Daily Current Affairs - 17th December 2015.

1. India ranks 97th on Forbes’ best countries for business list

 1. India has been ranked a low 97th out of 144 nations, behind Kazakhstan and Ghana, on Forbes’ annual list of the best countries for doing business in 2015, scoring poorly on metrics like trade and monetary freedom and tackling challenges like corruption and violence.

2. Denmark topped the list of the 144 nations on the Best Countries of Business in 2015 list by Forbes.

3. The US has dropped four spots to number 22, continuing a six-year descent since 2009 when it had ranked second overall.

The US is the financial capital of the world and its largest economy at USD 17.4 trillion (China is second at USD 10.4 trillion), but it scores poorly on monetary freedom and bureaucracy/red tape.

2. Union Government gives in principle approval to Google’s Loon project

1. Union Government has given in principle approval to work on Loon project of internet search engine giant Google for providing Internet connectivity by using large balloons. The announcement was made by Google CEO Sunder Pichai in New Delhi after meeting Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. 

2. The project will be started on a pilot basis and state run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be partner with the project in order to expand Internet connectivity in the country.

3. It is Google’s ambitious research and development project that aims at providing low-cost Internet access to rural and remote areas.

4.  Under the project, high altitude floating telecom tower balloons are positioned at a height of 20 km, above earth’s surface for transmission of internet services. Each balloon can provide full wireless broadband internet coverage up to an area of 40 km. 5. These balloons are mainly powered though solar panels. These balloons have transceivers which can connect to cell phone networks in order to fill the gaps in their networks especially in remote areas such as mountains and deserts. Google already has successfully tested this technology in New Zealand, California and Brazil.

3. RBI liable to disclose information about banks under RTI Act: Supreme Court

1. The Supreme Court held that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is liable to disclose information about the banks and financial institutions for their action against the loan defaulters including industrialists under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.

2. The Court further ruled that RBI has statutory duty to uphold public interest and not the interest of individual banks. It has no legal duty to maximise the benefit of any public sector or private sector bank, and thus there is no relationship of trust between them. 

3. It also added that RBI does not place itself in a fiduciary relationship with the financial institutions as the reports of inspections, statements of bank and information related to business obtained by the RBI are not under pretext of confidence or trust.

4. Justice Reva Khetrapal took oath as Delhi's Lokayukta

1. Former Delhi High Court judge Reva Khetrapal took oath as Delhi's new Lokayukta. The post of the anti-corruption ombudsman was vacant since November 2013, when retired Justice Manmohan Sarin renounced the office.

2. A four-member panel comprising Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court G Rohini and Leader of Opposition leader in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta had unanimously chosen Justice Khetrapal in October 2015 for the post.

3. Her name was officially recommended by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to the President of India Pranab Mukherjee in October 2015.

5. Federal Reserve of US increased interest rate by 0.25% for the first time since 2006

1. The Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the USA,  increased interest rate by 0.25 percent. A decision in this regard was approved by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System chaired by Janet L Yellen.

2. With this, the interest rates in the US are now in the range of 0.25 – 0.50 percent as compared to zero to 0.25 percent rage earlier. This is the first rate increase since 2006.

3. In December 2008, three months after the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, the interested was kept in the near zero range to stimulate the economy and consequently, tide over the financial crisis.

6. The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account authored by Madhuri Bose

1. The book titled The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account authored by Madhuri Bose was released . 

2. The book came in news after grand-niece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and author of the book, Madhuri Bose presented a copy of her book to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 December 2015. 

7. Union Cabinet gives nod to MoU with BRICS countries for energy conservation

1. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa) countries for energy conservation. 

2. The MoU provides for Joint scientific and technological research strengthening energy efficiency cooperation among the member countries based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit. Capacity building and technology transfer in the field of Energy Savings and Energy Efficiency along with sharing policies and best practices. Counterparts for strengthening and further developing of energy saving and energy efficiency cooperation.

8. ISRO successfully launches 6 Singapore Satellites onboard PSLV-C29

1. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully placed six commercial satellites from Singapore in their dedicated orbits. These satellites were launched using Polar Satellite 2. Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C29) from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This successful launch coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Singapore in year 2015.

2. So far Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO has successfully launched more than 55 foreign satellites of 20 countries into space. Some of its customer countries are US, UK, Japan, Germany, Switzerland and South Korea.

3. The other five satellites included two micro satellites and one nano satellite. These satellites are VELOX-CI (123 kg), VELOX-II (13 kg) 6U-Cubesat technology demonstrator, Athenoxat-1, Kent Ridge-1 (78 kg) and Galassia (3.4 kg) 2U-Cubesat.

9. SC appoints Virendra Singh as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh

1. The Supreme Court has appointed Justice (Retd) Virendra Singh as new Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh. 

2. In the first of its kind order, the SC has invoked its constitutional power and appointed retired HC judge as UP Lokayukta after state machinery failed to appoint it.