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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Three-day MayyazhiMahotsavam kicked off in Mahe, Puducherry
The three-day MayyazhiMahotsavam(Fete de Mahe) celebrated from 29th November to
1st December at Mahe with a variety of programmes exhibiting the rich culture and tradition of the
region, situated inside Kerala to attract open public participation in that way fostering the
feeling of oneness.
Organised by Department of Tourism and the Legislative Assembly Secretariat at
Mahe AayiMandapam, the main venue witnessed the performance of artists of national and
international acclamation.
Seminar on: Waste is wealth
Key points:
Marhowra plant 4,500HP (horse power) and 6,000HP diesel engines, which can
operate as 9,000HP and 12,000HP units.
Use: For heavy haul freight operations in the dedicated freight corridors.
GE Transport India managing director Nalin Jain and Railway Board director Jayant Kumar
signed for Marhowra plant
Maharashtra topped in GSDP Brickwork Report
As per 4th edition of report by credit rating agency Brickwork, Maharashtra is the biggest
economy within India at Rs 16.87 lakh crore in terms of gross state domestic product
(GSDP). The rating agency looked at the State governments willingness and ability to honour debt
obligations.
Maharashtras GSDP has grown by 69% for the financial year ended March 31, 2015 and is
followed by Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Rating criterion
It includes an analysis of political, economic, budgetary, financial and institutional parameters that
were considered relevant to the Maharashtra governments creditworthiness.
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10-day courses:3D Digitisation for Cultural Heritage at IIT Gandhinagar and Orthopaedic
Biomechanics: Implants and Biomaterials at IIT Kharagpur.
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Delhi School Education Amendment Bill (DSEAA) and the Delhi School (Verification of
Accounts and Refund of Excess Fee) Bill lay down heavy fine(Rs.5 lakh for the first
breach and Rs.10 lakh for each subsequent breach) and imprisonment for violators.
Penalty of different grades for taking interviews at the entry levels plus the nursery.
Government gave nod to introduction of Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2015
Union Cabinet has given nod for a Bill to establish a Regional Centre for Biotechnology in
Faridabad. It is currently active at the NCR Biotech Science Cluster, Faridabad.
Objective:To provide a legal status to the Centre so as to function autonomously and also an
Institution of National Importance for education, training and research in the fields of
biotechnology.
MoU between India and Iran on visa facilitation
Union Cabinet approvedthe signing of agreement between India and Iran on visa facilitation for
Diplomatic, Official/Service and Ordinary passport holders.
Resident Diplomatic Missions in the host country would within 20 working days issue
a cost-free visa valid for three months.
MoU between India and Germany for Capital Goods Sector and Solar Energy
Union Cabinet approvedMoU between India and Germany to expandbilateral cooperation in the
field of Solar Energy by expandinguse of solar energy in India through technical as well as
financial cooperation.
Agreement:Germany would provide concessional loans in the range of 1bn Euros through
Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau(KfW). It will be used for providing soft loans to the end-users
through partner banks.
Deal:
Solar off-grid applications to improve the access to clean and sustainable energy.
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Expand knowledge and expertise in the areas of sports science, sports medicine, coaching
techniques, participation in youth festivals and camps as a result improvement in execution
of India's sports persons in international tournaments and strengthening of bilateral relations
between the two countries.
India signs pact with Bahrain for cooperation on terrorism, organised crime
India and Bahrain signed agreement to provide cooperation to tackle international terrorism
transnational organized crime and psychotropic substances and was inked during the talks between
union home minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart Lt Gen Sheikh Rashed Bin Abdulla AlKhalifa at New Delhi.
Aim: To strengthen cooperation and information sharing to ensure faster investigations and
prosecutions of traffickers and organised crime groups in either country.
As per report compiled by United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) after
southeast Asia, south Asia with India at its Centre is the fastest-growing region for human
trafficking in the world. Every year more than 1.6lakh people have been trafficked.
Memorandum of Understanding between India and Israel in the field of water resources
management and development cooperation
Union Cabinet has given its nod for signing of an MoU between India and Israel in the field
of water resources management and development cooperation.
Benefit:To strengthen the techniques in efficient use of water, micro-irrigation, recycling/re-use of
waste water, desalination, aquifer recharge and in-situ water conservation techniques.
*Earlier agreements in this field: With Australia, Rwanda, Cambodia, Iran, Iraq, Fiji, China.
Union Cabinet approves DTAC agreement with Japan
Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC), was signed between India and Japan in 1989
has been amended in order by the Union Cabinet to facilitate tax-related exchange of
information.
Signed between the countries has a provision to offer assistance to each other country
in collection of revenue claims as well as for exemption of interest income from
taxation in the source country w.r.t. debt claims insured by the government or
government-owned financial institutions.
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People will get 5 kilograms of subsidized rice or wheat per person per month.
Rice at the subsidized rate of Rs.3 per kg and wheat Rs.3 per kg to target persons.
Act will also include the Midday Meal (MDM) Scheme,Integrated Child Development
Services (ICDS) scheme and Public Distribution System (PDS) under it to provide
subsidized food grains.
Each new IIT will have an initial intake of 180 students in its first year which would
increase to 450 in the second year and to 928 (840 Undergraduates, 80 Postgraduates
and 8 PhDs) in the third year of their operation.
Total cost for running these IITs is Rs.1,411.80 crore and will be incurred between 201516 and 2018-19. Each new IIT will have teacher to student ratio of 1:10.
The bill on standardization was pending for over 30 years and will replace the Bureau
of Indian Standards Act, 1986.
It will allow the central government to authorize any other agency having necessary
accreditation for the purpose of conformity assessment against Indian standards.
Bill will allow multiple types of conformity assessment schemes in tune with global best
practices.
Bureau would be a national body which will formulate, certify and implement certain
standards of quality for goods, articles, processes, etc.
Technical committees of experts will be constituted by the Bureau for the purpose of
formulating such standards.
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Rs 898.50 crore as the fixed cost of strengthening and creation of infrastructure in Cooch
Behar district and former Bangladesh enclaves in India.
75 railway stations and 27 international airports and about 5,000 public buildings
would be rendered to make them accessible.
All government websites W3C compliant that means all websites would have a text-tospeech feature which would make them accessible to the visually impaired.
370 metric tonnes of garbage was produced day-to-day in Chandigarh which was
being dumped irrationally.
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Removal of the the 1 percent additional tax aimed to benefit the producing states like
Gujarat and Tamil Nadu
Higher GST rates on tobacco, luxury cars, pan masala and aerated drinks
A low one of 12 percent and a high rate of 40 percent for things like luxury products
Anti-corruption bill was passed with 64 votes in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) government described it as the strongest anti-graft legislation in
the country.
First amendment:
A seven-member panel would select two members and chairperson in the institution of Jan
Lokpal.
Second amendment:
Jan Lokpal would be impeached only after a high court monitored probe against the
ombudsman.
Lokpal will have powers to probe acts of corruption against Union ministers and
central government officials working in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, which
may spark another round of conflict between the Kejriwal government and the Centre.
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A payback sum of 70,000 rupees per month as allowance under Secretarial, Research
and Office Assistance which is 30,000 rupees at present.
BJP has criticized the Delhi government for bringing this bill and to withdraw it, opposing
it will send a wrong message to the people.
This year a group of AAP legislators had demanded a significant hike in salary, as their earnings
were not enough to run their family and offices.
Married daughters eligible for appointment on compassionate grounds: Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court ruled that married daughters of deceased government employees should
be considered for appointment on compassionate grounds under the Dying in Harness Rules.
She had confronted the dismissal of her request for a job on compassionate grounds by
the District Magistrate, according to him as per Uttar Pradesh Recruitment of Dependants
of Government Servants Dying-in-Harness Rules requests of only widowed or unmarried
daughters could be accommodated.
Pay Rs 4,500 per month for a period of 18 months and the remaining amount would
be allowed by Women's Welfare Department as a subsidy.
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The Bill proposed to raise the liability limit for damage in case of death or bodily injury for
each person from 1,00,000 SDR (special drawing rights) to 1,13,100 SDR.
Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which was moved by Civil Aviation Minister P
Ashok Gajapathi Raju and passed by a voice vote proposed to increase the
compensation for death in an air accident to over Rs.1 crore from almost Rs 89 lakh
now.
Andhra Pradesh has been followed by Jharkhand by which latter has become the second
state to join the Centres UDAY.
The coins were issued on his death anniversary which is observed as Mahaparinirvan Divas
of Babasaheb Ambedkar.
The Union government is celebrating 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar in the year
2015. The objective of yearlong celebrations is to make the world aware about the life and the
work of legendary social reformer who is often considered as a champion of the
underprivileged.
Goa-Mumbai double decker train flagged off by Indian Railways
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the 1,000-passenger Mumbai-Margao-Mumbai
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The Railways will soon sign an agreement with Japan government to improve safety and
standard of Indian railways.
AC Double Decker Express train no 11085 will have AC chair car coaches and will leave
Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:30 am and will
reach Margao at about 5.30 am on the same day. The train no 11085 will leave Margao
every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5.10 pm.
To meet its biodiesel demand, SWR zone has set up Biodiesel filling
centres at Hubli,Bengaluru and Hospet.
G-20 countries requested the Global Forum to take on the work of implementation of the
new global standard on automatic exchange of information namely the Common
Reporting Standard (CRS) on AEOI.
The scope of INDRA NAVY- 2015 includes wide ranging professional interactionsduring
the Harbour phase and a diverse canvas of operational activities at sea across a spectrum
of maritime operations.
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Abes Special Adviser Hiroto Izumi will be in Delhi forhigh-level talks to finalise the
terms of the agreement on high-speed trains, known as Shinkansen in Japan.
It will cut travelling time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad from seven to two hours.
Japan is likely to agree to finance the Rs 90,000 crore plus railway project through a soft loan at
0.5% interest with repayment tenure of 50 years.
National Youth Festival in Chhattisgarh from Jan 12
For the first time, Chhattisgarh will host the 20th National Youth Festival on January 12-16,
2016, at Naya Raipur.
The festival is being held on the occasion of 153rd birth anniversary of Swami
Vivekananda.
Organized by: Unionministry of youth affairs & sports, state government, National
Service Scheme and Nehru Yuva Kendra.
The event will have contests in 18 different areas including folk dance, classical music and drama.
38-member organising committee headed by Raipur divisional commissioner Ashok
Agrawal has been constituted for organizing the event.
Odd-even number scheme: Delhi government to provide full proof plan on driving rule by
Dec 25
Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai has announced that State Govt will come out with a full
proof plan for Odd-even number scheme before December 25.
Suggested by the AAP dispensation with an aim to curb air pollution in Delhi.
The city government is also planning to strengthen the public transport system by introducing more
buses and increasing the frequency of Metro trains to accommodate the rush of commuters.
Shri Kalraj Mishra inaugurates Global SME Summit 2015
Union Minister for MSME, Shri Kalraj Mishra inaugurated Global SME Summit 2015 at India
Habitat Center in New Delhi.
Objective: To connect the Global SMEs with the Indian SMEs for mutual business development
and explore the emerging Indian market.
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Aim: To enhance the life-skills of the participants and to increase awareness about various
Indian art forms and the countrys rich heritage among school children.
The initiative was launched on the sidelines of the Conference of Parties-21 (COP-21) of
UNFCCC in Paris.
Aims : Identify and monitor targeted socio-ecological challenges and help build capacity
within India.
Highlights of the LTEO Programme
Training Under this programme, students and young scientists will also be trained
through sustained long-term support for research in the area of climate change.
Own data base It will help the country to have its own scientific data-base in this
key area without depending on studies done abroad.
Coverage The new initiative will cover all the major biomass of the country from
Western Himalayas to Western Ghats, Eastern Himalayas to Andaman & Nicobar Islands,
central India to the Sunderbans and from Jammu & Kashmir to Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Climate affect The focus would be on the patterns of how changes in climate are
affecting natural and closely associated human systems of agriculture and
pastoralism.
Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015 introduced in Lok Sabha to fast track nuclear
power projects
To expedite nuclear power projects, a Bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act to empower Nuclear
Power Corporation of India to enter into joint ventures with other public sector undertakings
introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Reason: To facilitate the fast expansion of nuclear power, utility and establishment, living up to
Indias commitment of using nuclear energy for peaceful purpose. and help in the common
objective of power generation network.
Moved by: Minister of State in the Department of Atomic of Energy (DAE) Jitendra Singh.
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Each member was given training once by MKCL, while members personal assistants were
trained twice.
Answers given by ministers will also be made available online and in the last step all
members, ministers and assembly speaker will be given touch screen tablets, connected
via-wireless network. Assembly and council have been connected through Wi-Fi for the
first time.
Highlights:
240 projects are being displayed at the expo. A project which amassed major attention
was the solar-electric car made by 63-year-old Syed Sajjad Ahmed(school
dropout) that is equipped with solar panels to generate electricity to run the car.
Lok Sabha passes High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of
Service) Amendment Bill, 2015
Lok Sabha passed a bill amending the law on salaries and service conditions of Supreme Court and
high court judges
Aim: To bring in uniformity in pensions and other conditions of service of the judges.
Bill was brought in under Article 175 of the constitution to ensure that there is no
discrimination in salaries, pensions and other service conditions of the judges of the two
courts.
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It will amend the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 which defines bills of exchange,
promissory notes, cheques and creates penalties for issues such as bouncing cheques.
There are an estimated 18 lakh cheque bounce cases across the country, of which about
38,000 are pending in High Courts.
The sale and distribution of drugs in the country is regulated under the Drugs & Cosmetics
Act, 1940 and Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has constituted an expert core committee to review and
recommend the revision of National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2011 in the context of
contemporary knowledge of use of therapeutic products.
As per the Drugs (Price Control) Order, 2013, 680 medicines are currently under the
NLEM.
MoU signed between Ministry of Textiles & Ministry of MSME for establishing a
Technology Centre at Kanpur
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed among Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of
Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) & National Textile Corporation (NTC) in order
to set up a Technology Centre (Tool Room)
Place: Kanpur, UP
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Department of Heavy Industry has played a key role in promoting two key Sector Skill
Councils (SSCs),Capital Goods Sector Skill Council and Automotive Skills Development
Council in the skilling ecosystem of this country.
Highlights of MoU:
It will ensure that a robust national ecosystem for development of skills in the
manufacturing sector is created.
All Central PSUs have committed to invest at least 20% of their Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) funds for skilling purpose.
It will enable scale up of apprentice training in the central PSUs under the Department of
Heavy Industry and promote adoption of ITIs by these Central PSUs.
Apart from ITIs, Advanced Training Institutes and regional vocation training institutes
under the Skills Ministry, training partners of NSDC and Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) will
also work with the Central PSUs under DHI.
This agreement will enable private partnership in the entire value chain of skilling
through targeted interventions.
It is an initiative to protect the interest of consumers, promote fair play in real estate
transactions and to ensure timely execution of projects.
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Registration Real estate projects and real estate agents must be registered with
the Authority.
Construction Cost Compulsory for builders to deposit 70% of the amount raised
from buyers into an escrow account in a scheduled bank within a period of 15 days to
cover the construction cost of the project for timely completion of the project.
Prohibition on civil courts Civil courts jurisdiction prohibited from taking up matters
defined in Bill, however, consumer court allowed to hear real estate matters.
It would enable the Central Government to notify securities or class of securities for
investment by trusts.
To remove the outdated provisions occurring in section 20 of the Indian Trusts Act,
1882.
It provides greater flexibility and autonomy for the trustees to take decisions on
investment of trust money based on their assessment of the risk return.
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amount to Rs.10 lakh and Rs.3 lakh respectively to two Dalit sisters who suffered an acid
attack
CCEA approved measures to increase Pulses production
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved creation of buffer stock of
pulses to deal with wide fluctuation in prices of pulses and check food inflation.
As per decision:
The buffer stock will consist of 50000 tonnes of pulses from the kharif crop and 1
lakh tonnes from the Rabi crop.
The Procurement will be done at market prices through above Minimum Support Price
(MSP) out of the Price Stabilisation Fund.
If the prices fall below MSP, the procurement will be made at MSP under Price Support
Scheme of Department of Agriculture (DoA).
The CCEA also decided to import pulses through Union Ministry of Commerce depending on the
requirement.
Union Cabinet approved MoU between India and UK in the field of cooperation in the
energy sector
Union Cabinet has approved an MoU between India and United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland on cooperation in the energy sector with a focus on electricity market structure
and the integration of renewable energy into the grid.
Programme would work at both central and state levels to improve energy security and
Secretary of State, Business Innovation and Skills, UK, Mr. Sajid Javid.
Key Highlights of 2016: UK-INDIA Year of Education, Research and Innovation
UKIERI-III Third phase of UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI-III) with
budgetary allocation of 3 million GBP per year from each side will commence from 1st
April 2016 which will provide a basic framework for the bilateral cooperation between India
and UK over the next 5 years.
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IMPRINT The programme will enhance partnership in research work in ten research
priority areas under IMPRINT (IMPacting Research Innovation and Technology).
To give maximum opportunity to dealers for lifting of NTC stock and thereby reduce
inventory and improve cash flow.
The report was released during an event Made in India: Good Nutrition for All:
Implications of the Global Nutrition Report and the India Health Report for Nutrition
Security in India organized by Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and
the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Highlights of Reports
India Health Report (IHR), 2015, offers a critical analysis of nutrition at the national and State
levels. The IHR compared nutrition levels among children in 28 States and Delhi.
39% of children under five in India are short for their age (stunted). Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar have made the least progress over the 2005-2014 periods that had the worst
stunting rates in 2005-06.
The rate of improvement in nutritional status has not kept pace with Indias significant
gains in economic prosperity and agricultural productivity.
India ignores the problem of under nutrition and its impact on child development at its
peril and risks large economic, health and social consequences for future generations.
Union Cabinet approved 4000 crore rupees proposal for shipbuilding industry
Union Cabinet has approved Rs 4,000 crore budgetary supports to encourage shipbuilding and
ship repair industry in India under Make in India programme.
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To counter the cost-disadvantages, the govt will grant a financial assistance of 20% of
the contract price or the fair price, whichever is lower following the delivery of the
ship.
The assistance will be reduced by 3% in every 3 years and will be given for all types
of ships.
It also includes grant of Right of First Refusal for Indian shipyards for govt
purchases,tax incentives and grant of infrastructure status for shipbuilding and ship
repair industry.
Headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar which also comprises of judicial
member M S Nambiar and expert members D K Agrawal and B S Sajwan.
Ganga cleaning project outlay 258 crores; out of which Rs. 78 crore has been spent.
Penalty of Rs. 20,000 per violation if any hospital is found throwing waste anywhere
on land, water bodies or other places.
Complete prohibition on use & sale of plastic. plastic carry bags/plastic plates,
glasses, spoons, packages and allied items in all towns falling on the river Ganga and its
tributaries.
Fines ranging from 10 lakh rupees to 1 crore rupees on industrial units along the
river for discharging waste.
