Notes:
Sumita Misra, a 1990 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, has been appointed joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) for five years. The PMEAC is mandated to analyse all critical issues, economic or otherwise, referred to it by the prime minister and advising him thereon.

Notes:
Amardeep Singh Bhatia, a 1993 batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre, will be the new director of Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO). The SFIO is a fraud investigating agency in India, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Bhatia is at present joint secretary in the ministry. The SFIO is involved in major fraud probes and is the co-ordinating agency with the Income Tax Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Notes:
Mukhmeet Singh Bhatia, a 1990 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, has been given charge for the post of Joint Secretary in Fifteenth Finance Commission under the Department of Economic Affairs for tenure of five years. Under the chairmanship of NK Singh, the 15th Finance Commission was constituted. Arvind Mehta will be the Secretary to the Commission. The panel, which is a statutory body under Article 280(1) of the Constitution, will prescribe the formula for devolution of taxes between the Centre and States for the five years commencing on April 1, 2020. It is expected to submit its report by October 30, 2019. The Finance Commission will also finalize its recommendations in a new setting — after the abolition of the Planning Commission and Plan and Non-Plan expenditure as well as the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

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The Singhbhum Elephant Reserve (SER) is located in East and West Singhbhum and Saraikela-Kharsawan Districts of Jharkhand and covers an area of 13,440 square kilometres.

Notes:
Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma has been named PETA’s Person of the Year 2017 for her efforts to help protect dogs from fireworks. She was also against the use of horses to pull carriages in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was given by animal rights organisation People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

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Robbie Malinga, the legendary South African musician, has passed away on December 25, 2017. He is known for his hit songs such as, ‘Sobabili’, ‘Mthanda’ and ‘Baby Please’.

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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has allowed Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)-manufactured Dornier 228 to be used for civilian flights. Till now, the 19-seater aircraft has been used by defense forces and is the first plane to be made in the country for commercial flights. With a maximum cruise speed of 428 kmph, the non-pressurised plane has a range of 700 km and is also capable of night flying. Now, HAL can sell this plane to airlines in India and it can be used for regional flights under the Government of India (GoI)’s ambitious UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme. The DGCA is the regulatory body for civil aviation under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and is headquartered at New Delhi.

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Experienced shooter Anisa Sayyed from Haryana has won the women’s 25m pistol gold with a new record at the 61st National Shooting Championship Competitions ( NSCC-2017) at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on December 27, 2017.

Notes:
Veteran singer K S Chitra has been selected for the prestigious 2017 Harivarasanam award, instituted by the Kerala government. Chitra has been selected for the award in recognition of her contribution to propagate the spirit of secularism, equanimity and universal brotherhood. The award carrying a cash prize of Rs one lakh, citation and plaque would be presented to the veteran playback singer at a function at Sabarimala Sannidhanam on January 14, 2018.

Notes:
Radha Mohan Singh, the Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, has launched Livestock Disease Forewarning –Mobile Application (LDF-Mobile App) in New Delhi. It is developed by ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (ICAR-NIVEDI), Bengaluru. This app will be beneficial for the consumers and stakeholders engaged in disease control programmes. Apart from early warning, the app will also provide information about clinical samples for the diagnosis in case of the epidemic so that immediate action in case of the epidemic. This app works on all kind of Android smartphones and takes up 2.5 MB space.