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has pledged $1.25 million to the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees as it voiced concern over the fragile situation and ongoing conflicts in the middle-east region.  Singapore has the highest achieving students in international education rankings, with its teenagers coming top in tests in maths, reading and science.  India was formally designated as a ‘Major Defence Partner’ of the United States.  The 2016 World Power Language Index (PLI) announced that English language is the most powerful language in the world. The index was published by World Economic Forum (WEF). Hindi language was ranked 10th in the 2016 PLI.  Pakistan has lifted an "undeclared" ban on import of ginned cotton from India, days after rejecting a consignment of 10,000 bales of cotton from India citing violation of plant quarantine rules by importers.  In an effort to enhance cooperation in education between the two countries, India will establish a center of excellence in information technology at Egypt's oldest and most prestigious Al- Azhar University.  Dr. António Costa, Prime Minister of the Republic of Portugal will be the Chief Guest at the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention to be held from 7 to 9 January, 2017 at Bengaluru in .  Mr. Michael Ashwin Satyandre Adhin, Vice President of the Republic of will be the Special Guest at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) to be held on 7 January 2017 in Bengaluru.  Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur is India’s highest-ranked institution features in the Top 100 QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2016-17.  Turkey will chair the Energy Club of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2017, becoming the first non-SCO country to hold its term presidency.  UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) released the 2016 edition of the Measuring the Information Society Report. It was topped by the Republic of Korea with IDI of 8.84. The Sub-Saharan Africa’s Niger with an IDI of 1.07 ranked lowest. India was placed at 138th rank with IDI score of 2.69. In 2015, it stood at 135th position.  was the most searched country by Indian travelers in 2016, with travel searches increasing by 52% this year when compared to 2015, according to a new Sky scanner survey.  Thailand's has chosen Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn as the new king.  Dictionary.com has chosen “xenophobia,” as the word of the year, which means fear, or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers.”  The U.S. on 7 October 2016 lifted sanctions against that have been in place for nearly two decades.  Pakistan Parliament in a joint sitting on 6 October 2016 unanimously passed two bills, one seeking to curb murders in the name of honour and the other to punish rapists by use of modern technology of DNA testing in probes involving rape cases.  India has donated Rs. 9.3 million to the Nelson Mandela Foundation to help it in its welfare work for the people of .

 Maldives has announced its decision to leave the saying the Commonwealth treated it unjustly and unfairly.  Pakistan has officially postponed the 19th SAARC Summit to be held in November in Islamabad.  A recent World Bank report said that in the 2013, the highest number of people living below poverty line were in India.  The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations in January.  has become the first country in the world to ban disposable plastic cups and plates.  announced an online program for its pre-schools to learn foreign languages, including Hindi.  The Bulgarian Prime Minister BoykoBorisov gave resignation of his cabinet after his party’s candidate Tsetska Tsacheva , failed to win the country’s presidential election on November 14, 2016.  -based doctors have performed the first-ever brain implant on a 58-year-old woman paralysed by Lou Gehrig's disease, enabling her to communicate in day-to-day life via a speech computer.  Oxford Dictionaries has declared "post-truth" to be its international word of the year citing a 2,000% spike in its usage.  President Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order removing ’s signature from the International Criminal Court’s founding treaty.  Patel has emerged as the most commonIndian surname in the UK, according to a new Oxford dictionary released.  The world’s first Bollywood Theme Park has been opened in Dubai.  India and European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) signed an agreement making India an Associate Member State of CERN.  NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission on 5 November 2016 set the Guinness world record for highest altitude fix of a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal at 70000 kilometers above the surface of the Earth.  signed a historic civil nuclear cooperation deal with India, opening the door for collaboration between their industries in the field.  The growing power of Indian community in US was seen once again when Hindi language found a place on ‘Thank You’ note in US president election.  A first-of-its-kind Indian music and dance festival aimed to showcase the country's rich and diverse culture was held in iconic Opera House.  Oxford University (UK) topped the list as the world’s leading university in the latest Times Higher Education world rankings index. Indian Institute of Science of Bengaluru has been placed in the rank segment of 201 to 250 while IIT Bombay is in the 301 to 350 segment.  The World Health Organisation certified a malaria-free nation and awarded certificate on 6 September.  The UN Charter, the seminal treaty of the United Nations, has now been translated into Sanskrit. It was translated by Jitendra Kumar Tripathi.

 A 1946 picture of Mahatma Gandhi with his ‘charkha’ (spinning wheel) in the foreground is among the 100 most influential images of all time, according to a compilation by Time magazine of “images that changed the world”.  The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has, for the first time, broken into the top 15 universities in the latest Times Higher Education (THE)’s BRICS and Emerging Economies University Rankings 2017  Japanese scientists behind the discovery of element 113, the first atomic element found in Asia - indeed, the first found outside Europe or the United States - have dubbed it "nihonium" after the Japanese-language name for their country.  and Pakistan launched a direct rail and sea freight service with the first cargo train departing from China's southwestern Yunnan province.  Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation, after learning he had suffered a crushing defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform.  New Zealand Prime Minister John Key unexpectedly announced his resignation, saying it was the “right time” to leave politics after more than eight years in power.

 In its thirty eighth flight (PSLV-C36), ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 1,235 kg RESOURCESAT-2A Satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.  State-run power equipment maker BHEL has commissioned a 93 MW steam turbine-based captive power plant (CPP) at Hazira in Gujarat for Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).  The Palampur Assembly Constituency of Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh became the first e- assembly constituency of the country.  Hundreds of Garo tribals gathered in Meghalaya recently to celebrate the harvest festival of Wangala with much fervour here.  The Chancellor of Nalanda University, , resigned citing that earlier he was assured of the University’s autonomy but now things had changed.  Goa is likely to become the first state in India to go cashless from December 31, as people will be able to buy perishables such as fish, meat, vegetables or anything else at the press of a button on their mobile.  Indian Railways and IRCTC have included "transgender as third gender" in the option alongside male and female in ticket reservation and cancellation forms.  Prime Minister has flag off the Humsafar train from Kushinagar that will ply between Gorakhpur and Delhi's Anand Vihar terminus.  now has Asia's first cycle highway. A first-of-its-kind project, the 207-km-long cycle highway runs between Etawah and Agra and was declared open recently.  10 day long festival named Losar festival has begun in Ladakh region of J&K to mark the beginning of New Year in this Himalayan region.

 Ministry of Culture has organised 10 days long diversified cultural carnival ‘Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav - 2016’ at the premises of National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Janpath, New Delhi.  PM Narendra Modi unveiled the war memorial ‘Shaurya Smarak’ in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.  Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland today launched - Circuit - the first “Made in India” electric bus.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three hydro-electric projects (HEPs) with a generating capacity of 1,752 MW in Himachal Pradesh.  For the welfare of SC/ST entrepreneurs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched national SC/ST (Schedule Castes/Schedule Tribes) hub in Ludhiana. He also launched the Zero Defect, Zero Effect (ZED) scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).  As the Kashmir Stag popularly known as Hangul is on the verge of extinction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature is all set to declare it a ‘critically endangered’ species to protect this beautiful animal from disappearing from the earth.  The Election Commission of India hosted the first ever International Conference on Voter Education in New Delhi.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to set up nation’s first railway University at Vadodara.  INS Viraat, the world's oldest aircraft carrier, was accorded a grand send-off from the port in Kochi, after over five decades of its service to the Navy.  Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) announced on 6 October 2016 that the Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) achieved Platinum rating from Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).  Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated India’s first centre for international arbitration in .  The Telangana government organised the traditional state festival of 'Bathukamma' on at the Lal Bahadur stadium in Hyderabad. The Telangana government has declared 'Bathukamma' as a state festival.  Telangana on 11 October 2016, had redrawn its map by creating 21 new districts. With these, the total number of districts of the youngest state of India went up to 31.  The Arena by Trans Stadia in Ahmedabad, venue of the Kabaddi World Cup, is India's first convertible stadium.  The Delhi International Airport Limited announced that the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has become the first airport in the Asia-Pacific region to achieve carbon neutral status.  Jharkhand on 1 October 2016 became India’s first state to implement Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in Kerosene.  Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis declared Nagpur as the first digital district of India.  Prasar Bharti CEO Jawhar Sircar resigned. His term was to end in February next year.  India's latest communication satellite GSAT-18 was successfully launched by a heavy duty rocket of Arianespace from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.  Haryana Government has decided to observe 2017 as the “Garib Kalyan Varsh”.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first National Tribal Carnival in New Delhi to promote a sense of inclusiveness among the tribals.

 L Narasimha Reddy committee on One Rank One Pension submitted its report to the Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar.  The State of Himachal Pradesh was declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), making it the second State in the country (after Sikkim) to achieve the feat.  Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has launched ‘Kahin Bhi-Kabhi Bhi’ medical facilities for its beneficiaries of Delhi.  Thiruvananthapuram has been termed as the country's breast cancer capital, with cases at a record high of 40 per lakh of population.  The government has announced that it will present the Union Budget for 2017-18 on February 1 and the budget session may begin in January.  Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has launched a key programme to provide free electricity connection to about 50 lakh households above the poverty line.  Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), launched a revamped version of its Toll-free helpline number: 1947, to help residents get quick access to information about Aadhaar.  Aligarh leads 500 cities in undertaking Swachh awareness generation activities under the fortnightly thematic activities as required under the Swachh Survekshan-2017, launched by the Ministry of Urban Development.  Chhattisgarh has become the first state to adopt a resolution welcoming the demonetization of high-value currency notes.  INS , a P 15A Guided Missile Destroyer, was commissioned into the Indian Navy by the Hon’ble Defense Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar at an impressive ceremony held at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.  With an aim to promote Manipur as a potential tourist destination, the annual Manipur Sangai Festival this year will be themed ‘Destination Manipur’.  The Indian army has successfully completed its task of laying an irrigation pipeline in the Demchok region of Eastern Ladakh.  For the 1st time in the Country, an LNG fuelled bus has been launched in Kerala.  The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, visited Naya Raipur in Chhattisgarh. He inaugurated and briefly visited the Jungle Safari in the city.  Maharashtra is the first state in the country to have a cyber police station in each district simultaneously.  In view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of nurturing entrepreneurship, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched a unique platform called ‘Startup Mentorship Circle’ to help in connecting start-ups with the global marketplace.  A first-of-its-kind exhibition on childhood cancer awareness held in the premises of the Taj Mahal, authorities said.  Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has inaugurated 4- days Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Krishi Unnati Mela – 2016 in Mathura.  India declared itself free from the highly contagious avian influenza (H5N1) or bird flu. The declaration was made by the Department of Animal Husbandry under the Agriculture Ministry.  Ahmedabad, India will host the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group in May next year.  Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced a district status for Dadri, the biggest sub-division in the state, increasing the district count of Haryana to 22 from 21.

 To make the Swachh Bharat Mission successful and encourage people to use clean toilets, the Ludhiana district administration has started a ‘Selfie with my Shauchalya’ campaign.  India's most famous address will no longer be 7, Race Course Road. The street in Delhi on which Prime Minister Narendra Modi lives has been renamed 'Lok Kalyan Marg'.  Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has grabbed the top most position in the Forbes' '100 Richest Indians' list with a net worth of $22.7 billion.  Adani Green Energy (Tamil Nadu) Ltd, part of the Adani Group, has dedicated to the nation the world’s largest solar power plant of 648 megawatts (MW), set up at Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.  Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched advanced weather satellite, INSAT-3DR on 8 September 2016.  Majuli in , the 400 sq km island on the Brahmaputra has become the first river island district of India.  The Minister, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, released the ‘Swachh Survekshan’ for rural India, revealing Mandi, in “Hills” category (Himachal Pradesh) and Sindhudurg, in the “Plains” category (Maharashtra) as the cleanest districts in India.  Sikkim is the cleanest state in India and Jharkhand is the worst in terms of rural sanitation, as per the results of a survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).  Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh commissioned the offshore patrolling (OPV) vessel, Sarathi, at Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL), the defence shipyard in south Goa.  A national fair was organized on comprehensive Indian Medicine system (AROGYA) in Bengaluru, to project the strength of Indian System of Medicines and Homeopathy alongside BRICS Wellness Workshop.  The government launched toll free number 1924 to register postal complaints, over a month after introducing Twitter Sewa for redressal of telecom and postal grievances.  Acting on the aid and advice of the Centre, President Pranab Mukherjee signed an order removing Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa from the post of .  Jharkhand is the first state in the country to have implemented Public Fund Management System (PFMS).  Storyteller to generations of Indians, Amar Chitra Katha will now publish and distribute a special edition of a comic book focusing on Swachh Bharat Mission.  Under the Government’s initiative of affordable LEDs for all (UJALA) scheme, Gujarat has become the 1st state to distribute 2 crore LED bulbs.  Majuli Island on the Brahmaputra in Assam was declared the largest river island in the world.  On the occasion of the 55th Teachers’ Day, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated Asia’s biggest digital library dedicated to the memory of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, former , in NIT Silchar.  DigiLocker - the country's first secured cloud-based platform for the storage, issuance and verification of documents and certificates in a digital manner - was launched in New Delhi.  The 55,000-tonne per annum (TPA) ferro-chrome plant set up by Tata Steel at a cost of Rs 542 crore in its Gopalpur Industrial Park in Ganjam district was opened by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

 Himachal Pradesh Governor stressed on the need to adopt a 'cashless' system in the state and to begin with he directed the Raj Bhawan staff to ensure that all transactions are made online.  The government approved inclusion of 15 new castes and modification in 13 other castes in the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).  A Rs 2,000-crore development package for displaced people of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) living in the country was approved by the government.  NITI Aayog has launched a series of incentives for encouraging digital payments for day to day financial transactions like buying or selling goods/services, transferring money etc., at the district, taluk and panchayat level. This will include providing a fund of Rs 5 lakh per district administration.  Lauding the contribution of Dr. B R Ambedkar in water resources management of the country Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti has announced that his birth day 14th April will be celebrated as “Water Day”.

 The Reserve Bank has authorised the Receivables Exchange of India (RXIL) to launch the country's first trade receivables exchange platform for MSMEs, buyers and financiers.  The Reserve Bank of India recently announced an incremental cash reserve ratio (CRR) of 100 per cent for banks for the fortnight beginning November 26, 2016 in order to tackle the surge in deposits following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.  Utkarsh Micro Finance has received final license from The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start operations as Small Finance Bank (SFB).  According to the data released by the RBI ,India’ banking system reported total deposits of Rs 100 lakh crore for the first time ever in September month of this year.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to allow foreign investment up to 100 per cent under the automatic route in ‘other financial services’.  Construction major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) became India’s first firm to get debt recast under RBI’s new Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).  Registration certificates of five non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) have been cancelled by The Reserve Bank while two surrendered their certificate to the central bank.  With cellphones becoming a crucial part of banking, the RBI has made it mandatory for banks to allow customers to register their mobile numbers through any ATM.  RBI has downgrade India’s growth forecast to 7.1% from earlier 7.6%.  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.

4th Bi-monthly Policy

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the short-term lending rate, or repo rate, by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent from 6.50 per cent earlier.

 This was the first exercise by the monetary policy committee (MPC), chaired by Governor Urjit Patel.  The central bank has maintained status quo on cash reserve ratio (CRR), which stands at 4 per cent while statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) remained unchanged at 20.75 per cent.  The marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate, meanwhile, has been adjusted to 6.75 per cent from 7 per cent earlier.

New RBI Rates are:

 Repo Rate: 6.25%  Reverse Repo rate: 5.75%  Cash Reserve Ratio: 4%  Marginal Standing Facility Rate: 6.75%  Bank Rate: 7%  Statutory Liquidity Ratio: 20.75%  Inflation: 6%

 Stockholders at two Abu Dhabi banks approved a plan to merge the firms into the biggest bank of all Gulf Arab countries with assets of USD 178 billion. Shareholders at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank approved the tie-up.  National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said 100 banks have joined the National Financial Switch (NFS) network as direct members.  The Women and Child Development Ministry has tied up with India Post and State Bank of India to offer more payment options to buyers and simplify shipping of products bought from "Mahila E-haat", an online marketing platform for women entrepreneurs.  The Corporation Bank has bagged the Best MSME Bank Award 2016 instituted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).  Vijaya Bank has bagged ‘Best Bank for SME Lending’ award from Assocham. The Bank has bagged the said award under ‘Best SME Lending’ category for public sector banks.  Karnataka Bank bagged the ‘Best MSME Bank Award (Private sector) 2016’, instituted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), New Delhi.

 State Bank of India will divest 3.9 per cent of its stake in SBI Life Insurance Company to global investment firms KKR and Temasek for Rs. 1,794 crore .  Canara Bank launched a prepaid card as part of efforts to attract more and more people towards cashless transactions.  YES Bank, the fifth largest private sector bank, has announced a partnership with Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) to digitise payment of bus tickets for its customers.  South Indian Bank has launched a contactless debit card, which will make use of the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.  After petrol pumps, cash can now be withdrawn by swiping debit cards at select Ola cabs as India’s largest ride-hailing service partners with lenders like State Bank of India (SBI) and Andhra Bank for Hyderabad and Punjab National Bank In Kolkata, to ease cash crunch.  ICICI Bank announced that it will transform 100 villages into ‘Digital Villages’ in as many days as part of its continuing effort to provide digital ecosystem across the country, including rural India.  RBL Bank, one of the country’s fastest growing scheduled commercial banks, and Bajaj Finance, one of the most diversified NBFCs, announced a partnership to launch a series of co- branded credit cards for Indian customers.  Canara Bank, a public sector bank, and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, a private general insurance company, have signed a corporate agency agreement for the distribution of Bajaj Allianz’s general insurance products.  The State Bank of India (SBI) has declared Silchar as its 5th zone in North East after Guwahati, Shillong, Dibrugarh and Jorhat.  Foreign lender Standard Chartered Bank has announced a tie-up with Uber under which its credit cardholders, across six countries, will get a cash-back of up to 25 per cent for hailing cabs from the app.  ICICI Bank has become the first Indian lender to complete a banking transaction using Blockchain technology.  State-run Bank of Maharashtra has renewed its corporate agency tie-up with United India Insurance Company.  Kotak Mahindra Bank, the country’s fourth largest private sector lender, has acquired BSS Microfinance in an all-cash deal for Rs 139.2 crore.  State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, expanded its overseas footprint by entering Myanmar, opening a branch Yangon after 53 years, the former capital and the largest city of that country.  The Telangana government along with IDFC Bank took the initiative to enable cashless transactions to ease the “change” problem.  Corporation Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Army on the defence salary package.  City Union Bank (CUB) has launched a robot named ‘CUB-Lakshmi’ in Kumbakonam, Chennai, becoming the first bank in the country to do so.  Federal Bank, India's major commercial bank in the private sector has received Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s permission to open its branch at the Dubai International Financial Centre. It will be the first international branch of the bank.

 ICICI Bank has launched a credit facility against home loans for salaried customers. The Home Overdraft facility will enable a salaried customer to seek loans up to Rs. 1 crore for personal needs against his/her property.  Private sector lender Yes Bank has launched “Yes Mobile 2.0” its new mobile banking app with multiple new features and extensive support for banking transactions on Apple and Android based Smart Watches.  Andhra Bank has entered into corporate agency agreements with Cigna TTK Company Ltd, and Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd for providing health and general insurance respectively, to its customers.  In an unprecedented move, the Centre sacked Sushil Muhnot, chairman and managing director of Pune-based Bank of Maharashtra, four days short of his scheduled retirement.  Private sector Axis Bank has tied up with Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to offer specialised banking courses.  Federal Bank has launched its second FederalSkill Academy at Coimbatore, as part of its CSR initiatives.  The country's leading private sector lender ICICI Bank has forayed into 'software robotics' - a first by any Indian bank.  SBI, PNB, Paytm to issue e-toll tags for vehicles  DCB Bank has launched ‘mVisa’, a mobile-based payment solution that will make payments at retail outlets much easier.  Private sector lender Yes Bank launched SIMsePAY, that allows any account holder to do money transfers, pay utility bills and other mobile banking services, without the need for smart phones or internet.  Private sector RBL Bank said it has launched 'Aadhaar Payment Bridge System' (APBS) for small ticket micro-finance loan disbursements.  Federal Bank partners with Spice Digital for cash management services through the Bank’s E – collection facility.  Airtel Payments Bank, part of telcom giant Bharti Airtel, has offered customers opening a savings account one minute of talk time on their Airtel mobile for every rupee deposited.  Edible oil firm Ruchi Soya Industries in association with State Bank of India (SBI) has launched an initiative to provide banking assistance to farmers.  Public sector company MMTC will tie-up with the State Bank of India (SBI) to sell government- minted "Indian Gold Coin".

 1st bank to introduces software robotics - ICICI Bank  1st bank to Use robot in banking operations: City Union bank  1st cashless state - Goa (from 31st dec 2016)

 1st cashless city – Chandigarh  1st cashless district - Assam's Hailakandi  1st cashless Rajbhawan - Himachal Pradesh  1st digital village - Akodara village in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat ( created by ICICI BANK)  1st digital state – Kerala  1st digital district - Nagpur (Maharashtra)  1st state to implement PFMS - Jharkhand  1st state to distribute 2 Cr. LED bulbs - Gujarat  1st e-commerce in India to cross 100 million customers - Flipkart  1st Open defecation free state: Sikkim

 Paytm has launched a toll-free number 180018001234 through which non-smart phone users can make transactions through their Paytm wallets.  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.  National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is going to support banks for deployment of two PoS (Point of Sales) devices per village in one lakh villages having a population of upto 10,000 in an effort to facilitate more cashless transactions in rural India.  In another step to push digital transactions, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) launched a TV channel named 'DigiShala'.  Airtel Payments Bank, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, rolled out a pilot of its banking services in Rajasthan.  Government has allowed NABARD to disburse Rs21,000 crore to cash-starved farmers, helping them sow winter crops like wheat ahead of the sowing season, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta said.  American Morgan Stanley has lowered its growth forecast for FY’17 to 7.3% from 7.7% earlier on account of currency replacement programme.  Delhi who secured 30th ranking position beat Mumbai to become India’s Economic capital.  Home-grown food brand Amul will now sell its products in the US through online retailer Amazon's global selling programme.  Online travel company MakeMyTrip has announced to acquire rival portal ibibo group.  The Government has formally granted a license to British Petroleum ‘Petroleum industry company’, Europe's third-biggest oil company, to set up 3,500 petrol pumps in India.  The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned loan worth Rs. 19,702 crore to National Water Development Agency (NWDA).  The World Bank has pledged 2 billion US dollars aid to Bangladesh to tackle climate change.

 Indian pharmaceutical companies have ranked low at 19th position with an overall score of 59 out of 100 among in the Biopharmaceutical Competitiveness & Investment (BCI) Survey.  The Union Government has decided to invest 15,000 crore rupees to increase the capacity of Panipat refinery in Haryana to 25 Million Tonnes from existing 15 Million Tonnes.  Google will set up its first India data centre in Mumbai by 2017.  The Government has decided to raise the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) investment in Exchange Traded Funds from present 5 per cent to 10 per cent.  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised projections for India’s economic growth by 0.2 percentage points to 7.6 per cent for 2016-17 and 2017-18.  Microsoft has launched its first cybersecurity engagement center in India in the heart of Delhi, which will help the government and the private sector organisations to deal with cyber attacks.  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the on 15 November 2016 signed a 500 million US dollar loan to build a 9.8 km long road bridge across the Ganges River.  In order to counter the current cash crunch post-demonetisation, Mumbai Metro said it will issue single and return journey token in real-time cashless transactions.  Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated a trade route linking the south-western Gwadar port to Kashgar city in China as part of $46 billion project to jumpstart economic growth in the South Asian country.  Malaysia’s Axiata and India’s Bharti Airtel announced that the legal merger of their Bangladeshi mobile subsidiaries Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh has been completed, and the new company will now operate under the Robi name.  Google Capital, the search giant's venture arm that invests in growth-stage companies, has changed its name to 'CapitalG'.  The govt of Assam and Asian Development Bank has signed a deal in which ADB will provide 48 Million Dollar loan to Assam to improve power distribution.  Maharashtra government has signed an agreement with to implement a joint action plan on urban infrastructure development in the state.  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a three-year $12 billion loan program for Egypt, the largest such package to a Middle East nation.  TAFE, the world’s third largest tractor maker, in collaboration with the Rajasthan government, is setting up a Centre of Excellence — ‘JFarm Rajasthan’ — and a Custom Hiring Centre in six zones in Rajasthan at a total outlay of Rs.970 crore.  Vigilance Commission has now made it mandatory for the public sector banks to report to it all such matters involving funds over Rs one crore.  India and Palestine signed a MoU for setting up a Palestine-India Techno Park in Ramallah, Palestine.  In a bid to boost ties with India, the Australian government on 02nd November 2016 has announced 19 grants worth $6.3Million dollars for several projects in the field of education, science, sports, arts and culture.  A 4-tier GST tax structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent, with lower rates for essential items and the highest for luxury and de-merits goods that would also attract an additional cess, was decided by the all- powerful GST Council.  Leading global professional network LinkedIn has signed an agreement with the human resource development ministry to create more job opportunities for Indian students.

 Mobile wallet company MobiKwik announced that it has partnered Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to power e-cash payments for tatkal bookings.  Government has slapped a nearly 10,000 crore rupee fine on Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and its partners BP and Niko for pumping out gas that flowed to the Krishna Godavari- D6 Block from an adjoining field owned by ONGC.

 World Bank will invest nearly 1,000 crore rupees in Assam for the betterment of the inland waterways.  Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications agreed to merge its wireless telecom business with smaller rival Aircel to create the country's 4th-biggest mobile phone operator with asset base of more than Rs 65,000 crore.  Transportation app Uber has launched a new initiative in partnership with Maruti and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), for creating livelihood opportunities for one million people by 2018.  Andhra Pradesh has emerged on the top among all other states in attracting industrial investments in 2015-16, pushing the previous year's topper Maharashtra to the third spot.  Backed by broadening of domestic consumption base, S&P Global Ratings projected India to clock a "steroid-free" growth of 8 per cent over the next few years.  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $631-million loan for construction of industrial corridor between Visakhapatnam and Chennai, part of India's first coastal industrial corridor running from West Bengal to Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.  Bombay Stock Exchange has partnered with Twitter to provide live updates of S&P BSE Sensex levels.  The Board BCCI of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tied up with financial services firm Janalakshmi Financial Services (Jana) as an associate sponsor.  Homegrown e-tailer Flipkart has crossed the 100-million registered users mark, becoming the first e-commerce company in the country to hit the milestone.  India and France have reached an agreement on acquiring 36 Rafale jets from the latter, after repeated delays over price negotiations threatened to derail the deal.  India's largest digital payment company in India, MobiKwik has announced coalition with 12 state electricity boards.  The Goa government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Google India to promote digital literacy and drive the digital transformation in the state.  Canada's Province of British Columbia has become the first foreign government entity to issue a masala bond by floating Rs 500 crore rupee denominated overseas bonds on the Stock Exchange.  Rajasthan’s education department has partnered with US-based technology firm Cisco to promote digital learning across the state using virtual digital room solutions.  Breaking the Bofors jinx, India and the US inked a nearly Rs 5,000 crore deal for 145 M777 ultra-light howitzers, which will be mostly deployed near the borders with China.  A new United Nations report on the economic growth prospects for India in this current year, stating that they expect GDP growth to be 7.6%.  India Ratings has lowered its GDP forecast for 2016-17 for India to 6.8 per cent from 7.8 per cent earlier.

 Global e-commerce giant has announced it is bringing its global startup program Launchpad to India.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan launches Haritha Keralam Mission The Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan launched the Haritha Keralam Mission in Thiruvananthapuram.  It is a comprehensive programme to make the state clean, protect its water sources and soil.  Eminent Carnatic vocalist and playback singer K J Yesudas is the Brand Ambassador of the mission.

PM Narendra Modi launches 'Saur Sujala Yojana' in Chhattisgarh Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the "Saur Sujala Yojana" in Chhattisgarh that would provide solar powered irrigation pumps to farmers at a subsidized price.  Chhattisgarh would be the first state to implement the scheme.  Under the scheme, solar powered irrigation pumps of 3HP and 5HP capacity worth Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 4.5 lakh respectively would be distributed to the farmers by March 31, 2019. The beneficiaries would get the pumps at the subsidised price. Radha Mohan Singh launches e-pashuhaat portal The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched e-pashuhaat portal (www.epashuhaat.gov.in) on the occasion of National Milk Day.  Shri Singh informed that for the first time in the world under the scheme National Mission on Bovine Productivity ‘e-pashuhaat’ portal has been developed for connecting breeders and farmers regarding availability of bovine germplasm.  Through the portal breeders/farmers can sell and purchase breeding stock, information on all forms of germplasm including semen, embryos and live animals with all the agencies and stake holders in the country has been uploaded on the portal. Maharashtra govt launches 'Kaushalya Setu' skill-development programme Maharashtra government launched 'Kaushalya Setu', (SETU - Self-Employment and Talent Utilisation) its skill development programme for students on 19th October 2016 in Mumbai.

Aviation scheme UDAN(Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) takes off The Centre unveiled a regional connectivity scheme, known as UDAN (UdeDesh ka AamNagrik), with flights priced at Rs.2,500 for one hour of flying time to and from regional airports. PM launches #Sandesh2Soldiers campaign Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a campaign through which people can send their Diwali greetings and messages to the soldiers to boost their morale. MP to launch 'Lalima Abhiyan' to make state free from anaemia

With an aim to make Madhya Pradesh anaemia-free, the state government has decided to launch a scheme-'Lalima Abhiyan'- that will be effective from November 1.  Under the campaign, free iron folic acid tablets will be provided in aaganwadis', academic institutions and hospitals. PM Launches “Housing for All” in Rural Areas Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has formally launched “Housing for All” in rural areas under which the Government proposes to provide an environmentally safe and secure pucca house to every rural household by 2022.  Named the Pradhan MantriAwaas Yojana (Gramin), in its first phase the target is to complete one crore houses by March 2019.  The unit cost for these houses has been significantly increased and now through convergence a minimum support of nearly Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 1.6 lakh to a household is available.  There is also a provision of Bank loan uptoRs. 70,000/-, if the beneficiary so desires.  The selection of beneficiaries has been through a completely transparent process using the Socio Economic Census 2011 data and validating it through the Gram Sabha. Akhilesh Yadav launches UP-100 UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has launched one of his dream projects — the UP-100 Police Emergency Management System.  Under the scheme, Police will reach to help within 15 to 20 minutes after UP-100 is called from any urban or rural area.  Police will be available 24×7 to help under the scheme. Initially it has been launched in 11 districts.

Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan starts The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA).  The scheme aims at providing pregnant women ante-natal services and required treatment for free at government health centres and hospitals on 9th of every month.  Private Doctors are also included for providing better health care to pregnant women under the UNICEF aided mission.  Every 12th minute, a pregnant women dies in India lacking health care. Union Government launches Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana The Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched the Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana to boost up an ecosystem of entrepreneurship for young people.  The scheme was launched for the time period of over five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) with a project cost of 499.94 crore rupees.  It will offer entrepreneurship education and training to around 7 lakh students in 5 years through 3050 Institutes.  It will also offer easy access to information and mentor network, credit and advocacy to build a way-out for the youngsters. Union Government launches digital initiative Smart India Hackathon 2017

Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar on 9 November 2016 inaugurated Smart India Hackathon 2017, world’s largest digital national building initiative.  Smart India Hackathon 2017 is aimed at reaching out to all technology institutions in India and challenge students to offer innovative solutions to the daunting problems faced by our nation.  The Government also unveiled the first set of 250 problem statements that the students will be required to solve during the Hackathon that will take place in early 2017. Railways launched ‘Yatri Mitra Seva’ In an initiative to improve the railway travel experience of elderly, differently-abled and ailing passengers, the Ministry of Railways has announced the launch of ‘Yatri Mitra Seva’ to simplify access to wheelchairs, battery operated cars and porter services. Mehbooba launches “CM Scooty Scheme” for girls in J&K Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has launched the ‘CM Scooty Scheme‘ in the state to encourage girls to go to colleges for higher studies. Union Minister JP Nadda unveiled Mera Aspatal initiative J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched the “Mera Aspataal / My Hospital” initiative at the third National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Facilities at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.  Speaking on the occasion, the Health Minister stated that for any innovation we must think of scale, skill and speed as has been said by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Odisha govt launches Biju Kanya Ratna Yojana Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik has launched the Biju Kanya Ratna Yojana for the development of girls in three districts (Ganjam, Dhenkanal and Angul) of the state.  The Objective of the Yojana to improve sex ratio at birth and child sex ratio.

Dharmendra Pradhan launches 'Gas4India' campaign to boost natural gas use Pradhan, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, launched #Gas4India campaign.  The campaign is aimed at promoting the use of gas in the country.

Union HRD Minister launches ‘Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan’ Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar launched ‘Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan’ in New Delhi.

 Union HRD Minister appealed to the faculty and especially young students to come forward and join ‘Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan’ to encourage, create awareness and motivate all people around them to use a digitally enabled cashless economic system for transfer of fund.

 Narendra Modi government recently launched the new ‘Indian Police at Your Call’ app that helps citizens to locate the nearest police station along with the details when in an emergency.  Delhi Police launched a mobile application ‘Delhi Police Senior Citizen’ for senior citizens to enable them to reach out to the police quickly in emergencies.  J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare released the “Healthy India Initiative/Swastha Bharat-ekpehal” magazine and launched the “No More Tension” Mobile Application.  Digital wallet firm MobiKwik has launched a data-light version of its mobile application named ‘Lite’  Private sector lender Yes Bank has launched “Yes Mobile 2.0” its new mobile banking app with multiple new features and extensive support for banking transactions on Apple and Android based SmartWatches.  Google has launched its latest mobile chat application “Allo” along with Google Assistant.  Vijaya Bank has launched three innovative information technology (IT) products, coinciding with Hindi Diwas celebrations. They are: VPAYQWIK, Vijaya *99# and V-eConnect+.  DCB Bank has launched ‘mVisa’, a mobile-based payment solution that will make payments at retail outlets much easier.  MobiKwik has launched a one-step offline payments mode, called Bubble Pin.  DCB Bank launches its own mobile wallet Cippy  Andhra Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launches ‘AP Purse’  Maharashtra to roll out its own ‘Mahawallet’ 

Following committees were recently in news:

 TVSN Prasad Committee on Pallet Guns  Amitabh Kant committee to oversee transition to cashless economy  Amitabh Kant committee to review e-commerce rules  NITI Aayog constitutes Chandrababu Naidu Committee to promote cashless society, digital economy  Chandrababu Naidu to head CMs Committee on Demonetisation  Munialappa Committee to monitor bird flu situation  L Narasimha Reddy Committee : One Rank One Pension  K.S. Valdiya committee on the existence of Saraswati River  Madhukar Gupta Committee: Recommendations on border protection  Ratan Watal Committee: to suggest steps to promote card payments  Abhinav Bindra Headed NRAI Review Committee on Rio Debacle  Pradeep Kumar Sinha Committee on Trade Facilitation  RBI’s SS Mundra task force: to expedite ATM recalibration

 Four member team constituted for conserving Loktak Lake in Manipur  Veerappa Moily-led parliamentary panel: to examine merger of budgets

Index Released By India’s rank Topper Enabling cross border trade World Economic Forum 102 Singapore Report Global hunger index 2016 International Food Policy 97 was best, Research Institute Chad was worst Global Gender Gap Report World Economic Forum 87 2016 Commonwealth youth Commonwealth Secretariat 133 index climate change Germanwatch and Climate 20th Denmark performance index Action Network Europe Global Competitiveness World Economic Forum 39 Report World Economic Freedom The Heritage Foundation 112 Index and The Wall Street Journal Most unequal country New World Wealth 2 Russia report Logistics Performance World Bank 35 Germany Index: Global Travel and Tourism World Economic Forum 13 Finland most safe, Report Nigeria most unsafe Most expensive retail Cushman & Wakefield Khan Market 28th New York’s Upper 5th location Avenue Agricultural Marketing & NITI Aayog ___ Maharashtra Farm Friendly Reforms Index Internet subscribers GOI Maharashtra Ease of doing business World Bank 130 New Zealand Global business optimism Grant Thornton 2 index International Ease od Doing Business Commerce and Industry __ Andhra Pradesh and rankings India Ministry Telengana Global Terrorism Index Institute for Economics & 7 Iraq (GTI), 2016 Peace

National Appointments

Person Post Institution/State Jagdish Singh Khehar Chief Justice India Rakesh Asthana Interim Chairman CBI S.K. Sinha Special Director Intelligence Bureau O Panneerselvam Chief Minister Tamil Nadu B S Bhullar Chief Aviation Pankaj Patel President FICCI Ratan Tata Chairman Tata Sons Harish Bhatt Chairman Tata Global Beverages Ishaat Hussain Chairman TCS OP Bhatt Chairman Tata Steel Board Karnal Singh Chief Enforcement Directorate AK Bhatt DGMO Indian Army Yudhvir Singh Malik Chairman NHAI Ajay Kumar Bhalla Director General Foreign Trade Sanjay Singh Member Secretary Law Commission Member IOC's Athletes' Commission Anurag Thakur Member ICC sub-committee Rajendra Shende Member UN expert panel on Climate Geeta Phogat DSP Haryana Police Gautam Lahiri President Press Club of India G Mahalingam Member SEBI Riyadh Mathew Chairman Press Trust of India Shakti Sinha Head Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Somesh Sharma President Indian Newspaper Society Rajeev Sharma CMD Power Finance Sushil Chandra appointed Chairman CBDT Mariamma Koshy President Hockey India Sunil Mittal Chairman Global System Mobile Association G Mahalingam Member SEBI Vijay Kelkar President Indian Statistical Institute V K Sharma Chairman LIC, additional charge

Alka Sirohi Chairman UPSC Anandi Ramalingam Director BEL, first woman director C Vidyasagar Rao Governor Tamil Nadu, additional charge Om Prakash Kohli Governor Madhya Pradesh, additional charge MSK Prasad Chairman BCCI Selection Committee Sakshi Malik Wrestling Director Rohtak University J Satyanarayana chief UIDAI, Part Time S Sivakumar Member 21st Law Commission of India

