Current Affairs for 31st December 2016 to 6th January 2017

Current Affairs for 31^st December 2016 to 6^th January 2017

Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat will succeed General Dalbir Singh as the next Indian Army Chief. Dalbir Singh will retire at the end of this month. Previously, Rawat was General Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Command. Before this assignment, Rawat was General Officer Commanding Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa area located in Mumbai.
India Women’s Under-18 team has clinched the bronze medal in the 4^th Women’s Under-18 Asia Cup hockey tournament. In the bronze medal play off match in Bangkok, they blanked Korea 3-0. Sangita Kumari scored twice after Ritu had put India ahead in the 45^th minute.
In a bid to promote salary payments by employers via banking channels, the Union Cabinet has cleared an ordinance for amendment of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, facilitating removal of the need of obtaining a written authorization from an employee for payment of wages by cheque or through a bank account. The relevant government, centre or state, shall notify to specify the industrial or other establishments where the employer shall pay wages “only” by cheque or by crediting the wages in the bank accounts.
The Chinese Navy has sieved an underwater drone in plain sight of the American sailors who had deployed it in international waters. According to a US defence official, the unmanned glider had come to the surface of the water in the South China Sea and was about to be retrieved by the USNS Bowditch, an oceano graphic and surveillance ship.
Mumbai based writer Jerry Pinto, Tamil author Vannadhasan, Hindi Writer Nasira Sharma are among 24 others declared the winners of the Sahitya Akademi awards this year. Sharma’s Hindi novel Paarijat, Pinto’s Em and the Big Hoom and Vannadhasan’s Oru Sru Isai won them the literary honour. Among the winners are eight book of poetry, seven books of short stories, five novels, two in criticism, one on the basis of recommendations made by a jury of three in the languages concerned and approved by its executive board, the Akademi said in a statement.
With an aim to support the Centre’s drive of creating a cashless ecosystem, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended that a “reasonable” amount of free mobile internet should be provided to rural subscribers every month. This scheme, the costs of which are suggested to be met from the government’s Universal Service Obligatory Fund (USOF), would be facilitated by third-party aggregators, which are agnostic telecom service providers, TRAI said.
India beat England by innings and 75 runs to seal 4-0 series win. India’s victory over England in the five-match test series is historic and will long be remembered.
A young Turkish policeman, railing about Russia’s role in Syria’s bloody war, shot and killed Moscow’s ambassador to Ankara during an art opening, an attack that all three countries termed an act of terror.
India and Tajikistan have decided to step up defence cooperation and signed an agreement to share financial intelligence to counter money laundering and financing of terrorism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who held bilateral talks with visiting Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, said that India and Tajikistan live in an extended neighbourhood that continues to face multiple security challenges. He further said that the threat from terrorism endangers not just our two countries. It casts a long shadow of violence and instability over the entire region.
India has become the first nation to win the hockey junior World Cup at home. At the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium on Sunday night, Indian boys beat Belgium 2-1 to win their second world title after 15 years.