Daily GK : 8 Dec 2016

National Affairs

1. Union Cabinet approves Pune Metro Rail Project Phase - 1

• The Union Cabinet has approved the development of Pune Metro Rail Project Phase - 1.
• The Pune Metro Rail Corridor will cover total length of 31.254 km comprising with two corridors.
• In Corridor-1, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to Swargate will cover the length of 16.589 km and Corriodor-2 (Vanaz to Ramwadi) covering 14.665 km.
• The total completion cost of the metro rail corridor will be Rs.11,420 crore.

Note:-

• The Pune Metro Rail Project will be implemented by Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
• It will be a 50:50 jointly owned company of Government of India and Government of Maharashtra.

2. Naidu inaugurates 4th Bi-Annual Photo Exhibition in Delhi

• The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated the 4th Bi-Annual Photo Exhibition of All India Working News Cameramen’s association at Lalit Kala Academy in New Delhi.
• According to Mr. Naidu one picture is worth a thousand words and Newspapers,television stations that are trying to report news can make good use of the pictures to show what is going on in the world.

3. Two new coaches of Lifeline Express inaugurated

• Today, Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu &  J P Nadda has  inaugurated two new coaches of the 'Lifeline Express' for cancer and family health services in New Delhi Railway station
• The purpose of the coaches with medical facilities is to provide health services to every nook and corner of the country.
• Lifeline Express(Jeevan Rekha Express) is the fully equipped with operation theatre travels in the rural areas and provides free treatment to the populace.

4. Telangana govt to provide banking services to 5,000 villages

• The Telangana State Government will provide banking services to about 5 thousand uncovered villages by 10th, January 2017.
• The banks have come forward to adopt two villages through each of their branches for enabling cashless transactions.
• The officials of about 3000 bank branches along with Panchayat Raj authorities will visit every village and open Jan Dhan accounts for people who do not have it until now.

National & International Appointment

5. Adwaita Gadanayak assumes charge as DG of NGMA

• Toda, Internationally acclaimed sculptor Adwaita Gadanayak assumed charge as Director General of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA).
• He will succeed Rajeev Lochan.
• Earlier, Mr. Gadanayak was Head of the School of Sculpture at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar.

6. Govt decides to waive Service Tax on card transactions of up to Rs 2,000

• The Union Government has decided to waive service tax on debit and credit card transactions up to 2,000 rupees to promote digital transactions.
• The exemption will be applicable for the amount in a single transaction.

7. Govt decreases wheat import duty to boost supplies

• The union Government has decreased the import duty on wheat to zero from 10% to improve domestic availability in the wake of rising prices.
• Earlier,the government had decreased wheat import duty to 10 % from 25 %.

 Sports

8. 1st elite men's senior national boxing tournament begins in Guwahati

• Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal has inaugurated the first elite men's senior national boxing tournament  at Guwahati.
• Around 350 players have participated and would be competing in 10 weight categories .
• It will  conclude on 13th of this month.

9. India begin Junior Hockey World Cup campaign against Canada

• Hosts India, who are considered as one of the title favourites,
• Today,India will begin their campaign against Canada in Pool D today as Prestigious Junior Hockey World Cup for men begins in Lucknow(UP).
• India last won the trophy way back in 2001 in Hobart.

Note:

• Top 16 teams in the world will be vying for the coveted title and the teams are divided into four pools of four teams each.
• The top two teams in each pool will advance to the quarter-finals.