Daily GK Update- 17 December 2016

Daily GK Update : 17th December 2016

Banking & Finance

1. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana comes into effect today

• Today, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) comes into effect and continue till 31st March 2017.
• Declaration of undisclosed income under it can be made by any person in the form of cash or deposits in an account with bank or post office.
• The PMKGY provides for 50%  tax and surcharge on declarations of unaccounted cash deposited in banks.
• The money generated from disclosure of unaccounted cash will be used for this yojana and will be kept confidential.

2. India's foreign exchange reserves down by USD 887.2 mn to USD 362.987 bn

• Foreign exchange reserves of India has declined by 887.2 million dollars to 362.987 billion dollars in the week ended this month.
• Gold reserves remained steady at 19.982 billion dollars.
• India's special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decreased by 5.4 million dollars to 1.438 billion dollars.
• The country's reserve position also dipped by 8.8 million dollars to 2.307 billion dollars.

Note:

• Foreign exchange reserves are reserve assets held by a central bank in foreign currencies, used to back liabilities on their own issued currency as well as to influence monetary policy.

3. Pimpri Budruk in Pune district declared cashless village

• The Centre for Good Governance has declared that Pimpri Budruk in Pune district as a cashless village.
• Each of the eligible members (students to senior citizens) of the village Pimpari Budruk from Khed tahasil of Pune District has an account with the bank and every transaction is being done through mobile banking.
• All the villagers have been trained by the bank officials and volunteers of Centre for Good Governance.

National Affairs

4. NTPC signs MoU with NALCO to set up power plant in Odisha

• National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd. and National Aluminium Company (NALCO) have jointly agreed to set up a cola based 2400 MW power plant at Gajmara in Dhenkanal district.
• The energy produced at this unit will be used to supply power to Nalco's aluminium smelter.
• The estimated investment in all these projects will be approximately Rs. 36,000 crores.

5. Rajasthan launches meal scheme 'Annapurna Rasoi'

• Rajasthan government has launched a subsidised meal scheme ‘Annapurna Rasoi'.
• As per the scheme, the poor and the needy will get breakfast for Rs. 5 and lunch or dinner for Rs 8.
• Initially, the scheme has been launched in 12 cities Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Ajmer, Bikaner, Udaipur, Bharatpur, Baran, Banswara, Dungarpur, Jhalawar and Pratapgarh.

6. The Union Govt to deploy 600 young professionals to boost Swachh Bharat

• The Union Government will deploy 600 (One in each district) Zila Swachh Bharat Preraks (ZSBPs) across the country to boost Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
• The role of the ZSBPs will be to support (technical and management) to the Collector/DDO/CEO to implement Swachh Bharat Mission by coordinating the various sanitation-related activities in the district.
• The cadre will be funded and recruited by the Tata Trusts.

Honours & Awards

7. Sushma Swaraj named 2016 'Global Thinker' by Foreign Policy magazine

• The union minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has been named as a '2016 Global Thinker' for her 'novel twitter diplomacy'.
• She has been chosen to be part of a list of 15 top global thinkers by a prestigious foreign policy magazine.

International Affairs

8. UN extends peacekeeping mission in South Sudan

• United Nations Security Council has extended the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan till December 2017.
• The mission will include a new regional force of 4,000 troops.

Note:

• South Sudan has suffered ethnic violence and has been in a civil war since 2013
• As of 2016, it has the second highest score on the Fragile States Index.

Sports

9. World Super Series Finals: PV Sindhu to play semi-final match today

• Rio Olympics Silver medalist in Badminton PV Sindhu will play her semi-final match Ji Hyun Sung (South Korea) with of Dubai World Superseries Finals.
• Earlier, Sindhu had stormed into the semi-final after beating world number one Carolina Marin in the straight game 21-17, 21-13.
• The top-eight ranked players in the Dubai Rankings make the cut to the competition.

10. India storm into final of Men's Junior Hockey world Cup beat Australia

• India beat Australia (4-2)  via Shootout to reach the Hockey Junior World Cup at the Major Dhyan Chand Astroturf Stadium in Lucknow(UP).
• Now India will face Belgium in the summit clash.
• Earlier, Indian defence Lachlan Sharp conceded a soft goal in the 57th minute to take the match into shoot-out after both the teams were locked at 2-2 at the end of regulation time.
• In the other semi-final, Belgium thrashed Germany 4-3 in the penalty Shootout.

Note:

• In 2013, men’s Junior World Cup was held in New Delhi.
• Championship has started from 8th December 2016 and close an end on 18th December.
• 16 teams were in fray where 44 matches were scheduled between 4 pooled teams.