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RBI
1. RBI keeps key rates unchanged
RBI governor Raghuram Rajan kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.75%.
The cash reserve ratio (CRR) or the amount of deposits banks park with RBI has also been unchanged at 4
per cent.
RBI kept the growth projection for 2015-16 unchanged at 7.4 per cent with a mild downside bias.
It was the fifth bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement of the current fiscal.
2. RBI permits Foreign Portfolio Investors to buy Defaulted Bonds: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted
the Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) to buy fully or partly defaulted bonds in the repayment of principal on maturity
or principal installment in the case of amortising bond. The RBI granted the permission to the FPIs under sections
10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
3. RBI grants in-principle approval to three applicants for setting up TReDS: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
granted in-principle approval to three applicants to set up and operate Trade Receivables Discounting System
(TReDS). The three organisations have been asked to set and operate TReDS in accordance to the Guidelines issued
on 3 December 2014 under the Payment and Settlement System (PSS) Act 2007.
4. RBI issued Uniform Guidelines on Internet Banking for Cooperative Banks: Reserve Bank of India allowed
state co-operative banks (StCBs) and district central co-operative banks (DCCBs) to offer internet banking with
view only facility.
The new guidelines says that all StCBs, DCCBs and UCBs that have implemented core banking solution
(CBS) and migrated to Internet Protocol Version 6 may offer internet banking (view only) facility to their
customers, without prior approval of RBI.
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The cooperative banks offering internet banking (view only) facility to their customers should ensure that
the facility is strictly for non-transactional services.
5. Economic affairs secretary nominated to RBI central board: Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das was
nominated to the central board of directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The board is nominated by the
Union Government in keeping with the Reserve Bank of India Act for a period of four years. There are 21 members
in the board of RBI including a Governor, 4 Deputy Governors, 10 Directors, two government Official, 4 directors
are from local boards of RBI which are headquartered at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and New Delhi.
6. Deepak Singhal: Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India: Deepak Singhal has taken over as the new
Executive Director (ED) at the Reserve Bank of India.
7. The Reserve Bank of India has signed an agreement with the UK's Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial
Conduct Authority for supervisory cooperation and exchange of information. The central bank had entered into an
MoU for supervisory co-operation with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the UK in July, 2012.
8. RBI to inject Rs. 10,000 cr to ease liquidity crunch: The Reserve Bank of India will infuse Rs 10,000 crore to
ease a liquidity crunch in the money markets by buying government securities, and hold a repo auction for Rs
25,000 crore on 11 Dec 2015. Open Market Operations are market operations conducted by RBI by sale or purchase
of government securities in order to adjust the liquidity conditions in the market. The tight liquidity has pushed up
overnight rates above 7 per cent on some occasions. The central bank targets the call money rate to hover around the
policy rate which is 6.75 per cent.
9. RBI revises Priority Sector Lending norms for Regional Rural Banks
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Regional
Rural Banks (RRBs).
As per the new norms released, rural banks will have to advance 18 percent of 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. The new norms will be implemented from January 1, 2016 and
will be monitored on a quarterly and annual basis.
Important features
Medium enterprises, social infrastructure and renewable energy were included under PSL category.
Agri-Loans: Loans to individual farmers, for the purpose of PSL, was increased to 50 lakh rupees from the
present 10 lakh rupees against pledge/ hypothecation of agricultural produce (including warehouse receipts)
for a period not exceeding 12 months.
Aggregate limit loan was doubled to 2 crore rupees per borrower in the case of loans, among others, to
corporate farmers, farmers producers organisations/ companies of individual farmers, farmers partnership
firms/ co-operatives engaged in agriculture and allied activities.
Housing Loans: The RBI has lowered the quantum of loans that will qualify as PSL. Against the earlier
limit of 25 lakh rupees, loans to individuals up to 20 lakh rupees only are considered as PSL as per revised
guidelines. Housing loans to banks own employees will be excluded from this limit.
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10. RBI liable to disclose information about banks under RTI Act: Supreme Court: 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.
11. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued fresh norms on how banks ought to calculate their lending rates a
move which is aimed at lowering borrowing costs at a time when lenders are reluctant to do so. The new method
Marginal Cost of funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) will replace the present base rate system.
MCLR, as the name suggests, mandates banks to calculate the lending rate taking into account the marginal
cost of funds.
In the base rate system, it was left to the individual banks as to what cost it used, which typically was the
average cost of funds.
RBI has mandated that MCLR will be a tenor-linked benchmark, and banks should arrive at the MCLR of a
particular maturity by adding the corresponding tenor premium to the sum of marginal cost of funds, cost
of maintaining cash reserve ratio and operating costs.
This new framework will come into effect from April 1, 2016.
HIGHLIGHTS OF UNION BUDGET 2015-16

TAXATION
Abolition of Wealth Tax.

Additional 2% surcharge for the super-rich with income of over Rs.1 crore.
Rate of corporate tax to be reduced to 25% over next four years.
No change in tax slabs.
Total exemption of up to Rs. 4,44,200 can be achieved.
100% exemption for contribution to Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR.
Service tax increased to14 per cent.
AGRICULTURE
Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.

Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.
Farmers credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.

Tax-free bonds for projects in rail road and irrigation.
PPP model for infrastructure development to be revitalized and govt. to bear majority of the risk.
Atal Innovation Mission to be established to draw on expertise of entrepreneurs, and researchers to foster scientific
innovations; allocation of`150 crore.
Govt. proposes to set up 5 ultra-mega power projects, each of 4000MW.
EDUCATION
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AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.
IIT in Karnataka; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT.
PG institute of Horticulture in Amritsar.
Kerala to have University of Disability Studies.
Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.
IIM for Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.
DEFENCE
Allocation of Rs. 2,46,726 crore; an increase of 9.87 per cent over last year.
Focus on Make in India for quick manufacturing of Defence equipment.
WELFARE SCHEMES
GST and JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile) to improve quality of life and to pass benefits to
common man.
Six crore toilets across the country under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
MUDRA bank will refinance micro finance orgs. to encourage first generation SC/ST entrepreneurs.
Housing for all by 2020.
Upgradation 80,000 secondary schools.
DBT will be further be expanded from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.
For the Atal Pension Yojana, govt. will contribute 50% of the premium limited to ` 1,000 a year.
New scheme for physical aids and assisted living devices for people aged over 80.
Govt. to use Rs. 9,000 crore unclaimed funds in PPF/EPF for Senior Citizens Fund.
Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA.
Govt. to create universal social security system for all Indians.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.

Renewable energy target for 2022: 100K MW in solar; 60K MW in wind; 10K MW in biomass and 5K MW in
small hydro
TOURISM
Develpoment schemes for churches and convents in old Goa; Hampi, Elephanta caves, Forests of Rajasthan, Leh
palace, Varanasi , Jallianwala Bagh, Qutb Shahi tombs at Hyderabad to be under the new toursim scheme.
Visa on Arrival for 150 countries.
GOLD
Sovereign Gold Bond, as an alternative to purchasing metal gold.

New scheme for depositors of gold to earn interest and jewellers to obtain loans on their metal accounts.
To develop an Indian gold voin, which will carry the Ashok Chakra on its face, to reduce the demand for foreign
coins and recycle the gold available in the country.
FINANCIAL SECTOR
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Forward Markets Commission to be merged with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
NBFCs registered with the RBI and having asset size of Rs. 500 crore and above to be considered as financial
institution under SARFAESI Act, 2002, enabling them to fund SME and mid-corporate businesses.
A permanent Establishment norm to be modified to that mere presence of offshore fund managers in the country
does not lead to adverse tax consequences.
Some major points of the rail budget are-
No increase in fairs for daily passengers but railway freight hiked 10% for urea, 2.7% for cement and 6.3% for coal,
0.8% for iron and steel.
No new trains will announced for this current year.
Increasein the number of bio toilets and vacuum toilets like airplane in trains.
Water wending machines will installed on stations to arrange drinking water for passengers.
'Operation 5 minutes', where in passengers traveling unreserved can purchase a ticket in 5 minutes. He
also announced to launch mobile app for purchase of unreserved tickets.
For security and convenience of passengers he announced two 24*7helplines 138 for general complaint and 183 for
security complaints.
On priority basis Prabhu announces to install Surveillance cameras in ladies compartments and selected coaches for
women's safety because Nari-Surakasha is major issue for everyone in previous years.
Over 400 railway stations will lashed with Wi-fi in coming year,he alsoannounced to give mobile charging facility
to all coaches including general coaches.
Speed on nine railway corridors to go up to 200 km per hour.It will helptrains to increase their average speed.
Booking facility of Wheel chairs for senior citizen will be available through online.
Prabhu introduces satellite railway terminals in major cities and centrally managed Rail Display Network is
expected to be introduced in over 2K stations over the next 2 years.
Railways will also going to establish Four Railway Research Centres in four universities.
Cleanliness also got priority in Prabhus budget he announce Swach-Rail scheme.
To make train and stations clean ,this scheme is launched under Swach Bharat Abhiyan. Under Swach-Rail
scheme railways are going to setupnew department of cleanliness and going to engage professional agencies for
training of cleaning staffs on 650 major stations.
Railway is going to setup Alarm announcing system at no man crossing with help of IIT Kanpur.
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ECONOMY
1. World Bank approves $1.5b to support clean India campaign: The World Bank has approved a $1.5 billion
loan for the ambitious clean India campaign to support the government in its efforts to ensure all citizens in rural
areas have access to improved sanitation and end the practice of open defecation by 2019. The loan will be used for
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Support Operation Project.
2. SBIs new debit cards to have EMV chip, pin security: Countrys largest lender State Bank of India will issue
EMV chip and pin based debit cards to its new customers to ensure enhanced secure transactions. EMV chip and pin
feature protects against skimming and card transaction frauds. All SBI customers opening accounts with the bank
hence forth will receive this EMV chip and pin-based debit cards. Existing customers can also request for upgrading
their card by visiting their home branch against payment of nominal fee. With this, SBI become the first large bank
to issue 100 per cent EMV cards compliant with RBIs directive on Security and Risk Mitigation Measures for Card
Present and Electronic Payment Transactions. The latest offering will allow consumers to transact securely at Point
of Sale terminals.
3. IDFC Bank ties up with TCS for core banking solutions: IDFC Bank has inked a pact with IT services major
Tata Consultancy Services to use TCS BaNCS for its core banking solutions. IDFC Bank started operations on
October 1 this year with 23 branches, powered by TCS BaNCS. In about nine months, IDFC Bank has implemented
solutions for core banking, corporate loan origination, financial inclusion and Global Limits and Exposure
Management (GLEM) from the TCS BaNCS suite and has integrated them with a host of additional systems within
the bank.
4. Dr Arvind Subramanian Committee suggests GST rate of 17-18 per cent: Chief Economic Advisor Dr
Arvind Subramanian led Committee has recommended standard rate for Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 17 to 18
per cent. The term revenue neutral rate (RNR) will refer to that single rate, which preserves revenue at desired
(current) levels. In practice, there will be a structure of rates, but for the sake of analytical clarity and precision it is
appropriate to think of the RNR as a single rate. It is a given single rate that gets converted into a whole rate
structure, depending on policy choices about exemptions, what commodities to charge at a lower rate (if at all), and
what to charge at a very high rate. Revenue-neutral rate of 15 to 15.5 per cent.
5. IMF names yuan global reserve currency: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund decided to
include the Chinese currency, the renminbi (yuan), into its basket of currencies that make up the IMFs Special
Drawing Right (SDR). The decision was taken during the IMFs five-yearly review of the basket of currencies. The
SDR, created by the IMF in 1969, functions like an international reserve, allowing member countries to draw upon
any of the reserve currencies in the basket. At present, these include the dollar, euro, yen, and pound sterling. The
SDR is an international reserve asset which the IMF uses to supplement its member countries reserves. The SDRs
value is based on the basket of the four international currencies and SDRs can be exchanged for freely usable
currencies.
6. The Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the USA, on 16 December 2015 increased interest rate
by 0.25 percent. A decision in this regard was 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.
7. Transactions above Rs. 2 lakh need PAN: The government has made it mandatory to quote PAN (permanent
account number) for all transactions in excess of Rs.2 lakh, regardless of the mode of payment, to curb black money.
The new rule, effective from January 1, will cover purchases of all goods or services, such as say gold jewellery or
furniture. This includes all payments made through cash, cheques or debit or credit cards. In the case of immovable
property, where quoting PAN is currently required for transactions of Rs.5 lakh, the government has decided to raise
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the monetary limits to Rs.10 lakh. It raised the monetary limit to Rs.50,000 from Rs.25,000 in the case of hotel or
restaurant bills paid at any one time, and for bills on account of overseas travel. Opening of a no-frills bank account,
such as a Jan Dhan account, will not require PAN.
8. LIC launches post-retirement plan Jeevan Akshay IV: Life Insurance Corporation of India has launched an
immediate annuity plan, Jeevan Akshay IV, for post-retirement planning. According to the plan, an individual aged
between 30 years and 85 years can make a lump sum investment of minimum Rs.1 lakh. The plan offers various
annuity options such as fixed regular income post-retirement, annuity payable for 5/10/15/20 years and annuity for
life for self and spouse.
9. Eight Core Industries of IIP grew by 3.2% in September 2015
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 2 November 2015 announced that the eight
core industries of Index Industrial Production (IIP) grew by 3.2 percent in September 2015 as compared to
2.6 percent in September 2014.
The growth was calculated with base year 2004-05 and was the highest in four months since May 2015 that
saw 4.4 percent growth.
However, the cumulative growth rate in the April-September period of FY 2015-16 was pegged at 2.3 per
cent, lower than 5.1 per cent registered during the same period in FY 2014-15.
The eight core industries coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and
electricity comprises about 38 per cent of IIP.
10. Union Government launches Three Gold Schemes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three gold related scheme viz Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS),
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme (SGBS) and Indian Gold Coins (IGC).
To know more about these, Refer http://bsc4success.com/gold-schemes/
11. September IIP slumps to 3.6%, October CPI rises to 5%
The annual industrial output grew at a slower-than-expected pace of 3.6% in September, dampened by a
slower expansion in the mining sector.
IIP was revised to 6.3% in August.
Also, the retail inflation climbed to a four-month high in October as food prices escalated on supply
deficiency in pulses.
Consumer price index based inflation, the primary gauge of central bank, rose to 5% in October versus
4.41% in the previous month, data released by the central statistics office showed.
However it was more favourable than RBIs comfort zone of 6% by January 2016.
RBI cut repo rate for the fourth time this year in September, leaving repo rate at 6.75%.
The retail food inflation shot up to 5.25% in October versus 3.88% in August mainly on account of supply
shortage in pulses.
Food & beverage inflation in October was up at 5.36%.
Pulses recorded a 33.25% inflation. The government on Thursday offloaded over 4,660 tonnes of seized
pulses in the market to check prices and boost availability.
The fuel inflation eased marginally to 5.32% in October versus 5.42% in the previous month.
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12. Axis Bank opened a representative office in Dhaka, capital city of Bangladesh. Axis Bank has already
established its presence through branches in Singapore, Hong Kong, DIFC Dubai, Colombo and Shanghai, with
representative offices at Dubai and Abu Dhabi and a wholly-owned subsidiary in the United Kingdom.
13. Japanese insurer Nippon Life Insurance (NLI) on 25 Nov 2015 signed definitive agreements to increase its stake
in Reliance LifeInsurance (RLIC), a part of Reliance Capital, from existing 26% to 49%. The Japanese company
will be investing an aggregate value of Rs 2,265 crore to acquire an additional 23% stake in Reliance Life Insurance
to reach a 49% stake.
14. Foodpanda to tie-up with IRCTC
15. Wipro to buy IT services firm Cellent AG for Rs. 514 crore: Indias third largest IT services company, Wipro
has agreed to acquire German IT consulting and software services firm Cellent AG from Landesbank BadenWuerttemberg for for 73.5 million (about Rs.514 crore), as the Bengaluru based IT services company looks to
speed up growth in continental Europe.
16. DuPont and Dow Chemical Company announced to merge to form DowDuPont
The merged company will be named DowDuPont and it will have a combined market capitalization of
approximately 130 billion dollars at announcement.
17. Infosys invests USD 3 mn in sports startup WHOOP: IT major Infosys has invested USD 3 million in U.S.based wearable device startup firm WHOOP to pick up a minority shareholding in the company.
18. Tech Mahindra, M&M to buy Pininfarina: Tech Mahindra and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, part of the
Mahindra Group, have agreed to buy Italian car designer Pininfarina S.p.A. in an all-cash deal. Tech Mahindra and
Mahindra and Mahindra have formed an 60:40 joint venture for the acquisition of Milan-listed Pininfarina, which
has designed cars for Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls-Royce and Cadillac. The joint venture would acquire 76.06 per cent in
Pininfarina from its controlling shareholder Pincar S.r.l at a price of euro 1.1 per share or 25.3 million euros.
19. VentureNursery joins hands with Paris&Co: Mumbai-based start-up accelerator VentureNursery has
partnered with Paris&Co, the economic development and innovation agency of the French capital city, to help its
graduating companies explore the French market.
20. Blackstone buys General Atlantic stake in IBS Software: Blackstone, a global investment and private equity
major, has made an investment of around $170 milion (Rs.1,132 crore) in Thiruvanthapuram-based travel and
transporation technology provider IBS Software.
21. R-Infra acquires 17% more in Pipavav Defence
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra) has acquired an additional 17 per cent stake in Pipavav
Defence and Offshore Engineering Co Ltd (PDOC) for an estimated Rs 850 crore through an open offer,
taking its total holding to nearly 35 per cent and acquiring sole management control of the company.
22. Fokker Technologies partners Aequs to make parts for Boeing helicopter: Fokker Technologies, a division
of GKN Aerospace and Aequs of India signed a LTA (long term agreement) for the supply of machined components
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for Boeings Chinook helicopter.Under the agreement, signed at the Boeing India Supplier Conference in
Hyderabad, Aequs will supply machined detail parts made in India for the heavy lift helicopter.
23. PFRDA switches to PAN for online enrolment under NPS: Pension fund regulatory body PFRDA has started
using PAN instead of Aadhaar for validation of new customers who can now be registered online under the National
Pension System (NPS) scheme.
PAN (permanent account number) cards will be used instead of Aadhaar for online opening of an NPS
account. An online facility for opening of an NPS account based on verification of PAN and bank KYC has
commenced, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA) Chairman Hemant
G. Contractor told.
The Aadhaar-based online NPS account facility was started on a pilot basis, but following a Supreme Court
judgment on usage of Aadhaar, it had to be discontinued.
The Supreme Court in October lifted restrictions on usage of Aadhaar card for social welfare schemes and
said implementing agencies can use Aadhaar number voluntarily.
Mr. Contractor said 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.
24. BSE-listed companies spend $1 billion on CSR: Nearly 1,200 companies listed on the BSE together spent one
billion dollars or Rs.6,400 crore towards corporate social responsibility activities in 2014-15, with majority of funds
utilised for education, skills, health and sanitation sector, according to a report.
Under the new Companies Act, a certain class of profitable companies must spend every year at least 2 per
cent of their average net profit over the preceding three years on CSR.
The norms, which are applicable on a 1,294 BSE-listed companies, came into effect starting April 2014.
Within the first year of the legislation coming into effect, the study found Rs.6,400 crore has been spent for
CSR activities with almost 55 per cent being channelled to education, skills, livelihoods, health and
sanitation. It added that only about two per cent of the funds have gone to Prime Ministers relief fund.
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NEWS (NATIONAL)
1. Union Cabinet: MoU on Tourism with Colombia
The MoU will be signed between the Union Tourism Ministry and Ministry of Trade Industry and Tourism
of Colombia.
By signing this MoU, it will help to consider the mutual benefits in the field of tourism sector. It would also
enable both countries to mutually develop and promote tourism in each others country for the mutual
economic development. Both countries enjoy warm and cordial relations, which can be ascribed to
considerable coincidence of views on global issues and close collaboration in various multilateral forums.
2. President launches IMPRINT India initiative of IITs and IISC
President Pranab Mukherjee launched Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (Imprint) India - a
joint initiative of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
Imprint India seeks to develop a road map for research to solve major engineering and technology
challenges in 10 technology domains relevant for the country.
The move will motivate technical institutions to conduct research in areas where the country is heavily
dependent on foreign technology. T
hese include health care, information and communication technology, energy, sustainable habitat, nanotechnology hardware, water resources and river systems, advanced materials, manufacturing, security &
defence, and environment & climate.
Imprint would help channelise the various sectors to work towards a common goal of making the country
grow in different development sectors.
The objectives of the initiative include identifying areas of relevance to society that require innovation,
ensuring higher funding support for research into these areas, and measuring the researchs impact on
peoples standard of living.
3. Union Cabinet: UDAY Scheme for Discoms
The Union Cabinet approved a reform package for loss-making electricity utilities, allowing for the
transfer of 75 per cent of the about Rs 4.3 lakh crore outstanding debt incurred by stressed discoms to
States debt.
The scheme, named Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), will be optional for States.
What will UDAY do?
States shall take over 75 per cent of discom debt as on September 30, 2015 over two years 50 per cent of
discom debt shall be taken over in 2015-16 and 25 per cent in 2016-17.
The decision is also expected to help the banks in managing their bad loans.
The Government will not include in the calculation of fiscal deficit of respective States in the financial
years 2015-16 and 2016-17 the debt taken over by them under the scheme.
The future losses of Discoms States will take over in a graded manner all the way up to 2020-21.
The balance discom debt outstanding with banks not taken over by States will be converted into loans or
bonds. The bonds will carry interest rate of not more than the banks base rate plus 0.1 per cent.
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States accepting UDAY and performing as per operational milestones will be given additional / priority
funding through Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, Integrated Power Development Scheme, Power
Sector Development Fund (PSDF) or other such schemes of Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy.
States not meeting the operational milestones will be liable to forfeit their claim on IPDS and DDUGJY
grants.
4. An Indian culture week was inaugurated today at China Shanghai International Arts Festival where India has been
designated as a guest country for the first time. The India culture week called "India in Shanghai" was inaugurated
by Indian Ambassador Ashok K Kantha along with Zhong Yanqun, Vice Chair of The Standing Committee of the
Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, Indian Consulate in Shanghai said in a statement. The is the first time the
17-year history of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival that India was designated as the guest country
during the festival.
5. Govt to impose 0.5% Swachh Bharat cess on services from November 15
All services, including air travel, telephony, eating out and banking will become expensive from November
15 as the government decided to impose a 0.5 per cent cess on all taxable services to fund the Swachh
Bharat programme.
The additional cess would be over and above the 14 per cent Service Tax rate which is already being levied
and may yield the government an additional about Rs 400 crore during the remainder of the current fiscal.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in Budget 2015-16 proposed to levy a Swachh Bharat cess of up to 2 per
cent "on all or certain services, if need arises".
The decision to impose 0.5 per cent cess will translate into a tax of 50 paise only on every Rs 100 worth of
taxable services.
6. Union Government releases the notification regarding implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP)
The notification is in tune with the modalities for implementation announced on 5 September 2015.
The benefit will be given with effect from 1 July 2014 to the ex-service men of all the three forces.
Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected.
Pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as
the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013.
In future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years.
Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments.
All widows, including war widows, will be paid arrears in one instalment.
The estimated cost to the exchequer would be 8000 to 10000 crore at present, and will increase further in
future.
To know more about OROP, Refer http://bsc4success.com/one-rank-one-pension/