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To amend the first schedule of the Act so that it would be in conformity with the
judgement of the Supreme Court of 1997 (potable alcohol is to come under the
control of states).
Agreement has been signed by Vinay Sheel Oberoi, Secretary of Department of Higher
Education from the Central Government side and by Tata Consultancy Services, Tata
Motors, M/s ADCC Infocad, Nagpur and M/s Hubtown, Mumbai.
There will be no renewal of registration of vehicles which are more than 10-yearold.
Tribunal directed Centre and state governments to consider not to buy any diesel vehicles
for their departments.
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It marks the beginning of New Year in Ladakh and celebrated for 15 days,main celebrations
on the first three days.Yolmo Losar is observed on the same day as of the Chinese New
Year.
US Consul General in Kolkata Craig Hall inaugurated the first ever English Access
Microscholarship Programme (Access) programme in Bihar supported by the US
Department of State.
The global programme after-school classes would provide foundation of English language
skills to talented students in the age category of 13-20 year.
Access programme consists of 180 hours of English language instruction during each
academic year and a 30-hour summer intensive course.
It will reduce travelling time between the two cities from 8 hours to 3 hours.
Japan will extend highly concessional loan of $12 billion and technical assistance on
easy terms for this project through its Shinkansen Technology.
The loan will provided with the interest rate at 1% for a period of 50 years with a 15 years
moratorium.
1. Memorandum of Cooperation between Indias ministry of railways and Japans MLIT (ministry
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MoC between Indias Central Drugs Standard Control Organization and Japans
ministry of health, labour and welfare: Raw materials for pharmaceutical use, biological
products and medical devices.
Statement of Intent between NITI Aayog and Institute of Energy Economics, Japan
(IEEJ)
MoU between state government of Kerala and Lake Nakaumi, Lake Shinji and Mt.
Daisen area Mayors Association: Kerala and the Sanin region, Japan, agree to develop
trade, investment and economic relations between the business circles with focus on small
and medium enterprises.
MoC between Indias Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and
Japans Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: The memorandum endeavours
to enhance cooperation in human resource development and institutional exchange between
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A joint statement on India and Japan Vision 2025: Special Strategic and Global
Partnership Working Together for Peace and Prosperity of the Indo-Pacific
Region and the World.
India extended visa an arrival (VoA) facility for Japanese nationals, including
businessmen.
India and Japan had signed a pact to develop Varanasi as a Smart City. The plan
is to develop Varanasi on the lines of Japanese city of Kyoto.
Other states communicated in-principle approval to the Power Ministry for joining the UDAY
scheme includes Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan,
Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir.
Ajmer- Rs 1, 300 cr
Udaipur Rs 1,221 cr
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Fund Information :
Of the total 304.22 crore state share, the entire amount would be contributed by the Goa
government, as the financial position of the CCP (Corporation of the City of Panaji) does
not allow it to take up such huge proposal.
Shiv Sena, ruling party of the 227-member BMC, passed the proposal with a list of14
amendments attached to it. Out of the fourteen amendments, 12 were made by the Shiv
Sena and two by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
Navi Mumbai prepared the most expensive plan with an outlay of Rs.8500 crore, to
project Navi Mumbai as one of the first planned cities.
247 water supply, LED lights on signals, zero-garbage zones and mobile
governance.
Amendments Suggested
75% of the jobs being generated of the Smart city project should be given out to
thesons of the soil (local people).
Mechanical sweeping be made a part of the plan along with ducting be done for utilities
running through public roads.
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This is the first time that the Combined Commanders Conference has been held on board an
aircraft carrier.
Prime Minister interacted with soldiers, sailors and airmen on board INS Vikramaditya.
Atomic Energy Amendment Bill 2015 proposed to amend the 1962 Atomic Energy
Act to change the definition of government company in the Act.
At present, only two Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) Nuclear Power Corporation of
India Limited (NPCIL) and Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI), which are
under the administrative control of Department of Atomic Energy, operate nuclear power
plants in the country.
9146 children under Operation Smile and 19742 children under Operation
Muskaan were rescued/rehabilitated.
All children residing in shelter homes, platforms, bus stands, roads, religious
places, etc. are to be screened by trained police personnel.
During the operation, the particulars of such identified children will be uploaded on the
Missing child portal of the Ministry of Women and Child Development by the respective
State Police.
With the launch of Phase-2 development, GIFT City has invited proposals from developers
to build office towers in SEZ and non-SEZ areas.
Allotments:
GIFT IFSC has already made allotment to around 20 institutions including leading
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names such as SBI, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and YES Bank.
GIFT has signed MoU with various leading Capital Market players-BSE, NSE,
MCX and DMCC.
NSE has signed MoU with London Stock Exchange for setting up global trading
platform at GIFT IFSC SEZ.
GIC and New India Assurance have also received allotment in GIFT IFSC.
The measure will help set up commercial benches in selected high courts to settle high value
commercial disputes.
The demand was first made by the BJPs Kirti Azad which was later supported by other
members. The bill was, however, opposed by the BJD and RSP saying that it accorded
special treatment and speedier justice for high-value commercial disputes and nothing for
the common man.
Supreme Court banned registration of new diesel SUVs, luxury cars in Delhi
After the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered a ban on the registration of all diesel cars in Delhi,
Supreme Court has banned the registration of all diesel SUVs and luxury cars with
engine capacity of 2000cc or more till March 31, 2016. However, vehicles less than 2000cc can
be registered.
The Supreme Court has asked all the private cabs operating in the city to convert to
Compressed Natural Gas or CNG by March 1 next year.
UCG is a method of extraction of energy from coal/lignite resources which are otherwise
regarded as uneconomical to work through conventional mining methods.
UP Governor Ram Naik gave assent to states Revenue Code (Amendment) Ordinance
2015
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has given his assent to UP Revenue Code (Amendment)
Ordinance 2015. The state government had sent the ordinance to the Governor for his approval
for the amendment in UP Revenue Code 2006.
AP Shah Committee appointed to look into ONGC, RIL dispute on KG gas fields
The Justice(Retd.) A P Shah panel has been constituted to look into acts of omission and
commission and recommend compensation toONGC whose natural gas from Bay of Bengal block
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The committee has been constituted after US-based consultant DeGolyer and
MacNaughton (D&M) stated that as much as 11.122 billion cubic meters of natural
gas, worth over Rs 11,000 crore, had migrated from idling Krishna Godavari fields of Oil
and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to adjoining KG-D6 block of RIL.
Union Cabinet given nod to amend Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its approval for introduction of a
Bill for amendments to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, in order to modify
the list of Scheduled Castes in respect of the five states Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha
and West Bengal.
The castes and communities that were found eligible for their inclusion in SC category:
From Chhattisgarh are Sais, who are also known as Sahis, Sarathi, Soot-Sarathi and
Thanwar.
Two castes from Haryana have been included in the SC list. These are Aheria, also called
Aheri, Hari, Heri, Thori and Turi, and Rai Sikh.
In Kerala, Peruvannan caste has been included the SC list while Malayan from certain
areas will also be entitled to the same benefits.
Castes, which have been excluded from the OBC list consequent upon their inclusion in
SC list include Bariki and Kummari from Odisha, while the area restriction of the inclusion
of Chain caste in West Bengal has been removed.
The proposal also seeks some changes in the Central List of Other Backward Classes of the states
of Chattisgarh, Haryana and Kerala.After the Bill becomes an Act, members of the communities
included in the list of Scheduled Castes will be able to derive benefits meant for Scheduled Castes
under the existing schemes.
Maharashtra announces 10512 crore rupees aid for farmers
The Maharashtra Government on announced a 10512 crore rupees relief package for more
than 15000 drought-hit villages in 14 districts of the states Marathwada and Vidarbha
regions.
The package was announced by Devendra Fadnavis in the assembly in Nagpur during a
discussion on the drought situation.
Of the 10512 crore rupees, 7412 crore rupees will be direct financial assistance to cotton
and soybean farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada. Out of the 7412 crore rupees, 2800
crore rupees will be given in the form of crop insurance to farmers and 1034 crore rupees
aid will be given to those who have not insured their crops.
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DAC gives nod to purchase of Russian S-400 Air Defence Missile Systems
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) led by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar cleared the
purchase of five S-400 Triumf long-range air defence systems from Russia.
The defence deal worth Rs. 40,000 crore is one of the biggest of its kind to be
approved by the Modi government.
Mr. Modi government has been leveraging defence deals to reach out and further
strategic cooperation with other nations. During his visit to France last year, he surprised
everyone with the announcement for the direct purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets.
Union Cabinet gives nod to MoU with BRICS countries for energy conservation
Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to a pact signed between India and BRICS
members to enhance cooperation in building energy efficiency.
Although there are some technical and security concerns over the project, Telecom
ministry would help Google in obtaining clearances from civil aviation and the defence
ministries for approvals and proposed a partnership with state run BSNL for Project Loon.
Google had earlier announced a project to connect 400 Railway stations in the country
through Wi-Fi along with Indian Railways technology arm RailTel which is on track and
the first 100 stations will be connected by the end of 2016.
Green Peace India released report on National Air Quality Index of 17 cities
Greenpeace India has released a ranking of the 17 cities covered by the National Air Quality
Index (NAQI). The report reveals data to challenge the complacence of the Central and State
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The report is the first analysis of air pollution levels in Indian cities carried out using the
NAQI system. Greenpeace India said that the shockingly high pollution figures
recorded between April and November indicate the continuing severity of the air pollution
disaster.
MLAs of Arunachal Pradesh Assembly passed resolution to remove Speaker Nabam Rebia
Arunachal Pradesh Assembly passed a resolution to impeach Speaker Nabam Rebia by a voice vote
and signatured consent of 33 members, including 20 rebel Congress MLAs, 11 of BJP and two
independents, in a vote boycotted by the supporters of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.
Amid high drama, 34 MLAs seeking removal of the Speaker, including his deputy
Thongdok, met at the community hall for the session.
Thongdok called out the name of Rebia to enable him offer a clarification, if any, on the
impeachment notice but the Speaker was not present. The resolution was then put to
vote and was supported by the members.
Uttar Pradesh government bans use of polythene bags across the State
Uttar Pradesh cabinet has approved a complete ban on the distribution, manufacture and sales
of polythene carry bags in the state. Polythene ban in the state is being initiated because of the
courts order and also because it is environment friendly.
Allahabad high court had last month directed the Uttar Pradesh government to issue a
notification enforcing a complete ban on the sale of polythene across the state
byDecember 31. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) too had recently banned the use
of polythene along the Ganga, including areas in Uttar Pradesh.
The other five bills passed by Jharkhand Assembly are Jharkhand Cinema
Amendment Bill , Factory (Jharkhand Amendment ) Bill, Bihar Industrial (National &
Festival Holiday and Casual Leave) Jharkhand Amendment Bill, Contract Labour
(Exchange & Stoppage) Bill and Jharkhand Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill.
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The certificate was given to PM Modi in the presence of UK Prime Minister David
Cameron, during his visit to London last month.It will be kept in the Kranti Tirth, a
memorial of Verma built in the port town of Mandvi in Kutch, where Shyamji Krishna
Verma was born in 1857.
The UCG policy framework has been framed in line with the existing policy for Coal Bed
Methane (CBM) development on revenue sharing basis.
The announcement was made during the inauguration of Centre for learning resources
Development at L M Thapar School of Management Thapar University Campus Dera Bassi,
Punjab.
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These Food Parks will be having all facilities like Production, Processing Plant, Cold Store,
Collection centre & Transports.One Mega Food Park provides employment to 30 thousand
persons directly and will provide benefit indirectly to more than 1 lakh persons.
Following the Supreme Court judgment on usage of Aadhaar, the Aadhaar-based online NPS
account facility that was started on a pilot basis had to be discontinued.
Participating banks: State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, Oriental Bank of
Commerce,United Bank of India, South Indian Bank and Syndicate Bank.
The Apex court has allowed usage of Aadhaar for the pension scheme under the National
Social Assistance Programme (Old Age Pensions, Widow Pensions, Disability Pensions),
apart from MGNREGS, PMJDY and EPFO.
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GER is a ratio of enrolment in higher education to population in the eligible age group
(18-23) years.
Gender Parity Index (GPI) A ratio of proportional representation of female and male,
has marginally improved from 0.86 to 0.93 to the corresponding period.
Institutions Number of institutions of higher education listed on AISHE
portal has increasedsignificantly.
Universities from 621 to 757 and colleges from 32, 974 to 38,056 during the same
period.
With this, Ministry of HUPA has so far approved construction of 4,23,415 houses for urban
poor in 243 cities in 11 States across the country, for which the Union Government will
provide an assistance of Rs.5,900 cr.
Eyeway National Helpdesk is an initiative of Score Foundation with support from the
Department and other organizations like Essel Foundation, Tech Mahindra
Foundation and the Hans Foundation.
Visually impaired citizens of India will be able to call the Eyeway Helpdesk on a toll free
number, 1800-300-20469 and get queries addressed in their regional languages.
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Information will cover living life with blindness, counselling, advocacy, personal or legal
matters, government schemes and programs, employment or education, about making an
accessible environment etc.
The bus was flagged off by PM Narendra Modi and handed over the key of the bus to the
Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Sumitra Mahajan.
The converted buses are part of a pilot project of Central Institute of Road Transport
(CIRT). The prototype was wholly developed by KPIT, Pune.
Implemented in 17 districts.
The government will bear all expenses for fees, uniform, books, hostel accommodation
as well transportation.
Separate hostel will be constructed for these children under this scheme.
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The children will be selected by means of a lottery which will be drawn by a committee
chaired by the district collectors in the state.
106 additional inland waterways will be added to the list of national waterways, taking the
number to 111 from existing 5.
The legislation was moved for consideration and passing by Shipping and Road Transport and
Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
The rail traffic remained disrupted on Lucknow-Allahabad route for the second day
because of derailment between Bhadohi and Mondh railway stations.
A high-level committee comprising three members has been constituted to probe the
matter and submit its report to the earliest.
FSSAI has notified 12 referral laboratories and 82 National Accreditation Board for
Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited private laboratories.
72 State and Public food laboratories to test food samples.There should be at least
laboratory in each district.FSSAI makes standards while their implementation is the
responsibility of the state governments. In 2014-15, 74,010 food samples were analysed and
14,599 samples were found adulterated or misbranded.
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The policy is supported by the Mental Health Action Plan 365 which spells out the
specific roles of the Central Government, the State Governments, local bodies and civil
society.
It seeks to raise the eligibility limit for payment of bonus from a salary of 10000
rupees to 21000 rupees a month.
It seeks to raise this calculation ceiling of bonus to 7000 rupees per month or as per
the minimum wage notified for the employment under the Minimum Wages Act,
1948(whichever is higher).
It seeks to mandate prior publication of rules made by the Union Government in the
Official Gazette to allow for more public consultation.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar approved Patna Metro Rail project
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar approved the Patna Metro Rail projects proposal and will now
send the proposal for the union governments clearance.
Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) last year submitted the DPR on the
project to the Bihar government.
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There are still more than 130 countries with which India is yet to enter into or sign similar
agreements.
It has suitable linkages and convergence with the Sagarmala Project of Shipping
Ministry, MGNAREGA, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and National Rural
Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) etc.
Fish production in the country in 2014-15, while the export earnings from the sector
registered at Rs 33,441 crore in 2014-15.
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Basohli Bridge is 4th of its kind in India. The other three cable-stayed bridges are Hooghly
Bridge at Kolkata, Naini Bridge in Allahabad and Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link in Mumbai.
300 tonnes of specially designed cables are being procured from Japan and Spain.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had extended a loan of Rs 6,000 crore to its overseas
investment arm to meet its acquisitions requirements.
With this, the equity base of OVL will rise to Rs 15,000 crore. The entire loan ONGC had
given to OVL was at zero interest.
Bihar Government banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from plying on Patna roads
Bihar government has banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from this capitals road in a bid to
control air pollution. The decision comes after an advisory issued by the Bihar State Pollution
Control Board (BSPCB) showing air quality in Patna was very poor on 20 days
andsevere on nine days of November 2015.
Severe means particulate matter-2.5 (or PM-2.5) is over 400 and can affect healthy
people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases. Very poor means PM-2.5 is
between 301 and 400 and can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure.
The exercises were conducted across a vast geographical area, extending from the
Northern Bay of Bengal to the Andaman Sea.
About Exercise
24 ships, 2 submarines and over 10 aircraft participated in the exercise, which included
the nuclear submarine Chakra as well as units from the Andaman-Nicobar
Command.
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A ship from the Western Naval Command with the Kamov 31 Air Early Warning
helicopter was also deployed for the exercise.
Hawk Fighter aircraft and P8I Long Range Maritime reconnaissance aircraft were
also integrated into the exercise.
National Industrial Corridor Development Authority (NICDA) has not been constituted
yet.
Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC): The project spans the States of Uttar
Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra along the
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) of the railways.
Union Ministry of Environment notified norms for Coal-based Thermal Power Plants
To cope with pollution the Union environment ministry has notified revised norms of emission
standards for coal-based thermal power plants in the country and made it mandatory for the
existing plants to meet those parameters within two years.
Key Provisions of revised norms
The new power plants (to be commissioned from January 1, 2017 onwards) will have to
achieve zero waste water discharge.
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In case of PM10, the new plants will have to restrict the emission to 30 mg per cubic
meter as compared to 100 mg per cubic meter in older plants.
It will receive the award from Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Chhattisgarh was followed by Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya at the third place.
Within Chhattisgarh, the districts of Kondagaon, Koriya and Gariyaband were adjudged the best
performers for its digital facilities and services to the people. CM Raman Singh had launched 16
premium digital services.
Schemes:Wi-Fi city scheme to ensure free high speed internet facility, mobiles app for edistrict services, online facility for five pension schemes of social welfare department and six
of revenue department, integrated Chhattisgarh mobile app , Chhattisgarh campus connect
portal, Lok Seva Kendra and Common Service Centres in villages were among the facilities
started during the week.
The revision includes addition of 106 essential medicines and deletion of 70 medicines.
With this total number of essential medicines in the list have gone up to 376 from earlier
348 medicines.
This move will ensure their availability across the country at affordable prices. The new list takes
cues from the World Health Organisation (WHOs) 2015 list of essential drugs and medicines
that satisfies the priority healthcare needs of people and ensure affordability.
National Food Security Act launched in Assam
Panchayat and Rural development minster of the state Rakibul Hussain launched the Food
Security Act (FSA) in Nagaon district of Assam to address the hunger of the people.
Under this Act, every person belonging to priority households will be entitled to receive5 kg of
food grains per person per month at subsidised prices not exceeding Rs. 3.00 per kg
for rice.
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The PoC solutions will be built and deployed to address specific problems within each of
the fields to achieve better outcomes for the State.
It would use the lab method for data gathering, analysis, predictive analysis and policy
planning.
