November 2015 Daily News Current Affairs

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  1. Nov 30, 2015
    1. Australia won first ever day-night Test match at Adelaide Oval with a pink Kookaburra ball against New Zealand.
    2. Wipros chairman Azim Premji is ranked 4th amongst worlds top 20 philanthropists with his $8 billion Donations till Date, as per a study by wealth consultancy Wealth-X and Business Insider.
      1. Bill Gates is first with donations of $27 billion, Warren Buffett next with $21.5 billion, and George Soros third with $8 billion donations.
    3. Indias economic growth accelerated to 7.4% in July- September quarter, overtaking China (6.9%)as worlds fastest growing major economy in manufacturing, mining and services sectors. In First Quarter of 2015-16 (April - June 2015) , GDP grew at 7 %. This growth rate is however less than 8.9 % recorded in July- September quarter of previous year.
    4. 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2015) concluded in Panjim, Goa. Key Highlights are -
      1. It started with screening of UK film The Man Who Knew Infinity, directed by Matthew Brown.
      2. Closing Film - Argentina's El Clan, directed by Pablo Trapero.
      3. Arun Jaitley (Finance Minister) Released Book 'Legends of Indian Silver Screen' as collections of essays of 23 Dadasahab Phalke awardees between 1992-2014.
      4. UNESCO Fellini Medal for the first time to be awarded in India at IFFI 2015.
      5. Spain was the focus country of IFFI 2015.
      6. International Jury headed by Shekhar Kapur.
      7. Special Retrospective on Actor Shashi Kapoor with screening of his 8 films.
      8. AR Rahman became first music director to be chief guest at closing of IFFI annual film festival.
      9. Best Film (Golden Peacock award) - Colombia's ‘Embrace of The Serpent, Directed by Ciro Guerra. Received cash prize of 40 lakh rupees.
      10. Best Director - Peter Greenway for Netherlands film ‘Eisenstein in Guanajuato.
      11. Best male actor - Vincent Lindon for France's film ‘The Measure of a Man.
      12. Best Female actor - five Female actress for their roles in the Turkey Film ‘Mustang.
      13. Special Jury Award - Julia Vargas for ‘Sealed Cargo.
      14. The ICFT-UNESCO Fellini Award - Kaushik Gangulys Bengali film ‘Cinemawala.
      15. Lifetime Achievement Award to Russian Nikita Mikhalkov.
      16. Centenary Film Personality Award for Music composer Illayaraja.
    5. 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference started in Paris (France)
      1. It is 21st COP (Conference of Parties) for Planning Climate Change Actions and Combating Global Warming Issues.
      2. About 40,000 delegates from 195 nations are attended the summit. 183 countries submitted action plans to achieve the goal of limiting warming to 2 degree centigrade.
      3. Participating countries decided to double their clean energy research and development funding by 2020.
      4. India and France launched International Solar Alliance (ISA) with an aim to harness solar power as a major step to mitigate carbon gas emissions.
        1. It will bring solar rich 121 tropical countries located between Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn together to tap solar energy.
        2. It will function from the Gurgaon based National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE).
        3. India will give assistance of $30 million for this initiative.
        4. PM Modi stated that India has solar capacity of 4GW and targets 100 GW by 2022. He called for developed countries to mobilise $100 billion annually by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation.
      5. France will invest 6 billion euros in 2016-2020 in Africa for enhancing renewable energy sources and cope with climate deterioration.
  2. Nov 29, 2015
    1. Rajasthan Government signed 295 MoUs attracting about 3.3 lakh crore investment during Resurgent Partnership Summit 2015.
    2. Direct-to-home (DTH) service provider Dish TV appointed Arun Kumar Kapoor as Chief Executive Officer.
    3. Hockey India secured partnerships with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for Hockey World League (HWL) final, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) as principal partner and South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) as first official partner for Hockey World League (HWL) to be held in Raipur from 27 November to 6 December 2015.
    4. Roger Van Gent appointed as strategic coach for Indian mens Hockey team till 2016 Rio Olympics.
    5. Operation Inherent Resolve - US military operation for intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) got Intennsified after recent ISIS Attack on France, killing hundreds.
    6. Noted Hindi writer and journalist, Mahip Singh passed away.
    7. Maharashtra government launched Gopinath Munde Farmers Accident Insurance Scheme 2015-16 to cover accidental death of the farmers. It will benefit 1.37 crore farmers in 10-75 year age group.
    8. Noted litterateur Surendra Upadhyay passed away. He was former chairman of Rajasthan Brijbhasha Academy.
    9. Noted Australian football player Joe Marston Passed Away.
    10. Anil Khanna re-elected as president of Asian Tennis Federation for four year years.
    11. President Pranab Mukherjee presented APJ Abdul Kalam Ignite Awards 2015 at Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad.
    12. World Meteorological Organization stated that global average surface temperature in 2015 is likely to be 1 Celsius above pre-industrial era, which will be warmest ever recorded.
    13. Rajya Sabha MP from Nagaland Khekiho Zhimomi passed away.
    14. Nepal's noted Indian-origin businessman Banwari Lal Mittal passed away. He was Founder of Shree Airlines of Nepal.
    15. Infosys Science Foundation Awards 2015 -
      1. Winners -
        1. Engineering and Computer Science - Umesh Waghmare (Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore)
        2. Humanities - Jonardon Ganeri (New York University)
        3. Life Sciences - Amit Sharma (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Delhi)
        4. Mathematical Sciences - Mahan Mj (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai)
        5. Physical Sciences - G Ravindra Kumar (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai)
        6. Social Sciences - Srinath Raghavan (Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi)
      2. About
        1. The prize was established in 2009 in six categories by Infosys Science Foundation. Prize consists of 65 lakh rupees Cash and a 22 karat gold medallion and citation.
  3. Nov 28, 2015
    1. ICT Development Index (IDI) Report by UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU) -
      1. India is ranked 131 out of 167 nations in level of information and communication technology access.
      2. Globally, 3.2 billion people are now online ( 43.4 % of worlds population). Mobile-cellular subscriptions have reached 7.1 billion.
      3. South Korea, Denmark and Iceland are top countries.
      4. 81.3 per cent of households in developed world, 34.1 % in the developing and 6.7 % in 48 UN-designated Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have internet access.
      5. India - Ranked 131st. Percentage of households with computer is 13 %, while percentage of households with Internet is 15.33. Percentage of individuals using Internet has grown to 18 %.
    2. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Launched Enable Makeathon Program for creating affordable assistive devices for persons with physical disabilities living in rural areas.
    3. Kerala cabinet approved to set up a NRI Commission and became 2nd state after Punjab to have such a Commission. NRI commission will address all issues of Indian People in foreign countries.
    4. West Bengal government decided to construct a 55-metre replica of Eiffel Tower in Kolkata, In memory of 13/11 terror attack in France.
    5. China will build worlds first salt lake data centre in Qinghai. China has over thousand salt lakes in Qinghai and Xinjiang.
    6. NRI Billionaire Manoj Bhargava revealed prototype of affordable electricity-generating hybrid bicycle called Free Electric. It is priced between 12,000 - 15,000 and can provide up to 24 hours of electricity after 1 hour of peddling.
    7. The first edition of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Graduate Employability Rankings has placed IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay among top 100 institutes in the world. IIT Kharagpur ranked at 77 and IIT Bombay ranked at 93. Top 3 universities are Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University.
    8. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of United Statues approved human consumption of a genetically engineered (GE) Salmon.
    9. USA's Ashton Eaton and Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba have been named male and female IAAF World Athletes of 2015.
    10. Indian-origin South African freedom fighter Ahmed Kathrada has been awarded Freedom of City of Cape Town, becoming sixth recipient of this honour.
    11. 12th South Asian Games will be held in Guwahati and Shillong from December 10 - 20, 2015.
    12. World Robot Conference 2015 was held in Beijing, China from 23 - 25 of November 2015.
    13. Union Territory of Daman and Diu will host worlds longest beach festival starting December 1, 2015. The 75-day festival Festa Di Diu will go on till February 2016.
    14. West Ham United's Aditi Chauhan became first Indian to be awarded Asian Woman Footballer of Year award in United Kingdom.
    15. Indian scientist, Yusuf Hamied has been appointed as one of member of the United Nations (UN) high-level panel on health technology innovation and access.
    16. Worlds second largest diamond ever has been discovered in Botswana. The 1,111-carat diamond measures 2.5 inches by 2.2 inches.
    17. HDFC will become India's first company to issue masala bonds up to $300m early in 2016.
      1. International Finance Corporation (IFC) (investment arm of World Bank) issued a 1,000 crore bond to fund infrastructure projects in India and named them Masala bonds to give a local flavour. These are rupee-denominated borrowings by Indian entities in overseas markets.