Brand Ambassadors

 Valvoline ropes in ViratKohli as brand ambassador  PV Sindhu appointed brand ambassador of Vizag Steel  Bank of Baroda signs brand endorsement with PV Sindhu, K Srikanth  Yesudas appointed brand ambassador of ‘Haritha Keralam’ project  Sunil Gavaskar appointed ‘Stroke Ambassador’  Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak appointed Brand Ambassador for “Swachh Rail Mission”  Switzerland appoints Ranveer Singh as brand ambassador  Punjab National Bank appointed Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador  105-yr-old Kunwar Bai made 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' mascot  Nawazuddin appointed brand ambassador of UP farmers' scheme  Kerala appoints Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador for anti-liquor campaign  Nadia Murad named UN Goodwill Ambassador  Aishwaryaa R Dhanush appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador

International Appointments

Person Country/Institution Post Nana Akufo-Addo President Bernard Cazeneuve France Prime Minister Van der Bellen President Shavkat Mirziyoyev Uzbekistan President Michel Temer President Bakytzhan Prime Minister Sagintayev Jim Yong Kim World Bank President

Meng Hongwei Interpol President Donald Trump United States President Mahela Jayawardene Mumbai Indians Coach Debbie Hockley New Zealand Cricket Board President Mohan Reddy Germany Consul Antonio Guterres Portugal UN secretary general Kersti Kaljulaid President, First female Abdelilah Bekirane Prime Minister Nikki Haley United Nation Ambassador Qamar Javed Bajwa Pakistan Army Chief Jason McCracken Intnl Hockey Federation CEO Guy Ryder ILO Director-General Narinder Batra Intnl Hockey Federation Chief Mariano Rajoy Prime Minister Justice Miyan Saqib Chief Justice Pakistan Nisar

Ambassadors/Envoys  Luo Zhaohui, ambassador of China to India  Renu Pall Ambassador of India to Austria  Amrit Lugun Ambassador of India to the State of Eritrea  R Ravindra Ambassador of India to  Deep Kumar Upadhyay re-appointed as 's envoy to India  Sanjiv Arora Ambassador of India to Lebanon

Banking Appointments

Person Bank Post Veena Mankar IDFC Bank Non-Executive Chairperson Salim Gangadharan South Indian Bank Non-Executive Chairman C V R Rajendran Catholic Syrian Bank MD & CEO Siby Sebastian State Bank of CEO M Rajeshwar Rao RBI Executive Director Amresh Acharya YES Bank Head Global Indian Banking

Madhusudan Sahoo Insolvency & Bankruptcy Chairperson Board of India R Subramania Kumar Indian Overseas Bank Executive Director Atul Kumar Goel Union Bank of India ED Jayant PurushottamGokhale Syndicate Bank Director Pradhan State Bank of Travancore Chief GM Anuradha Rao SBI Mutual Fund MD & CEO SS Mallikarjuna Rao Syndicate Bank ED Kristalina Georgieva World Bank chief executive Rajeev Misra Softbank Head Junaid Ahmad World Bank Head in India

 BEML Ltd, under the Union Ministry of Defence, has been bestowed with the prestigious ‘CII National Quality 2016 Award’ jointly instituted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) & Export Import Bank (EXIM).  Marten has won the Turner Prize 2016, and has said she intends to share the £25,000 award with her fellow nominees.  Time Magazine named US President-elect Donald Trump its person of the year 2016.  Princess Maha Chakri of Thailand was awarded 'World Sanskrit Award'for the year 2015  George Cardona, Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania, USA, was George Cardona was awarded 'World Sanskrit Award' for the year 2016.  Journalist Malini Subramaniam honoured with press freedom award  Tata Steel awarded for sustainable development in mining  awarded ‘Legends Award’ from International Boxing Association  won best actor award Asia Pacific Screen Awards  conferred Lifetime Achievement Award at Times Lit Fest

47th International Film Festival of India

Award Person/Film Golden Peacock award Iranian film ‘Daughter’ Best Actor (male) award Farhad Aslani for Iranian film ‘Daughter’ Best Actor (female) award Elina Vasca for Latvian film ‘Mellow Mud’ Best director award Soner Caner and Baris Kaya for the Turkish film ‘Rauf’ Special jury award South Korean director Lee Joon-ik for the film ‘The Throne’

ICFT–Unesco Gandhi medal Turkish film ‘Cold of Kalandar’ Centenary Award for best debut Spanish film ‘Rara’ feature film

Nobel Prize 2016

Award Person(s) Country Work Nobel Peace Prize Juan Manuel Santos Colombia For FARC agreement Nobel Prize in 1. Oliver Hart 1. Britain For Contract Theory Economics 2. Bengt Holmstrom 2. Finland Nobel Prize in 1. David Thouless 1. Britain The study of “strange Physics states” of matter 2. Duncan Haldane 2. Britain

3. Michael Kosterlitz 3. Britain Nobel Medicine Yoshinori Ohsumi Japan for his work on autophagy Prize Nobel prize in Bob Dylan USA ___ literature Nobel Prize in 1.Jean-Pierre Sauvage 1. France for their work on molecular Chemistry machines 2.J. Fraser Stoddart 2. Scotland

3.Bernard L. Feringa 3.Netherlands

 UNESCO Salon Youth Video Competition 2016 awarded to 'Magical Piano'  starrer film Pink will Be Screened at UN Headquarters  Vikas krishan yadav selected for International Boxing Association 'best boxer’ award  Mizoram's Lalbiakthanga Pachuau declared India's oldest working journalist  C Radhakrishnan selected for Mathrubhumi Literary award  State Bank of Patiala gets special award for excellence in MSME lending  International Prize in Statistics awarded to Sir David Cox  Former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank awarded by Ugandan govt for his literary work  Gangtok conferred Cleanest Tourist Destination honour  Chandigarh and Mysore were awarded as ‘Clean Cities in million plus population category’.  Gujarat’s Rani Ki Vav bags ‘Cleanest Iconic Place’ award  'Murga' wins first prize at Swachh Bharat Short Film Festival

 Indian Army's Gorkha Rifles won a gold medal at Cambrian exercise  U.S. author Paul Beatty wins Man Booker Prize for the book ‘The Sellout’  World Bank award for Almatti dam, Karnataka  G Balakrishna won Mr Asia title  Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar wins 2016 Sakharov Prize  Sri Sri Ravishankar honoured with Dr Nagendra Singh International Peace Award  TCS awarded Digital Innovator of the Year  Hari Prasad Chourasia gets Award  HDFC Bank's Aditya Puri included in Fortune's top bizmen list  Gyanranjan get Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award  Akshaya Mukul Wins Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize  Steel Authority of India Limited wins Golden Peacock Award for corporate governance  Amitav Ghosh Honored With Tata Literature Live Lifetime Achievement Award  Uttarakhand Ratna for Narayan Dutt Tiwari  Professor get Madhya Pradesh government govt's for Theatre  Roger Federer wins Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award  Facebook Mark Zuckerberg declared business person of the year  Gulzar won Tata Lit Fest's Poet Laureate 2016 award  University confers Honorary Doctorate on President Mukherjee  Visaranai is India’s official entry at Oscar 2017  Uttam Singh honoured with 'Lata Mangeshkar Award'  Telugu writer Prof Kalakaluri Enoch conferred 29th Moortidevi Award for his novel ‘Anantajivanam‘  Tirupati Airport Awarded “Best Tourist Friendly Airport”  'Sunrise', Parched' scripts archived at Oscar library  Vijaya Bank bagged the second prize under Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar (Region C) for the year 2015-16.  West Bengal confer Banga bibhushan award to Lata Mangeshkar  HDFC Bank named India’s most valuable brand  conferred Clinton Global Citizen Award

