General Affairs
Telangana To Bring Tough Law For Acid Attack Convicts
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The Telangana Government has decided to make changes in laws to hand out stringent punishment to offenders in acid attack cases.
The Government would make changes in existing laws to ensure that those convicted for acid attacks are sentenced to 10 years in jail, an official release said after a Cabinet meeting in Hyderabad.
The Cabinet meeting discussed the reforms to be brought in jails and other related issues.
The Government proposes to give fine collected from convicts to the family members of victims, the release said.
A Cabinet sub-committee, headed by Home Minister N Narasimha Rao, has been appointed to study the proposed reforms in jails, it said.
The release said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has asked all Ministers to "carefully study the Union Budget and plan the proposed state budget department-wise."
The TRS Government did not give any formal reaction on the Union Budget presented yesterday.
In other decisions, the Cabinet decided to identify lift irrigation schemes, which can be completed swiftly, following the conclusion of Bhakta Ramadasu lift irrigation scheme ahead of schedule.
The Cabinet decided to take up some specific minor irrigation projects and also to abolish Rajiv Sagar and Indira Sagar projects, it added.
The Government would make changes in existing laws to ensure that those convicted for acid attacks are sentenced to 10 years in jail, an official release said after a Cabinet meeting in Hyderabad.
The Cabinet meeting discussed the reforms to be brought in jails and other related issues.
The Government proposes to give fine collected from convicts to the family members of victims, the release said.
A Cabinet sub-committee, headed by Home Minister N Narasimha Rao, has been appointed to study the proposed reforms in jails, it said.
The release said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has asked all Ministers to "carefully study the Union Budget and plan the proposed state budget department-wise."
The TRS Government did not give any formal reaction on the Union Budget presented yesterday.
In other decisions, the Cabinet decided to identify lift irrigation schemes, which can be completed swiftly, following the conclusion of Bhakta Ramadasu lift irrigation scheme ahead of schedule.
The Cabinet decided to take up some specific minor irrigation projects and also to abolish Rajiv Sagar and Indira Sagar projects, it added.
Do Explain: 13 Lakh People Get SMSes, Emails For Deposits After Notes Ban
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Emails and text messages have been sent today to the majority of 18 lakh people identified for making suspicious and large cash deposits after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sudden abolition of high-value notes.
Tax officials today said that messages have been sent to 13 lakh people who are being scrutinized for possible tax evasion in the government's crackdown on black money. The others will receive their "please explain" notice tomorrow, said Sushil Chandra, who heads the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
18 lakh accounts have "unaccounted cash of 4.7 lakh crores," he said, which means that the declared income of those account holders does not match their deposits.
The tax department said earlier this week that the first phase of "Operation Clean Money" had flagged 18 lakh account holders whose large cash deposits were suspect. Data analytics and taxpayer profiling is being used to identify problem cases, officials have said, with focus on deposits above five lakhs per account.
Mr Chandra has said people have 10 days to respond to their notices and can provide their answers online.
On November 8, the PM stunned the country when he announced that at midnight, high-denomination notes would be illegal for transactions. He said the demonetization drive will uncover corruption and tax evasion.
People were given till the end of December to return or exchange the banned 500- and 1,000-rupee notes. Deposits over 2.5 lakhs would have to be explained and taxed, the government said, warning that those whose deposits were suspicious would be singled out for investigation, while an amnesty scheme enables the declaration of any hidden wealth with payment of a stiff penalty.
Tax officials today said that messages have been sent to 13 lakh people who are being scrutinized for possible tax evasion in the government's crackdown on black money. The others will receive their "please explain" notice tomorrow, said Sushil Chandra, who heads the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
18 lakh accounts have "unaccounted cash of 4.7 lakh crores," he said, which means that the declared income of those account holders does not match their deposits.
Mr Chandra has said people have 10 days to respond to their notices and can provide their answers online.
On November 8, the PM stunned the country when he announced that at midnight, high-denomination notes would be illegal for transactions. He said the demonetization drive will uncover corruption and tax evasion.
People were given till the end of December to return or exchange the banned 500- and 1,000-rupee notes. Deposits over 2.5 lakhs would have to be explained and taxed, the government said, warning that those whose deposits were suspicious would be singled out for investigation, while an amnesty scheme enables the declaration of any hidden wealth with payment of a stiff penalty.
Aircel Maxis Case: Just No Proof, Says Judge, Ending Corruption Case Against Dayanidhi Maran
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Former union minister Dayanidhi Maran will not be tried for alleged corruption, a Delhi judge ruled today in what is known as the Aircel-Maxis case. Mr Maran had been accused by investigating agencies of helping Malaysian group Maxis to acquire Aircel in exchange for a huge kickback of nearly 700 crores.
In 2014, the CBI filed charges against Mr Maran, his media mogul brother Kalanithi Maran and T Ananda Krishana, a Malaysian tycoon, for colluding to allow Maxis take control of Aircel, a Chennai-based company owned at the time by C Sivasankaran. He has alleged that as Telecom Minister, Mr Maran withheld crucial permissions and clearances as a pressure tactic till he sold the telecom to Maxis in 2006.
The CBI says that after the transaction, 700 crores was routed "as illegal gratification" to the Marans, in part through the Sun Group, which runs a media business including television channels and satellite TV services, and is headed by the minister's billionaire brother in Chennai. The charges against the Marans and the Maxis owner included criminal conspiracy. A separate case of money-laundering was filed against them by the Enforcement Directorate, which handles financial crimes.
The Marans and Mr Ananda Krishnan have denied the allegations. Describing today's verdict as a vindication, the former minister and DMK leader said, "This was a witch hunt against me, I hope nobody goes through an ordeal like this." The court today spoke of contradictory statements from witnesses, "speculations and surmises" by Mr Sivasankaran, and no evidence to prove the kickback as reasons for dismantling the case. "This is a dangerous trend...If such practice is followed, anybody and everybody in government can be made to face prosecution," Judge OP Saini said in his order.
Mr Maran was Telecom Minister between 2004 and 2007; he was replaced in Dr Manmohan Singh's cabinet by A Raja, who, like Mr Maran, is from the DMK, and has been charged as the architect of another huge telecom swindle - "the 2G scam". Investigators say he accepted large bribes for allotting out-of-turn licenses to firms, while throwing in valuable spectrum or second-wave airwaves for free.
In 2014, the CBI filed charges against Mr Maran, his media mogul brother Kalanithi Maran and T Ananda Krishana, a Malaysian tycoon, for colluding to allow Maxis take control of Aircel, a Chennai-based company owned at the time by C Sivasankaran. He has alleged that as Telecom Minister, Mr Maran withheld crucial permissions and clearances as a pressure tactic till he sold the telecom to Maxis in 2006.
The Marans and Mr Ananda Krishnan have denied the allegations. Describing today's verdict as a vindication, the former minister and DMK leader said, "This was a witch hunt against me, I hope nobody goes through an ordeal like this." The court today spoke of contradictory statements from witnesses, "speculations and surmises" by Mr Sivasankaran, and no evidence to prove the kickback as reasons for dismantling the case. "This is a dangerous trend...If such practice is followed, anybody and everybody in government can be made to face prosecution," Judge OP Saini said in his order.
Mr Maran was Telecom Minister between 2004 and 2007; he was replaced in Dr Manmohan Singh's cabinet by A Raja, who, like Mr Maran, is from the DMK, and has been charged as the architect of another huge telecom swindle - "the 2G scam". Investigators say he accepted large bribes for allotting out-of-turn licenses to firms, while throwing in valuable spectrum or second-wave airwaves for free.
India Signs Agreement With World Bank To Improve Technical Education
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India has signed a $201.50 million financing agreement with the World Bank to improve the quality of technical education in the country.
"Financing agreement for credit of $201.50 million for the 'Third Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP III)' was signed with the World Bank here on Tuesday," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
The project aims at improving quality and equity in engineering institutes in the states and take initiatives to strengthen sector governance and performance, it said.
"The objective of the programme is to enhance quality and equity in participating engineering education institutes and improve the efficiency of the engineering education systems in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, the eight north-eastern states and Andaman and Nicobar Islands," the statement said.
"The project has been designed as a disbursement-linked one, that is, the World Bank loan will be disbursed on achievement of specific outcomes," it added.
"Financing agreement for credit of $201.50 million for the 'Third Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP III)' was signed with the World Bank here on Tuesday," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
The project aims at improving quality and equity in engineering institutes in the states and take initiatives to strengthen sector governance and performance, it said.
"The project has been designed as a disbursement-linked one, that is, the World Bank loan will be disbursed on achievement of specific outcomes," it added.
Union Budget 2017: Nitish Kumar Says Disappointed, Raises Black Money Issue
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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sided with the Opposition today to harshly criticise the Union budget, calling it "utterly disappointing", and pointing out that it did not clarify how much black money or fake currency was detected since the ban on 500- and 1000- rupee notes on November 8.
"Those of us who supported demonetisation wish to know how much black money and fake currencies fell in the net during the 50-day drive," the JD(U) president said. "Instead of saying anything concrete on the outcome of demonetisation, emphasis has now been laid on cashless transactions as a part of diversionary tactics."
The Centre, he said, chants "lofty slogans" about digital transactions, but show no concern to strengthen the infrastructure for it, like "increasing the number of bank branches at the grassroot-level". He also said there was no mention of compensation to those who "faced the brunt of demonetisation" - people in the unorganised sector who lost their jobs.
A former railway minister, Mr Kumar also slammed the Centre for scrapping the railway budget. "The government has ruined the railway," he said.
Mr Kumar had stood apart from opposition - including his ruling allies Congress and Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal -- with his support for the Central government's notes ban. Later, on Makar Sankranti, he had invited BJP leaders for the traditional feast. While the feast had to be called off following a boat accident, the invitation was seen as a mark of fresh bonhomie between Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United and the BJP. The two parties, which jointly ruled Bihar, had a bitter and acrimonious split ahead of the 2014 general elections.
In January, the Chief Minister, however, announced that his party would hold a meeting to review the currency ban. A section of the Congress had pointed out that Mr Kumar shouldn't delay announcing his stand.
Today, Mr Kumar also launched an attack on the government for not keeping Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promises about a special package of Rs. 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar and failing to provide the balance of the Rs. 6,200 crore under the Backward Region Grant Fund.
"I heard Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's nearly two-hour-long speech with the expectation that he would say something concrete on black money or assistance to Bihar, but nothing came...Though I respect Jaitley, I am compelled to say his speech today was boring and utterly disappointing," he told reporters.
"Those of us who supported demonetisation wish to know how much black money and fake currencies fell in the net during the 50-day drive," the JD(U) president said. "Instead of saying anything concrete on the outcome of demonetisation, emphasis has now been laid on cashless transactions as a part of diversionary tactics."
The Centre, he said, chants "lofty slogans" about digital transactions, but show no concern to strengthen the infrastructure for it, like "increasing the number of bank branches at the grassroot-level". He also said there was no mention of compensation to those who "faced the brunt of demonetisation" - people in the unorganised sector who lost their jobs.
In January, the Chief Minister, however, announced that his party would hold a meeting to review the currency ban. A section of the Congress had pointed out that Mr Kumar shouldn't delay announcing his stand.
Today, Mr Kumar also launched an attack on the government for not keeping Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promises about a special package of Rs. 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar and failing to provide the balance of the Rs. 6,200 crore under the Backward Region Grant Fund.
"I heard Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's nearly two-hour-long speech with the expectation that he would say something concrete on black money or assistance to Bihar, but nothing came...Though I respect Jaitley, I am compelled to say his speech today was boring and utterly disappointing," he told reporters.
Business Affairs
Sensex soars over 400 pts, Nifty rules above 8,700 key mark after FM Jaitley unveils Union Budget 2017
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The benchmark indices rallied in Wednesday's trade after the Finance Minister tabled the Union Budget 2017.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day 1.76 per cent higher at 28,141.64, gaining 485.68 points while the Nifty50 closed at a crucial level of 8,716.40, up 155.10 points.
The Nifty gained 1.81 per cent in todays trade.
Cheering Budget proposals of infusing Rs 10,000 crore in public sector banks and keeping long-term capital gains tax unchanged for the capital markets, the benchmark Sensex regained the 28,000-mark by soaring over 400 points at mid-session.
Shares of state-run banks such as SBI, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and Syndicate bank led the market gains climbing up to 4 per cent as the government announced infusion of Rs 10,000 crore in public sector banks in the next fiscal.
Sentiments also got a boost after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed to bring down the fiscal deficit to 3.2 per cent of GDP from 3.5 per cent.
Moreoever, proposal to further liberaise FDI policy too further uplifted trading sentiments, brokers said.
"No change in the capital gain tax, particularly long-term, in the Budget, cheered the investing fraterinity" said a Delhi-based NSE broker, Manoj Choraria. The government also kept the security transaction tax (STT) and other taxes for the capital markets unchanged.
Shares of Maruti, M&M, ITC and ICICI were the top performers on the 30-share index, gaining as much as 4.69 per cent.
Mid cap and small cap indices ended the day 1.77 per cent and 1.68 per cent higher.
Realty stocks surged up to 20 per cent today after the government announced infrastructure status to affordable housing to encourage investment in the segment and offered tax sops for developers sitting on completed unsold inventories.
At 3.00 PM, shares of DLF zoomed 7.81 per cent, Godrej Properties surged 5.43 per cent, HDIL jumped 5.2 per cent, Oberoi Realty (4.48 per cent) and Prestige Estates Projects (4 per cent) on BSE.
At closing, the BSE Realty sector was up by 4.83 per cent.
The benchmark indices rallied in Wednesday's trade after the Finance Minister tabled the Union Budget 2017.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day 1.76 per cent higher at 28,141.64, gaining 485.68 points while the Nifty50 closed at a crucial level of 8,716.40, up 155.10 points.
The Nifty gained 1.81 per cent in todays trade.
Cheering Budget proposals of infusing Rs 10,000 crore in public sector banks and keeping long-term capital gains tax unchanged for the capital markets, the benchmark Sensex regained the 28,000-mark by soaring over 400 points at mid-session.
Shares of state-run banks such as SBI, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and Syndicate bank led the market gains climbing up to 4 per cent as the government announced infusion of Rs 10,000 crore in public sector banks in the next fiscal.
Sentiments also got a boost after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed to bring down the fiscal deficit to 3.2 per cent of GDP from 3.5 per cent.
Moreoever, proposal to further liberaise FDI policy too further uplifted trading sentiments, brokers said.
"No change in the capital gain tax, particularly long-term, in the Budget, cheered the investing fraterinity" said a Delhi-based NSE broker, Manoj Choraria. The government also kept the security transaction tax (STT) and other taxes for the capital markets unchanged.
Shares of Maruti, M&M, ITC and ICICI were the top performers on the 30-share index, gaining as much as 4.69 per cent.
Mid cap and small cap indices ended the day 1.77 per cent and 1.68 per cent higher.
Realty stocks surged up to 20 per cent today after the government announced infrastructure status to affordable housing to encourage investment in the segment and offered tax sops for developers sitting on completed unsold inventories.
At 3.00 PM, shares of DLF zoomed 7.81 per cent, Godrej Properties surged 5.43 per cent, HDIL jumped 5.2 per cent, Oberoi Realty (4.48 per cent) and Prestige Estates Projects (4 per cent) on BSE.
At closing, the BSE Realty sector was up by 4.83 per cent.
Godrej Properties Q3 net jumps over two-fold to Rs 77.2 cr; stock surges nearly 12%
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Realty firm Godrej Properties Ltd today reported an over two-fold per cent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 77.25 crore for the December quarter on the account of higher income.
Its net profit stood at Rs 27.06 crore in the year-ago period, the real estate arm of the Godrej Group said in a BSE filing.
Its also total income from operations also rose two-fold to Rs 518.25 crore during the third quarter from Rs 247.24 crore in the same period a year ago, the Mumbai-based firm said.
Shares of Godrej Properties Ltd surged nearly 12 per cent after the earnings report.
The stock soared 11.59 per cent to Rs 388.80 -- its 52-week high -- on BSE.
On NSE, shares of the company jumped 11.25 per cent to touch its one-year peak of Rs 388.
Realty firm Godrej Properties Ltd today reported an over two-fold per cent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 77.25 crore for the December quarter on the account of higher income.
Its net profit stood at Rs 27.06 crore in the year-ago period, the real estate arm of the Godrej Group said in a BSE filing.
Its also total income from operations also rose two-fold to Rs 518.25 crore during the third quarter from Rs 247.24 crore in the same period a year ago, the Mumbai-based firm said.
Shares of Godrej Properties Ltd surged nearly 12 per cent after the earnings report.
The stock soared 11.59 per cent to Rs 388.80 -- its 52-week high -- on BSE.
On NSE, shares of the company jumped 11.25 per cent to touch its one-year peak of Rs 388.
Union Budget 2017: Govt looks at creating oil giant to take on global rivals
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The government plans to create a giant oil company by combining state-owned firms, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday, as the world's third largest oil consumer looks to better compete with global majors in acquiring foreign assets.
The government is struggling to raise local oil production and imports about 80 per cent of its oil. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 set a goal of cutting that to 67 percent by 2020.
India is replacing China as the driver of global oil demand growth and the International Energy Agency expects it to account for a quarter of global energy use by 2040.
"We propose to create an integrated public sector oil major which will be able to match the performance of international and domestic private sector oil and gas companies," Jaitley said in his budget speech.
India has about a dozen state-run oil and gas companies - including Indian Oil Corp, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. But alone they do not have the financial power to rival global oil majors in bids for overseas oil assets.
Combining them "will give them capacity to bear higher risks, avail economies of scale, take higher investment decisions and create more value for shareholders," Jaitley said.
It was not clear if Jaitley was talking about combining all state-run oil companies or just some of them.
MULTIPLE MAJORS?
"India has capacity to create not only one, we may create two, three more companies," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told television channel CNBC-TV18. "It will not be wise to put all eggs in one basket".
He said the government had announced the policy but it would be up to companies to determine the details of any mergers.
He said creation of oil giant would "de-risk" the firm and give it more leverage to go abroad as low oil prices hit revenue of producers and higher prices hurt fuel refiners.
The combined market cap of company's key oil and gas companies -Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Oil India, IOC, HPCL, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation-is around $106 billion.
While this is less than the top oil companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp, Royal Dutch Shell Plc or Chevron, it still gives India a formidable standing among companies such as Russia's Rosneft with a market cap of around $70 billion or the UK's BP Plc which has a market cap of $115.57 billion.
The government plans to create a giant oil company by combining state-owned firms, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday, as the world's third largest oil consumer looks to better compete with global majors in acquiring foreign assets.
The government is struggling to raise local oil production and imports about 80 per cent of its oil. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 set a goal of cutting that to 67 percent by 2020.
India is replacing China as the driver of global oil demand growth and the International Energy Agency expects it to account for a quarter of global energy use by 2040.