    18. UN Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters report showed that over between 1995 - 2015, mmost major disasters have been floods, storms, heatwaves, droughts and other weather-related events. Five most hit countries are -United States (472), China (441), India (288), Philippines (274), and Indonesia, (163).
    19. Indian Actress Shilpa Shetty and Luke Coutinho wrote Book The Great Indian Diet.
    20. As per report by Brickwork Ratings -
      1. Maharashtra is biggest economy among states in India with 16.87 lakh crore rupees in terms of gross state domestic product. Followed by Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
      2. Maharashtras GSDP grown by 11.69 per cent in 2014-15. It earns 70 % of its total receipts through taxes.
      3. Manufacturing - Gujarat and Maharashtra accounted for 27.26 per cent and 25.18 per cent of GSDP respectively.
      4. Services - Karnataka leads in growth of services sector in India, largely due to IT/BPO/ KPO sector.
      5. Fastest-growing states : Bihar (17.06%), Madhya Pradesh (16.86%) and Goa (16.43%).
      6. Slowest-growing states: Telangana (5.3%), Punjab (10.16%), Rajasthan (11%).
    21. Pankaj Saran appointed as India's new ambassador to Russia.
    22. China launched Yaogan Weixing series satellite called Yaogan-29 (YG-29).
    23. Indian Harika Dronavalli won FIDE World Online Women Blitz Championship in Rome, Italy.
    24. UGC (University Grant Commission) proposed to build interactive portal - Bharatvani as largest internet language site in the world with knowledge in all Indian languages.
    25. Britain's Tyson Fury crowned new world heavy weight champion after winning Vladimir Klitschko of Ukraine who suffered his first defeat since 2004.
  4. Nov 27, 2015
    1. Canara Bank tied up with Navodhan Charitable Foundation for timely detection of cancer as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) drive.
    2. HSBC Holdings will shut its private banking Business in India.
    3. India's cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni signed his first overseas endorsement deal withb Dubai's event management company Grand Midwest Group for 3 years.
    4. Nuclear capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-I (700 KM Range) Tested successfully. It can carry payload upto 1000 KM.
    5. Birhanu Legese from Ethiopia and Cynthia Limo from Kenya have won 2015 Delhi Half Marathon in mens and womens categories respectively.
    6. Noted Russian film Director and screenwriter Eldar Ryazanov passed away.
    7. Anil Kumble resigned as Chief Mentor of Indian Premier League (IPL) team Mumbai Indians.
    8. President Pranab Mukherjee approved Maharashtra Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to allow women to work in factories in night shifts.
    9. Government launched inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) injection as part of Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) to fight against polio virus.
    10. Roch Marc Christian Kabore has been elected as President of Burkina Faso.
    11. Jharkhand government declared entire state as drought hit in view of less rainfall in 2015 monsoon season and loss of crops.
    12. Reserve Bank of India kept Monetary Policy Rates unchanged in its fifth bi-monthly monetary policy review.
      1. Repo Rate - 6.75 %
      2. Reverse Repo - 5.75 %
      3. Bank Rate - 7.75 %
      4. Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 7.75 %
      5. CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 4 %
      6. SLR (Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 21.5 %
    13. President Pranab Mukherjee approved Labour Laws (Gujarat Amendment) Bill 2015 that aims to relax labour laws and boost industrialisation and minimise disputes between labourers and employees. It has provisions to ban strikes in public utility services for up to one year from previous six months. It reduces time limit for workers to raise objections to decisions of the industries from 3 to 1 year.
      1. President did not approve Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill 2015 and Sikkim Promotion of Local Employment Bill 2008 that proposed 80 % employment in private sector for people carrying Sikkim Subject Certificate.
    14. China hosted 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 it.
    15. 24th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting CHOGM 2015 Held in Malta.
      1. India was represented by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
      2. A new trade finance fund for members of Commonwealth has been announced by governments of four member Nations - India, Malta, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.
        1. The fund will be mainly geared towards small member states lacking in mineral resources and reliant on imports for growth, but are unable to get the necessary trade financing.
        2. International exporters often do not trade with these small nations without letters of credit (LC) issued by local banks. While, international banks are reluctant to confirm letters of credit by these Local banks as they are not considered credit worthy.
        3. The Fund has Initial capital of 20 Million USD and India has contributed US$2.5 Million.
        4. The scheme will act as a guarantor of 20% of total finance exposures faced by international banks dealing with banks in small Commonwealth Nations. Making trade easier for smaller commonwealth Nations.
  5. Nov 26, 2015
    1. 26 Nov - First Indian Constitution Day.
    2. 26 Nov - Indian National Milk Day. It marks birth anniversary of Father of White Revolution In India - Dr.Verghese Kurien.
    3. NHAI approves pilot project proposed by Nagpur based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute for developing greenbelts along National highway. Pilot project will be implemented on a 5 km stretch on NH-7 (Varanasi to Kanyakumari) in Nagpur region.
    4. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signed 11 more Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements with 7 APA with a “rollback” provision.
      1. CBDT has so far signed 25 APAs of which 24 are unilateral APAs and one is a bilateral APA.
      2. Unilateral APAs are agreed between Indian taxpayers and CBDT without involvement of tax authorities of country where the associated enterprise is based.
      3. Bilateral APAs include agreements between tax authorities of the two countries.
      4. APA with rollback provision extends tax certainty for nine financial years as against five years in APAs without rollback.
      5. APAs are meant to settle transfer prices and methods of setting prices of international transactions in advance. Government promotes having large number of APAs to foster tax cooperation and certainty.
    5. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Friendship Motor Car Rally started from Silchar, Assam. It aims at highlighting connectivity and seamless movements of vehicles across borders in these 4 nations through implementation of BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA).
    6. Samsung appointed Dongjin Koh as President of its Smartphone Division.
    7. Indian Badminton Player P V Sindhu won Macau Open for Third Time. She Defeated Japan’s Minatsu Mitani.
    8. India's Subroto Som has been appointed head of retail banking of Mashreq, Dubai's third-biggest bank.
    9. Saudi Arabia allowed women to vote and contest in municipal elections for the first time.
    10. Three-day Log Mayyazhi Mahotsavam started in Mahe, Puducherry.
    11. Indian Coast Guard commissioned interceptor boat ICGS C-422.
    12. Britain won 2015 Davis Cup tennis by defeating Belgium in Belgium.
    13. International Cricket Council suspended West Indies spinner Sunil Narine from bowling in international cricket due to his bowling action being found illegal.
    14. Nico Rosberg (Germany) won Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix .
      1. 2015 Formula One season -
        1. Total 19 Grand Prix Races to be organized across the world in 2015. Calendar is -
          1. Grand Prix Date Winner
            Australia 15 March Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Malaysia 29 March Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
            China 12 April Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Baharain 19 April Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Spain 10 May Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Monaco 24 May Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Canada 7 June Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Austria 21 June Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Britain 5 July Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Hungary 26 July Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
            Belgium 23 August Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Italy 6 September Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Singapore 20 September Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
            Japan 27 September   Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Russia 11 October Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            USA 25 October Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Mexico 1 November Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Brazil 15 November Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Abu Dhabi 29 November Nico Rosberg (Germany)
    15. Chinese Currency renminbi has been included in worlds elite currencies by IMF (International Monetary ). It will pave way for more use of renminbi in International trade and finance. Just four other currencies — the dollar, the euro, the pound and the yen - have this IMF designation.
      1. IMF is Headquarted in Washington (USA) with Christine Lagrade (France) as current Chief.
  6. Nov 25, 2015
    1. 25 Nov - International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women. United Nations (UN) launched its campaign Orange the World. Campaign will be carried out till December 10 (UN’s Human Rights Day).
    2. Slovenia's President, Milan Brglez visited India.
    3. LRSAM (Long Range Surface to Air Missile), jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industry and DRDO has been successfully tested. It is also called Barak 8 missile in Israel.
    4. RBI Issued Gold Bonds of subscription value of Rs 246 crore under Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme.
