Current Affairs Weekly Updates January 1st Week (1st to 7th)
CBDT extends deadline of
Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme to January 31, 2017 to give companies time to
accept its offer to settle retro tax disputes with Government.
China to build $1.5
billion Matiari-Lahore power line across Pakistan to enable the transmission of 4,000
megawatts (MW) of electricity from the country’s north to south.
China announces ban on
ivory trade by end of 2017 The
decision is consider historic and a game-changer for the future of elephants.
Amazon wins patent to
launch Drone deliveries from Flying Warehouse to deliver certain products to customers’ doorsteps.
RBI increases cash
withdrawal limit from ATMs to Rs 4,500 per day with effect from January 1, 2017.
Apple to place a
unit in Bengaluru exclusively for manufacturing Apple iPhones.
IFFHS names Lionel Messi
as World’s Best Playmaker 2016 for his overall contribution to club and country.
RBI extends period of
enhanced Prepaid Payment Instruments limit of Rs 20,000 as part of efforts to promote digital
payments.
Akhilesh Yadav named
Samajwadi Party’s national president, replacing party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Kush Bhagat creates
history by wining 3 gold medals at Western Asia Youth Chess Championships. He won in all
the three categories – rapid, blitz and standard.
Arthur Morris inducted
into ICC Hall of Fame He is
regarded as one of Australia’s greatest left-handed batsmen.
India successfully
test-fires Agni-IV missile It
is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and aims to revalidate the new
technologies incorporated in the system by DRDO.
BHIM becomes most popular
Android app in the country The
app is inter-operable with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and it connects
directly to your bank account.
Antonio Guterres takes
charge as UN Secretary General He succeeded Ban Ki-moon and shall have five-year term.
Finland to pay unemployed
basic income of USD 587 per month becoming the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed
citizens a basic monthly income.
Sergey Karjakin wins
clinch World Blitz Chess Championship held in Doha, Qatar by defeating Norway’s Magnus Carlsen in a
tie-breaker.
Andhra Pradesh Government
launches NTR Arogya Raksha Scheme It will offer medical insurance to those people who are not
covered under any of the existing health schemes of the state government.
Shraddha, Ghyansham Kumar
Devansh chosen for 2016 Bharatiya Jnanpith Navlekhan Award Shraddha was selected for her short
story ‘Hawa Mein Phadphadati Chitthi‘ and Devansh was chosen for his poem
‘Akash Mein Deh‘.
World famous 11-day gala
festival Bargarh Dhanua Jatra began on 3 January 2016 in Bargarh, the western Odisha.
David R Syiemlieh, the
Indian academician appointed as the Chairman of the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission)
2017 International Year of
Sustainable Tourism for Development The International year aims to promote tourism’s role
in sustainable economic growth, resource efficiency, employment and poverty
reduction.
Surekha Marandi appointed
as Executive Director of RBI He will look after Consumer Education and Protection Department,
Financial Inclusion and Development Department and Secretary’s Department.
Justice JS Khehar sworn in
as 44th Chief Justice of India With this, he became the first person from Sikh community to
become the CJI.
Government launches Swachh
Bharat Survekshan 2017 in 500 cities across the country on cleanliness with a population of 1 lakh
and above.
Jovenel Moise declared
winner of Haiti’s Presidential elections Haiti is a hurricane-hit Caribbean nation.
104th Indian Science
Congress inaugurated in Tirupati It is the second time that Tirupati is hosting the Indian
Science Congress. It first hosted the Science Congress in 1983.
China launches first
freight train to London to
improve China-Britain trade ties, strengthen connectivity with Western Europe.
India ranks third among
countries offering highest salaries to expats: HSBC The list was topped by Switzerland
followed by Hong Kong.
Five Indian Americans took
oath as the members of the Congress, creating history for a minority ethnic community that comprises just one
per cent of the US population.
Former India pacer
Lakshmipathy Balaji was appointed as bowling coach of KKR Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the
2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) session.
Book titled The People’s
President: Dr A P J Abdul Kalam released It is a comprehensive compendium of
Dr Kalam’s experiences as the President of India between 2002 and 2007.
India wins 2016 SAFF
Women’s Championship The
early goal in the finals was scored by India’s Dangmei Grace in the 12th
minute. In the second half of the game, goal from India’s Sasmita Malik and
Indumathi helped the Indian women fetch the title.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni steps
down as Captain of India ODI and T20I teams The ace Indian cricketer also informed BCCI that he will be
available for selection for the upcoming series against England.
Oil companies to offer
discount of Rs. 5 on every LPG refill through on-line payment.
Paytm Payments Bank gets
final RBI approval It
is an entity majority owned by One97 Communication founder Vijay Shekhar
Sharma.
India ranks third among
countries offering highest salaries to expats: HSBC The list was topped by Switzerland
followed by Hong Kong.
OVL qualifies to bid for
Iran oil, gas projects ONGC
Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation (ONGC)
Surekha Marandi appointed
as Executive Director of RBI He will look after Consumer Education and Protection
Department, Financial Inclusion and Development Department and Secretary’s
Department.
