of november, 1946. its present head is audrey azoulay (france)...2013- sankirtana, ritual singing,...

77Weekly Current Affairs

by CLASSMATE ACADEMY

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11 - 17 December 2017For Private Circulation Only

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Features Page No.National 2International 2Economy 3Bilateral 3Clocks, Calendar 4,5Telangana 6Andhra Pradesh 6 Science & Technology 7Environment 7Sports 7Persons in News 7Obituary 7Dairy of Events 8Do You Know? 8

The WeeklyThe Weekly

Kumbh Mela…. In UNESCO listKumbh Mela…. In UNESCO list

The United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization is responsible for coordinating

international cooperation in education,

science, culture and communication. Its head thquarters is in Paris. It was formed on the 16

of November, 1946. Its present head is

Audrey Azoulay (France)

UNESCO

The Taj Mahal, India's iconic ivory-white marble mausoleum in Agra, is the second best UNESCO world heritage site in the world,

according to a new survey by online travel portal TripAdvisor. The Taj Mahal is rated after

Cambodia's Angkor Wat. Other popular heritage sites on the survey include the Great Wall of China (Third) built by Xu Da of Northern Qi Dynasty in 1368 AD. Machu Pichu in Peru in

South America has bagged the fourth spot.

TAJ MAHAL EMERGED SECOND BEST

The Kumbh Mela has been recognized by Unesco as an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity”. The intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage under the UN

body inscribed the Kumbh Mela on the “representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity” at its 12th session in Jeju, South Korea. Kumbh Mela, considered the

world's largest congregation of religious pilgrims, joins new elements from Botswana, Colombia, Venezuela, Mongolia, Morocco, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on the list. The Kumbh Mela, is held in Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. UNESCO also took note of the fact that knowledge and skills related to the Kumbh Mela are transmitted through the guru-shishya parampara (teacher-student relationship) by way of saints and sadhus teaching their disciples about traditional rituals and chants.

2016- Nauroz Festival2014- Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the

Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab. 2013- Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur.

2012- Buddhist Chanting in Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir.2010- Chhau Dance, Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan, Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala.

2009- Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas.

2008- Kuttyattam, Sanskrit Theatre, Tradition of Vedic chanting, Ramlila, the traditional performance of Ramayana.

Intangible heritage list of India in UNESCO list

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CONTENTS


11 - 17 December 20172

By Classmate AcademyBy Classmate Academy

NationalNationalMadame Tussauds wax museumopens its doors to Delhi: India’sfirst Madame Tussauds wax museumopened its doors to Delhi on the 1st

of December with 50 life-like figuresspanning across history, sports,music, films and politics, for thepublic at the iconic Regal building incentral Delhi.

Madame Tussauds has been asuccessful tourist attraction in placeslike London, Las Vegas, New York,Orlando, San Francisco and HongKong. Its maiden facility here has wax

statues of Indian personalities likePrime Minister Narendra Modi,cinematic icon Amitabh Bachchan andFather of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi,along with many Hollywood celebrities.

The Delhi facility is the 23rd editionof Madame Tussauds.

International Tourism Mart inGuwahati: In order to improve tieswith ASEAN countries, the 6thInternational Tourism Mart began in

Guwahati on 5th December. The 3-dayevent where delegates from severalcountries have attended in thesummit put the spotlight on India’s“Act East Policy”, blossoming ties withASEAN and larger East Asia region.The event has been organized by theMinistry of Tourism in associationwith all North Eastern states.

Sharad Yadav, Ali Anwardisqualified as Rajya Sabhamembers: Rebel JDU MPs SharadYadav and Ali Anwar were disqualifiedfrom the Rajya Sabha on the 4th ofDecember. Both of them cease to bemembers of the House.

The disqualification was orderedunder Paragraph 2 (1)(a) of the TenthSchedule. The Chairman had been

petitioned for action by Ram ChandraPrasad Singh, leader of the JD(U)group in the Rajya Sabha.