7. Union Government launches E-Pathshala, Saransh, Shaala Siddhi Portals
The Union HRD Minister Smt Smriti Irani while speaking at the edNEXT, - National Conference on ICT in
School Education at New Delhi today said that use of ICT will strengthen school education system.
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The event showcased various ICT based initiatives in School Education. During the Conference, ePathshala, Saaransh, and National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation Framework (Shala
Siddhi) were launched. All these are web portal/ mobile app.
Further, Shala Darpan, MDM-IVRS and Ekta project from Alwar, Rajasthan were also show-cased.
E-Pathshala, a web portal which hosts educational resources for Students, Teachers, Parents, researchers
and educators, is available through especially developed mobile app interface on Android, IOS and
windows platforms for wider access and contains textbooks and other e-books as E-Pub 3.0 and Flipbooks
in English, Hindi and Urdu.
Shaala Siddhi is a comprehensive instrument for school evaluation which enables the schools to evaluate
their performance in more focused and strategic manner to facilitate them to make professional judgement
for continuous improvement. The web-portal of the framework will help all schools to assess themselves
and the results can be seen by all enabling them to provide feedback. The initiative has already been
successfully piloted in four districts of Tamil Nadu.
Saransh is a tool which allows the schools to identify areas of improvement in students, teachers and
curriculum to facilitate and implement change. The platform is presently available for classes 9th to 12th
and provides a comprehensive overview of standard 10th performance since 2007 and standard 12th
performance since 2009 till the current academic session. Presently, results of CBSE are available on this
portal/app.
The event also showcased other ICT initiatives including the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system to
monitor the daily implementation of Mid Day Meal scheme and Shaala Darpan, an integrated platform to
address all academic and administrative requirements of schools, teachers, parents and students.
8. The Union Government signed 273 million US dollar loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to
continue improving rural roads in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
The loan represents the third tranche and the last tranche of the 800 million US dollars financing facility under
the Rural Connectivity Investment Program.
9. Indian Railways have taken a giant leap forward in Make in India drive by issuing the Letter of Award for
setting up of Diesel Locomotive Factory (DLF) at Marhowra, Saran district, Bihar and procurement and
maintenance of mainline Diesel Electric Locomotives to M/s GE Global Sourcing India Pvt. Limited on
9th November, 2015. The Railways Ministry will hold 26 percent equity in the JV Company subject to a maximum
of 100 crore rupees. The factory is expected to be established within a period of three years at a cost of about 1000
crore rupees.
10. First international film festival for the persons with disabilities (IFFPD) will be held in Delhi from 1st to 3rd
December 2015. A total of 40 films (10 feature films, 16 short films and14 documentaries) will be screened during
the three days festival. These films have been selected out of 541 entries received from India and abroad.
11. One of India's biggest food festival, the International Terra Madre or Slow Food festival, bringing in cuisine of
indigenous tribes from nearly 60 countries kick-started.
12. All India Radios Programme on child labour has bagged the first prize under the Community Service
Announcement category at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Prizes 2015. The Malayamal programme,
titled "Nilkkam Ivarkkoppam" (Stand Beside Them), is part of an initiative taken up by Biju Mathew, Programme
Executive at AIR Thiruvananthapuram on behalf of All India Radio, said a statement by the public broadcaster.
13. The book titled Rebooting India: Realizing a Billion Aspirations authored by Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah
was released on 4 November 2015. The book talks about the demographic dividend of India, which is expected to be
the worlds youngest country by 2020 with 64 percent (roughly 800 million) of its population of working age.
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Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and former CEO of Infosys Technologies, was founding chairman of the Unique
Identification Authority of India (Aadhaar). Viral Shah worked at the intersection of policy and technology at the
Unique Identification Authority of India, where he led the design of the government's payments and subsidy
platforms using Aadhaar
14. A leading UAE-based bank, Emirates NBD has announced a partnership deal with State Bank of India to help
NRI customers in the Gulf carry out their remittances instantly and more conveniently.
Emirates NBD has expanded its partner bank network in India to include State Bank of India (SBI) for the
DirectRemit 60 seconds remittance platform.
With this partnership, the banks Non-Resident Indian (NRI) customers, who also bank with SBI, can now
avail themselves of the fastest remittance service in the UAE more easily.
The tie-up with SBI will help strengthen Emirates NBDs DirectRemit platform which is set to benefit a
large additional customer base in the UAE.
SBI has a large customer base in the UAE and this partnership will help all our customers to carry out
remittances instantly and conveniently. With the pick-up in Indias economic growth, we will see the pace
of remittances growing much faster than earlier, Bhattacharya said
With DirectRemit, customers will be able to transfer funds back home instantly and can also make home
loan payments, pay bills, remit insurance premiums or carry out investments.
15. PM Modi in UK
British and Indian companies will sign collaborations worth more than 9 billion ($13.7 billion) during
Prime Minister Narendra Modis three-day visit to the UK, his British counterpart David Cameron as the
two nations signed a civil nuclear deal, pledged to collaborate in defence and cyber security and geared up
to launch a railway rupee bond worth more than 1 billion.
Modi described the conclusion of the civil nuclear pact as a symbol of our mutual trust and our resolve to
combat climate change.
Modi highlighted plans for India to use London as a financial base for fund-raising.
After arriving in the British capital on a much-anticipated visit, Modi was given a guard of honour by the
48-member F Company Scots guard accompanied by the regimental band of Irish guards. Cameron came
out from 10 Downing Street to receive Modi before the two leaders started a nearly 90-minute meeting at
the office of the British Prime Minister.
The UK ranks 18th in the list of Indias top 25 trading partners and two-way trade in 2014-15 stood at
$14.34 billion.
The UK is the third largest inward investor in India, after Mauritius and Singapore, with a cumulative
investment of $22.26 billion between 2000 and 2015.
In a speech to the British parliament later on Thursday, Modi spoke of Indias commitment to individual
freedoms and rights and hoped economic ties between the two nations would grow by leaps and bounds,
with cooperation in the areas of defence equipment, science and technology, and reneweable and nuclear
energy.
Britain was the first Western country to end a visa ban on Modi, imposed after the 2002 riots in Gujarat,
when he was chief minister of the state.
16. India has made its debut in the Top 100 universitiesranking in engineering and technology, published by The
Times Higher Education, a weekly magazine based in London. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, was at the
99th spot. The Top 10 remains dominated by American institutions, with Stanford, CalTech and MIT the top three.
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17. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 35th India International Trade Fair 2015 at New
Delhi. Theme of 2015 edition of IITF is Make in India in order to encourage companies to manufacture their
products in India.
18. Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda launched the countrys first Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for
Treatment (AMRIT) programme.
The programme is aimed at lowering treatment cost of cancer and cardio-vascular diseases.
The countrys first AMRIT outlet has been inaugurated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) where drugs will be sold at highly discounted rates.
Under the programme, 148 cardiac implants will be given from the centre and sold here and their cost will
be reduced by 50 to 60 per cent.
The pilot AMRIT oultlet will be managed by the government-owned HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL), which will
sell both drugs and implants at significant discount on market rates.
These drugs and implants will be sold based upon authentic prescriptions from doctors to AIIMS patients
and also patients availing treatment at other hospitals.
19. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has declared Naga militant outfit National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (Khaplang) formally known as NSCN (K) as a terrorist organization. In this regard MHA has issued an
official gazette notification mentioning that NSCN (K) and all its formations and front organisations have been
declared as a terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
20. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a BR Ambedkar memorial in a building, where Ambedkar had
stayed in 1921-22 when he was studying at the London School of Economics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also
unveiled a Basaveshwara Statue at Lambeth in London. Basaveshwara (1105-1167 AD) was a great philosopher and
social reformer who had fought against social evils of his time, and worked for the strengthening of democracy at
the grassroots.
21. Union Government has approved Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Action
Plans for 81 cities in 5 states with total project outlay of 5,748 crore rupees. The approved cities in 5 states are Tamil
Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Mizoram. The funds will be used to enhance basic infrastructure
including water supply and sewerage connections in these 5 states for the year 2015-16.
22. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalties upon 3 Airlines for concerted action in fixing
and revising Fuel Surcharge (FSC) for transporting cargo. These three Airlines are Jet Airways (India) Ltd,
InterGlobe Aviation Limited and Spice Jet Limited.
23. German language will now be taught as an additional foreign language in KVs in conformity with the National
Education Policy, 1986. The approval also gives green signal to promotion of teaching of Modern Indian Languages
in Germany. German was earlier being taught in KVs but last year the Board of Governors (BoG) of the Kendriya
Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), headed by HRD minister Smriti Irani, had in its meeting on October 27 decided to
discontinue the teaching of German language as an option to Sanskrit.
24. BBCs list of 100 most aspirational women was announced on Wednesday. Making a mark on the global map,
seven Indian personalities have made it to BBCs list of 100 most aspirational women. They are Asha Bhosle
(singer), Sania Mirza (tennis star), Kamini Kaushal (veteran actress), Rimppi Kumari (farmer), Smriti Nagpal,
(entrepreneur), Mumtaz Shaikh (campaigner), and Kanika Tekriwal (entrepreneur).
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25. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 November 2015 gave its approval for
the ratification and submitting of the Articles of Agreement (AoA) of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB). India will be the second-biggest shareholder with 8.4 percent, followed by Russia, which will have a 6.5
percent stake.
26. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its nod
to four rail line projects in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh with the approximate cost of around 8351 crore
rupees. The four rail line projects are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Third and fourth lines between Budhapank and Salegaon via Rajathgarh Railway Line
Doubling of Kottavalasa-Koraput Railway line
Doubling of Koraput-Singapur Road Railway line
Doubling of Jagdalpur-Koraput Railway line
27. 7th Central Pay Commission submits its report; moots 23.55% hike
The 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) headed by Justice AK Mathur submitted its report on 19
November 2015 to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The commission recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees. The
recommended pay revision will come into effect from 1 January 2016.
Recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission
Recommends 23.55 per cent increase in pay and allowances.