Renowned Sitar Player
Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan passes away Born in 1929 in Jawra, Madhya Pradesh, Abdul Halim
Jaffer Khan belonged to the Beenkar Gharana of Indore.
Veteran filmmaker Dasari
Narayana Rao to make a biopic titled ‘Amma’ on the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa,
covering her life story.
Veteran actor Om Puri
passes away, Bollywood mourns his demise Born on October 18, 1950, hailing from Ambala in Haryana, Om
Puri made his film debut in 1976 with the Marathi film ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’.
104th Indian Science
Congress inaugurated in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh The theme of this edition of Congress
is Science and Technology for National Development.
Assam Biotech Conclave
held in Guwahati It
aims to bring together the policy makers, Investment bankers, Industry
professionals and academicians to deliberate the latest trends in this sector.
Karan Bajwa appointed as
Managing Director of IBM’s India business He succeeds Vanitha Narayanan who was
named chairman, a newly created position of the unit.
S Padmanabhan appointed as
Chairman of Tata Power Company after Cyrus Mistry resigned from the post following his
ouster from Tata Sons.
Eminent historian Prof
Gangmumei Kamei died He was
a writer and historian whose area of specialisation was regional history of
Northeast India and history of Manipur.
Rajiv J Shah appointed as
President of Rockefeller Foundation one of US’s largest and most influential philanthropies.
350th birth anniversary of
Guru Gobind Singh celebrated across country He was the 10th and last Sikh Guru
Sir Tim Barrow appointed as
UK’s ambassador to European Union He previously served as representative to the EU Security
Committee and as Ambassador to the Western European Union.
Connaught Place, Delhi to
be vehicle-free from February 2 NDMC is planning this move to ease congestion and reduce
pollution.
Island Tourism Festival
2017 begins at
Port Blair, capital of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Virat Kohli named Team
India ODI, T20 captain He
will lead all three formats as he was anointed as captain for the ODI, T20
series against England.
Dell unveils world’s first
wireless charging laptop the
world’s first laptop that charges wirelessly. It is convertible laptop with
detachable tablet.
Israel building world’s
tallest solar tower to
harness solar energy as part of its ambitious Ashalim project, located deep in
the Negev desert.
Suresh Nagarajan appointed
as Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power At present, he is working as the Senior Executive Vice
President of Reliance Power.
Donald Trump appoints Raj
Shah to key White House post Currently he is head of Opposition Research in the Republican
National Committee.
Eminent British economist
Tony Atkinson died Through
his extensive research, he contributed in conceptualizing poverty eradication
policies in India.
Union Government grants
assistance of over 1782 crore rupees for drought-hit Karnataka The decision was taken during a
meeting of the High Level Committee (HLC) presided by Union Home Minister
Rajnath Singh.
Bird Flu reported in
Ahmedabad Bird Flue is found mainly in birds. It
spreads through Avian Influenza (H5N1) virus and spread speedily.
NASA announces two
missions Lucy and Psyche to explore early Solar System They will help scientists understand
how planets and other bodies separated into their layers, including cores, mantles
and crusts, early in their histories.
ISRO to launch record 103 satellites at one go in February
2017. These
satellites will be launched onboard of ISRO’s workhorse rocket PSLV-C37 from
Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Of the total 103
satellites, 100 are micro satellites from foreign nations including from US and
Germany.
China has launched its longest bullet train ‘Shangri-la of the
World’ connecting Kunming in Yunnan Province to Shanghai. The 2252 km Shanghai-Kunming line
links China’s prosperous eastern coast with the less-developed south-western
part. It traverses through 5 provinces of China viz. Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan,
Guizhou and Yunnan.
Norway is set to become the first country in the world to
switch off its FM radio network. In this regard, Scandinavian country’s parliament has approved a proposal
to shift to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has banned the
import of skins of reptiles and fur of minks, foxes and chinchillas. It is considered as a landmark
decision that will spare the lives of tens of thousands of animals killed for
their exotic skins for the leather industry.
The Union Cabinet has given an
‘in-principal’ approval for strategic disinvestment of 26% equity shares in defence equipment manufacturer BEML Ltd. out of
government’s shareholding of 54.03%. With this, it becomes the first major PSU to
be sold through strategic disinvestment.
Telecom operator Vodafone has announced a SuperHour scheme,
under which it will offer unlimited 3G or 4G data for one hour at a starting
price of Rs. 16 for pre-paid customers.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)
Limited will soon launch new ticketing app IRCTC Rail Connect. The app will be equipped with latest
technology and will be based on next generation e-ticketing system.
SEBI eases rules for foreign fund managers. The market regulator Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has amended the SEBI (Portfolio Managers)
Regulations, 1993 to provide an enabling framework for registration of Eligible
Fund Managers (EFMs).
US First Lady picks Indian-American Swetha Prabakara for
education campaign to serve in
the inaugural Student Advisory Board’s ‘Better Make Room’ education campaign.