"We propose to create an integrated public sector oil major which will be able to match the performance of international and domestic private sector oil and gas companies," Jaitley said in his budget speech.
India has about a dozen state-run oil and gas companies - including Indian Oil Corp, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. But alone they do not have the financial power to rival global oil majors in bids for overseas oil assets.
Combining them "will give them capacity to bear higher risks, avail economies of scale, take higher investment decisions and create more value for shareholders," Jaitley said.
It was not clear if Jaitley was talking about combining all state-run oil companies or just some of them.
MULTIPLE MAJORS?
"India has capacity to create not only one, we may create two, three more companies," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told television channel CNBC-TV18. "It will not be wise to put all eggs in one basket".
"India has capacity to create not only one, we may create two, three more companies," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told television channel CNBC-TV18. "It will not be wise to put all eggs in one basket".
He said the government had announced the policy but it would be up to companies to determine the details of any mergers.
He said creation of oil giant would "de-risk" the firm and give it more leverage to go abroad as low oil prices hit revenue of producers and higher prices hurt fuel refiners.
The combined market cap of company's key oil and gas companies -Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Oil India, IOC, HPCL, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation-is around $106 billion.
While this is less than the top oil companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp, Royal Dutch Shell Plc or Chevron, it still gives India a formidable standing among companies such as Russia's Rosneft with a market cap of around $70 billion or the UK's BP Plc which has a market cap of $115.57 billion.
Union Budget 2017-18: Arun Jaitley's announcements could lead to more spacious homes
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Union Budget unveiled on Wednesday was like a housewarming party for young professionals as he brought their dream homes within reach and also increased their net pay by halving the tax rate for those with annual incomes up to Rs 5 lakh.
The government announced infrastructure status for affordable housing to encourage investment in this segment and offered tax sops to developers sitting on completed but unsold homes to revive the sector. At present, the houses which are unoccupied after getting completion certificates are subjected to tax on notional rental income.
"For builders for whom constructed buildings are stock-intrade, I propose to apply this rule only after one year of the end of the year in which completion certificate is received so that they get some breathing time for liquidating their inventory," Jaitley said. The measurement norm has been changed to carpet area from built-up area, which will make more spacious homes eligible for the "affordable housing" concessions, Jaitley pointed out.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Union Budget unveiled on Wednesday was like a housewarming party for young professionals as he brought their dream homes within reach and also increased their net pay by halving the tax rate for those with annual incomes up to Rs 5 lakh.
The government announced infrastructure status for affordable housing to encourage investment in this segment and offered tax sops to developers sitting on completed but unsold homes to revive the sector. At present, the houses which are unoccupied after getting completion certificates are subjected to tax on notional rental income.
"For builders for whom constructed buildings are stock-intrade, I propose to apply this rule only after one year of the end of the year in which completion certificate is received so that they get some breathing time for liquidating their inventory," Jaitley said. The measurement norm has been changed to carpet area from built-up area, which will make more spacious homes eligible for the "affordable housing" concessions, Jaitley pointed out.
Rs 4.17 lakh crore suspicious deposits by 18 lakh people post note ban, says CBDT
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As much as Rs 4.17 lakh crore of suspicious cash was deposited by about 18 lakh people post demonetisation of high value currency notes, CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra said on Thursday.
Of the people whose data the income tax department now has, email and SMS queries have been sent to 13 lakh people today, he said addressing a post-Budget seminar here.
"We have (accumulated) around 18 lakh persons data amounting to Rs 4.17 lakh crore deposits into accounts.
Another data (for) 10 lakh is ready. We want that this should be completed and we have today issued 13 lakh SMS and email to the persons about whom we have details," he said.
The rest of the 5 lakh people would be receiving SMS and emails tomorrow for clarification under the "Operation Clean Money".
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), he said, is moving on a very fast track to ensure all untaxed are brought under the tax net.
The information on 18 lakh depositors is part of CBDT's 'Swachh Dhan Abhiyan' (Operation Clean Money) drive that uses data analytics and taxpayer profiling to detect potential tax evasion on cash deposits post November 8 decision to junk 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.
He said the Income Tax Department has identified 18 lakh people who have made "suspicious" cash deposits post demonetisation.
Chandra had earlier this week stated that 10 days' time would be given to people to reply to the e-communication, and replies can be filed by logging on to the e-filing portal of the I-T department.
In the initial phase, the CBDT has put on e-filing portal the data of those persons who have deposited Rs 5 lakh or more of suspicious nature and have poor tax compliance after November 8, Chandra said.
He said data on 18 lakh taxpayers has been uploaded on e-filing portal. These people while filing reply have to explain to the tax department the sources of deposits.
The deposits will be compared with the income profile, turnover and other parameters available in the income tax data bank to see if they match with tax paying profile.
As much as Rs 4.17 lakh crore of suspicious cash was deposited by about 18 lakh people post demonetisation of high value currency notes, CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra said on Thursday.
Of the people whose data the income tax department now has, email and SMS queries have been sent to 13 lakh people today, he said addressing a post-Budget seminar here.
"We have (accumulated) around 18 lakh persons data amounting to Rs 4.17 lakh crore deposits into accounts.
Another data (for) 10 lakh is ready. We want that this should be completed and we have today issued 13 lakh SMS and email to the persons about whom we have details," he said.
The rest of the 5 lakh people would be receiving SMS and emails tomorrow for clarification under the "Operation Clean Money".
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), he said, is moving on a very fast track to ensure all untaxed are brought under the tax net.
The information on 18 lakh depositors is part of CBDT's 'Swachh Dhan Abhiyan' (Operation Clean Money) drive that uses data analytics and taxpayer profiling to detect potential tax evasion on cash deposits post November 8 decision to junk 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.
He said the Income Tax Department has identified 18 lakh people who have made "suspicious" cash deposits post demonetisation.
Chandra had earlier this week stated that 10 days' time would be given to people to reply to the e-communication, and replies can be filed by logging on to the e-filing portal of the I-T department.
In the initial phase, the CBDT has put on e-filing portal the data of those persons who have deposited Rs 5 lakh or more of suspicious nature and have poor tax compliance after November 8, Chandra said.
He said data on 18 lakh taxpayers has been uploaded on e-filing portal. These people while filing reply have to explain to the tax department the sources of deposits.
The deposits will be compared with the income profile, turnover and other parameters available in the income tax data bank to see if they match with tax paying profile.
General Awareness
Latest Current Affairs - January 2017
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Appointments
Congress leader and former Union Minister Manish Tiwari has been appointed as senior fellow of US-based think tank Atlantic Council.- Tim Barrow appointed as British Ambassador to European Union, after Ivan Rogers Resigned from this post.
- Alok Kumar Verma has been appointed as Director of CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation).
- Amulya Kumar Patnaik appointed as new Commissioner of Delhi Police. He succeeded Alok Kumar Verma, who has been appointed as new chief of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
- Anil Khosla appointed as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Air Command and C HARIKUMAR appointed as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Weestern Air Command.
- Anoop Kumar Srivastava appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
- Anshu Sinha appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
- Antonio Guterres (Portugal) appointed as UN Secretary General.
- Antonio Tajani (Italy) elected as new President of European Parliament (EP).
- Anurag Thakur elected as head of Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association (HPOA).
- Archana Nigam is newly appointed as Controller General of Accounts in Department of Expenditure under the Ministry of Finance.
- Ashish Shelar appointed as Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) president.
- Bharti AXA General Insurance appointed Sanjeev Srinivasan as CEO and Managing Director.
- Cab Aggregator service Ola appointed Vishal Kaul as its chief operating officer (COO).
- Chad's Moussa Faki Mahamat elected as Chairman of African Union (AU) Commission.
- Chinese mobile brand Gionee appointed cricketer Virat Kohli and Actress Alia Bhatt as brand ambassadors.
- Dan Coats appointed as USA's National Intelligence Director.
- Daniel Ortega appointed as President of Nicaragua for third consecutive term.
- Daniel Ortega has been appointed as President of Nicaragua (Central America) for 3rd consecutive term.
- David R. Syiemlieh is appointed as chairman of Union Public Service Commission.
- Derk Segaar has been appointed Director of the New Delhi based United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) covering India and the Bhutan.
- Donald Trump Appointed as 45th President of United States of America.
- Dushyant Chautala has been appointed as president of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
- Film producer and Tennis player Ashok Amritraj has been appointed United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in India for Sustainable Development Goals.
- Five Indian Americans took oath as members of US Congress (Senate and House of Chambers). Kamala Harris sworn-in as Senator from California and 4 Other Indian Americans will serve in House of Chambers - Raja Krishnamoorthi, Tulsi Gabbard, Ro Khanna and Ami Bera. Besides, Indian-American Raj Shah also appointed a a key post - Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communication Director and Research director.
- German luxury carmaker BMW appointed Vikram Pawah as President of India operations.
- Government appointed A P Singh as interim MD and CEO of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB).
- IT Firm IBM appointed Karan Bajwa as Managing Director of its India business.
- IT Firm Tata Consultancy Services appointed Rajesh Gopinathan as its chief executive officer (CEO).
- Indian hockey team captain PR Sreejesh became member of International Hockey Federation (FIH) Athletes’ Committee.
- Indian-American Rajiv J Shah named President of USA's Rockefeller Foundation.
- Jagdish Singh Khehar sworn in as 44th Chief Justice of India (CJI).
- Jimmy Adams appointed as new director of West Indies cricket.
- Jovenel Moise elected as New President of Caribbean Nation Haiti.
- Kalyan Krishnamurthy appointed as chief executive officer (CEO) of online retailer Flipkart.
- Mike Pompeo appointed as new Director of CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).
- Nana Akufo-Addo appointed as new president of Ghana.
- Natarajan Chandrasekaran appointed as new Chairman of Tata Sons, India’s largest Business House. He was previously Chief Executive Officer and MD OF TCS (Tata Consultancy Sevices).
- New Governors Appointed -
- Assam Banwarilal Purohit has been Given additional charge of Meghalaya.
- Nagaland Governor PB Acharya has been given additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh.
- New Indian Ambassadors Appointed -
- Birender Singh Yadav - Burkina Faso
- Ashok Warrier - Congo
- Nikki Haley became First Indian-American to be appointed as next USA Ambassador to United Nations. Apart from Nikkei Haley, Several Other Indian Americans have became part of Trump’s administration -
- Ajit Vardaraj - Chairman of Federal Communications Commission
- Seema Verma - Head of medicare and medicaid
- Preet Bharara - US attorney for southern District of New York
- Uttam Dhillon - Special Assistant to President on ethics and compliance matters
- Noted E-Commerce Portal Snapdeal appointed Jason Kothari as Chief Strategy & Investment Officer.
- Pakistan’s former Army chief Raheel Sharif is appointed as head of Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT), a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition of 39 nations. It is based in Riyadh and was created in 2005.
- Praful Patel (President of All India Football Federation) has been appointed as member of FIFA’s Finance Committee for 2017-2021.
- Pravind Kumar Jugnauth appointed as Prime Minister of Mauritius.
- Preeti Sudan appointed as Secretary in Department of Food and Public Distribution (Commonly known as Food Secretary).
- Rajeev Singh appointed as new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Prasar Bharti.
- Rajesh Gopinathan is appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Tata IT Firm Consultancy Services (TCS).
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed Surekha Marandi as Executive Director (ED).
- S Padmanabhan appointed as chairman of Tata Power Company, after Cyrus Mistry resigned from post following his ouster from Tata Sons.
- S. Jaishankar's appointment as Foreign Secretary has been extended for 1 year.
- SBI Pension Funds Pvt Ltd (subsidiary of SBI) appointed Kumar Sharadindu as MD & CEO.
- Sanjay Sharma appointed as Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance at Air Headquarters.
- Sarath Chand Took over as Vice Chief of Indian Army.
- Shirish Baban Deotakes appointed as Vice Chief of Indian Air Force.
- Siddhartha Murarka appointed as Chairman of Eastern India Regional Council of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).
- Supreme Court appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai as head of Committee of Administrators to run Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Other members of committee - Ramachandra Guha (Historian), Diana Edulji (Indian women’s team captain) Vikram Limaye (MD of IDFC).
- Tata Motors appointed N Chandrasekaran as its Chairman.
- Tim Barrow appointed as UK's new ambassador to European Union (EU).
- US President Donald Trump appointed Robert Lighthizer as USA Trade negotiator. He will negotiate deals and trade relationships with other countries.
- V Thiruppugazh has been appointed as Adviser (policy & planning) in National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
- Vijay Bhatkar is appointed as chancellor of Nalanda University. He is architect of India’s first supercomputer - Param series.
- Vishwanath Shetty appointed as Karnataka’s new Lokayukta.
Awards
- 25 children (including 12 girls and 13 boys) selected for National Bravery Awards 2016, (Four have been honored posthumously).
- 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards 2016 -
- Best Actor: Aamir Khan (Dangal).
- Best Actress: Alia Bhatt (Udta Punjab).
- Best Film: Dangal.
- Best Director: Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal).
- Lifetime Achievement: Shatrughan Sinha.
- Best Debut Director: Ashwini Iyer Tiwari (Nil Battey Sannata).
- Best Supporting Actor: Rishi Kapoor (Kapoor & Sons).
- Best Supporting Actress: Shabana Azmi (Neerja).
- Best Male Debut: Diljit Dosanjh (Udta Punjab).
- Best Female Debut: Ritika Singh (Saala Khadoos).
- Best Singer (male): Arijit Singh (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil).
- Best Singer (female): Neha Bhasin (Sultan).
- Best Music Director: Pritam (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil).
- Best Lyricist: Amitabh Bhattacharya (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil).
- New Category - Film Fare Short Film Awards - Film Chutney won 2 awards - Best Actress (Tisca Chopra) and Best Film (Fiction).
- 74th Golden Globe Awards, ceremony organized at Beverly Hills in California (USA)
- La La Land won in 7 categories.
- Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award - Meryl Streep
- Best Motion Picture Drama - Moonlight.
- Best Motion Picture Musical/Comedy - La La Land.
- Best Director in Motion Picture -Drama - Damien Chazelle for La La Land.
- Best Actor in Motion Picture - Drama - Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea.
- Best Actress in Motion Picture -Drama - Isabelle Huppert for Elle.
- Best Actor in Motion Picture or Musical or Comedy - Ryan Gosling for La La Land.
- Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy - Emma Stone for La La Land.
- Best Actor in a Supporting role in Motion Picture - Aaron Taylor-Johnson for Nocturnal Animals.
- Best Actress in a Supporting role in Motion Picture - Viola Davis for Fences.
- Best Original Song: “City of Stars” (Justin Hurwitz, Pasek & Paul) for the La La Land.
- 9th Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF) held in Jaipur (Rajastha. This year’s Life Time Achievement Award was presented to internationally acclaimed cine-visionary Ramesh Prasad.
- Amitabh Bachchan honored by US Embassy (New Delhi) for his invaluable contributions to US-India partnership on tuberculosis (TB).
- Best FIFA Football Awards (held in Zurich, Switzerland)
- Best FIFA Male Player player - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
- Best FIFA Female Player - Carli Lloydll (USA).
- Best FIFA Men’s Coach - Claudio Ranieri (Italy).
- Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Silvia Neid (Germany).
- Central Board of Irrigation and Power named Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) as country’s best power corporation for minimising transmission and distribution (T&D) losses.
- Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) won 2016 Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in aviation transport sector, presented during 11th International Conference on CSR.
- Golden Peacock Awards were founded by the Institute of Directors in 1991, as benchmark of corporate excellence.
- District collector of Ajmer, Gaurav Goyal has been awarded Scroll of Honor by PM Narendra Modi for encouraging cashless transactions in district.
- Dr. Gullapalli N. Rao has been selected to 2017 Ophthalmology Hall of Fame, by American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS). He is founder of LV Prasad Eye Institute (Hyderabad).
- English poet Jacob Polley won 2016 TS Eliot Prize for poetry for his collection “Jackself”.
- France’s Iris Mittenaere won Miss Universe 2016 at pageant held in Philippines. Haiti's Raquel Pelissier was named as first runner-up while Columbia's Andrea Tovar named second runner-up.
- Government announced Shram Awards 2015, to be awarded to 56 workers -
- Shram Bhushan - 4
- Shram Vir/Shram Veerangana - 12
- Shree/Shram Devi - 16
- Home Minister Rajnath Singh presented First National Entrepreneurship awards 2016 in New Delhi in 11 Categories -
- Award Track
- Agri, Food, & Forestry Products – Wow Momo Foods Private Ltd
- Chemicals, Pharma, Bio and other processed material – Saral Design Solutions Private Limited
- E-commerce, Logistics, Transport & other Services – JETSETGO Aviation Services
- Engineering Services – Swadha Energies
- IT &ITES, Financial – Lucideus Tech
- SC/ST – JeevAnksh Eco Products Private Limited
- Women – S V Engineering and Consultancy Services
- Recognition Track
- Education institute – RSETI, Karnataka
- Incubator – TREC-STEP Tiruchirappalli Regional Engineering College- Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park
- Mentor (Government Sector) – Harkesh Kumar Mital
- Mentor (Private Sector) – Mr. Pradeep Gupta (CyberMedia Group)
- ISKCON’s Govardhan eco village located in Wada taluka in Thane district (Maharashtra) has been conferred UNWTO Award for Innovation in the category of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), during UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism held at Madrid in Spain.
- Immunologist Alexander Rudensky, Shimon Sakaguchi and Fred Ramsdell won 2017 Crafoord Prize, for their discoveries related to regulatory T cells and their role in the immune system.
- Crafoord Prize is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord. It is administered by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS).
- India's Darpan Basak won Young Travel Photographer award 2016. India's Ankit Kumar also won Young Travel Photographer award in Places and Experiences category.
- Indian - American Parag Havaldar named among 18 achievers announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscar Academy) for its 2017 Scientific and Technical awards. He was honoured for development of expression-based facial performance-capture technology at Sony Pictures Imageworks.
- Indian actress Priyanka Chopra won her second People’s Choice Award for Favourite Dramatic TV Actress for TV series Quantico.
- Kiran Doshi won The Hindu Prize 2016 for his political novel Jinnah Often Came to Our House.
- Ministry of Mines selected A Keshav Krishna for 2016 National Geoscience Award in field of Geo-environmental studies in applied geosciences. While, N Purnachandra Rao is selected for National Geoscience Award in the field of Geophysics.
- Padma Awards 2017 -
- 89 persons Honored in Padma Awards 2017 - 7 Padma Vibhushan, 7 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of awardees are women.
- Padma Vibhushan (7) -
- K J Yesudas
- Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
- Sharad Pawar
- Murli Manohar Joshi
- Prof. Udipi Ramachandra Rao
- Sunder Lal Patwa (Posthumous)
- Late PA Sangma (Posthumous) - Former Lok Sabha Speaker and Chief Minister of Meghalaya.
