GK and Current Affairs Updates

The United Nations Security Council on 30 November 2016 voted to tighten sanctions on North Korea in response to the country’s fifth and largest nuclear test.
●    The council unanimously approved the sanctions resolution following months of diplomatic arguments over how best to respond to North Korea’s latest nuclear test in September 2016.
●    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
●    The new sanctions target North Korea’s hard currency revenues by placing a cap on coal exports, cutting them by at least 62 per cent.
●    In total, the sanction will cut down at least USD 800 million per year the hard currency that the country has to fund its prohibited weapons programs. The prohibited weapons programmes constitute a full 25 percent of North Korea’s entire export revenues.
●    The sanctions would also put a ban on the country’s exports of non-ferrous metals and sanction 11 government officials as well as 10 entities linked to the country’s nuclear weapons program.
●    They also include an array of other measures cracking down on North Korea’s access to the international banking system and on its export of statues.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the "Northeast Textile & Craft Shopping Mela" here today, which has been jointly organised by the Ministry of DoNER and the Ministry of Textiles.
●    Speaking to media persons present on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said the opening of the Northeast Shopping Mela is yet another attempt to portray and acquaint Northeast to the people living outside the region. Expressing satisfaction for having brought Northeast in a big way to the national capital, Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that early this year, the DoNER Ministry started a Northeast stall “Purbashree” at Dilli Haat and now this Shopping Mela at Janpath. He also expressed satisfaction that at both these places, the Northeast stalls are among the first to introduce cashless sale transaction keeping in tune with the Prime Minister Shri Narenda Modi’s current push towards digital economy.
●    After ceremonial cutting of the ribbon to declare the formal opening, Dr Jitendra Singh personally went around each of the 30 stalls, which are devoted to textile and craft products from the eight different States of Northeast. He also confirmed the availability of cashless transaction facility and QR (Quick Response) cash transaction provision at some of the stalls.
●    Dr Jitendra Singh interacted with sales agents at different stalls and also spoke to some of the visiting customers in order to elicit their opinions and inputs. Accompanying Dr Jitendra Singh on the occasion were Shri Naveen Verma, Secretary, DoNER, Secretary, North Eastern Council (NEC), Shri Ram Muivah and senior officers from the Ministry of DoNER and Ministry of Textiles. Dr Jitendra Singh thanked Union Textiles Minister Smt. Smriti Irani for taking personal interest to make possible the setting up of the Northeast Textile & Craft Shopping Mela. The shopping area is spread over 30 stalls / outlets in the "Indian Craft Mela" at the popular market complex of Janpath.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the National Awards for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), 2016 to awardees at a function organized by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment here today on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3rd December). Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Ministers of State of Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, Shri Ramdas Athawale also graced the occasion.
●    Minister of State of Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar said that according to census 2011, there are 2.68 crore Divyangjan in our country who exhibit great diversity in terms of quantum of Disability as well as type of Disabilities. He told about the achievements under various schemes being successfully implemented by the Department for empowerment of Divyangjan with specifically mentioning about the skill development programs, ADIP scheme and Accessible India Campaign.
●    On International Day of Persons with Disabilities i.e. 3rd December  the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment presents National Awards on Individuals, Institutions, Organisations, State/District etc for their outstanding achievements and work done towards empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. The National Award is presented in 14 broad categories –
●    Best Employees/Self Employed with disabilities;
●    Best Employers & Best Placement Officer or Agency;
●    Best Individual and Best Institution working for the Cause of Persons with Disabilities;
●    Role Model;
●    Best Applied Research or Innovation or Product Development aimed at improving the life of persons with Disabilities;
●    Outstanding Work in the Creation of Barrier-free Environment for the Persons with Disabilities;
●    Best District in Providing Rehabilitation Services;
●    Best State Channelizing Agency of National Handicapped Federation Development Corporation;
●    Outstanding Creative Adult Persons with Disabilities;
●    Best Creative Child with Disabilities;
●    Best Braille Press;
●    Best “Accessible” Website;
●    Best State in promoting empowerment of persons with disabilities; and
●    Best sports person with disability.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) 2016 was observed across the world on 3 December 2016.
●    In 2016, the goal of the IDPD is assessing the current status of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and SDGs. 
●    The observance of the 2016 International Day of Persons with Disabilities coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the CRPD. 
●    The CRPD is one of the most quickly and widely ratified international treaties put forth by the United Nations till now.
●    About International Day of Persons with Disabilities
●    The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992.
●    The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of specially-abled persons.
●    The Day also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.
●    Until 2007, it was originally called the International Day of Disabled Persons.

Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel here today launched Digital Training campaign on mobile banking for the youth. 
●    The idea is to promote the benefits of online banking and boost the methods of cashless transactions. 
●    The Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan which comes under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will be leading this initiative and has invited interested youngsters to participate in the various training camps being organised across India.With this initiative, these youngsters will not only educate people about the benefits of cashless society but also get certificates that would help them to teach these skills further. 
●    The aim is to create widespread awareness about the ways and means to transact in a cashless society.
●    Speaking on the occasion, Shri Vijay Goel said that he salutes revolutionary step taken by Prime Minster Shri Narendra Modi. 
●    He said that Prime minister has utmost faith in youth of the country and believes that the youth will contribute immensely towards promoting “Digital Economy” and it is our duty to carry forward his vision to make Indian society a cashless society.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju will be the chief guest of this year’s Navy Day function at the Ramakrishna Beach here on December 4.
●    The Eastern Naval Command is celebrating the Navy Day on December 4 every year to mark the deadly attack by its missile boats on the Karachi harbour on this day in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. 
●    The operational demonstration of capability and versatility of Naval ships, aircraft and the Special Forces is the event people of Visakhapatnam and neighbouring areas look forward to every year.
●    The Navy Day starts with paying homage to the Services personnel who made the supreme sacrifice during the 1971 war with Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command Vice-Admiral H.C.S. Bisht and dignitaries laying wreaths at the War Memorial in the beach road.
●    The much awaited operational display will be held in the evening. Twenty-four ships like destroyers, Corvettes, fast attack craft and landing ships and 17 naval aircraft will participate in the show.

Kolkata, along with 10 other cities from across the globe, has been honoured with the best cities of 2016 award in recognition of its inspiring and innovative programme with regard to solid waste management.
●    Kolkata is the only Indian city to receive the prestigious award. It received the award during the C40 Mayors Summit held in Mexico City.
●    The project involved 100 per cent door to door collection of solid waste, segregation and recycling by way of compositing which is sold in the market.
●    One significant aspect of this project is that ragpickers are part of it.
●    Other cities that won the award are Addis Adaba, Copenhagen, Curitiba, Sydney and Malborne, Paris, Portland, Seoul Shenzhen, and Yokohama.
●    The winning projects show that great progress is being made on every continent, and they serve as an inspiration to other cities. 
●    They also show how cities can help the world meet the ambitious goals set a year ago in Paris.

On December 2, 2016 Rakesh Asthana was named as interim Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director by the government. 
●    On the same day CBI Director Anil Sinha retired from the post. 
●    He handed over his post to his immediate deputy, Gujarat-cadre IPS Officer Rakesh Asthana. This time the government did not name any full-time chief.
●    A Gujarat-cadre officer of 1984-batch, Asthana got elevated as number two in CBI three days ago when special director R K Dutta, who was among the frontrunners for the top post, was shifted to the Home Ministry as a special secretary. 
●    The post of second special secretary was formed for the first time in the ministry. Another IPS officer from the Gujarat, Arun Kumar Sharma was made joint director of CBI in 2015.
●    Outgoing CBI Director Anil Sinha completed his two-year tenure on December 2. 
●    It is the first time in last 10 years that no new CBI chief has been named to succeed the current chief.

Gambia’s Electoral Commission chief has declared Adama Barrow, the opposition coalition candidate winner of the country’s December 1 presidential election.
●    The announcement marks the beginning of the end of over a two-decade rule by Yahya Jammeh who took power in 1994.
●    According to the Electoral Commission, Barrow won 263,515 votes (45.5%) in Thursday’s election, while President Jammeh took 212,099 (36.7%). 
●    A third party candidate, Mama Kandeh managed 102,969 (17.8%).
●    The Gambia is a small West African country, bounded by Senegal, with a narrow Atlantic coastline. 
●    It's known for its diverse ecosystems around the central Gambia River. 
●    Abundant wildlife in its Kiang West National Park and Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve includes monkeys, leopards, hippos, hyenas and rare birds. 
●    The capital, Banjul, and nearby Serrekunda offer access to beaches.

TeamIndus, a private aerospace starup company seemed to have one upped the ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 project. 
●    The company is planning to send a spacecraft to the moon, with the help of a launch rocket by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
●    The scheduled launch date of the rocket is December 28, 2017. 
This will be India's first private moon mission to be launched, which until now have been regulated solely by the government. 
●    ISRO's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will be taking the TeamIndus's rocket to the moon.
●    TeamIndus won the Google Lunar XPRIZE, a 30 million USD competition. 
●    Based in Bengaluru, TeamIndus is led by Rahul Narayan. 
●    He heads a teach of over 100 members with a pool of engineers, space enthusiasts, former Air Force pilots and former ISRO employees. 
●    The investors range from Ratan Tata of the Tata Group to Binny and Sachin Bansal, co-founders of Flipkart and Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys.