GK and Current Affairs Updates

China has successfully launched Fengyun-4 satellite, first of its new generation weather satellites into geostationary orbit. 
●    It was launched onboard of Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province. 
●    The launch marked the 242nd mission of China’s Long March series of rockets.  
●    Fengyun-4 is the first of China’s second-generation weather satellites and also the country’s first quantitative remote-sensing satellite in highest orbit.
●    It will make high time, spatial and spectral resolution observations of atmosphere, space environment and clouds of China and surrounding regions.
●    It will help in improving capabilities of weather and climate forecasts. 
●    The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) is the primary user of the satellite. 
●    Earlier China had successfully launched 14 weather satellites, of them seven are still in orbit.

Five key operatives of Indian Mujahideen, including the banned terror outfit's co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and a Pakistani national, were awarded death penalty on Sunday by a Special NIA Court here in the February 2013 Hyderabad bomb blasts which claimed 18 lives.
●    Pronouncing the sentence, Judge T Srinivasa Rao described the case as the "rarest of the rare". This is the first case where operatives of the home-grown group have been convicted in a terror case.
●    NIA Special Public Prosecutor K Surender said the court, after going through their evidence, found that the case is based on facts.
●    The court, after hearing the arguments of prosecution and defence counsels on sentencing, awarded death penalty to the convicts and also varying jail terms on different counts including, 
●    On December 13, the court had convicted the five operatives -- IM co-founder Mohd Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal, Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rahman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahaseen Akhtar alias Monu and Ajaz Shaikh -- who are at present in judicial custody and lodged in the Cherlapally Central Prison here.
●    The IM convicts said they will go for an appeal, according to the NIA counsel.

A gunman in Turkey wearing a business suit and tie opened fire Monday on Russia's ambassador, killing the diplomat and wounding several others at photo exhibit in the Turkish capital. 
●    The gunman was killed as panicked people scattered for cover in the gallery.
●    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. 
●    But video posted on social media purported to show a Turkish-speaking attacker decrying violence in Syria, where Russia is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
●    In Moscow, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Ambassador Andrei Karlov died after being hit in the back by gunfire. 
●    Earlier, Russia's Foreign Ministry said efforts to treat Karlov were delayed as gunfire raged.
●    Photos from the gallery showed the suspected attacker, wearing a dark suit and tie, gripping a pistol as he stood near the fallen ambassador. 
●    The gunman was later killed, Russian official said.

Indian cricketer Karun Nair on 19 December 2016 scored triple century in first innings of the fifth and final test-match against England. 
●    The match is being played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
●    With this, Nair became the second Indian batsmen to score triple century in tests. Earlier, Virendra Sehwag scored two triple centuries in test matches.
●    Karun Nair’s unbeaten 303 helped India to reach 759/7 score. This score also helped India to lead England by 282 runs.
●    In the first innings of the match England scored 477 runs.
●    In the test cricket history, a triple century has been scored by 26 different batsmen on 30 different occasions.
●    These triple centuries were scored by batsmen from eight of the ten test cricket playing nations. No cricketer from Zimbabwe and Bangladesh has scored 300.

The Union government has taken the call of setting up a single committee to hear all the inter-state river water disputes.
●    The government has proposed the creation of one permanent Tribunal. It will be chaired by a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
●    In comparison to earlier tribunals that took very long to deliver the final verdict, this tribunal will be expected to deliver its verdict within three years.
●    Apart from this, the government has also proposed to set up a Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) comprising experts and policy makers. 
●    The DRC will be expected to handle the water disputes before they go to the Tribunal. 
●    The DRC will be formed by the centre at the request of a state. Most disputes will be expected to be solved at the DRC level itself.

Lanura, a village in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), became the first village in the state to go cashless.
●    Lanura village is located some 30 kilometres away from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The village falls in Panchayat Bugroo-B in block Khansahab of the district.
●    Budgam was created as a district of the state in 1979.
●    Prior to its creation, it was part of Srinagar district, before that Budgam was a part of Baramulla district when Srinagar itself was a constituent of the Anantnag district.
●    It is one of the districts in Kashmir with a majority Muslim Shiite population.
●    According to the 2011 census, Badgam district has a population of 735753, roughly equal to the US state of Alaska or the nation of Guyana.
●    It had a sex ratio of 883 females for every 1000 males.

The ninth edition of exercise INDRA NAVY, an annual bilateral maritime exercise between Indian Navy and Russian Navy began in the Bay of Bengal. 
●    The primary aim of exercise INDRA NAVY-16 is to increase inter-operability amongst the two navies and develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations. 
●    The scope of the exercise includes wide-ranging professional interactions in harbor phase and a diverse canvas of operational activities across a spectrum of maritime operations at sea. 
●    The exercise will be held in two phases viz. Harbour Phase (14 to 18 December 2016) at Visakhapatnam and tSea Phase (19 to 21 December 2016) off Visakhapatnam. 
●    The Harbour Phase will encompass table-top exercises, planning conferences, and professional interactions prior progressing to sea. 
●    Indian Navy will be represented by INS Ranvir a guided missile destroyer, INS Satpura an indigenous frigate and INS Kamorta an indigenous Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) corvette.

The Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Bipin Rawat will be the new Chief of Army Staff, while Air Marshal BS Dhanoa, the next Chief of Air Staff. 
●    They will take charge in the afternoon of 31 December 2016.
●    Lt. Gen Rawat will replace General Dalbir Singh, who will retire from his office at the end of this month. 
●    Air Marshal Dhanoa, who will replace Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha. 
●    Over last three decades of his service, Lt. General Rawat has tremendous hands-on experience of serving in combat areas, and at various functional levels in the Indian Army.
●    He has handled various operational responsibilities in many areas, including along the LAC with China, the LoC with Pakistan and in the North-East.
●    He is known for his balanced approach towards compassion, soldiering and connect with civil society.
●    His experience as GOC-in-C Southern Army Command in Mechanised Warfare has been focused towards the western borders, in coordination with the other two services.

Indian boxing star Vijender Singh had promised that he will take his opponent Francis Cheka down in six rounds, before entering the ring. 
●    The Bhiwani boxer on Saturday took less than 10 minutes to knock Cheka out in the third round itself to retain his WBO-Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title.
●    Undefeated in his last seven bouts, Vijender silenced the hype surrounding Cheka with a powerful knockout punch and lifted the coveted title in front of a jam-packed Thyagraj stadium.
●    Vijender won the title in July by beating former European champion Kerry Hope of Australia.
●    Thirty Four-year-old Cheka, who hails from Tanzania, had fought 43 bouts prior to his duel with Vijender. 
●    He had tasted victory in 32 of these showdowns, winning by virtue of a knock-out on 17 occasions.

Tajikistan and India signed an agreement on Saturday against terror financing and money laundering.
●    At the end of the bilateral talks held in Hyderabad House, the Financial Intelligence Unit of India and the Central Asian country signed an agreement to prevent financing of terrorism and money laundering. 
●    Both sides also signed agreements on bilateral investment and avoidance of double taxation.
●    Tajikistan invited India to invest in four free economic zones that have come up in the country and thanked it for the modernisation of the Varzob-1 Hydropower Station.
●    Mr. Rahmon, who also sought investment in the upcoming small and medium hydroelectricity projects, appreciated the signing of the trilateral Chahbahar port agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan as the project will provide connectivity to Tajikistan.
●    The two sides indicated that relationship was expected to deepen in 2017, which would mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations.