Current Affairs: 22 December 2016

Mary Kom, Vikas Krishan get awards at AIBA 70th anniversary

•  The legendary M C Mary Kom and former Asian Games gold medallist Vikas Krishan shone brightly at the International Boxing Association’s 70th anniversary gala in Montreux, Switzerland, picking up different awards for their performances.
• While five-time world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom was presented the AIBA Legends award for her trailblazing boxing career, Vikas was handed the APB (AIBA Pro Boxing) Best Boxer trophy.

Two-day meeting of GST Council begins in Delhi

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council begins its two-day meeting in New Delhi to consider the model laws and iron out differences on the issue of jurisdiction over assesses in the new indirect tax regime.
• GST Council in its last meeting had cleared 20 chapters of the model GST law and today they will discuss the remaining seven chapters.
• The government has time till September 16 next year to implement the GST Act as per the Constitution Amendment Bill passed by both the Houses

Messi won FIFA Best Player award

• Reports claim that Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten Barcelona's Lionel Messi to 2016's FIFA Best Player of the Year award.
• The award is set to be announced on January 9 with FIFA already having announced Ronaldo, Messi and Antoine Griezmann as the award's top 3 contenders. 
• Notably, Ronaldo claimed his fourth Ballon d'Or award earlier this month.

China bans sharing user-generated content on social media

• China has banned internet users from posting user-generated audio or video, reportedly one of few sources of information outside state-controlled media.
• China already has one of the strictest censorship worldwide, ranking only behind countries like North Korea and Syria. 
• The ban comes after a draft law was passed, giving police censorship powers in case of natural disasters.

Japan successfully launches solid fuel rocket

• Japan's space agency announced that it successfully launched a 26-metre-long rocket named Epsilon-2, which put a satellite that helps study radiation belts in orbit. 
• Epsilon-2 is part of a new generation of solid propellant rockets which can reduce launch costs up to one-third. 
• Reduction in cost can allow countries to put more communication and weather satellites in space.

Priyanka 1st Indian to be made Pantene's global ambassador

• Actress Priyanka Chopra has become the first Indian to be appointed as the global ambassador of the hair care brand 'Pantene'. 
• "Her strength & confidence inspires us!" tweeted the brand while making the announcement. 
• Calling the brand a "favourite around the world", Priyanka added, "I love that Pantene celebrates and advocates that being strong is beautiful."

Independent director Nusli Wadia removed from Tata Steel board

• Tata Steel said its independent director Nusli Wadia was removed from the company’s board, with 90.8% of shareholders voting to ouster him during an extraordinary general meeting.
• The move comes barely three days after ousted Tata group chairman Cyrus Mistry resigned from all companies listed under the group amid an ugly boardroom battle.

China launches satellite to monitor global carbon emissions

• China launched a global carbon dioxide monitoring satellite to understand climate change, hours after it lifted nearly a week-long red alert for the worst smog that engulfed about 40 cities in the country.
• The 620-kg satellite TanSat was put into orbit by Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-west China's Gobi Desert early Thursday morning.

Team Indus, Japan’s Hakuto combine for Moon mission

• Team Indus will carry a robotic rover developed by Hakuto, the Japanese team in the Google Lunar XPrize competition, to the Moon aboard the former's spacecraft.
• Bengaluru-based Team Indus, the only Indian team in the competition to land a privately funded craft on the Moon, recently contracted with ISRO to launch its craft around December 28 next year.

Digital payment promotion schemes to be launched in 3 cities of Punjab

• The Centre has selected Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar for launching the 'Lucky Grahak Yojana' and 'Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana' to promote digital payments in Punjab. 
• Additional Chief Secretary Finance Satish Chandra, after a video conference with Union Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha and his counterparts in other state governments, said the Centre has launched Lucky Grahak Yojana to encourage consumers and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana to encourage merchants for the transition to digital payments.

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