Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour & Employment launched the 2nd phase of Tele-medicine services for providing specialist medical services at a distance to insured workers. 
●    In this phase ESIS dispensary, Dimapur (Nagaland), Shillong (Meghalaya), Agartala (Tripura) has now been connected to ESIC Hospital, Joka, Kolkata w.e.f. 1st December, 2016.  
●    The first phase was launched in September, 2016 by connecting Employees State Insurance Corporation’s(ESIC) Model Hospital Basaidarapur with three ESIS dispensaries at Katihar (Bihar), Unnao (UP) and Rudarpur (Uttrachal).
●    ESI Corporation has been providing health care and other social security benefits to the workers of specified wage group since the last 65 years as a labour welfare measure.  
●    Under this new initiatives, ESIC has launched Pilot Project of Tele-medicine Services at 11 ESI locations at NO Cost; in coordination with Health Informatics and Electronic Division (HIED), C-DAC, Mohali.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) signed a MoU with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for cooperation in the area of zoonoses, anti-microbial resistance, nutrition and pesticide residues. 
●    The MoU signing ceremony was presided over by Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. 
●    Some of the significant outcomes of the MoU are as under:
●    Exchange of scientific literature, information and methodology;
●    Utilization of facilities and expertise in programmes of common interest as may be mutually agreed upon.
●    Exchange of pertinent research material
●    Zoonoses have been defined as diseases and infections that are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and humans. 
●    Around 60% of all human diseases and around 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic however; these are missed, not recognized or understood in developing countries like India.

Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, on 1 December 2016 launched ‘Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan’. 
●    The Abhiyan aims at making people aware about the cashless economic system.
●    The programme was launched in line to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to youth in Mann Ki Baat, where Prime Minister called for making people aware about digital economy and cashless modes of transactions.
●    For creation of a cashless economy, Javadekar appealed to the faculty and especially young students to come forward and join Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan. 
●    For participation of youth and faculty, HRD Minister also launched a webpage where students can register themselves. 
●    They can also provide their feedback and suggestions on the initiative as well as upload the progress of their work.
●    HRD Minister also appealed to higher education institutes to receive nothing in cash (fee/fines/deposits) and pay nothing in cash (wages/salaries/vendor payments). 

Kerala’s Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple decided to ease the dress norms for women devotees, allowing them to wear salwar kameez and churidar while offering their prayers at the shrine.
●    The much-criticised dress code of the Temple required men to wear dhoti while entering the temple and women to wear a saree, dhoti or Pavada and blouse. 
●    While salwar suits have been allowed, modern outfits like jeans, sleeveless tops and dresses will still not be permitted.  
●    The century-old structure is located in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. 
●    Featuring high walls and a 16th-century Gopuram, the temple has been built in Dravidian style. 
●    The principal god in the temple is Vishnu, who is enshrined in the ‘Anantha Shayanam’ posture .
●    Only those who profess Hindu faith are permitted to enter the temple. 
●    A review of the temple’s six unopened vaults in 2010 led to the revealing of rare jewels, solid gold idols studded with precious stones, kilos of gold jewelry, crowns, coins bars and a heavily studded pure golden throne. 
●    This makes the temple one of the wealthiest places of worship in the world.

The Union Cabinet on 30 November 2016 approved the rehabilitation package of Rs 2000 crore for around 36384 displaced families from Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir (POJK) and Chhamb under Prime Minister's Development Package for Jammu & Kashmir 2015. 
●    Under the package of Rs 2000 crore, Rs 5.5 lakh cash benefit will be disbursed to each displaced families to enable them to earn an income and subsist their livelihood. 
●    The amount will be initially released to the State Government of Jammu & Kashmir to be disbursed to eligible families through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). 
●    In the aftermath of Indian partition in 1947, thousands of families from Pakistan occupied areas of Jammu & Kashmir migrated to the Jammu & Kashmir. Later, during Indo-Pak Wars of 1965 and 1971, a large number of families were displaced from Chhamb Niabat area of Jammu & Kashmir. 

Amidst the confusion created by demonetization, the Indian state of Goa prepares itself to become the first state to operate cashless in the country from 31 December 2016. 
●    This announcement was made by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is also the former Chief Minister of the state, during a rally at Sankhali on 25 November 2016. The plan includes making even small vendors selling perishable goods accustomed to mobile payment.
●    All vendors would be given Mobile Money Identifier (MMI) codes when they register at the bank.
●    The information to be filled by them would include their bank account details, the total amount that is to be transferred along with the MMI code of the vendor.
●    The mobile required to make the payment wouldn’t have to be a Smartphone. 
●    There will be no minimum limit on the cashless transfer of money and these transactions will also be immune from any sort of fees.
●    However, such a move will not nullify the usage of debit/credit and ATM cards, as their usage will continue as usual and it also doesn’t mean a ban on cash transactions. The effort just aims to encourage the society to go cashless.
●    According to Goa’s Chief Secretary, RK Srivastava, the state has an added advantage due to its small size. With a population of 15 lakh, it already has around 17 lakh registered mobile connections and 22 lakh bank accounts. Srivastava also added that most people in Goa already use debit or credit cards to make their purchases.
 