Microsoft India will continue to engage and train State Governments key IT
executives on Microsoft technologies such as Cloud, Mobility and appropriate Microsoft
Technology stack.
Voters of District, Taluka and Gram Panchayats are not given this facility yet.
E-voting was introduced by Gujarat State Election Commission (SEC) for polling in six
municipal corporations.
Gujarat SEC has been the first in the country to allow online voting facility for voters
of municipal corporation areas of the state.
This facility was first offered to voters in the year 2010. The recently concluded local body polls
were the second election where voters were given the facility to vote online without coming to the
polling booth by registering themselves with the SEC on their website and follow procedures.
Make in India Week to start from Feb 13
The manufacturing push Make in India given by the Modi government will start in February next
year in Mumbai.
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First flagship event of Make in India to be held in Indias financial capital will feature
sector-wise, state-wise pavilions, exhibitions of products and manufacturing processes,
besides conference rooms and meeting lounges for B2B, G2B, G2G meetings.
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and trade body, the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) are involved in the planning of the event that
will see representations from global investors, states, export promotion councils, local
trade bodies, buyers and union ministries.
The three other Greenfield airports are proposed to be set up in Andhra Pradesh, with two
of them likely to be no-frills ones.
One airport worth Rs. 1,378 crore will be international airport at Dholera in Gujarat.
The Ministry has already given its nod for development of a Greenfield airport in
Nellore and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh under a public-private partnership.
Consumers whose income is above Rs 10 lakh, gas subsidy will not be given. So far,30 lakh
people have given up LPG subsidy. That subsidy will be given to poor people.
Currently, all households are permitted to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each at subsidised rate
of Rs 419.26, while the market price of each cylinder is Rs 608.
In the assessment year 2014-15, a total of 26 lakh assesses were reported as having a
taxable income above Rs 10 lakh.
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The number of LPG consumers in the country fell from 35 crore to 14.78 crore after the
start of Direct Benefit Transfer on LPG (DBTL) scheme that eliminated inactive customers
and duplication in the rolls.
Governor DrMridulaSinha, the brand ambassador nominated by Prime Minister for this
programme.
She has written what to do and what not to doregarding maintaining cleanliness.
These messages are being sent to members of the co-ordination committees which the Governor
has constituted to make Panaji, Mapusa, Ponda, Margao and Vasco as model cities of
cleanliness in Goa.
Gujarat government to announce its 1st Medical Policy
Gujarat government is set to announce its 1st Medical Policy for providing subsidy to those who
wish to set up new hospital in the state.
Main aim: To encourage as well as help doctors in setting up new hospitals and nursing homes,
which is a costly affair.
Features of policy:
Subsidy and financial assistance to those who want to set up hospitals and nursing homes
anywhere in the state.
Subsidy will be given for constructing the building and for purchasing specialised medical
equipment that are very costly.
Subsidy will depend on the location of the hospital, treatments offered and number of
Another objective: To encourage medical tourism as well as to provide infrastructure for new
medical colleges.
Report of the Committee on Revisiting & Revitalizing the PPP Model of Infrastructure
Development
Report of the Committee on Revisiting & Revitalizing the PPP model of Infrastructure
Development chaired by Dr. V. Kelkar has been issued by Ministry of Finance.
Key Highlights of Report:
Contracts under PPP should focus more on service delivery instead of fiscal benefits.
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entity.
Government must amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 in order to
develop a mechanism for collecting data for decision making in further developing the PPP.
The 3P-I institute for PPPs should be set up as soon as possible.
crore for more than 15,000 drought-affected villages across 14 districts of Marathwada
and Vidarbha areas.
Haryana Government sets educational qualification for municipal polls
Haryana Government has decided to amend Section 13 A of Haryana Municipal Act 1973 and
Section 8 of Haryana Municipal Corporation Act 1994.
Objective: To make minimum educational qualification compulsory for aspirant of contesting local
body polls on the lines of Panchayat polls.
Candidate should have functional toilet at home and he or she should not be defaulter of
cooperative bank loans and electricity department.
Earlier amendments: The state government has amended the Panchayati Raj Act fixing
qualification for candidates to contest Panchayat polls.
BHEL commissioned Prayagraj power project unit in Uttar Pradesh
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) has commissioned a 660 MW unit of the Prayagraj Super
Thermal Power Project at Barain Allahabad district in Uttar Pradesh.
First super-critical thermal unit in the state to achieve capacity addition on attaining full
load.
*Super-critical units: These are more efficient and eco-friendlyby consuming lesser coal.
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For specific posts where the ministry or department wants to continue undertaking
interview as a process of recruitment, a detailed proposal seeking exemption will have to
be sent to the DoPT(Department of Personnel and Training with the approval of the
minister or minister-in-charge.
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Ensuring a transparent, efficient and globally best Regulatory system and communication
strategy.
MoU between India and Jordan for promoting cooperation In the field of Information
Technology and Electronics
Cabinet has given nod to the MoU between India and Jordan to promote cooperation in the field of
Information Technology(IT) and Electronics.
Purpose: It will strengthen industrial, technological and commercial cooperation between the
two countries in the field of Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E) sector.
Zones of co-operation: Identifying capacity building areas and specific needs of Jordanian IT
sector, Design, Plan and implement IT Capacity Building Programmes.
Benefit: It will help India gain knowledge in managing habitats of 76 species of birds of prey
of which 46 species, comprising vultures, falcons, eagles, owls, hawks, kites and harrier, are
also found in India. India will become the 54th signatory to the MoU.
India will be the first country to buy Australian uranium without being a signatory to the
nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
India has less than two dozen small reactors at six sites with a capacity of 4,780 MW, or 2 per
cent of its total power capacity.
Current: India has nuclear energy agreements with 11 countries and imports uranium from
France, Russia and Kazakhstan.
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Monitored by: Indian Embassy in Yangon, PMC and the Ministry of External Affairs.
Purpose: The project will report all weather usability to the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewaroad
section, part of the route for the proposed Imphal-Mandalay bus service.
MoU between SINTEF, Norway and Central Public Works Department in the field of
Recycling of Construction and Demolition Waste
Union Cabinet has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
between SINTEF, Norway and Central Public Works Department (CPWD)
Purpose: Cooperation in the development of human resource capacity building and scientific
research in the field of Recycling of Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste in India.
Construction industry of India generates about 10-12 million tonnes of waste annually.
Concrete and masonry, constituting about 50 percent of the construction and demolition
waste, is not currently recycled in the country.
Agreement between India and Maldives for the exchange of information with respect to
taxes
Cabinet approved the signing of an agreement between India and Maldives for exchange of
information aimed at curbing tax evasion and avoidance.
Other agreement: Cabinet approved signing of a Protocol amending the Convention
between India and Slovenia for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of
Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income.
Renewal of MoU between India and Canada in Higher Education
Union Cabinet has given its approval for renewal of MoU between India and Canada for cooperation
in Higher Education.
Earlier MOU:
It was signed in 2010 for a period of five years. At the end of the five years, the MoU was to
be renewed for a possible renewal for a further five year period.
By acknowledging its immense potential and to further develop the existing bilateral
relations it has been proposed to further bolster the educational ties between India and
Canada by renewing the MoU.
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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
MISR echeloned India at 131 on Global Index
As per UN International Telecommunications Unions (ITU) flagship annual Measuring the
Information Society Report (MISR), India has been ranked 131 out of 167 nations on a global
index. The study had been made on 167 nations.
The number of households with Internet and computer has been increased in India over the
last 5 years still it gained a quite low position.
As part of Mission Innovation, each of the countries involved will seek to double its
The collaboration will cover areas such as- sharing of data, technology expertise and
analysis in order to promote commercialization and dissemination of clean energy
technologies.It was launched as a long term global response to tackle the problem of
climate change.
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Chinas Xinhua news agency is the initiator of the project in collaboration with The
Hindu group of publications, the Brazil Communication Company, Russia International
News Agency, and South Africas Independent Media.
The formation of a cooperation office for BRICS Media Summit that will become an
executive body responsible for the daily contact of the committee members and the
organisation and coordination of the Summit.
After the Paris attacks, the Germany chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to honor a request
from France to provide support for its operations against ISIS in Syria. Germany
plans to send scoutingaircraft, tanker planes and a warship to the region, but will
notkeenlyinvolvein combat.
The mandate is for one year at a cost of 134m (94m) and can be extended next
year.A German frigate could protect the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the
eastern Mediterranean, from which fighter jets are bombing shots, and tanker aircraft
could refill them mid-air to encompass their range.
Unemployment rate:8.9 percent during July-September 2015 higher from 6.8 percent in 201415.
Household spending: Cut down by 4.5 percent during July-September 2015.Real, Brazil's
currency down about 31 percent against the dollar.
Inflation: 10 percent which is the highest in 12 years
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Russias anti-doping agency RUSADA and anti-doping laboratory have been suspended
over the report has undertaken to retrieve IAAF membership in time for its track and
field athletes to compete at next year's Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
Based on the available information, it is known that the global burden of foodborne
diseases is considerable, affecting people all over the world particularly children under
5 years of age and people in low-income areas.
Children under 5 years of age are at particularly high risk, with 125,000 children dying
from foodborne diseases every year.
Certain diseases, such as those caused by non-typhoidal Salmonella, are a public health
concern across all regions of the world.
Food prepared with unsafe water, poor hygiene and in inadequate conditions in food
production and storage, etc are some of the other factors making to foodborne diseases.
WHO African and South-East Asia Regions have the highest burden
of foodbornediseases.
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It is seen that inspite of the slow growth of the Chinese Economy, China's
commitment to Africa will continue and it will be focused on 10 projects over the next
three years.
Many of the oil fields had been hit by the U.S. led Operation Inherent Resolve, Britain
chose a target with low risk of security damage in Syria.
Russia is also bombing Syria outside the U.S.-led coalition. Moscow supports Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, while the United States and its associates are against him.
In 2014, 220,000 adolescents between 10-19 years were projected to be living with HIV
in Asia and the Pacific.
India is among the 10 countries in the region that is 98 per cent of those aged 10-19
are living with HIV. Other countries are Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan,
Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
It will ensure that terrorists who are dual nationals are prevented from returning to
Australia and dual nationals who engage in terrorism within Australia will be removed
where ever possible. The dual nationals would lose their citizenship if the person is
convicted of a terrorism offence and sentenced to at least 6 years of imprisonment.
Chinas first manned electric aircraft RX1E gets license for production
China's first manned electric aircraft, a two seater plane powered by rechargeable lithium
batteries, has been granted a license for production.
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The two seater plane was designed by Shenyang Aerospace University and Liaoning
General Aviation Academy in north eastern Liaoning province.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua, their
foreign secretaries S Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry held their meeting in six days
after their Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif held a brief meeting in Paris
with a view to revive the delayed dialogue process.
Cost: Contract to supply 7.1 million pounds of uranium concentrate (about 2,730 tonnes
uranium) to Indias Department of Atomic Energy was worth around Canadian Dollars 350
million ($262 million).
India has 21 power reactors in operation, with another 6 under construction and will start
in next four years. It plans to increase its nuclear generating capacity from the
present5800 MWe -27,500 MWe by 2032.
Shipment consists of uranium mined and milled at Camecos McArthur River and Key Lake
operations in northern Saskatchewan.
Participants:36 African leaders, five heads of governments and the Head of African Union
Commission.
The summit was chaired by the President of China Xi Jinping and Co-chaired by the
President of South Africa Jacob Zuma.
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Cancelation of Debts China has cancelled the outstanding debts borrowed by the
relevant least developed African countries that mature at the end of 2015.
Poor Harvest Poor harvest caused by El Nino in many African countries and will
provide one billion yuan (156 million dollars) of emergency food aid to the affected
countries
Security cooperation 60 mn US$ aid to the African Union (AU) to support the
building and operation of the African Standby Force and the African Capacity for the
Immediate Response to Crisis.
The event was organised by Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA), the countrys largest science
movement, as part of the India International Science Festival (IISF) 2015.
Fifty students of Class 9 to 12 each were drawn from 40 government and private schools to
set the Guinness World Record.
About Experiment :
Dressed in white lab-coats, students conducted two science practicals in the administrative block of
IIT-Delhi.
Both experiments related to catalysis a process that makes chemical reactions faster
without any additional input of energy
Elephant Tooth Experiment It was the major feature of the exercise was in which
hydrogen peroxide underwent catalytic decomposition in the presence of iodide,
resulting in the liberation of a large amount of oxygen and foaming up to resemble a
giant toothpaste being squeezed.
The participating students were addressed by Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth
Sciences Harsh Vardhan and Union Human Resources Minister Smriti Irani.
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Report ranked India at 4th place in black money outflows with USD 51 billion drawn out of
the country per annum between the years 2004-2013.
China tops the list with USD 139 billion average outflow of illicit finances per annum,
followed by Russia (USD 104 billion per annum) and Mexico (USD 52.8 billion per annum).
Approved by a vote of 407-19, act would prevent any foreign national who has visited Iraq,
Iran, Syria or Sudan in the past five years from entering the US without a visa.
Highlights
The Bill would bar people who traveled after 1 March 2011 to 4 Nations from
participating in the visa-free program.
The proposed Bill also contains provisions under which US can remove countries from
the visa waiver program if they do not cooperate with law enforcement and the
intelligence community.
After passage from the House of Representatives, the Act needs its passage from Senate and
approval from the President Barack Obama.
Asian Economic Integration Report 2015 released by ADB
Asian Development Bank (ADB) released a report titled Asian Economic Integration Report
2015: How Can Special Economic Zones Catalyze Economic Development?
The Asian Economic Integration Report (AEIR) 2015 was prepared by the Regional
Cooperation and Integration Division (ERCI) of ADBs Economic Research and Regional
Cooperation Department (ERCD).
The report examined the current trends in trade, finance, migration, remittances and
other economic activities in the region.
India has become the 3rd largest source of inward FDI for the United Kingdom (UK)
after the US and France in number of projects.
Indian economy switched focus to higher technology products as compared with 1990
when it focused mainly on low-technology exports
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Asia has emerged as an important source of outward foreign direct investment (FDI). Its
outward FDI increased faster than inward FDI growing 45.3% in 2014 compared with
2010.
Asias income elasticity of trade declined from 2.69 before the global financial crisis
(2008-09) to 1.30 in 2015.
The value of Asias intermediate goods trade of almost 60% of total trade has
contracted 2.6 % in 2014.
Asia remains the worlds largest source of international migrants, accounting for a
third of the global total in 2013 and the region also accounted for nearly 50% of global
remittances in 2014.
The move comes as cash-short Ukraine faces a December 20 deadline to repay Russia for a $3
billion loan.Ukraine is restructuring its debts under an IMF-led $40 billion bailout
program.Defaulting on the Eurobond loan could have put the program at risk.
It revealed that the global trade in services grew by 5% while merchandise trade
stagnates and foreign direct investment falls.
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Merchandise exports They were valued at $19 trillion with an increased by 0.3% in 2014 as
measured in current prices.
Total exports Total global exports for 2014 were valued at $24 trillion, up by 1.2% compared
with the previous year.
Commodity Prices Total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows were valued at $1.2 trillion,
fell by 16% compared with the previous year.
Minerals, fuels, etc. The value of exports of minerals, ores, metals and fuels fell sharply
across countries in all regions irrespective of development status.
The most significant declines were in the value of fuel exports from Africa (down by
13%) and minerals, ores and metals (including gold) from Asia (down by 11%).
The decision has been taken on the sidelines of Hearth of Asia Conference in Islamabad &
was declared in a joint statement that was issued after a meeting between External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Prime Ministers Advisor on Foreign Affairs
Sartaj Aziz.
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It will relieve the burden of double taxation for taxpayers in both the countries. Both
countries also have agreed that transfer pricing dispute caseswill be taken up for MAP
under the revised Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA)between India and
Korea.
The rankings of the nations were based on the Index of Ignorance which was determined
by questions about wealth that the top 1 % own, obesity, non-religious population,
immigration, living with parents, female employment, rural living and internet access.
Highlights of Report:
Indian population seriously underestimates the rural population of the country and
thinks more people have internet access than in reality.
In India the average guess among online respondents for internet access is 60%, an
overestimation of the true picture of 41%.
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The resolution was introduced by Jordan during its presidency of the Security Council in
April.
It covers the protection of youth in armed conflict, including all forms of sexual and
gender-based violence.
The protocol was signed by Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and Ambassador of
Japan Kenji Hiramatsu.
Highlights of agreement
The amendment will allow India and Japan to assist each other in collection of revenue
claims.
It also provides for exemption of interest income from taxation in the source country
with respect to debt-claims insured by the government or government-owned financial
institutions.
Inle Lake was designated as Myanmars first biosphere reserve under UNESCOs Man
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The lake gets funding from the government of Norway under the framework of the Inle
Lake Conservation and Rehabilitation project.
The wetland ecosystem of this freshwater lake is home to 267 species of birds, out of which 82 are
wetland birds, 43 species of freshwater fishes, otters and turtles. Diverse flora and fauna species
are recorded.
Turkmenistan hosted International Conference on Policy of Neutrality
International scientific-practical conference The foreign policy of Turkmenistan as a factor of
security and stability in the world, devoted to the Year of Neutrality and Peace and
the 20th Anniversary of Neutrality of Turkmenistan was organized by the Embassy of Turkmenistan
in Ukraine together with the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Issue Discussed Fundamentals of peace-loving policy of Turkmenistan
US update jet-engine technology transfer policy with India
US has updated its policy on gas-turbine engine technology transfer to India to expand
cooperation in production and design of sensitive jet engine components.The announcement on
policy change was made at a meeting between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his US
counterpart US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter at the Pentagon in Washington.
Jet engine component are largely used in big warships for the Navy and have a big market in
merchant vessels. A gas turbine can also accelerate air to create thrust in aero engines or
drive generators to make electricity or turn pumps.
The conference reached its objective for the first time to achieve a global agreement on
reduction of climate change in the Paris Agreement, which was adopted with acclamation
by nearly all states.
On the sidelines of summit 189 parties had submitted their Intended Nationally
Determined Contributions (INDCs) on climate actions.
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According to the organizing committee, the expected key result was to limit the global
warming by 2100, compared to pre-industrial to below 2 degrees Celsius.
A 5C goal will require a zero level in emissions sometimes between 2030 and 2050
according to some scientists.
No detailed timeplan or country-specific goals for emissions were stated in the final
version of the Paris Agreement.
Indias Participation
India launches global solar alliance of 120 countries PM Narendra Modi has launched an
international solar alliance of over 120 countries with French President Francois Holland.
Companies involved in project Areva, Engie, Enel, HSBC France and Tata Steel
India pledges to Paris summit offered to draw 40% of its electricity from renewables
by 2030 as India is projected to be the worlds most popoluous city by 2030.
World Bank pledged $1 billion while Germanys Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development is providing support for development of AFR100
initiative.
Overall Financing
The conference was budgeted to cost 170m (US$186.87m). As per French government, 20% of
the cost will be borne by firms such as EDF, Engie, Air France, Renault-Nissan and BNP Paribas.