- Padma Bhushan (14)
- Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
- Prof. (Dr.) Devi Prasad Dwivedi
- Tehemton Udwadia
- Ratna Sundar Maharaj
- Swami Niranjana Nanda Saraswati
- H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (Foreigner)
- Late Cho Ramaswamy (Posthumous)
- Padma Shri (75) -
- Smt. Basanti Bisht
- Chemanchery Kunhiraman Nair
- Smt. Aruna Mohanty
- Smt. Bharathi Vishnuvardhan
- Sadhu Meher
- T K Murthy
- Laishram Birendrakumar Singh
- Krishna Ram Chaudhary
- Smt. Baoa Devi
- Tilak Gitai
- Dr. Prof. Aekka Yadagiri Rao
- Jitendra Haripal
- Kailash Kher
- Smt. Parassala B Ponnammal
- Smt. Sukri Bommagowda
- Mukund Nayak
- Purushottam Upadhyay
- Smt. Anuradha Paudwal
- Wareppa Naba Nil
- Tripuraneni Hanuman Chowdary
- T.K. Viswanathan
- Kanwal Sibal
- Birkha Bahadur Limboo Muringla
- Smt. Eli Ahmed
- Dr. Narendra Kohli
- Prof. G. Venkatasubbiah
- Akkitham Achyuthan Namboothiri
- Kashi Nath Pandita
- Chamu Krishna Shastry
- Harihar Kripalu Tripathi
- Michel Danino
- Punam Suri
- VG Patel
- Smt. V Koteswaramma
- Balbir Dutt
- Smt. Bhawana Somaaya
- Vishnu Pandya
- Dr. Subroto Das
- Dr. (Smt.) Bhakti Yadav
- Dr. Mohammed Abdul Waheed
- Dr. Madan Madhav Godbole
- Dr. Devendra Dayabhai Patel
- Prof. Harkishan Singh
- Dr. Mukut Minz
- Arun Kumar Sharma
- Sanjeev Kapoor
- Smt. Meenakshi Amma
- Genabhai Dargabhai Patel
- Chandrakant Pithawa
- Prof. Ajoy Kumar Ray
- Jitendra Nath Goswami
- Chintakindi Mallesham
- Daripalli Ramaiah
- Girish Bhardwaj
- Karimul Hak
- Bipin Ganatra
- Smt. Nivedita Raghunath Bhide
- Appasaheb Dharmadhikari
- Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal
- Virat Kohli - Cricket
- Shekar Naik -Cricket
- Vikasa Gowda - Discus Throw
- Smt. Deepa Malik - Athletics
- Mariyappan Thangavelu- Athletics
- Smt. Dipa Karmakar- Athletics
- P R Shreejesh- Athletics
- Smt. Sakshi Malik- Athletics
- Mohan Reddy Venkatrama Bodanapu
- Imrat Khan
- Anant Agarwal
- H.R. Shah
- Suniti Solomon (Posthumous)
- Asoke Kumar Bhattacharyya (Posthumous)
- Dr. Mapuskar (Posthumous)
- Anuradha Koirala
- Pakistan conferred It’s highest civilian honour ‘Nishan-e-Imtiaz’ on Qamar Bajwa (Army chief) and Zubair Hayat.
- Pentavalent Bio Sciences Pvt Ltd from Bengaluru won Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2016-17, a Joint joint initiative of Tata group and Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C).
- Portugal Government conferred Knighthood (Grande Oficial da Ordem do Infante da Henrique ) honour on former Indian Minister Eduardo Faleiro.
- Republic Day Parade Awards 2017 -
- Best Marching Contingent Among Services - Indian Army’s Madras Engineer Group.
- Best Marching Contingent Among paramilitary forces - Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
- Tableau representing states - Arunachal Pradesh (depicted Yak dance).
- Tableau representing Ministries /Departments - Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship that depicted theme Transforming India through Skill Development.
- Special Jury Award - Tableau by Central Public Works Department (CPWD) that depicted Green India-Clean India.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has been given Venezuela’s first-ever Hugo Chavez Prize for Peace and Sovereignty.
- Tennis player Andy Murray (Britain) became Youngest ever to have conferred Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II.
- Three Indian origin persons honored by Order of Australia - Australia’s highest civilian honour. Honored Persons are - Purushottam Sawrikar, Makhan Singh Khangure and Vijay Kumar.
- USA President Barack Obama selected 4 Indian-American scientists among 102 researchers for Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) - Pankaj Lal (Montclair State University), Kaushik Chowdhury (Northeastern University), Manish Arora (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) and Aradhna Tripati (University of California). Vice President Joe Biden was honored by Presidential Medal of Freedom, highest USA civilian honour.
Books
- Book An Unsuitable Boy, autobiography of Noted Filmmaker Karan Johar has been released.
- Book Just Another Jihadi Jane, authored by Tabish Khair has been released.
- Book Magpie Murders, authored by Anthony Horowitz has been released.
- Book My Odyssey: Memoirs of the Man behind the Mangalyaan Mission, authored by K Radhakrishnan has been released.
- Book Scattered Souls, authored by Shahnaj Bashir has been released.
- Book The Future of India, has been authored by Bimal Jalan (former RBI Governor).
- Book The Secret Chord has been authored by Geraldine Brooks.
- Book The Untold Story of Talking Books, authored by Matthew Rubery has been released.
- Book The Untold Vajpayee: Politician and Paradox, authored by Ullekh NP has been released.
- Former wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat's biography Akhada has been launched, written by sports journalist Sourabh Duggal.
- Noted actor Rishi Kapoor’s autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored has been released.
- Vice President Hamid Ansari released book The People’s President: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
Committees
- Committee of CMs headed by Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu submitted its report. It was formed to prepare road map for rapid adoption of digital payment methods.
- Levying a handling charge for cash payments above Rs. 50,000.
- Tax breaks must be provided to consumers and merchants using digital modes of payments.
- Abolition of merchant discount rate (MDR).
- Expert Group under Sumit Bose, that was set up to prepare Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) has submitted its report to Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). Objective of expert group was to study criteria for allocation of resources to States and identification and prioritization of beneficiaries under various programmes using SECC data.
- Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Committee, headed by N.K. Singh has submitted its report on changes in FRBM Act 2003.
- Government constituted committee to frame uniform rules for states to avoid delay in proper implementation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, to be headed by Secretary from Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD).
- Ministry of Water Resources constituted committee to assess availability and utilisation of waters of Mahanadi and its tributaries to resolve disputes over sharing of river waters among five states - Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
- Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports constituted a committee to suggest improvements in the National Sports Development Code (NSDC) and functioning of Indian Sports Federation. It will be headed by Injeti Srinivas.
- Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports reconstituted committee with objective of identifying potential medal prospects for 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games under Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme. Committee will be headed by Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra.
- Special task force for women safety in Delhi has been reconstituted under Chairmanship of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
Days
- 04 Jan - World Braille Day. It marks birth anniversary of Louis Braille, inventor of Braille script or Braille code.
- Assam Government for first time observed Farmer’s Martyrs day on January 27, 2017 as a Tribute to martyrs of 1894 farmers’ rising at Patharughat.
- On 28th January 1894, 140 innocent farmers were massacred and 150 others injured by then colonial British rulers when they rose in protest against the oppressive increase in land revenue.
- Jan 03 - Birth anniversary of Social Reformer Savitribai Jyotirao Phule, who played important role in improving women's rights in India during British rule. It was also featured by Search Engine Google, Through a Doodle.
- Jan 10 - World Hindi Day. It is being observed since 2006.
- Jan 12 - National Youth Day. It is observed to mark birth anniversary of Great social reformer and philosopher Swami Vivekananda.
- Jan 15 - Indian Army Day. On this day in 1949, Kodandera Madappa Cariappa became first Indian Chief of Indian Army (of independent India).
- Jan 21 - Statehood day of Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur.
- Jan 23 - Birth Anniversary of Great Freedom Fighter Subhas Chandra Bose. He was born in 1897.
- Jan 24 - National Girl Child Day. 2016 Theme is Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.
- Minister of Women & Child Development, Maneka Gandhi released National Action Plan for Children (NPAC) 2016 on this occasion.
- Jan 25 - National Voters' Day. 2016 theme is Empowering Young and Future Voters. Jan 25 is marked as National Tourism Day also.
- Jan 26, 2017 - 68th Republic Day. Theme is Skill India and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.
- Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi - Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is Chief Guest on this occasion. A contingent of UAE soldiers also marched down the Rajpath. Burj Khalifa tower, the world’s tallest building located in Dubai, was lit up in colors of Tricolor (Indian Flag).
- India and UAE MOUs -Mutual Recognition of Certificates of Competency, co-operation in Road Transport and Highways sector and Small and Medium Enterprises and Innovation, Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Maritime Transport, Defence, prevention and combating of human trafficking etc.
- Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&C) developed by DRDO flied past for first time.
- For first time, contingent of National Security Guard (popularly known as Black Cat Commandos) took part in parade.
- National festival - Bharat Parv showcasing India’s diverse culture, cuisines, handicrafts and catch glimpses of a progressive India began in New Delhi.
- Gallantary Awards 2016 -
- Total 398 Gallantry and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel announced - including 1 Ashok Chakra, 2 Kirti Chakras, 12 Shaurya Chakras.
- Ashok Chakra (country’s highest peacetime military decoration) - Havaldar Hangpan Dada (Rashtriya Rifles).
- Kirti Chakra - Prem Bahadur Resmi Magar and Rohit Suri
- Shaurya Chakra - Atul Gupta, D Vinay Reddy, Ashik MB, Hanuman Ram Sharan, Gawade Pandurang Mahadev, Rajat Chandra, Deepak Kumar Upadhyay, Ashutosh Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Abdul Qayum, Ashu Singh, Sanjewan Singh.
- Jeevan Raksha Padak Awards 2016 given to 36 persons, including Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak - 05, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak - 08 and Jeevan Raksha Padak - 23 persons.
- Jan 29 - Anti-Leprosy Day. It is Held on last Sunday of January. Government launched nationwide “Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign (SLAC)” on this occasion.
- Jan 29 - National Immunization Day. President Pranab Mukherjee launched country-wide 2017 Pulse Polio programme on This Occasion.
Defence
- 2017 Combined Commanders Conference (CCC) held at Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun.
- Army Chief Bipin Rawat launched a Whatsapp helpline - 9643300008, to receive grievances of army personnel. It has been done in backdrop of complaints being uploaded by some soldiers on social media.
- Border Security Force (BSF) launched operation Sard Hawa athe western border of Rajasthan to check infilteration due to dense fog.
- INS Khanderi, second Scorpene class submarine launched in Mumbai. It is the second of six submarines being built at MDL in collaboration with France’s DCNS as part of Project 75 of Indian Navy.
- First of series was INS Kalvari, which will be commissioned shortly.
- Improved Pinaka multiple rocket launcher successfully test-fired, named as Pinaka mark-II.
- India Held fourth joint Indo-Oman Air Exercise Eastern Bridge IV at Air Force Station Jamnagar (Gujarat).
- India successfully test-fired its home-grown long range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-IV from Abdul Kalam Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. It is 20 metres long and weighs 17 tonnes and can carry 1 tonne nuclear warhead over 4,000 kilometres.
- Indian Army successfully conducted ‘user-validation’ trials of indigenous Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) Dhanush.
- Indian Navy’s Annual Theatre Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX) 2017 conducted off Western Seaboard.
- Reliance Defense and Engineering Limited signed contract of INR 916 crores with Defense Ministry for construction of 14 fast patrol vessels for Indian Coast Guard.
- Russia amended its laws to allow long-term contracts for spares and support for military equipment supplied to India, allowing Russian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to enter into long-term agreements for spares with Indian Companies.
Economy
- Future Generali India Insurance Company (FGII) announced bancassurance tie-up with Pune based Bank of Maharashtra.
- In Cashless India Scorecard prepared by Walnut app, Gujarat, Telangana and Haryana emerged as the top three states with the highest growth in going cashless.
- Karnataka Bank launched personal accident insurance scheme for savings bank account-holders with name KBL Suraksha. Karnataka Bank also signed MoU with Tirth Agro Technology Pvt Ltd for financing agricultural mechanisation.
- Online Travel Portal MakeMyTrip accquired Competitor IBIBO for Approx $1.8 (12000 Crores Approx).
- Punjab National Bank and India Post Payments Bank signed MOU to enable IPPB to receive support from PNB for pilot launch of IPPB.
- Vodafone India signed MoU with West Bengal government to invest 3,000 crore for capacity augmentation, during Bengal Global Business Summit 2017.
- YES Bank launched unique Customizable Savings Account to enable customers to design an account as per their convenience. Yes bank became bank in India to launch such type of account that enables customer to choose features of that suits one’s own lifestyle.
- According to Central Statistics Office (CSO), India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow at a slower pace at 7.1% in 2016-17 as compared to 7.6% in 2015-16.
- Per capita net national income in 2016-17 is estimated to be Rs. 1,03,007, rise of 10.4% as compared to Rs. 93,293 during 2015-16.
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing - likely to grow at 4.1% during 2016-17, as against previous year’s growth rate of 1.2%.
- Manufacturing sector - It is estimated to grow by 7.4% in 2016-17 as compared to growth of 9.3% in 2015-16.
- According to United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), India’s economy will grow by 7.7% in fiscal 2017 and 7.6% in 2018. India will remain the fastest growing large developing economy in world.
- According to data by Finance Ministry, over 26 crore accounts have been opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) as of now., with Over 71500 crore rupees deposited in these accounts.
- According to research firm Counterpoint, Chinese mobile brands have taken control of 50% of India’s $10-billion smartphone market in 2016, up from 19% in 2015.
- As part of alternative mechanism to decide how to use funds raised after stake sales in PSUs, Government transferred role of Advising on utilisation of proceeds from disinvestment from Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to Department of Economic Affairs.
- Axis Bank became third Indian Bank to use block chain solutions for its operations, in association with fintech firm Ripple. Axis bank will use Block chain technology for its cross-border remittances.
- ICICI Bank was first to announce block chain solutions in for international trade finance and remittances in October 2016, followed up by Yes Bank in January 2017 (In Association with Bajaj Eletricals) and now Axis Bank.
- BookMyShow acquired Online Movie Ticket Platform MastiTickets for undisclosed amount.
- Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) revised Indian Standard on gold hallmarking, making gold jewellery available in 3 grades - 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat. Caratage will now also be marked on jewellery in addition to fineness for convenience of consumers.
- Caratage for 22 carat jewellery 22K will be marked as 22K916, 18 carat be marked as 18K750 and 14 carat will be marked as 14K585.
- Hallmark on gold jewellery will now have four marks - BIS Mark, purity in carat and fineness, assaying centre’s identification mark and jeweller’s identification mark.
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved listing 5 government owned General Insurance Companies in stock exchanges - National Insurance Company, New India Assurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company, United India Insurance Company and General Insurance Corporation of India. Shareholding of these Companies will be divested from 100 to 75 %.
- Central Board for Direct Taxes (CBDT) announced that General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) will start from April 1, 2017 to check tax evasion and avoidance.
- GAAR was announced as part of the 2012-13 Budget speech. But its implementation was repeatedly postponed because opposition by foreign investors.
- Citi Bank India introduced voice biometrics authentication system for its phone banking clients, replacing current practice of interactive voice response.
- Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalty of 206 crores on 7 cement companies for bid-rigging and cartelisation - Shree Cement, UltraTech Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, JK Cement, Ambuja Cements, ACC and JK Lakshmi Cement.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Presented Economic Survey 2016-17, One day before presenting Union Budget 2017 - 18 (Feb 1, 2017) -
- Survey is prepared by chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian.
- Growth Forecast - Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2016-17 pegged at 7.1%, down from 7.6% in 2015-16. It will stay between 6.75 % to 7.5% in 2017-18.
- Sectoral Growth - Agriculture sector to grow at 4.1% in 2016-17, up from 1.2% in 2015-16. Industrial sector Growth came down to 5.2% in 2016-17, compared to 7.4% in 2015-16. Service sector has grown at 8.9% in 2016-17 (same as 2015-16).
- Taxation - Cut in individual Income Tax rates and real estate stamp duties are prescribed. Time table for cutting corporate tax should be accelerated.
- Inflation : Consumer Price Index (CPI) based Inflation declined to 4.9 % in 2015-16 from 5.9 % in 2014-15 and stood at 4.8 % during April-December 2016.
- Trade - Exports grew 0.7 % to US$ 198.8 billion and During 2016-17 (April-December) imports declined by 7.4 % to US$ 275.4 billion. Trade deficit (Imports - Exports) declined to US$ 76.5 billion in 2016-17 (April-December) as compared to US$ 100.1 billion in corresponding period last year. Current account deficit (CAD) narrowed in the first half (H1) of 2016-17 to 0.3 % of GDP from 1.5 % in H1 of 2015-16 and 1.1 % in 2015-16 full year.
- External Debt stood at US$ 484.3 billion at end of Dec 2016.
- Government Debt to GDP ratio: It was 68.5% in 2016, down from 69.1% in 2015.
- Banking: Suggests setting up public sector asset rehabilitation agency (PSARA) to take charge of large bad loans in banks.
- Universal Basic Income (UBI): It is preferred as an alternative to various social welfare schemes in an effort to reduce poverty. UBI would cost between 4 and 5% of GDP.
- Rabi crops have been sown in around six crore 16 lakh hectares till date which is about 35 lakh hectares more than last year.
- Finance Ministry granted approval to 12 proposals of Public Sector Banks to raise Approx 2900 crores through preferential allotment. It also allowed United Bank of India to raise INR 200 crores through QIP (Qualified institutional placement) mode.
- Finance Ministry will contribute partially to new dedicated railway safety fund named as ‘Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh’ in the upcoming Union Budget 2017-18.
- Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council decided to rollout GST (Goods and Services Tax) nationwide on 1 July 2017, deferred from 1 April 2017 Earlier.
- Government approved amendment in Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) for electronics manufacturing, aiming Net Zero imports in electronics by 2020. Key Amendments are -
- Applications will be received under M-SIPS scheme till December 2018 or till such time that an incentive commitment of Rs 10,000 crore is reached, whichever is earlier. On Reaching 10000 crores, review will be held to decide further financial commitments.
- Government approved excluding States (except Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh) from National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) investments with effect from 1 April 2016. Cabinet also approved one-time loan of Rs 45000 crore from NSSF to Food Corporation of India (FCI) to meet its food subsidy requirements.
- Arunachal Pradesh will be given loans to the tune of 100 % of NSSF collections within its territory, while Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh will be provided with 50 percent of collections.
- Government approved interest waiver for the November and December 2016 for farmers accessing short term crop loans from Cooperative Banks.
- Government approved new scheme for promotion of Rural Housing. It will provide interest subsidy to every rural household not covered under Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (Grameen). Beneficiary who takes a loan under the scheme would be provided interest subsidy for loan amount upto Rs. 2 Lakhs. National Housing Bank would implement the scheme.
