December Current affairs (IBPS Clerk)

●World AIDS Day is observed across the world on 1st December annually. The theme for 2016 World Aids Day is ‘Hands Up for HIV Prevention’.

·       The autobiography of India’s batting legend Sachin Tendulkar “Playing it my way” has won the prestigious Crossword Book of the Year Award in the Autobiography category. It is penned by renowned cricket historian and Tendulkar’s close friend Boria Majumdar.

·       NITI Aayog constituted a 13-member committee to promote cashless economy. The committee will be headed by Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu.

·       Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurates the 55,000-tonne per annum (TPA) Odisha ferro-chrome plant set up by Tata Steel at a cost of Rs 542 crore in its Gopalpur Industrial Park in Ganjam district.

·       Supreme Court made it mandatory for cinema halls to play the National anthem before the screening of a film in theatres across the country.

·       Raj Bhawan of Himachal Pradesh has adopted the cashless system for all kind of payments. Governor Acharya Devvrat has directed Raj Bhawan’s official in Shimla to use a cashless system or cheque in all kinds of payments.

·       Federal Bank has tied up with Spice Digital for cash management services through the bank’s e-collection facility.

·       Union Government has approved inclusion of 15 new castes and modification of 13 other castes in the Central List of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

·       Union Cabinet has approved Rs 2,000 Cr development package for one-time settlement of 36,384 displaced families from Pakistan occupied areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Chhamb.

·       Union Cabinet has approved the Mumbai Urban Transport Project Phase-III estimated to cost Rs 10,947 crores on completion.

·       Central Statistical Office announced that India’s Gross Domestic Product accelerated to 7.3 % in the second quarter (July-September) of the 2016-17 financial year from a provisional 7.1 % expansion in the previous quarter. On the other hand, the Gross Value Added (GVA) increased to 7.1 percent.

·       Yoga, India’s one of the ancient practices to keep oneself healthy, has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

·       All-India Football Federation has won the Asian Football Council's Developing Member Association of the Year Award in Abu Dhabi.

·       Chemistry’s highest gatekeepers have accepted the newly proposed names for elements 113(Nihonium), 115 (Moscovium), 117 (Tennessine) and 118 (Oganesson). Periodic Table elements with atomic number 113, Nihonium (Nh) has become the first ever element to be discovered by an Asian country after it was officially revealed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

·       Union HRD Minister launches 'Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan' to use the network of Centrally-run educational institutions for propagating the benefits of digital mode of payment in wake of the government’s demonetisation move.

·       China and Pakistan have launched a direct rail and sea freight service with the first cargo train departing from China’s southwestern Yunnan province.

·       Singer Katy Perry was honoured with the 'Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award' for her work as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

·       Amid the Centre's push for the digital transaction, Dhasai village in Thane district has become the first "cashless village" in Maharashtra. 

·       Magnus Carlsen won the 2016 World Chess Championship in New York City, USA. Carlsen defeated Sergey Karjakin to retain the World Chess Champion title.

·       Emirates launched the world's shortest scheduled service on an Airbus A380, flying it from Dubai to Doha within 80 minutes.

·       International Day of Persons with Disabilities being observed on 03rd December 2016. The theme of World Disability Day for 2016 is: Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want.

·       RBI defers mandatory implementation of Aadhar-enabled  PoS (Point of Sale) devices till June 30,2017.

·       Airtel Payments Bank, the first payments bank in India introduce that any customer opening a savings account with it will get one minute of talk time on his/her Airtel mobile for every rupee deposited.

·       Edible oil firm Ruchi Soya Industries in association with State Bank of India (SBI) launched an initiative to provide banking assistance to farmers. Under the initiative ‘Kisan Kalyan Ayojan’, the company will help farmers to open bank accounts, procure the produce directly from farmers at the right price and ensure farmers get their payment immediately through internet banking.

·       A 16-year-old Indian girl based in the UAE has won this year's International Children's Peace Prize for her fight for climate justice and combating environmental degradation.

·       The Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi is the 22nd most connected airport in the world, according to air travel intelligence company OAG. OAG's 2016 Megahubs Index has been topped by Chicago Airport in the United States.