TAPI gas pipeline work instigated by Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan started work on its 1,814 Km natural gas pipeline to Afghanistan, Pakistan and
India (TAPI) project funded by Asian Development Bank. It designed to reduce its
dependence on gas sales to Russia and China.
The ground-breaking ceremony took place at city of Mary of Turkmenistan which was
attended by Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Afghanistan
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S&P BSE Factor Indices are designed to include non-market factors such
as value,momentum, quality and low volatility using a transparent and rules-based
methodology while ensuring reasonable liquidity.
Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty report
World Bank released a report Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on
Poverty. The report examines the relation between climate change and poverty and concludes
that climate change is one of the primary contributing factors for growing poverty scenario across
the world.
Report provides guidance on how to create a win-win situation so that climate change
policies contribute to poverty reduction andpoverty-reduction policies contribute to
climate change mitigation and resilience building.
Highlights of Report
Coping poverty & CC go aside The agenda of ending poverty and addressing climate
change (CC) should go beside each other as climate change impacts could push more than 100
million people into poverty over the next 15 years.
To prevent this, the report calls for an immediate implementation of climatesmartdevelopment and measures to adapt to climate impacts.
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The 2015 Human Development Report (2015 HDR) was on Rethinking Work for
Human Development.
Between 1980 and 2014, Indias HDI value increased from 326 to 0.609 showing an
increase of 68.1% or an average annual increase of about 1.54%.
Dr. Rebecca Tavares, Country Representative, UN WomenIndia MCO and Dr. Jyotsna
Suri, President FICCI who is also the Chairperson and Managing Director of Bharat Hotels
signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.
Objective: To achieving the common goal of realizing the rights of women and girls as critical
preconditions for effective and sustainable development.
Highlights of MoU :
This MoU will enable us to identify, facilitate and influence business practices that
promote gender equality and women empowerment.
The MoU will provide a framework to both the organizations, to promote research and
advocacy on gender responsive policies in select sectorsand with the provisions of the
recent Companies Act 2013.
UN Women will be collaborating with FICCI for the first ever FICCI-FLO Film Festival on
womens empowerment along with a Global Symposium on Gender in Media presented
by the Geena Davis Institute of Gender Studies in Mumbai in February next year.
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Through this partnership UN Women and FICCI will also work towards furthering UN
Womens global solidarity movement on Gender Equality, HeForShe.
Leaders issued a joint statement on regional economic cooperation which emphasized the
importance of Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative* for developing infrastructure in
the region.
*Chinas One Belt One Road (OBOR) project aims to recreate the ancient Silk Road trade and
infrastructure networks across central, west and south Asia.
Step to Counter Terrorism: 34-Nation Islamic Military Coalition
Saudi Arabia has launched Islamic Military Coalition, a new military alliance of 34 nations mainly
Muslim nations to fight terrorism.
It is an effort to respond to Western assertions that it could do more in the fight against
the Islamic State.
Indias economy will grow by 5% in the current fiscal that will stand out globally but
warned that its business environment would remain weak despite improvements.
Emerging Asias growth in 2016 is expected to slow to 3% from 6.5% mostly due to the
projected slowdown in China.
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India has ranked a low 97th out of 144 nations, behind Kazakhstan and Ghana, on
Forbes annual list of the best countries for business in 2015, scoring poorly on metrics
like trade and monetary freedom and tackling challenges like corruption and violence.
Denmark topped the list of the 144 nations on the Best Countries of Business in 2015 list
by Forbes. 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.
India is ranked 97th on the list, with Forbes saying that while the country is developing
into an open-market economy, traces of its past autarkic policies remain.
The resolution called for enhanced actions, from closing financial system loopholes to
stopping the abuse of charitable causes, as well as updating the existing ISIS and AlQaeda Sanctions List.
Chinas President Xi Jinping delivers keynote speech at WIC. Theme of the three-day
long conference is An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by AllBuilding a
Cyberspace Community of Shared Destiny.
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Focused on issues such as the spread of Internet culture, innovative development of the
Internet, digital economy cooperation, Internet technological standards and cyber
governance.
UN Secretary General, Ban ki Moon said that the door will remain open to those who
wish to join on the road to peace. We will continue to work to broaden the basis of
support for the new Government.
It will create a roadmap toward a peace process end the five-year civil war in Syria and
includes preparations for a ceasefire monitoring mechanism that would come into
effect as soon as the representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition have
begun initial steps towards a political transition under UN auspices.
The resolution also contains previously agreed upon terms for a transitional government,
with elections to be held under UN supervision, and calls on all parties to permit the
delivery of humanitarian aid.
According to the new proposal, Indias voting rights will increase to 6% from the current
2.3%.
Chinas voting rights will rise from the current 3.8% to 6%. while the voting rights of US
will decrease from 16.7% to 16.5%
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Pulses are a vital source of plant-based proteins and amino acids for people around the
globe and should be eaten as part of a healthy diet to address obesity.
It prevents and manages chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary conditions and
cancer.
Pulses are leguminous plants that have nitrogen-fixing properties which can contribute
to increasing soil fertility and have a positive impact on the environment.
It takes just 43 gallons of water to produce one pound of pulses, compared with 216
for soybeans and 368 for peanuts.
The conference was attended by trade ministers of 162 member countries of the
WTO. Indiawas represented by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce &
Industry Nirmala Sitharaman.
Miss Iraq beauty pageant held for the first time since 1972
Despite the dangers of Isis and death threats to contestants, the Miss Iraq beauty pageant has
been successfully held for the first time over 40 years in hotel in Baghdad.
Shaymaa Abdelrahman, a 20-year-old from Kirkuk, became the first person to claim the
title of Miss Iraq since the event was last held in 1972.The contest had a total of eight
contestants.
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The CEO of Gaztransport et Technigaz (GTT), Philippe Berterottiere awarded the license
to Subramaniam, CMD, Cochin Shipyard.
In the general election, PP won the 123 seats by securing in the lower house of the 350member Parliament and securing 7% vote share.Now the Peoples Party has to form a
coalition government with support of other political parties to govern for another four-year
term.
Any exemption would only be granted for the requested period of any travel to the
specified locations.It extends exemption to travel bans and assets freezes as well as
language on the need to combat the financing of terrorism.
Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was taken into account
to cut the flow of funds and other financial assets and economic resources to
individuals and entities on the 1988 Sanction List.It encouraged States to share
information, establish partnerships and develop national strategies and capabilities to
counter the devices.
Union Cabinet approves revised cost estimates of Salma Dam Project in Afghanistan
Union Cabinet has approved the reconstruction and completion of Salma Dam Project in
Afghanistan. It will lead to the overall economic development of the western region of Afghanistan
and generate goodwill for India in Afghanistan.Revised Cost Estimates (RCE): 1775.69 crore.
Indo-Lanka ties witness bonhomie in 2015
Indo-Lanka relations gained momentum in 2015 after Maithripala Sirisenas stunning upset win
over strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lankas polls as the strain in ties gave way to bonhomie
with exchange of top-level visits and signing of a nuclear pact.
Four bilateral agreements were signed during Sirisenas visit with the most significant
being a civil nuclear cooperation pact which Prime Minister Narendra Modi described
as another demonstration of our mutual trust.
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Modi become the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country after Rajiv
Gandhi in1987. Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister and the third Indian
leader to visit the Tamil-dominated former war-zone, after Mahatma Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru.
Modi also raised contentious issues with the government, including the release of Tamil
political prisoners and returning the civilian lands used for military purposes.
Modi inaugurated the reconstructed Northern Province railway line as part of Indias
promise on infrastructure development in the war-ravaged north.
OPECs WOO is a means to highlight and further the understanding of the many possible
future challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the oil industry.
Global energy demand is set to increase by almost 50% in the period to 2040.
Combined, oil and gas are expected to supply around 53% of the global energy
demand by 2040.
Medium-term oil demand is revised upward rising above 97 million barrels a day by
2020.Long-term demand is dominated by the developing Asia region, which accounts
for70% of the increase by 2040.
Non-OPEC liquids supply increases from 56.5 mb/d in 2014 to around 60 mb/d in
2020.OPEC crude expands by 10 mb/d to a level of 40.7 mb/d by 2040.
Oil-related investment required to cover future demand for oil over the forecast period
20152040 is estimated at almost $10 trillion in 2014 prices.
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The project has a designed capacity of 10.2 Gigawatt and will be able to generate 9
billion kwh of electricity per year after its 12 generating units start operation first unit is
expected to start operating in 2020.
Amending the agreement between the GOI and Russia on simplification of requirements
for mutual travels of certain categories of citizens of the two countries
Protocol amending agreement between the GOI and Russia on mutual travel regime for
holders of Diplomatic & Official Passports
Technical cooperation in railway sector It has been inked between the Ministry of
Railways and the Joint Stock Company Russian Railways.
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Construction of solar energy plants in India It has been agreed between Solar
Energy Corporation of India and Russian Energy Agency.
Tripartite MoU between Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC), Indian
Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc) and Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU)
Tripartite MoU between Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC), OJSC
GLONASS and GLONASS Union
Investment cooperation in the Russian Far East: It has been signed between Tata
Power Company Limited and Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East
Cooperation for geologic survey, exploration and production of hydrocarbons onshore and
on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation
Cooperation for geologic survey, exploration and production of hydrocarbons onshore the
Russian Federation between Rosneft oil company, Oil India Limited and Indian Oil
Corporation Limited
DEFENCE DEAL
Reliance Defence signs $6 billion pact with Russian arms firm
Reliance Defence had signed a manufacturing and maintenance deal potentially worth $6
billion with Russias Almaz-Antey, the maker of an air defence system.
Earlier GOI had cleared the purchase of five S-400 air defence systems that are estimated
to cost about $4.5 billion in a bid to modernize the countrys defences against airborne
attacks.
In this regard, ways to expand economic cooperation between the two countries were
explored aiming to take the current bilateral annual trade of $ 10 billion to $30
billion in the next 10 years.
It is named as National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) aka EMERCOM the short
form of Emergency Control Ministry.
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The regular budget is separate from the budget for the U.N. far-flung peacekeeping
operations, which totals $8.27 billion for the year ending June 30, 2016.
Many U.N. agencies are funded by voluntary contributions from member states.
The United States, the largest contributor, pays 22% of the regular budget followed by Japan
with 9.68%.
UN Security Council backed Libya unity accord
United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing an
agreement between Libyas rival camps on forming a unity government.
The Security Council urged the parties to implement its terms within the 30-day as
prescribed by the agreement to form a Government of National Accord.
It also called on the world community to provide all necessary aid to defeat terrorist groups.
The deal to unify the government calls for a Unity government, headed by
businessman Fayez el-Sarraj as premie
The agreement brokered by United Nations was facilitated by the Secretary-General Special
Representative, Martin Koblerto end a four-year-long crisis that has left nearly 2.4 million Libyans
in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
PM Modi visit to Afghanistan & Pakistan
After two days visit to Russia, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Afghanistan to
inaugurate the newly-built Afghan parliament building in Kabul.
The building is the latest symbol of a longstanding diplomatic effort by New Delhi to
cultivate its links to Afghanistan.
The construction of building was started in 2009 and has missed its completion deadlines at
least 3 times since 2011, and has gone over-budget by double the original costing of $45
million.
Seychelles government allows India to build Naval Base on its Assumption Island
Seychelles government allowed India to build its first Naval Base on the Assumption Island
in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) as a joint project between both countries which will help to
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On completion, the naval base would be used by the defence forces both countries.
It would help India to exercise greater control over the strategic western region of IOR to
the piracy-prone eastern African coastline that commands vital energy (oil) sea transport
lines.
According to the domestic violence bill, victims and those in immediate danger can file a
personal protection order and the court must rule within 72 hours. In urgent cases,
decisions must be made within 24 hours.
The domestic violence law also applies to those in cohabitation, meaning those who are not
related but living together.
Indias projected GDP in 2030 was USD 10,133 billion, behind Chinas USD 34,338
bn and Americas USD 32,996 bn.
India will become the largest economy in the Commonwealth in 2019 when it
overtakes the British economy.
India is finally starting to catch up with China and will eventually overtake the
communist-giant in the second half of the century.
Britain will move up to take 4th spot and Brazil will complete the top five.
As Brazil and India meet the political criteria for membership of the exclusive G8 club
of developed democracies, their ascension could see France and Italy kicked out of
the group or the club expanded to a G10 as more economies join.
The UK is set to become the best performing economy in the western world over the
next 15 years, boosted by its leading position in global software and IT sectors.
Europes largest economy, Germany will maintain its position in the worlds leading
economies as its declining population receives a welcome boost of a 5 million
refugees and migrants.
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The new yoga initiative will also encompass atwo-day mega festival of the body and
mind dubbed XYoga Dubai Festival.
Festival will host yoga classes such as Vinyasa Yoga to AcroYoga as well as meditation and
healthy eating workshops for complete beginners, pre-trained instructors, pregnant women,
children, elderly and more.
Greek Parliament legalises same-sex marriages
Greeces parliament has approved legislation legalising civil partnerships for gay couples, two years
after the country was condemned by a European Court for discrimination.
Lawmakers voted 193-56 in favour of the bill to extend civil partnerships to same-sex
couples but provisions regarding family law that could pave the way for adoption applications
were dropped before the vote.
Several hundred pro-gay rights protesters gathered outside parliament before the vote, under a
large banner that read Love is the law.
China officially abandons its One Child Policy by passing law
China has passed a bill ending one-child policy.
Objective:To tackle an ageing population.
Newly-amended Law on Population and Family Planning:The state advocates that one couple
shall be allowed to have two children.
The move effectively ends the infamous one-child rule, which has been in force since
1971 when the Asian giant sought to curb population explosion.
Couples have been limited to having a single child since 1979, an often brutally enforced
rule intended to slow population growth and boost the economy.
Another Reason:The change in Chinas family planning policy also comes against the backdrop of
a shrinking workforce.
18th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting held in New Delhi
The 18th session of the India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was held in New Delhi.
Co-chaired by External Affairs Minister of India (EAM), Sushma Swaraj and Mr. Ali
Tayebnia, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
India sources around 70% of its oil and gas needs from abroad, the economic
sanctions by the United Nations and the USA affected the bilateral oil trade and
mode of payments.
Japan also offered to set up a new 1bn yen with the money, paid directly by the government,
divided among the 46 former comfort women still alive.
It has been launched on the sidelines of meeting in Singapore between Taiwans President
Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Inaugurated by the chiefs of cross-Strait affairs from both sides as both the countries
initiated several measures in recent. The conversation took place betweenChinas offices
director Zhang Zhijun and Taiwans mainland affairs chief Andrew Hsia.
Liberia was declared Ebola free in May and September, but each time new cases
emerged.
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In 2015-16, 12 million passports either have been issued or ready to issue against the last
fiscals (2014-15) number of 10 million. Five years ago the number was only 16 lakh.
China issued about 16 million passports in the same term while the US issued 14 million.
Credit by: World Banks concessionary lending arm, International Development Association
(IDA).
Signed by: Raj Kumar(joint secretary, Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry) and
World Banks Michael Haney, the operations advisor in India.
Objective: To help young people from minority communities complete education and gain
from market-driven training programmes with the aim of improving their employment
outcome.
Repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.75%
Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate has unchanged at 7.75%
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks Unchanged at 4.0% of net demand and
time liability (NDTL).
Continuation of liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 % of bank-wise NDTL at the LAF repo
rate.Continuation of liquidity under 14-day term repos as well as longer term repos of up to 0.75 %
of NDTL of the banking system through auctions.
Employers attestation not required for PF claim
Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has announced that its subscribers can now
directly file the applications for their PF withdrawals without their employers attestation, was
earlier mandatory for this purpose.
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Employees whose details like Aadhaar Number and Bank Account Number have been
seeded in their Universal (or portable PF) Account Number (UAN) and whose UAN have
been activated will be able to enjoy this benefit given by EPFO.
Earlier in July 2012, RBI had signed an agreement for supervisory co-operation with
the Financial Services Authority (FSA),United Kingdom.
Due to some reforms implemented in UK, financial services regulation, the functions
exercised by FSA were transferred to PRA and FCA due to which RBI had to sign these
separate MOUs for supervisory co-operation between the Reserve Bank and the PRA and
FCA.
With this agreement, RBI has entered into MOUs for Supervisory Co-operation with
supervisors of 33 countries to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information.
Axis Bank launched country's first 'display variant' debit card
Axis Bank has launched countrys first 'display variant' debit card which will ease generating
one time password (OTP) over SMS while transacting.
The card has an embedded EMV chip, a display screen and a touch-sensitive button which
helps generating the OTP on the card itself. So the customer will not have to wait for
receiving the OTP via SMS or mail while transacting.
MMTC eyes tie-ups with SBI, ICICI, India Post for gold coins
As a part of gold monetisation programme of the Union Cabinet, Metals and Minerals Trading
Corporation of India (MMTC) has decided to strengthen marketing network for selling Indian
Gold coins by entering into tie-ups with SBI, ICICI Bank and India Post.
RBI announced revised Priority Sector Lending norms for Regional Rural Banks
RBI has revised the priority sector lending guidelines for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) according to
which the RRBs will have to increase 18% of their total outstanding towards agricultural
activities.
A target of 7.5 percent of total outstanding will be diverted towards micro enterprises and
another 15 percent for weaker sections.
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CSCs are very small-scale initiatives and MUDRA is for such institutions so people who
want to start such service points but do not have any funding, MUDRA can help them start
their micro-ventures.
Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) was launched in April, under which the overall loan
disbursement target has been set at around Rs.1.22 lakh crore for this financial year.
RBI abandoned COR of 56 NBFCs from conducting business
RBI has cancelled the certificate of registration (COR) of 56 non-banking finance companies
(NBFCs).
These companies cannot transact in the business of an NBFC as laid down under the Reserve
Bank of India Act, 1934.
Bajaj Finance is already an NBFC and Bajaj Finserve is a core investment company.
ABNL Investment share in Aditya Birla Nuvos net profit was at 0.17 per cent.
Future Ventures India has now transformed into Future Consumer Enterprise, a sourcing-tosupermarket food company of the Future Group. Apart from above, companies like Compact Lease
Financing, Vapi Investments, Shree Holdings, Neelkanth Fintrade included in the bar list from
conducting business.
Federal Bank launched service to recharge mobile phone
Federal Bank has launched missed call service for account holders in Chennai to recharge
their mobile.
Account holder shall do a one-time registration from his registered mobile number by
sending the SMS ACTMOB<space><BeneficiaryMobileNumber><space><recharge
amount><space><last three digits of the account number> to 9895088888.
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IDFC Bank started operations on October 1, 2015 with 23 branches, powered by TCS
BaNCS.
SEBI orders freezing bank, demat accounts for the Sunplant Forgings
Markets regulator SEBI has ordered attachment of bank and demat accounts of Sunplant
Forgings, its promoters and directors, to recover dues worth over Rs 17 crore.