Recommendations to be implemented from January 1, 2016.
Minimum pay fixed at Rs 18,000 per month; Maximum pay at Rs 2.25 lakh.
The rate of annual increment for employees will be 3 percent.
The increase in pay will be 16 percent, increase in allowances will be 63 percent and increase in pension
will be 24 percent.
One Rank One Pension proposed for civilian government employees on line of OROP for armed forces
Ceiling of gratuity enhanced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh; ceiling on gratuity to be raised by 25 per cent
whenever DA rises by 50 per cent
Cabinet Secretary to get Rs 2.5 lakh as against Rs 90,000 per month pay band currently
Financial impact of implementing recommendations will be Rs 1.02 lakh crore Rs 73,650 crore to be
borne by Central Budget and Rs 28,450 crore by Railway Budget.
Total impact of Commissions recommendation to raise the ratio of expenditure on salary and wages to
GDP by 0.65 percentage points to 0.7 per cent
Military Service Pay (MSP), which is a compensation for the various aspects of military service, will be
admissible to the defence forces personnel only. MSP for service officers more than doubled to Rs 15,500
per month from Rs 6,000 currently; for nursing officers to Rs 10,800 from Rs 4,200; for JCO/ORs to Rs
5,200 from Rs 2,000 and for non-combatants to Rs 3,600 from Rs 1,000.
Short service commissioned officers will be allowed to exit the armed forces at any point in time between 7
to 10 years of service.
Commission recommends abolishing 52 allowances; another 36 allowances subsumed in existing
allowances or in newly proposed allowances.
Recommendations will impact 47 lakh serving govt employees, 52 lakh pensioners, including defence
personnel.
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The 7th Central Pay Commission headed by Justice A K Mathur was set up on 28 February 2014 by then Union
Government to revise remuneration of employees and pensioners of central government including Defence and
Railways.
The other members of the Commission were: Vivek Rae (full time Member), Dr. Ratin Roy (part time member)
and Meena Agarwal (Secretary).The government constitutes the Pay Commission almost every 10 years to revise
the pay scale of its employees and often these are adopted by states after some modifications.
The 6th Central Pay commission was constituted under the Chairmanship of BN Srikrishna in October 2006.
28. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was proclaimed a community through a declaration
signed by the ASEAN leaders at its 27th Summit here on 22 Nov 2015. The focus of ASEAN 2025 will be on
strengthening the community on political, economic and socio-cultural fronts, the grouping stated. While the
Political-Security Community aims at maintaining the associations centrality in regional mechanisms, the SocioCultural Community will focus on promoting a high quality life and equitable access to opportunities for all.
29. The Home Ministries of India and China have agreed to be only a phone call away from each other, by deciding
to establish missing telecom links, as part of a broader security engagement between the two neighbours.
30. India and Singapore signed 10 bilateral agreements including a joint declaration on 'strategic partnership' and
pacts for enhanced cooperation in areas like defence, cyber security and civil aviation, as Prime Minister Narendra
Modi met his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam. The two
Prime Ministers also released commemorative stamps on Rashtrapati Bhawan and Istana (the official residence and
office of the President of Singapore).
31. Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on 23 November 2015 inaugurated e-lala, an e-commerce portal
of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in New Delhi. The e-lala initiative is aimed at promoting the interests
of 5.77 crore small businesses in the context of rapid expansion of e-commerce in the country.
32. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on bilateral cooperation and technical assistance. The
MoU was signed by UK Sinha, Chairman, SEBI and Dr M Khairul Hossain, Chairman, BSEC at Dhaka,
Bangladesh. The MoU seeks to promote further development of economic links and cooperation between the two
signatories. It aims at enhancing investor protection and creating conditions for an effective development of
securities markets in the two countries.
33. Union Agriculture and Farmers welfare Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh proposed an Umbrella Scheme 'Blue
Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries with an outlay of Rs. 3000 crore' on World
fisheries Day-2015 observed on 21 Nov 2015. This umbrella scheme will cover inland fisheries, aquaculture,
marine fisheries including deep sea fishing, mari-culture and all activities undertaken by the National Fisheries
Development Board (NFDB) towards realizing Blue Revolution.
34. 26th November being observed as the first 'Constitution Day'
The first Constitution Day is being observed on 26th November to spread awareness of Indian Constitution
and its architecture Dr. B R Ambedkar.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people of India, on the historic occasion of 1st
Constitution Day. The Prime Minister saluted Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar for his contribution to Indian
Constitution.
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He appealed to countrymen to uphold the ideals and values of our Constitution and create an India that will
make it's founding fathers very proud.
2015 Constitution Day is the first edition of this day and part of year-long nationwide celebrations of 125th
birth Anniversary of Dr. B R Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Constituent Assembly.
Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) is the nodal Ministry for celebration of
Constitution Day.
On the day in 1949, the constitution was adopted which came into force on January 26, 1950 marking the
beginning of a new era in the history of India.
PM Modi had declared 26 November as Constitution Day after laying the foundation stone of Dr
Ambedkar Memorial at Indu Mills Compound in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 12 October 2015.
35. The government has extended the usage criterion of the RuPay debit cards in order to avail of the in-built
insurance cover. Earlier, cardholders had to use the card within 45 days prior to claim the insurance claim. This has
now been extended to 90 days. The National Payment Corporation has extended the usage clause to 90 days for
RuPay Classic cardholders from November 25. Only accidents arising on or after November 25 will be considered
for the extended period. Claim intimations on accidents having occurred before November 25 will remain under the
previous eligibility criterion of 45 days.
36. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into 11 more unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements
(APAs) with Indian subsidiaries of foreign companies operating in various segments of the economy.
37. Union Government to roll out BS V norms from April 1, 2019
The Union government has advanced the date for implementation of the roll out of Bharat Stage (BS) stage
V and VI emission norms for four-wheelers by three years with an aim to control the emission by four
wheelers.
The union road transport and highways ministry has issued the draft notification to roll out the BS-V norms
from April 1,2019 and BS-VI norms from April 1, 2021 onwards as per the Auto Fuel Policy, 2003.
As per the roadmap earlier laid down by the Auto Fuel Policy, BS-V norms were to be implemented from
April 1, 2022 and BS-VI from April 1, 2024.
BS norms aim at substantial reduction in NOx/4C levels. Bharat stage (BS) norms are emission standards
decided by the government to regulate the amount of air pollutants from vehicles.
They were adopted in line with European regulation standard Euro norms in 2000. So far, 4 states of
Bharat stage (BS) norms have been issued by government.
In each stage certain limit is specified on the released pollutants and in the succeeding higher stages, the BS
norms reduces the limit of pollutant emission.
Issued BS stages:
Standard
1.
2.
3.
4.
Reference
Bharat Stage II Euro 2

Bharat Stage III Euro 3
Bharat Stage IV Euro 4
Bharat Stage V Euro 5
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Date
1 April 2005
1 April 2010
1 April 2012
1 April 2017 (proposed)
38. Union Government launches GIAN Scheme to boost higher education: Union Ministry of Human Resource
Development (HRD) has launched Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) Scheme to boost the quality of
higher education in India. It was launched by Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani at the Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) campus.
About Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) Scheme
GIAN Scheme aims at improving the quality of higher education in the country through international
collaboration.
Facilitate participation of high quality international academicians for delivering short-term courses and
programs in Indian institutions.
Under this scheme, academicians will cover 13 disciplines and 352 courses to be taught in 68 national
institutions.
These courses will be webcasted live for students across the country through web portal
www.gian.iitkgp.ac.in designed by IIT Kharagpur.
39. Modi announces Rs.1,000 cr for Tamil Nadu flood relief
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Chennai to take stock of the flood situation. After an aerial survey
and appropriate steps will be taken after that, said Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the Lok Sabha.
Chennai reels under heavy floods following record-breaking rainfall and overflowing lakes. Thousands
were left homeless or stranded in their homes without food or electricity. Telephone services too took a hit
in many areas. The Centre has described the situation in Chennai as worrisome.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Chennai and
sururbs on Thursday, The India Meterlogical Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rains for the next two
to three days in Tamil Nadu.
The Airports Authority of India on Wednesday announced that operations at the Chennai airport will be
shut till December 6 due to waterlogging on the runway. Many trains have been cancelled or diverted.
40. Justice T.S.Thakur sworn in as 43rd CJI: Justice Tirath Singh Thakur was sworn in as 43rd Chief Justice of
India by President Pranab Mukherjee at an elegant function in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The senior-most judge of the apex court, 63-year old Justice Thakur took over from incumbent Justice H L
Dattu who retired on 2nd Dec 2015. Born on January 4, 1952, he would have the tenure as CJI for a little
over one year and would retire on January 4, 2017.
Son of former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Devi Das Thakur, a well known jurist and
judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice Thakur enrolled as a Pleader in October, 1972 and
joined the Chamber of his father.
Justice Thakur was appointed as acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court on April 9, 2008 and on
August 11, 2008, he took over as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
41. Union Cabinet gives nod to establish 6 new IITs: The Union Cabinet has approved proposal of setting up of 6
new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across the country. The 6 new IITs would be set up in Andhra Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala and Karnataka.
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In its first year, each new IIT will have an initial intake of 180 students and each IIT will have a sanctioned
faculty-student ratio of 1:10. In the second year, the intake strength would increase to 450 and subsequently
in the third year to 928 (840 Undergraduates, 80 Postgraduates and 8 PhD).
Each new IIT would function from temporary campus for the initial period of 3 years and later shift
permanent campuses in the 4th year.
42. Union Cabinet approves MOUs and agreement
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved many Memorandum of
Understanding (MoUs) and agreements.
MoU between India and Germany for Solar Energy and Capital Goods Sector
The Union Cabinet has approved Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) between Indian and Germany:
For Solar energy: To expand bilateral development cooperation in the field of Solar Energy by increasing use of
solar energy in India through technical as well as financial cooperation.
For Capital Goods Sector: For implementation of Make in India campaign for Capital Goods Sector and
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (Fraunhofer), Germany, a leading organisation of 65 institutes for applied industrial
research in Europe. The objective of signing MoU between Department of Heavy Industries and Fraunhofer is to
provide platform to various public sector undertakings and capital goods sector units to have easy access to
capabilities and expertise of Fraunhofer for identifying and plugging technology gaps in line with 12th Five Year
Plan.
DTAC agreement with Japan
Union Cabinet has approved signing and ratification of a protocol between India and Japan for amending
the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC).
It aims at avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
MoU between India and Israel in the field of water resources
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing MoU between India and Israel in the field of water
resources management and development cooperation.
The bilateral cooperation between both countries will benefit them in strengthening the techniques in
efficient use of water, micro-irrigation.
MoU between India and Iran on visa facilitation
The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of the agreement between India and Iran on visa facilitation
for Diplomatic, Official/Service and Ordinary passport holders.
43. Introduction of Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2015 in the Parliament
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The Union Cabinet has given its approval for introduction of a Bill for establishment of a Regional Centre
for Biotechnology in Faridabad.
The objective of the Bill is to provide a legal status to the Centre so as to function independently as an
autonomous body and also an Institution of National Importance for education, training and research in the
areas of biotechnology.
44. Lok Sabha passes bill to establish BIS as National Standards Body of India: The Lok Sabha has passed a
bill that provides for establishing Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India. The bill
was passed by voice vote.
The Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 seeks to replace the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986
It proposes to make BIS a national standards body, introduce mandatory hallmarking of precious metal,
prevent misuse of Standard marks and provide for recall of ISI marked products not conforming to relevant
standards.
Once the Bill is approved, the BIS would get the legislative backing to formally represent India abroad. At
present, the BIS is not formally recognised as a national standards body of the country, though it has been
representing India in various international bodies.
45. India International Science Festival (IISF) 2015 to be held at IIT, Delhi: The First India International
Science Festival (IISF) is being organized at IIT Delhi from 4th to 8th December 2015.
The event is jointly being organized by the Ministries of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Govt.
of India. Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council (TIFAC) has been chosen as the
nodal government institution to organize the mega event in collaboration with Vijnana Bharati, an NGO
that works for promotion of Science & Technology.
In order to promote access and spread of knowledge to wider audience, IISF 2015 targets to involve and
include commoners with a view to improve their scientific understanding, temperament and appreciation
for various feats in science & technology by showcasing Indian achievements.
The objectives of IISF 2015 are as follows:
Exposing the fruits of Science & Technology to the masses
Building strategy to instil scientific temper among the masses
Showcasing Indian contributions in the field of S&T over the years
Providing platform to young scientists for exchange of knowledge & ideas
Supporting flagship programs like Make in India, Digital India, Start-ups, Smart Villages,
Smart Cities, etc. initiated by the Govt. of India.
46. Union Government releases postage stamp to mark centenary year of ZSI: Union Government has released
a commemorative postage stamp to mark the Centenary year of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). The postage
stamp was released by Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in the presence of Union
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi.
Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) was established on 1st July 1916 to promote the survey, exploration,
research and documentation leading to the advancement in knowledge on various aspects of animal
taxonomy of the Indian subcontinent.
ZSI has been declared as the designated repository for the National Zoological Collection as per Section 39
of the National Biodiversity Act, 2002.
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ZSI is a premier institution on animal taxonomy in India under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change.
47. Indo-Russia bilateral naval exercise Indra Navy-15 begins in Visakhapatanam: Indo-Russia bilateral
maritime exercise Indra Navy 2015 commenced in Vishakhapatanam. The exercise epitomises the strategic
relationship between the two nations.
The 8th edition of Indra Navy will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal till 12 December 2015.
The primary aim of Indra Navy 2015 is to increase interoperability between the two navies and develop
common understanding of procedures for maritime security operations.
The Indian Navy will be represented by INS Sahyadri an indigenous frigate, INS Ranvijay, a guided
missile destroyer and INS Shakti a Fleet Support Ship.
The Russian Federation Navy (RFN) will be represented by Vadm Ryabukhin Andrey, Deputy Commander
of the Pacific Fleet.
The exercise will be progressed in two phases: the Harbour Phase (from 7-9 December 2015) at
Visakhapatnam and the Sea Phase (from 10-12 December 2015) off Visakhapatnam. The Harbour Phase
will encompass table-top exercises and planning conferences ashore, prior progressing to sea. The Sea
Phase will include various facets of fleet operations.
48. MoU between India and UK in the field of cooperation in the energy sector
The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) on cooperation between India and United Kingdom in the energy sector.
Under the MoU the areas of cooperation are The main focus will be on the electricity market structure and
the integration of renewable energy into the grid. Market reforms, regulatory structures and market
competition in the distribution and supply of electricity.
It includes incentives and regulations for Renewable Energy deployment. Promotion of energy efficiency
practice and policies including vehicular fuel efficiency and industrial energy efficiency. The integration of
renewable energy into the grid. It includes off-shore wind energy and solar energy and Tidal energy.
It also includes capacity building of renewable energy institutions.
The MoU will provide a framework for technical assistance in the energy sector along with in-kind grant
and other support through relevant projects initiated by UK.
49. 2016: UK-INDIA Year of Education, Research and Innovation launched: India and United Kingdom
launched a joint initiative 2016: UK-INDIA Year of Education and Research in New Delhi.
It was launched by visiting Secretary of State, Business Innovation and Skill of the UK Sajid Javid along
with Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani.
In 2016, it will allow UK academicians to come to India under Global Initiative of Academic Networks
(GIAN) programme.
It will enhance partnership in research work in ten research priority areas under IMPRINT (IMPacting
Research Innovation and Technology).
It will help the two nations to deepen their bilateral relationship across education, research and innovation.
The plan to observe the year 2016 as UK-INDIA Year of Education and Research was jointly announced
by Prime Ministers of India Narendra Modi and United Kingdom PM David Cameron. It was announced in
November 2015 during Modis visit to United Kingdom.
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50. Supreme Court upholds Haryana panchayat law: The Supreme Court has upheld the Haryana Panchayati Raj
(Amendment) Act, 2015 which mandates that only those having minimum educational qualifications will be eligible
to contest panchayat elections in the State.
The court is of the opinion that basic education would enable the candidates to effectively discharge duties
of the panchayat.
The Haryana State government had notified the Haryana Panchayati Raj (amendment) Act 2015 recently.
According to the amendments, general category candidates require a minimum qualification of Class X
pass, men contesting in the Scheduled Caste category and women in the general category need to be Class
VIII pass, while women in the Scheduled Caste category need to be Class V pass to be eligible.
The amendments also required that candidates should not have any dues in co-operative banks, electricity
bills should be paid up and there should be a functional toilet at home.
Besides Haryana, Rajasthan has also recently fixed the minimum educational qualification for elections to
the Panchayati Raj institutions.
51. India and South Korea ink MoU on taxation treaty
India and South Korea have inked a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) on suspension of
collection of taxes during pendency of mutual agreement procedure.
This MoU will relieve the burden of double taxation for taxpayers in both the countries during the
pendency of Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) proceedings. Besides, both countries also have agreed
that transfer pricing dispute cases will be taken up for MAP under the revised Double Tax Avoidance
Agreement (DTAA) between India and Korea.
MAP is an alternate dispute resolution mechanism that allows competent authorities of particular nation
and its treaty partner to negotiate a mutually acceptable settlement.
52. Sharad Pawars autobiography On My Terms released
On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power, an autobiography of Sharad Pawar was
released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The book was released on the 75th birthday of Pawar, the Maratha strongman and the leader of Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP).
Sharad Pawar is the only leader of the state, who became Chief Minister 4 times.
53. Varanasi and Jaipur make it to Unesco's Creative City Network
Varanasi City (Uttar Pradesh) and Rajasthan's capital Jaipur have made it to the network in the categories
City of Craft and City of Music.
The Director General Unesco declared Varanasi and Jaipur under its Creative Cities Network.
Launched in 2004, the Unesco Creative Cities Network aims to strengthen cooperation with and among
cities that have recognised creativity as astrategic factor of sustainable development as regards economic,
social, cultural and environmental aspects.
The Network covers seven creative fields including Crafts and Folk Arts, Film, Media Arts, Gastronomy,
Design, Literature and Music.
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54. Indian cyclist Deborah Herold became the first Indian female cyclist to be ranked fourth in the World Elite
Women Ranking for the 500m time trial event. The ranking was issued by cycling world body International Cycling
Union (UCI).
Besides, the Indian team also improved its world ranking to 13th. India is the highest ranking Asian country
in 500m time trial. China fetched the 15th spot in the ranking.
Deborah is a tribal girl from Andaman and Nicobar Islands who survived the 2004 Tsunami that devastated
the islands.
55. Construction work of TAPI Gas Pipeline begins
Construction work on the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) Gas Pipeline project started in