·       Basketball player LeBron James has been chosen as the Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year, becoming the second athlete ever to win the award twice.

·       Spanish city has changed its name for the third time in a decade, renaming itself Palma from Palma de Mallorca.

·       Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won the International Association of Athletics Federations' award for male athlete of the year for a record sixth time.

·       Kolkata, along with 10 other cities from across the globe, has been honoured with the best cities of 2016 award in recognition of its programme on solid waste management.

·       Ramkrishna unexpectedly quit as chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange (NSE), ending her 24-year career.

·       Hailakandi has become the first district in Assam to pay wages to tea garden workers through individual bank accounts.

·       India will train Qatar police for handling the security during the FIFA World Cup 2022 scheduled to be held in that country.

·       India and Qatar has signed four agreements on visas, cyberspace and investments. It was signed between Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.

·       India's representative Srinidhi Shetty has been crowned Miss Supranational 2016, an international beauty pageant.

·       Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling starrer romantic drama La La Land has been chosen as the best film of 2016 by the New York Film Critics Circle. Manchester won the best actor award for Casey Affleck & Barry Jenkins was recognised as the best director for Moonlight & best actress trophy went to Isabelle Huppert for Elle and Things to Come.

·       Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended his greetings to all members of the Indian Navy and their families on the occasion of Navy Day which was observed on 4^th December.

·       Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu jumped two places to achieve her career-best ranking of seven in the latest BWF World Ranking, while Saina Nehwal is also back in the top 10.

·       Tesla and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk has been named the most admired leader in the technology space.

·       The sixth 'Heart of Asia' ministerial conference has kicked off in Amritsar, Punjab to discuss peace, cooperation and economic development in Afghanistan. The theme is 'Addressing Challenges, Achieving Prosperity'.

·       India women’s cricket team won the Asia Cup T20 after beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the regional tournament by 17 runs.

·       US President-elect Donald Trump has named General Motors CEO Mary Barra to his economic and job-creation panel.

·       Universal Studios Hollywood has been named the Best Attraction in the World by ticket selling site 'AttractionTix'. Warner Brothers Studio Tour was voted the best attraction in the UK while Magic Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World Resort was named the Best Family Attraction.

·       The International Volunteer Day (IVD) is observed across the world on 5 December every year. This year theme is " Global Applause – give volunteers a hand".

·       The World Soil Day 2016 is observed on 5 December annually. The theme for this year is “Soils and pulses, a symbiosis for life”.

·       Tasmania-based Women's Legal Service in collaboration with TRS Law Offices (India) has launched a website (www.Girlsgottaknow.In) for women in the country to educate them about their legal rights.

·       In order to mop up extra liquidity from the system in view of demonetisation, government and the Reserve Bank sharply raised the Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS) ceiling to Rs 6 lakh crore from Rs 30,000 crore.

·       All India Football Federation President Praful Patel has been appointed as a Senior Vice-President of Asian Football Confederation.

·       Thailand named its crown prince Maha Vajiralongkorn as its new king after the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadei.

·       Indian Golfer Mukesh Kumar became the oldest golfer to win an Asian Tour title after winning the Panasonic Open India.

·       Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal have been jointly named "Asian of the Year 2016" by Singapore-based newspaper The Straits Times.

·       KPMG in India and Microsoft India have established a strategic IoT Advisory partnership. This will enable them to combine their advanced technologies, industry insights, and creative thinking to accelerate the digital transformation of large and mid-market Indian enterprises.

·       Telecom operator Bharti Airtel, announced top level changes by appointing Sunil Taldar as CEO & Director of its DTH arm Airtel Digital TV and moving incumbent Shashi Arora as MD & CEO of Airtel Payments Bank.

·       E-commerce major Amazon has launched its global startup program 'Launchpad' in India, an online portal featuring over 400 products from different startups including 25 Indian startups.

·       Driven by increased 4G and 3G penetration, India's internet population is likely to increase from current 343 million users to 600 million by 2020, according to a study by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and Deloitte.

