Notes:
As per recently released report ” 2018 World Economic League Table”, India will overtake the United Kingdom and France in 2018 to become the world’s fifth-largest economy in terms of the United States dollar. The report was published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), an economics consultancy based in Britain. The report also stated that Asian economies will dominate the list of the top ten largest economies over the next 15 years.

Notes:
Dr Jitendra Singh , the Union Minister of State (I/C) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), has launched the electronic-Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS) in New Delhi for central government employees to apply for leave and access their service-related information. Through e-HRMS, employees will be able to not only see all their details with respect to service book, leave, GPF, salary, etc. but also apply for different kind of claims / reimbursements, loan / advances, leave, leave encashment, LTC advances, tour etc. on a single platform.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has formally inaugurated the 100th annual conference of Indian Economic Association (IEA) at Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh on December 27. The focus of the 3-day conference will be on economic growth of the country and growth in agriculture, industry and service sectors. Approx 1,300 dignitaries are expected to attend the conference. Apart from this, President also inaugurated fibernet at the temporary Secretariat in Velagapudi.

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:
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).

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:
On 29th December, Union Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore has sanctioned ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 5 lakh to the family of Nitisha Negi, the teenage footballer who drowned in the sea at Glenelg beach in Adelaide, Australia, on September 10, 2017. The financial assistance was provided under the ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons’. The main purpose of the scheme is to provide suitable assistance to outstanding sportspersons living in indigent circumstances/injured during the period of their training for competitions. Nitisha from Delhi had gone to Australia for the Pacific School Games, when she and four other teammates got into trouble. Four of the girls were rescued by lifesavers while Nitisha was found dead near a rocky breakwater.

Notes:
Ex-football superstar George Weah has been elected as the new president of Liberia after beating Vice President Joseph Boakai in a runoff with 61.5% of the vote. Now, he will succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president. George Weah is the only African footballer to have won both FIFA World Player of the Year and the prestigious Ballon D’Or for Europe’s best player. He entered politics after his retirement from the game in 2002 and is currently a senator in Liberia’s parliament.

Notes:
Sue Grafton (77), an American author of detective novels, has passed away in Santa Barbara, California on December 28, 2017. According to author’s webpage, she started the alphabet novels in 1982. The mystery writer penned best-selling novels with alphabet-based titles, starting with “A Is for Alibi” and ending with “Y Is for Yesterday”. Her last alphabet mystery was published last August. “Z Is for Zero” was tentatively scheduled to come out in 2019.

Notes:
The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) is a medical institution located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It is the apex centre for mental health and neuroscience education in the country, and operates autonomously under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Recently, it is in news because President Ram Nath Kovind participated in the 22nd Annual Convocation of the NIMHANS and gave away degrees & awards to 150 post graduate students on December 30, 2017. The President also dedicates three projects at a cost of Rs 200 crore at NIMHANS.