The attachment order comes after SEBI, in April, had directed the company and its
directors to refund Rs 17.51 crore to the investors which it had illegally raised along
with an interest of 15 per cent per annum.
The company had allotted redeemable preference shares to 6,000 persons without
complying with the public issue norms.
Other Actions :
The company and its promoters and directors had been barred from the securities
markets for four years and this ban would continue till the completion of refund to
investors.
The regulator has slapped a penalty of Rs.5 lakh on Mangal Keshav Capital for alleged
failure to make timely disclosures about its acquisition of shares in Arms Paper Ltd.
The Yangon Stock Exchange will initially be open only to Myanmar companies and
investors .
Myanmar had a stock exchange during its years of military rule but it attracted few
companies and trading was almost nonexistent.
Luxembourg became the 10th country to ratify AoA of Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank
Luxembourg became the 10th country toapprove the Articles of Agreement (AoA) that will lay
the legal framework for the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
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Apart from Luxembourg, Australia, Austria, Brunei Darussalam, China, Mongolia, Nepal,
New Zealand, Singapore and United Kingdom ratified the 60-article agreement so far.
Under the new contracts, residents and foreign portfolio investors will be allowed to take
positions in the cross currency contracts without having to establish underlying
exposure subject to the position limits as prescribed by the exchanges.
New Zealand was the ninth country to formally become a founding member. The AIIB
would have around 100 billion U.S. dollars of initial capital to promote sustainable
development in the region.
New Zealands paid in capital will be around 125 million NZ dollars. The bank was
expected to begin operations in January 2016.
It also trimmed its former benchmark lending rate by 15 basis points from 18.10%
to 95%.
World Bank Group, FIRST Initiative launched Principles for Public Credit Guarantee
Schemes
The World Bank Group and the FIRST Initiative announced the launch of a new tool to help
governments implement public credit guarantee schemes (CGS).
Aim : To unlock finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
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These schemes are gaining popularity because they usually combine a subsidy element
with market-based arrangements for credit allocation, thereby leaving less room for
distortions in credit markets.
It can serve as a global reference for the design, execution, and evaluation of public
CGSs around the world.
It leverages the technical expertise of the World Bank Group and IMF to encourage
financial sector development through technical assistance projects.
Data acquisition equipment have been installed and connectivity was established with
major national commodity derivatives exchanges NCDEX and MCX thereby
integrating trading data with IMSS (Integrated Market Surveillance
System) andDWBIS (Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence
System) surveillance systems of SEBI.
Data integration has been facilitated in generation of commodity market reports and alerts in
DWBIS and IMSS systems. Data from NMCE (National Multi-Commodity Exchange of
India) and regional exchanges are also being received in electronic form through e-mails on a daily
basis.
World Bank accorded USD 1.5bn for clean India
World Bank has consented $1.5 billion loan for the clean India campaign to support the
government in its efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation
by 2019, aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Swachh Bharat initiative of the
government.
Funds usage
Apart from Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Support Operation Project, funds will also be used to
develop the capacity of MDWS in program
management, advocacy, monitoring andevaluation.
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Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) will play the overseeing and
coordinating role for the programme and support the participating states.
Additional funds
Federal Reserve of US increased interest rate by 0.25% for the first time since 2006
The Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the USAincreased interest rate by
0.25 percent, approved by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System chaired
by Janet L Yellen.
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 range earlier. This is the first rate increase since 2006.
RBI liable to disclose information about banks under RTI Act: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on 16 December 2015 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.
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.
The Indices namely Nifty Tata Group Index, Nifty Aditya Birla Group Index and
Nifty Mahindra Group Index are used to track the performance of all the companies of
respective groups
Nifty Tata group consists of 25 companies across 12 sectors. Nifty Aditya Birla group
contains 8 companies across seven sectors while Nifty Mahindra Group index includes
seven companies across six sectors.
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All rupee loans sanctioned and credit limits renewed with effective from April 1, 2016 will
be priced with reference to the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) which
will be the internal benchmark for such purposes.
Banks will review and publish the lending rate every month on a pre-announced date
Actual lending rates will be determined by adding the components of spread to the MCLR.
Single premium for the entire period of the loan at the time of entry into the scheme.
In case of death of the borrower during the term of cover, outstanding loan is set off
against the policy proceeds settled by SBI Life Insurance.
RBI launches quarterly Inflation Expectations Survey of Households for December 2015
RBI has launched the quarterly Inflation Expectations Survey of Households for December
2015.
The survey seeks qualitative responses from households on price changes in the next
three months as well as in the next one-year and quantitative responses on current,
three-month ahead and one-year ahead inflation rates.
It has been carrying out the survey on a quarterly basis since June 2010.
The review has cut the growth forecast for the current financial year to 7-7.5% from earlier
estimate of 1-8.5%.
The report has set retail inflation target at 6% by the end of March 2016 Government is
confident of meeting the fiscal deficit targets without any cut in expenditure.
India has topped the global list with the growth rate projection at 7%.
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Indias contender China is expecting to face a continous slowdown to3% growth annually to
2024.
India has taken big paces in improving its productive capabilities, it has diversified
its exports into more complex products including pharmaceuticals, vehicles and
electronics.
United Nations has predicted that India will continue to be the fastest growing economy in the
world in 2016 (7.3%) and 2017 (7.5%).
Projection about Other Economies
South Asia and East Africa have the greatest potential for rapid growth while oil
economies and other commodity-driven economies face the slowest growth outlook.
CID is bullish on East Africa with Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya ranking in the top
10with all predicted to grow at least 5% annually.
The growth forecast also looks favourable on Southeast Asia, where Philippines,
Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam look to drive growth well above global averages.
The US is expected to grow at 8% annually to 2024, with higher growth predicted in the
United Kingdom (3.2%) and Spain (3.4%).
The revised 2006 Banking Ombudsman scheme, applicable to all commercial banks,
regional rural banks and scheduled primary cooperative banks, provides a forum to
customers to seek redressal of their complaints relating to credit cards, house loans,
promises given by the banks sales agents and delay in delivery of services.
No time limit is specified for resolution of complaint under Banking
Ombudsman Scheme, 2006.
The plans unique feature offers lifelong cover, bonus and two sums assured one at
maturity and one at death.
In the event of a financial crisis, the plan provides flexibility to liquidate the policy by availing
a loan.
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On maturity, the policyholder receives lump-sum amount including base sum assured plus
accrued guaranteed additions.
Extended Cover It allows the policyholder to receive the same benefits as the standard
option plus an option to extend the life cover post the completion of policy term.
Plan Criteria
The age of entry starts from 7 years till 55 years for policy terms of 15 years to 30 years.
5 Riders of Policy
25 critical illnesses
10 major surgeries
Income benefit rider to safeguard against financial loss owing to death of the familys
bread winner
The policy comes with tax benefits on the premiums paid and benefits received as per
applicable income tax laws.
RBI created Dedicated Helpline for guiding Start-ups in India on Forex Matters
RBI has created a dedicated helpline to assist start-ups undertaking cross-border
transactions.
It should provide complete information to the RBI and mention the specific issues on
which they need guidance from the RBI in relation to the Foreign Exchange
Management regulations.This would enable the personnel attending the helpline to
offer timely and effective information.
Cross-border transactions of resident are subject to the regulatory regime provided by the
Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
The Reserve Bank had, in June 2015, set the last date for public to exchange pre-2005
banknotes notes as December 31, 2015.
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RBI, on a review, decided to extend the date for the public to exchange their pre-2005
banknotes till June 30, 2016
As per the decision, Yuan will be a function of trade between China and
Zimbabwe and acceptability with customers in Zimbabwe.
Articles of Agreement outline the financial share of each founding member as well as rules
for policymaking, governance structure and business and operational systems for the bank.
The banks establishment came after 17 funding members of the AIIB, which account for just
over 50% of its share capital, ratified the agreement on the bank.
With authorised capital of USD 100 billion and subscribed capital of USD 50 billion.
AIIB, based in Beijing will invest in sectors including energy, transportation, urban
construction and logistics as well as education and healthcare.
China, India and Russia are the three largest shareholders, taking a 30.34 per cent, 8.52
per cent, 6.66 per cent stake respectively in the newly-formed bank. Based on the
shareholding, India is expected to get the post of the Vice President.
Current Account Deficit narrowed to 1.6 % of GDP
The current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to 1.6% of GDP at USD 8.2 billion in the second
quarter ended September.
The contraction in CAD was primarily on account of lower trade deficit (USD 37.4
billion) as compared with USD 39.7 billion in Q2 of last year.
CAD up to 2.5% of GDP can be financed with the current level of foreign fund inflows and
remittances. In FY1- 4.8% of GDP.The foreign direct investment also slowed down during
the July-September period to USD 15.1 billion from USD 16.7 billion in the preceding
quarter.
On portfolio investments, there was a net outflow of USD 6.5 billion as against a net
inflow of USD 9.8 billion in the year-ago period.
Foreign exchange reserves on a balance of payment basis also came down by USD 0.9 billion in
Q2 of the current fiscal.
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Panels of experts will shortlist the most innovative applications, and the best three will
be rewarded with citations/prizes.
19.52 crore Bank accounts opened under Prime Ministers Jan Dhan Yojana till December
As per RBI, banks opened 19.52 crore accounts under the Prime MinistersJan Dhan Yojana till
the first week of December.
7 million RuPay debit cards have been issued.92.6 million beneficiaries have been enrolled
under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and 29.2 million under Pradhan Mantri
Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.13 lakh account holders have been enrolled under Atal Pension
Yojana as on December 16.
The loan has been raised at average interest rate of 9.6% and is for the period of150 days.
Maximum amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been raised from PNB, followed by Rs 7,000
crore from SBI and remaining from others including public and private sector banks
SIDBIs aspiration Fund will be making investment in venture capital funds (VCF) to meet
MSME startups equity requirement.
24 venture capital funds for an aggregate commitment of Rs 930 crore have been cleared
in principle by the venture capital investment committee (VCIC) so far, out of which
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State
Maharashtra
Tamil Nadu
Karnataka
Gujarat
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh
Rajasthan
Premium Collection
Rs 19,336 crore
Rs 8,238 crore
Rs 6,847 crore
Rs 6,306 crore
Rs 5,797 crore
Rs 4,859 crore
Rs 3,605 crore
Insurance
1.15%
0.84%
0.98%
0.71%
1.28%(Highest)
0.50%
0.63%
Facility is not limited to ICICI customers as any other banks customer can also use the
facility.
Payments for the purchases can be made using the online banking facility, debit or credit
card of any bank.
First time any bank is offering the tickets for sale on its website.
The committee was constituted in July 2015 by RBI with the objective of working out a
medium-term (5 years) measurable action plan for financial inclusion.
Goal: To limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2 degree Celsius through a common
agreement.
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Touch 100 million lives through its safe and clean drinking water program and offset
carbon emissions of the banks operations.
Recent: YES Bank also signed anMoU with London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to collaborate
on bond and equity issuance, with focus on developing green infrastructure.
India Post payment bank to be operational by March 2017
During Good Governance Day conference Union Minister for Communications and IT Ravi Shankar
Prasad announced that India Post Payment Bank will start operations in March 2017.
The Reserve Bank of India had granted in-principle approval to 11 applicants, including Postal
Department, in August to set up payments banks.
Highlights of initiatives:
MTNL will now offer free roaming to its customers from January 1.
Broadband limit has been increased to 2 mbps from 512 kbps, mobile towers will be set
up in Naxal-affected areas in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Cabinet approves Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme for Textiles industry
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the Amended Technology Upgradation
Fund Scheme (ATUFS) replacing the Revised Restructured Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme
(RR-TUFS).
Aim: To help the industry upgrade operational technology and provides fixed subsidies to
entrepreneurs who invest in this regard.
Sub sectors of apparel, garment and technical textiles: Upto 15% subsidy on capital
investment.
Main beneficiary: Medium and small scale players with total investments worth Rs.2, 71,480
crore being generated along with nearly 48 lakh new jobs.
The new amended scheme aims to plug the loopholes in the earlier scheme and improve Ease of
Doing Business.
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BUSINESS
ICBC to become Tata Group's banking partner
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) has joined hands with Tata Group to
become its strategic banking partner.
ICBC will provide the Tata group with financing products, global cash management,
consulting, international trade finance business, investment banking, foreign exchange,
derivatives trading, and other global financial services.This alliance will be a global one
with the geographies covered including India, China, Singapore, Europe, the USA,
and South America.
In this list, Apple and Google have hold the first and second spot respectively.
CCI has directed to "cease and desist from indulging in any of the practices which are
found to be anti-competitive in terms of the provisions of section 3 of the (Competition)
Act".
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It has also slapped fines of Rs 4.35 lakh on All Kerala Chemists and Druggists
Association (AKCDA) and one of its officials in the same case.
Indias popular up-and-coming YouTube creators, as well as their students, will have free
access to Whistling Woods studios, high-end audio, visual and editing equipment, in
addition to training programs, workshops and community events.
7 PPP projects worth Rs 5693 crore: Under implementation as many others involving
an expenditure of Rs 2236 crore are being implemented under customer funded model
3 PPP projects worth Rs 3016 crore: Executed through the annuity route
16 state governments which have given their nod for formation of special purpose
vehicles (SPVs) to implement rail projects in their respective states.
Odisha signed MoU with Railways to form a SPV for implementation of rail projects.
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The deal was originally signed in May, 2014 wherein Vodafones South African subsidiary
Vodacom had reached an agreement to buy Neotel, controlled by Tata Communications,
for 7 billion rand (about Rs 3,200 crore).
Tata Communications owns over 68 per cent stake in South Africas largest fixed line telephone
service provider Neotel.
IISc bags US military contract for R&D on solar powered micro-grid
Indian Institute of Science has bagged a US military contract for research and
development on solar powered micro-grid announced at the meeting between defense minister
Manohar Parrikar and US defense secretary Ashton Carter at the Pentagon .
The federal contract worth USD 52,900 has been awarded by the US Pacific Air Forces,
Yokota Air Base in Japan to develop solar powered micro-grid with battery and super
capacitor energy storage system.
This is one of the rare instances that an Indian scientific institute known for its high-end
cutting edge research has been awarded a federal contract by the US military.
MoU Signed between ICIS and NBCC for Construction of ICIS at Tirupati and Noida
The construction of Indian Culinary Institutes (ICIs) at Tirupati and Noida was begin with the
signing of MoU between the Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) Society and the National Buildings
Construction Corporation Ltd. (NBCC) at the Ministry of Tourism, New Delhi.
Signed by Dr. Preeti Srivastava, Joint Secretary & Ex-officio Director, ICI on behalf of
ICI Society and Rajendra Chaudhari, Director (Commercial) on behalf of NBCC Ltd.
Secretary, M/o Tourism Vinod Zutshi and Joint Secretary, M/o Tourism Shri Suman Billa
also graced the occasion.
Andhra Pradesh Government has transferred land measuring 14.21 acres at Tirupati in favour of ICI
Society for construction of ICI Tirupati.
Karnataka govt signs EoI with Reitzel Group
Karnataka delegation, which toured France to attract companies for the forthcoming Invest
Karnataka 2016 from February 3 to 5, 2016 in Bengaluru, has signed an Expression of
Interest (EoI) agreement with Reitzel Group.
Company invested 20 crore and create about 50 new jobs to the already 200 existing
jobs. Reitzel is a Paris-based family-owned company in the Agri and food processing
industry.
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Anti-dumping duty has been imposed on 7 countries China, South Korea, the US, South
Africa, Thailand and Taiwan and European Union.
The highest duty has been levied on steel imports from China at 57.39%, followed by the
European Union at 52.56%. Imports from Thailand have the least duty imposition
of 4.58%.The governments decision comes in the wake of rising incidence of dumping as it was
obstructing the performance of domestic industry with steel prices on a decline.
Centre sets up SETU to support start-up businesses
Government has set up a mechanism known as SETU to support all aspects of start-up businesses
and other self- employment activities.
SETU (SelfEmployment and Talent Utilisation) has been established under NITI
Aayog is a Techno-Financial, Incubation and Facilitation Programme to support all aspects of
start-up businesses, and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology-driven
areas.
Objective: To catalyze equity investment into start ups and MSMEs creating
employment to lakhs of persons mostly educated youth over the next four to five years.
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The combination drug is to be launched under its brand name Hepcinat LP and through
strategic partners in India with Cost 25,000 (for a bottle of 28 tablets)
Earlier this year, company had signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with
Gilead Sciences to manufacture and sell generic versions of the chronic Hepatitis C
medicines including generic version of Harvoni.
Natco became the first licensed company to launch the generic version of the
combination drug in Nepal.
This enables athletes and coaches to gain visibility into the drivers of high performance, guide
training and make optimal game day decisions.
MoEF gives nod to NTPCs Telangana power project
The Ministry of Environment and Forests has given green signal to a power project being set up by
state-owned NTPC in Telangana while it has deferred another project of the PSU in Andhra
Pradesh.
Highlights of the project :
The NTPC Limited is presently operating a coal-based 2,600 MW (stage-I, II & III)
thermal power station at Ramagundam in Telanganas Karimnagar district and is in the
process of expanding it by addition of 2800 MW.
The cost of the expansion project is about Rs 9,954.20 crore, which includes about Rs
834.81 crore for environmental protection measures,the coal requirement will be 8
million tonnes per annum and has been allotted from Mandakini-B Coal Mine block in
Odisha.
To enable railway passengers to order food, IRCTC sends an email to passengers one day
in advance about food order, which can also be placed during ticket reservations.
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The ban was first imposed in 1975 as the United States was reeling from the 19731974 Arab oil embargo. Arab members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries had banned oil exports to the United States in retaliation for Washingtons
support of Israel during the Arab-Israeli war.
With the end of the ban, all 9.2 million barrels produced in the United States a day and
the 490.7 million barrels stockpiled commercially are available for export.
The list topped by German automaker Volkswagen followed by Samsung, Microsoft, Intel
and Novartis in the Top Five.
Tata Motors has moved up from 104th position last year to 49th However, most of this R&D is
at its UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover.
In the expanded list of the worlds 2,500 top R&D firms, there are a total of 26 Indian companies,
as against 829 from the US, 608 from the EU, 360 from Japan, and 301 from China.
Overall, India is placed 15th in terms of the number of companies on the list.
Among other Indian companies, Dr Reddys Laboratories is ranked 404, M&M 451,
Reliance Industries 540, Lupin 624, Sun Pharma 669, Cipla 831 and Infosys 884.
Recently Natco Pharma has received a license from Gilead to sell a generic version of the
drug in India, sells a bottle of 28 tablets at about Rs 20,000.
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The approved abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) is bio and therapeutically
equivalent to the reference listed drug product Pepcid tablets of Valeant
Pharmaceuticals International Inc., the Hyderabad firm.