Turkmenistan.
The work started after the button to begin the welding process of the project was pressed. The button was
pressed by Vice President of India Hamid Ansari along with Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif,
President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani and President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimohamedov.
The TAPI project is intended to deliver Caspian Sea natural from the energy-rich former Soviet republic
Turkmenistan to three South Asian countries.
The pipeline will carry the gas from the Dauletabad gas field in Turkmenistan to the Indian town of
Fazilka, in the Punjab near the Pakistan-India border.
The pipeline will cross the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar as well as Pakistan cities of Quetta and
Multan.
The four countries signed the TAPI gas pipeline (also known as Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline) deal in
September 2010. It is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at an
estimated cost of 10 billion US dollars.
It will become operational by 2018.
56. India and Japan inked three agreements for cooperation in Railway Sector
India and Japan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation and assistance in the
Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project (Bullet Train project).
Both the countries also entered into two comprehensive technological cooperation agreements for
modernization and upgradation of Indian Railways.
Japan offered an assistance of over 79000 crore rupees for the project.
The loan is for a period of 50 years with a moratorium of 15 years, at an interest rate of 0.1 percent.
The project is a 508 Kilometer railway line costing a total of 97636 crore rupees.
57. Legendary actor Dilip Kumar conferred with Padma Vibhushan: Dilip Kumar, Indian cinemas one of the
greatest actors, was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honour. The 93-year-old actor
received the award from Home Minister Rajnath Singh at his residence in Mumbai.
The Padma Vibhushan award for Dilip Kumar was announced on the Republic Day of 2015 for his
exceptional and distinguished service. However, the acting legend could not attend the special function
held in Rashtrapati Bhavan in April 2015 due to his ill health.
58. Operation Smile-II to start from 1st January, 2016
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The Government of India has requested the States/UTs to start Operation Smile-II from 1st January, 2016
to 31st January, 2016 to be rolled out throughout the country as a follow up of the earlier campaign.
In this regard, the Union Home Secretary, Rajiv Mehrishi has written a letter to the Chief Secretaries of all
states and Union Territories for participation in Operation Smile-II in their respective State/UT.
Earlier all States/UTs were advised to take up a one month campaign titled Operation Smile in the month
of January, 2015 to rescue/rehabilitate the missing children.
Similarly, another dedicated campaign titled Operation Muskaan was launched in the month of July, 2015
throughout the country.
Operation Smile-II is a campaign to rescue/rehabilitate the missing children.
The States have so far reported that 9146 children under Operation Smile and 19742 children under
Operation Muskaan were rescued/rehabilitated.
A large number of missing children have been reunited with their families which is a remarkable
achievement made by the field offices.
59. Justice Narasimha Reddy to head committee on OROP: The Union Government appointed Justice L
Narasimha Reddy, retired Chief Justice of Patna High Court, to head the Judicial Committee which will look into
the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for the ex-servicemen.
The committee, based in Delhi, will submit its recommendations within six months of the date of its
constitution.
It may give interim reports to the Government on any of the matters related to its terms of reference.
The Terms of Reference for the Committee will be to examine and make recommendations on references
received from the Union Government.
These include: measures for the removal of anomalies that may arise in the implementation of the OROP as
notified by the government on 07 November 2015, measures for the removal of anomalies that may arise
out of inter-services issues of the three forces due to its implementation, implications on service matters
and any other matter referred by the Central Government on implementation of the OROP or related issues.
60. India ranks 130th in 2015 Human Development Index
India has been placed at 130th position in the 2015 Human Development Index (HDI) among the 188
countries.
It was unveiled in the recently released Human Development Report 2015 by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP).
India has been placed at 130th position with 0.609 score in the medium human development category. In
2014 report countrys rank was 135 with 0.586 score.
Improvement in Indias 2015 HDI from previous year has been attributed to rise in life expectancy and per
capita income.
The HDI is an average measure of basic human development achievements in a country measured by
UNDP. It is an average of long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development viz. a long
and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.
61. SC invokes Constitutional powers to appoint Justice Virendra Singh as UP Lokayukta: The Supreme Court
exercised its Constitutional authority and appointed former High Court judge, Justice Virendra Singh, as Lokayukta
of Uttar Pradesh after the State government failed to comply with its directives. In an embarrassment for the
Samjwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, the bench examined a list of nominees and ordered the appointment.
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The apex body exercised the right under Article 142 of the Constitution to remedy the situation by passing
an appropriate order.
The Court said that it appoints Justice Singh as Lokayukta and asked the State government to file a report
by December 20, 2015 indicating compliance of its order.
The bench regretted that its several orders have not been heeded by the Constitutional functionaries
the Chief Minister, the leader of opposition and the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
62. SC bans registration of diesel SUVs in Delhi till March: In a strong step to release the stranglehold of air
pollution on the national capital, the Supreme Court issued a blanket ban on the registration of diesel run passenger
cars with engine capacity of over 2000cc in Delhi and the National Capital Region till March next year.
The Bench clarified that no commercial vehicle on NH 1 and NH 8 not meant for Delhi should be allowed
entry and should be turned back.
The apex court further doubled the environment compensation cess for two and four axle vehicles from Rs.
700 to Rs. 1400 and from Rs. 1300 to Rs. 2600, respectively.
The court further banned trucks registered prior to 2005 from entry to Delhi.
It directed that taxis and other public carriages running in NCR to be put on CNG by March 31, 2016.
The court directed the Delhi government to start cleaning roads and vacuum pavements immediately.
It banned burning of garbage and directed Delhi government and local authorities to ensure that
construction works are undertaken as per Central Pollution Control Board norms.
63. Combined Commanders Conference, an annual tri-services event chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was
held on board INS Vikramaditya about 50 kms off Kochi coast.
This is the first time when the conference was held outside New Delhi. It was attended by Union Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, all three services chiefs and other
senior officers of three armed services.
The Conference is also known as the Unified Commanders Conference (UCC).
During this conference Indias defence policy, doctrine and operational challenges are discussed in detail.
64. India ranks 97th on Forbes best countries for business list: 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.
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.
65. Justice Reva Khetrapal took oath as Delhi's Lokayukta: Former Delhi High Court judge Reva Khetrapal
took oath as Delhi's new Lokayukta.
The post of the anti-corruption ombudsman was vacant since November 2013, when retired Justice
Manmohan Sarin renounced the office.
A four-member panel comprising Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Justice
of Delhi High Court G Rohini and Leader of Opposition leader in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta had
unanimously chosen Justice Khetrapal in October 2015 for the post.
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66. French President Hollande to be Chief Guest at Republic Day
President of France Francois Hollande will be the Chief Guest at 67th Indias Republic Day (26 January
2016) celebrations.
Hollande accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modis office. Hollandes India visit will help
in strengthening the strategic partnership between India and France.
This is his second visit to India, earlier he visited the nation in February 2013.
Apart from this, Hollande will be the fifth French leader to be a chief guest at Indias Republic Day
celebrations, maximum number from any country so far.
67. Union Cabinet gives nod to MOU
The Union Cabinet, presided by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its ex-post facto approval to a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, China
and South Africa) for strengthening energy efficiency cooperation.
The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the revised Model Text for the Indian Bilateral Investment Treaty
(BIT). The revised Indian model text for BIT will replace the existing Indian Model BIT.
Union Government has given in principle approval to work on Loon project of internet search engine giant
Google for providing Internet connectivity by using large balloons. The project will be started on a pilot
basis and state run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be partner with the project in order to
expand Internet connectivity in the country.
The Union Cabinet has approved a policy framework for development of Underground Coal Gasification
(UCG) in unexplored coal and lignite bearing areas in the country.
68. IRCTC partners Paytm for food payments: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has
tied up with Paytm to offer an additional payment gateway for food ordered through its e-catering facility.
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.
On an average, IRCTC clocks 5.5 to six lakh e-catering bookings daily.
69. India lowers GDP growth projection: India lowered its GDP growth projection for the current year to 7-7.5
per cent against 8.1-8.5 per cent forecast earlier and said that while the macro economy is stable, the real economy
needs policy attention.
The downgrade follows India's GDP growth in the first half of current year, from April to September,
slowing to 7.2 per cent from 7.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year on the back of weak exports
and impact of deficient rains on the agriculture sector.
Nominal growth during this period slowed substantially from 13.5 per cent to 7.4 per cent.
This sharp and continuing decline is a cause for concern, the Government said in its mid-year review of the
economy that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled in Parliament.
70. AP Shah Committee appointed to look into ONGC, RIL dispute
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Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas appointed a single-member committee to look into the
dispute between Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)
on Krishna Godavari (KG) gas fields.
The committee will be headed by the Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India Justice (retd) Ajit
Prakash Shah.
The committee will look into acts of omission and commission and recommend compensation to ONGC
from the RIL on account of undue advantage the latter has received due to enrichment of its gas fields from
the adjacent blocks belonging to ONGC.
71. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has formally inaugurated the All-India conference of Directors General of Police
(AICDGPs) at Dhordo in white Rann of Kutch region near Bhuj, Gujarat. Three day conference was inaugurated in
the presence of Union Minister for Home Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Home Kiran Rijju and Haribhai Patel.
72. Indias biggest Wildlife Rescue Centre named as Gorewada Zoo and Wildlife Rescue Centre has been
commissioned at Gorewada near Nagpur, Maharashtra. Gorewada Zoo and Wildlife Rescue Centre is managed by
the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM).
73. MPs move notice to impeach Gujarat HC judge: Almost 58 Members of Parliament from the Rajya Sabha
have moved a notice to impeach a judge in the Gujarat High Court, J.D. Pardiwala for his remarks against
reservations while making observations in the Hardik Patel case. The MPs include senior Congressman Oscar
Fernandes, CPI leader D. Raja, and Janata Dal (U) leader K.C. Tyagi.
74. Navy Day was observed on 4 December 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings to naval
personnel and commended their dedication to protect the maritime interests of nation.
The occasion saw screening of Navy Telefilm 2015 titled Empowering India Through Maritime Security
and Indigenisation on DD National.
The Navy day is celebrated every year to commemorate the success of Operation Trident of Indian Navy on
Karachi Harbour during the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
75. DAC gives nod to purchase of Russian S-400 Air Defence Missile Systems
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has cleared the purchase of Russian advance S-400 Trium Air
Defence Missile Systems at an estimated cost of 40,000 crore rupees.
Decision in this regard was taken by DAC meeting chaired by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in
New Delhi.
DAC approval for defence deal comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Russia later in
December 2015.
India would buy 5 units of the S-400 Trium air defence missile systems that are capable of destroying
incoming hostile missiles, aircraft and even drones within a range of up to 400 km.
This purchase will give a major boost to the national air defence capacity and make India only the second
buyer of the missile system after China.
The S-400 System is also capable of taking out ballistic missiles and hypersonic targets.
76. Rajya Sabha unanimously passes SC/ST Bill: The Rajya Sabha unanimously passed the SC and ST
(Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill along with two Bills on supplementary demands for 2015-16, within
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minutes without any debate. The House returned to Lok Sabha the Appropriation (No.4) Bill and the Appropriation
(No. 5) Bill containing the second batch of supplementary demands as part of grants for 2015-16 to meet
governments expenditure.
77. Modi inaugurates electric bus service for MPs
Terming the negative impact of environment pollution as a challenge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said
there is a need to harness solar energy.
Referring to the recent CoP21 summit in Paris, Mr. Modi highlighted two significant initiatives Mission
Innovation launched jointly by the U.S., France and India, with the help of the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, on development of green technologies and the creation of the International Solar Alliance of
countries with abundant sunlight. The headquarters of this alliance will be in Delhi.
78. Vatican to confer sainthood on Mother Teresa: Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic religious sister and
missionary will be given Sainthood i.e. will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in September 2016. In
this regard, Pope Francis has approved a decree recognising a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresas
intercession with God.
Earlier in 2003, Mother Teresa was beatified by then late Pope John Paul. Beatification requires one
miracle and is the last step before sainthood.
The second miracle of Mother Teresa has been attributed to the intercession which is required for
canonisation.
It involved the inexplicable healing of a man who was suffering from a deadly brain disease.
Mother Teresa is founder of Kolkata based Missionaries of Charity that helps poor on the streets of
Kolkata.
79. Tata Motors made it to the Top 50 in the annual Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard for 2015. Prepared by
the European Commission, the annual Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard for 2015 was topped by the German
automaker Volkswagen. In the top five R&D spenders, Volkswagen was followed by Samsung, Microsoft, Intel and
Novartis.
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NEWS (STATES)
1. The Maharashtra government decided to launch Gopinath Munde Farmers Accident Insurance Scheme 2015-16
which is aimed at ensuring social and economic security to farmers and their families. The scheme will cover
accidental death of handicap of the farmers. The scheme is likely to benefit 1.37 crore farmers in the 10-75 year age
group whose names are registered in the land records.
2. Punjab government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up a bio-ethanol refinery to tackle
the menace of wheat and paddy straw burning in Punjab The MoU was inked with a consortium of Beta
Renewables, Novozymes and CVC India Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. for an estimated project worth Rs. 950 crore,
during the Progressive Punjab Investor Summit, 2015.
3. Rajasthan has announced an agri-marketing policy to promote agro-processing industries and ensure competitive
prices to farmers through financial incentives and facilities. To attract investments, the Rajasthan Agro-Processing
and Agri-Marketing Promotion Policy, 2015 places agri-marketing and processing on par with priority sectors such
as tourism, textiles and energy.
4. Maharashtra government has approved a revised scheme to provide nutrition to pregnant and lactating women in
the tribal areas. The scheme, named APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna plans to provide one full hot cooked nutritious
food" to every pregnant lady and lactating mother. The scheme would be implemented by anganwadis that fall under
Women and Child Welfare Department in 16 districts having tribal population.
5. Odisha Government has started implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 in 14 of the 30
districts of the state in first phase covering 26.33 lakh families. 14 districts in the first phase are: Angul, Bargarh,
Boudh, Balangir, Deogarh, Gajapati, Jharsuguda, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nuapada, Sambalpur
and Sonepur.
6. Delhi will host the first International Qawwali Festival 2015 titled Taali Ho. The festival is scheduled to be held
from 12 February 2016 to 14 February 2016. This was announced during the performance by Qawwali singers from
India and Pakistan at India Islamic Centre providing a glimpse of the festival.
7. The Delhi Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cleared the much-awaited Jan Lokpal Bill and it is
likely to be tabled in the Assembly next week. The Bill brings the Chief Ministers office under its purview and
ensures that any investigation and trial by the Lokpal has to be completed within six months. The Jan Lokpal Bill
(Ombudsman Bill) is an anti-corruption Bill drawn up by activists seeking the appointment of an independent body
that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation and trial in a time-bound manner. Once passed
and notified, people will be able to complain directly and imprison corrupt politicians and bureaucrats under the law.
8. Agra to host first ever international bird fete
In a bid to promote Uttar Pradesh as an international bird-watching destination, the State Forest department,
in collaboration with FICCI, will hold a three-day international festival on birds at the National Chambal
Sanctuary (NCS) in Agra.
The festival starts on December 4 and will end on December 6.
As many as 25 top international bird experts and over 80 Indian ornithologists are expected to attend the
first-of-its-kind festival.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav would deliver the inaugural address.
9. Himachal Pradesh became first state to launch Rotavirus vaccination project
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Himachal Pradesh became the first state of India to launch Rotavirus vaccination project.
The vaccine will help in controlling the child mortality rate (under five years of age) due to diarrhoea.
Rotavirus vaccines are administered orally to infants in three dose course at ages of six, ten and fourteen
weeks and are part of Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).
The project was launched by the state Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh at Dharamsala in Kangra district.
10. Andhra Pradesh became the first state of India to join the Union Governments Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana
(UDAY). The scheme aims at reviving debt-stressed power distribution companies.
Andhra Pradesh joined the scheme after the state gave in-principle nod to the Power Ministry for joining
UDAY.
UDAY envisages reducing the interest burden, cost of power, and aggregate technical and commercial
losses. Consequently, distribution companies would become sustainable to supply adequate and reliable
power, enabling 24x7 power supplies.
The scheme is optional and operationalised through signing of MoU between state governments, state
discoms and Union Government.
11. Myanmar launched its first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake
Myanmar launched its first UNSECO Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake in Shan state. The Inle Lake was
designated as UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Paris in June 2015.
With this, Myanmar fulfilled its commitment to bio-diversity and eco-system conservation under the
UNESCOs Man and Biosphere Prorgamme.
The inscription of Inle Lake as one of the world natural heritage sites by the UN Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) came after that of Myanmar's three Pyu ancient cities in June 2014.
12. Maharashtra announces 10512 crore rupees aid for farmers: The Maharashtra Government announced
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 state Chief Minister 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.
13. West Bengal Govt approves proposal for formation of 5 new districts
West Bengal Government has approved proposal for formation of five new districts in the state. With this
the total number of districts of Bengal will increase to 25.
Decision in this regard was taken by state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in
Kolkata.
Five new districts are Kalimpong district, Sundarbans district, Basirhat district, Burdwan (Industrial)
district & Jhargram district. These new districts will take six months to one years time to come into
existence after State administration gets formal permission from court and create the basic infrastructure.
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NEWS (WORLD)
1. China abandons its decades old 'One Child Policy'
China allowed all couples to have two children and scrapped its decade-long One Child Policy. The
decision is intended to balance population development and address the challenge of an ageing population.
One Child Policy was introduced in 1980 as a way to curb the population and limit demands for water and
other resources. The controversial policy restricted most couples to only a single offspring, and for years it
was debated that the policy resulted in Chinas economic boom.
According to UN estimates, nearly 440 million people in China would be over 60 by 2050, signaling a
sharp decline in the labour pool. Last year, the working population between the ages 15-59 slid by 3.71
million.
2. Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the Parliamentary elections of Turkey. The party founded by
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured 316 seats in the 550-member parliament and garnered 49.4 percent of the
vote. AKP came into power after losing its majority in June 2015 for the first time in 13 years, when it secured only
40 percent of the vote.
3. Tropical Cyclone Chapala hits Yemen triggering heavy floods
A rare tropical Cyclone Chapala has slammed into Yemen triggering heavy flooding and causing damage in
coastal region of the war racked country.
The cyclone made landfall in the south eastern provinces of Hadramawt and Shabwa along the Gulf of
Aden coast of Yemen in Arabian Sea bringing winds of speed more than 100 kms per hour.
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has categorized Cyclone Chapala as a Category 4 equivalent
storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Officials and meteorologists say the storm is the most intense in decades in the arid country, whose storm
response is hampered by poverty and a raging civil war.
4. Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom declared an Emergency in the island state , suspending key
provisions of the Constitution and allowing police sweeping powers of search and detention for three months. The
declaration comes days after investigators arrested the countrys Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor on
charges of attempting assassinate the President.
5. Indo-Canadian Sikh Harjit Sajjan was sworn-in as Defence Minister of Canada. Sajjan succeeded Conservative
Defence Minister Jason Kenney. He is one of the Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus 30-member Cabinet that was
sworn-in at a public ceremony held at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Canada. Trudeau was sworn-in as the 23rd Prime
Minister of Canada.
6. Sierra Leone has been declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO), prompting nationwide
celebrations. A vigil was held for the 3,955 who died, including 221 health workers. Eleven doctors died in the
country, which had just 120 for 6 million people. Ebola spread to Sierra Leone in May 2014, when a young pregnant
woman and an older housewife were diagnosed as the countrys first cases.
7. Richard Proud-chaired Independent Commission (IC) on Doping in Sports submitted its report to the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA). WADA launched the IC in December 2014 to investigate the validity of allegations of
doping practices, corrupt practices around sample collection, results management, etc that implicate Russian
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Government agencies, labs, athletes, coaches among others. As the Moscow laboratory is unable to act
independently, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) should suspend ARAF.
8. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an inquiry into allegations of major drug abuse in athletics that have left
the country facing a possible Olympic ban. The president also declared that a foreign specialist could take over its
discredited testing laboratory.
9. Mauricio Macri has won Argentinas presidential election, marking an end to the left-leaning and often combative
era of President Cristina Fernandez, who along with her late husband dominated the countrys political scene for 12
years and rewrote its social contract.
10. Antonio Costa, the leader of Portugals Socialist Party was named Prime Minister of Portugal. He was appointed
as PM by President Anibal Cavaco Silva and has tasked him to form a new government due to political instability
caused by an inconclusive 2015 general election results.
11. Dominica-born British lawyer Patricia Scotland was appointed as the Secretary General of the Commonwealth
of Nations. With this, Patricia become the first British citizen and first woman as well to hold the role in the 66-year
history of 53-member Commonwealth. Scotland succeeds India's Kamalesh Sharma and will join the office on 1
April 2016.
12. Russia has imposed economic sanctions against Turkey, a NATO member over the issue of downing of a
Russian Sukhoi 24 warplane on the Syrian border. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree adopting a
series of retaliatory economic measures against Turkey with an effect from 1st January 2016.
13. Philippines is going to host 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit from 1819 November
2015 in its capital city Manila for the first time in nearly two decades. Theme of 2015 APEC Summit: Building
Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World. APEC is regional economic forum comprising of 21 member
countries accounting nearly half of the worlds trade and about 57 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP).
It was established in 1989 in order to leverage the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific regions economies and
promote free trade in the region.
14. The World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the World Antibiotic Awareness Week from 6-22 November
2015 with the theme Antibiotics: handle with care. World Antibiotic Awareness Week aims to increase awareness of
global antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy
makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance.
15. World leaders are gathering in Le Bourget in Paris for the UN climate conference known as COP21, aimed at
forging a deal to limit global warming.
16. COP 21 Conference
Paris hosts the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change conference.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned the focus of the Paris Climate Conference to the historic high carbon
emissions of rich nations and asked them to ratify the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol
which major emitters have not done.
Addressing the Leaders Event at the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change here on Monday
evening, Mr. Modi said the developed world should ratify Kyoto's second commitment in the period up to
2020, after which developing countries have pledged to begin their own voluntary actions.
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The Indian Prime Minister's reference to the Protocol stood out at the COP21 conference, where the
discussions were mostly future-focussed, for the post-2020 era.
Mr. Modi demanded that the rich nations meet their obligations in a credible and transparent manner.
Apparently referring to the pressure that countries like India may face under a Paris deal, he said he
welcomed stock-taking that was done in a transparent manner, where it covered both support and
commitment based on the principle of differentiation.
The U.N.'s principles of equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities should firmly underpin
any formulation.
The major voluntary pledges made by India for the post-2020 period were outlined for the heads of state by
Mr. Modi, with particular mention of the plan to reduce carbon intensity of growth by 33-35 per cent over
2005 levels, raise the share of non-fossil fuel power to 40 per cent by 2030, and to produce 175 GW of
renewable power by 2022.
Forest cover would be expanded to absorb 2.5 billion tonnes worth of carbon dioxide and fossil fuel
dependence would be reduced by levying taxes as well as cutting subsidies. Cities would be transformed
through improvements to their efficiency and improving public transport.
According to scientific assessments, in 2014, India was the third largest emitter of atmosphere-warming
greenhouse gases (7 per cent), with China (25 per cent) and the U.S. (15 per cent) occupying the first and
second positions.
Mission Innovation
World leaders launched Mission Innovation for accelerating clean energy revolution across the world. The
mission was launched by 20 participating countries, including India.
International Solar Alliance
India and France launched the International Solar Alliance in Paris. The alliance was launched jointly by
PM Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande during the United Nations climate change
conference (COP21).
The alliance also invited all countries located fully or partly between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn to
join the group. It will function from the National Institute of Solar Energy in India, Gurgaon.
It aims to bring 121 tropical countries together to tap solar energy, The Alliance will enable solar-rich
developing countries to make the best use of an abundant, free natural resource.
Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape
The United Nations (UN) Chief Ban Ki-moon along with the agencies of the UN system on 30 November
2015 launched initiative titled Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape to build climate resilience in the worlds most
vulnerable countries.
The initiative was launched during the United Nations climate change conference (COP21) in Paris. The
initiative was launched in the wake of economic losses that have increased by more than half over the past
decade. Ecosystems, and food and water supplies are under increasing pressure.
Breakthrough Energy Coalition
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Bill Gates led Breakthrough Energy Coalition was formed on 30 November 2015 to reduce demand for
fossil fuels. The coalition was launched by global business leaders at the United Nations Climate Change
Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France.
It involves 28 rich and powerful people from different countries across the world.
It works on five Investment Principles- Invest Early, Invest Broadly, Invest Wisely and Invest Together.
17. The German Cabinet has approved a mandate offering military assistance to fight against the Islamic State (IS)
militant group in Syria. The mandate aims at supporting France and the international alliance in its fight against the
IS militant group. Now it requires Parliamentary approval to come into force.
This decision was taken by cabinet after an appeal was made by French President Francois Hollande in the
wake of the 13 November Paris attacks carried by the terrorist organisation.
The German mission will include sending Tornado reconnaissance jets, a refueling aircraft and a frigate for
one year and can be extended by year.
Under this mandate Germany could deploy up to 1,200 military personnel to support the international
alliance but they wont actively engage in combat missions.
18. China hosted the first Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) media summit in Beijing for creating an
alternative media platform for the 5 emerging economies.
25 media organisations participated in the 2 day summit which aimed to create a new institutional
framework to benefit the media of five emerging economies of BRICS grouping.
Chinas Xinhua news agency is the initiator of the project which adds one more dimension to the BRICS
format.
It was organised in collaboration with The Hindu group of publications, Russia Today International News
Agency, the Brazil Communication Company and South Africas Independent Media.
19. Air Indias first non-stop flight from New Delhi to San Francisco has landed here amid rousing welcome,
becoming the first Indian airline to provide a direct air connection to the West Coast in the United States. The city
Mayors office declared 02 Dec 2015 as Air India Day, a symbolic gesture to celebrate the arrival of the first direct
flight from India here. Air India has started three flights per week on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the Silicon Valley in September had announced to connect the Silicon
Valley with India through a direct flight.
20. Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change Adaptation: A broad coalition of nations, river basin organizations,
business and civil society announced the creation of the international Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change
Adaptation. The announcement was made at the Water Resilience Focus event held under the Lima to Paris Action
Agenda on climate change. The event was held on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference
2015 (COP21) in Paris, France.
Its objective is to make water systems more resilient to climate impacts.

