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Showing posts with label
December 2015 Current Affairs updates.
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Showing posts with label
December 2015 Current Affairs updates.
Show all posts
National Affairs
- Delhi is all set to take its first major step to curb pollution levels with its ‘odd-even’ vehicle rationing policy.
- The formula will come into force from tomorrow (1st January 2016) morning at 8 am.
- Important Note : Pollution levels in Delhi as per some studies is among the worst in world’s leading cities is expected to be lowered as lakhs of vehicles are expected to stay off roads for next 15 days.
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International Affairs
- Afghanistan will host a meeting with officials from Pakistan, the United States and China next week to prepare the way for possible peace talks with the Taliban
- This preliminary meeting will focus on the move to resume the peace process, which was stalled in July following the death reports of Taliban chief Mullah Omar.
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International Affairs
- The 18th session of the India-Iran Joint Commission was held in New Delhi on December 28, 2015.
- The session was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ali Tayebnia.
- Guinea was declared free of Ebola transmission after more than 2,500 people died from the virus in the West African nation, leaving Liberia as the only country still counting down the days until the end of the epidemic.
- The announcement comes 42 days after the last person confirmed with Ebola tested negative for a second time.
- The country now enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance.
- Important Note : Ebola, the world's worst outbreak of the disease began in Gueckedou, eastern Guinea, in December 2013 before spreading to Liberia, Sierra Leone and seven other countries. In all, more than 11,300 people died.
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National Affairs
- The Congress Party today celebrated its 131st Foundation Day.
- The party was founded on 28th December 1885 during the British Raj.
- Its founders include Allan Octavian Hume (a prominent member of the Theosophical Society), Dadabhai Naoroji and Dinshaw Wacha.
- Giving a boost to women empowerment, Sikkim government is set to have one all-women Police Station each in all the four districts.
- The state government also announced posting of at least one woman Police Personnel in every Police Station.
- Chief Minister - Pawan Kumar Chamling
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International Affairs
- China today officially abandoned its controversial one child policy, allowing couples to have a second child amid deepening demographic crisis of shrinking workforce and ageing population in the world's second largest economy.
- Chinese lawmakers passed this historic decision allowing all couples to have two children from January 1, ending its over three and half decades old policy that prevented over 400 million births in the country.
- China today adopted its first counter-terrorism law that grants overarching powers to security agencies amid criticism from the U.S. over privacy and freedom of speech.
- The new law makes it legal for the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) to participate in counter terror missions overseas.
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International Affairs
- The Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan are going to meet on 15th January 2016 at Islamabad.
- The purpose of this meeting is to draw a roadmap to carry forward the engagement under the newly-announced Bilateral Comprehensive Dialogue.
- During the meeting, the two secretaries will discuss modalities and other schedule-related aspects to carry forward the dialogue which was announced during the visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Islamabad earlier this month.
- Indian Foreign Secretary : S. Jaishankar
- Pakistan's Foreign Secretary : Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry
- Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is going to visit Sri Lanka next month.
- During this visit, the two sides will sign several agreements including a pact on combating money laundering and terrorism financing.
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International Affairs
- Christmas being celebrated across the world with traditional fervour and gaiety.
- After wrapping up his two-day visit to Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his way back home reached Kabul this morning.
- There, he held a meeting with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul.
- Modi inaugurated the new building of Afghan Parliament which has been constructed by India at a cost of about 90 million US dollars.
- Note : The Parliament building has a block named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
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International Affairs
- Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad celebrated with religious gaiety and fervour across the world.
- The United Nations General Assembly has adopted the resolution recognizing 5th November as World Tsunami Awareness Day.
- The proposal regarding the World Tsunami Awareness Day was suggested by Japanese Government after the Third UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai in March 2015.
- The day will be observed in order to reduce human and economic losses due to natural disasters.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin began the 16th India-Russia Annual Summit talks today's evening.
- After the talks, the two sides are expected to sign a number of pacts to expand cooperation in key areas, including defence, nuclear energy, hydrocarbons and trade.
- The talks between the two countries, bound by special and privileged strategic ties, have been taking place alternately in Moscow and New Delhi since 2000.
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International Affairs
- Greece's parliament has approved legislation legalizing civil partnerships for gay couples, two years after the country was condemned by a European Court for discrimination.
- The Philippines became the first Asian country to approve the sale of the world's first-ever dengue vaccine.
- The vaccine Dengvaxia, manufactured by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, secured its first regulatory approval in Mexico a fortnight ago and is currently being reviewed by around 20 countries in Asia and Latin America.
- It is hoped the drug could eventually help prevent millions of deaths from dengue, the world's fastest-growing mosquito-borne disease.
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International Affairs
- Spain's Ruling conservative People’s Party (PP) led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has won the 2015 general elections.
- In a bid to curb the dramatic decline of their population, the US is going to place Indian lion (a breed of lion found in India and Africa) in the endangered species list.
- On the back of online buzz around beef ban and associated discussions on intolerance, "COW" has emerged as Yahoo India's 'Personality of the Year'.
- The European Union (EU) has extended its economic sanctions against Russia for six months over its involvement in the Ukraine crisis.
- The 28-member body renewed the sanctions until 31 July 2016.
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International Affairs
- The United States has lifted a 40-year-old ban on export of Oil.
- This move paves the way for energy deficient countries like India to open up another frontier to import oil from a distant friendly nation.
- The ban was lifted as President Barack Obama today signed into law the Omnibus USD 1.8 trillion spending package and tax bill for the current fiscal ending on September 30, 2016.