- Government approved package for augmentation of Corpus of Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) for supporting Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs).
- Corpus of Trust increased from 2500 crore to 7500 crores.
- Increase coverage of the loans covered under the credit guarantee scheme from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2 crore.
- Increase coverage of credit guarantee scheme for loans extended to MSEs by NBFCs also.
- Government approved short term borrowings of approx 20000 Crores by National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD), lending to Cooperative Banks at 4.5% rate of interest. Additional capital of 2,000 crore to be provided to NABARD for through Union Budget. This will ensure increased availability of short term crop loans to farmers through Cooperative banks at reduced rate of interest.
- Government launched Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana 2017, to be implemented through Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
- Meant to provide social security during old to and protect elderly persons aged 60 years and above.
- It will provide an assured pension based on a guaranteed rate of return of 8% per annum for 10 years, with an option to opt for pension on a monthly / quarterly / halfyearly and annual basis.
- Government made Aadhaar Card mandatory for workers in rural areas enrolled under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA). Registered Workers will be required to give proof of possession of Aadhaar card till March 31, 2017. Aim is to prevent leakages of subsidies and ensure that beneficiaries get their due.
- Government notified that Co-operative Banks are not authorised to accept deposits under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme (PMGKDS).
- Government will roll out Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) to boost export infrastructure by tying up with States. It will help states to develop their own export strategy in alignment with National Foreign Trade Policy.
- HDFC Bank launched IRA (Intelligent Robotic Assistant), a ‘humanoid’ at its Mumbai branch. It will provide smoother customer service, employee assistance, marketing and automate the banking process.
- Earlier in November 2016, City Union Bank introduced India’s first banking robot named Lakshmi.
- HDFC Bank launched chatbot service OnChat to allow users to make payments through Facebook Messenger.
- Hindustan Zinc Ltd of Vedanta Group received environment clearance for its Rs. 1,200 crore Zawar Mines expansion project in Rajasthan, aimed at expaning production capacity of lead-zinc and ore beneficiation from 1.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 4 MTPA at its Zawar underground mines.
- ICICI Prudential Life Insurance acquired 8.41 % stake in Fino Paytech Ltd (FPL) for of 100 crores.
- Income Tax Department (ITD) initiated Operation Clean Money to Identify Persons whose Tax Profile does not match with deposits made by them between 9th November to 30th December 2016. It uses complex Data Analytics to accomplish the task.
- India Post received final payments bank licence from Reserve Bank of India (RBI). India Post is third entity after Bharti Airtel and Paytm to receive final payments bank licence to roll-out Payment banking Operations.
- India Signed US$ 48 million Loan agreement with World bank for Nagaland Health Project.
- Indian Navy’s largest warship - INS Vikramditya became first warship to be equipped with its own dedicated ATM (Automated Teller Machine), installed by State Bank of India (SBI).
- India’s factory output, measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registered 5.7% growth in November 2016, fastest growth recorded in over past four years.
- Kerala Gramin Bank launched FI@School Program to propagate financial literacy among school children.
- London Based insurance Firm Lloyd received final approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) to set up first branch in India.
- Ministry of AYUSH and Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) signed MoUs to co-regulate malpractices in advertisement of AYUSH sector.
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) launched mobile application named SEZ India. This app has four sections - SEZ Information, Trade Information, Contact Details and SEZ online Transaction.
- Munich Reincurance Company (Germany Based) opened branch office in Mumbai to service property-casualty, life, health reinsurance markets across India.
- Not Residing Indians (NRI) citizens have been allowed to exchange their old 500 and 1,000 rupees notes at Reserve Bank of India (RBII) offices till the 30 June 2017.
- PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first international stock exchange at International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in4 Gujarat International Financial Tech City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar. It is named as International exchange-India (INX) and is subsidiary of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
- Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry announced discount of 5 rupees to LPG customers on every LPG refill through online payment.
- Punjab National Bank (PNB) launched Contactless Credit Card - Wave N Pay (on Visa Platinum platform), for transactions up to INR 2000.
- RBI Note Mudran printing press located in Mysuru (Karnataka) made record of printing highest number of currency notes. It printed 1.09 Crore notes on a single day, breaking previous world record of 87 Lakh notes printed in an American currency printing press. The press printed 1350 million currency notes in December 2016 by nearly 650 workers.
- Railways launched IRCTC Rail Connect - a new ticketing App to facilitate booking of train tickets in a faster and easier way.
- Railways unveiled ‘Mission 41K’ to save Rs. 41,000 crore on Indian Railways’ expenditure on energy consumption over next 10 years.
- Real estate portals PropTiger.com and Housing.com merged to form India’s largest online real estate services company.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased daily limit of ATM withdrawal to Rs 4500 from current Rs 2500.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited Indian entities from making direct investments in any entity located in Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT) as identified by Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised daily cash withdrawal limits from ATMs to INR 10000 from existing 4500. Weekly cash withdrawal limit from Savings Accounts is unchanged at 24,000 and withdrawal limit from current accounts is Hiked to INR 100000 per week from 50000.
- Reserve Bank of India has lifted restrictions on daily withdrawal of money from ATMs (automated teller machines), starting 1 February 2017.
- Reserve Bank of India imposed penalty of 75 lakhs on Bombay Mercantile Co-operative Bank for violations of norms related to KYC and anti-money laundering.
- Retirement fund body Employees’ Provide Fund Organisation (EPFO) made it mandatory for its pensioners and subscribers to provide either Aadhaar to remain beneficiary of its social security schemes.
- EPFO will not transfer subsidy (1.16% of the employee’s salary upto Rs.6,500) towards Employment Pension Scheme (EPS) till Aadhaar number provided.
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) amended SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 1993 to provide an enabling framework for registration of Eligible Fund Managers (EFMs), aimed to develop fund management industry in India. It make easier for foreign fund managers keen to enter India.
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) tightened rules for mergers and amalgamations by Indian companies in a bid to safeguard interests of the public shareholders.
- New rules will ensure that all classes of shareholders get an equitable treatment during mergers and acquisitions. Holding of public shareholders post the merger cannot be less than 25%.
- e-voting will be mandatory in cases wherein the stake of public shareholders reduces by more than 5% in the merged entity.
- Securities and Exchange Board of India lowered broker fees by 25 % to 15 rupees per transaction of one crore rupees as part of calibration of various other fees collected by SEBI from different market intermediaries, aimed at reducing overall cost of transactions.
- Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) tied up with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for providing capital support to MSME enterprises in India.
- State General Reserve Fund of Oman (SGRF) and State Bank of India (SBI) have signed pact to infuse $150 million and $50 million respectively in second Oman India Joint Investment Fund (OIJIF), a private equity fund.
- Steel Ministry released new draft National Steel Policy 2017, aiming to double India’s domestic steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31. It mentions requirement of INR 10 lakh crore investments to meet production goal and expects creation of 11 lakh new jobs in steel sector.
- Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended use of Aadhaar-based e-KYC for verification of existing mobile subscribers and for outstation customers.
- Telecom operator Vodafone announced SuperHour scheme - under which it will offer unlimited 3G / 4G data for 1 hour at a starting price of Rs. 16 for pre-paid customers.
- Transportation app Uber will launch its on-demand food delivery app ‘UberEATS’ in India.
- World Bank in its Global Economic Prospects report reduced India’s growth for 2016-17 fiscal to 7% from its previous estimate of 7.6%. Note that India's NITI Aayog estimated growth rate of 8% for 2016-17. World Bank projected a global growth of 2.7% in 2017.
- World Economic Outlook (WEO) by International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut India’s growth rate for the fiscal year 2016–17 to 6.6% from its previous estimate of 7.6%, due to temporary negative consumption shock of demonetisation.
- Global growth is forecast at 3.4% in FY17 against 3.1% in FY16.
- For China, the growth forecast for FY 2017 was revised upwards, to 6.5%. In 2018, China’s growth rate is projected to be 6% against India’s 7.7%.
International
- Global Passport Index 2017 released by financial advisory firm Arton Capital. It ranks countries based on the number of nations their citizens can visit without a visa or on arrival visa.
- India ranked low at 78th position with visa-free score of 46.
- Top 2 - Germany (1st), Singapore (2nd).
- Afghanistan’s is least powerful passport. China and Pakistan were ranked 58th and 94th respectively.
- 13th Chitwan Elephant Festival held at Chitwan National Park in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- 30 More countries applied for joining China-sponsored Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), apart from existing 57 founding members. AIIB was established in 2015 with headquarters in Beijing (China). China is the largest shareholder with 26.6% voting shares. India is second largest shareholder with 7.5% followed by Russia 5.93% and Germany with 4.5%.
- A baby has been born using a new type of 3 person IVF to a couple in Ukraine. Doctors used a method called pronuclear transfer. This is world’s second modern three-parent baby, second to a child earlier created using a slightly different method in Mexico.
- American It Firm Dell launched world’s first laptop that charges wirelessly - Latitude 7285. It is embedded with wireless receiving coil based on magnetic resonance technology.
- An International meeting on Syrian settlement held in the Astana (capital of Kazakhstan). During This Meet - Russia, Turkey and Iran have agreed on establishment of a trilateral mechanism to jointly monitor ceasefire between Syrian regime and rebels.
- Annual Surya Namaskar Yajna OR Health for Humanity Yogathon was recognised in US House of Representative on occasion of its 10th anniversary.
- Ant Financial, Chinese e-commerce Firm Alibaba’s financial arm acquired American money-transfer major MoneyGram for $880 million.
- As per rights group Oxfam, India’s richest 1% now hold a huge 58% of the country’s total wealth, higher than global figure of 50%. 57 billionaires in India now have same wealth ($216 billion) as that of the bottom 70% population of the country. Globally, just 8 billionaires have the wealth as poorest 50 % of population, led by Bill Gates ($75 billion), Amancio Ortega ($67 billion) and Warren Buffett($60.8 billion).
- Business process management company WNS acquired US-based Denali Sourcing Services for $40 million.
- China built world’s biggest solar park - Longyangxia Dam Solar Park in western province of Qinghai. It covers area of over 27 square km and has capacity to produce 850 MW of power.
- China commissioned its 31st Type 056 class corvette stealth warship named CNS Ezhou.
- China enhanced naval patrols in disputed Sankakus islands (Diaoyu islands) under administrative control of Japan in East China Sea. It could anger Japan as both countries doggedly trying to enforce the claims over these uninhabited islands, that are strategically well located and may contain oil reserves.
- China handed over 2 ships to Pakistan Navy - Hingol and Basol, to safeguard strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). China will also provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Zhob and Dasht.
- China is setting up world’s highest altitude gravitational wave observatory Ngari No.1, to detect and gather precise data on primordial gravitational waves in Northern Hemisphere. It will be operational by 2021. It is located at 5,250 meters above sea level, 30kms south of Shiquanhe Town in Ngari Prefecture at border with India. High altitude will provide clear sky to detect tiny twists in cosmic light with minimal human activity.
- China launched its first Direct freight train to London (Britain). It will travel approx 12000 KMs in about 18 days, passing through 6 Nations.
- China successfully launched first commercial mission using updated version of low-cost Kuaizhou-1A rocket, launching 3 satellites - JL-1, CubeSats XY-S1 and Caton-1.
- China’s Navy commissioned sophisticated electronic reconnaissance ship CNS Kaiyangxing or Mizar (hull code 856).
- Consulate General of India in Dubai announced Diplomats Cricket Championship Cup promote harmonious relationship among diplomatic missions of UAE.
- Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2016 by Berlin (Germany) based Transparency International -
- India has been ranked 79th out of 176 countries. India Shares 79th Position (Score - 40) with China, Brazil and Belarus.
- Top 5 - Denmark and New Zealand (1st, Score -90), Finland (3), Sweden (4), Switzerland (5)
- Bottom 5 - Somalia (179th), South Sudan (178th), North Korea (177th), Syria (176th), Yemen (175th)
- BRICS - Brazil (79), Russia (131), China (79), South Africa (64)
- Neighbours - Pakistan (116), Nepal (131), Sri Lanka (95), Bangladesh (145)
- Denmark became first country to appoint a special digital ambassador to work on building ties with the global tech giants.
- Ecuador taken over from Thailand as chair of Group of 77 (G77) countries of United Nations for 2017.
- Europe’s first underwater art museum, Museo Atlantico (Atlantic Museum) opened for public in Canary Island in Spain.
- Finland became first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income of 560 euros (USD 587 approx).
- First Singapore satellite - Aoba Velox-III launched into space from International Space Station (ISS), as a joint project between Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Japan’s Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech).
- Goverment ratified 2nd commitment period of Kyoto Protocol on containing emission of Green House Gases (GHGs). Second commitment period of Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 2012 and will expire in 2020, ratified by 75 countries so far.
- Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 to fight global warming by reducing GHGs emission and came into effect in 2005. 1st commitment period under Kyoto Protocol was from 2008-2012 and 2nd commitment period for 2013- 2020 was adopted in 2012 by Doha Amendment of Kyoto Protocol.
- Protocol is based on principle of Equity and Common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR). It places obligations on developed nations to undertake mitigation targets to reduce emissions by 5.2% of 1990 levels during 2008-2012 period).
- Government approved India’s full membership of International Vaccine Institute (IVI) Governing Council. It involves payment of annual contribution of US $ 5,00,000 to the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), South Korea.
- Government approved MOUs -
- With Portugal and Kenya for cooperation in Agriculture and allied sectors.
- With Uruguay for Cooperation in Customs Matters.
- With USA for cooperation in field of cyber Security (India-CERT and USA-CERT).
- Government approved holding negotiations for Trade Agreement with Peru on trade in goods, services and investment.
- Government imposed an anti-dumping duty on imports of jute and its products from Nepal and Bangladesh for 5 years, to protect domestic industry.
- HSBC Expat survey 2016 ranked India at Third Place in terms of offering highest average annual salary to expatriates (Foreign Workers) of $145057 (Approx 7.8 Lac / Month). List was topped by Switzerland followed by Hong Kong.
- Inclusive Development Index (IDI) 2017 in World Economic Forum’s (WEF) ‘Inclusive Growth and Development Report’ -
- India ranked 60th among 79 developing countries.
- Top 5 developing economies - Lithuania (1st), Azerbaijan (2nd), Hungary (3rd), Poland (4th), Romania (5th).
- Top 5 advance economies - Norway (1st), Luxembourg (2nd), Switzerland (3th), Iceland (4th) and Denmark (5th)
- BRICS - Russia (13th), China (30th) and Brazil (30th), South Africa (70).
- Neighbours - China (15th), Nepal (27th), Bangladesh (36th) and Pakistan (52nd).
- India and France signed White Shipping agreement to enable information sharing on maritime traffic and maritime domain awareness in Indian Ocean Region (IOR), during second Joint dialogue on maritime cooperation for IOR in New Delhi.
- India and Kazakhstan signed Protocol to amend Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) to avoid Taxation Issues.
- India and Pakistan exchanged list of their nuclear installations and facilities under Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations. This is 26th consecutive exchange of such list, continuing since 1992.
- India and USA signed MoU to collaborate in fields of developmental activities and aid in third world countries.
- India and the UAE held the first meeting of their strategic dialogue in New Delhi to elevate the bilateral relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
- India partnered with United Kingdom Experts (led by University of Birmingham) for ASAP-Delhi (An Integrated Study of Air Pollutant Sources in Delhi) Project to address air pollution issues in Delhi.
- India ranked 6th in list of Eight Great Powers of 2017 list by The American Interest magazine. List is topped by USA, Followed by China, Japan, Russia and Germany as top 5 in same order. Iran is 7th and Israel is ranked 8th.
- India rejected an EU and Canada proposed agreement that aims to incorporate a contentious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism at World Trade Organisation (WTO) level.
- Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism permits companies to drag governments to international arbitration without exhausting the local remedies and It also allows them to claim huge amounts as compensation citing losses due to reasons including policy changes and Others.
- India held that only after all local options have been exhausted for settling disputes between a corporate and a government, then the issues can be taken up in international arbitration tribunals.
- India signed MoU with Sri Lanka to construct 3000 rain water harvesting systems in Rin Jaffna District at a cost of 300 million Rupees (Sri Lankan).
- India's ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) won rights to bid for oil and gas development projects in Iran.
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and French Space agency (CNES) signed agreement in satellite launch technology.
- Agreement also signed for equipping Axiom Research Lab’s lunar rover with two latest-generation CASPEX micro-cameras, developed by CNES in partnership with French firm 3DPlus.
- Axiom Research Lab is leading Indian NewSpace start-up put forward TeamIndus, the only Indian team competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE.
- XPRIZE is global competition organised by Google for engineers and entrepreneurs to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration. It will award $20 million to the first private company that successfully lands a module on the Moon, places a robot that explores at least 500 metres and transmits HD videos and images back to Earth.
- Israel is building world’s tallest solar tower to harness solar energy as part of its ambitious Ashalim project. Centrepiece of this solar tower will be 250 m tall and will be encircled by 50,000 mirrors, known as heliostats.
- Solar towers use different method conventional photovoltaic solar panels, which convert sunlight directly into electricity. Instead, solar towers use a solar-thermal method in which thousands of mirrors focus the sun’s rays onto the tower, heating a boiler that creates steam to spin a turbine and generate electricity.
- Ashalim project will be Israel’s largest renewable energy project after completion by 2018. It will generate some 310 MW of power.
- Israel's upgraded ballistic missile shield Arrow-3 system has become operational, jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), USA firm Boeing and funded by USA.
- Japan Signed Agreements with Australia and Indonesia, to enhance Defence ties.
- Japan successfully launched its first military communications satellite - Kirameki-2.
- Japanese PM Shinzo Abe signed 1-trillion yen ($8.7 billion) aid package to Philippines over next 5 years.
- Jones Lang LaSalle’s City Momentum Index (CMI) Released, tracking speed of change of a city’s economy and commercial real estate market.
- Bengaluru (Karnataka) is named most dynamic city in the world.
- 10 cities - Bengaluru (India), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Silicon Valley (US), Shanghai (China), Hyderabad (India), London (UK), Austin (US), Hanoi (Vietnam), Boston (US) and Nairobi (Kenya).
- MOUs Signed -
- With Serbia for cooperation in Information Technology and Electronics.
- With Russia for cooperation in Youth matters.
- With Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for cooperation in outer space exploration.
- With Vietnam for cooperation In cyber security.
- MSME Cooperation with 21 Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member Countries.
- NASA will lauch 2 missions - Lucy and Psyche to explore early Solar System.
- Lucy - It has been named for a critical hominin fossil set found in Ethiopia in 1974. It will be launched in 2021 and involves sending a robotic spacecraft to study Jupiter’s so-called Trojan asteroids.
- Psyche - It will explore a huge, one-of-a-kind metal asteroid 16 Psyche. It will be launched in 2023. Most asteroids are rocky or icy but 16 Psyche is thought to be mostly of iron and nickel, like Earth’s core.