It promotes financial sustainability and new investment in water systems management.
21. Canada has successfully sent the first consignment of 250 tonnes of uranium to India as part of bilateral civil
nuclear cooperation between both countries. It was shipped by Canadas Cameco Inc, as part of contract with
Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) that was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modis offical visit to
Canada in April 2015. It should be noted that Canada is the second-largest producer of Uranium globally and is the
third country to supply uranium to India after Russia and Kazakhstan.
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22. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was named as 2015 Person of the Year by Time Magazine. The magazine
cited her role in Europes crisis over migration and Greek debt. The announcement was made by Editor Nancy
Gibbs, who in praise of Merkel said that Merkel had provided steadfast moral leadership in a world, where it is in
short supply. Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was named runner-up and third place went to US
Presidential candidate Donald Trump. She is only the fourth woman since 1927 to be named winner outright and the
first in 29 years. The other women to win were Wallis Simpson (1936), Queen Elizabeth II (1952) and Corazon
Aquino (1986).
23. Bengaluru based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has bagged a United States military contract for research and
development (R&D) on solar powered micro-grid. The federal contract worth US 52,900 dollars was awarded to
IISc by the US Pacific Air Forces (PAF), Yokota Air Base in Japan. Under this contract IISc will develop solar
powered micro-grid with battery and super capacitor energy storage system. It is considered as one of the rare
instances as US military has awarded a federal contract to an Indian scientific institute known for its high-end
cutting edge research.
24. Mexico Government has approved worlds first-ever Dengue fever vaccine branded as Dengvaxia for the public
use. Dengvaxia has been manufactured by French pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur. It has been designed
to protect people in the 9-45 age groups from all four subtypes of the virus.
Dengue fever, also known as breakbone fever, is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by thedengue
virus.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to
measles.
25. COP 21 under UNFCCC adopts Paris Agreement on Climate Change
Conference of the Parties 21 (COP 21) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) adopted the Paris Agreement on Climate Change which was attended by 195 countries.
India was represented by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar.
The agreement facilitates enforcement of global green house emission reduction measures in the post-2020
(post Kyoto Protocol) scenario.
It was prepared based on consensus among the parties incorporating Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions (INDCs) of the respective parties including that of India.
The primary objective of the Paris Agreement is to limit the global average temperature to well below 2 C
above pre-industrial levels.
Efforts will be made to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels so that it will be
possible to reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.
26. Merriam-Webster has picked a small but powerful suffix as word of the year- ism. But not just an ism. The top
isms to earn high traffic spikes and big bumps in lookups on the dictionary companys website in 2015 over the year
before are socialism, fascism, racism, feminism, communism, capitalism and terrorism. The announcement was
made on 15 Dec 2015 by the Springfield, Massachusettsbased company.
27. New Zealanders chose a new flag design but the question now is whether enough people will rally behind it to
oust the current flag. The winning design features a silver fern and red stars on a black and blue background. The
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winning design has similarities to the current flag but ditches the British Union Jack in favour of the fern, which has
become a national symbol and is worn by many sports teams, including the beloved All Blacks rugby team.
28. The two-day meeting of the heads of governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has held in
Zhengzhou city in China. It is aimed at stepping up regional cooperation against terrorism. SCO meeting is presided
over by Premier Li Keqiang. During the two-day meeting, heads of government from the SCO members China,
Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are expected to discuss cooperation in trade, investment,
finance, transportation and culture.
29. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) formally approved Afghanistans membership at its 10th ministerial
conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Afghanistan has become the 163rd WTO member and the 9th least
developed country (LDC) to join the global trade body after 11 years of negotiations. The landlocked Asian country
expects to reap the benefits of the WTO membership for its post-conflict reconstruction. Roberto Azevedo, WTO
director general, said Afghanistans membership was an endorsement of the extensive programme of domestic
reforms the country has undertaken to accelerate economic growth.
30. UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution to cut off all sources of funding to ISIS and AlQaeda with finance ministers from the member nations vowing to increase sanctions against the terror groups.The
resolution was adopted at the first-ever meeting of Finance Ministers of the UNSC.
This meeting was presided over by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew of the United States, which holds its
monthly presidency.
The 15-member body called for enhanced actions, from closing financial system loopholes to stopping the
abuse of charitable causes, as well as updating the existing ISIS and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List.
The resolution called for increased international cooperation in sharing information and closer
collaboration with the private sector to identify suspect transactions.
31. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously adopted a resolution No. 2254 outlining a peace
process in Syria. The resolution endorses an international roadmap for a Syria peace process to end Syrias fiveyear-long civil war. The resolution endorses formal talks on a political transition between the President Bashar alAssad led Syrian government and opposition in early January 2016. Calls for implementation of a ceasefire in
parallel with the talks on a political transition.
32. The three-day long 2nd World Internet Conference was concluded at Wuzen in China. Wuzen is located in
Zhejiang Province in eastern China. The conference was held with theme An Interconnected World Shared and
Governed by AllBuilding a Cyberspace Community of Shared Destiny.
33. US Senate ratifies IMF reforms as part of a Budget Bill
The United States (US) Senate has ratified reforms in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost the
representation of emerging economies as part of a budget bill.
The reforms ratified in the legislation are in line with the proposed 2010 Quota Reforms and now it will go
to President Barack Obama for assent.
These proposed reforms are the biggest change in the governance of the Fund since it was established after
World War Two in 1945 after the Bretton Woods Conference.
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Proposed reforms in the Bill put four emerging markets Brazil, China, India and Russia among the IMFs
top 10 shareholders and give emerging markets more influence at the global lender.
Gives emerging markets more voting power and double the Funds resources. Chinas vote at the IMF
would increase to 6 per cent from 3.8 per cent.
IMFs Board will entirely consist of elected Executive Directors. It will end the current category of
appointment of Executive Directors by five largest quotas holders. Quotas of all 188 members will increase
as the Funds quota resources rise to about 477 billion special drawing rights (SDR) from 238.5 billion.
34. The United States (US) has lifted a 40 year ban on oil exports marking a historic shift for the booming US oil
industry. This decision was taken as part of a 1.1 trillion dollars spending bill to fund US government until 2016
received assent of President Barack Obama. This move will help in economic growth and in turn create jobs along
with new revenues, prosperity and enhanced energy security for other countries. It would pave the way for energy
deficient countries including India to open up another frontier and diversify import basket of oil from US.
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SCIENCE, DEFENCE and TECHNOLOGY

1. BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was on Sunday test fired from on board guided missile destroyer INS Kochi
off the western coast. It was overall 49th trial of the BrahMos missile. It successfully hit decommissioned target ship
Alleppey which was stationed 290 km away.
2. Nepal, US armies launch joint military training
Balance Nail 16-01: Special forces of the US and Nepalese armies today launched a month-long joint
military training in Nepal's mountainous regions to help strengthen bilateral defence ties.
Sri Mahavir Battalion, a specially trained ranger of the Nepal Army and A Company 1st battalion, 1st SFG
(A) group of the Special Forces of the US Army started Balance Nail 16-01 training at Nepal Army's
training centre Chhauni and Nagarkot, according to Nepal Army headquarters sources
3. An Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Arinjay was commissioned by Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba PVSM, AVSM
Flag Officer Commanding-in-chief, Southern Naval Command at a ceremony held at Naval Base in Kochi. The ship
is 15th in the series of 20 Fast Patrol Vessels (FPV)
4. The Army successfully test-fired the land attack variant of the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile
at the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. BrahMos, a joint effort between India and Russia, is the only supersonic
cruise missile in the world capable of flying at 2.8 times the speed of sound and can be launched from land, sea and
air.
5. The seventh edition India-Russia Joint Military Exercise Indra-2015 has begun in Bikaner district of Rajasthan.
This edition of exercise is focusing on Counter-Terrorism Operations in Desert Terrain under a United Nations
Mandate.
6. Defence Minister Launches Army Cloud, Data Centre & Digi-Locker for the Indian Army
The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar inaugurated the Central Data Centre, Army Cloud and DigiLocker for the Indian Army.
The Minister emphasized the need to educate and sensitize every person in the force on the advantages of
such services and technology upgradation. However, he also said that maintaining, checking and securing
the system is equally important.
The facility under the Army Cloud includes a Central Data Centre, a Near Line Data Centre, both in Delhi
and a Disaster Recovery site for replication of its critical data along with virtualised servers and storage in
an environmentally controlled complex.
This is similar to the Meghraj; the Cloud of National Informatics Centre (NIC) and will provide all
Information Technology Infrastructure including servers for computing, storage, network and network
security equipment centrally, for automation of Indian Army.
With the launching of Digi-Locker, it will provide a secure and exclusive data storage space to all the units
and formation headquarters of the Army over its dedicated data network. The Digi-Locker of Indian Army
is similar to e-Locker of Digital India program and has all the advanced features like digital signatures and
watermarking.
In keeping with the national vision of Digital India, the Indian Army has launched a program for Digital
Army with nine pillars for digitisation.
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Three of the nine pillars of this umbrella program, namely Broadband highways, Universal access to
telephones and Army Data Network stress upon Information Technology Infrastructure development.
Another three namely e-Governance, Electronic delivery of services and Online information for all, focus
on delivery of services to all units and formation headquarters.
7. GSAT-15 successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana
Seeking to augment telecommunication, Direct-To-Home and radio navigation services, India's latest
communication satellite GSAT-15 was successfully launched by European Ariane rocket from the
spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.
The satellite with a lift-off mass of 3,164 kg was injected into the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
(GTO) about 43 minutes after a perfect lift-off of Ariane 5 on flight VA-227.
A high power satellite, GSAT-15 is being inducted into the INSAT/GSAT system. GSAT-15 carries a total
of 24 communication transponders in Ku-band as well as a GPS-Aided GEO Augmented Navigation
(GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands.
Providing replacement for the Ku-band capacity of INSAT-3A and INSAT-4B satellites, GSAT-15 will
augment and support the existing DTH and VSAT services in the country.
The GAGAN payload will meet the in-orbit redundancy requirement for Safety of Life (SOL) operations
benefiting the civil aviation services and other users of augmented GPS-based systems in the country.
The navigation payload GAGAN will provide in-orbit backup to ensure safety of life navigation services in
civil aviation sector as well as other location based services to various users in the Indian region.
8. Russia successfully launched the first satellite for its newest early warning system, named EKS or Integrated
Space System. The satellite was officially named Kosmos 2510 (Tundra 11L).
The satellite is designed to restore Moscow's capability to detect, track and identify worldwide missile
launches from space.The satellite was carried by a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from Site 43/4 at the Plesetsk
Cosmodrome, located in Northern Russia.
The launch was carried out under the command of Deputy Commander of Russian Aerospace Defence
Forces (VKO) Commander of the Space Troops Alexander Golovko.
9. Tianhe-2, the supercomputer of China, retained its numero uno position as the most powerful supercomputer in
the world. This was revealed by the 46th edition of the bi-annual TOP500 list of the worlds most powerful
supercomputers released. It has held the title since June 2013. The supercomputer developed by Chinas National
University of Defence technology topped the list for the sixth consecutive time.
10. Indigenously developed supersonic Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile was successfully test fired
from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast. The interceptor is a 7.5-meter long single stage solid rocket
propelled guided missile equipped with a navigation system, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical activator.
11. The Navy scripted another victory by successfully test-firing nuclear-capable surface-to surface ballistic missile
Dhanush in full operational configuration from a naval warship. It was test fired from warship Subhadra, off the
Puri coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal. Dhanush, the indigenously developed naval version of the Prithvi
short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), has a striking range up to 350 km and can carry single warhead, conventional
or nuclear, up to 500 kg.
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12. India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile, which has a strike
range of 350 km, as part of a user trial by the army. The missile test was carried out from a mobile launcher from
launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha.
13. India successfully test-fired indigenously built nuclear-capable Agni-I missile, capable of hitting a target at a
distance of 700 kms, from a test range off the Odisha coast as part of Strategic Forces Command (SFC) training
exercise.
The surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile
launcher from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island).
Agni-I missile is equipped with sophisticated navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a
high degree of accuracy and precision. The missile, which has already been inducted into armed forces, has
proved its excellent performance in terms of range, accuracy and lethality.
14. China has successfully launched a remote sensing satellite which will focus on experiments on survey of land,
crop yields and disaster relief. The satellite named Yaogan29 was carried by a Long March4C rocket after it
was launched from Taiyuan in the countrys northern Shanxi province.
15. The second anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, Kadmatt, built indigenously by the GRSE shipyard here,
was formally handed over to the Navy on 27 Nov 2015.
16. The Philippines has taken delivery of the first two Korean-made fighter jets, the countrys first supersonic
combat aircraft in a decade, as it strengthens its military amid a territorial conflict with China.
17. Indian Coast Guard has commissioned interceptor boat ICGS C-422 into its fleet to further enhance its vigil
along Pondicherry and South Tamil Nadu coast in the Bay of Bengal.
18. The Coast Guard's latest and largest offshore patrol vessel, Samarth, was commissioned by Defence Minister
Manohar Parrikar who asked the force not to sit on past laurels and focus on securing India's maritime interests. The
force currently has a fleet of 117 ships. 74 more ships are at various stages of construction at different
shipyards.Samarth has a maximum speed of 23 knots and has an endurance of 6000 nautical miles at economical
speed.
19. India launches I-LTEO programme to monitor 8 different biomes
India launched the Indian Long Term Ecological Observatories (I-LTEO) programme to scientifically
monitor eight different biomes (natural landscapes) across the country. The initiative was launched on the
sidelines of the Conference of Parties-21 (COP-21) of UNFCCC in Paris.
The programme aims to identify and monitor targeted socio-ecological challenges and help build capacity
within India. The studies under the programme will indicate the need for imminent adaptation measures.
Under this programme, students and young scientists will also be trained through sustained long-term
support for research in the area of climate change.
The initiative will also help the country to have its own scientific data-base in this key area without
depending on studies done abroad.
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.
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20. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V (401 configuration) rocket carrying the OA-4 Cygnus cargo spacecraft with
much needed supplies blasted off towards the International Space Station (ISS). The rocket lifted off from Space
Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after three days of delay due to poor weather. The current
Cygnus mission would be the first US delivery of cargo since April, the last time SpaceXs Dragon capsule reached
the station. A Cygnus last reached the station in July 2014. Supplies at the station are running low due to several
failed delivery runs and botched rocket launches. The capsule carries more than 3500kg of food, clothing, computer
gear, spacewalk equipment, science experiments and other supplies.
21. Pakistan successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile with a range of 900 kilometres, days after
testing a similar missile capable of hitting targets as far as 2,750 kilometres away, bringing many Indian cities under
its range.The Shaheen-1A ballistic missile was fired from an undisclosed location with impact in the Arabian Sea. It
is capable of delivering different types of warheads to a range of 900 kilometres. Shaheen-1A with its sophisticated
and advanced guidance system made it a highly accurate missile system.
22. China successfully launched the countrys first space telescope in search for signals of dark matter, an invisible
material that makes up most of the universes mass. The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) Satellite, which
has been given the moniker Wukong after the Monkey King from the Chinese classical fiction Journey to the
West, was launched on a Long March 2-D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. It will enter a sunsynchronous orbit at a height of 500 km to observe the direction, energy and electric charge of high-energy particles
in space. The satellite is designed to undertake a three-year space mission, but scientists hope it could last five.
23. ISRO successfully launches 6 Singapore Satellites
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully placed six commercial satellites from
Singapore in their dedicated orbits.
These satellites were launched using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C29) from the first launch pad
of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
This successful launch coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations
between India and Singapore in year 2015.
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REPORTS
1. Global Tuberculosis Report 2015 released by WHO
World Health Organisations Global Tuberculosis Report 2015, said that of the 9.6 million new TB cases in
2014, 58 per cent were in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.
India, Indonesia and China had the largest number of cases at 23 per cent, 10 per cent and 10 per cent
respectively of the global total in 2014. Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa also had high numbers of TB
cases last year.
Nearly 1.5 million people died from the disease last year, including 140,000 children, according to the
report.
India recorded the largest number of Tuberculosis cases in the world last year, according to a report by the
WHO that said 1.5 million people died in 2014 from the disease which ranks alongside HIV as a leading
killer worldwide.
Approximately 90 per cent of total TB deaths (among HIV-negative and HIV-positive people) and 80 per
cent of TB deaths among HIV-negative people occurred in the African and South-East Asia Regions in
2014.
India and Nigeria accounted for about one-third of global TB deaths (both including and excluding those
among HIV-positive people), the report added.
The report noted that globally, TB prevalence in 2015 was 42 per cent lower than in 1990.
The target of halving the rate compared with 1990 was achieved in three WHO regions the Region of
the Americas, the South-East Asia Region and the Western Pacific Region and in nine high-burden
countries of Brazil, Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, India, Myanmar, the Philippines, Uganda and Vietnam.
Effective diagnosis and treatment saved 43 million lives between 2000 and 2015.
2. Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked as the worlds ninth most powerful person by Forbes
magazine in a 2015 list which is topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Modi was placed 14th in the 2014 Forbes list of worlds powerful people.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is at the second spot followed by US President Barack Obama (third)
and Pope Francis (fourth) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (fifth).
Apart from Mr. Modi who is at the ninth position, others in the top ten are Microsoft Founder Bill Gates at
the sixth place, US Federal Reserve Chairperson Janet Yellen (7), UK Prime Minister David Cameron (8)
and Googles Larry Page(10)
To compile the list of worlds most powerful people, the magazine said it considered hundreds of
candidates from various walks of life all around the globe, and measured their power along four
dimensions.
They are whether the candidate has power over lots of people, financial resources controlled by each
person, whether the candidate is powerful in multiple spheres and whether the candidates actively used
their power.
3. Financial Secrecy Index 2015
Tax Justice Network on 2 November 2015 released the Financial Secrecy Index 2015 that ranked
jurisdictions according to their secrecy and the scale of their offshore financial activities.
India, with 45 ranking, is identified as the moderately secretive among 92 countries/jurisdictions surveyed.
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Switzerland , Hong Kong , the USA , Singapore and Cayman are identified as the top secretive jurisdictions
in the world
India is identified as moderately secretive jurisdiction as the index placed the jurisdiction between top 31
and 40 countries/jurisdictions surveyed.
With a secrecy score of 39.19, India ranked 45 among 92 jurisdictions surveyed.
4. IEA releases World Energy Outlook 2015
International Energy Agency (IEA) released the World Energy Outlook 2015 (WEO-2015). The report, in
light of low energy prices, calls for no complacency on energy security front and sees clear signs that the
energy transition is underway, that is, from fossils to renewable.
The WEO-2015 presents updated projections for the evolution of the global energy system to 2040 as well
as detailed insights on the prospects for fossil fuels, renewables, the power sector and energy efficiency.
An extended period of lower oil prices would benefit consumers but would trigger energy-security
concerns by heightening reliance on a small number of low-cost producers, or risk a sharp rebound in price
if investment falls short.
World energy demand will grow by nearly one-third between 2013 and 2040 in the central scenario of
WEO-2015, with the net growth driven entirely by developing countries.
By 2040, China's net oil imports will be nearly five times those of the United States, while India's import
will easily exceed those of the European Union.
Developing Asia will be the leading demand centre for every major element of the world's energy mix in
2040 oil, gas, coal, renewables and nuclear.
India in the developing Asia region will take over China as the largest source of consumption growth.
It also mentions the clear signs that an energy transition is underway, that is, renewables contributed almost
half of the world's new power generation capacity in 2014 and have already become the second-largest
source of electricity (after coal).
5. World Economic Forum releases Global Gender Gap Report 2015
World Economic Forum (WEF) released the Global Gender Gap Report 2015. It ranked 145 economies
according to how well they are leveraging their female talent pool, based on economic, educational, healthbased and political indicators.
As per the report, the global gender gap across health, education, economic opportunity and politics has
closed by only 4 percent in the past 10 years suggesting it will take another 118 years to close this gap
completely
Iceland topped the Gender Gap Index for the seventh year in a row, India stood at the 108th position.
The top 5 countries with high gender equality are Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Ireland.
The pay disparities still persists as women received annual earnings up to 11000 US dollars in 2015
compared to earnings of 21000 US dollars by men.
6. Indias forest and tree cover increased by 5081 sq km: India State of Forest Report 2015
India''s total forest and tree cover has increased by 5081 sq km in the past two years, the latest Indian State
of Forest Report (ISFR 2015), released by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
It was released by Union minister of environment,forests and climate change, Prakash Javadekar, under
whose ministry the FSI comes
It is a biannual report.
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Forest covers of a geographical area includes all lands having a tree density of 10 per cent and more and
have a minimum area of one hectare. Tree cover estimation is a sample based exercise and the report
explains that it comprises tree patches less than a hectare in the form of block plantations, linear plantations
and scattered trees.
The report says forest cover has increased by 3,775 sq km to take it to a total of 7,01,673 sq km, which is
21.34 per cent of the country's geographical area (GA). Tree cover has gone up by 1,306 sq km to a total of
9,2,572 sq km or 2.82 per cent of the country's GA. The mangrove cover of the country has increased by
112 sq km to 4,740 sq km.
The 2015 report shows the growing stock -- the volume of all living trees in a given area of forest or
wooded land more than a certain diametre at breast height -- has increased by 110.34 million cubic metre.
In 2013, there had been a decrease of 389.11 million cubic metre.
India's carbon sink, crucial in the current need to reduce carbon dioxide from the air, has increased by 103
million tonnes to 7044 million tonnes in 2015. In 2013 too there had been an increase of 278 million
tonnes.
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 ResourcesatII satellite. The satellite data interpretation is followed by
extensive and rigorous ground truthing.
7. World Bank released Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016
World Bank Groups Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) initiative
released the Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016.
The report provides a snapshot of latest statistics on immigration, emigration, skilled emigration, and
remittance flows for 214 countries and territories.
It also updates the 2011 edition with additional data on bilateral migration and remittances and second
generation diasporas, and recent movements of refugees.
As per the report, the number of international migrants is expected to surpass 250 million in 2015, an alltime high, as people search for economic opportunity.
And, India was the largest remittance receiving country, with an estimated 72 billion US dollars in 2015,
followed by China (64 billion) and the Philippines (30 billion US dollars).
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APPOINTMENTS
43rd Chief Justice of India
CBDT chief
Bihar Speaker
Appointee
Justice T.S.Thakur
Arun Kumar Jain
Vijay Kumar Chaudhary
President of Burkina Faso
Roch Marc Christian