Minorities Commission to studyminority status to Hindus in eightstates: The National Commission forMinorities (NCM) on 6 th Decemberformed a three-member committee tostudy the matter of minority statusto Hindus in eight states where theirpopulation is less than 50 per cent.The committee has to give a reportwithin three months.

The committee was formed under thechairmanship of George Kourien. Heis also the vice chairman of NCM.Other two NCM members areSulekha Kambre and Manjeet SinghRai. Ajay Kumar, AdditionalSecretary of NCM, will be thesecretary of this committee. Thestates where Minority status forHindus sought are- Jammu andKashmir, Punjab, Lakshdweep,Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

India declared free from Trachoma,an infection of eye: India has beendeclared free from infective Trachomawhich is a contagious bacterialinfection of the eye. It causesinflamed granulation on the innersurface of the lids. Releasing theNational Trachoma Survey Report(2014-17) in New Delhi on 8 th

December, Health Minister J P Naddamade an announcement in this regardand termed it as a momentousachievement.

InternationalInternationalDonald Trump pulls US out of UNglobal compact on migration: TheTrump administration has pulled outof the United Nations’ ambitiousplans to create a more humaneglobal strategy on migration, sayinginvolvement in the processinterferes w ith Americansovereignty, and runs counter to USimmigration policies.

The US ambassador to the UN, NikkiHaley, informed the UN secretarygeneral, Antonio Guterres, at the

weekend that Donald Trump was notwilling to continue with an Americancommitment to the UN global compacton migration.

In 2016, the 193 members of the UNgeneral assembly unanimouslyadopted a non-binding polit icaldeclaration, the New Yorkdeclaration for re fugees andmigrants, pledging to uphold therights of refugees, help them resettleand ensure they had access toeducation and jobs. The aim is topublish a global compact for safe,orderly and regular migration nextyear in time for adoption by the UNgeneral assembly in September.

South Korea, U.S. kick off large-scale air exercise: South Korea andthe United States launched large-scale joint aerial drills on the 4th ofDecember, officials said, a week afterNorth Korea said it had tested itsmost advanced missile as part of aweapons programme that has raisedglobal tensions. The annual U.S.-South Korean drill, called Vigilant

Ace, lasted till December 8th. Around12,000 U.S. service members,including from the Marines and Navy,joined South Korean troops.

Trump official ly recognisesJerusalem as Israel’s capital: USPresident Donald Trump on the 6th ofDecember recognised Jerusalem asIsrael’s capital. He also ordered tostart the process of moving the USembassy from Tel Aviv to the holycity. Members of the UN SecurityCouncil (UNSC) have criticisedWashington’s decision to recogniseJerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The European Union also voiced alarmat U.S. President Donald Trump’sdecision to move the U.S. Embassyin Israel to Jerusalem and itsrepercussions for any chances ofreviving Israeli-Palestinianpeacemaking.

‘The Silence Breakers’ NamedTime’s Person of the Year for 2017:

The Silence Breakers, the women andmen have come forward to shed lighton sexual harassment and abuse inAmerica. Those women featured onthe cover include actress AshleyJudd, singer Taylor Swift, former Uberengineer Susan Fowler, Visa lobbyistAdama Iwu, Mexican agriculturalworker Isabe l Pascual, and onewoman whose face cannot be seen.


11 - 17 December 20173


EconomyEconomyMore incentives for exports:Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu onthe 5th of December unveiled moreincentives to boost labour-intensive and employment-orientedmerchandise and services exportswhile releasing the much-awaitedmid-term review of the Foreign TradePolicy 2015-20. The annual incentiveincreased by 33.8 per cent or Rs 8,450crore.

This financial year (FY18), it will be anadditional incentive of Rs 2,816 crore.This will benefit leather, handicraft,carpets, sports goods, agriculture,marine, electronic components, andproject exports in merchandise, andlegal, accounting, architecture, andeducation in services.

Merchandise exports touched $170.29billion in the first seven months andservices exports $80.33 billion in thefirst six months of the current financialyear, totaling only $250.62 billion.

The policy focused on exploring newmarkets and new products, as well asin increasing India’s share in thetraditional markets and products.

