Daily GK Updates - 25th December, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Good Governance Day being observed to mark Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Birthday:  Good Governance Day is being observed today (25th December 2016) to mark the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who has turned 92. From today, Good Governance campaign will be undertaken for 100 days during which Ministers and Members of Parliament will travel across the country and attend programmes highlighting the government's key initiatives. 

2.DRDO successfully flight tests Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully flight tested the Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur off Odisha coast. Capable of engaging ground targets with high precision covering a range of around 100 km, SAAW precision-guided bomb is an indigenous designed and developed class smart weapon weighing 120 kg.

3. Google India, Consumer Affairs Ministry join hands for online consumer protection:Aiming to raise awareness about online safety, Google India in collaboration with Ministry of Consumer Affairs has announced a nationwide 'Digitally Safe Consumer campaign, as part of a larger effort to help better protect consumer interest online. 

4. Google India, Consumer Affairs Ministry join hands for online consumer protection:Social networking giant Facebook received 6,324 requests from Indian government agencies for 8,290 users/accounts in the first half of 2016. This is the second highest after the US, which made 23,854 requests for 38,951 users/accounts during January-June 2016, according to Facebook’s Government Requests Report.

5.Govt launch mobile App 'Smart Consumer' & OCMC to provide speedy redressal of consumer grievances: The government has launched a host of online initiatives including a mobile App 'Smart Consumer' and an 'Online Consumer Mediation Centre (OCMC)' to provide speedy redressal of consumer grievances. 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Obama signs USD 618 bn defence bill; boosts security cooperation with India: US President Barack Obama has signed into law the USD 618 billion defence budget for 2017, which enhances security cooperation with India and conditions nearly half of the funding to Pakistan on a certification that it is taking demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network.

2. Pakistani Hindus can register for Indian citizenship with fee as low as Rs 100: The registration fees for Hindus and other minority community people from three neighbouring countries including Pakistan as Indian citizens have been drastically reduced to as low as Rs 100 from Rs 15,000. In a gazette notification, the home ministry said the new rules will be applicable to minority communities Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and living in India on long term visa.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Virat Kohli leads Lord's Cricket Ground list of top 20 players of 2016: After the release of ICC and Cricket Australia's list of best players of 2016, Lord's Cricket Ground have followed the trend and selected top 20 players for this calendar year.