Alibaba is likely to acquire 7% stake in Ele.me making it the biggest shareholder of the
company.Ele.me is a part of online-to-offline (O2O) services trend in China, where
customers use their smartphones to order offline services.
Objective: To offer a higher range of products to customers and retain them within the platform.
This trend was started by Snapdealalso launched Snapdeal Motors, a platform for
automobiles enabling online booking and loan approvals within two minutes of a vehicle purchase
on the site.
Tied up with: Hero Motors and Piaggio to sell motorcycles and mini trucks on its
platform.Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Datsun to sell their vehicles on the site.
Sandhar Technologies gets Sebi nod for IPO
SandharTechnologies(Automotive components firm) has got market regulator SEBIs approval to
raise Rs. 300 crore from an initial public offering.
The initial public offer (IPO) consists of
Offer for sale of up to 51.15 lakh shares by GTI Capital Beta at a face value of Rs. 10
each.
Usage of funds from IPO: For setting up a new manufacturing facility at Hosur in Tamil Nadu,
repayment/pre-payment in full or part of certain borrowings and general corporate purposes.
Russia inks $1 billion deal with HAL to manufacture 200 Kamov 226T helicopters
Russias Rostech State Corp. has tied up with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)
Highlights:
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Purpose: For manufacture of at least 200 Kamov 226T light helicopters to replace
the ageing fleet of Cheetah and Chetak, and also provides for maintenance, operation
and repair of helicopters.
Modi is set to inaugurate a new helicopter production facility of HAL at Tumkur in Karnataka.
Out of the 181 Cheetah and Chetak helicopters held by the army, 51 were 40 years or older,
and 78 were between 30 and 40 years old.
Airtel launches microsite for Project Leap
Bharti Airtel launched a special website www.airtel.in/leap allowing customers to know
everything about how Project Leap(60,000-crore network transformation program) is
progressing in their respective localities.
Features:
Customers will get a transparent view of coverage of voice and high speed broadband
services.They will also be able to see sites planned in their localities, seek help on hosting
sites and share site upgradation plans for every site and sites that have been forcibly shut
down in their locality.
Government of India formulated a scheme for awarding AWWs at National Level and
State Level in the year 2000-2001 under Sponsored by Integrated Child Development
Services (ICDS).
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A total of 118 Anganwadi Workers have been selected for National Awards for the
years 2011-12 (32), 2012-13 (32) and 2013-14 (54).
The award at the National Level comprises of Rs.25,000/- cash and a citation.
ABLF Royal Patron, H.H. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Culture, Youth
and Community Development, UAE, presented the award to Gopichand P Hinduja, CoChairman of Hinduja Group of Companies.
This award recognizes the most powerful and influential business leaders.
Hinduja brothers :P Hinduja, GP Hinduja, Prakash Hinduja and Ashok Hinduja
Colombian film Embrace of The Serpent adjudged best film of 46th IFFI
Colombian film Embrace of Serpent (Directed by Ciro Guerra and Produced by Cristina Gallego)
took the first prize the Golden Peacock Award at the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI)
Goa fest. The Golden Peacock award carries a sum of Rs.40 lakh.
Other winners:
Best director:British filmmaker Peter Greenaway for his English and Spanish language
Eisenstein in Guanajuato.
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President called the Ignite 2015 awards named after former President APJ Abdul Kalam
afitting tribute to his memory and highlighted innovation as the key to economic
development.
Attended by: Governor of Gujarat OP Kohli, Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel
Organised by: National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and IIM-A.
Renowned violinist L Subramaniam to be honoured with ITC Sangeet Samman
Renowned Padma Bhushan & Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, L Subramaniam will be
honoured with the Sangeet Samman at the ITC Sangeet Sammelan 2015 beginning on December
4 at the Victoria Memorial, Kolkatta.
He is the only musician who has performed and recorded South Indian and Western
classical music, both orchestral and non-orchestral, composed for and conducted major
orchestras.
The authority received the award under the category of Digital India IT initiatives in the
field of 'land protection and engineering projects'.
One of the app for which the award was given is Vacant land photo uploading
system in which the officials of the land and engineering department can upload the
photographs of vacant land to keep a check on encroachment.
The second award winning app was themeasurement books which is for e-filing of measurement
of engineering projects for exact estimation of parameters and project requirements.
Narendra Modi in eighth place for Time magazines Person of the Year Poll
PM Narendra Modi is listed at the eighth place in the TIME Person of the Year readers' choice poll
with a vote share of 2.7 per cent.
Modi has encouraged foreign direct investment in India and is trying to modernize the
world's largest democracy.
With a vote share of 10.5 per cent, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has
topped the list with Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, Pope Francis and US President
Barack Obama at the second, third and fourth place respectively.
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He has received the award for his contribution to the legal field in and outside the
country for more than 21 years.
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The innovation undertaken by the submarine to repair their ventilation system under
challenging circumstances at sea during a search and rescue (SAR) operation was
adjudged the first among the 137 entries of Navy, a release from the cityheadquartered ENC.
The award comes as a great morale booster to the submarine arm which celebrates its
48th Anniversary on 08 Dec 15.
National Dialogue Quartet was formed in 2013 when the process of democratisation was
in danger of collapsing because of widespread social unrest
Tunisia adopted a new constitution in January 2014 and held democratic elections at the
end of last year.
The award will be presented by the British monarch at a gala ceremony in Buckingham
Palace in June 2016.
Tech Mahindra conferred with Forbes Top 100 Middle East Award
Tech Mahindra, a specialist in digital transformation, consulting and business re-engineering
solutions has been awarded the prestigious Forbes Top 100 Middle East Global Meets Local
2015 Award. The award was presented at a special event hosted by Forbes Middle East in Dubai.
Here is the list of top 10 regional executives
Rank
Name
Company
Title
Nabil Habayeb
General Electric
Takreem El Tohamy
IBM
Sanjeev Chadha
Pepsi-Cola
CEO, Africa
Markus Wildi
Dow Chemical
Yves Manghardt
Yousif Abdulghani
McDonalds Middle
Curt Ferguson
Coca-Cola Company
Nour Suliman
DHL Express
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Roy Haddad
WPP
10
Alaa El Shimy
Hewlett-Packard
21 Shilp Gurus have been selected for the years 2012, 2013 & 2014, out of whom 18 are
male and 3 are female.59 craftspersons have been selected for the National Awards for the
year 2012, 2013, & 2014.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel named 2015 Times Person of the Year
Time magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel its Person of the Year 2015 for the
annual honour because her leadership has helped preserve and promote an open, borderless
Europe in the face of economic turmoil and an ongoing refugee crisis.
Contenders :
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and Republican presidential hopeful Donald
Trump were among the eight candidates shortlisted by Time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and
Googles India-born CEO Sundar Pichai were among the initial 58 global leaders,
business chiefs and pop icons that Time had named as contenders for its annual honour.
Mr. Modi was a contender for the honour last year also and while he was not chosen
the Person of the Year by Time editors, he was named winner of the readers poll.
The National Awards presented to selected District and Block level education officers from
different states and regions of the country by the Union Minister for Human Resource
Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani. Shri J. Veera Raghavan, Former Secretary, Ministry
of Human Resource Development.
Organizer : NUEPA
Venue : Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Auditorium, Teen Murti Bhawan, New Delhi.
Objective :To recognize innovative ideas and practices adopted by district and block level
education officers for effective management of the educational administrative system at district and
block levels, and ensuring institutional development and performance at school level.
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18-year career in which he played 149 Test matches and scored 11,814 runs at an average
of 49.84, became the 14th Sri Lankan cricketer to get the MCC Honorary Life Membership.
Wipro won 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award for innovation in IoT
Global software major Wipro won the Aegis Graham Bell award for developing a solution for the
Internet of Things (IoT) and Minister of State Jitendra Singh presented the award to the
outsourcing firm at a function in New Delhi
HPCL CMD Nishi Vasudeva named CEO of the Year
Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) Chairman and MD Nishi Vasudeva has been
chosenqwhile Reliance Industries has bagged the CSR Award at the 17th annual Platts Global
Energy Awards or Oscars of energy in New York.
Women won two of the top honors:
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The author has written 57 books, 80 plays and more than 400 short stories including Vellai
Kodugal (White Lines) & Alaigal Pesuginrana (The Sound of the Waves) that are now
studied by Tamil literature students in Singapore and Indian universities.
Born in 1939 in, Mr. Sali was invited to Singapore at the age of 25 to be an assistant editor at
the Tamil Murasu newspaper by its founder, the late G. Sarangapani.
The four-time Oscar nominee and two-time Oscar winner remains one of the most
in-demand directors in Hollywood.
On leaving the show, he turned his hand to directing and has since developed a reputation for
being adept at helming different types of movies such as "Willow", "Apollo 13" and "Rush".
Etihad Airways wins worlds leading airline award
At the annual World Travel Awards Grand Finale gala ceremony 2015, Etihad Airways has
been awarded the Worlds Leading Airline award for the seventh consecutive year.The
company also bagged further two awards, Worlds Leading First Class and theWorlds Leading
Cabin Crew.
2016 Genesis Prize conferred upon Violinist Itzhak Perlman
The legendary 16 Grammys award winner Israeli-US violinist Itzhak Perlman has been
awarded the 2016 Genesis prize for his accomplishments as a musician, teacher and advocate for
people with disabilities. The $1m (660,000) prize aka Jewish Nobel is given annually to an
individual who has achieved professional success, contributed to humanity and shown a strong
commitment to Jewish causes and the state of Israel.
Bappi Lahiri and Kumar Sanu with Lifetime Achievement Awards
West Bengal government honoured veteran music composer Bappi Lahiri and singer Kumar
Sanu with the Lifetime Achievement awards.
The award was presented by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Sangeet Samman
award function in Kolkata.
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Bollywood musician Shantanu Moitra was felicitated with the Sangeet Mahasamman
award along with Mohammad Aziz, Kumar Bose and Shibaji Chattopadhyay.
Vocalists Nachiketa and Ajoy Chakrobarty were given special Sangeet Samman.
This award has recognised premier works in 23 Indian languages that includes 6 books of
short stories, 6 of poetry, 4 novels, 2 books each of essays, criticism and plays and 1
memoir.
Category
Poetry
Short stories
Novels
Essays
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Plays
Books on criticism
Memoirs
Vatican to confer sainthood on Mother Teresa as Pope recognises her second miracle
Vatican announced to Sainthood to Mother Teresa and will be made a saint of the Roman
Catholic Church in September 2016.Pope Francis has approved a decree recognising a miracle
attributed to her intercession with God.
Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 at the age of 87, was beatified in 2003 by the late
Pope John Paul. Beatification, which requires one miracle is the last step before
sainthood.
Husband-wife duo Claude and Norma Alvares awarded with 2015 Sanctuary Lifetime
Service Award
The husband-wife duo of Claude and Norma Alvares were honoured with the 2015 Lifetime
Service Award by Sanctuary Asia magazine.
On the other hand, Ashok Kumar, one of the pioneers of the fightback against wildlife
crimes in India and chairman emeritus of the Wildlife Trust of India, was named the
Sanctuary Legend. It is a new category in the list of Sanctuary Wildlife Awards for 2015.
Delhi-based start-up Right Track Admizzionz Campuz won the top award in the startup category, while the pharma major Zydus Cadila was adjudged the Most Innovative
Company of the Year.
The USF already has 800 Indian students enrolled for this year. This fellowship will be
effective from 2016-2017, to attract more.
Ralph Wilcox, the head of USF said that Dr Kalam was an honoured visitor to the
University of South Florida, and he spoke at great lengths about the importance of green
energy and sustainability.
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He received more than 361,446 votes in total with rugby star Kevin Sinfield finishing
second with 278,353 and heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill third with 78,898.
Murray is the fourth different tennis player to win the award in its 62-year history after
Ann Jones in 1969, Virginia Wade in 1977 and Greg Rusedski in 1997.
Ms. Wurtzbach represented the Philippines in the Miss Universe 2015 held in Las Vegas,
Nevada, United States.
His work in orthopaedic implants, cardiovascular biomaterials and diabetic foot products
has drawn recognition. His bioengineering research has resulted in 28 patents. Agrawal
will be among 582 fellows in the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
The awards were based on performance of individuals and teams, both men and women,
between 18 September 2014 and 13 September 2015.
Here is the list of winners
Category
Cricketer of the Year
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year
Winner
Steven Smith (Australia)
Steven Smith (Australia)
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The software for the electronic locking system called eLOQ has been created jointly by
the University of Lincolns School of Computer Science and Lincoln Security under the
KTP.
The locks contain no batteries and do not require rewiring as all of the power is taken
from the key and allows all areas to be controlled.
Former India stumper Syed Kirmani (65) was chosen for the prestigious Col. C.K. Nayudu
Lifetime Achievement award for 2015.
He is the first wicketkeeper in 21 years to be nominated for this award. Popularly known
as Kojak for his Telly Savalas-look, Kirmani will be the 23rd recipient of the award.
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He has being chosen for the award by BCCIs special committee comprising President
Shashank Manohar, Anurag Thakur (secretary) and Ram, Chairman and Publisher,
Kasturi and Sons Ltd.
IOC tops the chart with an annual revenue of Rs 4, 51,911 crore while Mukesh Ambani-led
RILs revenue is Rs 3, 82,565 crore.
Top 10 Rankings
The Black Mass star replaced last years most overpaid movie actor Adam Sandlerto top
the list.
Depps last four Pirates of the Caribbean movies grossed a combined $3.7 billion, making it
one of the most successful franchises ever. But as Lord Charlie in Mortdecai or Dr. Will Caster
in Transcendence, he failed to strike box office gold despite pocketing millions personally.
Here is the list of Top 10 Forbes Most Overpaid Actors with their Return
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Actor
Johnny Depp
Denzel Washington
Will Ferrell
Liam Neeson
Will Smith
Christian Bale
Channing Tatum
Brad Pitt
Ben Affleck
Tom Cruise
Return
Returns
Returns
Returns
Returns
Returns
Returns
Returns
Returns
Returns
Returns
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Mobile payments
Barcelona won five titles in 2015 the Spanish league title, the Copa del Rey, Champions
League, European Super Cup and the World Club Cup.
Here is list of winners
Category
Best Player of The Year
Best Agent of the Year
First Player Career Award
Second Player Career Award
Best Coach of the Year
Best Media Attraction in Football
Best Media Executive
Best Club of the Year
Best President of the Year
Best Referee of the Year
Best Club Academy
Best Player in the GCC
Winner
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Jorge Mendes (Portugal)
Andrea Pirlo (Italy)
Frank Lampard (England)
Marc Wilmots (Belgium)
FC Barcelona (Spain)
Javier Bordas (Spain)
FC Barcelona (Spain)
Josep Maria Bartomeu (Spain)
Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
SL Benfica (Portugal)
Yasser Al-Shahrani (Al-Hilal) (Saudi
Currently she is regional managing partner for north at PwC India, will take charge as
COO in January,2016.
At PwC India, the gender diversity in leadership levels is around 30 per cent. At
thepartner level, its 11 per cent (global average for PwC is 18 per cent).
Amateur Indian cricketer creates Guinness world record for longest net session
Virag Mare (24), a Pune-based amateur cricketer broke the Guinness World record of the
longest individual net session of 48 hours set byEnglish duo, Dave Newman and Richard
Wells.
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Mare established a two-hour lead & batted for50 hours at the Mahalaxmi Lawns in Karve
Nagar, Pune.
He faced 2,447 overs i.e. 14,682 balls, in exactly 50 hours, 5 minutes and 51
seconds.
Governor of Karnataka Vajubhai Vala present the EEPC award to the Joint Managing
Director of CRI Pumps G Selvaraj in Bengaluru .
Chaudhary is the 4th Gujarati writer to receive this prestigious award after Uma Shankar
Joshi (1967), Pannalal Patel (1985) and Rajendra Shah (2001).
The Ministry of AYUSH has been conferred with the ISO 9001:2008
Ministry of AYUSH has been conferred with the ISO 9001:2008 Certificate for applying
Quality Management System for Provision of Policy Formulation, Development and
Implementation of Programmes for the Propagation & Growth of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy,
Unani, Siddha & Homeopathy.
The Certificate has been issued by TUV India Pvt. Ltd. Indian operations of a German Firm,
TUV Nord Group, appointed by the Quality Council of India.
Harpal Singh, the chief executive of Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has been honoured for
being influential in promoting research into the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of
cancer, and cancer care.He chaired the Independent Cancer Taskforce and authored the
NHS Cancer Strategy Achieving World Class Cancer Outcomes. A Strategy for England
2015-20.
Other Awards
Samir Desai, founder-CEO of Funding Circle for his work in the field of financial
inclusion.
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Raminder Singh Ranger, chairman of Sun Mark Ltd, for his services to business and
community cohesion.
Kala Patel, managing director of Kiddycare Ltd Nurseries, for services to childcare
business.
Daljit Lally, deputy chief executive of Northumberland Country Council for services
tointegrated care.
Rekha Mehr, founder of Indian sweets inspired bakery Pistachio Rose, for services
toentrepreneurship and enterprise.
Ayesha Hazarika, chief of staff to the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, for political
service.
Aatin Ashok Anadkat, managing director of Hotel Maiyango for his services to
entrepreneurship.
Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaiks Santa Claus sculpture features in Limca Book of Records
Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaiks Santa Claus sculpture has got a place in the Limca Book of
Records as the worlds largest sand sculpture with 45-ft-tall announced by Limca Book senior
editor Arthy Muthanna Singh
Pattnaik, who was assisted by 20 of his students from the Sudarsan Sand Art Institute of Puri,
took 22 hours to build the mammoth structure and also sculptures of Jesus and Mary. The display
is on till January 1st .
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She was the David C Levin Professor and Chairperson of Radiology at Jefferson Medical
College of Thomas Jefferson University.
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Rao is on a long leave since July last after his son Ashwin Rao was arrested by the
Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the case.
According to the Lokayukta Act, recently amended to simplify rules for removal of the
anti-graft ombudsman, on admission of the motion, the presiding officers shall refer the
matter to the High Court Chief Justice for investigation into the grounds over which the
removal is sought.
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He had defeated his rival Daniel Scioli of ruling Peronist Party who secured 47 per cent
votes in Presidential election. He was the third leader elected from outside the Peronist
movement founded by Juan Peron since the end of the countrys 1976-1983 dictatorship.
Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi was elected to the council of Madrakah, a region in the holy
city of Mecca.
Municipal council elections indicated 17 female winners. These included four in Jeddah, one
near Mecca and others in Tabuk, Ahsaa and Qatif.
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Sumi Ghosh was Vice President of Starbucks United States mid-west region.
Tata Starbucks Private Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between Starbucks Coffee Company
and Tata Global Beverages. Tata Starbucks operates over 70 stores in India. Starbucks,
worlds largest coffee chain operator entered in the country through its first outlet in
2012.
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RCA Vice President, Amin Pathan withdrew the no confidence motion against Modi.
