Important Dates & Festivities - Current Affairs for December, 2016

Good Governance Day is being observed across India on 25^th Dec 2016.

The day is observed to mark the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee who has turned 92.

For marking the occasion, a Good Governance campaign will be undertaken for 100 days.

During this campaign, the ministers and members of Parliament will travel across India and attend programs that highlight key government initiatives.

Six major initiatives will also be launched by the Ministry of Personnel, Personal Grievances and Pensions.

Initiatives include:

• Immovable Property Return through Property Related Information System (PRISM)
• Recruitment Rules Formation, Amendment Monitoring System (RRFAMS)
• Announcement of E-Service Book
• Mandatory online filing of APAR by all All India Services and Central Group A Service Officers
• Launching of redesigned website of Department of Personnel and Training

Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution is celebrating the National Consumer Day 2016 with the theme “Alternate Consumer Disputes Redressal” on 24th Dec 2016.

Alternative dispute resolution is being practiced in resolving civil disputes.

The Consumer Protection Bill 2015 also has a chapter related to mediation, one of the ADR mechanisms.

New initiatives of the department on consumer grievance redressal and consumer education, leveraging new age technologies will be launched.

National Consumer Day is observed on Dec 24. On this day, the President assented to the Consumer Protection Act 1986. The day is an opportunity to protect basic rights of consumers.

National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) is now being implemented in all the States/UTs and covers about 80 crore persons for receiving highly subsidised food grains.

Sustained efforts have resulted in significant reforms in TPDS making it more transparent and leak proof with better targeting of food subsidy.

As a result thereof, 100% of ration cards have been digitised while 71.13% have been Aadhaar seeded.

Online allocation of food grains has started in 29 States/UTs,

Supply chain has been computerised in 19 States/UTs and 1,76,834 Fair Price Shops (FPS) have been automated by installing ‘Point of Sale’ devices.

6 States have now automated all their FPSs.

Consumer Protection Bill 2015

• Replaces the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
• Bill enforces consumer rights and provides a mechanism for complaint redressal regarding defects in goods and services.
• Consumer Dispute Redressal Commissions will be set up at national, state and district levels for adjudicating consumer complaints.
• Bill has also established a Consumer Protection Authority to investigate consumer complaints, issue notices for goods and services and pass orders for recall of goods and against misleading ads.
• If a consumer suffers product defects, he must file a claim of product liability against the manufacturer.
• Bill classifies 6 contract terms as unfair including payment of excessive security deposits, disproportionate penalty for a breach and unilateral termination without cause.

National Mathematics Day was observed on 22 December 2016 across India.

The day marks the birth anniversary of Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 26 February 2012 declared this day.

The announcement was made at Madras University on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Ramanujan.

The year 2012 was also observed as the National Mathematical Year.

Recognitions and honours conferred on Srinivasa Ramanujan include:

• His birthday is celebrated as 'State IT Day' in Tamil Nadu
• In 1962 ( which is his 75th birth anniversary), GoI released a stamp picturing the great Indian Mathematician Ramanujan.
• Later, a new design of the stamp was released on 26 December 2011 by the India post.
• Annual prize, named SASTRA Ramanujam Prize, is given by SASTRA University of Tamil Nadu.
• In 2016, the awards were conferred on Maksym Radziwill of McGill University, Canada and Kaisa Matomaki of University of Turku, Finland.

Know More About Srinivasa Ramanujan


• Born: 23 December 1887 in TN.
• He was an autodidact (self-taught person) who lived during the British Raj.
• He postulated number theory, mathematical analysis, infinite series, and making formulas and equations.
• Discoveries include Ramanujam Prime and Ramanujam theta.
• Compiled some 3900 mathematical results and equations.
• He along with Godfrey Harold Hardy, a British Mathematician, discovered the smallest number represented as sum of two cubes 1729. This number is known as Hardy–Ramanujan number 1729.

DigiDhan Mela is being organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium, Delhi to create awareness about the benefits of Digital Payment option.

The two day event (17-18 Dec, 2016) aims to handhold users in downloading, installing and using various digital payment systems for carrying out digital transactions.

The initiative plans to enable citizens and merchants to undertake real time digital transactions through the DigiDhan Bazaar.

Present at the Mela will be banks, telecom companies, mobile wallet operators, transportation network companies, Aadhaar enabled payment system (AEPS) vendors, Department of Post, merchants (through marketing associations).

Also co-operatives like Kendriya Bhandar and organised retail fruits and vegetable chains like Safal, milk booths, agricultural produce marketing committees etc. will be there.

Awareness will be spread about options available for digital payments, downloading and installing various mobile apps for digital payments and helped them do one digital transaction.

DigiDhan Mela Registration

Citizens who wish to be enrolled in Aadhaar are requested to carry the following:

• A proof of identity with name and photo
• Proof of address
• Proof of date of birth (PAN card, Passport or Birth Certificate)
• Citizens should carry their bank account details to enable the apps.

