January 5, 2017

ANB20170101

Abhyaas News Board

For the quintessential test prep student
Major events in India during 2016
ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
successfully launched the 727.5 kg Cartosat-2
Series Satellite along with 19 co-passenger
satellites in a single flight. This was a milestone
achievement for the organisation.
PV Sindhu made the nation proud after bagging
the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the
badminton womens single category. She
became the first Indian woman to win an
Olympic silver medal.
Reliance ushers in telecom revolution with
Reliance Jio Infocomm. Reliance Jio promises an
allnew 4G LTE network with a host of services
that can be used at the worlds cheapest tariffs.
In the aftermath of he Uri attacks, where
insurgents attacked an army base in Indianadministered Kashmir, India hit Pakistan terror
launchpads in surgical strikes along the LOC.
The Tata Sons board sacked Cyrus Mistry as
Chairman. The feud, which is being played out
in the media now, is termed as arguably one of
the biggest in the corporate India in the recent
times.
8 November 2016 marked a keystone event in
Indian financial history. Narendra Modi kicked
off his Demonetisation drive with his televised
national announcement, where he announced
that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer
be legal tender.
The year 2016 ended in grief for the people of
Tamil Nadu who lost their popular leader J
Jayalalithaa, who had only seven months ago
led her party to a comprehensive successive
second victory in the Assembly polls.
India amassed its highest-ever Test innings total
against England at 759/7 declared. Their
previous highest total was 726/9 declared,
which they made against Sri Lanka at Mumbai
in 2009. Overall, this was the seventh highest
innings total ever in Tests.

The Law Bulletin

The Editors Column

Dear Student,
Wish you a very happy and successful new year 2017.
Some of the major events that have occurred in India
during 2016 have been listed for you in the current
edition of the Abhyaas News Board.
The last month saw the demise of J Jayalalithaa, the
chief minister of Tamil Nadu and Cho Ramaswamy,
the founder and editor of the political magazine
Thuglak. With the demonetisation of the currency of
Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 and the shortage of available
cash, added to the digital thrust and increased
awareness, the country is witnessing a spike of digital
transactions using Credit cards, debit cards, online
transfers and e-wallets. Read on to know the
important news items of December.

Happy Reading !!

Padma Parupudi

Index:
Page 2: Persons in News
Page 4: Places in News
Page 4: Events of Significance
Page 8: Crossword

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January 5, 2017

Persons in News
1. NITI Aayog constituted a 13-member committee headed by Andhra Pradesh CM, Chandrababu Naidu, to
promote cashless economy in India. The committee will include Chief Ministers of various states
representing different political parties to examine and promote the use of digital payment systems across
the country.
2. Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the 2016 World Chess Championship defeating Sergey Karjakin of Russia.
3. Thailand officially named its crown prince Maha Vajiralongkorn as its new king as he ascended the throne
and accepted his new responsibilities. The Prime became Rama X, the 10th king of the Thailands Chakri
dynasty and his official title is King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkum. The ceremony took
place 50 days after the death his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadei.
4. Kehkashan Basu, an Indian teenager based in UAE won the International Childrens Peace Prize for her work
towards climate justice and combating environmental degradation.
5. US President-elect Donald Trump was named as the Person of the Year 2016 by the Time magazine citing his
role for the stunning victory in the US Presidential election. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has won the online readers poll for the TIME Person of the Year 2016.
6. O Panneerselvam was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after J Jayalalithaa died at the Apollo
Hospital. He had earlier served as the CM during 2001-02 and 2014-15 when Jayalalithaa was unseated by
the courts.
7. Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar has been announced as the 44th Chief Justice of India and will succeed Justice T
S Thakur. Justice Khehar, who was earlier appointed as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal
Services Authority, will be the first Chief Justice of India from the Sikh Community.
8. Veteran journalist, political analyst and comedian Cho S Ramaswamy passed away in Chennai. He was the
founder and editor of the political magazine Thuglak and had been nominated to the Rajya Sabha during the
previous NDA government in 1999.
9. Virat Kohli, Indian captain for Test Cricket became the fifth batsman in the world to score three double
centuries in a calendar year after he scored his third double-century in the first innings of the test match
against England. Others who achieved this feat include Michael Clarke, Don Bradman, Ricky Ponting and
Brendon McCullum.
10. Antonio Guterres has been sworn in as the UN Secretary General succeeding Ban Ki-moon as the ninth chief
of the organization. He was administered the oath of office by the President, Peter Thomson.
11. Priyanka Chopra has been appointed as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, United Nations
Childrens Funds.
12. Indias ace cueist Pankaj Advani won the World Billiards title defeating Peter Gilchrist of Singapore in the
summit clash held in Bengalure. This is his 11th world billiards champion title.
13. The Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) presented the Global Agriculture Leadership Award 2016
to Ratan Tata for his transformational role in scaling the Tata Group as the globally admired group during his
stint of 20 years as Chairman.

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January 5, 2017
14. Sushma Swaraj has been named as 2016 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy magazine for her novel Twitter
diplomacy. Her prompt twitter responses could have earned her a place on the list. The magazine was
especially appreciative of her ability to reach out to people abroad, both Indians and non-Indians. From
helping Indians evacuate from war-torn Yemen to more recently providing a passport to an Egyptian woman
suffering from a rare disorder so that she can get her treatment done from India, the Minister has
immediately come to the rescue of those seeking her help.
15. General Bipin Rawat is the new Chief of Army staff replacing Gen. Dalbir Singh who retired. Air Marshal B S
Dhanoa replaced Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.
16. Puerto Ricos Stephanie Del Valle was crowned Miss World 2016 at the 66th edition of the event held at the
MGM National Harbor, Maryland in the USA.
17. Indian cricketer Karun Nair became the second Indian batsman to score triple century in test matches after
he scored triple century in the first innings of the fifth and final test match against England. The only other
Indian to achieve this feat is Virendra Sehwag.
18. Renowned environmentalist Anupam Mishra passed away after a prolonged illness. His seminal work on
water conservation Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talab fired the imagination of common people and ecology warriors
and gave wings to Indias indigenous wisdom on the subject.

19. Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung submitted his resignation to the Union Government without citing
any reason for the same. Anil Baijal was sworn in as the new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.
20. Ravichandran Ashwin won the coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy. Ashwin was chosen for the award after
being adjudged the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Cricketer of the Year.
21. The 52nd Jnanpith Award has been conferred on eminent modern Bengali poet Shankha Ghosh. He is the
recipient of many coveted awards including Narsingh Dash Puraskar, Sahitya Akademi Award and Saraswati
Samman.
22. Dinanath Bhargava, the man who designed the National Emblem passed away after a prolonged illness. He
was the man who sketched and illuminated the National Emblem and extracted the words Satyameva
Jayate (Truth alone triumphs) from Mundaka Upanishad.
23. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as its life
presidents. A life president is an honorary post with no voting rights or involvement in the day-to-day
functioning of the body.
24. Sprint king Usain Bolt from Jamaica has been awarded the 2016 IAAF World Athlete of the Year award in
male category for sixth time for his blistering performance in 2016 season in which he won three gold
medals (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay) at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Bolt had won three gold medals, each in
the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4100 meters at the Rio Olympics, repeating his feats of the 2012 London
Games and in Beijing in 2008. Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia won the award in womens award category for her
world-record run to win Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 meters.

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January 5, 2017

Places in News
1. The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy ordered status
quo on the land acquired for the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link(SYL) canals stretch in Punjab.
2. The worlds longest tunnel, Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) in Switzerland was opened for regular rail services. It
will be carrying passengers under the Swiss Alps from Zurich to Lugano.
3. Banaskantha district of Gujarat will soon have a new viewing point similar to the border viewing point of the
Wagah border. The new viewing point will be opened at Nadabet near Suigam, a village near the IndiaPakistan border. The main purpose of the development is to promote tourism.

4. A Solar Battery Station was inaugurated at Bindhakata Tengapukhuri village in Dibrugarh, Assam, which
would help in fulfilling power requirements of four villages, namely Gerekigaon, Mulukghat, Mirigaon and
Tengabri.
5. Assams island district, Majuli will become Indias first ever Carbon neutral dristrict by 2020. The project titled
Sustainable Action for Climate Resilient Development in Majuli was initiated by Assams department of
Environment and Forest to fight against climate change and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
6. Beipanjiang Bridge, the worlds highest bridge that connects the province of Guizhou and Yunnan in the
remote mountainous part of China was opened to traffic. The bridge spans 1850 feet above a gorge over the
Beipan River.
7. The UN cultural body UNESCO has accorded world heritage status to Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro
(nicknamed as Marvellous City). It has been registered as Carioca Landscapes between Mountain and Sea
on the UNESCO world heritage list. Rio de Janeiro has been accorded this status in recognition of its
extraordinary fusion of man-made and natural beauty, soaring granite cliffs, urban rainforest and beaches. It
had hosted both the 2014 football World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Events of Significance
1. A major disaster occurred in Columbia where the Chartered British aircraft carrying most of the Brazilian
football team Chapecoense to one of their biggest games crashed near Medellin. Among the 77 passengers
on board, 22 were Chapecoense players and 21 were journalists, who were accompanying the team for their
final match. Only six people were pulled out alive, three of whom were players, one journalist and two crew
members.
2. Yoga has been inscribed on UNESCOs Representative List as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
during the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
3. The Union Government has launched Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan to make the people of India aware about the
cashless economic system. The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar
appealed to the faculty and students to help in encouraging people around them to use a digitally enabled
cashless economic system for transfer of fund.
4. Indian Railways announced that the reservation of rail tickets for senior citizens will be directly linked to
Aadhaar cards from 1 April 2017 onwards on a mandatory basis for availing concessions.