The commerce department announcedan increase in the MerchandiseExports from India Scheme (MEIS)incentives for two sub-sectors oftextiles readymade garments andmade-ups from 2 per cent to 4 per cent.

RBI maintains status quo inMonetary Policy: The Reserve Bankof India (RBI) on the 6th of Decemberkept its key lending rate the repo rateunchanged at 6 percent, but warnedabout lurking inflation worries in thenew year, amid signs that costlier fuelprices could pinch household budgets.

The RBI marginally raised its retailinflation forecast for the second halfof the fiscal year (October-March) torange between 4.3 and 4.7 percent,from the earlier estimates of 4.2-4.6percent.

The RBIlast cutthe reporate by0.25percentage.points to 6 percent in August.

The central bank expects the grossvalue added (GVA) to grow at 6.7percent in 2017-18.

The Indian economy grew 6.3percent in July-September

Gross value added (GVA), which isGDP minus taxes, grew 6.1percent, mirroring greaterproduction activity in factories,according to data released byCentral Statistics Office (CSO).

Government ropes in ICICI Bankto enable cashless payments on e-NAM: The Government has engagedprivate lender ICICI Bank to enableonline payments at 470 mandisintegrated with the national portal ofelectronic National AgricultureMarket (e-NAM). At present, e-NAMparticipants are doing paymentsthrough traditional ways via bankbranches, debit cards and netbanking. The official said, onlinepayments should be smooth andwithout any delay which is why ICICIBank has been roped in as a bankerfor e-NAM.

EU, Japan conclude world’s largestfree-trade agreement: The EuropeanU n i o n a n d J a p a n c o n c l u d e dnegotiations on a free-trade deal tocreate the world’s largest openeconomic area. The two parties agreedthe outlines of a deal in July,negotiators had now finished a legaltext that would open up trade foreconomies making up about 30 percent of global output.

Japan and the EU will join hands andbuild a free, fair and rule-basedeconomic zone, which will be a modelof an economic order in the international community in the 21stcentury.

The deal, combining the 28-nation blocand the world’s third largest economy,will remove EU tariffs of 10 per centtariffs on Japanese cars and the 3 percent rate typically applied to car parts.

For the EU, it will scrap Japaneseduties of some 30 per cent on EUcheese and 15 per cent on wines aswell as allowing it to increase its beefand pork exports and gain access tolarge public tenders in Japan.

BilateralBilateralIndia, Cuba sign MoU for enhancedco-operation in health sector:India and Cuba on the 6th of Decembersigned a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) for enhancedcooperation in the health sector. TheMoU between the two sides isimportant for exchanges in the healthsector and to develop institutionalframework.

The objective of this MoU is toestablish comprehensive inter-ministerial and inter-institutionalcooperation between the two

countriesin the fieldof health bypoolingtechnical,

scientific and financial and humanresources.

India set to become a member ofglobal defence, space tech exportcontrol regime: India is all set tobecome the 42nd member of themultilateral forum for export controlon defence and space technologyWassenaar Arrangement (WA). Thedecision was taken during its PlenaryMeeting on December 6th and 7th heldin Vienna.

India’s WA membership is expectedto facilitate high technology tie-upswith Indian industry and easy accessto high-tech items for its defence andspace programmes.

Agreement with GIZ in Technicalcooperation: Union Housing andUrban Affairs Ministry has signed anagreement with German firm GIZ fortechnical cooperation in theimplementation of transport projectsin Coimbatore, Bhubaneshwar andKochi. An amount of around 29 crorerupees through GIZ is envisaged forthis purpose over a period of threeyears. The main objective of theagreement is to improve planning andimplementation of sustainable urbantransport.