 Canara Bank conferred with the Dun & Bradstreet Banking Award 2016  T R Zeliang receives Pangkor Dialogue Award in Malaysia  Odisha bags 9th Global Agriculture Leadership Award 2016  Subramanian Swamy was awarded ‘Tamil Ratna’ in US  Sonitpur selected for 'Saakshar Bharat Award'. Among the states, Chhattisgarh has been selected for the award.  Jan Sikshan Sansthan Malappuram wins UNESCO literacy award  Dr Hrushikesh Mallick get prestigious Sarala Award-2016  Lonavla International Film Festival India: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee win Best Actors award  Anjum Chopra, India’s first woman to get MCC membership  Filmmaker K G George Honoured with J C Daniel Award  Thithi wins Best Film honour at 1st BRICS Film Festival  Yoga, the mind-body discipline based on ancient Indian philosophy and now practised all over the world, has joined Unesco’s list of intangible world heritage.  All India Football Federation has won the AFC Developing Member Association of the Year Award at the Asian Football Confederation's Annual Awards Night.  Hillary Clinton honoured singer Katy Perry with an Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award at UNICEF Gala.  16-year-old Indian environmental activist Kehkashan Basu based in the UAE has won this year's prestigious International Children's Peace Prize for her fight for climate justice and combating environmental degradation.  The Indira Gandhi International Airport(IGT) in New Delhi is the 22nd most connected airport in the world, according to air travel intelligence company OAG. Chicago Airport, Atlanta Airports and Dallas Airports in the US, have ranked first, second and third respectively.  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.

 Mangaluru girl was crowned Miss Supranational 2016 at a grand ceremony in Krynica Zdroj, . She also won the title of Miss Asia-Oceania.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the reader’s poll for TIME ‘Person of the Year 2016’.  The Straits Times of Singapore has chosen Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal for the prestigious "2016 Asian of the Year" as part of a group called the "The Disruptors."

Star Screen Awards 2016

 Best Film: Pink  Best Actor (Male): Amitabh Bachchan  Best Actress: Alia Bhatt  Lifetime achievement award:  Best Actor (Critics Choice): Sushant Singh Rajput  Best Actress(Critics Choice): Swara Bhaskar  Best Director: Ram Madhvani – Neerja

 Multiple-time champion Peter Gilchrist added another feather to his cap as he pulled off a one- sided 1500-617 win against Indian national champion Sourav Kothari in the Long-Up Format final of IBSF World Billiards Championship in Bengaluru.  Steven Gerrard, England football captain, announces retirement  Indian Golfer Aditi Ashok wins inaugural Qatar Ladies Open  Azamgarh DM Suhas LY wins gold in Asian Para Badminton Championship  Nico Rosberg wins F1 title  Lewis Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi GP  Argentina fought back to beat Croatia 3-2 and win the Davis Cup for the first time in a dramatic final in . Argentina is the 15th winner of Davis Cup in 116 years.  Pankaj Advani claims bronze medal at IBSF World Snooker Championship  Brazil lifted Inaugural BRICS U–17 Football Tournament Championship in Goa  India becomes first cricket team to play 900 ODIs  India beat Iran 38-29 to win 2016 Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad  North Korea won 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup  Sprinter Srabani Nanda wins Ekalabya Award  wins 2016 Men's Singles  Agnieszka Radwanska wins 2016 China Open Women's Singles  Virat Kohli presented with ICC Test Championship mace

 Indian shooter Jitu Rai named 'Champion of Champions' by ISSF  Nico Rosberg won the Japanese Grand Prix  The Formula-F1 driver from Australia Mark Webber announces retirement from racing  India beat Bangladesh to lift U-18 Asia Cup hockey in Dhaka  Daniel Ricciardo wins F1 Malaysian Grand Prix  Kieren Dsouza becomes the first Indian to complete World's toughest race, Spartathlon in Greece  Indian Golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar wins Korea Open  Chess Master Padmini Rout wins National Women Premier Championship for third time  Haryana Sprinter Dharambir Singh banned for eight-year  PV Sindhu wins China open Super Series  Andy Murray beats to win ATP World Tour Finals  Gaganjeet Bhullar win Indonesia Open  Petra Kvitova wins 2016 WTA Elite Singles Trophy  India will host second Twenty20 Blind World Cup  Mumbai’s Western Railways beat Haryana 4-2 to win Surjit trophy  Former South Africa spinner Robin Peterson announces retirement from cricket  Golfer Aditi Ashok lifts Indian Open title  Lewis Hamilton clinched Brazilian GP  India beat Pakistan in final to win Asian Champions Trophy Hockey  Lewis Hamilton wins Mexican GP  Indian shuttler Pratul wins men’s singles title at Bahrain International Challenge  Dhoni most valued athlete among Indians, Federer globally: Forbes Fab 40  Hockey: India beat China 2-1 to win Women's Asian Champions Trophy  Karandeep Kochhar youngest and first Indian amateur to win on PGTI Golf  R Ashwin becomes fastest Indian to take 200 Test wickets  Indian women’s kabaddi team wins gold in Asian Beach Games  East Bengal wins Calcutta Football League 2016  India becomes fourth team to play 500 Test matches  Ritu Rani retires from international hockey  Army Green beat Neroca FC to win Durand Cup  India Blue wins 2016-2017 Duleep Trophy tournament  India’s 100-year-old athlete, Man Kaur has won Gold medal at the American Masters Games in the 100-meter dash.  Abhinav Bindra announces retirement from shooting  makes history with 308th win  Magnus Carlsen of has won the World Chess Championship for the third consecutive time after defeating challenger Sergey Karjakin of Russia.  2016 world champion Nico Rosberg has sensationally retired from Formula 1 with immediate effect.  Indian women maintained their supremacy in the Asia Cup by beating arch-rivals Pakistan for their sixth title in as many editions.

 Olympic champion Usain Bolt has won the IAAF male Athlete of the Year award for a record sixth time.  India's Mukesh Kumar became the oldest golfer to win an Asian Tour title when he lifted the Panasonic Open after it was curtailed to 54 holes due to fog.  Argentina won the women’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2016 as they defeated Netherlands.

2016 Summer Paralympic Games

The 2016 Summer Paralympic Games began on 7 September 2016 at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

 Total nations participated in 2016 Paralympic games: 159  Total Events in 2016 Paralympic games: 528  Motto of 2016 Paralympic games: A New World  Total Games in 2016 Paralympic games: 22  Mariyappan Thangavelu won gold in men's high jump His compatriot Varun Singh Bhati clinched the bronze medal the same event.  Deepa Malik become first Indian woman to win medal at Paralympics. Deepa bagged a silver medal in the shotput F-53 event.  Devendra Jhajharia has won gold in the men's javelin throw F46 event at the Rio Paralympics. He is the first Indian to win two Paralympic Gold medals.  The medal tally was topped by China with 239 medals  India finished 43rd with four medals

US Open 2016

Category Winner Men’s Singles Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) Women’s Singles (Germany) Men’s doubles Jamie Murray (Great Britain) and Bruno Soares (Brazil) Women's doubles Mattek-Sands (United States) and Lucie Safarova () Mixed doubles Mate Pavic (Croatia) and (Germany)

 John Glenn, who was celebrated as a national hero after becoming the first US astronaut to orbit Earth and went on to serve 24 years in the Senate and seek the presidency, has died. He was 95.  Freedom fighter Ramesh Kulkarni passed away