- Nepal launched a 10 year plan to cut reliance on vegetable imports from India and boost domestic production. Nepal imports around 25,000 metric tonnes of vegetables worth INR 5000 Crores every year from India.
- Nepal’s Supreme Court allowed government to go ahead with crucial Constitution amendment bill to accommodate demands of Madhesi and ethnic groups.
- Norway became first country in world to switch off FM radio network. Swedish Parliament approved to shift to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).
- Over 3.5 lakh people from Gujarat have set up new world record for singing national anthem, breaking previous record of 2.5 Lakh people singing national anthem in Bangladesh in 2014.
- Pakistan Government will renovate Katas Raj Hindu temple in Chakwal district of Punjab Province.
- Pakistan conducted first successful test of Ababeel surface-to-surface medium range ballistic missile with Range 2200 KMs, using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.
- Pakistan successfully test-fired its first Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM) Babur-3, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead upto range of 450kms.
- Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.(POWERGRID) signed MOU with Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA).
- Russia banned sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2015 as part of its part of a tough anti-tobacco strategy. It will make Russia the first country in the world to completely phase out tobacco. The proposed ban will go into effect in 2033, when the present Russian citizens (now babies) and younger reach adulthood i.e. when they turn 18 years old.
- Saudi Arabia increased India’s annual Haj quota by 34,500. It is biggest hike in nearly three decades. With this, size of India’s Haj quota increased from 1,36,020 to 1,70,520.
- Scientists named 3 diseases as the next potential global health emergency threat - MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), Lassa fever and Nipah virus. Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has committed 460 million dollars to speed up vaccine development for these diseases.
- Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was officially launched at World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos after it received $460-million to develop vaccines against 3 emerging highly-contagious and fatal diseases.
- Scientists officially named a new endangered species of moth as Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, found in parts of Southern California and Baja, Mexico.
- Seven More countries - Lithuania, Gabon, Hungary, Indonesia, Malta, Mauritius and Russia signed Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for Country-by-Country Reporting (CbC MCAA), taking number of Total signatories to 57.
- CbC MCAA is a tax co-operation agreement to enable automatic sharing of country-by-country information. This exchange of information is facilitated as part of Action 13 of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) Action Plan adopted by OECD and G20 countries in 2013.
- Social network Facebook will introduce new tools in Germany to combat spread of fabricated news stories (fake news).
- T K Kurien, Executive Vice-Chairman of Wipro announced retirement.
- Talent competitiveness Index list 2017 released, measuring ability of countries to compete for talent. The index is produced by global business school INSEAD in partnership with Adecco Group and Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI) of Singapore.
- India ranked 92nd among 118 countries in List.
- Top 5 Countries - Switzerland (1st), Singapore (2nd), United Kingdom (3rd), United States (4th), Sweden (5th).
- BRICS - China (54th), Russia (56th), South Africa (67th) and Brazil (81st).
- Neighbours - Pakistan (111), Bangladesh (113), Sri Lanka (82).
- Bottom 5 Nations - Tanzania (114), Mozambique (115), Zimbabwe (116), Burkina Faso (117), Madagascar (118)
- Tech Firm Apple named as most innovative company of 2016 by Boston Consulting Group’s annual list of corporate innovators. Apple has topped this list for 11th consecutive year. Google ranked second while electric carmaker Tesla is ranked third.
- Tech Firm Cisco accquired AppDynamics for USD 3.7 billion (approx 24400 Crores). Both the companies are USA Based.
- Turkish Parliament passed constitutional reform bill to strengthen powers of President. After being accepted by people through a referendum, It will enable President to issue decrees, declare emergency rule, appoint ministers and top state officials and dissolve Parliament. It will also allow incumbent President Tayyip Erdogan to stay in office until 2029.
- U.S. healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson buys Switzerland based bio-pharmaceutical firm Actelion for $30 billion (27.9 billion euros).
- UN Security Council passed resolution drafted by Russia to endorse a nationwide ceasefire in Syria.
- US fast-food Chain McDonald’ sold its China and Hong Kong businesses for $2.08 billion to Citic, a Chinese Firm.
- USA President Donald Trump formally pulled Out USA from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a mega trade deal of 12 Pacific Rim countries - Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, US and Vietnam.
- TPP was set up by Previous USA Prez Barack Obama, aimed to bind US allies against growing Chinese economic impact by easing flow of goods, services and investments among member countries.
- Trump also singed first executive order which targets Obamacare (Obama's Health Reforms act).
- USA President Donald Trump signed executive order to ban travel of people from 7 Muslim-majority countries in USA for 90 days - Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Syria.
- He also suspended US Refugee Admissions Programme for 120 days and indefinitely barred entry of refugees from Syria.
- Admission of Refugees in 2017 is cut to 50000, less than previously planned figure of 110000.
- USA President Donald Trump signed order to build a 2000 Miles wall along US border with Mexico and crack down on US cities that shield illegal immigrants.
- USA based SpaceX successfully launched constellation of 10 satellites into orbit on board of its two stage Falcon 9 Rocket from California, as part of Virginia-based Iridium’s project McLean.
- USA lifted 20-year ols trade and financial sanctions on Sudan.
- USA military launched Geo-3 satellite mounted with Atlas V rocket into space to monitor possible missile attacks from space.
- United Kingdom unveiled 12-point plan to leave European Union for implementing Brexit deal within 2 years.
- United Nation Security Council (UNSC) approved resolution expressing full support to Gambia’s new President Adama Barrow.
- Longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after loosing December 2016 presidential elections. It has deepened political crisis in Gambia.
- United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 2017 as International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.
- World Economic Forum (WEF) released 12th Global Risks Report 2017. As per report, most significant long-term risks worldwide in 2017 are - Extreme weather, Involuntary migration, Major natural catastrophe, Large terrorist attacks and Massive data fraud / theft.
- World Economic Forum and UCSB’s Marine Science Institute (MSI) partnered to improve health of world’s oceans and maritime resources, valued at approx $2.5 trillion per year.
- World’s first Gender Literature Festival will be held in Patna (Bihar) in April 2017.
- XCMG, China Based construction machinery company will invest 150 million in India for setting up new manufacturing unit.
Meetings
- 16th meeting of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was held in New Delhi.
- Central Government established Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) in December 2010 with Finance Minister as Chairman. Idea to create FSDC was first mooted by the Raghuram Rajan Committee on Financial Sector Reforms in 2008.
- 2017 Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit Held in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
- 2nd International conference on Pharmaceutical & Medical Device sector - India Pharma & India Medical Device-2017 will be held in February 2017 in Bengaluru (Karnataka).
- 2nd Ministry of External Affairs’ annual Raisina Dialogue (Flagship geo-political conference) held in New Delhi with theme The New Normal: Multilateralism in a multipolar world.
- All India Waqf Conference (Conference of Chiefs of of State Waqf Boards) Held in New Delhi.
- Global forum for Food & Agriculture and G-20 agriculture ministers meeting held in Germany, attended by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.
- International Conference on Disability Communication: Perspectives and Challenges in the 21st Century held in Mumbai (Maharashtra).
- International Conference on Yoga for Diabetes held in New Delhi.
- International conference for peace talks between Israel and Palestinians held in Paris (France).
- Island Tourism Festival 2017 held at Port Blair, capital of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
- National Informatics Centre (NIC) organized National Meet on Grassroot Informatics at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.
- New Delhi World Book Fair held at Pragati Maidan with Theme Manushi - Books Written on and by Women.
- Noted Actor Om Puri Passed away.
- Regional Conference of Labour Ministers of Southern States held in Chennai (Tamil Nadu). While, Regional Labour Conference of North-Eastern Region held in Guwahati.
National
- Election Commission issued limitation for campaign expense per candidate. In Goa and Manipur, the limit on election expenses per candidate is Rs 20 lakh while that in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand is Rs 28 lakh.
- Harvest Festival of Pongal celebrated across Tamilnadu.
- Maharashtra Government banned use of Purse Seine Nets for fishing, aimed at curbing exploitation of fish by safeguarding fingerlings and its eggs to increase their population.
- 104th Indian Science Congress Held in Sri Venkateswara Universitym, Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh).
- 104th Session of Indian Science Congress held in Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh).
- 10th Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) 2017 held with theme Freedom to dream: India at 70.
- 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017, annual global convention for Indian diaspora held in Bangalore.
- Theme of this edition is “Redefining Engagement with the Indian Diaspora”.
- Portugal Prime Minister, Dr. Antonio Costa is chief guest in PBD 2017. Total 30 People awarded in Pravasi Bharatiya Awards 2017.
- PM Narendra Modi launched Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PKVY), a skill development program targeted at Indian youth seeking overseas employment to make India the Skill Capital of the World.
- 20th National Conference for e-Governance held in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), with theme Internet of Things and e-Governance.
- 24th Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations(COCSSO) meet held at Nagpur (Maharashtra).
- 28th Dantan Gramin Mela inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee in West Midnapore district in West Bengal, aimed at displaying rural handicraft skills of local people.
- 2nd Pakke - Paga Festival 2017 held at Seijosa in East Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh. Its aim is to popularise the role of community in conserving endangered species.
- 350th Prakash Parv, birth anniversary of 10th Sikh Guru - Guru Gobind Singh ji will be celebrated in January 2017 in Patna (Bihar).
- 3rd National conference Jal Manthan III held in New Delhi.
- 4th Assam International Agri-Horiculture held in Guwahati.
- 58th India International Garment Fair (IIGF) began in New Delhi, organized by Apparel Export Promotion Council India (AEPCI).
- 58th India International Garment Fair (IIGF) held in New Delhi.
- 8th International Conference and Exhibition on Re-enforced Plastics (ICERP) organized by FRP Institute in Mumbai.
- 8th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit held in Gandhinagar (Gujarat). PM Modi announced that India is now sixth largest manufacturing country in the world up from earlier 9th position.
- Sitalpati Mats (Weaved in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal) has been recognized as an ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
- A Festival of India will be organized in Cambodia, Ghana and Netherlands Incuding Several Indian Cultural activities.
- According to India Meteorological Department’s (IMD), 2016 was warmest year ever on record in India since documenting began in 1901. Average Surface temparature in 2016 in India was +0.91 degree Celsius above average between 1961-1990 period. Before 2016, warmest year on record was 2009 (+0.77 degree Celsius above average).
- According to Status of Education Report (ASER) 2016, Himachal Pradesh Students stand ahead of All Other states in terms of learning outcomes.
- Report found that enrolment rate of students in the age group 6 to 14 in Himachal Pradesh was 99.8%. It secured first rank in achieving learning outcomes in basic reading and mathematics across the country, Followed by Kerala.
- Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2016) released by NGO Pratham. ASER is largest annual household survey in rural India that focuses on the status of children's schooling and basic learning
- According to recent World Employment and Social Outlook 2017 by International Labour Organisation (ILO), number of unemployed people in India is expected to rise by 1 lakh in 2017 and another 2 lakh in 2018.
- Number of jobless in India will increase from 1.7 croee in 2016 to 1.8 crore in 2018. Note that country’s unemployment rate is expected to go down from 3.5% to 3.4% in 2017.
- Air India launched Fly For Sure scheme under which passengers can board any other AI flight on the same sector on the same day on missing their booked flight. To avail this, customer has to pay extra INR 2000 while booking ticket.
- Air India will soon reserve six seats in front rows of its aeroplane fleet only for women passengers for their safety. Six seats will be reserved in third row in economy class of the aircraft for female passengers travelling alone.
- Airports Authority of India (AAI) received 45 initial bids from 11 parties to fly routes under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) by Ministry of Civil Aviation. Initial bid proposals covers more than 200 routes and as many as 65 airports, 52 of them not served by any airline and 13 under-served airports.
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi signed 3 MoUs with NBCC Limited, HSCC Limited and HLL Life Care Ltd.
- Andhra Pradesh Government announced monetary reward of Rs 100 crore to anyone from state who wins Nobel Prize.
- Andhra Pradesh Government launched NTR Arogya Raksha Scheme to provide medical treatment to the people below Above Poverty Line (APL) at Rs 1200 premium per annum, covering 1044 diseases and up to 2 lakh and free treatment.
- Arunachal Pradesh Government signed MOU with National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to level up Milk revolution in Arunachal Pradesh.
- Arunachal Pradesh government launched Dulari Kanya scheme to check infant mortality in state. Under this, state government will deposit Rs. 20,000 in the bank account of a girl child born in any government hospital.
- As per a recent study, Indian long pepper (widely used for spicing up food) contains a chemical called Piperlongumine (PL) which has anti-cancer properties.
- Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal announced Chief Minister’s Award of INR 50000 to be given to District that promotes digital transactions in best way.
- Assam Government launched its indigenously-developed e-Wallet Tokapoisa.in, to enable hassle-free online transactions in local language.
- BHEL commissioned 2nd unit of capacity 500 MW of Sagardighi Thermal Power Station Phase II in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
- Bargarh Dhanua Jatra festival started in Bargarh in Odisha.
- Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) launched mobile TV service ‘Ditto TV’.
- Bharatiya Janata Party government installed in Arunachal Pradesh with 33 out of 43 MLAs of the Peoples' Party of Arunachal (PPA), led by Chief Minister Prema Khandu joined BJP.
- Bihar government launched Nasha Mukt campaign to make state addidction-free. On this occasion, 11000 km long human chain was formed across state. It is claimed to be world’s largest human chain and broke previous record of 1050 km human chain formed in Bangladesh.
- Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has launched climate change programme to conduct study to assess the status, distribution and conservation of Pheasants and Finches in Central Himalayas. It is long-term monitoring project funded by Oracle and facilitated by CAF-India. It will focus on their conservation in the context of climate change with the help of community participation.
- Central Government cleared Tamil Nadu government’s proposal to promulgate an ordinance to hold Jallikattu, a traditional bull taming sport. Now, as per Article 213 of Constitution, Tamil Nadu Governor can promulgate ordinance. The ordinance will denotify the bull from the list of performing animals, to ensure that provisions of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA), 1960 will not apply to bull.
- Supreme Court imposed ban on Jallikattu in May 2014. The apex court had banned use of bull as performing animals including traditional events like Jallikattu, bullock-cart races.
- Central Water Commission signed MoUs with IIT Madras and IIS Bengaluru, to help them for procurement of specified equipment and software for enhancing their capability to support dam rehabilitation efforts of CWC.
- Child sex ratio at birth (SRB) in Haryana for first time touched 900 mark in last two decades, up from 834 in 2011 to 914 in December 2016.
- Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Enforcement Toolkit for Police, to assist them in dealing with the cases relating to Trademarks and Copyrights infringements. Toolkit is developed by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
- Committee under chairmanship of Timothy Gonsalves recommended upto 20 % reservation for girl students in IITs to address issue of reducing number of female students entering IITs.
- DEFCOM 2017 held in Delhi with theme Infrastructure and Skilled Human Resource for Digital Army, organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Army.
- Dairy firm Kwality Ltd signed agreement with bank of Baroda for providing Rs.4,000 crore loan to the farmers from whom the company procures milk. Company has a network of about 3.25 lakh Farmers across about 4,500 villages in uttar Pradesh. Haryana, Rajasthan.
- Delhi Government approved Good Samaritan Policy to encourage people to help road accident victims in emergency situation. This policy will give bystanders incentive (INR 2000) to help accident victims and more importantly provide them with legal protection.
- Delhi Police and Airline IndiGo launched ‘Akhiri Ahuti’ humanitarian initiative under which bodies of North-east residents who pass away in Delhi will be carried to their homes, without any cost.
- Delhi University became First Public University in india to get a monumental flagpole.
- Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) banned import of skins of reptiles and fur of minks, foxes and chinchillas. It will save lives of animals killed for their exotic skins for leather industry.
- Dr. B.Borooah Cancer Institute Guwahati has been made an affiliate of Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer Mumbai.
- Election Commission (ECI) will introduce mobile based monitoring system to ensure free and fair upcoming 2017 Assembly elections in Punjab.
- Election Commission of India (ECI) allotted bicycle symbol of Samajwadi Party to Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh faction (Group), after he proved majority support in party’s structures as per Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order.
- Election Commission of India announced dates for assembly elections in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa. Counting of votes for all five states will take place on 11 March 2017.
- First Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) International Television Dance Festival held in Hyderabad (Telangana).
- First Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) International Television Dance Festival Organized in Hyderabad by Prasar Bharati.
- First Brahmaputra Literary Festival held in Guwahati (Assam).
- First ever Investors’ Summit for north eastern states held in Shillong (capital of Meghalaya) with theme Exploring Opportunities in North East Region. It was inaugurated by Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani.
- First flight under government’s regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ke Aam Naagrik) will take off in February 2017. RCS aims to boost regional air connectivity and provide various incentives to airlines. Under this, Government will provide subsidy to airlines that operate flights between two regional airports. 43 new airports will be added after implementation of UDAN scheme, in addition to existing 75 airports.
- Goa became first state to opt for electronic transmission of postal ballot to service voters in upcoming Assembly polls. This allows service voters (those in defence / para-military forces / diplomatic missions) to download postal vote, cast their vote and send it via e-mail to returning officer.
- Google launched 2 initiatives - My Business and Digital Unlocked to help small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India capitalise on the digitisation wave faster.
- Government announced that pension for all 50 - 55 lakh central government pensioners is increased to Rs. 9,000 and the ex gratis increased from 10-15 lakh to 25-35 lakh.
- Government announced that over 99% of Indians over 18 years of age now have Aadhaar Cards. It means 111 crore Indians (91.7% of Indian population) have been covered under Aadhaar cards.
- Government approved Establishment of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (lARI) Jharkhand, with estimated outlay of 200 crores on 1,000 acre land provided by Government of Jharkhand at Gauria Karma Village in Hazaribag District.
- Government approved Indian Institute of Management(IIM) Bill 2017, under which the IIMs would be declared as Institutions of National Importance which will enable them togrant degrees to their students.
- Government approved assistance of Rs. 1782 crores for Karnataka as drought relief.
- Government empowered Supreme Court mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) to enforce Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
- As per a notification, GRAP can be implemented if the air pollution stays above the emergency level for 48-hours. In such cases, the odd-even scheme may be enforced and construction work can be halted in the national capital.
- Government launched Rubber Soil Information System (RubSIS) online system for recommending appropriate mix of fertilizers to plantations of rubber growers depending upon their soil nature. It was launched for Kottayam (Kerela), largest rubber growing district of India's rubber growing region (Kerela and Tamilnadu).
- Government of Andhra Pradesh announced INR 100 crore fund of funds to develop financial technology (Fin Tech) startup ecosystem in the State.
- Government signed agreement with National Yuva Cooperative Society to set up 1,000 Janaushadhi Kendras across country.
- Government will make on-road emission tests for vehicles plying on Indian roads mandatory, after Bharat Stage VI norm implement from 2020.