    5. India and Japan exchanged Notes for Japans Loan of Rs. 5,536 crore to India for Chennai Metro Rail Project (IV) and Ahmedabad Metro Project.
    6. India re-elected to Council of International Maritime Organization for 2 years at 29th Assembly of IMO in London.
      1. International Maritime Organization's Headquarters is in London (UK) with Koji Sekimizu as Current Chief.
    7. Dalbir Singh, Chief of Army Staff visited Sri Lanka.
    8. Minister of human resource development, Smriti Irani inaugurated MHRD scheme Global Initiative of Academic Network (GIAN) to boost quality of higher education institutes In India at Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar.
    9. Contract Agreement Signed For Two Rs.40,000 Crores High Horse Power Modern Locomotive Projects (Electric Locomotive Factory At Madhepura And Diesel Locomotive Factory At Marhowra - Bihar). -
      1. Indian Railways tied up with USA-Based Company GE Global Sourcing India Pvt. Limited for Setting Up Diesel Locomotive Factory (DLF) at Marhowra, Saran District, Bihar. Factory will Manufacture Diesel Electric Locomotives of 4500 HP and 6000 HP for Indian Railways. 1000 Locos to be Manufactured in Ten Years with Cost of About Rs.14,656 crores.
      2. Railways gave contract to France's Alstom for setting up Madhepura electric locomotive project. New factory will supply 800 high horse power (12000 HP) electric locomotive for 11 years. The project will bring FDI investment of 1300 crore, Its cost will be around 19,000 crores.
    10. Reserve Bank of India approved National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to function as Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) in Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
      1. BBPS is an integrated bill payment system which to function as a tiered structure for bill payment system in India to provide convenience to customers.
      2. BBPS will presently include bill payments such as, electricity, water, gas, telephone and Direct-to-Home (DTH).
    11. P Uday Bhaskar appointed as Chairman of Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission.
    12. British lawyer Patricia Scotland has been appointed as Secretary General of Commonwealth of Nations. She became first woman to hold this role in 66-year old 53-member Commonwealth.
    13. RBI approve three applicants to set up and operate Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) as per Guidelines issued on 3 December 2014 under Payment and Settlement System (PSS) Act 2007. Organisations are -
      1. NSE Strategic Investment Corporation and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
      2. Axis Bank
      3. Mynd Solutions
    14. India will set up a US$1 billion private equity fund dedicated to renewable energy sector as an effort towards meeting its 175GW of renewable capacity by 2022 targets.
    15. Government advanced date for implementation of Bharat Stage V and BS VI emission norms for four-wheelers in order to reduce vehicular air pollution from road transport sector. BS V norms will be rolled out from 1st of April, 2019 and BS VI norms from 1st April, 2021.
  7. Nov 24, 2015
    1. PM Narendra Modi Visits Malaysia and Singapore -
      1. Malaysia -
        1. India and Malaysia signed agreement to strengthen cooperation in defence, including maritime security and disaster response.
        2. Participated in 10th East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Kuala Lumpur with theme Our People, Our Community, Our Vision.
        3. Participated in 13th ASEAN - India Summit. India and leaders of 10 member ASEAN grouping discussed new Plan of Action for 2016-2020.
        4. Participated in 27th ASEAN Summit 2015. ASEAN leaders endorsed ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together to chart path for community building over next 10 years.
          1. Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders signed declaration for launching ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) similar to European Union (EU)-style regional economic bloc.
          2. AEC will make ASEAN a single market with free flow of goods, capital and skilled labour in the region. Integrate Southeast Asia’s 10 economies with population of 62 Crores and combined gross domestic product of 2.4 trillion USD.
      2. Singapore -
        1. India and Singapore signed 10 co-operation agreements.
        2. Extension of Loan of Artifacts to Asian Civilisations Museum of Singapore Executive Programme on Cooperation in Arts, Heritage, Archives and Library for 2015-2018.
        3. Operationalisation of Agreement on Sharing White Shipping Information between Navies.
        4. Cooperation in Cyber Security, Civil Aviation , Planning, Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs etc.
    2. Noted journalist Kuldip Nayar is honoured with 8th Ramnath Goenka Lifetime Achievement Award on for his contribution to journalism.
    3. Noted Marathi actor Prashant Damle will be honoured by Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Award 2015.
    4. Rishi Gour is appointed as President of Sodexo India On-site Services.
    5. Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated e-lala e-commerce portal of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). e-lala initiative aims to promote interests of 5.77 crore small businesses in context of rapid expansion of e-commerce in India.
    6. Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has invested in Crayon Data, a Singapore-based Data startup.
    7. Karnataka Government launched Tourist Mitra - 175-member friendly force to reinforce smooth and secure experiences for visitors to states tourist spots.
    8. Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry announced 10 schemes for disabled persons under National Trust for welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities. Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot announced to increase number of categories of disability from 7 to 19. List of schemes -
      1. DISHA: Early Intervention and School Readiness Scheme
      2. VIKAAS: Day Care Scheme
      3. SAMARTH: Respite Care Scheme
      4. GHARAUNDA: Group Home for Adults Scheme
      5. NIRAMAYA: Health Insurance Scheme
      6. SAHYOGI: Caregiver training scheme
      7. GYAN PRABHA: Educational support Scheme
      8. PRERNA: Marketing Assistance Scheme
      9. SAMBHAV: Aids and Assisted Devices Scheme
      10. BADHTE KADAM: Awareness and Community Interaction Scheme.
  8. Nov 23, 2015
    1. IT Firm Tata Consultancy Services launched new Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Internet of Things (IoT) in collaboration with Intel in Hyderabad.
    2. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved extension of Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS) for 5 years from 2015-16 to 2019-20. During the extended period, about 3771 crore rupees will be utilized for scheme. First extension to this scheme was granted in 2009-2010 for 5 years.
      1. IDEAS promotes India's strategic economic interest abroad by positioning it as an emerging economic power and partner for developing countries.
    3. 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) headed by Justice AK Mathur submitted its report -
      1. Recommended 23.55 % hike in pay and allowances of government employees , from 1 January 2016.
      2. Minimum pay will be 18000 rupees / month while maximum is recommended to be 225000 rupees / month for Apex Scale and 250000 per month for Cabinet Secretary level.
      3. Increase in pay will be 16 %, increase in allowances will be 63 % and increase in pension will be 24 %.
      4. The present system of pay bands and grade pay will be replaced by a new pay matrix. Status of employee, determined by grade pay will now be determined by level in pay matrix.
      5. One Rank One Pension proposed for civilian government employees on line of OROP for armed forces.
      6. Military Service Pay for Defence Officers more than doubled to Rs.15,500 from Rs. 6,000 currently. For nursing officers, 10,800 from 4,200 and others.
      7. Abolition of 52 allowances and introduction of a Health Insurance Scheme.
      8. Pay revision will impact 47 lakh serving employee and 52 lakh pensioners of Central Government.
      9. It will cost public exchequer over 1 lakh crore rupees annually.
      10. Implementation of Pay Commission will impact fiscal deficit by 0.65 %, as compared to 0.77 % in case of Sixth Central Pay Commission.
      11. A fitment factor of 2.57 is being proposed to be applied uniformly for all employees.
      12. The rate of annual increment is being retained at 3 percent.
      13. Ceiling of gratuity enhanced from 10 to 20 lakh rupees and ceiling on gratuity raised by 25 % whenever DA rises by 50 %.
      14. Short service commission officers may exit armed forces at any point between 7 - 10 years service.
    4. Former Tennis Player and Hollywood filmmaker Ashok Amritraj awarded with honorary doctorate of Arts by University of East London.
    5. 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Summit held at Manila (Philippines) with theme Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World. Peru will chair APEC in 2016 and will host 24th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in 2016.
    6. World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2015 -
      1. It ranked 145 nations according to how well they are leveraging their female talent
      2. Global gender gap across health, education, economic opportunity and politics has closed by only 4 % in the past 10 years. So it will take another 118 years to close it completely.
      3. India stood at 108th position in report.
      4. Top 5 - Iceland (1), Norway (2), Finland (3), Sweden (4) and Ireland (5) and and least gender equality is in - Iran (141), Chad (142), Syria (143), Pakistan (144) and Yemen (145).
      5. Among G20, India and Saudi Arabia have lowest rate of labour participation (40 %), USA has highest participation rate of 80 %.
      6. In Economic Participation and Opportunity segment, Indias among lowest (139 th). Labour force participation rate among women was 29.5 % and 83 % among men.
    7. Walmart India announced an entrepreneur development programme for women to encourage women owned businesses, including softer payment terms for them in first year of empanelment with Walmart (Starting from Andhra Pradesh).