 Manipur theatre legend Kanhailal passed away  Former boxing champion Aaron Pryor dies at 60  Thailand king Bhumibol Adulyadej passes away  Italian playwright and Nobel Literature Prize winner Dario Fo passes away  Tamil director K Subaash passes away  Noted journalist Dileep Padgaonkar passes away  Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies  Marathi litterateur Anand Yadav passes away  Renowned writer and litterateur Dayanand Anant passed away at 88  Noted artist Yusuf Arakkal passes away  's last king, Kigeli V, dies aged 80  South African struggle icon Mewa Ramgobin passes away  Qatar: Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani passes away  UK’s First Indian-Origin Sikh Judge Mota Singh Dies  Former J&K Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha passes away  Veteran Congress leader Ram Naresh Yadav passes away  Renowned Hindi & Bhojpuri writer Dr. Viveki Rai passes away  Carlos Alberto, Brazil's 1970 World Cup hero, passes away aged 72  Former Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle passes away  Legendary Kashmiri singer dies  Goa’s first woman CM Kakodkar passes away  Veteran Carnatic singer M Balamuralikrishna passes away  Renowned scientist Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar Menon passed away. He was 88.  Noted Hindi writer Hridyesh Mehrotra passes away  Former JK Deputy CM Pandit Mangat Ram passes away  Sri Lankan music legend Pandit Amaradeva passes away  Renowned Pakistani singer A Nayyar passes away  Playwright Reoti Saran Sharma passes away  US golf legend Arnold Palmer dies at 87  's former President Shimon Peres passes away  Former Australian cricketer Max Walker has passed away in Melbourne. He was 68.  Former Italian PM Carlo Azeglio Ciampi dies  Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov dies at 78  Australia's oldest surviving Test cricketer, Len Maddocks, has passed away aged 90.  Former union minister Arif Beg (81-year) passed away in Bhopal.  World’s oldest cricketer, South Africa‘s Lindsay Tuckett passed away in Bloemfontein at the age of 97.  Kenneth Higgs, the former England cricketer, passed away on September 7, aged 79.  Poet, former MP Bekal Utsahi passes away  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa passes away  Former international hockey umpire Sujlana passes away  Cho Ramaswamy, Actor, political commentator, theatre personality and editor of Thuglak, a Tamil magazine, died on 7th December 2016.

 Vice President Releases Shashi Tharoor’s book ‘An Era of Darkness: British Empire in India’  President of India Receives the Book ‘Charaiveti, Charaiveti’ Written by Shri Ram Naik  The book, named "Driven: The Virat Kohli Story" has been written by senior journalist Vijay Lokapally and published by Bloomsbury India.  Twinkle Khanna launches her second book 'The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad'  'Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance': Autobiography of Simone Biles  Chris Gayle launches his autobiography 'Six Machine' in India  Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul released a book titled 'Shanti ki Talaash mein Zindagi' written in Hindi by Radhika Nagrath.  The Consul General of Malaysia in India Eldeen Husaini Muhammad Hashim has released the translated version of 'Sai Charitra Granth', a book on the life of Sai Baba.  President Pranab Mukherjee released the book ‘Citizen and Society’ written by Vice- President Mohd Hamid Ansari.  One Indian Girl: A book by Chetan Bhagat  Playing it My way: An Autobiography of Sachin Tendulkar written by Boria Majumdar  India-US Relations in the Age of Uncertainty: A book by B.M. Jain

 India and China, under the provisions of Border Defense Cooperation Agreement, 2013, the Indian and Chinese armies held Second Joint Exercise “Sino India Cooperation 2016” in Ladakh.

 India and Indonesia has kicked off their bilateral Maritime exercise at Belawan, Indonesia. It aims for Cooperation in the field of Maritime security.  The US and Vietnamese navies held the 7th annual Naval Engagement Activity NEA, 2016 at Tien Sa Port in Da Nang.  The fourth edition of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise ‘MITRA SHAKTI 2016’ was conducted at Ambepussa, Sri Lanka from 24 October to 06 November 2016.  The India-China Joint Training Exercise "Hand in Hand 2016" was held in Pune from November 15-27.  Indo-Nepal Joint Military Exercise Surya Kiran-X concluded at Army Battle School, Saljhandi, Nepal. It wass the tenth in the series of such exercise between the two nations and held from 31 October to 13 November 16.  As part of the ongoing India Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise SAMPRITI 2016 was conducted at Tangail, Dhaka, Bangladesh from 05 to 18 November 2016.  The eighth edition of India-Russia Joint Military Exercise ‘INDRA-2016’ was held in the Ussiriysk District in Vladivostok, Russia.  As part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise, ‘Yudh Abhyas 2016’ conducted in Uttarakhand from September 14 to 27.  As a part of India’s continued efforts to strengthen Indo-Kazakhstan relations, troops of Indian & Kazakhstan Army were recently engaged in a joint exercise ‘PRABAL DOSTYK – 16.  KONKAN 16, the 2016 edition of the annual bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy, would be held from 05 -16 Dec 16 at Mumbai and Goa.

Summit City Country World Internet Conference 2016 Wujhen China Conference of Parties 2017 Geneva Switzerland, India will Preside this Conference Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Peru (APEC) summit Non-Aligned Movement Margarita 14th ASEAN Summit 2016 Vientiane Laos 11th G-20 Summit Hangzhou China, Next will be in Hamburg, Germany Fifth International Tourism Mart Imphal, Manipur India BRICS summit Goa India

Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction New Delhi India 13th World Robot Olympiad Greater Noida India Incredible India Tourism Investment New Delhi India Summit 11th East Asia Summit Vientiane Laos Bird festival Goa India First BRICS film festival New Delhi India 3rd BRICS Urbanisation Forum Meet Vishakhapatnam India Internet of Things India Congress, 2016’ Bengaluru India 2016 BRICS Labour & Employment New Delhi India Ministerial Meet 2nd SAARC Anti-Terrorism Mechanism New Delhi India International Agro-biodiversity Congress New Delhi India BRICS Trade Fair and Exhibition New Delhi India BRICS Convention on Tourism Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh India 36th India International Trade Fair New Delhi India BRICS Summit for women MPs Jaipur India BRICS Disaster Risk Reduction meet Udaipur India 7th World Ayurveda Kolkata India Heart of Asia' conference Amritsar India International Gita Mahotsav-2016 Kurukshetra India India International Science Festival New Delhi India 28th State Information Ministers New Delhi India Conference

Day Date Theme for 2016 International Literacy Day 8th September “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”. International Day of Peace 21st September “The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace”. The World Tourism Day 27th September "Tourism for all promoting universal accessibility’. World Rabies Day 2016. 28 September Educate. Vaccinate. Eliminate. World Maritime Day 29 September “Shipping: indispensable to the world”

International day of Older 1st October "Take a Stand Against Ageism" Persons: 1st October International day for non 2nd October violence The World Teachers’ Day 5th October Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status. World Post Day 9 October Innovation, Integration and Inclusion. World Mental Health Day 10 October ‘Psychological First Aid’. International Day of the Girl 11 October "Girls' Progress = Goals' Progress: What Counts for Girls". International Day for Disaster 13 October Live to Tell: Raising Awareness, Reduction Reducing Mortality. World Standards Day 14 October “Standards Build Trust". World Student Day: October 15th, Dr. Abdul Kalam's birthday The World Food Day 16th October “Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too.” The United Nations' October 17 ‘moving from humiliation and International Day for the exclusion to participation: Ending Eradication of Poverty poverty in all its forms’ United Nations Day 24 October Disarmament Week 24 October to 30 October 31st October, on the Integration of India Rashtriya Ekta Diwas on occasion of the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel World Tsunami Awareness 5th November ‘Effective Education and Day Evacuation Drills’.

World Pneumonia Day 12 November "Keep the Promise, Stop Pneumonia Now". World Diabetes day 14th November Eyes on Diabetes International Day for 16 November Tolerance 2016 World Philosophy Day 17 November, Third Thursday of November National Constitution Day 26 November National Milk Day 26 November International Day for the November 25 “Orange the World - raise funds to Elimination of Violence end violence against women” against Women World Aids Day 1st December ‘Hands Up for HIV Prevention’ International Day of Persons 3rd December “Achieving 17 Goals for the Future with Disabilities We Want” International Volunteer Day 5 December "Global Applause – give volunteers a hand" Human Rights Day 10 December "Stand up for someone's rights today” International Anti-Corruption 9 December ‘United against corruption for Day development, peace and security’