Former Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra said 15 RCA member-districts had withdrawn their
no confidence in the interests of the game.
Lalit Modi suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for financial irregularities
in 2013. The BCCI later suspended RCA after Modi was made its president. However,
Team RCA is participating in tournaments under the courts permission.
A four-member panel had chosen Khetrapals name for the post of Lokayukta.
Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Leader of Opposition
Vijender Gupta, high court judges, Delhi cabinet ministers, senior judicial officers and
senior bureaucrats were also present at the oath taking ceremony.
Pradhan will help ensure that OGP continues to succeed in its mission to promote
government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens.
Currently vice president for Change, Leadership and Innovation at the World Bank Group,
Pradhan will assume the new charge by mid-2016.
Williams has been working with Apple Inc for about 17 years.He played a key role in
Apples entry into the mobile phone market with the launch of iPhone. He continues to
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Bhagwant Singh Bishnoi, a 1983 batch IFS officer, has been appointed Indias next
Ambassador to Thailand, succeeding Harsh Vardhan Shringla.Bishnoi is currently
posted as Deputy Permanent Representative of India in the UN in New York.
Mukherjee was earlier with Axis Bank as group executive (corporate relationships and
international business). He was with the bank for nearly 21 years. Before that, he worked
for the State Bank of India (SBI) for nearly 12 years.
Kesh King was acquired by Emami in June 2015 for Rs 1,651 crore, marking the
companys foray into the ayurvedic hair and scalp care segment.
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Presently Agarwal was the CFO of Suzlon Energy prior to that he had held leadership
roles at Arcelor Mittal Europe and Essar Steel.
Conde was re-elected in controversial October polls and sworn in for a second term.
The constitutional court last month formally confirmed Condes re-election with 57.8% of
the vote, dismissing opposition claims of vote rigging and fraud.
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During the league the actor will actively post his comments and updates on the social
media via his official Twitter handle blogs and podcasts talking on PBL and how players
fared each day.
The Premier Badminton League will start from 2nd January 2016 where six
franchisees Delhi Acers, Hyderabad Hunters, Bengaluru Top Guns, Chennai Smashers,
Mumbai Rockets and Awadhe Warriors will compete for the top honour.
Karan Adani is the eldest son of the Adani Groups founder chairman Gautam
Adani.An economics graduade from Purdue University, US, he has been associated with
the groups ports business since 2009.
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Technical Officers: Claudius de Sales (IND), Davinder Bhatia (IND), Ashutosh Verma
(IND)
Judges: Milind Narwekar (IND), Anjali Sharma (IND), Sonia Bathla (IND)
International Umpires: German Montes de Oca (ARG), Marcin Grochal (POL), Martin
Madden (SCO), David Tomlinson (NZL), Jakub Mejzlik (CZE), Ben GAntgen (GER)
Indian Umpires: R.V. Raghuprasad, G.S. Sangha, Ripudaman Sharma, Deepak Joshi,
Dhaval Prajapti, Anil Kumar.
It will not only hire Indian teachers but also create online content in Indian languages,
primarily based on NCERT textbooks.
First phase: Focus on creating educational resources that will benefit children from
middle- and low-income families in urban areas.
Second phase: Content in several Indian languages and to create content for Indian
students, first with subtitles, and finally original content in various Indian languages.
The JVs proposed with other PSUs is to pool equity for expanding installed nuclear power
capacity.
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These JV with with energy majors like NPCIL and NTPC, NPCIL and Indian Oil
Corporation Ltd. NPCIL and NALCO Power Ltd will be taken up by these companies after
allotment and approved by the government.
The merged company will be named DowDuPont and it will have a combined market
capitalization of approximately 130 billion dollars.
Dow shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 00 share of DowDuPont for
each Dow share.
Andrew N Liveris will be named Executive Chairman and Edward D Breen will be named CEO
of combined company.
Alibaba agreed to buy South China Morning Post of Hong Kong
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has agreed to buy the 112-year-old
newspaper and other media properties of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) for an
undisclosed amount.
HealthFore Technologies to merge with Oscar Investments
Healthcare IT solutions and advisory services company HealthFore Technologies will
merge with Oscar Investments, pursuant to the approval of scheme of amalgamation between
the two entities.In this regard, the combined entity will be renamed as HealthFore Technologies
Ltd.
Mahindra Group acquired Italian auto design firm Pininfarina
Mahindra group will acquire Italian automotive and industrial design firm Pininfarina for an
overall outgo of over 50 million Euros (nearly Rs 370 crore) after months of negotiations.
Tech Mahindra and M&M will purchase 76.06 per cent of Pininfarina shares from the
current controlling shareholders Pincar srL at a price of Euro 1.1 per share.
The cost of acquiring 76.06 per cent in Pininfarina by the SPV will be Euro 25.3 million,
which would be funded by Tech Mahindra and M&M in the ratio of 60:40.
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The chief guest, Vice Admiral AV Subhedar, AVSM, VSM, Chief of Material, Chairman &
Managing Director GRSE were present on the occasion.
Highlights :
LCU L-55 is the fifth vessel in the series of eight Landing Craft Utility Ships being
designed and built by GRSE for the Indian Navy.
The first ship of the class LCU-L51 was launched on March 12, 2014 and is presently
undergoing trials at GRSE. The vessel is likely to be delivered shortly to Indian Navy.
Worlds first dengue fever vaccine Dengvaxia cleared by Mexico for public use
The Mexican drug authorities have approved Sanofi Pasturs first ever dengue
vaccine Dengvaxia, which promises to reduce the disease burden by 50 percent in five years
among vulnerable populations.
About Dengvaxia :
The Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS)has
approved Dengvaxia, tetravalent dengue vaccine, for the prevention of disease caused by
all four dengue virus serotypes in preadolescents, adolescents and adults, 9 to 45 years
of age living in endemic areas.
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more than 3,200 kilograms of crew supplies, hardware and scientific experiments.
Benefit: Successful launch would resume the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space
Administrations commercial cargo flights to the station as a result ending its dependence on
Russian and Japanese rockets.
Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, New Delhi is an autonomous organization under
Central Government which is engaged in activities primarily related to education in Yoga.
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Ghadr-110 has a range of 1,800 2000 km, or 1200 miles. It is capable of carrying a
nuclear warhead.
The missile fired in November is an improved version of the Shahab 3, and is similar to
the precision guided missile tested by Iran on Oct-10, which elicited strong condemnation
from members of the U.N. Security Council.
The test flight of the missile was aimed at validating various design and technical
parameters of the weapon system, according to a statement from the militarys InterServices Public Relations (ISPR).
Website dedicated to the freedom fighter and Supreme Commander of the Indian National
Army (INA) aims to debunk numerous conspiracy theories surrounding Netajis death.
Website : www.bosefiles.info
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These 6 satellites were launched as part of the agreement entered into between ST
Electronics (Satcom & Sensor Systems), Singapore and Antrix Corporation Limited, the
commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), government of India
Company under the Department of Space (DOS).
PSLV C-29 lifts off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in
Andhra Pradesh with all 6 Singapore satellites. Six satellites took the count of foreign
satellites launched by ISRO to 57, carried by PSLV-C29 together weighed about 624 kg at
lift-off.
Snapdeal, which competes with Flipkart, the countrys largest ecommerce player and
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The SoftBank, Foxconn and Alibaba Group-backed online marketplaces mobile user
interface will now be available in Hindi and Telugu.
The government has been trying to get social platforms to crack down on the rise in antiforeigner comments in German on the web as the country struggles to cope with an influx
of more than 1 million refugees this year.
The new agreement makes it easier for users and anti-racism groups to report hate
speech to specialist teams at the three companies and agree that as a rule this should be
possible within 24 hours.
Parrikar also cleared the purchase of about Rs 25,500 crore worth of defence
equipment, including the crucial six regiments of Pinaka rocket system, for the Indian
Army.
The S-400 Triumf, an upgraded version of the S-300 missile system is a long-tomedium-range, surface-to-air missile system, and is designed to intercept a range of
ground-based and airborne targets, including stealth aircraft, strategic carriers, and cruise
and ballistic missiles at a distance of 400km.
AIIMS authorities said, is aimed at bringing in more transparency and keeping a track of
the BPL card holders seeking free services and treatment.
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The new website provides information related to all the procedural and policy issues
relevant for defence manufacturing industry in the country. The website also provides the
latest news and notification regarding various aspects of the defence production involved
with the Make in India campaign.
It was the countrys first space telescope and launched on a Long March 2-D rocket
from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
The purpose of the satellite is to search for smoking-gun signals of dark matter, invisible
material that scientists say makes up most of the universes mass.
It is the first time in the history of rocketry that a rocket has returned back after delivering a
spacecraft to its orbit, so that it could potentially fly again. This exercise of using reusable
rockets will help in reducing the cost of access to space making explorations a more
realistic goal.
Jaguar Land Rover India announces InControl apps
Jaguar Land Rover India announced the launch of its innovative new smartphone integration
platform InControl Apps, which has been developed in conjunction with Bosch.
The InControl Apps platform transfers the interface from the phone to the in-car
infotainment touch-screen, to allow users access to popular apps, thus significantly
enhancing user experience.
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visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) is set to be inducted into the Indian Air Force in
2016.
The ECCM (electronic counter-counter measure) features of the missile to overcome any
jamming were evaluated.
About Astra Missile
Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) is developed by the Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO).
Weight 154 kg
Length 3570 mm
Diameter 178 mm
It is designed to be capable of engaging targets at varying range and altitudes allowing for
engagement of both short-range targets (up to 20 km) and long-range targets (up to 80 km).
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It uses smokeless propulsion system to evade enemy radars and has the capacity to
engage in multi-target scenario.
Apart from integrating the missile with Su-30, it is planned to be mounted on other
fighter aircraft including Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, Mirage-2000 and MIG-29.
The Banks digital wallet can be embedded into any website or mobile application and has a
high level of security, reliability and trust.It includes a host of features including one-click
checkout and instant processing of refunds as well as voucher and coupon offers.
Customers have the option to add a Visa Prepaid Card linked to their digital wallets to power
online commerce transactions and payments to offline merchants.
Aircraft-carrier INS Viraat wins its last regatta
Aircraft-carrier INS Viraat won the coveted Cock Trophy during the Western Fleet Whaler Pulling
Regatta making it the last time the warship participated in the event before she is decommissioned.
Coveted Cock Trophy :
INS Viraat, which is expected to be decommissioned sometime next year, had first served
the British Navy for over 30 years before being bought by India.
It was inducted into the Indian Navy in 1987 after undergoing extensive refits.
Jio TV service will accept voice command to change channels and subscriber will not
require remote control to do so.
Download speed on 4G network of Reliance Jio during beta-test peaked at 70 megabit per
second but remained in 15-30 mbps range on most occasions.
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Several modules of e-office are File Management System, Knowledge Management System,
Leave Management System, Tour Management System, have been running under the e-office.
Personnel Information Management System (e-Service Book) is expected to start from the 1
January, 2016.
Gaofen-4 is located at the orbit 36,000 kilometers away from the earth and moves
synchronously with the earth.It will be used for disaster prevention and relief, surveillance
of geological disasters and forest disasters, and meteorologic forecast
The firing trial of the LR SAM has been jointly carried out by the Indian Navy,
DRDO andIsrael Aerospace Industries on the Western Seaboard by INS
Kolkata, wherein the missile successesfully intercepted an Aerial Target at extended
ranges.
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Its main features are long range, active radar seeker missile, vertical launch and multiple
simultaneous engagements.
Indias first indigenously designed & built frigate INS Godavari Decommissioned
Indias first indigenously designed and built warship Indian Naval Ship Godavari is
decommissioned on December 23, 2015.
About INS Godavari :
Godavaris keel was laid on 03 November 1978 by Adm J Cursetji, CNS, and it was
launched on 15 May 1980. It was commissioned in December 1983.It would have served
the country for little over 32 years. It was showcased around the world as a symbol of
Indias growing military might and self-reliance.
The tissue performs critical functions of a human liver tissue including detoxification,
metabolism and secretion of biochemicals such as albumin and cholesterol.
Dr. Pallavi Tiwaris work is based on recent clinical findings that 90 per cent of
theGlioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) recurrences occur close to the tumour margin,
suggesting that malignant cells are present at the periphery of the tumour but are not
visually discernible.
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ENVIRONMENT
FSI Indias forest & tree cover increased by 5081 sq km
Forest Survey of India (FSI) has released the Indian State of Forest Report (ISFR
2015)showing Indias total forest and tree cover has increased by 5081 sq km in the past two
years.
The India State of Forest Report 2015 is the 14th report in the series. It is based on
interpretation of LISS III sensor data of indigenous Resourcesat II satellite.
The red alert was announced for the first time since an emergency air-pollution response
system was introduced in 2013.
The warning was an upgrade from an orange alert issued over the weekend. It is a part
of Chinas four-colour warning system that includes yellow and blue levels for less
polluted conditions.
Glaciers on Mount Everest are a major source of Asian rivers including Brahmaputra and
Ganges.
Data was based on long-term remote sensing and on-site monitoring where glacial
shrinkage area is compared to the measurements taken in the 1970s.
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The team led by James Clark, Ronald Weintraub associate professor of biology at the
George Washington University and Xu Xing, professor at the Chinese cademy of
Sciences.
Finding these two species in the same fossil beds reveals there was
more diversity there than previously recognised.
The ceratopsian dinosaurs already had diversified into at least four lineages by the
beginning of the Jurassic Period.
Typhoon Melor known locally as Nona, has led authorities to ground at least 40 domestic
flights, while 73 ferries and hundreds of fishing boats were ordered to remain in port.
At present, only protected areas including 19 wildlife sanctuaries and two national
parks have management plans.
These protected areas cover only 10.37 per cent of states forest area and 5.36 per
cent of its total geographical area.
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The rescue centre will house sick, injured and rescued animals.The idea has been taken
from Gir Forest National park and Wild life sanctuary, Gujarat.
The specimen was collected from fishing boats at a fish-landing centre located at
Shankarpur, West Bengal. Bengal moray eel was collected from a depth of about 22
metres.
Chinese giant salamander received 19 months ago from the State Museum of Natural History
in Karlsruhe, Germany is the biggest representative of its species.
The largest salamander on record was 1.8 meters (5 feet, 11 inches) long.
As per U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it will list Panthera leo leo (a subspecies of
lion) located in India and western and central Africa as endangered
Panthera leo melanochaita, located in eastern and southern Africa, will be listed
as threatened.
Subspecies meets the definition of endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
1,400 of Panthera leo leo lions remaining, 900 in 14 African populations and 523
in India.
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The other subspecies of Panthera leo melanochaita likely numbers between 17,000 and
19,000. This subspecies is less vulnerable and is not currently in danger of extinction.
In this regard National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking will ensure that
violators of wildlife laws are not subsequently granted permits for future wildlife-related
activities, including the import of sport-hunted trophies.
The gold coins, most of which weigh about 250g, were unearthed from the tomb of the
first Haihunhou (Marquis of Haihun) in Nanchang city, capital of east Chinas Jiangxi
province.
The tomb dates back to western Han dynasty (206 BC-24 AD) and it is thought to belong to Liu
He, grandson of Emperor Wu.
SPORTS
Ashwin zooms to 2nd, de Villiers slips in ICC ranks
Ravichandran Ashwin rose to the second in the ICC Test rankings for bowlers from 5th position
AB de Villiers lost his top spot in the batsmen standings.
Others Position :
James Anderson and Yasir Shah -Third, while Stuart Broad-Fifth.Australian pacer
Josh Hazlewood-10th.
Amit Mishra up two to 31st who joins Imran Tahir up by 14 places to 35th in while
Black Caps bowler Doug Bracewell is one place and a single point further back in 36th
after gaining four places.
Australia captain Steven Smith and Englands Joe Root have regained joint pole
position to third.
Murali Vijay is the top ranked India batsman in 12th position, while his
captain Virat Kohli has moved up one place to 16th and there were also gains for
Shikhar Dhawan (up one to 32nd) and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha up 10 to 92nd. JP
Duminy also moved up three places to 40th position.
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Rohan Bopanna maintaining his world number 9thrank and Leander Paes (41) and Purav
Raja (93). Myneni was at 126, Divij Sharan lost three places to 134.
WTA rankings:
Sania Mirza continued to be world number one, a position which she shares with her
Swiss partner Martina Hingis.
In singles, Ankita Raina was the highest-ranked Indian player-255. The next best
was Prerna Bhambri-473
Indias Thakur Anoop Singh won gold medal in World Bodybuilding and Physique
Championships
Indian bodybuilder, Thakur Anoop Singh has earned the title of 'Mr World' by winning a gold
medal in a world bodybuilding meet held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Won Bronze in Mens Fitness Physique (Senior) category at 49th Asian Bodybuilding
and Physique 2015 which was held in Tashkent.
Forced to leave his job as a pilot in 2008 when the world was hit by recession and after
that he turned to small screen. In the Mahabharata series that began in 2011, he played
the role of Drithrashtra.
Country
World Rank
Australia
Belgium
India
Sarita served a one-year ban for her emotional outburst at the Asian Games after a
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RP-Sanjiv Goenka group acts as co-owner for the Indian Super League(ISL) franchise
Atletico de Kolkata and former Indian cricket captain and member of IPL governing
council Sourav Ganguly and La Liga club Atletico Madrid.
Intex groups bid for Rs 10 crore clinched the Rajkot team, RP-Sanjiv Goenka group won
the bid for the Pune-based team for Rs -16 crore.
IPLs 2016 edition to be held from 9 April to 29 May and IPL auction will take place on 6
February, 2016 in Bengaluru.
Chen Long & Carolina Marin bagged 2015 BWF Player of the Year Awards
Chinas Chen Long and World No.1 and 2015 All England and World champion Carolina Marin
bestowed with the BWF Player of the Year award from BWF President Poul-Erik Hoyer in Dubai.
Other Awards:
World Junior Champion in Mixed Doubles and Mens Doubles Zheng Si Wei grabbed the
Most Promising Player of the Year.
Norways Helle Sofie Sagoy won the Female Para-Badminton Player of the Year.
Koreas Lee Sam Seop was named Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year.
Trophy was presented by Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand
Gehlot.
2nd edition of the Wheelchair Basketball Championship was organised by the International
Committee of the Red Cross, Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India and the Sports
Authority of India.
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Womens Event : From March 15 with India taking on Bangladesh and New Zealand playing Sri
Lanka.
Group A : Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland
Her brilliant performance in Track Asia Cup & Taiwan Cup Track International
Classic event also led the Indian team to improve its world ranking to 13th.
India is the highest ranking Asian country in 500m time trial as China is
on 15th spot.
Kolhapurs Anant Khasbardar and Abhijeet Krishna of NIFT Patna won the mascot
and logo designing contests respectively.
Logo and the Mascot of the Games selected from around 450 entries each.