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International Affairs
- Today (20th December) is International Human Solidarity Day.
- This day is observed to celebrate unity in diversity.
- It also aims to remind people on the importance of solidarity in working towards eradicating poverty.
- The UN General Assembly, on 22 December 2005, by resolution 60/209 identified solidarity as one of the fundamental and universal values that should underlie relations between peoples in the Twenty-first century, and in that regard decided to proclaim 20 December of each year International Human Solidarity Day.
- 2015 Theme : Shared Progress & Prosperity based on global solidarity
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International Affairs
- Afghanistan has become the 164th WTO member after 11 years of
negotiations.
- It also became the 36th least
developed country (LDC) to join the global trade body.
- Note : The World Trade Organization (WTO) has formally approved Afghanistan’s membership at its 10th ministerial conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
- The UN Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously adopted resolution to increase sanctions against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) group and other terrorist groups.
- The resolution seeks to cut off its revenue flows including ransom payments, no matter by whom.
- 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 three-day long 2nd World Internet Conference was concluded at Wuzen in China.
- Theme of the Conference was : An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All - Building a Cyberspace Community of Shared Destiny.
- This conference was jointly organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province.
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International Affairs
- Today (18th December) is International Migrants Day.
- On 18 December 1990, the UN General Assembly adopted the international convention on the protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families.
- Theme of 2015 : I am a Migrant
- The number of people forcibly displaced worldwide is likely to have surpassed a record 60 million this year, mainly driven by the Syrian war and other protracted conflicts, the United Nations said.
- The estimated figure includes 20.2 million refugees fleeing wars and persecution, the most since 1992, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a report.
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International Affairs
- Today (17th December) is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
- This day calls attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers worldwide, as well as the need to remove the social stigma and discrimination that have contributed to violence against sex workers and indifference from the communities they are part of.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has ended its 12-year investigation into concerns that Iran might be developing nuclear weapons.
- In this regard, IAEA Board of Governors have passed a resolution ending its long-running inquiry against Ian but allowing inspectors to continue to police the country’s nuclear programme.
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International Affairs
- Saudi Arabia has announced the formation of a 34-state Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism.
- A long list of Arab countries such as Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, together with Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and African states were named in it.
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International Affairs
- Today (15th December) is International Tea Day.
- This day aims to draw global attention of governments and citizens to the impact of the global tea trade on workers, small growers and consumers.
- Note : The first International Tea Day was celebrated in New Delhi on 15 December 2005.
- The Japanese government is set to ease requirements for issuing multiple-entry visas to short-term Indian travellers effective from 11th January 2016.
- The move came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Premier Narendra Modi on Saturday agreed to promote people-to-people exchanges, the Japan Times reported.
- Under the new visa system, the maximum period of stay will be extended to 30 days from the current 15, with visas valid for five years, up from three years.
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International Affairs
- Today is World Monkey Day.
- This day was created and popularized by artists Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin, in order to spread awareness for the animals, and to show love and care for them.
- Saudi voters elect 20 women candidates for the first time in Municipal elections.
- A category 2 typhoon Melor has hit the central Philippines.
- Melor, known locally as Nona, made landfall over the northern tip of the island of Samar after undergoing a rapid intensification.
- India ranked 130 among 188 countries in Human Development Report 2015 released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
- Important Points to Note :
- India's rank was 135 according to the 2014 report.
- Norway topped the list followed by Australia and Switzerland.
- As per the report, the HDI rank of Bangladesh and Pakistan was 142 and 147, respectively.
- Among the BRICS nations, India was ranked lowest.
National Affairs
- Today (14th December) is National Energy Conservation Day.
- This day is observed in India to make people aware about the importance of energy as well as saving or conserving the more energy by using less energy.
- Important Points to Note :
- The Energy Conservation Act in India was executed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in the year 2001.
- The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is a constitutional body which comes under Government of India and helps in the development of policies and strategies in order to reduce the energy use.
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International Affairs
- Today (13th December) is World Choral Day.
- This is an international choral event to extol the values of solidarity, peace and understanding.
- Choral - Related to chorus (group of persons singing together)
- Theme of 2015 : Integration
- After weeks of negotiations in Paris, a coalition of nearly 200 countries has agreed to a landmark climate change pact.
- The deal, which unites an almost global group of the world's governments in a coordinated fight against climate change, will effectively curb fossil fuel emissions enough to combat the earth's rising emperatures.
- Indian Vice President Hamid Anasri, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and leaders from Turkmenistan and Afghanistan today broke the ground for the ambitious TAPI pipeline project.
- This project will provide energy-hungry India gas to run its power plants.
- Estimated cost of this project is USD 7.6 billion.
- TAPI - Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India
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International Affairs
- Cuba and the United States have agreed to restore a direct postal service, suspended 52 years ago at the height of the Cold War.
- The move is part of the rapprochement process that was announced by Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro on 17 December last year.
- The two countries have since restored diplomatic ties and reopened Embassies.
- Women in Saudi Arabia have cast their votes for the first time in the country's history.
- Note : Salma al-Rashed was the first woman to register to vote.
- China has handed over two most advanced corvette class warships with ability to sail at a maximum speed of 25.5 knots on the high seas besides versatile combat capacity and excellent manoeuvrability to the Bangladesh Navy today.
- China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) delivered these two vessels to the Bangladesh Navy in Qidong City, east China’s Jiangsu Province.
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