Merchants are requested to carry the following documents to digitally enable their accounts:
• Company proof
• PAN Card (of the proprietor and the company)
• KYC (Driving License/Passport/Aadhaar Card/Voter ID) - Any one
• Bank account details and IFSC Code

Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal, exhorted people to spread awareness about energy conservation and help improve environmental equilibrium at a function celebrate the 26th National Energy Conservation Day 2016 organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

During the function, the Minister gave away National Energy Conservation Awards - 2016 to industrial units and other establishments, and National Energy Conservation Painting Competition Prizes to students.

NTPC has already given the in-principle clearance to replace around 11,000 MW of its old, inefficient thermal power plants. The plants would be replaced in about five years, with an investment of around Rs. 50,000 crores, he added.

Over 16,000 households in about 800 inaccessible villages in India which lack grid connectivity. The Ministry would be providing, to each such household, a 300 KW Solar panel, 8-hour battery backup, 5 LED bulbs, an energy efficient ceiling fan and a solar power based mobile phone charging socket, all free of cost under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.

Informing about the progress of the UJALA LED scheme, the Shri Goyal said that according to the latest figures from UJALA dashboard, over 18.38 crore
LED bulbs have been distributed by EESL and another 25 crore by private sector companies.

This drive has witnessed a massive reduction of around 88% in LED prices in just 20 months, which led to an annual saving of around Rs. 10,000 crores for the consumers. The savings would scale up to Rs. 40,000 crores in the next 3 years.

Gujarat has become the first state in the country to replace all street lights with LED bulbs and this has been.

The International Mountain Day 2016 was observed across the world on 11 December 2016 with the theme “Mountain Cultures: Celebrating Diversity and Strengthening Identity.”

The year saw the celebrations aimed at showcasing mountain cultures.

Mountains encompass communities with ancient cultures and traditions and are critical places for worship and pilgrimage.

Mountains cover around 22% of the earth’s land surface and play important role in moving the world towards sustainable economic growth.

More About Mountains

• Serve 915 million mountain people all over the world.
• Sources of springs and rivers.
• Viewed as homes of deities in several cultures For example: Mount Kenya (God Ngai’s abode), Andes (Inca)
• UNESCO states 376 of the 669 biosphere reserves contain mountain ecosystems.

Human Rights Day is commemorated every year all over the world on 10th of December.

It was first announced to be celebrated every year by the UNGA on 10th of December in 1948.

It is celebrated at this particular date annually to honour the United Nations General Assembly for declaring the human rights universally.

Human rights day was officially established in the meeting of United Nations General Assembly on 4th of December in 1950.

High Commissioner office of Human Rights won the Guinness World Record for collection, translation and distribution of the worldwide announcement of human rights in 380 different languages.

The theme for Human Rights Day 2016 is “Stand up for someone’s rights today”.

To promote awareness about human rights among people all over the world, this day emphasises the endeavours of UNGA to progress the overall human rights conditions.

To encourage and celebrate the cooperation to discuss and highlight specific issues of human rights, the day is also observed to encourage vulnerable people to take part in the decision making process.

The Chinese navy on Dec 8 celebrated the 70th anniversary of the capture of the Xisha and Nansha islands in the South China Sea (SCS).

The Asian nation was also asserting its claim over the disputed area which it continued to retain setting aside an international tribunal ruling quashing its claims.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Dec 8 commemorated the 70th anniversary of the recovery of the Xisha and Nansha Islands, the Chinese names of Paracel and Spratly islands in the SCS.

According to the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation, China in November and December 1946 designated officials to proceed to the islands by four warships to take over the islands, illegally occupied by Japan.

China’s claims over almost all of the SCS was contested by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, which were backed by the United States to assert their claims.

The International Volunteer Day (IVD) was observed across the world on 5 December 2016 with the theme “Global Applause - Give volunteers a hand.”

This year's theme recognises the volunteers worldwide.

It also harnesses their efforts in making peace and sustainable development a reality.

United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme released the data showing the increase in keyboard volunteers that is online volunteers.

By volunteering online, volunteers work for sustainable human development by supporting the activities of development organisations.

About International Volunteer Day

• Founded by: UN
• Year: 1985
• UNV programme contributes to peace and development.
• UNV stands for United Nations Volunteers.
• Objective: Volunteers and organisations to promote their work among their

The World Soil Day 2016 was observed on Dec 5th, 2016 at the FAO headquarters in Rome.

The theme for the day is “Soils and pulses, a symbiosis for life.”

It focuses on positive contributions of pulses to soil properties, such as fixing the atmosphere nitrogen and improving its biodiversity, fertility and structure.

The World Soil Day aims at connecting people with soil and raising awareness about how important this element is for human existence.

2016 was also declared as the International Year of Pulses.

About International Year of Pulses

• Year: 2016
• Declared By: 68th UNGA
• Aims to increase public awareness about nutritional benefits of pulses.