11 - 17 December 20174


•

00360 6

60

•

00360 30

12

•

•

0 0360 30

12hr hour

0030 160 min 2

•

0

0360 660 min

•

•

015

2

•

•

56511

1st

12 hr.11

12 6011

56511

•

1130H M2

0 11360 30H M2

0 00 180

:

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

x

60 55 60 25xx 25 55

300 32711 11

32711

(ii) 25–15 = 10 25 + 15 = 40

x

60 55x 10

60 10 120 10x 1055 11 11

y

60 55y 40

60 40 480 7y 4355 11 11

101011

74311

(iii)

x

60 55 x 60x 55

:

11 1130H M 30 4 302 2

0120 165 45 45

= 450 < 1800

: 2 pm

2 pm

24 7 + 2 = 170

48 42 4 660 5

2 170465

= 50

2 pm

2 pm

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

:

(A) 1993 & 1997 (B) 1993 & 1999

(C) 1992 & 1998 (D) 1992 & 2000

(B)

:


11 - 17 December 20175


:

CLOCKS• The face of a clock is a circle whose

circumference is divided into 60equal parts, called minute spaces

Each minute space is equivalent

to 0

0360 660

• The face of a clock is a circlewhose circumference is dividedinto 12 equal parts, called hourspaces.

Each hour space is equivalent to0

0360 3012

• 1 hour space = 5 minute spaces

• Angular speed of the hour hand

0 0360 30

12hr hour

0030 160min 2

per minute

• Angular speed of the minute hand

= 0360

60 min = 60 per minute

• In one hour minute hand gains55 minute spaces over the hourhand

• Minute hand gains 015

2

per

minute over the hour hand.

• Angle between hour and minutehands.

Angle Example Every 12 hr.

Day (24hr)

6 O’ clock 22 times



• If hour and minute hands starttogether from the same position,both hands will coincide after

56511

minutes.

In 12 hrs, they coincide 11 times.

1st time they coincide after

12 hr.11

12 60 min.11

=565 min.

11

• Angle between hour and minutehands at H : M AM/PM is givenby

1130H M2

or

0 11360 30H M2

such that 0 00 180

Example1:

At what time between 5 O’ clockand 6 O’ clock will the hands of aclock

(i) coincide ?

(ii) be at right angles?

(iii) point in opposite directions?

Solution :

(i) Difference between hour andminute hands at 5 O’ clock is 25minute spaces.

In 60 minutes minute hand gain55 minute spaces over hour hand.

Let in x minutes minute hand gain25 minute spaces over hour hand.

60 55 60 25xx 25 55

s

300 32711 11

minutes.

Hands will coincide at 32711

minutes past 5.

(ii) At 5 O’ clock hands are 25minute spaces apart. When theyare at right angles either theminute hand should gain 25-15 =10 minute spaces or the minutehand should gain 25 + 15 = 40minute spaces over the hour hand.

Let in x minutes minute hand gain10 minute spaces over hour hand

60 55x 10

60 10 120 10x 1055 11 11

min.

Let in y minutes minute hand gain40 minute spaces over hour hand

60 55y 40

60 40 480 7y 4355 11 11

min.

Hands will be right angles at

101011

minutes or 74311

minutes

past 5.

(iii) At 5 O’ clock hands are 25minute spaces apart. When theyare in opposite direction, theminute hand should gain 25 + 30= 55 minute spaces over the hourhand.

Let in x minutes minute hand gain55 minute spaces over hour hand.

60 55 x 60x 55

minutes

Hands point in oppositedirection at 6 O’ clock only

Example 2:

What is the angle between thehands of a clock at 4 : 30 ?

Solution :

H = 4, M = 30

11 1130H M 30 4 302 2

120 165 45 = 450

= 450 < 1800

The angle between the hands ofa clock at 4:30 is 450

Example 3:

A watch gains uniformly is 2 minslow at noon on Monday, and is 4min 48 seconds fast at 2 pm on thefollowing Monday. When the watchshows the correct time?

Solution :

From Monday noon to the followingMonday at 2 pm is 7 days 2 hrs =24 7 + 2 = 170 hr.

The watch gains48 42 4 660 5

minutes in 170 hr.

The watch gains 2 minutes in

2 170465

= 50 hr.

50 hr = 2 days 2 hrs.

2 days 2 hrs from Monday noon= 2 pm on Wednesday

CALENDAR• An ordinary year contains 365 days

i.e. 52 weeks and 1 odd day.

