Current Affairs Dec 2016 - Miscellaneous

Union IT Minister Ravishankar Prasad launched Digidhan Abhiyan to enable every citizen, small traders and merchants to adopt digital payments in their everyday financial transactions.
The two-day India-UK Conference on Ease of Doing Business was jointly inaugurated on 9 December 2016 in New Delhi.
Reserve Bank has directed all Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) to upload the Know Your Customer or KYC data pertaining to new individual accounts opened on or after January 1, with Central KYC Records Registry.
The Assam government has mooted allocating at least 5 percent of development funds of every department for tea garden areas from the next annual state budget.
The Rajasthan High Court has struck down Special Backward Classes reservation given to Gujjars and five other communities of the state.
The UN General Assembly has demanded an immediate ceasefire in Syria and urgent aid deliveries in a resolution adopted by a strong majority as Syrian forces launched another assault on Aleppo.
A Japanese capsule blasted off with much-needed supplies for the International Space Station, a week after a Russian shipment was destroyed shortly after lift-off.
India was recently designated as a Major Defence Partner of the United States during the visit of US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter to New Delhi.
The first American astronaut to Orbit Earth, John Glenn, passéd away recently.
The Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan recently launched Haritha Keralam Mission to make the state clean, protect its water sources and soil.
Most powerful language as per the 2016 World Power Language Index is English.
Vijaya Bank was considered as the Best Bank for SME Lending by Assocham.
Andhra Pradesh launched the Purse mobile app to promote digital transactions.
NABARD announced to provide financial support to eligible banks for deployment of 2 POS devices each in 1 Lakh villages with population of less than 10000.
Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple has brought back its strict dress norms.
Park Geun-hye faces an impeachment vote.
Uttarakhand High Court has ordered a liquor and tobacco ban in three of its districts.
Allahabad High Court declared the process of Triple Talaq as unconstitutional.
Arunachal Pradesh State Co-operative Apex Bank 2016 launched Mobile Banking Service named SIMsePaY in collaboration with Yes Bank Ltd.
US President-elect Donald Trump was named as Person of the Year 2016 by Time magazine.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-661 crashed with 47 people, including five crew members and 42 passengers, on board into a mountain near the town of Havelian, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Armed Forces Flag Day is celebrated in India on 7 December.
Vijayawada recently became India’s first parliamentary constituency to have health insurance for all.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to discontinue 500 and 1000 rupees’ notes has boosted the revenue of many civic bodies in Maharashtra.
Altogether 98 trainee police officers of the 42nd Basic Course from North Eastern Police Academy took oath during the Dikshant parade held in Shillong.
India received over 300 billion US dollar Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) milestone between April 2000 and September 2016.
Former Spanish footballer, Alvaro Dominguez Soto, recently announced retirement.
India’s earth observation satellite that was successfully launched on 7 December 2016 is Resourcesat-2A.
The New French Prime Minister is Bernard Cazeneuve.
West Bengal will be setting up a special panel to prevent child trafficking panel.
The chairman of the anti-child trafficking panel is Partha Chatterjee.
The Philippine Vice President, who resigned her Cabinet post is Leni Robredo.
J Ravichandran appointed as the Interim Chief Executive Officer of National Stock Exchange of India.
Renowned Urdu poet, Bekal Utsahi, passed away recently and belonged to Uttar Pradesh.
A 10,500-year-old camping site has been discovered by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Ladakh.
The 6th Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) concluded on 4 December 2016 after adopting the Amritsar Declaration.
Phulel Singh Sujlana, who passed away recently, was the former international umpire of Hockey.
Yoga, India’s one of the ancient practices to keep oneself healthy, has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
KPMG and Microsoft India announced a strategic Internet of Things (IoT) Advisory partnership to accelerate the digital transformation of large and midmarket enterprises in the country.
Tasmania-based Women's Legal Service in collaboration with TRS Law Offices (India) has launched a website (www.Girlsgottaknow.In) for women in the country to educate them about their legal rights.
India’s largest public sector trading body MMTC (Metals and Minerals Trading Gold Corporation) tie-up with the State Bank of India (SBI) to sell government-minted Indian Gold Coin (24 Karat) which will be available in denominations of 5gm, 10gm and 20 gm bar.
In a bid to enhance cooperation in education with Egypt, India will establish a centre of excellence in information technology at the country's oldest and most prestigious Al-Azhar University.
Nobel Peace Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta strongly urged for peace in Jammu and Kashmir on 11 December 2016 in New Delhi on the side lines of a child slavery abolition programme of a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
Corporation Bank has bagged the SKOCH silver award for attaining the position of number1 channel partner of LIC of India for the past three financial years, as per a press release by the bank here. The bank was also awarded order of merit under other three categories.