposed to initiate the project in its distribution areas located in Karachi, Balochistan, and interiors of Sindh. The main aim of the project was to increase the supply of natural gas in the designated areas by reducing gas loss in the pipeline system.
• However, it failed to complete its procurement process in time due to bureaucratic processes and the management of SSGC stated that delay in the procurement process led to the failure of the project.

• The 2016 World Power Language Index (PLI) in the first week of December 2016 announced that English language is the most powerful language in the world. The index was published by World Economic Forum (WEF).
• The Index ranked English first in the top 10 most powerful languages in the world. Hindi language was ranked 10th in the 2016 PLI.
• Four of the 10 most competitive economies have English as an official language. The remaining six have high shares of English speakers and/or a high proficiency in English, with the exception of Japan.

• President Pranab Mukherjee on 9 December 2016 presented the Shilp Guru Awards and National Awards to master craftspersons for the year 2015 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The recipient of the award included nine Shilp Gurus and 19 National Awardees.
• The awards are given in recognition of excellent craftsmanship and the major role played by them in continuing craft as a vital part of the traditional heritage.

• Former US astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, died on 8 December 2016. He was 95. The ex-Marine and Senator had been in hospital in Columbus, Ohio, for more than a week.
• John Glenn was best known for circling the earth in 1962. He circled the planet aboard the Friendship 7 space capsule. This achievement of Glenn marked the moment the US caught up with the Soviet Union in manned space exploration.
• After returning to Earth, Glenn was elected in 1974 as a Democrat to the US Senate, where he served for 24 years.

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