Download : 5th December, 2016 – Current Affairs PDF
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National
World’s largest bird festival organized in Agra to promote Eco-tourism
- The festival has been organized to encourage bird conservation and eco-tourism in a backward area of the state and concentrates on the discussion of State’s extinct bird species along with their conservation.
- About 40 experts from 26 countries and more than 100 Indian experts visited the festival.
- National Chambal Sanctuary is a tri-state protected area of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in Northern India. It is home to critically endangered gharial, the red-crowned roof turtle and the Ganges river dolphin.
Hailakandi District in Assam becomes first to Pay Wages to Tea workers via Bank Account
- Following demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1000 currency notes from November 9, Assam government had set December 15 as the deadline for cashless transactions to tea plantation workers.
- 504 workers of Burnie Braes Tea Estate received their wages through bank accounts and the payment was made through five Banking Correspondents (CSPs) of Assam Gramin Vikash Bank.
Union HRD Ministry launches Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan
- Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan (VISAKA) was launched to make people aware about cashless economic system.
- Under it, young students and faculty members will be roped to encourage and motivate people to use a digitally enabled cashless economic system for transfer of fund.
- students and faculty members also can provide their feedback and suggestions on the initiative as well as upload the progress of their work
BSF celebrates 51st Raising Day
- The Border Security Force (BSF), the biggest border guarding force in the world celebrated its 51st Anniversary of Raising Day.
- It was created by merging various State Armed Police Battalions for achieving a better coordinated synergy between the border guarding functions in peace time and fighting the war during the eventuality on both Western and Eastern fronts.
- BSF is deployed on Indo-Pakistan International Border, Indo-Bangladesh International Border, Line of Control (LoC) along with Indian Army and in Anti-Naxal Operations.
- BSF has proven its credentials during various counter insurgency and anti-militancy operations, internal security duties, natural calamities etc.
Delhi High Court reverses ban on fixed dose combination drugs
- Delhi High Court has quashed ban imposed on 344 fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs by the Central Government over fears that they are potential health and safety hazards.
- India is one of the world’s largest markets for FDC drugs that make up almost half the market share.
- FDC drugs are drugs having two or more active ingredients in a single dosage. They are widely used to improve patient compliance as it is easier for them to take one drug than several.
- The ban was imposed based on the recommendations of Kokate committee. It was imposed over fears that these drugs cause anti-microbial resistance and might even cause organ-failure because of high toxicity.
- It was aimed at curbing the misuse of medicines.
Hornbill Festival begins in Nagaland
- It is tourism promotional extravaganza to revive, protect and preserve the richness and uniqueness of the Naga heritage. It is also called as the ‘Festival of Festivals‘.
- The festival is a tribute to Hornbill, the most admired and revered bird for the Nagas for its qualities of alertness and grandeur.
- It exposes both the culture and tradition of tribal peoples, and reinforces Nagaland’s identity as a unique state in India’s federal union.
Graded Response System to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR
- The action plan proposes common pollution code for Delhi-NCR to provide graded response to health emergencies caused by noxious air due to pollution.
- Code categorizes the severity of the pollutants present in the air into four categories- moderate to poor, very poor, severe, very Severe or emergency depending upon the level of pollutants in air.
- when particulate matter (PM) 2.5 levels are above 250 to 430 micrograms per cubic metre in the ambient air it will be termed as “severe” levels of pollution.
- After air pollution reaches such alarming proportions, immediate steps will be taken. It includes ban on construction activities and implementation of road space rationing schemes.
Business & Economy
RBI to Issue new Rs. 20 and Rs. 50 notes
- The new Rs 50 notes won’t have inset letters in the number panels and the new Rs 20 noteswill have the inset letter ‘L’in both the number panels.
- The decision was taken after demonetisation of high-value currency led to the supply of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes which proved insufficient for meeting the current demand.
- The year ‘2016’will be printed on the reverse of the banknotes.
MSS Limit Raised To Rs. 6 Lakh Crore To Manage Liquidity
- In order to manage the extra liquidity from the system after the demonetisation, government and the Reserve Bankof India has sharply raised the Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS) ceiling to 6 lakh crore from Rs. 30,000 crore on December 2, 2016.