• A leap year contains 366 days, i.e.52 weeks and 2 odd days.

• A leap year is divisible by 4 exceptfor a century. For a century to be aleap year it should be divisible by400.

No. of odd days

Ordinary year 1

Leap year 2

Century 100 yr. 5

200 yr. 3

300 yr. 1

0

• First January 1 A. D was Monday.Therefore, we must count daysfrom Sunday, i.e., Sunday for 0 oddday, Monday for 1 odd day and soon.

• An ordinary year begins and endswith the same week day.

• First day of a century cannot beTuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

• Last day of a century cannot beTuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Month Odd days Month Odd

days

January 3 July

February 0 or 1 August 3

March 3 September 2

April 2 October 3

May 3 November 2

June 2 December 3

• The pairs of months in anycalendar year, in which any datein one month has the same day ofthe week, as the correspondingdate in the other month, are

(i) April & July

(ii) September & December

(iii) March & November

Example 1:

Which one of the following pairs ofyears has the same calendar?

(A) 1993 & 1997

(B) 1993 & 1999

(C) 1992 & 1998

(D) 1992 & 2000

Solution: (B)

1st January 1993 to 31st December1998

Number of odd days = 1 + 1+ 1+ 2+1+ 1 = 7 odd days = 0 odd days

1st January 1999 will start withsame day as 1st January 1993

Example 2:

What day of the week was 20th June1937?

Solution:20th June 1937 means

1936 complete years + 5 monthsof 1937 + 20 days of June

1600 years – 0 odd days

300 years – 1 odd day



1937: 1st Jan to 31st May – 4 odddays

1937: 1st June to 20th June – 6 odddays

Net odd days = 4 + 4 + 6 = 0 odddays

20th June 1937 is SundayExample 3:

How many times does the 29th dayof the month occur in 400consecutive years?

Solution:In 400 consecutive years – 97 leapyears

29th February appear 97 times.

29th date in other months appear

400 11 times.

Total = 4400 + 97 = 4497 times.


11 - 17 December 20176


TELANGANATELANGANARs. 450 crore for roads: Telangana

Government has decided to provide Rs

30 crore to 15 MLAs, for the development

of Roads in various constituencies. In

15, there are 13 Ministers, speaker and

deputy speaker of the legislative house

are the remaining two. In total state

government allocated Rs 450 crore for

roads development.

Mission Kakatiya Phase-IV to startfrom Jan 2018: In a move to improve

the irrigation facilities the state

government has planned to launch

the final phase of Mission Kakatiya

and under this 5,650 minor irrigation

tanks would be rejenuvated. The

government has given the approval to

construct 26 new tanks in Adilabad,

Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Nirmal

districts with a budget of Rs 92.09

crore. The government has said that

all administrative work must be

completed by Dec 31 so that the final

phase would start from January 2018.

The rejuvenation works pertaining to

7,963 tanks were completed in Phase

I, 6600 tanks in Phase II and 1086

tanks in Phase III of Mission Kakatiya

project.

Siricilla completes land recordsupdation project (LRUP): The newly

formed Rajanna-Sircil la, which

became the first district in Telangana

State to be declared open defecation

free (ODF) a few months ago, has now

achieved another milestone by

emerging as the f irst district to

complete land records updation

project (LRUP). Land purification work

started on September 15 and survey

was taken up for cleaning agricultural

land records and account for the

actual land in cultivation. The survey

work was completed in all the 171

villages falling in 13 mandals.

18 IT companies to set upbusiness in Palamur : According to

the IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao, 18 IT

Companies have shown interest to

set up their business in the backward

Mahabubnagar district. The

government will set up an IT Tower

in Mahabubnagar district.

ANDHRA PRADESHANDHRA PRADESHAndhra Pradesh signs MoU withSouth Korea and welcomes theinvestors: The Andhra Pradesh state

government and Make in India Korea

Center (MIC) signed a Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) to set up

Korea Industrial Complex in the

State . State Chief Minister

N. Chandrababu Naidu’s three-day

Korea tour where he wooed

industrialists to come and invest in

Andhra Pradesh. As per the MoU, the

Andhra Pradesh Centre will be

established at Busan in South Korea.

