Vin Diesel, Forbes 2017 top-Grossing Actor

Vin Diesel has been named the top-grossing actor of 2017 by Forbes, with $1.6 billion in global ticketing receipts from his film ‘The Fate of the Furious’. The second spot was occupied by Dwayne Johnson ‘The Rock’, with $1.5 billion receipts. ‘Wonder Woman’ actress Gal Gadot, whose films earned $1.4 billion worldwide, featured in the third spot on the list.

IPS officer Abhay appointed DG of Narcotics Control Bureau

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed senior IPS officer Abhay as new Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He will have tenure till November 18, 2019. The post was lying vacant after R R Bhatnagar took over as DG of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in April this year. He is at present working in CRPF.

Dr. Reddy’s unveils cancer drug in U.S.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has introduced Melphalan Hydrochloride for injection, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Alkeran for injection, in the U.S. market. Melphalan hydrochloride for injection is indicated for the palliative treatment of patients with multiple myeloma for whom oral therapy is not appropriate. It has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Anushka Sharma crowned PETA’s ‘Person of the Year’

Popular actor and vegetarian Anushka Sharma has been crowned the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) 2017 Person of the Year Award. The actress has taken the title for her wide-reaching work for animals, from helping to protect dogs from fireworks to advocating for horses who are forced to pull carriages in Mumbai.

India provides medical assistance to Yemen

India has provided medical assistance worth about $1 million to Yemen in response to a request from the Yemeni government. As part of its commitment to provide humanitarian assistance to Yemen, India has been a member of the ‘Friends of Yemen’ Group.

Paytm becomes India’s first payments app to cross 100 mn downloads on Play Store

India’s largest mobile-first financial services platform, Paytm announced that its app has crossed the 100 million milestone on Google Play Store in the second week of December 2017. This makes Paytm the country’s first payments app to cross the 100 million downloads mark. Paytm has become the most preferred payments app in the country today, allowing users to scan its QR and pay at large merchants, grocery and kirana stores, milk-booths, local taxi/autos fares, petrol pumps, multiplexes, restaurants and more.

United Nations cuts budget by $286 million

The UN has approved a $286 million cut in its annual budget for the next year, a 5% “historic reduction in spending”. The General Assembly approved the regular budget of $5.397 billion for 2018-2019. The amount sets the budget level around $286 million (or 5%) below the final approved level for 2016- 2017, and $193 million below the initially proposed budget level for 2018-2019, including all “add-ons”.

Anisa wins Womens 25m Pistol with New National Record

Haryana shooter Anisa Sayyed won the women’s 25m pistol gold with a new record at the ongoing 61st National Shooting Championship Competitions (61st NSCC), in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Anisa shot a new finals national record score of 33 to prevail over the Maharashtra duo of Shital Shivaji Thorat and Rahi Sarnobat, who won the silver and bronze medals respectively at the National Games Shooting Range.

The creator of Bugs Bunny, Bob Givens, passes away at 99

Bob Givens, one of the animators behind designing the iconic characters Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, died at the age of 99. He was from the USA. He also brought his skills to TV advertising, animating cartoon insects for Raid bug-killer commercials. Givens served in the US army during the Second World War, before returning to the animation industry.

K S Chitra bags ‘Harivarasanam’ Award

Veteran singer K S Chitra has been selected for prestigious  ‘Harivarasanam’ award 2017, instituted by the Kerala government. The award carrying a cash prize of Rs one lakh, citation and plaque would be presented to the veteran playback singer at a function on January 14, 2018.

PM Modis Mann Ki Baat among most trending Twitter hashtags in 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s radio programme “Mann Ki Baat” was the most trending hashtag on Twitter in 2017, followed by #jallikattu and #GST. The micro-blogging platform today said #Mannkibaat sparked a great deal of commentary all over the year, including a tweet from cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar that went viral. Mann Ki Baat is a radio programme hosted by the PM on the last Sunday of every month to address people of the nation on All India Radio, DD National, and DD News. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also emerged as the most mentioned personality on Twitter during the course of Gujarat elections, followed by Congress President Rahul Gandhi.