·       Former international hockey umpire and veteran administrator, Phulel Singh Sujlana, passed away due to old age.

·       Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaraman passed away at a Chennai hospital on 05th December 2016. The 68-year old AIADMK supremo breathed her last at the Apollo Hospital.

·       After the demise of AIADMK supremo & Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, 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.

·       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.

·       Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has announced that the state would be setting up a special panel to stop child trafficking which is to be chaired by Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee.

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

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

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

·       Independent candidate and pro-European Alexander Van der Bellen has won the Austria's re-run presidential election with around 53.5% votes.

·       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.

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

·       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.

·       Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched PSLV C36 Resource Sat-2A from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

·       Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept its key policy rate, the Repo Rate (RR), at 6.25 %. It has lowered the growth forecast by 0.5% to 7.1% for 2016-17.

·       RBI has withdrawn the incremental cash reserve ratio (CRR) of 100%.

·       World Economic Forum (WEF) has named Hindi language ranked 10th in the top 10 most powerful languages on the planet.  The list features English as the most powerful language followed by Mandarin.

·       Reserve Bank of India has authorised the Receivables Exchange of India (RXIL), promoted by Sidbi and NSE, to launch the country's first trade receivables exchange platform for MSMEs, buyers and financiers.

·       Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corp have signed a pact to build India's biggest oil refinery at a cost of $30 billion on the west coast in Maharashtra. IOC will hold a 50 % stake in the project while BPCL and HPCL will have 25 % each.

·       Women and Child Development Ministry has tied up with India Post and SBI. This will offer more payment options to buyers and simplify shipping of products bought from "Mahila E-haat", an online marketing platform for women entrepreneurs.

·       The world’s first hospital train, Lifeline Express is all set to get two additional coaches for cancer treatment.

·       Dr BR Ambedkar's birth anniversary to be observed as 'Water Day' across the country on 14 April, will be observed as “Water Day” across India.

·       Corporation Bank has bagged the ‘Best MSME Bank Award 2016’ instituted by Assocham.

·       Vijaya Bank has been adjudged ‘Best Bank for SME Lending award’ by Assocham.

·       In order to further boost its growing defence ties with Vietnam, India has agreed to train the southeast nation’s Sukhoi-30 fighter pilots.

·       Bharat Earth Movers Limited Ltd (BEML) has bagged the ‘CII National Quality 2016 Award’.

·       Singapore has the highest achieving students in international education rankings, with its teenagers coming top in tests in maths, reading and science.

·       The Russian-Indian- Indra NAVY-2016 naval exercise will be held in this December. It will be held in the city of Visakhapatnam and in the Bay of Bengal.

·       The annual bilateral maritime exercise Konkan 16 between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy (British Navy) started in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

·       Multimedia artist Helen Marten won the Turner Prize, which is Britain’s top award for contemporary art. It is the 2nd prize in a month for Marten, who also won the inaugural Hepworth Prize.

·       Political satirist and founder editor of Thuglak magazine, Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy is popularly known as Cho Ramaswamy passed away due to cardiac arrest in a Chennai.

·       The TIME magazine has named US President-elect Donald Trump as Person of the Year 2016 and called him the President of the 'Divided States of America'. Modi won the online readers' poll conducted by Time magazine for Person of the Year 2016, the second time he emerged winner of the reader's choice poll.

·       U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has selected Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as his incoming government's ambassador to China.

·       National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) will extend support aggregating about Rs. 120 crore to banks for deployment of two Point-of-Sale (PoS) devices per village in one lakh villages having a population of up to 10,000.

·       Cabinet approves MoU with Afghanistan on cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space

·       Cabinet approves MoU with United Kingdom UK to support ease of doing business in India

·       India and United Kingdom (UK) MoU for cooperation in field of Intellectual Property approved.

·       Cabinet approves Indo-Thai agreement on narcotics control.

·       The Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) is scheduled to be held in Goa. The festival will see a stellar line-up of 33 global artists, who will display their work at the eight-day inspiration-packed festival.

·       Senior judge of the Supreme Court Justice Mian Saqib Nisar was appointed as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan.