    8. Airports Authority of India signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India's Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) Global Financial Services to spread its wings overseas.
    9. Rajasthan signed 295 MoUs attracting about 3.3 lakh crore rupees investment during Resurgent Partnership Summit 2015. It aims to provide around 239694 lakh jobs in the state.
    10. Rajasthan and South Australia signed Sister-State Agreement to boost export and investment opportunities during visit of South Australia Trade and Investment Trade Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith to Rajasthan.
    11. United Nations Security Council adopted French-sponsored resolution 2249 (2015) calling all nations to take all necessary measures to prevent and suppress terrorist acts of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other extremist groups.
    12. President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena inaugurated Mahatma Gandhi International Centre (MGIC) in Matale (Sri Lanka ).
    13. Food ordering portal Foodpanda tied up with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for order and delivery of food to the passengers.
    14. Noted labour economist T.S. Papola passed away.
    15. Michael Keating of United Kingdom is appointed as Special Representative for Somalia and Head of UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).
  9. Nov 22, 2015
    1. Asian Development Bank will provide 120 million USD loan for Second Bangladesh-India Grid Inter connectivity project under SASEC Programme(South Asia Sub-regional Economic Co-operation).
    2. Harshavardhan Neotia elected as President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
    3. Uttar Pradesh government's Clean UP, Green UP initiative earned place in Guinness Book of World Records by planting 10 lakh saplings in one day and previous record of 8 lakh 50 thousand trees in a single day.
    4. India-born Swati Dandekar has been appointed as United States director of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
    5. French President Francois Hollande will be the Chief Guest at the 67th Republic Day parade of January 26, 2016.
    6. Mauricio Macri's Republican Proposal Party won Argentinas 2015 Presidential elections.
    7. Sri Lankan announced to not to allow any country to set up naval base on Sri Lankan territory.
    8. China is building worlds biggest animal cloning factory in Tianjin to recreate sniffer dogs, racehorses, pets and beef cattle.
    9. US drugs giant Pfizer agreed to buy Ireland based Allergan for 160 billion USD making it biggest ever deal in history of healthcare sector.
    10. Indian Railways signed a MoU to set up a Railway Chair on Sustainable Mobility at New Delhi campus of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) University. It would promote research on sustainable mobility, green energy and use of energy efficient technology initiatives by Railways.
    11. Researchers discovered a new species of tree frog named Ghatixalus magnus in Western Ghats in Kadalar High Ranges of Kerala.
    12. Government reduced deadline for completion of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for rural connectivity through all- weather roads from 2022 to 2019. Annual allocation for PMGSY works for 2015-16 is also increased by 5,000 crore rupees (Now Total 15,100 crores).
    13. Former world long jump champion Anju Bobby George is appointed Chairperson of Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) by Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs.
      1. TOPS is Formulated under National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) for identifying potential medal prospects sportspersons for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. Focus is on Boxing, Athletics, Badminton, Archery, Wrestling and Shooting.
    14. Turkey Shoot Down a Russian Sukhoi 24 Warplane flying over Turkish Claimed Region for Attacking Terrorist Group ISIS. This has escalated tensions between Turkey an Russia. Russia imposed economic sanctions against Turkey over this issue.
    15. India test fired Indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile. It is a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) capable of carrying upto 1,000 kg of warheads in strike range of 350 kms.
    16. Atonio Costa of Socialist Party is named as Prime Minister of Portugal.
    17. Delhi Assembly passed Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services Amendment Bill, 2015 aimed at providing time bound delivery of Government services.
    18. Marathi film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali and Bengali film Cinemawala are shortlisted for 2015 UNESCO Fellini Medal. Katyar Kaljat Ghusali is directed by Subodh Bhave and Cinemawala is directed by Kaushik Gangualy.
    19. Bihar to ban sale of liquor from 1st April 2016. It will make bihar 6th dry state/UT in India.
    20. Cab operator OlaCabs has appointed Rajiv Bansal as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
    21. Second Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette INS Kadmatt Handed over to Indian Navy. It has been built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE).
    22. Noted Japanese Tamil scholar and historian of South India and South Asia, Noboru Karashima passed away.
    23. Australia and New Zealand played first ever day-night Test match at Adelaide Oval with a pink Kookaburra ball.
  10. Nov 21, 2015
    1. 21 Nov - World Television Day and World fisheries Day. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan proposed a new scheme ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries with an outlay of Rs. 3000 crore to be undertaken by National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB).
    2. First World Indology Conference held in Delhi in collaboration with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
    3. 13th World Robot Olympiad to be organized by National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) and India STEM Foundation in Delhi in November 2016.
    4. Government extended RuPay Card usage condition to 90 days from current 45 days for a claim under an accident insurance cover (with effect from 25th November 2015).
      1. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana's objective is of covering all households with at least one bank account and an accident insurance cover of Rs.1 lakh. 
      2. Previously, RuPay Card holder should have carried out at least one successful ATM transaction in last 45 days for claiming the insurance under Accidental Death cover. Now the limit is increased to 90 days.
    5. India's Pankaj Advani won IBSF World Snooker Championship by defeating Chinas Xingtong. It is 15th World Title for Pankaj. He became first person to win both Billiards and Snooker World Titles in same year.
    6. India successfully test fired indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile Advanced Air Defence (AAD), which is capable of destroying any incoming ballistic missile.
    7. A 13 member committee under former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami constituted by Human Resource Development ministry for Sanskrit promotion.
    8. Indian mens junior hockey team won 8th Junior Asia Hockey Cup by defeating Pakistan by 6-2 goals. It was held in Malaysia.
    9. Serbia's Novak Djokovic won ATP World Tour Tennis finals for fourth time continuously. He defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland .
    10. Nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Dhanush ballistic missile test fired from off Puri coast of Odisha with strike range of 350 kms. It can carry payload upto 500 kg.
    11. Sunil Kanoria has been appointed new president of Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).
    12. Securities and Exchange Board of India signed Memorandum of Understanding with Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission during UK Sinha(Chairman of SEBI)'s visit to Bangladesh.
    13. Japan Launched its First fully commercial satellite Mission by launching Canada's Telstar 12V.
    14. Janta Dal United (JDU)'s Nitish Kumar sworn in as Chief Minister (CM) of Bihar for fifth term.
    15. Russia signed agreement with Egypt to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant at Dabaa with capacity 1200 MW.
    16. Syrian woman journalist Zaina Erhaim won 2015 Reporters without Borders Prize for her defence of press freedom in Syria.
  11. Nov 20, 2015
    1. 20 November - Universal Children's Day.
    2. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved Home Ministry's plans for Integrating Criminal Justice System in Crime and Criminals Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project to ensure quick data transfer among concerned entities.
    3. Laurent Fabius, Foreign Minister of France visited India.
    4. International Grassland Congress organized by Indian Grassland & Fodder Research Institute in New Delhi.
    5. Government released 3 Books on Rajyogini Dadi Janaki (Head of Brahma Kumaris organization). Books are
      1. Prem aur Shanti ka Marg - authored by Dadi Janaki.
      2. I know How to Live, I know How to Die - authored by Neville Hodgkinson.
      3. Dadi Janaki : A Century of Service - authored by Liz Hodgkinson.
    6. 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2015) started in Panjim, Goa with screening of internationally - acclaimed UK film The Man Who Knew Infinity. Film has been written and directed by Matthew Brown and produced by Edward Ramback Pressman.
      1. Arun Jaitley (Finance Minister) Released Book 'Legends of Indian Silver Screen' as collections of essays of 23 Dadasahab Phalke awardees between 1992-2014.
    7. First India International Science Festival will be organized at IIT Delhi from 4 - 8 December 2015 by Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) in collaboration with NGO Vijnana Bharati.
    8. Minister of Urban Development, M.Venkaiah Naidu announced 3250 crore special assistance for decongestion of roads and development of Delhi.
    9. Government released assistance of 939 crores for Flood relief operations in Tamilnadu.
    10. Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju Inaugurated first "South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise" (SAADMEx) – 2015 in Delhi. Eight member nations of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) attended the meet.
    11. Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj launched Bharat Ko Janiye online quiz program for Indians across the globe. It is intended to educate them about India's progress in various fields like, Science & Technology etc.
    12. Minister of State (IC) for Development of North Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh inaugurated an Awareness Workshop on online Pension Sanction and Payment Tracking System - BHAVISHYA. It will introduce transparency and accountability in pension processes and will bring satisfaction to pensioners.
  12. Nov 19, 2015
    1. 19 Nov - World Toilet Day and International Men's Day.
    2. 19 Nov - World Philosophy Day (Third Thursday of November).
    3. Government wil set up National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in Jhalawar, Rajasthan at cost of Rs 500 crores.
    4. Government launched Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) under National Manufacturing Policy 2011 to facilitate acquisition of energy efficient technologies and support manufacturing growth in Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. Scheme will be implemented through Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA), a joint venture company between CII and Department of Science & Technology.
    5. Sanjay Jasjit Singh appointed as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Communication Space and Network Centric Operation).
    6. Vijay Kelkar Committee on Revisiting & Revitalizing the PPP model of Infrastructure Development submitted its report.
    7. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has set up a Toll Free Telephone Number 1-800-180-4343 to answer queries of stakeholders, including consumers, for seamless transition to digitization of Cable TV.
    8. Global conference on traffic safety in Brazil. Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari attended on India's Behalf.
    9. Vijay Keshav Gokhale is appointed as Indias Ambassador to China.
    10. 19 November - World Toilet Day. 2015 Theme is Sanitation and Nutrition.
    11. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suspended Russias anti-doping agency RUSADA for being non-compliant with anti-doping charter in sports.
    12. Second World Congress on Disaster Management held in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
    13. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been chosen for 2015 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. UNHCR is awarded for its Immense contributions in assisting millions of refugees in their rehabilitation and resettlement.
    14. Tata Steel started first phase of its Kalinganagar steel plant in Odisha as India's largest single-location greenfield project. First phase will produce 3 million tonnes of its total capacity of 6 MT/ annum.
    15. 50 districts of Uttar Pradesh have been declared drought-hit as they received lesser than 60 % rain during 2015 June to September 2015 (Monsoon period).
    16. Philips India appointed V Raja as Vice-Chairman and Managing Director.
    17. Delhi government approved Jan Lokpal Bill 2015 to establish an independent authority for investigating Corruption Acts in government offices.
    18. Government ratified Articles of Agreement (AoA) of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
      1. Headquarters will be in Beijing (China). China is largest stakeholder with 30.34 % stake.
      2. India will be second-biggest shareholder with 8.4 % ad Russia will have 6.5 % stake.
      3. Total Paid up capital will be 100 Billion USD.
    19. Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar announced formation of Indian Resource Panel (InRP) on Resource Efficiency. India is first nation to constitute a NRP to promote sustainable development by utilising secondary resources.
    20. Bangladesh blocked Facebook and messaging service WhatsApp and Viber for security reasons.
    21. Maharashtra Srishti Pandey won second Indiana All India FIDE Rating Chess tournament organized by Nagpur Taluka Chess Association.
    22. Institute for Economics and Peace (Sydney, Australia) Global Terrorism Index 2015 of impact of terrorism in 162 countries -
      1. Deaths from terrorism increased 80 % in 2014 to highest level ever with cost 52.9 USD billion.
      2. Most Affected Nations - Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria. India is sixth most affected Nation by terrorism in 2014.
      3. Least affected Nations - Japan, Malawi, Togo, Zambia among others.
      4. Over 32000 people killed by terrorism in 2014 as compared to 18000 in 2013. Boko Haram and ISIL making 51 % of all global fatalities.
  13. Nov 18, 2015
    1. Government approved Memorandum of Understanding with Vietnam for cooperation in field of Animal Health.
    2. Government approved proposal of Department of Health Research in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to set up of National Resource Facility for Bio-medical Research (NARF) at Genome Valley in Hyderabad under Indian Council for Medical Research. Project cost will be approx Rs. 338 crores and resource center will be functional by 2018-19.
    3. Government approved Memorandum of Understanding with Germany for Security Co-operation, Promotion of Each other's Languages and carriage of In-flight Security Officers (IFCOs) on board the flight. Government approved German as additional foreign language in Kendriya Vidyalayas.
    4. Government proposed to extend Currency Swap Arrangement for SAARC Member Countries by two years upto November 14, 2017. Under this facility, RBI offers swaps of varying sizes to each SAARC Member countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) under US$ 2 billion.
    5. Government approved revised Air Services Agreement with New Zealand.
    6. Government approved signing Tripartite Agreement among India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) for IBSA Fund for Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger. IBSA countries contribute US$ 1 million each annually to the Fund.
    7. Government approved amending Agreement with Kuwait for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion.
    8. Government approved disinvestment of 10 % Stake in Coal India Limited. Government's shareholding of 78.65 % in CIL will now become 68.65 %.
    9. Government announced 3% interest subsidy scheme (called Interest Equalization Scheme) for exporters to boost Exports. It will have financial implication of about Rs 2,700 crores.
    10. Government approved direct subsidy payment to farmers at rate of Rs 4.50 per quintal for cane they will sell to loss-making sugarcane mills. It will cost Rs 1,147 crore to the Government.
    11. Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation approved construction of 2,28,204 houses for urban poor under Housing for All Mission in five states - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Housing For All Mission aims to build houses for all Urban Poor by 2022.
    12. National Research Development Corporation signed Memorandum of Agreement with Indian Institute of Technology Madras for commercialisation of technologies/ intellectual properties developed at IITM.
    13. Afghanistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai visited India.
    14. Russia launched first satellite for its newest early warning system, EKS or Integrated Space System. Satellite has been named Kosmos 2510 (Tundra 11L).
    15. Indian Red Cross Society Secretary General SP Agarwal passed away.
    16. Competition Commission of India imposed penalties on 3 Airlines for concerted action in fixing and revising Fuel Surcharge (FSC) for transporting cargo. Airlines are Jet Airways, InterGlobe Aviation and Spice Jet.
    17. Delhi will host first International Qawwali Festival 2015 titled Taali Ho in February 2016.
    18. Intel launched its Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur program for rural digitisation in 10 States from Nadimpalle villlage in Telangana.
    19. Former RAW Director Shankaran Nair passed away.
    20. Chinas Tianhe-2 supercomputer named as worlds most powerful supercomputer for sixth consecutive year. It is capable of performing calculations with processing speed of 33.86 petaflops per second. Supercomputer Titan of US Department of Energy is second with 17.59 Pflop/s.
    21. Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) released Internet in India 2015 report.
      1. Indias internet user base will touch 40.2 Crore by December 2015. India will Beat USA ti become second-largest userbase in world after China.
      2. Internet in India took over a decade to move from 1 to 10 crore and 3 years from 10 to 20 crores, it took just a year to move from 30 to 40 crore users.
      3. Overall, 71 percent male and 29 percent female are Internet users in India.
      4. Among Rural areas, User base of mobile internet users is expected will reach 8.7 crore by December 2015 and 11 crore by June 2016.
    22. World Health Organisation (WHO) launched World Antibiotic Awareness Week with theme Antibiotics: handle with care. Aim is to raise awareness to avoid further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance.
  14. Nov 17, 2015
    1. 17th November - International Day of Students.
    2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Visited UK and Turkey -
      1. UK Visit
        1. India and UK signed civil nuclear pact and decided to collaborate in of defence and cyber security besides launching a railway rupee bond in UK.
        2. Deals worth 9 billion pounds signed in India and UK.
        3. India’s first Low Income State Infrastructure Equity Partnership (the Neev Fund) launched by Narendra Modi in UK. It has investment from UK Department of International Development and the State Bank of India.
        4. India and UK agreed on package of collaboration on energy and climate change worth 3.2 billion pounds.
        5. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Ambedkar memorial bulit by Maharashtra Government in London.
        6. 2017 has been announced as UK-India Year of culture.
        7. PM Nardenra Modi unveiled Basaveshwara Statue in London. 
        8. PM Nardenra Modi addressed Indian Community at Wembley Football Stadium in London.
      2. Turkey Visit
        1. PM Modi attended 2015 G-20 summit chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Antalya (Turkey).
