Daily GK : 18 - 19 Dec 2016

Honours & Awards

1. Miss Puerto Rico clinches Miss World 2016 crown

• Miss Puerto Rico Stephanie Del Valle (19-year) was crowned Miss World 2016 at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland(USA).
• Del Valle previously won Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico 2016.
• She has been Crowned by Miss World 2015 Mireia Lalaguna of Spain.
• First runner-up was Yaritza Miguelina Reyes Ramirez of the Dominican Republic followed by Miss World Indonesia Natasha Mannuela.

Note:

• Miss World 2016  was the 66th edition of the Miss World pageant.
• 117 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown.
• This was the second time that the United States hosted the pageant.

National & International Appointment

2. Lt Gen Bipin Rawat to be next Indian Army chief & BS Dhanoa to be IAF chief

• The Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Bipin Rawat will be the new Chief of Army Staff and  Air Marshal BS Dhanoa will be the next Chief of Air Staff.
• They will take charge on 31st December 2016.
• Lt. Gen Rawat will replace General Dalbir Singh and Air Marshal Dhanoa will replace Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.
• Rawat has handled various operational responsibilities in many areas, including along the LoC with Pakistan, the LAC with China, and in the North-East.
• Dhanoa was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Air Force in June 1978 and also in the Intelligence Directorate of Air Headquarters.

Banking & Finance

3. State Bank MobiCash Mobile Wallet launched

• The Union Minister  Arun Jaitley and Manoj Sinha has jointly launched its mobile wallet application ‘State Bank MobiCash’ for the feature and smart phones.
• State Bank MobiCash is the product of  State Bank of India (SBI) in partnership with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
• The new wallet services will initially be available in Punjab, Haryana,  Rajasthan and Bihar and expanded pan-India by the end of this year.
• 'MobiCash' will allow users to deposit cash through BSNL retail outlets and withdraw funds from their account.

Note: 

• SBI already has an application named SBI Buddy for smartphone users.

4. Ukraine nationalises country's largest bank

• Ukraine has nationalised the country's largest bank in an attempt to avert a financial meltdown in the war-scarred former Soviet state.
• The government moved to take over PrivatBank after months of rumours that the lender was heavily burdened by bad debts.
• Kiev's decision falls in line with International monetary Fund's demands for Ukraine to stabilise its financial sector in order to achieve sustainable growth.
• PrivatBank controls one-third of the east European country's bank deposits and even has branches in the Baltic states.

5. 19 insurers remained profitable in 2015-16: IRDAI

• In the annual report of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)  only 19 insurers remained profitable in 2015-16 of the 24 life insurance companies operating in India.
• During 2015, the life inflation adjusted insurance premium in India increased by 7.8%.
• The Indian non-life insurance sector witnessed a growth of 8.1% during 2015.

Note:

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is an autonomous, statutory agency tasked with regulating and promoting the insurance and re-insurance industries in India.

National Affairs

6. Goa celebrating 55th Liberation Day

• Today, Goa celebrates its 55th Liberation Day.
• Goa was liberated on this day in 1961 from Portugues rule.
• The main state-level function was held at Athletic Stadium in Bambolim where Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has unfurled the national flag.
• Several programmes have been organised at District and Taluka levels to mark the occasion.

7. The Union Minister Vijay Goel inaugurates conference on Youth Development

• The union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel has inaugurated the Conference on Youth Development in Delhi.
• He urged youth to perform to the best of their ability in various sectors like community development, education, social justice and entrepreneurship among others.
• The Youth Development conference was organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and National Yuva Kendra Sangathan.

Sports

8.  Atletico De Kolkata win ISL title for 2nd time in three years

• Atletico De Kolkata has won Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament for the second time in three years in Kochi.
• Earlier, Both teams were one goal each in the stipulated time.
• The Kolkata team scored four goals against the three by Kerala Blasters in the penalty shootout.

9. India beat Belgium 2-1 to win the hockey junior World Cup

• India beat Belgium(2-1) to win the Hockey Junior World Cup after a gap of 15 years at the Major Dhyan Chand Astroturf Stadium in Lucknow (UP).
• This is India’s second world title
• Earlier, India won their first title in 2001 in Hobart, Australia.

10. Vijender Singh beats Francis Cheka by TKO to retain WBO-Asia Pacific title

• Indian boxing star Vijender Singh knocked out former world Francis Cheka and retain WBO-Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title at Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi.
• He took less than 10 minutes to beat Tanzanian boxer.
• Vijender landed the winning blow in the third round of what was to be a 10-round contest to leave Cheka dazed and delirious.