Union government and the World Bank signed a $50-million credit
agreement
i. The Union government and the World Bank signed a $50-million credit agreement
for a project aimed at helping young people from minority communities complete
their education and improve their employment opportunities named Nai
Manzil Scheme.
ii. The Nai Manzil Scheme is designed as an integrated education and
training programme that provides youth from minority communities skills needed
for different tasks in a rapidly changing world.
iii. The agreement was signed by Mr. Kumar and Michael Haney, the World
Bank’s Operations Adviser in India.
Ambitious odd-even scheme of Delhi government started off in New Delhi
i. The ambitious odd-even scheme of Delhi government, a first such
intervention in the country to combat spiralling air pollution, got off to a
decent start on new year with volume of cars on the city roads
coming down significantly amid deployment of thousands of policemen and and
moderately augmented public transport.
ii. As the clock struck eight, the vehicular restriction policy came into
effect with thousands of volunteers carrying roses also taking to the streets
to assist traffic police in enforcing the pilot plan that will stay in
force till January 15.
iii. Under the scheme, cars bearing odd-numbered registration plates shall
ply on city roads while those with even number plates, if taken out, will
attract a penalty of Rs 2,000 under relevant sections of the Motor
Vehicles Act. It will be vice-versa on Saturday. Also, 25 categories of people
are being given exemptions including the VIPs.
LRSAM test-fired from INS Kolkata
i. Long
Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM), the missile co-developed by India and
Israel, was successfully test-fired on the Western Sea Board. The missile was
fired from INS Kolkata and it successfully intercepted an aerial target at
extended ranges.
ii. The
test-fire was jointly carried out by the Indian Navy, Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries.
iii. This
was the first test for LRSAM or BARAK 8 missile in India. Earlier, on 11
November 2015, it was successfully test-fired from a range in Israel.
iv. The missile was developed by the DRDL, Hyderabad in collaboration with
Israel Aerospace Industries. It has been manufactured by M/s Bharat Dynamics
Limited, India.
Iran’s leading banks will soon open branches in India
i. Iran’s
leading banks will open branches in India to energise commercial ties between
New Delhi and Tehran. The decision was amongst a slew of commercial
measures taken by the India-Iran Joint Commission that met for the first
time.
ii. After the meeting led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and
Iranian Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia, India decided to allow the Pasargan Bank
and Parsian Bank of Iran to set up branches in New Delhi and Mumbai.
iii. A major beneficiary of normalisation of banking channels between two
sides will be India which has just begun settling more than $6.5 billion
energy-related pending payment, with Iran.
Pakistan's Singer Adnan Sami gets Indian Citizenship
i. The Union Home Ministry cleared the proposal to grant Adnan Sami the
citizenship of India. Mr Sami, who has been staying in India since 2011, will
now have to fill a citizenship form at the Home Ministry’s office in Delhi
and pay Rs 13,700.
ii. He will be given citizenship under Section 6 (I) of the Indian
Citizenship Act, 1955 under the category “citizenship by naturalisation.”
iii. Lahore-born Sami first arrived in India on March 13, 2001 on a visitor’s
visa with a validity of one year. It was issued by the Indian High Commission
in Islamabad.
RBI asked the banks to open banks in villages with a population of more
than 5000.
i. India’s central bank has asked the lenders to open more brick and mortar
branches in villages with no banking facilities and with a population of more
than 5,000. The banking regulator has asked banks to submit a roadmap on
how many branches they will be opening by 31 March 2017. Banks have to submit
the roadmap by end of January 2016.
ii. RBI observed that coverage of banking services in unbanked villages is
skewed towards the BC model and the ratio of branches to BC is very low.
Therefore, it has been decided to focus on villages with population above
5,000 without a bank branch of a scheduled commercial bank.
iii. This will also enable banks to provide quality financial services and
timely support to BC outlets that would help in sustaining and strengthening
the services provided through BCs and also ensure close supervision of BC
operations.
D.K.Hota to be the new CMD of defence PSU BEML Ltd
The Public Enterprises Selection Board
has recommended D.K.Hota to be the new CMD of defence PSU BEML Ltd. He is
currently Director (HR) of the Bengaluru-based BEML. He has been on
deputation at BEML from oil marketing major HPCL for the past two years.
Harpal Singh Kumar received Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II
i. An Indian-origin cancer research expert Harpal Singh Kumar received a
Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his influential work on prevention and
treatment of cancer. His name appeared in the annual New Year’s Honours
list that includes several other Indian-origin individuals.
ii. Samir Desai, founder-CEO of Funding Circle, received a Commander of the
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his work in the field of
financial inclusion. Chairman of Sun Mark Ltd, Raminder Singh Ranger, was
awarded a CBE for services to business and community cohesion.
iii. Among the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
(OBE) list were Kala Patel, managing director of Kiddycare Ltd Nurseries, for
services to childcare business and Daljit Lally, deputy chief
executive of Northumberland Country Council, for services to integrated care.
Ashwin becomes the no.1 Test Bowler
. Star India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ended 2015 as the No. 1 Test
bowler in the ICC rankings issued on the back of his strong showing against
South Africa in the recent home series.
ii. Ashwin, who took 62 wickets in nine
Tests this year including 31 scalps in the four matches against South Africa,
became the first India bowler since Bishen Bedi in 1973 to achieve
the milestone of finishing the year on top.
iii. Ashwin achieved the number-one spot for first time in his career after
injury prevented South African Dale Steyn from bowling more than 3.5 overs in
England’s second innings in the Durban Test.
Indian Test captain Virat Kohli named ‘BCCI Cricketer of the Year’
i. Indian Test captain Virat Kohli was
named ‘Cricketer of the Year’, while Mithali Raj was picked for the M.A.
Chidambaram Trophy for the best women’s cricketer.
ii. Under Kohli, the Indian team ended
a 22-year wait for a series win on Sri Lankan soil before battering world No.1
South Africa to give them their first overseas loss in nine years.
Mithali, on the other hand, became the first Indian woman and second overall to
complete 5,000 runs in ODI format this year.iii. In other awards, former
wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani will be presented the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime
Achievement Award. Karnataka all-rounder Robin Uthappa has been picked for
the Madhavrao Scindia Award for being the highest run-scorer in Ranji
Trophy.
Magnus Carlsen won the Qatar Masters Open chess tournament
i. World champion Magnus Carlsen of
Norway won the Qatar Masters Open chess tournament, billed as the strongest
Open in history. The top seed had finished with seven points, the same as
Yu Yangyi of China, seeded 11th. He drew his 10th and final round encounter with
former World champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, while Yu defeated
Wesley So of the United States.
ii. Surya Shekhar Ganguly was the
best-placed Indian, at 10th.
Laxmi Ratan Shukla announced his retirement
i. Former India player and Bengal
captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla announced his retirement from cricket. Shukla, who failed
to make it to the Bengal Ranji squad for most of the current season after
making a comeback from injury, was included in the team that played its last
league match against Assam earlier this month. But the player choose to
call it quits as he was not getting enough “motivation” to continue.
ii. The feisty all-rounder played 137
First Class matches and accumulated 6217 runs and 144 wickets.
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