The MIC will also conduct outreach

programmes in Korea for the

promotion of investment and

business in AP.

State registers growth rate of11.37% in the first 6 months: AP

achieved a growth rate of 11.37 in the

first half of the current financial year

2017-18. The State achieved 25.6 per

cent growth in agriculture and allied

sectors against 2 per cent at all India

level. The growth rate in industrial

sector stands at 7.43 per cent and

services sector at 8.38 per cent as

against the country’s growth rate of

3.6 and 7.9 percent respectively. Apart

from that, the half yearly and

quarterly statistics of the current year

showed a slight decline when

compared to the previous year.

Two plants set to come up inTelugu states: Union Steel Minister

Chaudhary Birender Singh on the 8th

of December said that a 1.5-million

tonne per annum electric arc furnace

plant will come up at Paloncha in

Telangana, and SAIL and Arcelor

Mittal will finalise a high-strength

steel-making unit in Kadapa district

of Andhra Pradesh.

While the details of the investments

are yet to be finalised, the electric

arc furnace project is likely to see

an investment of about ¹ 9,000 crore

and the AP project an outlay of ¹

15,000 crore, the Union Minister

explained.

INCREASE EXPENDITURE FOR SOCIAL SECTOR IN TELUGU STATESAccording to National Institute of Transforming India, apart from Telugu states,across country, allocations for social schemes have been increased. 14 th FinanceCommission has recommended to raise allocations from 32% to 42%. As per this,allocations for Telangana increased about 25.25%, where as for Andhra Pradesh itis 17.05%

In 2014-15, Telangana state got Rs 17047 crore, where as in 2015-16, it got Rs 21351crore.

In 2014-15, Andhra Pradesh got Rs 35933 crore, in 2015-16 it got Rs 42059 crore.

State 2014-15 2015-16Telangana 3.77% 6.26%Andhra Pradesh 8.40% 7.51%

Social sector expenditure inTelugu States (in terms of Percentage in GSDP)

State 2014-15 2015-16

Tela nga na 0.49% 0.75%

Andhra Pradesh 1.04% 0.80%

Expenditure of Telugu States on healthand education (percentage in GSDP)

State 2014-15 2015-16Tela nga na 33.29% 38.36%Andhra Pradesh 32.04% 33.78%

Percentage in total expenditure

State 2014-15 2015-16Tela nga na 1.34% 1.75%Andhra Pradesh 3.16% 2.77%

Percentage in total expenditure

2014-15 2015-16

3.77% 6.26%

8.40% 7.51%

2014-15 2015-16

0.49% 0.75%

1.04% 0.80%

2014-15 2015-16

33.29% 38.36%

32.04% 33.78%

2014-15 2015-16

1.34% 1.75%

3.16% 2.77%


11 - 17 December 20177


Science & TechnologyScience & TechnologyAkash Missile SuccessfullyLaunched: The Surface to AirMissile AKASH with indigenous radio

frequencyseekeragainsttargetBansheehas been

successfully launched from theLaunch Complex-I I I at ITRChandipur, Odisha.The Radars,te lemetry and e lectro-opticalsystems along the coast havetracked and monitored all the healthparameters of the missile. Thismissile is being inducted into Armyas Short Range Surface to AirMissile (SRSAM). With thissuccess, India has achieved thecapability of making any type ofSurface to Air Missile.

EnvironmentEnvironmentInternational Solar All iance isNow a Legal Entity: India andFrance-led International SolarAlliance (ISA) on the 6th of Decemberbecame a legal entity after 19countries ratified this treaty-based international Governmentorganisation.