- Gujarat government launched India’s first student startup and innovation policy, aimed at providing 200 crores to ideas developed by students. Policy aims to support over 1,000 innovation per year and create pre-incubation support in all universities of Gujarat.
- HDFC Bank enabled five temples in Kanyakumari district in southern to introduce digital wallets and PoS to enable their devotees to pay donations online.
- HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar launched web portal ShaGun (ssashagun.nic.in), meant for showcase innovations and progress in Elementary Education sector of India by continuous monitoring of flagship scheme - Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
- Haryana will set up 'Prarambh School for Teachers Education' in Jhajjar District.
- Health Ministry will launch population based prevention, screening and control programme for five common non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the occasion of World Cancer Day (4th February). Diseases are - Hypertension, Diabetes, and Cancers of oral cavity, breast and cervix.
- Himachal Pradesh Government declared Dharamsala as second capital of state. Henceforth, winter session of state legislature will be held in Dharamshala.
- Home Minister Rajnath Singh laid foundation stone of new NDRF campus at Konda Pavuluru in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh.
- In line with Government's vision for coastal shipping, tourism and regional development, New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has introduced Car carrier service between Gujarat and Mangaluru.
- India signed deal with United Arab Emirates (UAE) to fill half (about 6 million barrels of oil) of an underground crude oil storage facility at Mangaluru (Karnataka), through UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC). India has already filled the other half of Mangaluru storage in Karnataka state with six million barrels of Iranian oil.
- India already has filled Vizag storage site in Andhra Pradesh with 7.55 million barrels of Iraqi oil.
- Another 18.3 million-barrel facility at Padur in Karnataka is awaiting Bids.
- India's National Youth Festival 2017 held in Rothak (Haryana) with theme Youth for Digital India.
- Indian American entrepreneur Gururaj Deshpande's Deshpande Foundation will launch India’s largest startup incubation centre at Hubballi (Karnataka).
- Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) will set up weather stations in 660 districts of India by 2019, up from 130 districts currently. IMD has tied up with Ministry of Agriculture to use Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) as for weather forecasting observatories.
- India’s National Action Plan on Assessment, Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change (NAPCC) to fight climate change will get three new missions - health, coastal zones and waste-to-energy.
- Since 2012, PM’s Council on Climate Change India has instituted a NAPCC with eight missions - National Water Mission, Green India Mission, National Solar Mission, National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem, National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.
- India’s first Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) inaugurated at Mysuru (Karnataka). POPSK will offer all passport related services on lines of PSKs (Passport Seva Kendras).
- India’s first bus to run on human and animal waste will start in March 2017 in Kolkata (West Bengal).
- India’s first ever solar powered boat - Aditya launched in Kerala.
- India’s first ‘Uniform and Garment Manufacturer’s Fair’ held in Solapur (Maharashtra).
- Indira Gandhi International (IGI) become first in world to adopt performance and benchmarking digital platform - Arc, developed by Green Business Certification Inc (GBCI) and US Green Building Council (USGBC). It will be used by airport operator to measure, manage and improve performance of airport on resource consumption, quality of passenger space and carbon emissions.
- Japan will assist India in development of Chennai, Ahmedabad and Varanasi as smart cities. So far, leading countries have come forward to be associated with development of 15 smart cities in India, including -
- United Kingdom - Pune (Maharashtra), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) and Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
- United States - Visakhapatnam, Ajmer and Allahabad
- France - Chandigarh, Puducherry and Nagpur
- Germany - Bhubaneswar, Coimbattore and Kochi.
- Karang Island in Manipur became first cashless island in India. Most of People on Karang island have opted for cashless transactions.
- Karnataka Government allowed sale of white Kerosene in open market
- Karnataka government will amend to Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA) 1960 for conducting traditional sports of Kambala and bull-cart race in State.
- Karnataka state government is following model of Tamil Nadu government to allow Kambala and Cart racing in state. TN Government has already amanded the concerned act few days ago, to allow Bull-Taming sport Jallikattu in State.
- Kerala Governmemt inaugurated 4 lakh square feet IT building - Jyothirmaya.
- Kerala Government launched e-health program Jeevan Rekha to create electronic health records of a population in Thiruvananthapuram, aiming to provide a centralised database of healthcare information and efficient health service delivery to people.
- Kerala government launched World Bank-aided e - health project across state, envisaging development of Electronic Health Records (HER) of population and automation of all government healthcare institutions.
- Kozhikode Corporation declared as first Elderly-Friendly corporation in Kerala.
- Madhya Pradesh Government announced total ban on polythene carry bags from May 1, 2017.
- Madhya Pradesh Government launched Digital Dakiya scheme to encourage cashless transactions. Under it Digital Dakiya (Digital Postman) will visit door to door and train households specially women and elderly people about digitized transactions.
- Madhya Pradesh launched Aanandam programme to help needy persons. Under it, government through volunteers will provide help to needy and economically sound citizens can donate items for the needy persons.
- Maharashtra Government launched India’s largest public WiFi service - MumbaiWifi, providing 500 Wifi hotspots across various locations across Mumbai. In second phase, state Government will provide 1200 WiFi hotspots by 1 May 2017.
- Minister of Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda released Indian Food Composition Tables (IFCT) as reference book for all kinds of nutritional evaluations of Food Items in Country. It will make India join elite league of nations with its own complete food composition data base. It was released during International Symposium on Food Composition in Nutrition and Health in Delhi.
- Minister of State (IC) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated Saksham 2017 (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav) - aimed to create awareness amongst masses towards judicious utilization and conservation of petroleum products along with use of energy efficient appliances and switching to cleaner fuels.
- Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani Launched Bunkar Mitra Helpline for Handloom Weavers toll free number 1800-208-9988. It aims to provide a point of contact to handloom weavers for addressing their queries and seek guidance.
- Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released draft notification of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing Rules) 2016. It is aimed at making dog breeders and their marketers accountable and to prevent any cruelty on dogs.
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare will roll out measles-rubella (MR) vaccine in Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) in February 2017.
- Ministry of Power unveiled world’s largest street light replacement programme in South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) area, under Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). Under SLNP, 2 lakh street light will be replaced with LED lights in SDMC area, resulting in annual energy savings of 2.65 crore kWh and daily reduction of 22,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases
- Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) approved setting up Indian Skill Development Services (ISDS), for Training Directorate of MSDE. It will be a Group ‘A’ service and induction to it will take place through Indian Engineering Service Examination (IES) conducted by UPSC. It will have 263 all India posts.
- Multiplex chain operator PVR Pictures launched its theatre-on-demand service Vkaao as online platform that enables consumers to watch any movie of their choice at a theatre of their choice. Minimum requirement for a show to be confirmed would be 50 seats.
- National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi has been declared free from bird flu (H5N8 avian influenza) after consecutive samples collected at 15 days’ intervals from last positive results tested negative.
- National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog demanded review of provisions of Right To Education (RTE) Act that stipulate children who do not perform well cannot be held back up to 8th Class.
- RTE Act aims to provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years and stipulates that no child can be held back in a grade, regardless of his performance, all the way up to the 8th grade.
- National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) signed MoU with Rajasthan Government for takeover of 1,000 megawatt (MW) Chhabra Thermal Power Plant.
- North East Film Festival (NEFF) Held at National Film Archive of India (NFAI) in Pune (Maharashtra).
- Noted wax museum Madame Tussauds will open its first Branch in India In Delhi In June 2017. It will showcase Wax statue of Actor Amitabh Bachchan initially, along with several international figures.
- On 2016's Dec 31, CSIR - National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) added a Leap Second to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in order to synchronize clocks worldwide with Varying Speeds of Earth's rotation.
- Earth's rotation around its own axis is not regular, as sometimes it speeds up and sometimes it slows down, due to various factors including the moon’s gravitational Earth-braking forces that often results in ocean tides.
- Since 1972, 37 Leap Seconds have been added at intervals varying. from six months to seven years.
- Online travel portal MakeMyTrip launched India's first social luxury travel magazine - Luxury Travel Times.
- Oral cancer is identified as leading cancer type among Indian men with Over 2.60 lakh new oral cancer cases seen annually. Tobacco smokers are 27 times more likely to be afflicted than non-smokers.
- PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Nobel Prize Series Exhibition in Gandhinagar (Gujarat), first conclave of Nobel laureates held in India.
- Nine Nobel laureates are attending it and interact with students of Indian Universities.
- One of 9 Nobel laureates include India-born scientist Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan. He won 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on ribosome structure.
- Other eight Nobel laureates are - H C Harmut Michel, Harold Varmus, Richard J Roberts, David J Gross, Serge Haroche, Randy Schekman, W E Moerner and Ada Yonath.
- Postal department released a special stamp cover featuring Olympic medalists PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and gymnast Dipa Karmakar, titled Golden girls of India – Pride of Nation.
- Priya Entertainments pvt Ltd has set up an ecotourism project at Khairabera in Purulia District of West Bengal.
- Pune City Police launched Beat Marshall Monitoring Mobile App to map real-time locations of patrolling teams from police stations on experimental basis.
- Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU) in partnership with US-India Aviation Cooperation Programme will start its first Executive Development Programme.
- Russian Railways will assist Indian trains to travel at 200 Kmph Indian Railways, starting with a feasibility study aimed at upgrading train speeds on the 575 kilometre long Nagpur-Secunderabad route. Presently, Gatimaan Express (H Nizamuddin to Agra Cant) Is fastest Indian train with Top speed 160 KM / H.
- Solar power producer Azure Power commissioned 150 MW solar power project in Punjab, largest in North India.
- Special session of Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passed Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act 2017 to lift Supreme Court imposed ban on the traditional sport of Jallikattu. It will now replace ordinance promulgated in this regard by Governor a week earlier. This bill defines jallikattu as a traditional sport involving bulls.
- Steel minister Birender Singh inaugurated INR 1200 crores Universal Rail Mill at SAIL Bhilai Steel Plant. With this, SAIL commenced commercial production of world’s longest single rail of 130 meters from the new Universal Rail Mill (URM).
- Supreme Court asked Election Commission to implement Vote Verifier Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in electronic voting machines (EVMs) to ensure 100% transparency in elections.
- This is second time after 2014 general elections, that SC has directed Election Commission (EC) to implement of VVPAT in EVMs.
- VVPAT system ensures free and fair elections as when a voter presses button for a candidate of his choice, a paper ballot containing the serial number, name of the candidate and poll symbol will be printed for the voter.
- It allows voters to verify that their votes are casted correctly and detect possible election fraud or malfunction.
- Supreme Court described Endosulfan as highly toxic agrochemical (pesticide). It directed Kerala government to release 500 crore compensation to over 5,000 victims in State.
- SC in 2011 had banned use of endosulfan. Endosulfan is a toxic pesticide having hazardous effects on humans. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2011 added it in list of banned substances and phasing it out as an agrichemical. It is banned in over 80 nations due to its ‘high toxicity.
- Supreme Court removed BCCI President Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke after they failed to implement reforms recommended by Justice Lodha committee.
- Tamil Nadu government launched Pinakin mobile application to provide information of famous tourist destinations in state.
- Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran inaugurated Kohli Research Block at International Institute of Information Technology Gachibowli (Hyderabad), as part of Kohli Center on Intelligent Systems (KCIS).
- Telangana Government signed Agreement with French Aerocampus Aquitaine for creaing world class aero skills academy in Hyderabad.
- Telangana state government signed MoU with Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India (AAI) for Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
- Under RCS, air connectivity is be provided to smaller towns by developing small airports and airstrips. Warangal, Kothagudem and Adilabad airports in the states will be developed for better connectivity.
- Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated first Apparel and Garment Making Centre in Meghalaya, near Ampati.
- West Bengal Government will give legal protection to Hilsa Fish, to check its reducing population.
- World Bank sanctioned INR 1376 crores for complete upgradation and improvement of power system network in Tripura.
- World Economic Forum (WEF), NITI Aayog, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Cornell University will work to develop an India Innovation Index to provide impetus to states to drive innovative spirit. Based on WIPO’s GII (Global Innovation Index), India Innovation Index will be tailored to better reflect of India’s ground reality and include metrics well suited to Indian context for innovation.
Persons
- Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh visited Sri Lanka, looking to discuss about solutions to Fishermen Issues.
- Agriculture and Rural Development Minister of Israel, Uri Ariel visited India.
- American astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, last man to walk on Moon passed away. He landed on Moon in December 1972 during NASA’s Apollo 17 mission.
- Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal Visited India.
- He was chief of Guest of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017, annual global convention for the Indian diaspora held in Bangalore.
- MoUs - Defence, Renewable Energy, Marine Research and Resources, Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Information Technology and Electronics, Establishment of an ICCR Chair of Indian Studies in University of Lisbon.
- Boris Johnson, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of UK visited India.
- Carlos Alberto Fortes Mesquita, Transport Minister of Mozambique Visited India.
- Chinese Table Tennis Olympic champion Li Xiaoxia Announced Retirement.
- Emmy award winning USA actress Mary Tyler Moore passed away.
- Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani passed away.
- Former Pakistani Cricketer Imtiaz Ahmed passed away.
- Former President of Germany, Roman Herzog passed away.
- Former Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala passed away.
- H S Mahadev Prasad, Minister for Cooperation and Sugar In Karnataka Government has passed away.
- Israeli Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Uri Ariel Visited India.
- Japan's Minister of Economy Trade and Industry, Hiroshige Seko Vistted India.
- Japanese Minister of Economy Trade and Industry, Hiroshige Seko Visited India.
- Karnataka's Cooperation and Sugar Minister H S Mahadeva Prasad passed away.
- Mario Soares, Former Prime Minister of Portugal Passed Away.
- Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Radha Mohan Singh visited Sri Lanka.
- Nagaland's former Minister and former President of Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) K V Pusa passed away.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will send First African - American astronaut Jeanette Epps to International Space Station (ISS) in 2018.
- National Award Winner Filmmaker Deepak Roy passed awasy. He won National award for his movie “Limit to Freedom” in 1996.
- Noted American Actor Mary Tyler Moore passed away.
- Noted British Singer Peter Eardley Sarstedt passed away.
- Noted British actor John Hurt passed away.
- Noted British economist Tony Atkinson Passed Away. His research in income distribution influenced studies of poverty and inequality in India.
- Noted British war correspondent Clare Hollingworth passed away. He is named for breaking the news that Second World War had started.
- Noted Chinese linguist Zhou Youguang (father of Pinyin writing system - a system for the romanization of Mandarin Chinese) passed away at age of 111 years.
- Noted Congress Leader from Maharashtra, Eknathrao Vikhe-Patil passed away.
- Noted French actress Emmanuelle Riva passed away.
- Noted Indian Scientist CV Vishveshwara Passed Away. He was Indian pioneer in discovery of black hole.
- Noted Manipur-based historian and litterateur, Gangmumei Kamei passed away.
- Noted US Author William Peter Blatty passed away, best known for his novel “The Exorcist”.
- Noted Urdu poet and lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri passed away (born as Jaswant Rai Sharmaon).
- Noted actor Bengali Actress Gita Sen (Wife of Mrinal Sen) passed Away.
- Noted political and social activist Mangal Singh Negi passed away.
- Noted sociologist of Poland, Zygmunt Bauman passed away.
- Pakistan Returned Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan back to India, who had crossed over to Pak Occupied Kashmir from own Krishna in September 16.
- Ravindra Wijegunaratne, Chief of Sri Lankan Navy Visited India.
- Renowned sitar player Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan passed away.
- Russian Ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin passed away.
- USA First Lady Michelle Obama selected Indian-American Swetha Prabakaran to serve in inaugural Student Advisory Board’s ‘Better Make Room’ education campaign.
- Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya Visited India. MOU signed for Cooperation in agriculture and allied sector Agreements and India Offered Loan for US$100 million to Kenya for agricultural mechanization.
Science
- According to Food Standards Agency (FSA) of United Kingdom - chips, potatoes and bread cooked to brown can cause cancer.
- When the starchy foods are roasted, grilled or fried for too long at high temperatures (above 120 degree Celsius), it produces carcinogenic chemical Acrylamide. Acrylamide is toxic to DNA and causes cancer.
- According to recent study, mcr-1 gene that makes bacteria resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort was found in China. It was discovered in a wide variety of strains of Escherichia coli (E Coli). Colistin was recently banned for use in agriculture will soon be introduced in clinical use for first time.
- Astronomer Stephen Kane from San Francisco State University (USA) claimed that an exoplanet called Wolf 1061c could be habitable, stating that its faster orbit changes may cause its climate to be quite chaotic.
- Astronomers discovered two powerful phenomena in universe - a supermassive black hole and collision of giant galaxy clusters about 2 billion light years from Earth. It was discovered combining data from India’s Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes.
- Atomic clocks on first satellite IRNSS-1A of the NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation (India's indigenously built satellite-based positioning system)) has developed a technical issue with all 3 of its atomic clocks failing .
- ISRO will soon launch one of its back up navigation satellites as a replacement to IRNSS-1A satellite.
- Remaining satellites of NavIC constellation (having total 7 satellites) are performing accurately.
- Austrian Physicists created new form of Hydrogen - negatively charged hydrogen clusters, previously unseen form of hydrogen.
- Engineers from Stanford University have built a low-cost human-powered blood centrifuge that can separate blood into its individual components in only 1.5 minutes. It can spin at speeds of 1,25,000 revolutions per minute and exert centrifugal forces of 30,000 Gs. It is claimed to be fastest spinning object driven by human power.
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully maneuvered orbit planes of Mars orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan to enhance the capacity of battery and enhance battery life.
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully tested indigenously developed cryogenic engine (C25) for upper stage ‘GSLV Mk III’ rocket. It was first test in series of two tests. First was for 50 seconds and second planned test will be for 640 seconds.
- Cryogenic engines are used in the upper stage of a rocket launch as they provide the maximum thrust to a launcher vehicle. It uses Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen propellant combination and can carry heavy payloads to orbits.
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch record 103 satellites in a single flight in February 2017, most attempted ever by any country. These satellites will be launched using PSLV-C37 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Of 103 satellites, 100 are micro satellites from foreign nations.
- Earlier, ISRO had planned a launch of 83 satellites in January 2017, But launch was delayed and 20 more foreign satellites were added.
- Indian Space Start-up TeamIndus proposed an opportunity to its donors to leave their name on moon, on paying Rs 500. Names of donors will be micro-engraved on a small-sized aluminium object and placed on the lunar surface which will land on moon on 26 January 2018.
- India’s first dedicated space observatory, ASTROSAT has captured rare phenomenon of a small six-billion-year-old vampire star preying on a bigger star.
- Vampire star phenomenon is observed when smaller star sucks mass and energy out of the bigger companion star, causing its eventual death.
- Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) commissioned a very high resolution (12 km) global deterministic weather prediction model for generating operational weather forecasts, replacing earlier version of horizontal resolution of 25 km. MoES’s operational Ensemble Prediction System (EPS) is upgraded to 12 km by High Performance Computing (HPC) augmented to 10 Peta Flops (PFs) from current 1.2 PFs.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) approved mission to explore 16 Psyche, an iron-rich asteroid. Mission craft will be launched in 2023, and will arrive at Psyche in 2030.