- MSS Bonds issued by the government are aimed at providing the central bank with a stock of securitiesto intervene in the market for managing liquidity.
- Money raised via these bonds are not used for government spending and are sequestered and maintained in a separate account.
- RBI also auctioned the 28-day Cash Management Bills (CMB)of Government of India worth 20,000 crore using ‘Multiple Price Auction’ method.
- As part of liquidity management exercise, RBI on November 26 asked lenders to temporarily maintain an incremental cash reserve ratio (CRR) of 100 per cent. The actual current rate of CRR is 4 per cent.
People in News
Rakesh Asthana takes additional charge as Director of CBI
- Senior IPS officer Rakesh Asthana has taken additional charge of the post of Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
- Rakesh Asthana is 1984 batch IPS officer of Gujarat Cadre. Prior to this appointment he was serving as additional director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
- He had held several important assignments in Gujarat. He has also served as the commissioner of police, Vadodara and Surat.
- He had headed the special investigation team (SIT), which probed the Godhra train arson of February 2002.
Awards
India’s Srinidhi Shetty Won Miss Supranational 2016
- Srinidhi Shetty , was crowned Miss Supranational 2016at a grand ceremony in Krynica Zdroj, Poland on December 2, 2016
- She also won the title of Miss Asia-Oceania.
- Srinidhi became the second Indian to win the title after Asha Bhat in 2014
- India is the first country to win Miss Supranational twice in three years.
- Miss Supranational along with Miss World and Miss Universe is among the top three beauty pageants on the planet.
Hindi poet Leeladhar Jagoori to be honored Gangadhar National Award
- Hindi poet Leeladhar Jagooriwill be honoured with the prestigious Gangadhar National Award for the year 2015 by the Sambalpur University
- The prestigious award was instituted by Sambalpur University in 1989.The award, named after noted Odia poet Gangadhar Meher, is given annually to poets of national repute in Indian languages.
- Leeladhar Jagudi is an Indian teacher, journalist and poet of Hindi literature hailing from Uttarakhand.
Science & Technology
www.girlsgottaknow.in Website Launched To Educate Indian Women On Their Legal Rights
- The project has been supported by the Australian Government.
- The website has different heads such as Relationship, Employment, Partying and Trouble, Housing and Renting, Employment, Money and others.
- The website will feature information written in both English and Hindi to raise awareness among young Indian women about their legal rights and services available to help them, in an easy to understand, friendly and culturally relevant language, with emphasis on gender equality.
Russian Scientist develop new cheap way to produce nuclear fuel using electricity
- Scientists from Russia have developed a new unique, low-cost method for producing high-quality nuclear fuel using electricity.
- Products of high quality are obtained in low cost.
- Reduces number of production stages without increasing the cost.
Sports
PV Sindhu Ranks 7 in BWF World Ranking
- Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu, has jumped two places to achieve her career-best ranking of Sevenin the latest BWF World Ranking.
- Former World Number one player Saina Nehwalwho is on a comeback trail after recovering from a serious injury, improved to World Number 10 after slipping five places to 11th place last week.
- BWF World Ranking is the official ranking of the Badminton World Federationfor badminton players who participate in tournaments sanctioned by Badminton World Federation.
India defeats Pakistan to win Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup
- Indian women cricket team defeated rivals Pakistanby 17 runs in the Asia Cup Twenty20 final tournament
- With this victory, India clinched their sixth Asia Cup title.
- India ended the league stage of the tournament as toppers on 10 points after winning all their five matches.
Indian Golfer Mukesh Kumar Wins Asian Tour Title
- Mukesh Kumar became theoldest golfer to win an Asian Tour title after winning the Panasonic Open India.
- Top 5 Players on the Leaderboard
| 1 | Mukesh Kumar | India |
| 2 | Jyoti Randhawa | India |
| 2 | Rashid Khan | India |
| 4 | Mithun Perera | Srilanka |
| 5 | Honey Baisoya | India |