·       Karnataka Bank Ltd has bagged the ‘Best MSME Bank Award (private sector) 2016’ instituted by Assocham.

·       Microsoft has introduced business solutions from its partner ecosystem to meet the business needs of small and medium businesses across Kerala.

·       Board of directors of IDFC Bank has approved the appointment of Veena Mankar as Non-Executive Chairperson.

·       Ghana's main opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo has won the country's presidential election with an absolute majority.

·       Amazon, which started as an online book retailer, has announced Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as the best-selling book of 2016. The playscript by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, was also named this year's 'Most Wished For' and 'Most Gifted' book.

·       India and the United States vowed to expand the bilateral defence cooperation. Outgoing American defence secretary Ashton Carter termed New Delhi as a "major defence partner".

·       Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has launched Haritha Keralam Mission in Thiruvananthapuram to develop the Indian Railways in terms of service in travelling and freight across the country.

·       Stockholders of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank approved to merge into the biggest bank of all Gulf Countries with an asset of $ 178 billion. After the merger the combined company will be named as NBAD.

·       Pakistan has removed an “undeclared” ban on import of ginned cotton from India.

·       In order to enhance cooperation in education sector between India and Egypt, Center has decided to set up a center of Excellence in Information Technology at the Al-Azhar University which is the oldest and most prestigious the University of Egypt.

·       Vistaar Financial Services, an MSME-focused financing firm, has appointed former Sebi chief C B Bhave as non-executive Chairman and Independent Director.

·       Captain of the senior National Men’s Hockey Team and one of the finest hockey goal-PR Sreejeshkeeper in the world, PR Sreejesh has been roped in as the Goalkeeping Mentor of the India Under-21 Hockey Team.

·       Young Indian racer Jehan Daruvala has been signed by Formula 3's top team Carlin for the 2017 FIA F3 European Championship.

·       Former NASA astronaut and Democratic US Senator from Ohio , John Glenn, has passed away at the age of 95.

·       The Human Rights Day is observed across the world on 10 December every year.

·       India and Vietnam have signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement. The two countries also signed three other agreements — to enhance aviation links, to jointly work in the area of energy efficiency and promotion of parliamentary cooperation.

·       Kerala government has launched two mobile applications which can be used to upload information regarding graft. The applications launched ae=re - 'ArisingKerala' and 'Whistle Now ‘.

·       Indian filmmaker Onir's documentary, 'Raising The Bar' has won the 'Award of Recognition' at the 'Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards'.

·       The 21st International Film Festival of Kerala began in Thiruvananthapuram.

·       Muhtar Kent has announced that he will step down as the CEO of Coca-Cola in May 2017 and will be succeeded by company President and COO James Quincey.

·       Japan has successfully launched a rocket named H-2B carrying the unmanned cargo spaceship Kounotori 6 to deliver supplies for astronauts living in the International Space Station (ISS).

·       Peter Gilchrist of Singapore defeated Sourav Kothari to win the 2016 IBSF World Billiards Long Up title.

·       Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Ravi Shankar Prasad, launched a TV channel named ‘DigiShala’ to promote cashless transaction in rural areas. The government also initiated ‘Digi Dhan Abhiyan’ to achieve the objective of educating, enabling and informing citizens about the cashless economy.

·       Larsen & Turbo (L&T) has bagged a contract from the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) to make Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium of Gujarat the world’s biggest cricket stadium in terms of seating capacity.

·       The India-UK Conference on Ease of Doing Business concluded in New Delhi. This act as an opportunity to enhance the strategic bilateral partnership between the two nations to the next level.

·       The 28th State Information Ministers Conference (SIMCON), 2016, was organised by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

·       A black civil rights leader who led a struggle against anti-black segregation and racism in Canada in the 1940s will be the first Canadian woman to figure on a banknote.  Viola Desmond will appear on the Canadian $10 bill - replacing the nation's first prime minister John A Macdonald.

·       Senior Indian Revenue Service officer Rajendra Kumar has been appointed as the new Member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy making body for the Income Tax Department.