- Outdoor trials of genetically modified mosquitoes launched in Jalna district of Maharashtra by British Biotech Firm Oxitec, to demonstrate efficiency of this technique to suppress wild female mosquito populations that transmit dengue, chikungunya and Zika. It uses Release of Insects carrying Dominant Lethal genes (RIDL) technology.
- Researchers Scripps Research Institute (USA) created world’s first stable semi-synthetic organism, a single-celled bacterium with an expanded genetic code.
- Semi-synthetic organism is modified E-coli bacteria created by introducing DNA molecules that are not found in nature in a common bacterium.
- Life’s natural genetic code only contains four natural bases- adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), thymine (T). These bases pair forms two base pairs in the DNA ladder. The newly created bacterium has two human-created X and Y bases that grow and divide, much like natural bases.
- Researchers from Midwestern University (USA) identified function of the human appendix, often considered of little use.
- Human appendix has evolved over 30 times throughout mammalian evolution.
- It was found that species with appendix have higher concentrations of immune (lymphoid) tissue in cecum (part of large intestines), suggesting that appendix could serve as a secondary immune organ.
- Appendix might also function as a safe house for helpful gut bacteria as lymphatic tissue can stimulate growth of beneficial gut bacteria.
- Researchers from USA's Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed 3D version of graphene, one of strongest materials. So far Graphene was not able for practical use because of its extreme thinness. 3D version of Graphene is only 5% as dense as steel but is 10 times stronger.
- Researchers from University of Central Florida (USA) have developed a new method for Faster Diagnosis of HIV, Lyme disease, syphilis and rotavirus infections, by combining nanoscience with a magnetic phenomenon.
- Scientists at University of Manchester (UK) have developed world’s lightest (40 Grams) high-performance mechanical watch RM 50-03, using graphene. Ultralight watch was made using unique grapheme composite known as Graph TPT.
- Scientists discovered a new species of gibbon named as ‘Skywalker hoolock gibbon’ living in south-west China’s rainforests.
- Scientists from Botanical Survey of India (BSI) discovered a new species of Zingiber (ginger) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The new species has been named as Zingiber pseudosquarrosum and belongs to genus Zingiber.
- Scientists from Tohoku University (Japan) claimed that Silicon (Si) is missing element in Earth’s core, paving way for better understanding of how our world formed. Silicon likely makes up a significant proportion (5%) of Earth’s core after its major constituents iron and nickel.
- Scientists from University of Limerick (Ireland) claimed to discover a new human digestive system organ (79th Human Organ) - Mesentery. Mesentery connects intestine to the abdomen and was previously thought to consist of fragmented and disparate structures.
- Scientists spotted a new dark, contorted sunspot that is twice diameter of Earth, using Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) antennas located in Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
Sports
- 13 time gymnastics world champion Russian rhythmic gymnast Yana Kudryavtseva announced retirement.
- 13th National Ice Skating Championship 2017 held in Gurugram (Haryana).
- 14th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon Held. Olympic and world 800m champion and world record holder, David Rudisha (Kenya) is Ambassador for 14th Mumbai Marathon.
- Men's - Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu (Time - 02:09:32)
- Women's - Kenya’s Bornes Kitur (Time 02:29:02)
- Indian Men's - Kheta Ram (Time 2:19:51)
- Indian women's - Jyoti Gawte (Time 02:50:53)
- 2017 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Badminton -
- Women’s singles - Saina Nehwal (India) won by defeating Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand).
- Men’s Singles - Ng Ka Long (Hong Kong)
- Men’s Doubles - Berry Angriawan and Hardianto (Indonesia).
- Women’s Doubles - Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai (Thailand).
- Mixed Doubles - Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing (Malaysia).
- 2017 T20 Blind Cricket World Cup will be held in India During Jan - Feb 2017.
- All India Football Federation (AIFF) launched first-ever Indian Women’s League (IWL) to be held at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi In January - February 2017, with 6 Teams Participating.
- Australian Cricketers David Boon, Matthew Hayden and late Betty Wilson Inducted into Australian Cricket's Hall of Fame.
- Australian Open Tennis 2017 -
- Men's Singles - Roger Federer (Switzerland), by defeating Rafael Nadal (Spain)
- Women's Singles - Serena Williams (United States), by defeating Venus Williams (USA)
- Men's Doubles - Henri Kontinen (Finland) and John Peers (Australia)
- Women's Doubles - Bethanie Mattek - Sands (United States) / Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic)
- Mixed Doubles - Abigail Spears (United States) / Juan Sebastián Cabal (Colombia)
- Brisbane International Tennis 2017 -
- Men's Singles - Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
- Women's Singles - KarolÃna PlÃÅ¡ková (Czech Republic)
- Men's Doubles - Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jordan Thompson (Australia)
- Women's Doubles - Bethanie Mattek-Sands (United States) and Sania Mirza (India)
- Britain became first country to officially recognise Parkour as a sport. Parkour (also known as freerunning sport) is similar to military obstacle training.
- British snooker Player Ronnie O’Sullivan won Dafabet Masters title by defeating Joe Perry.
- Chennai Open Tennis 2017 (Sponsered by Aircel) -
- Men's singles - Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain)
- Men's doubles - Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Neduncheziyan (India)
- Chennai Smashers won 2017 Vodafone Premier Badminton League (PBL) tournament by defeating Mumbai Rockets.
- Chinese e-commerce Firm Alibaba became major sponsor of Olympic Games after signing a deal with International Olympic Committee (IOC) that runs until 2028, Including South Korea’s Pyeongchang hosting 2018 winter edition, Japan hosting 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo and China hosting 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing.
- Dragon Ball Z Son Goku has been selected as ambassador of the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo (Japan).
- Eden Gardens Cricket stadium at Kolkata will become first Indian stadium to have stands named after war heroes. Indian army, who is owner of land on which stadium is located, will finalize names before next International match.
- Eight year old Abbu Ammaz from J&K won Gold Medal in Thai Boxing Championship at National level.
- FIFA Council agreed to expand FIFA World Cup to a 48-team competition from 2026 Onwards.
- Farrukh Amonatov of Tajikistan won 15th Delhi International Chess tournament.
- Former Australian cricketer Arthur Morris posthumously inducted into International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame.
- Government constituted 8 member Task Force for preparing action plan for next three Olympic Games 2020, 2024 and 2028. Members are - Pulella Gopichand, Abhinav Bindra, Rajesh Kalra, Om Pathak, Viren Rasquinha, S. Baldev Singh, Prof. G.L. Khanna and Sandeep Pradhan.
- Gujarat won its First Ranji Trophy title by defeating Mumbai in final held at in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
- India won 2016 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Football Championship title by defeating Bangladesh.
- India's Kush Bhagat won 3 gold medals in 1st Western Asia Youth Chess Championships in United Arab Emirates (UAE) in all three categories - rapid, blitz and standard.
- Indian Women Boxers won 6 Medals at 5th AIBA Nations cup in Ruma(Serbia), led by serbia with 22 medals.
- Indian squash player Velavan Senthilkumar won Under-19 British Junior Open Squash 2017 by defeating India's Abhay Singh. Another Indian squash player, Shreyas Mehta won 2017 Scottish Junior Open Squash championship.
- India’s First Fanatic Sports Museum opened in Kolkata, Displaying Memorables from cricket, hockey, football, Olympics and Paralympics.
- International Olympic Committee (IOC) disqualified 3 Chinese women’s weightlifting gold medallists at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for doping - Cao Lei, Chen Xiexia and Liu Chunhong.
- Kapil Dev inducted into Legends Club ‘Hall of Fame’ at Cricket Club of India in Mumbai.
- Lalchungnunga, Indian Footballer from Mizoram has been chosen to train at Germany’s top football league Bundesliga for 6 years.
- Laxmipathy Balaji has been made bowling coach of IPL Cricket Team Kolkata Knight Riders. While, Virender Sehwag has been appointed as Brand Ambassador of Kings XI Punjab.
- Mahindra Singh Dhoni announced to step down as captain of India’s limited over cricket matches - T-20 and ODI format.
- Ministry of Urban Development launched Swachh Survekshan 2017 to rank 500 cities/towns across on cleanliness with a population of 1 lakh and above. Survey will be conducted by Quality Council of India (QCI).
- Swachh Survekshan 2016 had ranked 73 cities and Mysore was ranked on top followed by Chandigarh.
- Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports launched Khelo India National Competitions at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Pool Complex in New Delhi, to promote sports at grass-root level.
- Nurturing Excellence in Sports Trust (NEST) launched Khelegi toh Khilegi initiative for Promoting football among girls between age of 10 to 15 years along with National Yuva Cooperative Society.
- Pankaj Advani won 3rd Kolkata Open National Invitation Snooker Championship 2017.
- Pankaj Advani won His 7th National Billiards Championship by defeating Rupesh Shah in Pune (Maharashtra).
- Philipino - American Grandmaster Wesley So won 2017 Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Philippines, defeating Ian Nepomniatchi of Russia.
- Punjab Royals won Pro Wrestling League 2017 by defeating Haryana Hammers.
- Qatar Open tennis 2017 -
- Men's Singles - Novak Djokovic (Serbia) defeated Andy Murray (Britain)
- Men's Doubles - Spanish Pair Feliciano López and Marc López defeated Philipp Petzschner (Germany) and Alexander Peya (Austria).
- Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) became first state cricket governing body in India to accept all reforms recommended by Lodha Committee on structural reforms in BCCI.
- Russian 19 Year Old rhythmic gymnast Yana Kudryavtseva retired from competition . She had already won 13 world championships from 2013 to 2015.
- Sarita Devi became first female professional boxer from India, after She signed 2 year deal with Sporty Boxing Private Limited, licensing body for professional boxers in India.
- Sergey Karjakin (Russia) won Gold medal in World Blitz Chess Championships held in Doha (Qatar), defeating Norway’s Magnus Carlsen.
- Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal won 2016 Mubadala World Tennis Championship by defeating David Goffin (Belgium).
- Syed Modi Grand Prix Badminton 2017 (Hosted in India at Lucknow (UP)) -
- Women’s singles - PV Sindhu (India), by defeating Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska
- Men’s Singles - Sameer Verma (India) by defeating B Sai Praneeth (India)
- Mixed Doubles - Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy
- Women’s Doubles - Kamilla Ryter Juhl and Christina Pedersen from Denmark
- Usain Bolt has been stripped of one of his nine Olympic gold medals because of a doping offence committed by his teammate Nesta Carter during 4*100 m relay gold Race he won at Beijing 2008 Olympics.
- Virat Kohli became fastest Cricket captain to score 1000 runs, achieving this in 17 innings as captain. He took over previous record of South Africa’s AB de Villiers(18 innings).
- Assam Banwarilal Purohit has been Given additional charge of Meghalaya.
- Nagaland Governor PB Acharya has been given additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh.
- Birender Singh Yadav - Burkina Faso
- Ashok Warrier - Congo
- Ajit Vardaraj - Chairman of Federal Communications Commission
- Seema Verma - Head of medicare and medicaid
- Preet Bharara - US attorney for southern District of New York
- Uttam Dhillon - Special Assistant to President on ethics and compliance matters
- Best Actor: Aamir Khan (Dangal).
- Best Actress: Alia Bhatt (Udta Punjab).
- Best Film: Dangal.
- Best Director: Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal).
- Lifetime Achievement: Shatrughan Sinha.
- Best Debut Director: Ashwini Iyer Tiwari (Nil Battey Sannata).
- Best Supporting Actor: Rishi Kapoor (Kapoor & Sons).
- Best Supporting Actress: Shabana Azmi (Neerja).
- Best Male Debut: Diljit Dosanjh (Udta Punjab).
- Best Female Debut: Ritika Singh (Saala Khadoos).
- Best Singer (male): Arijit Singh (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil).
- Best Singer (female): Neha Bhasin (Sultan).
- Best Music Director: Pritam (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil).
- Best Lyricist: Amitabh Bhattacharya (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil).
- New Category - Film Fare Short Film Awards - Film Chutney won 2 awards - Best Actress (Tisca Chopra) and Best Film (Fiction).
- La La Land won in 7 categories.
- Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award - Meryl Streep
- Best Motion Picture Drama - Moonlight.
- Best Motion Picture Musical/Comedy - La La Land.
- Best Director in Motion Picture -Drama - Damien Chazelle for La La Land.
- Best Actor in Motion Picture - Drama - Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea.
- Best Actress in Motion Picture -Drama - Isabelle Huppert for Elle.
- Best Actor in Motion Picture or Musical or Comedy - Ryan Gosling for La La Land.
- Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy - Emma Stone for La La Land.
- Best Actor in a Supporting role in Motion Picture - Aaron Taylor-Johnson for Nocturnal Animals.
- Best Actress in a Supporting role in Motion Picture - Viola Davis for Fences.
- Best Original Song: “City of Stars” (Justin Hurwitz, Pasek & Paul) for the La La Land.
- Best FIFA Male Player player - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
- Best FIFA Female Player - Carli Lloydll (USA).
- Best FIFA Men’s Coach - Claudio Ranieri (Italy).
- Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Silvia Neid (Germany).
- Golden Peacock Awards were founded by the Institute of Directors in 1991, as benchmark of corporate excellence.
- Shram Bhushan - 4
- Shram Vir/Shram Veerangana - 12
- Shree/Shram Devi - 16
- Award Track
- Agri, Food, & Forestry Products – Wow Momo Foods Private Ltd
- Chemicals, Pharma, Bio and other processed material – Saral Design Solutions Private Limited
- E-commerce, Logistics, Transport & other Services – JETSETGO Aviation Services
- Engineering Services – Swadha Energies
- IT &ITES, Financial – Lucideus Tech
- SC/ST – JeevAnksh Eco Products Private Limited
- Women – S V Engineering and Consultancy Services
- Recognition Track
- Education institute – RSETI, Karnataka
- Incubator – TREC-STEP Tiruchirappalli Regional Engineering College- Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park
- Mentor (Government Sector) – Harkesh Kumar Mital
- Mentor (Private Sector) – Mr. Pradeep Gupta (CyberMedia Group)
- Award Track
- Crafoord Prize is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord. It is administered by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS).
- 89 persons Honored in Padma Awards 2017 - 7 Padma Vibhushan, 7 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of awardees are women.
- Padma Vibhushan (7) -
- K J Yesudas
- Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
- Sharad Pawar
- Murli Manohar Joshi
- Prof. Udipi Ramachandra Rao
- Sunder Lal Patwa (Posthumous)
- Late PA Sangma (Posthumous) - Former Lok Sabha Speaker and Chief Minister of Meghalaya.
- Padma Bhushan (14)
- Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
- Prof. (Dr.) Devi Prasad Dwivedi
- Tehemton Udwadia
- Ratna Sundar Maharaj
- Swami Niranjana Nanda Saraswati
- H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (Foreigner)
- Late Cho Ramaswamy (Posthumous)
- Padma Shri (75) -
- Smt. Basanti Bisht
- Chemanchery Kunhiraman Nair
- Smt. Aruna Mohanty
- Smt. Bharathi Vishnuvardhan
- Sadhu Meher
- T K Murthy
- Laishram Birendrakumar Singh
- Krishna Ram Chaudhary
- Smt. Baoa Devi
- Tilak Gitai
- Dr. Prof. Aekka Yadagiri Rao
- Jitendra Haripal
- Kailash Kher
- Smt. Parassala B Ponnammal
- Smt. Sukri Bommagowda
- Mukund Nayak
- Purushottam Upadhyay
- Smt. Anuradha Paudwal
- Wareppa Naba Nil
- Tripuraneni Hanuman Chowdary
- T.K. Viswanathan
- Kanwal Sibal
- Birkha Bahadur Limboo Muringla
- Smt. Eli Ahmed
- Dr. Narendra Kohli
- Prof. G. Venkatasubbiah
- Akkitham Achyuthan Namboothiri
- Kashi Nath Pandita
- Chamu Krishna Shastry
- Harihar Kripalu Tripathi
- Michel Danino
- Punam Suri
- VG Patel
- Smt. V Koteswaramma
- Balbir Dutt
- Smt. Bhawana Somaaya
- Vishnu Pandya
- Dr. Subroto Das
- Dr. (Smt.) Bhakti Yadav
- Dr. Mohammed Abdul Waheed
- Dr. Madan Madhav Godbole
- Dr. Devendra Dayabhai Patel
- Prof. Harkishan Singh
- Dr. Mukut Minz
- Arun Kumar Sharma
- Sanjeev Kapoor
- Smt. Meenakshi Amma
- Genabhai Dargabhai Patel
- Chandrakant Pithawa
- Prof. Ajoy Kumar Ray
- Jitendra Nath Goswami
- Chintakindi Mallesham
- Daripalli Ramaiah
- Girish Bhardwaj
- Karimul Hak
- Bipin Ganatra
- Smt. Nivedita Raghunath Bhide
- Appasaheb Dharmadhikari
- Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal
- Virat Kohli - Cricket
- Shekar Naik -Cricket
- Vikasa Gowda - Discus Throw
- Smt. Deepa Malik - Athletics
- Mariyappan Thangavelu- Athletics
- Smt. Dipa Karmakar- Athletics
- P R Shreejesh- Athletics
- Smt. Sakshi Malik- Athletics
- Mohan Reddy Venkatrama Bodanapu
- Imrat Khan
- Anant Agarwal
- H.R. Shah
- Suniti Solomon (Posthumous)
- Asoke Kumar Bhattacharyya (Posthumous)
- Dr. Mapuskar (Posthumous)
- Anuradha Koirala
- Padma Vibhushan (7) -
- 89 persons Honored in Padma Awards 2017 - 7 Padma Vibhushan, 7 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of awardees are women.
- Best Marching Contingent Among Services - Indian Army’s Madras Engineer Group.
- Best Marching Contingent Among paramilitary forces - Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
- Tableau representing states - Arunachal Pradesh (depicted Yak dance).
- Tableau representing Ministries /Departments - Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship that depicted theme Transforming India through Skill Development.
- Special Jury Award - Tableau by Central Public Works Department (CPWD) that depicted Green India-Clean India.
- Levying a handling charge for cash payments above Rs. 50,000.
- Tax breaks must be provided to consumers and merchants using digital modes of payments.
- Abolition of merchant discount rate (MDR).
- On 28th January 1894, 140 innocent farmers were massacred and 150 others injured by then colonial British rulers when they rose in protest against the oppressive increase in land revenue.
- Minister of Women & Child Development, Maneka Gandhi released National Action Plan for Children (NPAC) 2016 on this occasion.
- Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi - Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is Chief Guest on this occasion. A contingent of UAE soldiers also marched down the Rajpath. Burj Khalifa tower, the world’s tallest building located in Dubai, was lit up in colors of Tricolor (Indian Flag).
