Ministry of overseas Indian affairs merged with Ministry of External Affairs.
- External Affairs minister sushma swaraj announced the merger in a tweet.
Ganga Task Force’s first company deployed at Garhmukteshwar.
- The first company of Ganga Task force Battalion was deployed at Garhmukteshwar as a major initiative towards fast track implementation of Namami Gange Programme.
- In the first phase of the progamme 200 villages have been selected.
- In these villages open drains falling into river Ganga will be diverted and alternative arrangements for sewage treatment will be made.
Raghuram Rajan named central banker of the year by The Banker magazine.
- He was named got stablising the Indian rupee, initiating key reforms to attract much needed foreign capital in the country and reining in a runaway price appreciation.
- The Banker is a prestigious monthly magazine of the Financial Times Group.
Senior IAS officer Sailesh appointed as new Registrar General and Census Commissioner.
- Sailesh is a 1985 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is presently Additional Secretary in Home Ministry.
- He will replace C Chandramouli, who completed his tenure today.
SHAKTI-2016, an Indo French military exercise started in Rajasthan.
- It is 3rd edition in series of bilateral exercises under this banner and is being held in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan’s Bikaner.
- The exercise will be focused on counter terrorism operations in backdrop of semi-urban terrain under United Nations Mandate.
- It is an important step for the armies to train together and gain from each other’s rich operational experience.
Tata Steel clinched PM’s Trophy.
- Tata Steel declared as the winner of PM’s Trophy for being the ‘Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant’ in the country for the performance year 2013 – 2014.
- This Award has been conferred on the Company for the eighth time.
Amitabh Kant appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog
- His appointment was approved by ACC.
- ACC stands “Appointments Committee of the Cabinet”.
- Kant will take over the office as CEO in March 2016, when he retires from service.
Operation Green Hunt , an operation to hunt maoists in news.
- The operation which is believed to start in November 2009 along five states in the “Red Corridor” came in news after Maoists called a two-day bandh opposing it in Nuapada, Malkangiri and Kalahandi districts of Odisha.
Traditional Bull taming sports Jallikattu got approval in Tamilnadu by Union Govt
- The ban on the sports was lifted few days before the traditional harvest festival will begin in Tamil Nadu.
- Jallikattu is celebrated around pongal in southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Chairman of Competition Commission of India : Devendra Kumar Sikri
- He succeeds Ashok Chawla, whose tenure as the Chairman of CCI ended on 7 January 2016 itself.
- Sikri will have a tenure of about two and half years, i.e. till he attains the age of 65 years.
- Sikri is a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Gujarat cadre.
Anti submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt commissioned in the Indian Navy.
- INS Kadmatt was commissioned at naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam by Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R K Dhowan.
- INS Kadmatt is the second ship of Project 28 (P28) class ASW corvettes and is the latest ship after Shivalik class, Kolkata class and INS Kamorta.
- In all these ships, an excessive amount of weapons and sensors had been integrated to provide a Common Operational Picture (COP).
Commonfloor.com, an online real estate portal acquired by Quikr.
- Quikr announced acquisition of the property search website Commonfloor.com for an undisclosed amount in a majority stock-swap transaction.
- Quikr bought the website in a distress sale orchestrated by Tiger Global Management Llc.
- com is an Indian real estate portal founded in 2007 by three computer science graduates from IIT Roorkee and JSSATE.
Miguel Tabuena wins Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Month.
- Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena voted as the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of Month for December 2015.
- Tabuena won the award ahead of Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai and India’s Himmat Rai.
- The trio were nominated by a selection panel before going into a voting process.