In terms of its Framework Agreement,with ratification by Guinea as the 15th

country on the 6th of November 2017,the ISA will become a treaty-basedinternational inter-governmentalorganisation on the 6th of December2017.Apart from India and France,Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros,Cuba, Fiji, Guinea, Ghana, Malawi,Mali, Mauritius, Nauru, Niger, Peru,Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan,and Tuvalu are the other countriesthat have ratified the ISA.This will be the first internationalGovernment organisation whoseheadquarters will be based in India.The ISAis anIndianinitiative,jointlylaunchedby PrimeMinisterNarendra Modi and the thenPresident of France Francois Hollandeon November 30, 2015, in Paris, onthe sidelines of COP-21, the UnitedNations Climate Conference.

SportsSportsDeepika Kumari wins bronze :India’s Deepika Kumari has wonbronze medal at the Indoor ArcheryWorld Cup Stage 2 that concluded inBangkok on on 3rd December. Deepika,seeded third, defeated 13th seededSayana Tsyrempilova of RussiaVirat Kohli created anotherrecord: Virat Kohli scored his sixthdouble century, in the ongoing test

match againstSrilanka inDelhi. This isthehighest as acaptain. Heovertook WestIndies greatBrian Lara,who held the

record previously with five doubletons in Tests.With a sixth double hundred, Kohlihas also tied Sachin Tendulkar andVirender Sehwag for the most 200-plusscores for India in Tests. WhileTendulkar had six double centuries,Sehwag had recorded four double andtwo triple hundreds.

India wins in South Asianbadminton title: India has won thefirst-ever South Asian RegionalBadminton Team Championship. In thetitle clash played in Guwahati on the5th of December, India defeated Nepal,3-0. India, Bhutan, Afghanistan,Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldivesparticipated in the tournament.

Russia banned from 2018 WinterOlympics : Russia was banned fromthe 2018 Olympics on the 5 th ofDecember over state-sponsoreddoping but the International OlympicCommittee (IOC) said, Russiancompetitors would be able to competeunder strict conditions.

The IOC announced the decision afterexamining evidence of state-sponsoreddoping over several years that reacheda high-point at the Winter Olympicshosted in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. Thedecision was taken in the IOC’sexecutive board meeting on the 5th ofDecember in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Narendra Modi : Indian PrimeMinister Narendra Modi continues tobe the most fol lowed Indian onTwitter. According to a Twitter reportcapturing trends in 2017, Modi sawhis follower base increasing by 52 percent to 37.5 million (as of December4), from 24.6 million in 2016. However,

Kohli saw his followers grow by 61per cent during the same periodalthough on a smaller base. Thecricketer is ending the year with 20.8million followers, as against 12.9million last year.Kamala Harris: Indian-AmericanCalifornia senator Kamala Harristopped the prestigious Foreign Policymagazine’s 2017 list of ‘50 LeadingGlobal Thinkers’ which also featuresUS Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley.Besides Harris and Haley, Indian-origin stand-up comedian HasanMinhaj has also made it to the list.South Korean President Moon Jae-in is ranked second in the list fortrying to rebuild decent democraticleadership in South Korea.Aditya puri: Aditya Puri, theManaging Director of HDFC Bank, isthe only Indian on Fortune ’s‘Businessperson of the Year’ list. TheBusinessperson of the Year list is anannual ranking of world’s top 20heads of companies. At the 18thposition, Aditya Puri is the only headof an Indian company on the list.Deepak Parekh: The Mayor of London,Sadiq Khan named noted Indianbusinessman, Deepak Parekh,as ’International Ambassador’ whowill be tasked with championing theUK capital across the globe.Parekh, is one of the first of a networkof international ambassadors, thatwould include high-level business andcultural figures based in London oroverseas. Parekh is the chairman ofIndia’s premier housing financecompany HDFC Limited.

ObituaryObituaryShashi Kapoor: Veteran actor ShashiKapoor passed away on the 4 th ofDecember. Born on March 18, 1938,to the illustrious and f orm id ab l etheatre and film actorPrithviraj Kapoor,Shashi Kapoor hitthe spotlight at theage of four, acting inplays directed andproduced by hisfather. He startedacting in films as achild artiste in the late ‘40s.His best known performances as achild actor were in Aag (1948)and Awaara(1951), where he playedthe younger version of the characterplayed by Raj Kapoor. Shashi Kapooralso worked as assistant director inthe ‘50s.He made his debut as a leading manin the 1961 film Dharmputra and wenton to appear in more than 116 filmsduring ‘70s and until the mid ‘80s. Hewas honoured with Padma Bhushanin 2011 and received the prestigiousDada Saheb Phalke award in 2015.