        2. PM Modi attended meet of BRICS leaders on sidelines of G-20 summit.
        3. India and Australia announced completion of procedures for Civil Nuclear Agreement.
    3. Andhra Pradesh Government decided to waive loans taken by over 25000 weavers amounting over 110 crore rupees.
    4. Online auto classifieds firm CarTrade.com acquired car-selling portal CarWale.com
    5. Czech Republic defeated Russia to retain Fed Cup Tennis Title, played in Czech Republic.
    6. Prasad and Swadesh Darshan schemes of Ministry of Tourism launched with an aim to achieve 1 % share of international tourist arrivals by 2016-17 from present 0.68 %.
      1. PRASAD is meant to augment religious tourism in India. Potential Religious destinations are identified and developed on priority basis. In the initial phase, 12 cities, that are part of HRIDAY scheme, namely Amritsar, Ajmer, Amaravati, Dwaraka, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Kedarnath, Kamakhya, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi and Vellankani have been identified for development.
      2. Swadesh Darshan - Theme Based Tourist Circuit (tourist circuit around specific themes such as religion, culture, ethnicity) are identified and developed.
    7. Eight Asian countries (China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia and India) participated in a meeting held in New Delhi for preparing disaster risk reduction for Asian region.
    8. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited United Arab Emirates.
  15. Nov 16, 2015
    1. 16 Nov - National Press Day.
    2. 3rd National Seminar on Social Innovation organized in Pune.
    3. 16 Nov - International Day for Tolerance.
    4. ICICI Bank Canada (subsidiary of ICICI Bank) has been authorised by Canadian High Commission to accept GIC (Guaranteed Investment Certificate) for students aspiring to study in Canada.
      1. As per rules, students applying for study permit in canada under Student Partner Programme (SPP), are required to invest in a GIC of 10,000 Canadian dollar with a bank in Canada authorised by government to offer this facility. Now, Canadian Government authorised ICICI bank Canada to accept GIC.
      2. This programme will enable students from India to purchase a GIC from ICICI Bank Canada. The amount of 10,000 Canadian dollar will be paid back to student while studying in Canada in 12 equal installments along with interest amount. Processing fee for applying is Canada Dollar 150.
    5. Nokia appointed Sandeep Girotra as head of Its India Operations and Amr Karim El-Leithy as head of Middle East and Africa as part of Nokia's Merger with Alcatel-Lucent.
    6. Healthcare booking platform Practo and taxi-hailing platform Uber partnered to help people reach doctors easily.
    7. Ministry of Finance constituted Governing Council of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund to be chaired by Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley Currently). NIIF was approved by Union Cabinet with initial corpus of 20000 crore rupees.
    8. Noted Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ashok Singhal passed away.
    9. Zarin Daruwala has been appointed as chief executive officer by Standard Chartered Bank for its India Operations.
    10. Axis Mutual Fund announced Axis Children's Gift Fund as a goal-based investment option for minors, represented by a guardian. NFO comes with optional lock-in period till child turns 18 years old.
    11. Andhra Pradesh Government and World Bank have signed $75 million loan deal for Andhra Pradesh Rural Inclusive Growth Project.
    12. FIFA banned Nepal's football chief Ganesh Thapa for 10 years for corruption.
    13. 2015 Summit on Migration held in Valletta (Malta) with delegates from Europe and Africa. The summit created an Action Plan to deal with migration issues from Africa to Europe. An EU Emergency Trust Fund of 1.8 billion euros established to address causes of irregular migration.
    14. Delhi Government appointed panel under Chetan Sanghi recommended suspension of Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) due to severe alleged financial irregularities.
    15. Prithvi Raj Singh of Jal Bhagirathi Foundation has been elected to Board of Governors of World Water Council (WWC) for 2016-18.
  16. Nov 15, 2015
    1. 15 Nov - Statehood day of Jharkhand. State was created on Nov 15, 2000. On thsi occasion, Jharkhand government launched 14 mobile applications and three web portals to ntroduce Mobile Governance.
    2. Asia Leaders' Meeting for Implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia and 2nd ISDR Asia Partnership meeting 2015 held in Delhi.
    3. Government declared National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN (K)) as a terrorist organization under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
    4. Piyush Goyal (Minister of Power) announced that India would not need to Import Thermal Coal by 2017.
    5. Deadly Terrorist Attacks occured in Paris City of France, reportedly carried by ISIS.
    6. Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani visited UNESCO Headquarters at Paris. She participated in 38th session of UNESCO General Conference.
    7. Minimum train passenger fare has been hiked from Rs. 5 to Rs 10 in non-suburban services at par with platform ticket. Note that platform ticket was increased to Rs. 10 in April 2015.
    8. National League for Democracy (NLD) party led by Aung San Suu Kyi won Myanmars landmark election by winning 348 seats.
    9. During 10th G20 Summit in Turkey - India and Australia signed Nuclear deal for supply of Uranium from Australia to India. India became first country to buy Uranium from Australia without being a signatory to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Australia has about a 40 % of world’s Uranium resources and annually exports 7,000 tonnes.
    10. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) pharmacy outlet at AIIMS Delhi. Purpose of this outlet is to reduce expenditure on treatment of cancer and heart diseases by 50 %. It has tied-up with government-owned HLL Lifecare Ltd.
    11. Nico Rosberg (Germany) won Brazil Formula One Grand Prix .
      1. 2015 Formula One season -
        1. Total 19 Grand Prix Races to be organized across the world in 2015. Calendar is -
          1. Grand Prix Date Winner
            Australia 15 March Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Malaysia 29 March Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
            China 12 April Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Baharain 19 April Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Spain 10 May Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Monaco 24 May Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Canada 7 June Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Austria 21 June Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Britain 5 July Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Hungary 26 July Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
            Belgium 23 August Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Italy 6 September Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Singapore 20 September Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
            Japan 27 September   Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Russia 11 October Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            USA 25 October Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Mexico 1 November Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Brazil 15 November Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Abu Dhabi 29 November
    12. China Open (badminton) 2015
      1. Women's Singles - Li Xuerui (China) won by defeating India's Saina Nehwal
      2. Men's Singles - Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) won by defeating Chen Long (China)
      3. Men's Doubles - Kim Sa Rang and Kim Gi-jung (South Korea)
      4. Women's Doubles - Yu Yang and Tang Yuanting (China)
    13. Syed Akbaruddin appointed as next Permanent Representative of India to United Nations.
    14. Northeast Indias first hospital for elephants established at Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
    15. Noted writer of childrens books Kamala Laxman passed away.
    16. Odisha Government started implementation of National Food Security Act 2013 in 14 (of 30 districts). Under NFSA, beneficiaries are given 5 kg of rice at Rs 3 or 5 kg of wheat at Rs 2 from Public Distribution System. Second phase of NFSA will be implemented in remaining 16 districts from 1st December 2015.
    17. Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson (age 34) has announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket.
    18. Indian shuttler Siril Verma has won silver at 2015 BWF World Junior badminton Championships in Lima. He lost to Taipeis Chia Hung Lu Chia in Final.
    19. Government approved Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Action Plan for 81 cities in 5 states (Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Mizoram) with total cost 5,748 crores. Union Government will provide 2,440 crore rupees while rest will be contributed by states.
  17. Nov 14, 2015
    1. 14 Nov - Birth Anniversary of Jawahar Lal Nehru (First Prime Minister of India). Also depicted as Children's Day in India. 14 Nov is also celebrated as National Metallurgists Day in India.
    2. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated 35th India International Trade Fair 2015 in Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Afghanistan is Partner Country while Bangladesh is Focus Country in IITF 2015.
    3. Minister of Agriculture of Brazil, Katia Abreu Visited India.
    4. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar commissioned Seakeeping and Manoeuvring Basin (SMB) and Maareech - Advanced Torpedo Defence System into Indian Navy.
    5. Shipwright School, an alma-mater for Naval Architects, Shipwright Officers and Sailors commissioned Into Indian Navy and INS Vishwakarma.
    6. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting nominated Satish Shah and Bhawana Somaaya as members of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Society.
    7. India and Bangladesh signed Standard Operating Procedure in New Delhi to operationalize Agreement on Coastal Shipping signed in June 2015.
