Daily GK Updates: 06th December 2016

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa passes away

i. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaraman passed away at a Chennai hospital last night (05th December 2016), the 68-year old AIADMK supremo breathed her last at 11:30 PM at the Apollo Hospital.

ii. She had suffered a massive cardiac arrest. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22, 2016 following complaints of fever and dehydration, but she never fully recovered. 

O Panneerselvam sworn in as new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

i. After the demise of AIADMK supremo & Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Apollo Hospital, her loyalist O Panneerselvam has been sworn in as Chief Minister at a sombre ceremony at the Raj Bhawan along with all the ministers in the erstwhile Jayalalithaa Cabinet.

ii. The AIADMK MLAs met at the party headquarters to elect Mr Panneerselvam as the successor to Jayalalithaa.

NITI Aayog to provide Rs 5 lakh per district

i. To encourage each district in the country to take the digitization route without fear, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog will be immediately transferring Rs.5 lakh each district as seed money to kick start this drive.

ii. A letter has been written to the district collector, commissioners and magistrates in this regard by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, who is also a member of the committee to promote cashless payments.

Bengal forms anti-child trafficking panel

i. The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has announced that the state would be setting up a special panel to stop child trafficking. 

ii. Chaired by Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee, the committees would constitute a Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, DGP and officers and members of the opposition parties, Congress and CPI (M).

AirAsia India appoints Amar Abrol as Managing Director

i. AirAsia has announced the appointment of Amar Abrol as its Managing Director in addition to his role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

ii. As per AirAsia, “Abrol was appointed as the Managing Director following the company's board meeting held on 29 November 2016.” 

iii. He was appointed as CEO of the airline in April 2016. Abrol holds over two decades of experience in different markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and Malaysia.

Prez Mukherjee to inaugurate 1st ever International Gita Mahotsav

i. President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the first ever International Gita Mahotsav in Kurukshetra, Haryana today.

ii. The President will also lay the foundation stone of Krishna circuit on the occasion. In a five-day mega event, many spiritual leaders from different religions, scholars and artists from various countries will participate. The Mahotsav will set a world record with the recitation of Ashtadash Shaloki Gita by as many as 18 thousand students at one go.

Bernard Cazeneuve named as new French prime minister

i. Bernard Cazeneuve, currently French interior minister, will replace Manuel Valls as the country's new prime minister.

ii. Valls is stepping down in order to seek the Socialist Party's nomination to be its presidential candidate in the 2017 election.

Alexander Van der Bellen elected Austrian President

Independent candidate and pro-European Alexander Van der Bellen has won the Austria's re-run presidential election with around 53.5% votes.  Bellen had won an earlier election in May by a narrow margin after which it was declared void by the Constitutional Court due to irregularities.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev elected Uzbekistan President

Uzbekistan's Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev became the country's second president after winning 88.61% vote in the first presidential election since the death of the authoritarian leader and President Islam Karimov.

B S Bhullar appointed Chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation

i. Senior IAS officer B.S. Bhullar has been appointed the Chief of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). 

ii. At present, Bhullar, a 1986-batch IAS officer, is working as an Additional Secretary in Civil Aviation Ministry. 
iii. He was also holding the additional charge of the DGCA.

MMTC to tie-up with SBI to sell govt minted 'Indian Gold Coin'

i. 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.