11 - 17 December 20178


December 3rd: The Trump administration has pulled out of the United Nations’ambitious plans to create a more humane global strategy on migration, sayinginvolvement in the process interferes with American sovereignty, and runs counterto US immigration policies.

December 4th: Rebel JDU MPs Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar were disqualified fromthe Rajya Sabha. Both of them cease to be members of the House.

December 5th: In order to improve ties with ASEAN countries, the 6th InternationalTourism Mart began in Guwahati.

December 6th: US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.He also ordered to start the process of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to theholy city.

December 7th: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the BR AmbedkarInternational Centre in New Delhi. The prime minister also unveiled two statues ofthe Dalit icon at the centre in Janpath.

December 8th: Nagpur’s Kanchanmala Pande created history as she became the firstIndian to secure pole position at the World Para-Swimming Championship in Mexico.

December 9th: GE Appliances-backed co-creation community FirstBuild has decidedto set up its India hub at T-Works, the makerspace coming up in Hyderabad.

1. Context: India is all set to become the 42nd member of the multilateralforum for export control on defence and space technology WassenaarArrangement (WA)

The Wassenaar Arrangement is an elite club of countries which subscribeto arms export controls, similar to the Nuclear Suppliers Group and theMissile Technology Control Regime. The body came into being in 1996 tosucceed the Cold War-era Coordinating Committee for Multilateral ExportControls. The name comes from Wassenaar, a suburb of The Hague,where the agreement to start such a multi-lateral cooperation wasreached in 1995. The WA has 42 members, the latest entrant being India.With the exception of China, all the other permanent members of theU.N. Security Council are signatories of the WA, which is headquarteredin Vienna

2. Context: The Kumbh Mela has been recognized by Unesco as an“intangible cultural heritage of humanity”

UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aimof ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritagesworldwide and the awareness of their significance. This list is publishedby the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of IntangibleCultural Heritage and its members are elected by State parties meetingin UN General Assembly. Through a compendium of the different oraland intangible treasures of humankind worldwide, the program aimsto draw attention to the importance of safeguarding intangible heritage,which UNESCO has identified as an essential component and as arepository of cultural diversity and of creative expression. The list wasestablished in 2008 when the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding ofthe Intangible Cultural Heritage took effect. As of 2010 the programmecompiles two lists.

3. Context: The government has engaged private lender ICICI Bank toenable online payments at 470 mandis integrated with the nationalportal of electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)

NAM is envisaged as a pan-India electronic trading portal which seeksto network the existing APMC and other market yards to create a unifiednational market for agricultural commodities. NAM is a “virtual” marketbut it has a physical market (mandi) at the back end. NAM is not aparallel marketing structure but rather a device to create a nationalnetwork of physical mandis which can be accessed online. It seeks toleverage the physical infrastructure of the mandis through an onlinetrading portal, enabling buyers situated even outside the State toparticipate in trading at the local level

4. Context: RBI maintains status quo in its recently declared MonetaryPolicy

Monetary policy is the macroeconomic policy laid down by the centralbank. It involves management of money supply and interest rate and isthe demand side economic policy used by the government of a countryto achieve macroeconomic objectives like inflation, consumption, growthand liquidity.

5. Context: Rebel JDU MPs Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar were disqualifiedfrom the Rajya Sabha on the 4th December. Both of them cease to bemembers of the House. The disqualification was ordered underParagraph 2 (1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule.

The Tenth Schedule-popularly known as the Anti-Defection Act-wasincluded in the Constitution in 1985 by the Rajiv Gandhi ministry and setsthe provisions for disqualification of elected members on the grounds ofdefection to another political party. The law was added via the 52ndAmendment Act, 1985.

of november, 1946. its present head is audrey azoulay (france)...2013- sankirtana, ritual singing,...

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