9th December 2016 Important Daily Current Affairs

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Dear Great Ambitionists, here are today's (9th December 2016) Important Current Affairs updates. Happy Reading :)

Daily Current Affairs of 9th December 2016

International Current Affairs

• Today (9th December) is International Anti-Corruption Day. 
• This Day was launched on 9th October 2003 by the General Assembly of the United Nations as a way of raising awareness of corruption and highlighting the role of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in combating and preventing it. 
• Theme of the year 2016 : United against corruption for development, peace and security
• The United States today finalised India's designation as a 'Major Defense Partner' of the United States. 
  
• The designation is "unique to India" and "ensures enduring cooperation into the future", a joint statement by the two countries said. 
• Note : This would allow the US to share technology with India at the same level as its closest allies and partners.
• India was ranked 8th in the list of countries most impacted by terrorism in 2015, according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), 2016, released by an Australia-based think-tank. 
• Top 10 Countries in the List
• Iraq
• Afghanistan
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Syria
• Yemen
• Somalia
• India
• Egypt
• South Korea's Parliament today voted 234-56 in favour of impeaching President Park Geun-hye, following weeks of protests over her involvement in an influence-peddling scandal. 
• Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will be acting president until the court delivers a ruling. 
• Important Note : Geun-hye will be the first democratically elected President of South Korea to be impeached.
• The UK advertising regulator today announced a ban on advertising unhealthy food and drinks in children's non-broadcast media, including print media, cinemas and social media sites.
• The regulator also banned such advertisements from using celebrities popular with children. 
• Note : The ban comes into effect in July 2017 and already extends to television.
• The European Union has reached an agreement to grant visa-free travel to Ukrainians and Georgians, after their governments brought in EU-sponsored reforms. 
• English has been ranked first in the top 10 most powerful languages in the world according to the 2016 World Power Language Index (PLI).  
• The index was published by World Economic Forum (WEF). 
• Indian language Hindi was ranked 10th in the 2016 PLI.
• Top 10 Languages in the List
• English
• Mandarin
• French
• Spanish
• Arabic
• Russian
• German
• Japanese
• Portuguese
• Hindi

National Current Affairs

• Kerala Government has launched Haritha Keralam Mission, a comprehensive programme for creating new sustainable development perspectives in the state. 
• It was launched by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. 
• Important Note : Singer K.J. Yesudas and actor Manju Warrier are the ambassadors to this mission.
• The Supreme Court today exempted people with physical disabilities from its recent ruling of making it mandatory for everyone to stand during the National Anthem to be played compulsorily before film screenings in theatres. 
• The apex court further clarified that the doors of the cinema halls will be closed, but not bolted when the National Anthem is played.
• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has banned use of newspapers for wrapping and packing of food items. 
• In this regard, FSSAI has issued an advisory all states and Union territories and asked commissioners of food safety to restrict the use of newspapers for packing, serving and storing of food items.
• The 2016 India International Science festival (IISF) has started at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Campus in New Delhi. 
• This year's theme : “Science for the masses”.

Business & Economic Affairs

• The Indian government today informed the Parliament that a decision has been taken to print plastic currency notes. 
• Further, the process of procurement of material for the same has been initiated, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal stated. 
• Note : Such notes have an average life span of nearly five years and are difficult to counterfeit.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today announced that it will shortly issue new ₹500 denomination banknotes in the new Mahatma Gandhi Series without any inset letter. 
• The notes will bear current RBI Governor Urjit Patel's signature and the year of printing '2016' printed on the back. 
• All ₹500 notes issued post demonetisation will continue to be legal tender.
• The World Bank has cancelled a $100 million (around ₹674 crore) loan promised to Pakistan for a natural gas efficiency project, citing a lack of interest by the Pakistani gas distribution company. 
• The project was aimed at reducing losses of gas in the pipeline system. 
• Rating the project "unsatisfactory", the World Banks warned that levels of unaccounted-for gas remained high.
• India has scrapped its 10% import duty on wheat after droughts in the past two years depleted stocks, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed the Parliament today. 
• The cut is effective immediately with no end date, Jaitley added. 
• Note : The removal of import duty comes after local wheat prices hit a record high last month.

Science & Technology

• NASA has commissioned a new type of satellite dubbed as 'Restore-L Spacecraft Bus', that will be able to refuel and repair other satellites while they are still in orbit around Earth. 
• The spacecraft will help prolong the life of existing satellites and reduce operation costs. 
• It could also be used for cleaning space debris or testing asteroid capture platforms.
• Dutch not-for-profit organisation Mars One, which aims to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars, has pushed back the launch of its first manned mission from 2026 to 2031. 
• The company, which was recently acquired by Switzerland-based company InFin Innovative Finance, has cited a new financial strategy as the reason behind the delay.

Books & Authors

• A memoir on gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who finished fourth in Rio Olympics, is being written by Vimal Mohan, Digvijay Singh Deo, and her coach Bishweshwar Nandi. 
• The book, tentatively titled 'Dipa Karmakar: The Small Wonder' is slated to release in August next year and will have untold stories of 23-year-old Dipa's struggle and triumph.
• Amazon, which started as an online book retailer, has announced Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as the best-selling book of 2016. 
• The playscript by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, was also named this year's 'Most Wished For' and 'Most Gifted' book. 
• Three Harry Potter-related books have been included in 2016's 'Kids and Teens' bestsellers list.

Deaths

• Former US aviator, astronaut John Glenn (95) passed away today.
• He is the last surviving member of the Mercury Seven Mission. 
• He was first American to orbit Earth and had circled three times earth in 1962 aboard Friendship 7 space capsule.

Sports Current Affairs

• The world's largest cricket stadium by seating capacity is set to come up in Ahmedabad, the Gujarat Cricket Association announced today. 
• Ahmedabad's existing Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium, which will be rebuilt by construction company Larsen & Toubro, will overtake the 1,00,024-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground to house 1,10,000 people.
•  The new stadium will be ready in two years.

This is the end of today's Daily Current Affairs session friends. Good Day :)

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