Akodara village in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat recently has earned the title of becoming first digital village in India.
●    The village, which sustains a total population of 1200 people, uses various cashless systems for payments of goods and services. Akodara, which is located some 90 km from Ahmedabad, was adopted and developed by the ICICI Foundation as a digitised village with a rural branch of the bank.
●    In the village, most transactions between Rs. 10 and Rs. 5000 are done via SMS. The payment goes directly into the shopkeeper’s bank account as the buyer and seller are both connected through their accounts in the same bank.
●    The ICICI Bank has developed a dedicated and customised SMS banking platform and software for the village to enable users to do basic banking transactions in English and Gujarati.
●    The bank has also developed a micro-ATM-based solution to facilitate the local mandi commission agents to make payments to farmers for their produce.

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the fortnight long Swachhta Pakhwada activities being organised by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, here today. The activities are being organised from December 01 to December 15, 2016. On the inaugural day of the Swachhta Pakhwada today, a special cleanliness drive was undertaken by the Department in collaboration with the Institute of Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM) in and around Ber Sarai market here.
●    Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said that this drive is an extension of the Swachta Abhiyaan launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi two years ago. Lakhs of toilets have been built in the schools and there has been a campaign for the Open Defecation Free (ODF) society in India. He also referred to the decision taken by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on November 08, 2016 regarding demonetisation. He said that due to this decision, in three weeks only, the money which was hitherto hidden, has come into circulation. 
●    During his visit to Ber Sarai market, the Minister also interacted with the shopkeepers and guided them for the use of e-transactions and explained them the utility and convenience of these transactions.Various activities have been planned such as general cleaning of flooring, removal of cobwebs, cleaning of fans, furniture and other electronic items, removal of broken furniture, waste papers, old and unused papers etc. from the rooms/common areas in North Block, Lok Nayak Bhawan and Old JNU Campus.

The 7th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) will be held from 2nd – 4th December, 2016 at Science City, Kolkata. The mega event is being organized by the World Ayurveda Foundation with support of Ministry of AYUSH, and the State Government of West Bengal. To facilitate development and growth of AYUSH system of medicine, the Ministry of AYUSH is also organizing AROGYA Expo from 1st-4th December, 2016 at Science City, Kolkata to coincide with the 7th World Ayurveda Congress. The Minister of State (IC) for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik would be inaugurating the Arogya Expo tomorrow.
●    The focus of this 7th World Ayurveda Congress is – ‘Strengthening the Ayurveda Ecosystem’ and the congregation will bring together stakeholders in the Ayurveda sector from India and abroad. 
●    There are three major components of the program this year (1) Public Outreach session which comprises of the Ayurveda Expo, the Ayurveda Clinics for the general public and Public Lectures. (2) Influencing Policy and (3) Promoting Science. The 7th WAC will hold 5 plenary sessions, 25 parallel sessions and a large number of paper presentations, complemented by a series of associated events.
●    This year’s World Ayurveda Congress will be the largest ever as compared to the earlier World Ayurveda Congress at Kochi 2002, Pune 2006, Jaipur 2008, Bengaluru 2010, Bhopal 2012 and Delhi 2014. Over 3500 delegates, including over 350 international delegates from 24 countries representing the Global Ayurveda fraternity are expected to participate. Other participants would be Students, Ayurvedic practitioners, traditional healers, academics, research scientists, policy makers, industry, cultivators and collectors of medicinal plants, agricultural and forestry experts, buyers from overseas, regulators from developed nations and members of society in and around Kolkata interested in Ayurveda.
●    More than 1893 scientific papers of international caliber are being considered for presentation in over 30 multi-track scientific sessions.

Government has in-principle approved strategic disinvestment of loss-making subsidiary of Indias largest steelmaker SAIL, Salem Steel Plant (SSP). 
●    SSP, a special steel unit of state-run SAIL, pioneered the supply of wider width stainless steel sheets and coils in the country. 
●    SSP is a loss-making unit of Maharatna firm SAIL. 
●    It has been consistently making losses for the last 5 years despite investment of around Rs 2,200 crore by SAIL under the modernisation and expansion project of SSP.
●    The Salem plant can produce austenitic, ferritic, martensitic and low-nickel stainless steel in the form of coils and sheets with an installed capacity of 70,000 tonnes per annum in cold rolling mill as well as 3.64 lakh tonnes a year in hot rolling mill.
●    Its steel melting shop can produce 1,80,000 tonnes of slabs per annum. 
●    Besides, the plant has the countrys first top-of-the-line stainless steel blanking facility with a capacity of 3,600 tonnes per year of coin blanks and utility blanks/circles.