- India and UAE MOUs -Mutual Recognition of Certificates of Competency, co-operation in Road Transport and Highways sector and Small and Medium Enterprises and Innovation, Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Maritime Transport, Defence, prevention and combating of human trafficking etc.
- Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&C) developed by DRDO flied past for first time.
- For first time, contingent of National Security Guard (popularly known as Black Cat Commandos) took part in parade.
- National festival - Bharat Parv showcasing India’s diverse culture, cuisines, handicrafts and catch glimpses of a progressive India began in New Delhi.
- Gallantary Awards 2016 -
- Total 398 Gallantry and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel announced - including 1 Ashok Chakra, 2 Kirti Chakras, 12 Shaurya Chakras.
- Ashok Chakra (country’s highest peacetime military decoration) - Havaldar Hangpan Dada (Rashtriya Rifles).
- Kirti Chakra - Prem Bahadur Resmi Magar and Rohit Suri
- Shaurya Chakra - Atul Gupta, D Vinay Reddy, Ashik MB, Hanuman Ram Sharan, Gawade Pandurang Mahadev, Rajat Chandra, Deepak Kumar Upadhyay, Ashutosh Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Abdul Qayum, Ashu Singh, Sanjewan Singh.
- Jeevan Raksha Padak Awards 2016 given to 36 persons, including Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak - 05, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak - 08 and Jeevan Raksha Padak - 23 persons.
- Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi - Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is Chief Guest on this occasion. A contingent of UAE soldiers also marched down the Rajpath. Burj Khalifa tower, the world’s tallest building located in Dubai, was lit up in colors of Tricolor (Indian Flag).
- First of series was INS Kalvari, which will be commissioned shortly.
- Per capita net national income in 2016-17 is estimated to be Rs. 1,03,007, rise of 10.4% as compared to Rs. 93,293 during 2015-16.
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing - likely to grow at 4.1% during 2016-17, as against previous year’s growth rate of 1.2%.
- Manufacturing sector - It is estimated to grow by 7.4% in 2016-17 as compared to growth of 9.3% in 2015-16.
- ICICI Bank was first to announce block chain solutions in for international trade finance and remittances in October 2016, followed up by Yes Bank in January 2017 (In Association with Bajaj Eletricals) and now Axis Bank.
- Caratage for 22 carat jewellery 22K will be marked as 22K916, 18 carat be marked as 18K750 and 14 carat will be marked as 14K585.
- Hallmark on gold jewellery will now have four marks - BIS Mark, purity in carat and fineness, assaying centre’s identification mark and jeweller’s identification mark.
- GAAR was announced as part of the 2012-13 Budget speech. But its implementation was repeatedly postponed because opposition by foreign investors.
- Survey is prepared by chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian.
- Growth Forecast - Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2016-17 pegged at 7.1%, down from 7.6% in 2015-16. It will stay between 6.75 % to 7.5% in 2017-18.
- Sectoral Growth - Agriculture sector to grow at 4.1% in 2016-17, up from 1.2% in 2015-16. Industrial sector Growth came down to 5.2% in 2016-17, compared to 7.4% in 2015-16. Service sector has grown at 8.9% in 2016-17 (same as 2015-16).
- Taxation - Cut in individual Income Tax rates and real estate stamp duties are prescribed. Time table for cutting corporate tax should be accelerated.
- Inflation : Consumer Price Index (CPI) based Inflation declined to 4.9 % in 2015-16 from 5.9 % in 2014-15 and stood at 4.8 % during April-December 2016.
- Trade - Exports grew 0.7 % to US$ 198.8 billion and During 2016-17 (April-December) imports declined by 7.4 % to US$ 275.4 billion. Trade deficit (Imports - Exports) declined to US$ 76.5 billion in 2016-17 (April-December) as compared to US$ 100.1 billion in corresponding period last year. Current account deficit (CAD) narrowed in the first half (H1) of 2016-17 to 0.3 % of GDP from 1.5 % in H1 of 2015-16 and 1.1 % in 2015-16 full year.
- External Debt stood at US$ 484.3 billion at end of Dec 2016.
- Government Debt to GDP ratio: It was 68.5% in 2016, down from 69.1% in 2015.
- Banking: Suggests setting up public sector asset rehabilitation agency (PSARA) to take charge of large bad loans in banks.
- Universal Basic Income (UBI): It is preferred as an alternative to various social welfare schemes in an effort to reduce poverty. UBI would cost between 4 and 5% of GDP.
- Rabi crops have been sown in around six crore 16 lakh hectares till date which is about 35 lakh hectares more than last year.
- Applications will be received under M-SIPS scheme till December 2018 or till such time that an incentive commitment of Rs 10,000 crore is reached, whichever is earlier. On Reaching 10000 crores, review will be held to decide further financial commitments.
- Arunachal Pradesh will be given loans to the tune of 100 % of NSSF collections within its territory, while Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh will be provided with 50 percent of collections.
- Corpus of Trust increased from 2500 crore to 7500 crores.
- Increase coverage of the loans covered under the credit guarantee scheme from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2 crore.
- Increase coverage of credit guarantee scheme for loans extended to MSEs by NBFCs also.
- Meant to provide social security during old to and protect elderly persons aged 60 years and above.
- It will provide an assured pension based on a guaranteed rate of return of 8% per annum for 10 years, with an option to opt for pension on a monthly / quarterly / halfyearly and annual basis.
- Earlier in November 2016, City Union Bank introduced India’s first banking robot named Lakshmi.
- EPFO will not transfer subsidy (1.16% of the employee’s salary upto Rs.6,500) towards Employment Pension Scheme (EPS) till Aadhaar number provided.
- New rules will ensure that all classes of shareholders get an equitable treatment during mergers and acquisitions. Holding of public shareholders post the merger cannot be less than 25%.
- e-voting will be mandatory in cases wherein the stake of public shareholders reduces by more than 5% in the merged entity.
- Global growth is forecast at 3.4% in FY17 against 3.1% in FY16.
- For China, the growth forecast for FY 2017 was revised upwards, to 6.5%. In 2018, China’s growth rate is projected to be 6% against India’s 7.7%.
- India ranked low at 78th position with visa-free score of 46.
- Top 2 - Germany (1st), Singapore (2nd).
- Afghanistan’s is least powerful passport. China and Pakistan were ranked 58th and 94th respectively.
- India has been ranked 79th out of 176 countries. India Shares 79th Position (Score - 40) with China, Brazil and Belarus.
- Top 5 - Denmark and New Zealand (1st, Score -90), Finland (3), Sweden (4), Switzerland (5)
- Bottom 5 - Somalia (179th), South Sudan (178th), North Korea (177th), Syria (176th), Yemen (175th)
- BRICS - Brazil (79), Russia (131), China (79), South Africa (64)
- Neighbours - Pakistan (116), Nepal (131), Sri Lanka (95), Bangladesh (145)
- Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 to fight global warming by reducing GHGs emission and came into effect in 2005. 1st commitment period under Kyoto Protocol was from 2008-2012 and 2nd commitment period for 2013- 2020 was adopted in 2012 by Doha Amendment of Kyoto Protocol.
- Protocol is based on principle of Equity and Common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR). It places obligations on developed nations to undertake mitigation targets to reduce emissions by 5.2% of 1990 levels during 2008-2012 period).
- With Portugal and Kenya for cooperation in Agriculture and allied sectors.
- With Uruguay for Cooperation in Customs Matters.
- With USA for cooperation in field of cyber Security (India-CERT and USA-CERT).
- India ranked 60th among 79 developing countries.
- Top 5 developing economies - Lithuania (1st), Azerbaijan (2nd), Hungary (3rd), Poland (4th), Romania (5th).
- Top 5 advance economies - Norway (1st), Luxembourg (2nd), Switzerland (3th), Iceland (4th) and Denmark (5th)
- BRICS - Russia (13th), China (30th) and Brazil (30th), South Africa (70).
- Neighbours - China (15th), Nepal (27th), Bangladesh (36th) and Pakistan (52nd).
- Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism permits companies to drag governments to international arbitration without exhausting the local remedies and It also allows them to claim huge amounts as compensation citing losses due to reasons including policy changes and Others.
- India held that only after all local options have been exhausted for settling disputes between a corporate and a government, then the issues can be taken up in international arbitration tribunals.
- Agreement also signed for equipping Axiom Research Lab’s lunar rover with two latest-generation CASPEX micro-cameras, developed by CNES in partnership with French firm 3DPlus.
- Axiom Research Lab is leading Indian NewSpace start-up put forward TeamIndus, the only Indian team competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE.
- XPRIZE is global competition organised by Google for engineers and entrepreneurs to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration. It will award $20 million to the first private company that successfully lands a module on the Moon, places a robot that explores at least 500 metres and transmits HD videos and images back to Earth.
- Agreement also signed for equipping Axiom Research Lab’s lunar rover with two latest-generation CASPEX micro-cameras, developed by CNES in partnership with French firm 3DPlus.
- Solar towers use different method conventional photovoltaic solar panels, which convert sunlight directly into electricity. Instead, solar towers use a solar-thermal method in which thousands of mirrors focus the sun’s rays onto the tower, heating a boiler that creates steam to spin a turbine and generate electricity.
- Ashalim project will be Israel’s largest renewable energy project after completion by 2018. It will generate some 310 MW of power.
- Bengaluru (Karnataka) is named most dynamic city in the world.
- 10 cities - Bengaluru (India), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Silicon Valley (US), Shanghai (China), Hyderabad (India), London (UK), Austin (US), Hanoi (Vietnam), Boston (US) and Nairobi (Kenya).
- With Serbia for cooperation in Information Technology and Electronics.
- With Russia for cooperation in Youth matters.
- With Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for cooperation in outer space exploration.
- With Vietnam for cooperation In cyber security.
- MSME Cooperation with 21 Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member Countries.
- Lucy - It has been named for a critical hominin fossil set found in Ethiopia in 1974. It will be launched in 2021 and involves sending a robotic spacecraft to study Jupiter’s so-called Trojan asteroids.
- Psyche - It will explore a huge, one-of-a-kind metal asteroid 16 Psyche. It will be launched in 2023. Most asteroids are rocky or icy but 16 Psyche is thought to be mostly of iron and nickel, like Earth’s core.
- Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was officially launched at World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos after it received $460-million to develop vaccines against 3 emerging highly-contagious and fatal diseases.
- CbC MCAA is a tax co-operation agreement to enable automatic sharing of country-by-country information. This exchange of information is facilitated as part of Action 13 of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) Action Plan adopted by OECD and G20 countries in 2013.
- India ranked 92nd among 118 countries in List.
- Top 5 Countries - Switzerland (1st), Singapore (2nd), United Kingdom (3rd), United States (4th), Sweden (5th).
- BRICS - China (54th), Russia (56th), South Africa (67th) and Brazil (81st).
- Neighbours - Pakistan (111), Bangladesh (113), Sri Lanka (82).
- Bottom 5 Nations - Tanzania (114), Mozambique (115), Zimbabwe (116), Burkina Faso (117), Madagascar (118)
- TPP was set up by Previous USA Prez Barack Obama, aimed to bind US allies against growing Chinese economic impact by easing flow of goods, services and investments among member countries.
- Trump also singed first executive order which targets Obamacare (Obama's Health Reforms act).
- He also suspended US Refugee Admissions Programme for 120 days and indefinitely barred entry of refugees from Syria.
- Admission of Refugees in 2017 is cut to 50000, less than previously planned figure of 110000.
- Longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after loosing December 2016 presidential elections. It has deepened political crisis in Gambia.
- Central Government established Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) in December 2010 with Finance Minister as Chairman. Idea to create FSDC was first mooted by the Raghuram Rajan Committee on Financial Sector Reforms in 2008.
- Theme of this edition is “Redefining Engagement with the Indian Diaspora”.
- Portugal Prime Minister, Dr. Antonio Costa is chief guest in PBD 2017. Total 30 People awarded in Pravasi Bharatiya Awards 2017.
- PM Narendra Modi launched Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PKVY), a skill development program targeted at Indian youth seeking overseas employment to make India the Skill Capital of the World.
- Report found that enrolment rate of students in the age group 6 to 14 in Himachal Pradesh was 99.8%. It secured first rank in achieving learning outcomes in basic reading and mathematics across the country, Followed by Kerala.
- Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2016) released by NGO Pratham. ASER is largest annual household survey in rural India that focuses on the status of children's schooling and basic learning
- Number of jobless in India will increase from 1.7 croee in 2016 to 1.8 crore in 2018. Note that country’s unemployment rate is expected to go down from 3.5% to 3.4% in 2017.
- Supreme Court imposed ban on Jallikattu in May 2014. The apex court had banned use of bull as performing animals including traditional events like Jallikattu, bullock-cart races.
- As per a notification, GRAP can be implemented if the air pollution stays above the emergency level for 48-hours. In such cases, the odd-even scheme may be enforced and construction work can be halted in the national capital.
- India already has filled Vizag storage site in Andhra Pradesh with 7.55 million barrels of Iraqi oil.
- Another 18.3 million-barrel facility at Padur in Karnataka is awaiting Bids.
- Since 2012, PM’s Council on Climate Change India has instituted a NAPCC with eight missions - National Water Mission, Green India Mission, National Solar Mission, National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem, National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.
- United Kingdom - Pune (Maharashtra), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) and Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
- United States - Visakhapatnam, Ajmer and Allahabad
- France - Chandigarh, Puducherry and Nagpur
- Germany - Bhubaneswar, Coimbattore and Kochi.
- Karnataka state government is following model of Tamil Nadu government to allow Kambala and Cart racing in state. TN Government has already amanded the concerned act few days ago, to allow Bull-Taming sport Jallikattu in State.
- RTE Act aims to provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years and stipulates that no child can be held back in a grade, regardless of his performance, all the way up to the 8th grade.
- Earth's rotation around its own axis is not regular, as sometimes it speeds up and sometimes it slows down, due to various factors including the moon’s gravitational Earth-braking forces that often results in ocean tides.
- Since 1972, 37 Leap Seconds have been added at intervals varying. from six months to seven years.
- Nine Nobel laureates are attending it and interact with students of Indian Universities.
- One of 9 Nobel laureates include India-born scientist Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan. He won 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on ribosome structure.
- Other eight Nobel laureates are - H C Harmut Michel, Harold Varmus, Richard J Roberts, David J Gross, Serge Haroche, Randy Schekman, W E Moerner and Ada Yonath.
- This is second time after 2014 general elections, that SC has directed Election Commission (EC) to implement of VVPAT in EVMs.
- VVPAT system ensures free and fair elections as when a voter presses button for a candidate of his choice, a paper ballot containing the serial number, name of the candidate and poll symbol will be printed for the voter.
- It allows voters to verify that their votes are casted correctly and detect possible election fraud or malfunction.
- SC in 2011 had banned use of endosulfan. Endosulfan is a toxic pesticide having hazardous effects on humans. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2011 added it in list of banned substances and phasing it out as an agrichemical. It is banned in over 80 nations due to its ‘high toxicity.
- Under RCS, air connectivity is be provided to smaller towns by developing small airports and airstrips. Warangal, Kothagudem and Adilabad airports in the states will be developed for better connectivity.
- He was chief of Guest of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017, annual global convention for the Indian diaspora held in Bangalore.
- MoUs - Defence, Renewable Energy, Marine Research and Resources, Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Information Technology and Electronics, Establishment of an ICCR Chair of Indian Studies in University of Lisbon.
- When the starchy foods are roasted, grilled or fried for too long at high temperatures (above 120 degree Celsius), it produces carcinogenic chemical Acrylamide. Acrylamide is toxic to DNA and causes cancer.
- ISRO will soon launch one of its back up navigation satellites as a replacement to IRNSS-1A satellite.
- Remaining satellites of NavIC constellation (having total 7 satellites) are performing accurately.
- Cryogenic engines are used in the upper stage of a rocket launch as they provide the maximum thrust to a launcher vehicle. It uses Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen propellant combination and can carry heavy payloads to orbits.
- Earlier, ISRO had planned a launch of 83 satellites in January 2017, But launch was delayed and 20 more foreign satellites were added.
- Vampire star phenomenon is observed when smaller star sucks mass and energy out of the bigger companion star, causing its eventual death.
- Semi-synthetic organism is modified E-coli bacteria created by introducing DNA molecules that are not found in nature in a common bacterium.
- Life’s natural genetic code only contains four natural bases- adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), thymine (T). These bases pair forms two base pairs in the DNA ladder. The newly created bacterium has two human-created X and Y bases that grow and divide, much like natural bases.
- Human appendix has evolved over 30 times throughout mammalian evolution.
- It was found that species with appendix have higher concentrations of immune (lymphoid) tissue in cecum (part of large intestines), suggesting that appendix could serve as a secondary immune organ.
- Appendix might also function as a safe house for helpful gut bacteria as lymphatic tissue can stimulate growth of beneficial gut bacteria.
- Men's - Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu (Time - 02:09:32)
- Women's - Kenya’s Bornes Kitur (Time 02:29:02)
- Indian Men's - Kheta Ram (Time 2:19:51)
- Indian women's - Jyoti Gawte (Time 02:50:53)
- Women’s singles - Saina Nehwal (India) won by defeating Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand).
- Men’s Singles - Ng Ka Long (Hong Kong)
- Men’s Doubles - Berry Angriawan and Hardianto (Indonesia).
- Women’s Doubles - Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai (Thailand).
- Mixed Doubles - Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing (Malaysia).
- Men's Singles - Roger Federer (Switzerland), by defeating Rafael Nadal (Spain)
- Women's Singles - Serena Williams (United States), by defeating Venus Williams (USA)
- Men's Doubles - Henri Kontinen (Finland) and John Peers (Australia)
- Women's Doubles - Bethanie Mattek - Sands (United States) / Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic)
- Mixed Doubles - Abigail Spears (United States) / Juan Sebastián Cabal (Colombia)
- Men's Singles - Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
- Women's Singles - KarolÃna PlÃÅ¡ková (Czech Republic)
- Men's Doubles - Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jordan Thompson (Australia)
- Women's Doubles - Bethanie Mattek-Sands (United States) and Sania Mirza (India)
- Men's singles - Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain)
- Men's doubles - Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Neduncheziyan (India)
- Swachh Survekshan 2016 had ranked 73 cities and Mysore was ranked on top followed by Chandigarh.
- Men's Singles - Novak Djokovic (Serbia) defeated Andy Murray (Britain)
- Men's Doubles - Spanish Pair Feliciano López and Marc López defeated Philipp Petzschner (Germany) and Alexander Peya (Austria).
- Women’s singles - PV Sindhu (India), by defeating Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska
- Men’s Singles - Sameer Verma (India) by defeating B Sai Praneeth (India)
- Mixed Doubles - Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy
- Women’s Doubles - Kamilla Ryter Juhl and Christina Pedersen from Denmark
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