Oil Marketing Companies, viz IndianOil, BPCL & HPCL are now offering an upfront discount of Rs 5/- on every LPG refill to all LPG customers who will book and pay for their LPG cylinders online. 
●    Customers can make payment through existing online modes i.e net banking, credit & debit cards at the time of web-booking their refills.
●    Customers will get the discounted amount displayed on their screens – i.e. net amount i.e refill RSP minus (-) incentive amount of Rs.5/- which they need to pay for their refill transactions. 
●    The net discounted amount will also be shown on the cash memo accompanying the home-delivery of the LPG cylinder.
●    Under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, it the endeavour of all Oil Marketing Companies aim to encourage consumers to increasingly shift to such payment modes through digital platforms to achieve the objective of no-cash or less-cash based transactions. 
●    The incentive will encourage more and more LPG consumers to go for cashless mode transactions.

Many new projects under Namami Gange programme in Haridwar and Varanasi have been approved by National Mission for Clean Ganga.In Haridwar, approval for 68 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) in Jagjeetpur and 14 MLD STP in Sarai have been approved at an indicative cost of Rs 110.30 crore and Rs 25 crore respectively under Hybrid Annuity based PPP mode. 
●    Apart from this, while Rs 8.34 crore has been allocated for tertiary treatment of existing 27 MLD plant in Jagjeetpur, Rs 5.32 crore has been allocated for tertiary treatment of existing 18 MLD plant in Sarai under Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) mode. Also, I&D works at Jagjeetpur and Sarai would be done at an indicative cost of Rs 81.15 crore and Rs 29.75 crore respectively under DBOT mode.
●    In-principle approval for the implementation of 50 MLD sewage treatment plant at Ramana in Varanasi has been given at an indicative cost of Rs 120 crore under Hybrid Annuity-based PPP mode. 
●    After the completion of the tender processes, Administrative Approval and Expenditure Sanction (AA&ES) of the projects will be given by the Executive Committee.
●    Namami Gange programme was launched as a mission to achieve the target of cleaning river Ganga in an effective manner with the unceasing involvement of all stakeholders, especially five major Ganga basin States – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. The programme envisages River Surface Cleaning, Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure, River Front Development, Bio-Diversity, Afforestation and Public Awareness.

In the wake of IOA episode, the Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel has decided to constitute a Committee headed by Secretary (Sports) to suggest improvements in the National Sports Development Code and functioning of Sports Federations etc. 
●    The committee will give its report within one month.
●    In the recent past the Ministry has already held meetings with the various stakeholders such as the National Sports Federations, Sports Ministers and Secretaries from different States, Olympians, Arjun Awardees, Dronacharya Awardees, NGOs, field officers of the Sports Authority of India etc. on issues of good governance and transparency.
●    The new Committee will suggest improvements in the present National Sports Development Code on the basis of suggestions and feedback given in these meetings and submit a report within a month so that Sports Bodies work as per the public expectations for the promotion of sports in the country.   

The Board of Control for Cricket president Anurag Thakur and its secretary Ajay Shirke have been sacked by the Supreme Court today. 
●    For failing to implement the reforms suggested by the RM Lodha panel, the BCCI will now have an observer, who will be appointed on January 19.
●    For now, the senior most vice-president will act as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and its joint secretary will hold the fort as secretary. 
●    The court indicated that it would soon appoint a panel of administrators to carry out the reforms it had ordered in the sports body to make its affairs transparent. 
●    In a damning indictment of Thakur, a BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh, the court cited three key reasons that made him unfit to continue as the BCCI chief. 
●    Thakur and Shirke, who've been under court scanner for allegedly trying to solicit the International Cricket Council's help to stall the court directed reforms, were also asked formally on Monday to explain why they shouldn't be prosecuted for perjury and contempt of court on this score. 

Apple, the American multinational technology company is all set to manufacture iPhones in the Indian city of Bengaluru.
●    The company is going to manufacture the iconic phones in the country in collaboration with Wistron, a Taiwanese original design manufacturer. The move is a part of the company’s efforts to cash in on India’s fast-growing smartphone market.
●    Wistron is planning to set up an iPhone manufacturing plant, especially for the Indian market in Bangalore’s Peenya Industrial Area. 
●    The manufacturer would start work with the assembling of the phones. 
●    Local manufacturing of the iPhones is expected to help Apple price its products at a rate more suitable to the Indian market. 
●    Currently, Apple products attract 12.5% additional duty on imports.
●    The company chose Bengaluru to set up the unit because it has the talent required to create high-quality technology products.
●    This is not Apple’s first project in the city, as previously in May 2016, the company had announced the setting up of a design and development accelerator in the city in order to help grow the iOS developer community there. 
●    The announcement for the same was made during the company’s CEO Tim Cook’s visit to India.

The Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has delivered ICGS AYUSH, the 20th Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) to the Indian Coast Guard.  
●    With this, CSL has completed construction of 20 FPVs for the Indian Coast Guard. ICGS Ayush will be operated from the Coast Guard Station at Krishnapatanam. 
●    It is last in the series (CSL Yard No BY 520) and was delivered three months ahead of schedule. 
●    Cochin Shipyard Limited was awarded the contract of constructing 20 FPVs in October 2010.  
●    CSL had delivered the first vessel in September 2013 and subsequently delivered vessels at about two months interval. 
●    CSL started delivering vessels ahead of schedule from the 13th vessel onwards. These vessels are 50 metre length and 7.6 metre beam. 
●    They are small in size compared to the large vessels that CSL had been building. 
●    The FPVs will help to secure Indian waters by patrolling within Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), coastal patrol. 

The Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi launched Haj Committee of India Mobile App at Haj House in Mumbai today. Speaking on the occasion, he said that it is for the first time that Haj application process is going to be digital. This mobile app will available on Google Playstore from today (2nd January 2017). Next Haj has already been announced and application will be accepted from today. The last date for submitting applications is 24th January.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs has joined digital India campaign in a big way, he added. Several processes have been made   in this regard. The Centre has been encouraging online applications to ensure fair opportunity for the pilgrimage with complete transparency and comfort.
●    Applying for Haj, enquiry and information, news and updates and e-payment are main features of Haj Committee of India Mobile App. Application for Haj can be made directly from the app. Five adults and two infants can apply together as a group. A PDF copy of the form will go to applicant’s email. After affixing the photo, the printout with documents is to be sent to the state haj committees. Registration fees can also be made through this app.
●    During Haj 2016, about 45,843 people had applied for Haj online which was about 11 per cent of total applications received from across the nation for Haj. Efforts are on to make the process of online application simple and easy so that more and more people can apply online for next Haj pilgrimage.  Maharashtra topped in online applications for Haj 2016 with a total of 10,960 people applying online followed by Kerala with 9257 online applications and   Uttar Pradesh with 5407; 2983 from Telangana; 2426 from Jammu and Kashmir and 2425 online applications had been received from Gujarat.
●    About 99,903 people went to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Haj from 21 embarkation points across India through Haj Committee of India during Haj 2016. Apart from this, about 36,000 Haj pilgrims had proceeded for Haj through the private tour operators.

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) will introduce trash skimmers for surface cleaning of Ganga in six more cities in the first week of this month. 
●    The cities are Rishikesh, Haridwar, Garh Mukhteshwar, Sahibganj, Kolkata and Navdweep. 
●    Urban Local Bodies will be the nodal agency to monitor this work. State Programme Management Groups (SPMGs) and Collectorate office will be supervising these works under the aegis of NMCG at State and district level respectively.
●    River Surface Cleaning (RSC) work was introduce last year in Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh and Patna in Bihar. 
●    Trash skimmers were deployed at the foregoing locations and tonnes of floating waste was collected and disposed off in a proper manner. 
●    This task was performed under the CSR head and proved to be extremely effective. In the coming days, more towns will be identified for carrying out similar activities.
●    Namami Gange programme was launched as a mission to achieve the target of cleaning river Ganga in an effective manner with the unceasing involvement of all stakeholders, especially five major Ganga basin States – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.

RBI came out with conditions for exchange of defunct notes for those, including non-resident Indians, who failed to do so till yesterday, the last day for depositing the invalid currency notes in banks.
●    Resident Indian citizens who were abroad from November 9 to December 30 can avail this facility up to March 31, 2017 and NRI citizens, who were abroad during this period, can exchange their defunct notes up to June 30, 2017, RBI said in a late evening statement.
●    Citizens can avail this facility in their individual capacity once during the period on submission of ID documents, and on submission of documentary evidence showing they were abroad during the period and that they have not availed the exchange facility earlier.
●    On fulfillment of the terms and conditions and the genuineness of the notes tendered, it said, adding admissible amount will be credited to the tenderer's KYC compliant bank account.
●    This facility will be available through Reserve Bank offices at Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Nagpur.

The world heritage site, Mahabodhi temple, a Buddhist temple in Gaya district of Bihar which has became completely cashless.
●    The new cashless system became fully operational from Saturday. 
●    After the new cashless system became operational, devotes both domestic and foreign would be able to donate money for the temple using their debit or credit cards. 
●    The new cashless system was inaugurated by the Gaya District Magistrate Ravi Kumar.
●    The Mahabodhi temple management has installed several swipe machine at all the cash counters in the temple to facilitate devotees. 
●    Once the cashless system started to function, Buddhist monks donated Rs 500 to the temple using the credit card.