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January 5, 2017
5. The Allahabad High Court declared Triple Talaq as unconstitutional. Justice Suneet Kumar pronounced this
verdict while decided two separate writ petitions that the Triple Talaq practice, sanctioned under Muslim
personal law that governs marriage, property and divorce violated the rights of Muslim women. The All
India Muslim Personal Law Board has slammed the court order stating that it is against Shariat. The board
said that the order will be studied by its legal committee and challenged in the Supreme Court.
6. The Supreme Court ordered all cinema halls across India to play the National Anthem before the screening
of films. The order directed by Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy, also directed that all present must
stand up in respect till the anthem ends before the screening. The court stated that the practice would instil
a feeling within one a sense of committed patriotism and nationalism. Subsequently, the order was modified
exempting physically handicapped persons from standing.
7. Union Information and Technology Minister Ravishankar Prasad launched Digishala TV Channel to educate
people about digital payment. The channel will air shows targeted at the rural and suburban population to
inform them of various aspects of going digital like UPI, e-wallet, Aadhaar, USSD and usage of cards through
talk shows and demonstrations. The minister has also launched Digi Dhan Abhiyan to enable every citizen,
small traders and merchants to adopt digital payments in their everyday financial transactions.
8. Kailash Satyarthi Childrens Foundation has organized the 100 Million for 100 Million campaign that aims
at mobilising 100 million youth and children for the upliftment of 100 million underprivileged children across
the world. The campaign was flagged off by President Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of the spiritual
leader, Dalai Lama.
9. Cyclone Vardah struck the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The severe cyclonic storm made
a landfall on the east coast near the Pulicat Lake. Normal life was affected in Chennai, Nellore district of
Andhra Pradesh and Bengaluru in Karnataka.
10. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed an agreement with a consortium of six companies to
deliver Indias first industry-built satellite by late 2017. The agreement was signed between M Annadurai,
Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) and the consortium lead Alpha Design Technologies P Ltd.

11. Rajya Sabha passed the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 by voice vote on 14 December 2016. The
proposed legislation will replace the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and
Full Participation) Act, 1995 after its passage by the Lok Sabha and approval of the President.
12. The book titled Courts of India Past to Present has been compiled by the Supreme Court Editorial
Committee. The primary focus of the book is on the evolution of higher judiciary in India in the colonial
period.
13. Forbes Magazine released its annual list of Worlds Most Powerful People. Russian President Vladimir Putin
topped the list for the fourth straight year followed by President-elect of the US, Donald Trump, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Narendra Modi was ranked 9th on the list of 74
people.
14. The Supreme Court ruled that the Indian Air Force personnel cannot sport a beard on religious ground. The
bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur, Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice L Nageswara Rao reasoned
that the personal policies on appearance are to ensure uniformity and discipline which is indispensable to
every armed force. For the effective functioning of a large combat force, members must bond together by a
sense of esprit-de-corps without any distinction of caste, creed, colour or religion.

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January 5, 2017
15. Indian Railways tied up with the State Bank of India (SBI) to install atleast 10000 Point of Sale(POS) machines
using debit or credit cards at the Public Reservation System counters.
16. India defeated Belgium in the final to lift the 2016 Mens Hockey Junior World Cup played at the Major
Dhyan Chand Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The third place in the tournament went to Germany.
17. The Madras High Court banned the unauthorised functioning of Sharia Courts in Tamil Nadu after a petition
was filed by 29-year-old Abdul Rahman who claimed to have been forced to divorce his wife by one such
court in the city.
18. The National Green Tribunal has decided to impose a fine of Rs. 50000 on the airline who aircraft empties its
human waste tank while still being in the air. The direction was a result of a plea filed by a retired Lt. Gen
Satwant Singh Dahiya who termed the act as a health hazard and a violation of the Prime Ministers Swachh
Bharat drive.
19. Indias first Digi Dhan Mela was held in Gurugram, Haryana. The mela is a first of its exercise in the country
and is meant to promote cashless transactions in the post-demonetisation period.
20. PM Narendra Modi launched an Aadhaar-based mobile app, Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM). The app is
named after the main architect of the Constitution of India, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar and will facilitate digital
cash transactions with a thumbprint after the bank account is linked with Aadhar gateway.

