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Daily Current Affairs of 31st December 2016
International Current Affairs
- Oman today confirmed that it had joined the Saudi-led 'Islamic Military Alliance', a coalition of Islamic countries fighting terrorism.
- Chinese Defence officials today announced that China will hold its first military drills with Nepal next year, a move that could unnerve India.
MOUs & Agreements
- India and Singapore today signed the 3rd protocol for amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.
National Current Affairs
- Rio Olympics silver medal-winning shuttler PV Sindhu was today unveiled as the Official Face of the 2nd International Kite Festival to be held from 12th to 17th January in Hyderabad.
- The festival is organized by Telangana Tourism and Incredible India, among others, to celebrate Sankranthi.
- India's first transgender school, Sahaj International, was inaugurated in Kochi (Kerala).
- The alternative learning centre, which works in collaboration with the National Institute of Open Learning, will help the transgenders who dropped out of school to appear in Class X and XII examinations.
- The school is headed by six transgenders and a woman and has 10 students.
- A two-day tribal festival will take place in Goa between January 7 and 8.
- The festival, which is in its sixth year, aims to revive and preserve the culture and cuisine of the state, especially the customs of the tribal population.
Banking & Economic Affairs
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed all banks to increase the daily withdrawal limit at ATMs from ₹2,500 to ₹4,500 starting January 1, 2017.
- It also added that the cash disbursed at ATMs should predominantly be new ₹500 notes.
- However, the RBI did not change the weekly withdrawal limit of ₹24,000.
- President Pranab Mukherjee today approved the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance, 2016 that criminalises possession of demonetised ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes.
- According to the ordinance, citizens can be penalised for holding more than ₹10,000 in demonetised notes after March 31, 2017. The order will come into effect on Saturday, December 31.
- The Finance Ministry today announced that Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) can exchange and deposit scrapped ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes at specified RBI offices till June 30.
- To promote cashless transactions, Mother Dairy today introduced Aadhaar-enabled payment system in over 1,000 milk booths and 'Safal' retail stores.
Books & Authors
- Actor Rishi Kapoor's autobiography titled, 'Khullam Khulla', will release on January 15, 2017.
- Note : The book's title has been borrowed from the song 'Khullam Khulla Pyar Karenge Hum Dono' from Rishi's 1975 film 'Khel Khel Mein'.
New Appointments
- Romania's President Klaus Iohannis today named Sorin Grindeanu from the ruling Social Democrat party as the country's new Prime Minister.
- Former Union Home Secretary Anil Baijal today took oath as the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.
- A 1969-batch IAS officer, he served as the Home Secretary during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
- He is going to replace Najeeb Jung.
- Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat today took over charge as the new Army chief from General Dalbir Singh Suhag.
- Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa also took charge as the next Air Force Chief, replacing Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.
- Late Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala Natarajan was today formally appointed as the AIADMK’s General Secretary.
- Former British Prime Minister David Cameron may become the next Secretary-General of NATO, according to reports.
- Important Points to Note :
- Cameron stepped down as Prime Minister and resigned from the parliament in June following UK's vote to leave the EU in a referendum.
- The current NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who served as Norway's PM earlier, is expected to finish his four-year term in 2018.
Awards & Honors
- Shankar Balasubramanian, an Indian-origin British professor has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the field of science and medicine.
- The Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Cambridge University was honoured for his work as a co-inventor of Next Generation DNA sequencing.
- World number one tennis player, Britain's Andy Murray, has been also conferred the Knighthood in the New Year’s honours list in Britain.
- Actress Priyanka Chopra will be one of the presenters at the upcoming 74th Golden Globe Awards, to be held on January 8, 2017.
- Virat Kohli was named India's Sportsperson of the Year 2016 in a recent poll conducted by India Today, after he received the highest votes (44.18%).
- Olympics silver medallist shuttler PV Sindhu beat Ravichandran Ashwin (13.83%) for the second place with 31.51% of the votes.
- Deepa Malik, Sakshi Malik and Devendra Jhajharia completed the list of top-six athletes.
- Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi was named the World's Best Playmaker for the second consecutive year by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
- Messi topped the list with 172 points followed by Andres Iniesta (66 points) and Toni Kroos (45 points).
Deaths
- Former Union Minister Balasaheb Vikhe Patil (84) passed away.
- He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2010 for his outstanding work in the field of social work.
Sports Current Affairs
- Russia's Sergey Karjakin pipped Norway's Magnus Carlsen on the basis of a better tiebreak record to win the World Blitz Chess Championship title in Doha, Qatar.
- Highlights of Indian sport in 2016 :
- Indian cricket team registered their longest-ever Test unbeaten streak.
- Shuttler PV Sindhu became India's first-ever female Olympic silver medalist.
- India's junior hockey team were crowned world champions after 15 years.
- 18-year-old golfer Aditi Ashok became the first Indian to win a Ladies European Tour event.
This is the end of today's Daily Current Affairs session friends. Good Day :)
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