Chief Minister of Assam Shri Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of Meghalaya Shri Mukul Sangma, and
Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge) Shri Sarbananda Sonowal would
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Winners
Kento Momota
Nozomi Okuhara
Mohammad Ahsan & Hendra Setiawan
Luo Ying and Luo Yu
Chris Adcock and Gabriele Adcock
He took his record to 15 knockouts from 15 fights since turning pro after winning 2012
Olympic gold in London.
Joshuas latest win raises the prospect of a clash with WBO and WBA heavyweight
champion Tyson Fury if his fellow British fighter beats Wladimir Klitschko in their world
title rematch.
Pemba Tamang, who won the rapid fire pistol gold having qualified in the 6th place
beat Harpreet Singh to take the bronze.
Achal Pratap Singh Grewal won his third gold after clinching the top spot in air pistol
and standard pistol.
Men: 25m
First
Second
Third
Juniors
First
Second
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Rome organisers now have seven years in which to carry out the changes to the course
that will be necessary to test the courageof the worlds top golfers.
Next years tournament will be held in Hazeltine National in Minnesota, while France
will host the 2018 event and Whistling Straits in Wisconsin hosts the 2020 Ryder
Cup, two years before it returns to the old continent.
He won twice on the regions premier Tour, broke into the worlds top-50, posted a
top-five finish in a Major, qualified for his maiden Presidents Cup and earned his PGA Tour
card.
Reigning world champion Carlsen beat Russian Alexander Grischuk won the Grand
Chess Tour after winning the Classic on a final day.
Anand ended the Classic on 3.5 points out of a possible nine, winning one, losing three
and drawing the remaining five games in the 10-player round-robin tournament.
Winner List
First
Second
Third
Carlsen
Giri
Vachier-Lagrave
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The United States Jordan Spieth continues to top the rankings, followed by Australian
Jason Day and Northern Irelands Rory McIlroy.
Tiger Woods, 14-time Major champion Tiger Woods dropped two places to be 413th.
Other Indians :
Anirban Lahiri who received his Asian Tour Order of Merit crown, also moved up a place
to be 41st.
Rashid Khan dropped eight places to be 288th, while Chiragh Kumar gained three places
to be 306th.
Former Asian Tour champion Jyoti Randhawa moved two places down to be 397th,
while Rahil Gangjee slipped three places to be 422nd.
Two-time Asian Tour champion Jeev Milkha Singh was 889th, a drop of three places.
The PSL is to be held in Dubai and Sharjah in February and the Peshawar franchise has
announced former Pakistan bowling coach Muhammad Akram as their head coach and
Flower as their batting consultant and mentor.
Kane Williamson stood just two steps away from the top spot ,rise to third place in the
rankings for Test batsmen.
Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum has moved up two places to 17th, while his Sri
Lanka opposite number Angelo Matthews has marked the visiting sides presence in the
top 10 batsman rankings, down one place to seventh.
Over in Hobart, Australia skipper Steven Smith has tumbled three places to fourth and
he is now just 11 points ahead of his team-mate David Warner.
Voges knock has vaulted him 19 places to a career-high 15th place in the latest
rankings.
Marsh has risen 17 spots to a career best 37th in the batsman rankings.
West Indies Darren Bravo has been rewarded for being the lone centurion from his side,
moving up two spots to 25th.
Australias Josh Hazlewood has entered the top 10, rising up four spots after claiming
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Off-spinner Nathan Lyon has moved up two spots into 15th after a three-wicket haul in
Hobart.
Japans Nozomi Okuhara, Kento Momota won singles titles at World Dubai Superseries
Finals
Japanese shuttlers Kento Momota and Nozomi Okuhara emerged champions in the mens and
womens singles categories, respectively, in the BWF Superseries Finals at the Hamdan Sports
Complex.
Mens Single title- World No.5 Momota beat Denmarks Viktor Axelsen 21-15, 21-12 in
36 minutes
Womens Single title-world No. 4 Okuhara overcame world No. 3 Yihan Wang from
Setiawan beat Chinas Chai Biao and Hong Wei 13-21, 21-14, 21-14 in 53
Mixed double final- Adcock couple, Chris and Gabriele defeated South Korean pair of Ko
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ISL Golden boot Award: John Stiven Mendoza Valencia (Chennaiyin FC).
Hero of the League award: John Stiven Mendoza Valencia (Chennaiyin FC).
Key Points: Chennaiyin FC is owned by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani.
Barcelona FC wins 12th edition of FIFA Club World Cup
Barcelona FC has won the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015 for third time. The team defeatedRiver
Plate FC by 3-0 goals at International Stadium Yokohama in Japan.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar scored the three goals against the River Plate FC team.
Barcelona FC had already won the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009 and also in 2011.
He is the most successful Indian captain. He has won two World Cups for India, taken
India to no. 1 Test rankings.
It completed a golden Test year for the right-hander, who took his 2015 aggregate
to1172, the highest by a New Zealander.He also ended the year with an astounding 15
Test average.
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He fought his first professional boxing match on October of this year and defeated his
opponent Sonny Whiting. In his second first professional boxing match, he defeated Dean
Gillen in Dublin, Ireland.
He won medals in several international level competitions such as 2008 Olympic Games,
2009 World Amateur Boxing Championship, Common Wealth Games and also the Asian
Games.
Singapore Slammers beat the Micromax Indian Aces in the final by 26-21 to win the
crown of the Indian Premier Tennis League (IPTL) 2015.
Singapore Slammers won the prize money of 1 million US dollars while the Micromax
Indian Aces got 500000 US dollars as runners-up.
Lyngdoh (29) was chosen the winner on basis of votes from I-League coaches. He will
receive a sum of Rs.2 lakh for his efforts.He plays for Bengaluru FC in the Ileague and FC Pune City in the India Super League. So far he has represented the
country eight times.
Other AIFF Awards & Winners
Category
Winner
Coca Cola
C.R. Srikrishna
Sapam Kennedy
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ODI Career: His debut was in 2001 against Australia at Sydney at age of 20. He had
scored 5909 runs from 254 matches. This score include 5 centauries and 31 halfcentauries. He had taken 258 catches and did 15 stumpings as a wicketkeeper.
Test Career: His test debut was in 2003 against South Africa. Overall he has played 99
tests so far and scored 6273 runs. He has scored 11 centuries and 31 half-centuries at an
average of 38.48. He is only New Zealand batsman to score only triple century. He had
taken 194 catches and made 11 stumpings.
T20 Internationals Career: He is the first and only player to score two Twenty20
International centuries so far and overall 2000 runs.
Mexico City Grand Prix 2015 clinched by duo Manu and Sumeeth
Indias mens doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy ended the season on a high
by clinching their maiden Grand Prix title with a straight-game win over Thailands Bodin
Issara and Nipitphon Puangpuapech by 22-20 21-18 in a 35-minute battle in the finals of
$50,000 Mexico Open.
Here is the list of Winners
Category
Winner
Runner up
Mens Singles
Womens Singles
Mens Doubles
Bodin Issara/Nipitphon
Puangpuapech (Thailand)
Womens Doubles
Puttita Supajirakul/Sapsiree
Taerattanachai (Thailand)
Mixed Doubles
(Malaysia)
(South Korea)
Manu and Sumeeth played a lot of Grand Prix, Grand Prix Gold and International Challenge
tournaments in 2015 to reach a career-best ranking of World No. 17
Indian-origin footballer Dhanda gets Liverpool contract
Indian-origin footballer Yan Dhanda has become the first player to sign a professional contract
with English football powerhouse Liverpool.
Highlights:
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The England youth international recently turned 17 and has entered into a two-and-ahalf-year contract with the Anfield club.
He is the second British Asian with a professional contract at the top level after Swanseas
Neil Taylor. Dhanda joined Liverpools academy in July 2013 from West Bromwich Albion
club, played for England at the Under-16 and Under-17 levels and won the up-andcoming player category at the Asian Football Awards in 2013.
ITF also announced American Serena Williams and Serbian Novak Djokovic as the
2015 ITF World champions.
Serena is named womens World champion for the 6th time, while this is
the 5thoccasion that Djokovic has received the honour.
Award Category
Winner
Sania and Hingis joined forces in March this year but proved a force to be reckoned with in 2015,
winning two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and the US Open, and seven other tournaments.
Kusal Perera handed four year ban for doping
Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera faces a four-year ban after the B sample has
tested positive for a prohibited substance.
International Cricket Council (ICC) provisionally suspended Perera after he failed an outof-competition anti-doping test in October.Sri Lanka Cricket sent back Perera from their tour
of New Zealand earlier this month while also promising to provide support for the dashing
left-handed batsman to get back on the field as soon as possible.
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No player in the history of the sport has broken through the $100m on-court earnings
barrier but world No 1 Djokovic and world No 3 Federer should reach the landmark next
year.Djokovic (28) has just over $94m in prize money while Federer has banked $97.3m.
A total of 50 referees, including supervisors and instructors, have qualified for the Olympics.
The United World Wrestling (UWW) has picked nine referees from Asia and Ashok Kumar is
the only one from India for the first time.
The referees have been selected based upon their performance during the 2015 World
Senior Wrestling Championship held at Las Vegas from September.
The event also marked the 100 years of the first published crossword whose creator was
Arthur Wynne and which appeared in the Christmas-eve edition of New York World.
Shah has been charged with an anti-doping rule violation on a sample he provided in an
in-competition test, an ICC statement announced.The test, conducted on 13 November
2015, was found to contain the presence of chlortalidone, a Prohibited Substance which
appears in Section 5 of the World Anti-Doping Agency list (in the category of Specified
Substances).
Arynas only other title triumph was at the USD 10,000 ITF Womens tournament in
Antalya, Turkey early this year, where she also won the doubles title.
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The League was the initiative of ProSportify owned by Kartikeya Sharma and Wrestling
Federation of India.
This was first season of the league which was held among 6 city-based teamswith66
wrestlers from different countries of the world.
Name
Vinesh Phogat
Odunayo Adekuoroye
Narsingh Yadav
Yogeshwar Dutt
Team
M. U. Dilli Veer
Revanta Mumbai Garuda
Bengluru Yodhas
Haryana Hammers
Rakhi(213kg)
Lalchhanhimi (210kg)
Rajwant Kaur(201kg)
V A Christopher (329kg)
Laljit Singh(317kg)
Rashpal Singh(317kg)
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match series against Zimbabwe. A series loss, however, means they will return to their
original World no.12 ranking behind Zimbabwe and Ireland.
BCCI Cricketer of the Year title bestowed upon Virat Kohli
Indias Test captain Virat Kohli will be presented with Polly Umrigar Award for BCCI cricketer
of the year and Mithali Raj will be conferred with M.A. Chidambaram Trophy forBest Woman
Cricketer of 2014-15 in the senior category while Devika Vaidya will be awarded from
the junior category.
Second time that Kohli will be honoured with the Polly Umrigar Award, after winning it in
2011-12. In his 20 ODI outings this year, Kohli managed 623 runs at an average of 36.65.
Under Kohli, the Indian team ended a 22-year wait for a series win on Sri Lankan
soil before battering South Africa to give them their first overseas loss in nine years.
Mithali, on the other hand, became the first Indian woman and second overall to complete
Karnataka State Cricket Association has been chosen the state association of the
year for achieving the treble of winning the Ranji Trophy, Irani Cup and Vijay Hazare Trophy
in the season.
Karnataka all-rounder Robin Uthappa has been picked for the Madhavrao Scindia
Award for being the highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy.
Karnatakas R Vinay Kumar and Mumbais Shardul Thaku shared the top wicket-takers
award.
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OBITUARY
Russian legendary film Director Eldar Ryazanov passed away
Film director Eldar Ryazanovwho satirized and romanticized the life of ordinary Russians in his
immensely popular comedies for almost six decades has died in Russia.
About Eldar Ryazanov :
Ryazanov directed almost 30 films, most of which became box-office hits and spawned
countless Russian catchphrases andpopular jokes.
His films ridiculed Soviet bureaucracy and lifestyle.Comedy film The Irony of Fate is
his most popular film in USSR .
Awards :
USSR State Prize in 1977.He was named as a top USSR artistry tittle in 1984. He has won
the Nika Award for Best Director in 1991.
Veteran industrialist MAM Ramaswamy passed away
Co-Founder of Chettinad Group(HQ Chennai) and former parliamentarian, MAM Ramaswamy
passed away.
About MAM Ramaswamy:
Politician from Janata Dal (Secular) party and was a Member of the Parliament of India
representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha.
Known as MAMR in political, business and sports circles and was widely known for his
philanthropic activities.
Advocated Israeli territorial concessions to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians.
Served as education minister and environment minister and led the dovish Meretz party
before he retired in 2006.
One of Indias most reputed referee in the 1960s and 1970s, Bhattacharya held the
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Supervised the finals of all top tournaments in the country, including Durand Cup,DCM
trophy and IAF Shield.
Joined the Indian Postal Services and later moved to Berne, Switerzland, to work with
Chief Informatics Service International Bureau, a UN organisation.
After 10 years, he left the job and returned to India to work on agrarian issues and
formed the Shetkari Sanghatana in the late 1970s.
He launched Swatantra Bharat Paksha in 1994 and was elected a Rajya Sabha MP in
2004.
Awarded Best Actor twice by the Andhra Nataka Kala Parishad. He was awarded the
Certificate of Producer and Teacher by the British Drama League, London in 1970.
He was the first author to receive twice the prestigious Carnegie medal in 1979
and 1980 awarded annually.
His first novel for children The Weather monger was published in 1968 and his last
book In the Palace of The Khans was published in 2012.
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1927 born served in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War.
In 1995, he received the Cross of the Order of Merits of the Federal Republic of
Germany.
In 1996 he received the Gold Medal of Honor for Music from the National Arts Club.
In 1997 he received the titles of Commander of the Legion of Honor from the French
government.
In 2001, Kurt Masur became an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music.
In 2014 received a Goldene Henne (de) award for his work in public policy.
A trainer at Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC) said that though accidents were part of any kind
of sport, yet the sudden demise of a fine jockey like Ashish and the void left by him would be
felt.
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He was appointed Chief Justice of Karnataka high court in 1984 and later transferred
to Kerala high court.
Awards:
National Citizens Award by the President of India,Karnataka Rajyotsava Award and honorary
Doctorate of Law by Karnatak University.
Veteran actress Sadhana passed away in Mumbai
Veteran Hindi film actress Sadhana known for popularising the fashionable Sadhana cut passed
away in Mumbai.
About Sadhana :
Born in 1941, the actress was one of the top actors of the 1960s and 70s. She is
remembered for her roles in blockbuster films like Love in Shimla, Hum Dono.
Popular science-fiction writer George Clayton Johnson, who penned the script for the first
Star Trek episode, The Man Trap, passed away due to cancer in Los Angeles, California.
He was known for his work on films like Jane Fondas anti-war classic Coming
Home and Sidney Poitiers race drama In the Heat of the Night.
He was recognised for his documentary work on the Emmy-winning Paul Jacobs and the
Nuclear Gang and 1970s Interviews with My Lai Veterans, for which he won an
Academy Award.
Renowned Marathi Poet & Padma Bhushan awardee Mangesh Padgaonkar passed away
Iconic Marathi poet and recipient of Padma Bhushan, Mangesh Keshav Padgaonkar has been
passed away due to brief illness.
He translated works of Mirabai and published a book Mira. He also translated works of
Kabir and Surdas in Marathi alongwith Shakespeares plays The Tempest,Julius
Ceasar and Romeo and Juliet.
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From the 1950s till 1980s, the singer had sung a number of hit songs.A hit filmAas ka
Panchhi,the peak of Sens popularity.
Some of his well-known songs includeDheere chalao zara with Lata Mangeshkar
in Aas Ka Panchhi and Humein un rahon par chalna hai in Masoom.
General Mahotra was the 13th chief of army staff of the Indian Army and served as the
army chief for three years between 1978 and 1981.
He served as the Indian ambassador to Indonesia from 1981 to 1984 and was later
appointed as the governor of Punjab from 1990-91 when militancy was at its height in
the state.
Represented the Czech Republic in 49 matches between 1994 and 2001. He was
Newcastles custodian between 1991 and 1998 and then again was in the club for a brief
stint in 2006-07.
Made 150 appearances for Newcastle between 1991 and 1998, helping them win
promotion to the top flight during the 1992-93 season.
The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia
Gandhi, President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid.
About Book :
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Semi-autobiography
It detailed Pawars experiences of political and social issues spanning 50 years, has
provided a detailed account of the reason which helped in creation of rough patches in his
relation with Rajiv Gandhi.
President of India received first copies of books Selected Speeches of the President and
Presidential Retreats
Shri Pranab Mukherjee received first copies of the books Selected Speeches of the President
Volume 3 and Presidential Retreats at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan from the PM
Shri Narendra Modi.
About Selected Speeches of the President Volume 3:
Segregated into three themes such as Award Functions, Important Days and Events
and Conferences.
Book: The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence An Insiders Account by Madhuri
Bose.
Madhuri Bose and Chandra Bose, grand-niece and grand-nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Parliament House complex.
Madhuri Bose presented a copy of her book titled The Bose Brothers and Indian
Independence An Insiders Account to the Prime Minister.
Prime Ministers Office has already initiated steps to unveil 33 secret files related to Netaji
on January 23, the birth anniversary of the freedom fighter.
The Presidential Retreats of India featuring the Rashtrapati Nilayam and The Retreat
at Mashobra was commissioned by the Presidents Secretariat and Indira Gandhi National
Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
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IMPORTANT DAYS
Dec 1 2015
Remember Day:World AIDS Day
Purpose : Toraises awareness across the world and in the community about the issues surrounding
HIV and AIDS.
Organization: WHO
Theme : Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS related deaths
Dec 2 2015
Remember Day:International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
Purpose:Anniversary of the United Nations adopting the Convention for the Suppression of the
Traffic.
Organization: UN
Theme : Women and Slavery"
Dec 3 2015
Remember Day: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Purpose:To promote awareness and activatesupport for critical issues regarding inclusion of
persons with disabilities in society and development.
Organization: UN
Theme : Inclusion matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities
Dec 4 2015
Remember Day:Navy Day
Purpose:To commemorate the courageous attack on the Karachi harbor during the Indo-Pakistan
war
Organization: India
Theme : Indian Navy Ensuring Secure Seas for a Resurgent Nation.
Dec 5 2015
Remember Day:International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
Purpose:For volunteers and organizations to celebrate their efforts, to share their values, and to
promote their work
Organization: UN
Theme : "The world is changing. Are you? Volunteer! "
Dec 7 2015
Remember Day:International Civil Aviation Day
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the President.
Organization: India
Theme : Safe and Healthy Food: Combating Food Adulteration.
Dec 25 2015 :
Remember Day: National Good Governance Day
Purpose: To mark the birth anniversary of former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Organization: India
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Reasoning Questions
Quantitative Aptitude Questions
English Questions
Computer Questions
General Aptitude
Reasoning
Letter Writing
Math Tricks
Computer Awareness
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