The objective of International Year of Pulses is to create awareness of:


• Role of pulses in sustainable food production.
• Utilisation of pulses throughout the food system.
• Connections throughout the food chain to further global production of pulses.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2016 was observed across the world on Dec 3rd 2016.

The theme for the day was “Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want”.

In 2016, the goal of the IDPD is assessing the current status of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and SDGs.

The day lays the foundation for greater inclusion of people with disabilities.

Observance of the day coincides with the 10 year anniversary of the adoption of the CRPD.

The CRPD is a widely known international treaty put forth by the United Nations.

About International Day of Persons With Disabilities

• This is an international observance promoted by the UN.
• Date of commencement: 1992
• Till 2007, it was called International Day of Disabled Persons.

Day is observed to mobilise support for differently abled persons to have:


• Dignity
• Rights
• Well being

National Pollution Control Day 2016 was observed on Dec 2nd 2016 in India with the aim to make people and industries aware about the Pollution Control Acts.

The day is observed each year to honour thousands who lost their lives in the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy and were several affected on account of leakage of poisonous gas from Union Carbide plant in Bhopal.

This is considered one of the worst tragedies in the world’s industrial history and people continue to witness physical and mental disabilities on account of this catastrophe.

Bhopal gas tragedy happened on the night of 2-3 Dec 1984 due to discharge of poisonous gas Methyl Isocyanate(MIC) and other chemicals.

The leakage was from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, MP.

Due to the leakage, more than 5 lakh persons were exposed to the poisonous MIC gas. 2259 died immediately. Later, the MP government declared 25,000 people dead because of gas related diseases. Toxic waste lying in the now defunct Union Carbide plant has still not been disposed of.

Efforts to Curb Pollution

• National Pollution Control Board is the main governing body to curb pollution.
• It carries out checks on industries to assess if they are following environmental regulations or not.
• In Nov 2016, the Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force.
• This marks the first time governments have agreed to control global temperature rise.

World AIDS Day was celebrated on Dec 1st 2016 across the world. The theme was HandsUp for #HIVPrevention.

The campaign #HIVprevention explores various aspects of HIV prevention and how they relate to specific groups of people such as young women and adolescent girls, key populations and people living with HIV. The Joint UN programme on HIV-AIDS (UNAIDS) hosted a special event on 30th Nov 2016 to observe the day.

The commitment to move forward and end AIDS epidemic by the year 2030 was also voiced as part of SDGs.

A report entitled “Get on the Fast Track: The Life Cycle Approach to HIV” by UNAIDS shows countries getting on the fast track, with 1m people accessing treatment in 6 months from January to June 2016.

The report was launched on 21 November 2016 in Windhoek, Namibia, by the President of Namibia, Hage Geingob and the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé.

By June 2016, around 18.2 million people had access to the life-saving medicines, including 910000 children.

If these efforts are continued and amplified, the world will be on track to achieve the target of 30 million people on treatment by 2020.

About World AIDS Day

• Conceived in 1987.
• Proposed by : Public information officers of WHO, James Bunn and Thomas Nette.
• In 1996, UNAIDS started functioning. It took over planning and promotion of World AIDS day.
• First World AIDS Day: 1988

Some statistics on AIDS


• 18.2m people: Accessing antiretroviral therapy (June 2016).
• 36.7m people: Living with HIV(2015).
• 2.1m people: Newly infected with HIV(2015).
• 78m people: Infected with HIV since start of epidemic (2015).
• 35m people: Died from AIDS related illness since epidemic began (2015).

Organ Donation Day is observed annually on 30th of November. The aim of this day is to motivate normal human beings to pledge to donate organs after death.

It also works to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation.

Organ Donation is donating a donor’s organs like heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, and pancreas, after the donor dies,

It is for the purpose of transplanting them into another person who is in need of an organ.

Facts About Organ Donation

• 500,000 people die because of non-availability of organs.
• 200,000 people die due to liver disease, and 50,000 people die because of heart disease.
• Moreover, 150,000 people await a kidney transplant but only 5,000 among them get it.
• Anyone can be a donor, through 18 and below need agreement of parent or guardian to be donor.
• Tissues such as cornea, heart valves, skin, and bone can be donated in case of natural death.
• Vital organs such as heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, and pancreas can be donated only in the case of ‘brain death’.

Losar celebrations in Jammu and Kashmir, in the Ladakh district can be regarded as the most elaborate.

King Jamyang Namgyal, on the eve of setting out on an expedition against the Balti forces in winter was advised not to lead an expediting before the next year.

To solve the problem, keeping the regard of the advice, he preponed the New Year celebrations in Ladakh by two months.

This became established as a tradition and since then the Losar is celebrated on the first day of the eleventh month of every year.

The festival involves Buddhist and the pre Buddhist Bon religious practices.

It celebrates the end of the harvesting season.

It is on the 29th day of the 10th month which marks the Losar celebrations.

The festival commences on the first day of the 11^th month officially.