Kabore
Corporate President of Taxi

aggregator, Ola
MD of General Motors India
President of Argentina
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Tata Starbucks CEO
Chief Information
Commissioner (CIC)
Indian High Commissioner to
United Kingdom
43rd chief justice of India
Vice Chairman , Bank for
International Settlements
Joy Bandekar
Executive Director on the board

of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF).
Executive Director to Asian
Development Bank
Assocham president
Subir Gokarn
ICC chairman
Shashank Manohar
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Kaher Kazem
Mauricio Macri
Ahmad Javed
Sumi Ghosh
R.K. Mathur
Remarks
Senior Janata Dal (United) leader and

five-time MLA Vijay Kumar Chaudhary
was unanimously elected new Speaker
of the State Assembly.
By winning 53.5 per cent of the vote, the
Movement of People for Progress party
candidate, Kabore is the second civilian
to become President
Currently he is COO of General Motors.
Navtej Singh Sarna

Justice T S Thakur
Raghuram Rajan
Swati Dandekar
Sunil Kanoria
He succeeds Justice H L Dattu

BIS is headquartered in Basel,
Switzerland, and acts as a coordinating
body among central banks to ensure
global monetary and financial stability
Former RBI Deputy Governor
Indian-American politician by US
President Barack Obama
SREI Infrastructure Finance vicechairman.He has succeeded Rana
Kapoor, Yes Bank Managing Director
and CEO.
BCCI president
Nobel Prizes 2015

Here is a quick revision table for Nobel Prizes 2015 which is a very important topic for the upcoming exams.
Name
Country
Youyou Tu
China
Satoshi Omura
William Campbell
Japan
Ireland
Takaaki Kajita
Japan
Arthur B. McDonald
Canada
Tomas Lindahl
Sweden
Paul Modrich
USA
Aziz Sancar
Turkey
Svetlana Alexievich
Born in Ukraine and

now lives at Belarus
www.bsc4success.com
Nobel Prize
for
Medicine
What for
What did they do
for her discoveries

concerning a novel
therapy against Malaria
Discovered Artemisinin, a
drug that has significantly
reduced the mortality rates
for patients suffering from
Malaria.
Discovered Avermectin, the
derivatives of which have
radically lowered the
incidence of River
Blindness and Lymphatic
Filariasis.
Discovered that neutrinos
from the atmosphere
switch between two
identities when coming to
Japan's SuperKamiokande neutrino
detector.
Discovered that the
neutrinos from the Sun
were not disappearing on
their way to Earth. Instead
they were captured with a
different identity when
arriving to the Sudbury
Neutrino Observatory.
Identified so-called repair
enzymes the basics in the
toolbox.
Identified the complex
DNA-mending process
called mismatch repair.
Discovered the mechanisms
used by cells to fix damage
by ultraviolet radiation
Used the skills of a
journalist to create
literature chronicling the
great tragedies of the
for their discoveries

concerning a novel
therapy against
infections caused by
roundworm parasites
Physics
for the discovery of

neutrino oscillations,
which shows that
neutrinos have mass
Chemistry
for mechanistic studies of

DNA repair
Literature
for her polyphonic

writings, a monument to
suffering and courage in
our time
National Dialogue
Quartet
The National
Dialogue Quartet
consists of four
organisations in
Tunisian civil
society -
Peace
for its decisive

contribution to the
building of a pluralistic
democracy in Tunisia in
the wake of the Jasmine
Revolution of 2011
Tunisian
General
Labour
Union
(UGTT)
Tunisian
Confederatio
n of
Industry,
Trade and
Handicrafts
(UTICA
Tunisian
Human
Rights
League
(LTDH)
Tunisian
Order of
Lawyers
Angus Deaton
British and
American He has both
US and British
Citizenship
Economics
for his analysis of

consumption, poverty,
and welfare
Soviet Union and its

collapse- World War II, the
Soviet war in Afghanistan,
the 1986 Chernobyl
nuclear disaster and the
suicides that ensued from
the death of Communism.
It established an
alternative, peaceful
political process at a time
when the country was on
the brink of civil war. It
was thus instrumental in
enabling Tunisia, in the
space of a few years, to
establish a constitutional
system of government
guaranteeing fundamental
rights for the entire
population, irrespective of
gender, political conviction
or religious belief.
Deaton's research concerns

issues of "immense
importance for human
welfare, not least in poor
countries" and has
"greatly
influenced "practical
policymaking as well as the
scientific community.
Some important facts-
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Dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel (Sweden) left a fund to give awards in 5 categories: Physics, Chemistry, Medicine,
Literature, and Peace.
Later Economics was added. Sweden's central bank added the economics prize in 1968 as a memorial to Nobel.
The awards started at 1901.A person must be alive to be nominated.
Nobel prize recipients are called laureates.
Nobel prizes are announced in advance but actual medals given on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobels
death.
The Nobel Peace Prize given in Oslo, Norway

Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Economics medals given in Stockholm, Sweden
www.bsc4success.com
AWARDS
AWARD
AWARDEE
REMARKS
New York Global Leaders

Dialogue Humanitarian Award
Bindeshwar Pathak
Sanitation Pioneer Activist, Social

activist and founder of 'Sulabh
International'
Disaster Risk Reduction

Champion honour by UN
Kiren Rijiju
Asia
Vishnudas Bhave Award
Vikram Gokhale
Famous film, television and stage

actor
Dinanath Mangeshkar award
Prashant Damle
Marathi actor
Ramnath
Goenka
Achievement Award
Kuldip Nayar
Lifetime
NASA award for Burst Prevention

& Puncture Curative technology
Sameer Panda-led Indian team
2015 International
Peace Prize
Abraham M Keita from Liberia
Children's
2015 Indira Gandhi Prize for