21. The Union Ministry of Law and Justice has constituted a High Level Committee (HLC) to review
institutionalisation of arbitration mechanism in India. The committee will be headed by Justice B N
Srikrishna, the retired Judge of Supreme Court. It will look into various factors to accelerate arbitration
mechanism and strengthen the arbitration ecosystem in the country. It will also examine specific issues and
prepare roadmap required to make India a robust centre for international and domestic arbitration.
22. Team Indus, a private aerospace startup company is planning to send a spacecraft to the moon aboard an
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket on December 28, 2017. It will be Indias first private moon
mission to be launched. It will be launched onboard of ISROs workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV).
23. The Hornbill Festival began in the Naga Heritage village of Kisama. The festival coincides with the Statehood
Day of Nagaland which is observed on December 1. It is tourism promotional extravaganza to revive, protect
and preserve the richness and uniqueness of the Naga heritage. It is also called as the Festival of Festivals.
24. The Public Financial Management System (PFMS) will be implemented on full scale which will help Union
Government to save a significant amount on interest costs. It will allow the government to monitor and
access more than Rs.1 lakh crore of idle funds lying with it under various heads. Once government access
these funds through PFMS, it need does not need to borrow that amount. The Government is planning to
roll out this platform from next financial year i.e. April 2017 along with Goods and Services Tax (GST). It will
be integrated with IT network of the GST.
25. The 7th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) was held from December 2 to 4, 2016 at Science City in Kolkata,
West Bengal. It was organised by the World Ayurveda Foundation with the support of the Union Ministry of
AYUSH to facilitate development and growth of AYUSH system of medicine comprising Ayurveda, Yoga and
Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. The focus theme of the Ayurveda Congress was
Strengthening the Ayurveda Ecosystem.

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January 5, 2017
26. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries have agreed to share tax information
automatically as per their commitment to ensure the fairness of the international tax system. Decision in
this regard was taken at the meeting of Heads of Revenue of BRICS Countries in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
27. The Union Government is going to observe birth anniversary of the father of Indian Constitution B R
Ambedkar (April 14) as Water Day in the country. The idea behind observing Water Day on birth
anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar is to sensitise people about managing precious water resources. It will also
spread awareness about work of Dr. Ambedkar who was also responsible for a definite all-India policy on
managing water resources in India.
28. The Supreme Court has ruled that horse racing per se is not animal cruelty. It held that it is different from
Jallikattu, which metes out specific methods of torture to bulls. This observation was made by a Bench of
Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud on a petition challenging a Rajasthan High Courts order
banning tonga races in the State.
29. Japans space agency (JAXA) successfully launched a Kounotori 6 (HTV-6) spacecraft that will deliver a large
magnetic tether, a space junk collector technology into orbit. The spacecraft was launched on board of H-IIB
rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. It was also carrying essential supplies for International Space
Station (ISS). The space junk collector (electromagnetic tether) is an experimental space scavenger that aims
to study possibility of getting rid of space junk (debris) left into orbit by earlier space exploration missions. It
has been designed by JAXA engineers in collaboration with Nitto Seimo Co., a Japanese fishing net company.
30. Rajya Sabha has passed the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2016. The bill repeals Persons with
Disabilities (Equal Opportunity Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995. The bill
comprehensively covers a whole spectrum of problems from physical disabilities to mental illness and
multiple disabilities under it. It complies with the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to
which India became a signatory in 2007.
31. The Union Government has launched Lucky Grahak Yojana to encourage consumers and Digi Dhan Vyapar
Yojana to encourage merchants for transition to digital payments. These award based schemes were
launched by the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, governments policy think-tank and
aim to give cash awards to consumers and merchants who utilize digital payment instruments for personal
consumption expenditures.
32. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has officially added word Brexit in it. The OED has defined word
Brexit as the (proposed) withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, and the political
process associated with it. Another popular new coinage is the word YouTubers which has been defined
as frequent user of the video-sharing website YouTube, especially someone who produces and appears in
videos on the site.

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January 5, 2017

Crossword - 0006

Note: Solve this crossword and mail your solution with

Crossword

0006
in
the
subject
line
to
abhyaaslawprep@gmail.com latest by 18th January 2017.
First correct solution entry will get a prize.

Key to Crossword - 0005

Note: Only 6 entries received in time, out of
which 2 entries were correct. The first correct
entry belongs to Vinitha Reddy who bagged
the prize. Hoping to see more enthusiasm in
the new year.

Feel free to write to: abhyaaslawprep@gmail.com to resolve your lawprep queries

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