    8. Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and Director General of BSF, D.K. Pathak visited Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh greed to share information on terrorists and insurgent threats.
    9. Government announced plans to open an exclusive Sports University in Manipur.
    10. 2015 G-20 summit held in Antalya (Turkey). It was tenth meeting of G-20 heads of government. Next G20 Summits - 2016 (China), 2017 (Germany), 2018 (India). It was attended by all G-20 Members except France.
    11. Noted actor Saeed Jaffrey passed away.
    12. Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Radha Mohan Singh laid Foundation Stone of Acharya N.G.Ranga Agricultural University in Andhra Pradesh.
    13. Prakash Javadekar (Minister of Information and Broadcasting) became first Union Minister to Visit Doyang Lake in Nagaland. He appraised return of Amur Falcons Birds to Nagaland and announced to Develop Doyang Lake as Eco Tourism Spot.
    14. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries laid foundation stone of first Mega Food Park in Telangana state in Nandipet Mandal (District Nizamabad).
    15. Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju will be designated as Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction for his efforts in enabling community resilience in Asia-Pacific region. He will be honored by United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction as first regional champion after Sendai Agreement.
  18. Nov 13, 2015
    1. India will host a World Indology Conference in collaboration with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) from November 21 to 23, 2015 in Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. A ‘Distinguished Indologist’ Award will be presented by President Mukherjee to Heinrich Freiherr Von Stietencron from Germany on this occasion.
    2. India signed Memorandum of Understanding with South Korea for bilateral air service cooperation.
    3. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar commissioned Boeing P 8 I (Poseidon Eight India) Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft In Indian Navy at INS Rajali Station, Arakkonam.
    4. Railways gave contract to France's Alstom for setting up Madhepura electric locomotive project. New factory will supply 800 high horse power (12000 HP) electric locomotive for 11 years. The project will bring FDI investment of 1300 crore, Its cost will be around 19,000 crores.
    5. Annual Hundred Drums Wangala Festival begun at Asanang in Meghalaya.
    6. Pakistan and China started ambitious 46 billion US Dollar China- Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC) project as China acquired over 2,000 acres of land in Balochistan to develop strategic Gwadar port of 1.62 Billion USD.
      1. It includes construction of an expressway linking Gwadar port in Pakistan to Xinjiang region in China by highways, airways and railways and pipelines to transport oil and gas.
      2. India objected to ths CPEC as it passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir. But China defended it saying it is a commercial venture to improve livelihoods of people in Pakistan.
    7. Central Government relaxed Foreign Direct Investment norms across 15 sectors to boost investment -
      1. Governement raised threshold limit of approval by Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) from 3000 to 5000 crores.
      2. In defence, foreign investment up to 49% is allowed under automatic route from earlier government approved route.
      3. In broadcasting (FM Radio) and News Channels FDI up to 49 % is allowed through FIPB route from earlier 26%.
      4. In Banking, investment up to 74% provided.
    8. Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking for Engineering & Technology's top 100 Institutes List -
      1. Indian Institute of Science Bangalore ranks 99th in the List.
      2. US institutions Stanford (1st), CalTech (2nd)and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (3rd) are at top three.
    9. Fortune's top 50 global business leaders -
      1. Indian Origin Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is named 47th and Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga is rankaed at 5th Position.
      2. Nikes Mike Parker topped the list followed by Facebooks Mark Zukerberg.
      3. Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson (3), Apples Tim Cook (4), Google (Alphabet)s Larry Page at 11th position.
  19. Nov 12, 2015
    1. 12 Nov - World Pneumonia Day. Theme for 2015 is Every Breath Counts: Stop Pneumonia Now.
    2. 12 Nov - World Quality Day.
    3. During recent International Conference ‘Networking the Networks’ in Delhi, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Myanmar decided to form South Asian Regional Intelligence and Coordination Centre on Transnational Organized Crime (SARICC) for information sharing to enable all Member States to respond Transnational organized crimes.
    4. Ministry of Railways applied changes in Computerized Passenger Reservation System to enable passengers to buy tickets even after preparation of reservation charts, w.e.f. 12th November, 2015.
      1. Under this, First Reservation chart will be made 4 hours before departure of train.
      2. After preparation of first reservation charts, reservation will again become open and passengers can Book available tickets· If passenger is holding RAC/wait list ticket, it can cancel the ticket up to 30 minutes before scheduled departure.
      3. Second (and final) chart will be made before departure of train. It will ensure full utilization of seats and enhanced earnings.
      4. Thus, Passengers can now book / cancel / modify tickets even after preparation of first reservation chart but only upto 30 minutes before the departure of train.
    5. Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India released  data  of Census 2011 on Highest Educational Level Attained among population attending educational institutions. Out of literate population who are presently attending any educational institution in the country, below Primary are 32.6% followed by Primary (25.2%), Middle (15.7%), Matric (11.1%), Higher Secondary (8.6%) and Graduate & above (4.5%). During 2001-11, improvement is observed at Middle and above educational levels and decline in lower levels (below-Primary and Primary). It shows advancement in Higher Education during 2001-11.
    6. Vice President Hamid Ansari visited Indonesia. He cancelled Brunei Visit due to volcanic erruption.
      1. India signed two Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with Indonesia for co-operation in Energy and Culture.
  20. Nov 11, 2015
    1. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar commissioned Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) Samarth. 
    2. Liberian Abraham M Keita has been given International Childrens Peace Prize 2015 for his fight for justice for child victims of physical or sexual violence.
    3. A team of Indian scientists led by Sameer Panda from Odisha won NASA award for an innovative technology named Burst Prevention & Puncture Curative (BPPC) technology.
    4. International Energy Agency released World Energy Outlook 2015.
      1. Tightening oil balance will lead to price around 80 dollars per barrel by 2020.
      2. World energy demand will grow by one-third between 2013 and 2040.
      3. By 2040, China's net oil imports will be five times those of USA, while India's import will exceed those of European Union.
      4. India in the developing Asia region will take over China as largest source of consumption growth.
      5. With India moving to centre stage in global energy, energy demand will increase to 2.5 times due to India’s high economic growth, large population.
      6. Renewables will be leading source of energy in 2040. Renewables-based energy will reach 50% in EU by 2040, 30% in China and Japan, and above 25% in United States and India.
      7. Emissions trajectory implies temperature increase of 2.7 C by 2100.
  21. Nov 10, 2015
    1. 10 Nov - World Science Day (World Science Day for Peace and Development). Theme for 2015 is Science for a Sustainable Future.
    2. Indian - origin barrister in UK, Kalyani Kaul sworn-in as a Circuit Judge in UK for Snaresbrook Crown Court.
    3. Ukraine Parliament approved amendment to countrys Labour Code prohibiting all forms of discrimination at workplace including discrimination against homosexuals.
    4. President Pranab Mukherjee approved Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill. Key provisions are -
      1. Cow slaughter in Haryana will cause 3 - 10 years imprisonment with fine of 1 lakh rupees.
      2. Attempt to export cows for slaughter will cause 3 - 7 years Imprisonment and fine 30000 - 70000 rupees.
    5. 12th Asia-Europe Foreign Ministers' Meeting (ASEM FMM12) took place in Luxembourg. Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh attended on India's Behalf.
  22. Nov 09, 2015
    1. 09 Nov - National Legal Services Day.
    2. Reserve Bank of India appointed Deepak Singhal as Executive Director.
    3. US and Nepalese armies launched month-long joint military training Balance Nail 16-01.
    4. Assam government hiked daily minimum wages of workers in various sectors and sintroduced a new segment of highly-skilled workers who will be eligible for minimum daily wage of 450 rupees. Minimum wage of skilled workers has been hiked from 208 to 350 rupees. Wage of semi-skilled workers is hiked from 150 to 280 rupees while that of unskilled workers from 130 to 240 rupees.
    5. Rajasthan Government relaxed two-child policy for state government employees by allowing third child from a remarriage.
    6. New species of Dracula ant of Stigmatomma group of predaceous ants has been discovered in Western Ghats region of Kerala.
    7. China launched civil communication satellite ChinaSat - 2C from Xichang space center (Sichuan) by launch vehicle Long March 3B rocket as its 216th mission.
    8. Legatum Prosperity Index 2015 released by Legatum Institute in London. Index offering insight into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world. Norway topped table In terms of overall prosperity for seventh year in a row. Switzerland is second and Denmark as Third. Central African Republic was at bottom among 142 countries. India was ranked 99 overall.
      1. Sub Indices ranks -