Peace
UNHCR
President presents APJ Abdul Kalam Ignite Awards to students
President Pranab Mukharjee presented Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE awards 2015 at the Indian Institute of
Management - Ahmedabad (IIM-A).
The awards were given out to young children who had come up with innovative products or ideas for ease
of daily lives.
The President maintained that IIM-A has been committed to supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.
The awards function, which was also attended by Governor of Gujarat OP Kohli and Gujarat chief minister
Anandiben Patel was organised by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and IIM-A.
Acknowledging the contribution of NIF and IIM-A, the President stated, "National Innovation Foundation
and IIM-Ahmedabad, have given a global identity to the Indian model of social innovation."
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award is a national competition of original technological ideas and
innovations by children up to class 12 or those out of school up to the age of 17 years.
Juhi Chawla, Nawazuddin Siddiqui to get Indira Gandhi Award 2015
Bollywood actors Juhi Chawla and Nawazuddin Siddiqui are among seven prominent personalities from
different fields named for the prestigious Indira Gandhi Memorial Award 2015.
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The other awardees include international athlete Kavita Raut; first woman editor of a Marathi daily
Punyanagri, Rahi Bhide; author Kavita Mahajan; academician Farida Lambay and industrialist Megha
Phansalkar.
The honour carries no cash award or other benefits. The birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi is celebrated by
felicitating leading personalities from different walks of life for their achievements.
Pulin Kumar of adidas India wins prestigious INBA award
Pulin Kumar, Group Senior Legal and Compliance Director of Adidas India, was conferred with the Indian
National Bar Association's (INBA) General Counsel of the year 2015 - Retail Award in New Delhi.
Former law minister and senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani presented the award to Kumar at a ceremony on the
occasion of INBA's Annual International Conference-66th National Law Day.
Kumar received the award for his contribution to the legal field in and outside the country for more than 21
years.
University of East London awards honorary doctorate to Ashok Amritraj
Tennis champion-turned Hollywood filmmaker Ashok Amritraj was awarded with an honorary doctorate of
Arts by the University of East London.
Amritraj was honoured for promoting talented moviemakers from across the world, including India.
DDA wins e-India award
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) was awarded with the e-India Award for adopting technology to
serve the public better and using resources efficiently through mobile applications.
The land agency bagged the award under the category of Digital India IT initiatives in the field of land
protection and engineering projects.
The award was received by Mr. V.S. Tomar, Director (Systems) DDA in Mumbai at the e-INDIA
SUMMIT 2015 in Mumbai.
The apps that won the DDA the award are: Vacant land photo uploading system wherein officials of the
land and engineering department upload photographs of vacant land to keep a check on encroachment.
The second award winning app of DDA was the Measurement Books for e-filing of measurement of
engineering projects for exact estimation of parameters and project requirements.
Indias Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain won 2016 Queen's Young Leaders Award
Two Indians, Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain, have won the 2016 Queen's Young Leaders award in the
United Kingdom which will be presented by the British monarch in Buckingham Palace in June 2016.
Sawhney and Swain have won the prestigious award for their exceptional work in transforming the lives of
others and making a lasting difference in their communities.
Kartik Sawhney, a born blind, He founded Project STEMAccess, which offers hands-on science workshops
in India, as well as virtual training sessions.
Neha Swain is a youth facilitator and co-founder of NGO Rubaroo.
The Queens Young Leader Award recognises and celebrates exceptional people aged 18-29 from across
the Commonwealth.
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The award is given to youths who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to
transform lives.
Salman Rushdie Awarded Mailer Prize For Lifetime Achievement
India-born author Salman Rushdie has been awarded the prestigious Mailer Prize that honours writers who
fully exercise their freedom of creativity and thrive on dialogue and debate.
The prize is named after renowned American writer Norman Mailer, considered among the most influential
writers of the second half of the 20th century.
The Norman Mailer Centre recognises writers from all over the world, in all genres, whether established or
emerging and the Mailer Prize, the center's highest award, is given to writers whose work over the years
have challenged readers' perspectives on the world around them.
Mr Rushdie is the author of twelve novels including the Booker Prize winner Midnight's Children and The
Satanic Verses.
Naseeruddin Shah honoured lifetime achievement award at the 12th DIFF
Veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah has been honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the
12th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).
Along with him French actress Catherine Deneuve, Egyptian actor Ezzat Al Alayli and French-Tunisian
actor Sami Bouajila also won the lifetime achievement award.
DIFF is an annual film festival held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was started in year 2004.
Wipro wins 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award for innovation in IoT
Global software giant Wipro announced that it had won the 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award for developing
a solution for the Internet of Things (IoT).
Wipros IoT solution, Universal Data Parser (UDP), fetched the prestigious award.
The Aegis School of Business established the Aegis Graham Bell Awards as a tribute to the father of the
telephony, Sir Alexander Graham Bell.
The award is intended to promote innovation, entrepreneurship in the field of Telecom, Internet, Media &
Edutainment (TIME) and to provide recognition for outstanding contributions in this field in India.
Anirban Lahiri wins Order of Merit crown of Asian Tour
Indias star golfer Anirban Lahiri (28) has won the coveted Order of Merit crown of Asian Tour for year
2015. In the 2015 season world No. 41, Lahiri has earned $1,139,084 a way ahead of second-placed Scott
Hend of Australia who has earned $491,631.
With this he became only the fourth Indian golfer to win this coveted award after Jeev Milkha Singh (2006,
2008), Arjun Atwal (2003) and Jyoti Randhawa (2002).
Anirban Lahiri has won twice on the Asias premier Tour to be ranked into the worlds top-50 golfers.
Rory McIlroy bags European Tour Golfer of the Year award
Rory McIlroy was named the European Tour Golfer of the Year. He received the award for the third time in
four years.
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McIlroy bagged the European Tour Golfer of the Year award after a panel consisting of members of the
golfing media unanimously voted for him as the 2015 winner.
Sahitya Akademi awards announces for the year 2015
Sahitya Akademi has announced the names of 23 poets and authors who will be conferred the prestigious
2015 Sahitya Akademi Award.
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.
The awards were recommended by distinguished jury members representing 23 Indian languages and
approved by the Executive Board of the Akademi, under its President Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.
The award in Bengali is to be announced at a later date.
Poetry: Brajendra Kumar Brahma (Bodo), Dhian Singh (Dogri), Ramdarash Mishra (Hindi), K.V. Tirumalesh
(Kannada), Kshetri Rajan (Manipuri) and Ram Shankar Awasthi (Sanskrit).
Short stories: Kula Saikia (Assamese), Man Mohan Jha (Maithili), Gupta Pradhan (Nepali), Bibhuti Pattanaik
(Odia), Maya Rahi (Sindhi) and Volga (Telugu).
Novels: Cyrus Mistry (English), Jaswinder Singh (Punjabi) and Madhu Acharya Ashawadi (Rajasthani).
Essays: Rasik Shah (Gujrati) and A. Madhavan (Tamil).
Plays: Uday Bhembre (Konkani), Rabilal Tudu (Santali).
Books on criticism: Bashir Bhadarwahi (Kashmiri) and Shamim Tariq (Urdu).
Memoirs: Arun Khopkar (Marathi).
Mireia Lalaguna Royo & Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach crowned Miss World & Miss Universe 2015 respectively
Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach was crowned Miss Universe 2015 at the final of 64th edition of Miss
Universe held in Las Vegas, the USA.
She was crowned by Miss Universe 2014 winner Paulina Vega of Columbia.
Urvashi Rautela who represented India in the contest couldnt make it to top 15 semi-finals round.
Miss Spain Mireia Lalaguna Royo was crowned Miss World 2015 at the Beauty of Crown Theater in Sanya, China.
Rolene Strauss of South Africa crowned Mireia Lalaguna as her successor at the end of the event.
It is the first time Spain has won the title of Miss World.
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SPORTS
1. New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup for the third time. In the final played at Twickenham Stadium in
London, the New Zealanders defeated Australia 34-17. With this win, New Zealand became the first team to retain
the Webb Ellis Cup.
2. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis on 1 November 2015 won Singapore BNP Paribas WTA Finals women's doubles
title. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated eighth seed Spanish team of Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez
Navarro 6-0, 6-3. Agnieszka Radwanska claimed her maiden WTA Finals title with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over
Czech Petra Kvitova.
3. Roger Federer of Switzerland has won 2015 Swiss Indoors Basel Title of Tennis in mens single category played
at Basel. In the final match, he defeated his old foe Rafael Nadal of Spain by 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 score. It is Federers
seventh Basel trophy and overall 88th title of his career at the tour-level. Swiss Indoors is a professional mens
tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts.
4. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany of Mercedes team has won the 2015 Mexican Gand Prix title of
Formula One (F1) held at the Autdromo Hermanos Rodrguez in Mexico City. It is Rosbergs overall twelfth
championship title of F1 in his career and the fourth win in the 2015 season after Spain, Monaco and Australian
Grand Prix.
5. Shiva Thapa became the highest-ranked Indian boxer, zooming to second in the latest international rankings after
winning a bronze medal at last month's World championships in Doha. Shiva was placed second with 1550 points in
the 56kg category, up five places from the previous list. The top spot was occupied by Irishman Michael Conlan
(2150 points), who won the gold medal at the World Championships.
6. Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai has won silver medal in 50 metre pistol event category at the 13th Asian Shooting
Championship in Kuwait City. With this he became Indias first senior player to win the Asian Shooting
Championship.
7. Sidhu won the gold medal in the 10m air pistol womens event at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship in
Kuwait City. Heena, who won a gold at the eighth Asian Air Gun Championship at home recently, shot an excellent
198.2 in the finals to edge out Mongolian Gundegma Otreyad, who shot 198.
Other winners
In the 10m air pistol junior womens event, Shri Nivetha too won a gold with a score of 195.8 in the finals.
Shreya Gawande, Shri Nivetha and Oshin Tawani also combined to win the team gold with a combined
total of 1114.
Indian trio of Nayani Bharadwaj (374), Harshada Nithave (374) and Malaika Goel (365) also won the gold
in the team event of the 10M air pistol youth womens event.
In the 25m pistol mens junior event, Indias Shivam Shukla won gold shooting a score of 576.
Shivam, Arjun Das and Achal Pratap Grewal also won the silver medal in the team event.
In the junior skeet mens competition, Angad Bajwa secured the individual gold.
The team of Angad Bajwa (121), Anant Naruka (112) and Arjun Mann (114) walked away with the team
gold also in this category.
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8. Nigeria won the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. It was held across 8 cities in Chile since 17 October 2015. Nigeria
defeated Mali 2-0. Oshimhen and Bamgboye scored the goals for Nigeria at the 56th and 59th minute respectively.
India will host the bi-annual championship in 2017.
9. Saina Nehwal has won silver medal at 2015 China Open Superseries Premier Badminton tournament after
finishing at second position in the Womens Singles category. In the final match played at the Haixia Olympic
Sports Centre in Fuzhou, the defending champion and top seeded Saina lost to sixth placed Xuerui Li from China by
12-21, 15-21 score.
10. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany has won the 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix title of Formula One
(F1) held at Autdromo Jos Carlos Pace in Socorro district of Sao Paulo. It was Rosbergs overall thirteenth
championship title of F1 in his career and the fifth win in the 2015 season after Spain, Monaco, Australian and
Mexican Grand Prix.
11. Indian shuttler Siril Verma has won silver medal at the prestigious 2015 BWF World Junior badminton
Championships. By winning silver medal, Siril has joined the elite list of Indians shuttlers such as Saina Nehwal, PV
Sindhu, RMV Gurusaidutt, HS Prannoy and Sameer Verma who have won medals for India in the Junior World
Championships.
12. Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson retires from International cricket.
13. P. V. Sindhu completed a hat-trick of womens singles title at the $ 120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold after
defeating Japans Minatsu Mitani in the finals on 29 Nov 2015. World No. 12 Indian shuttler Sindhu defeated sixth
seed Minatsu Mitani of Japan by 21-9, 21-23, 21-14. This was Sindhu's first title of the season and the fifth overall.
14. Andy Murray led Great Britain have won the 2015 Davis Cup for first time since 1936 and for the 10th time in
the competitions 115-year history. Great Britain defeated Belgium by 3-1 score in the finals to win the 104th
edition of Davis Cup. The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in mens tennis organised by the
International Tennis Federation (ITF).
15. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg on 29 November 2015 won the 2015 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix title at the
Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE. This is his third successive victory of the season. His success also marked
Mercedes 12th one-two finish of the season, representing a new Formula-1 record.
16. Australia wins first day-night Test by 3 wickets, Australia won the first ever day-night cricket test match by 3
wickets against New Zealand.
First day-night Test was played at the Adelaide Oval from 27 November to 1 December 2015 with a pink
Kookaburra ball.
This was the third match of the Test series (Trans-Tasman trophy) between Australia and New Zealand
which is the first ever day-night test.
17. Indian Railways has won 32nd edition of Indian Oil Surjit Hockey tournament for the first time. Surjit Memorial
Hockey Tournament is an annual hockey tournament organized by Surjit Hockey Society in Jalandhar, Punjab in the
memory of Surjit Singh Randhawa.
18. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) excluded Barabati stadium in Cuttack, Odisha from the list of
newly declared Test venues. Barabati Stadium was excluded from the list after Cricket fans hurled plastic bottled
onto the ground forcing the match referees to stop the match for some time.
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19. Maharashtras chess player Srishti Pandey clinched the second Indiana All India FIDE Rating Chess tournament.
The tournament was organised by Nagpur Taluka Chess Association, which concluded at Dr Hedgewar Smarak
Samiti Hall, Reshimbagh, Nagpur from November 14 to 18.
20. World number one Novak Djokovic on 22 November 2015 won the season-ending ATP World Tour finals. In
the title clash played in London, Djokovic defeated third seed Roger Federer, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
21. Anju Bobby George, the former long jump world champion, was on 24 November 2015 appointed as the
chairperson of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). She will be assuming the charge in the first week of
December 2015. Her appointment was approved by the Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. The post of the
chairperson was lying vacant after the resignation of Anurag Thakur, the BJP parliamentarian and Secretary, Board
for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).
22. Australia wins Hockey World League Final by defeating Belgium
Australia has won the 2014-15 Mens Hockey World League Final by defeating Belgium.
In the final match played at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium, Raipur Australian team defeated Belgium
by 2-1 goals.
India was placed at third place in this league after defeating world number two and defending champions
Netherlands by 3-2 goals in the penalty shoot-out.
Top three teams of Hockey World League Final Champions: Australia (1st title). Runner-up: Belgium.
Third place: India.
23. Indian-American entrepreneur Frank Islam to be conferred with Uttar Pradesh Ratna Award
Frank Islam, an Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, will be conferred with Uttar Pradesh
Ratna Award on 4 January 2016 at the inaugural UP Pravasi Diwas in Agra.
The Uttar Pradesh Government will be honouring Islam to recognise his achievements and outstanding
contributions in a foreign country.
The UP Ratna Award is conferred to the NRIs, who hail from the state. It is awarded to the NRIs who have
made significant contribution to the field of science, technology, culture, medicine, education, public
service and commerce in foreign countries.
24. Maharashtra wins Wheelchair Basketball Championship
Maharashtra defeated Punjab to win the 2015 National Wheelchair Basketball Championship.
The competition opened on the eve of the International Day of People with Disabilities.
Nine states took part in the competition. The states are Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar
Pradesh,Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India (WBFI), founded in 2014, is a registered national body.
The federation aims at promoting wheelchair basketball sport in the country.
25. 2016 South Asian Games' logo & mascot unveils
Orgnaising committee of 12th South Asian Games (OC-SAG) unveiled mascot of the games and logo at
ITA Cultural Center Machkhowa in Guwahati, Assam.
The mascot Tikhor is a one horned rhino and is the brand ambassador of the games carries the message of
peace, stability, amity and progress in the South Asian region.
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On the other hand, the logo has eight petals representing the countries participating in the mega event.
The mega event will be jointly held in Guwahati and Shillong from 6 February to 16 February 2016.
26. Rajasthan's Apurvi Chandela won a Gold medal in the 10-metre Air Rifle event on the final day of the 59th
National Shooting Championship in Delhi. In the Final, Chandela and her compatriot Geetakshi Dixit got the better
of Anjum Moudgil of Haryana who had led throughout. While Geetakshi claimed the silver, Anjum had to settle for
a Bronze.
27. Army man Chain Singh won the Gold in the 50-metre Rifle 3 Positions event at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting
Range. Chain pipped Olympic medalist Gagan Narang who settled for Silver. Swapnil Kusale of the Railways won
Bronze.
28. FC Barcelona wins 2015 FIFA Club World Cup for 3rd time
FC Barcelona won the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup. To win the title, Barcelona defeated Argentinas River
Plate by 3-0. The final match was held at the International Stadium in Yokohama, Japan.
From Barcelona, Luis Surez of Uruguay scored two goals, while the remaining goal was made by Lionel
Messi of Argentina.
With this goal, Messi became the first player to score in three finals after leading Barca to victory in 2009
and 2011.
At the end of the annual event, Suarez collected the Player-of-the-Tournament and Golden Boot awards. So
far, the event was held for 12 times and Barcelona tops the table of winners with three titles overall. The
2013 title was won by FC Bayern Munich that was held in Morocco.
29. Chennaiyin FC crowns 2015 ISL champion
Chennaiyin FC was crowned as the champions of the 2nd Indian Super League (ISL) Football tournament.
In the final played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa, Chennaiyin defeated the hosts FC
Goa, 3-2. Goa was leading 2-1 till the 87th minute, but an own goal from their keeper, Laxmikant
Kattimani, in the 90th minute and Colombian Stiven Mendoza's strike seconds later helped Chennai win the
title.
Mendoza, who finished as the tournament's highest scorer with 13 goals, bagged the 'Golden boot' as well
as the 'Hero of the League' award.
www.bsc4success.com
DAYS
Jan 1
Jan 8
Jan 10
Jan 9
Jan 11
Jan 12
Jan 15
Jan 23
Jan 25
Jan 26
Jan 28
Jan 30
Jan 31
Feb 2
Feb 4
Feb 5
Feb 13
Feb 14
Feb 24
Feb 28
Mar 3
Mar 4
Mar 8
Mar 9
Mar 12
Mar 15
Mar 16
Mar 21
Mar 22
Mar 23
Mar 24
Mar 26
April 1
April 5
April 7
April 13
April 14
April 18
April 22
www.bsc4success.com
Army Medical Corps Establishment Day

African National Congress Foundation Day
World Laughter Day
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Death anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri
National youth Day (Birth Day of Swami Vivekanand)
Army Day
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's birth anniversary
International Customs Duty Day, India Tourism Day,
Indian Voter Day
Republic Day
Birth anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai
(Martyr's day) Mahatma Gandhi's Martyrdom Day;World
Leprosy Eradication Day
World Leprosy Eradication Day
World Wetlands Day
National Day of Srilanka
Kashmir Day (Organised by Pakistan)
Sarojini Naidu's Birth Anniversary
St. Valentine's Day
Central Exise Day
National Science Day
National Defence Day
National Security Day
International Women's Day
CISF Raising Day
Mauritius Day;Central Industrial Security Force Day
World Consumer Day
National Vaccination Day
World Forestry Day
World Day of Water
World Meterological Day
World TB Day
Bangaladesh Liberation Day
Orissa Day
Natinal Meritime Day
World Health Day
Jallianwallah Bagh Massacre Day (1919)
B.R. Ambedkar Remembrance Day
World Heritage Day
World Earth Day
May 11
May 15
May 17
May 24
May 31
5 June
8 June
12 June
World Books Day

International Labour Day, Maharashtra Day
International Energy Day
International Red Cross Day (It is celebraed to
commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of the
Red Cross Organization Jean Henry Dunant)
National Technology Day
International Family Day
World Telecom Day
Commonwealth Day
World No Tobacco Day
World Environment Day
World Ocean Day
World Day against Child Labour
14 June
21 June
World Blood Donor Day

International Yoga Day
21 June
26 June
World Music Day and Fathers Day

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking
29 June
July 1
July 4
July 11
July 18
July 26
July 28
Aug 6
Aug 9
Aug 12
Aug 14
Aug 15
Aug 19
Aug 20
Aug 29
Aug 30
Sept 5
Sept 7
Sept 8
Sept 14
Sept 16
National Statistics Day

Doctor's Day
American Independence Day
World Population Day
Mandela Day
Kargil Victory Day
World Hepatitis Day
Hiroshima Day
Quit India Movement Day
International youth Day
Pakistan's Independence Day
India's Independence Day
World Photography Day
Sadbhavana Diwas
National Sports Day of India (Dhyanchand's Birth Day)
Small Industry Day
Teacher's Day (Dr. Radhakrishnan's Birth Day)
Forgiveness Day
International Literacy Day
Hindi day,World First Aid Day
World Ozone Day
April 23
May 1
May 3
May 8
www.bsc4success.com
Sept 21
Sept 25
Sept 27
Oct 1
Oct 2
Oct 3
Oct 4
Oct 5
Oct 6
Oct 8
Oct 9
Oct 10
Oct 11
Oct 12
Oct 13
Oct 14
Oct 15
Oct 16
Oct 17
Oct 20
International Day of Peace, World Alzheimer's day

Social Justice Day
World Tourism Day
International Day for the Elderly(UN)
Gandhi Jayanti, International Day of Non-Violence
World Nature Day, World Habitat Day
World Animal Day
World Teacher's Day
World Wildlife Day, World Food Security Day
Indian Airforce day
World Postal Day
World Mental Health day;National Post Day
International Girl Child Day
World Sight day
World Calamty Control Day(UN)
World Standard Day
World White cane day(guiding the blind)
World Food Day
International poverty
National Solidarity Day (China attacked India on that day)
Oct 24
Oct 30
Oct 31
Nov 7
United Nations Day

World Thrift Day
Rastriya Ekta Diwas (Sardar Patel), National Integration
Day (In memory of Indira Gandhi)
Infant Protection day;World Cancer Awareness Day
Nov 9
Nov 10
Nov 14
Nov 17
Legal Service Day

Transport Day
Children's day/ World Diabetics day
Guru Nanak Dev's Birth Anniverrsary
Nov 26
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Law Day
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Goa's Liberation day
Kisan Divas (Farmer's Day)
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OBITUARY
Ustad Sabri Khan
MAM Ramaswamy
Brijmohan Lall Munjal
Allen Toussaint
Saeed Jaffrey
RK Trivedi
Noorul Huda
Sharad Joshi
Chatla Sriramulu
Peter Dickinson
Kurt Masur
T.S. Papola
Khekiho Zhimomi
Banwari Lal Mittal
Surendra Upadhyay
Sarangi maestro
Veteran industrialist and former
parliamentarian
Hero MotoCorp patriarch and doyen
of Indian two-wheeler industry
Songwriter
Veteran actor
Former Gujarat Governor
Veteran Communist leader
Renowned economist, agriculturist
Noted writer and theatre artiste
British Novelist
world's greatest conductors
Noted economist
Sitting Rajya Sabha MP from
Nagaland
Noted Indian-Origin Businessman
Noted litterateur
ALL THE BEST
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HIGHLIGHTS OF UNION BUDGET 2015-16

Abolition of Wealth Tax.

Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.

Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.

Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.

Sovereign Gold Bond, as an alternative to purchasing metal gold.

10. Union Government launches Three Gold Schemes

11. September IIP slumps to 3.6%, October CPI rises to 5%

2. President launches IMPRINT India initiative of IITs and IISC

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Recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission

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Bharat Stage II Euro 2

39. Modi announces Rs.1,000 cr for Tamil Nadu flood relief

42. Union Cabinet approves MOUs and agreement

MoU between India and Israel in the field of water resources

MoU between India and Iran on visa facilitation

51. India and South Korea ink MoU on taxation treaty

52. Sharad Pawars autobiography On My Terms released

53. Varanasi and Jaipur make it to Unesco's Creative City Network

55. Construction work of TAPI Gas Pipeline begins

Construction work on the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) Gas Pipeline project started in

58. Operation Smile-II to start from 1st January, 2016

60. India ranks 130th in 2015 Human Development Index

66. French President Hollande to be Chief Guest at Republic Day

67. Union Cabinet gives nod to MOU

70. AP Shah Committee appointed to look into ONGC, RIL dispute

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Paris hosts the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change conference.

International Solar Alliance

Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape

Breakthrough Energy Coalition

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25. COP 21 under UNFCCC adopts Paris Agreement on Climate Change

SCIENCE, DEFENCE and TECHNOLOGY

7. GSAT-15 successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana

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3. Financial Secrecy Index 2015

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5. World Economic Forum releases Global Gender Gap Report 2015

7. World Bank released Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016

President of Burkina Faso

Roch Marc Christian

Corporate President of Taxi

Executive Director on the board

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Navtej Singh Sarna

He succeeds Justice H L Dattu

Nobel Prizes 2015

Born in Ukraine and

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for her discoveries

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