·       The committee formed by Finance Ministry to boost Digital Payment system in India that was headed by Shri. Ratan P. Watal submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

·       Rajasthan High Court cancelled the Rajasthan Special Backward Classes (SBC) reservation Act 2015 that allowed for 5% quota to Gujjars and five other communities of the state.

·       Mumbai's Iqbal Sayed, who works as a civil engineer with Reliance Infrastructure and Mumbai Metro, became the first Indian to win a medal at the Mr Olympia event, after securing a silver medal in the event.

·       Virat Kohli became the first Indian to score three double hundreds in a year, playing against England.

·       President Pranab Mukherjee has launched a campaign, to end child labour, child slavery and violence against children. He launched the '100 Million for 100 Million Campaign' organised by The Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation.

·       CM Mehbooba Mufti flags off first children special train in valley. It was flagged off at Banihal that en routes from Quazigund, Anantnag, Awantipur, Srinagar, Budgam, Sopore and Baramula.

·       Rajasthan government has recently launched a mobile App named LeZgo that provides the latest information about tourist attractions in Ajmer and Pushkar.

·       Uttar Pradesh Government has tied up with Tata Trusts to acquire digital platforms to strengthen the public distribution system (PDS) in the state.

·       Paolo Gentiloni has been named as Italy's new Prime Minister following reformist leader Matteo Renzi's resignation in the wake of a crushing referendum defeat.

·       Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has constituted a committee to fight against the problem of online piracy and develop suitable business standards and best practices for the digital entertainment industry. Ajit Mohan of Hotstar will be the chairman of the committee.

·       The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC Russia reached a mutual agreement on their first deal since 2001, to jointly restrict oil production to control the excess global availability of the oil and thus boost oil prices.

·       Cyrus Mistry removed as director of Tata Industries at the Tata Industries Extraordinary General Meeting.

·       The world’s longest tunnel, Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) in Switzerland was opened for regular rail services.

·       China has launched the first of its new generation weather satellites Fengyun-4. The New technology on the satellite will improve the accuracy of weather forecasts.

·       Bishweshwar Nandi, coach of Dipa Karmakar who made India proud at the Rio Olympics with her performance in the field of gymnastics will co-author her memoir titled: “Dipa Karmakar: The Small Wonder”.

·       India and Indonesia have signed three agreements during the visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo. MoU on Youth and Sports Cooperation, on Standardization Cooperation between the Bureau of Indian Standards and the National Standardization Agency of Indonesia & Joint Communiqué on the Voluntary International Cooperation to Combat Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) Fishing and to promote Sustainable Fisheries Governance was signed between the Union Government and the Government of Indonesia.

·       Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping laid the foundation stones for 17 road projects on 11 December 2016 during two functions held at Jiribam and Imphal.

·       Antonio Guterres, a former Portuguese Prime Minister, was sworn in as the ninth UN Secretary-General succeeding Ban Ki-moon as the chief of the 71-year old world body.

·       EU has signed a deal with Cuba on political dialogue and cooperation, with Cuba being the only Latin American country to lack such an agreement earlier.

·       Punjab government has launched country's first amphibious bus project at the Harike wetland near Amritsar.

·       Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani won his 11th World Billiards (150-Up format) Championships title by beating Peter Gilchrist of Singapore in the summit clash in Bengaluru.

·       Two Indian-origin men have figured in Forbes magazine's second annual list of wealthiest entrepreneurs under the age of 40 which is topped by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Vivek Ramaswamy, a successful biotech entrepreneur has been ranked 24th on 'America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 2016' list & Apoorva Mehta stands at 31st spot with a 360 million dollars net worth.

·       Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar has been appointed as the new Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).  He replaces Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar.

·       Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo beat rival Lionel Messi to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or award for the fourth time.

·       Asian Development Bank lowered India's growth forecast for this year from 7.4 % to 7 % due to a slight slowdown in the economy following the central government's demonetisation move.

·       Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad has achieved carbon neutral status. It is the first in the Asia-Pacific region in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category to attain this status.

·       Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed an agreement with a consortium of six companies to deliver India's first industry-built satellite by late 2017.