NEWS

• PM Narendra Modi has been ranked among the top 10 most powerful people in the world by Forbes. He ranks 9th among the 74 people topped by Russian President Putin. Meanwhile, Indian cabinet minister Sushma Swaraj is placed in the list of Global Thinkers of 2016 list.

• The Supreme Court has banned all liquor shops within 500 meters of national and state highways.
• Cyclone ‘Vardah’ splashed the parts of Andhra Pradesh with definite intensity, The coastal districts like Nellore and Prakasam were already warned and nearly 9,450 people from low-lying areas to safe places by the respective authorities.
• The Govt has launched Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme which involves the unaccounted money holders to come clean or face action. The deposits will be levied a charge of 50%, which breaks down into 30% tax, 33% surcharge and  10% penalty.
• BRICS Health Ministers’ Meet was conducted in New Delhi on 16th December, the member countries committed to promoting health, acknowledged the renewed commitment to health.
• Indian supreme Journo Arnab Goswami has announced his new venture would be called as Republic.
• India has been ranked as the No. 1 innovation destination in Asia and No. 2 in the world for new innovation centers.
• The govt has approved the major Port Authorities Bill, 2016 replacing the Major Port Trusts Act,1963 and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2016 is also passed after Lok Sabha granted approval.
• Tamil Nadu government proposed late CM Jayalalithaa for ‘Bharat Ratna’, the highest honor of the country. The proposal includes the installation of Amma’s statue in Parliament complex.
• Considering the need to “maintain discipline” in Indian Air Force, the apex court stated that the Muslim Personnel cannot keep beards in accordance to their religious grounds.
• The 7th edition of Exercise EKUVERIN will is scheduled to be held from 15th to 28th December 2016 at Kadhdhoo, Laamu Atoll, Maldives and the 9th edition of Indra Navy-16, a bilateral exercise between India and Russia has begun at Visakhapatnam. These ideas include the mutual progress of armies together.
• Gujarat-born activist Jayaben Desai was named among the seven woman chosen to mark the 70th anniversary of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’.
• India now has the 4th-largest defense budget, followed by Saudi Arabia and Russia spending $50.6 Billion in 2016.
• A nationwide toll-free helpline number ‘14444’ will be launched very soon for digital payments.
• World Bank asked both India & Pakistan to find an alternative way to resolve the disagreements in Indus valley treaty.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed the first contract for an industry-built spacecraft along with six companies based in Bengaluru.
• Shivraj Singh Chauhan, CM of Madhya Pradesh launched Narmada Seva Yatra at Amarkantak, the yatra includes at turning Narmada river pollution free within 5 months.
• Pakistan selected Lt. Gen Naveed Mukhtar as the new director-general of its powerful military Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
• Newly-built civil air terminal at Bathinda, Punjab is inaugurated by Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

BUSINESS

• Indra Nooyi, the Indian-born CEO of PepsiCo & Travis Kalanick, co-founder of Uber have joined the President-elect’s Trump council. Meanwhile, Indian-American Woman, Savita Vaidhyanathan, has been elected as the mayor of the Cupertino city of California.

• India & United States have reached a deal for the first bilateral advance pricing agreement (APA), this enables American firms to find out tax liabilities in advance.
• Google’s parent company Alphabet’s CEO Larry Page is named as the world’s most powerful CEO by Forbes.
• Satyam Bansal, Chief of Staff for Executive Chairman & co-founder of Flipkart exists Flipkart after a 3-year stint to join Hotstar.
• The government appointed V K Sharma as the Chairman of state-owned behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for five years and V G Kannan took charge as Chief Executive of the Indian Banks’ association (IBA).
• Watal Panel headed by former finance secretary Ratan P Watal submitted its report on ‘Making India a Digital Payment Economy’ to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The panel suggested the leveraging of any proof identity for digital transactions.
• The ministry of MSME has launched the National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub to offer exclusive funds and support for lower castes. India has signed a Grant Agreement of USD 5.19 million with World Bank for reconstruction and Development (IBRD) which also includes the financing of MSMEs.
• Canara Bank has raised Rs 1,000 crore by issuing Basel-III compliant tier-I bonds and the popular Karnataka Bank has raised Rs 659 crores as the capital.
• Prestigious Tata group have tied up with UP govt to leverage digital platforms to strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS).
• The union government waived off the import duty on wheat from 10 percent to nil.
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) has trimmed the growth estimate of India from earlier 7.4% to 7% as a result of demonetization and agricultural slowdown.
• NITI Aayog is about to launch the two schemes ‘Lucky Grahak Yojna & Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojna’ these two schemes are aimed at promoting the digital payments post demonetization.

SPORTS

• India made a massive victory at 3-0 against England. Meanwhile, Team India’s skipper Virat Kohli became the only Indian batsman to hit three double centuries.

• Ace cricketer Virat Kohli made it to the list of people who scored 1000 runs within a year. After Rahul Dravid (1095 runs-12 tests) in 2006 and Sachin Tendulkar (1000 runs-11 tests) in 1997, Kohli hit 1112 in 11 tests.
• Pankaj Advani bagged his 11th World Billard’s championship title after beating Peter Gilchrist in the summit clash.
• World-Bronze medallist Shiva Thapa clinched his first lightweight (60 kg) National Championships gold medal.
• Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi has been banned from international swimming for two years after failing a drug test at the Rio Olympics 2016.
• 5-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand ended up with a draw against British number one Micheal Adams in the fourth round of the London Chess Classic in London.
• Former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar was conferred with the Golden Jubilee Lifetime Achievement by the Sports Journalists’ Association of Mumbai (SJAM) in Mumbai.
• Iqbal Sayed of Mumbai won the silver medal at the Mr. Olympia amateur event held in Hong Kong defeating participants from 20 countries.
• Kolkata will soon have one of the largest indoor sports arenas of the country accommodating up to 15,400 people.
• Britain’s Andy Murray & Germany’s Angelique Kerber were named 2016 ITF World Champions.

VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA

• Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal reached the 10 million followers on Twitter, he is the second most followed politician in India. Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi stood first.
• Actress Priyanka Chopra has been appointed as UNICEF’s newest global Goodwill Ambassador.
• Prominent Hollywood director Christopher Nolan released the trailer of his upcoming movie ‘Dunkirk‘ that earned precious compliments for the screenplay, sound mixing, and epic storyline.
• Music Maestro ‘AR Rahman‘ has earned another oscar nomination for his contribution to ‘Pele’ movie.
• Twinkle Khanna a.k.a ‘Mrs. Funny Bones’ Makes ‘Twitterati’ Go In Laughter With Her Self-Trolling Tweet
• CM Arvind Kejriwal gets trolled after shooting a question on PM Modi’s educational qualification.

• Mamata Banerjee made Fake Allegations On The Indian Army And Army Gave A Befitting Reply.

• Actress Kriti Sanon Rs. 2000 Note Dress went Viral On The Internet.