        Sub-Index

        		 India's Rank Top Ranked Nation

        Economy

        61

        Singapore

        Entrepreneurship & Opportunity

        94

        		 Sweden

        Governance

        53

        		 Switzerland

        Education

        92

        		 Australia

        Health

        107

        		 USA

        Safety & Security

        114

        		 Hong Kong

        Personal Freedom

        79

        		 Canada

        Social Capital

        129

        		 New Zealand
    9. Allahabad High Court ruled that Child born out of rape will have right over assaulters property.
    10. Former England Cricketer Tom Graveney passed away.
    11. Tax Justice Network released Financial Secrecy Index 2015 that ranks nations according to their secrecy and scale of offshore financial activities. Switzerland is most secretive while India at 42nd rank is moderately secretive among 92 countries. Top five secretive are - Switzerland, Hong Kong, USA, Singapore and Cayman. Most Transparent are - Slovenia, Dominica, Finland, Cook Islands and Montserrat.
    12. Andhra Pradesh Government signed Memorandum of Understanding with World Economic Forum to for support in assessing state's economic competitiveness.
    13. Actor Anil Kapoor will be chief guest and Shekhar Kapur will be Jury Head at 46th International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa from 20 November 2015.
    14. Norway reopened its Consulate General in Mumbai after four decades of closure in 1973.
    15. Bosnia and Serbia held their first joint session since Bosnian War in 1995.
    16. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) Rankings 2015.
      1. India Ranked 172nd in total 207 Nations.
      2. Top 10 are -

        Rank

        Team

        Points

        1

        Belgium

        1440

        2

        Germany

        1388

        3

        Argentina

        1383

        4

        Portugal

        1364

        5

        Chile

        1288

        6

        Spain

        1287

        7

        Colombia

        1233

        8

        Brazil

        1208

        9

        England

        1179

        10

        Austria

        1130
    17. Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned.
    18. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs hiked Minimum Support Prices for Rabi Crops of 2015-16 season to be marketed in 2016-17 on recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). Cabinet also decided to give bonus of 75 rupees / quintal for rabi pulses.

      Commodity

      MSP for 2014-15 season (Rupees per  quintal)

      MSP for 2015-16 season (Rupees per  quintal)

      Increase in MSP (Rupees)

      Wheat

      1450

      1525

      75

      Barley

      1150

      1225

      75

      Gram

      3175

      3425

      250

      Masur (Lentil)

      3075

      3325

      250

      Mustard

      3100

      3350

      250

      Safflower

      3050

      3300

      250
    19. Election Commission announced results of 2015 Assembly elections of Bihar for 243 assembly seats. Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) of Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United) and Indian National Congress emerged as winner of election. Nitish Kumar will be appointed Chief Minister of Bihar for Fourth Term. Rashtriya Janata Dal won 80 Seats, Janata Dal won 71 Seats and BJP won 53 Seats.
  23. Nov 08, 2015
    1. Navtej Singh Sarna is appointed as Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom (UK).
    2. Oxford University Press India appointed V Sivaramakrishnan as managing director, with regional responsibilities including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.
    3. Reserve Bank of India imposed Rs 1 crore penalty on Dhanlaxmi Bank for violation of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) norms.
    4. Samia Hassan Suluhu made first first female Vice President of Tanzania.
    5. Book Rebooting India: Realizing a Billion Aspirations authored by Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah has been released.
    6. Ravichandran Ashwin became fastest Indian bowler to reach 150 Test wickets (in 29 Tests).
    7. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje launched Agro-Processing and Agri-Marketing Promotion Policy 2015 to promote agro-processing and to reduce post harvest losses.
    8. Indian culture week called India in Shanghai inaugurated at China Shanghai International Arts Festival (SIAF) in Shanghai.
    9. Book What Happened to Netaji? authored by former journalist Anuj Dhar has been released.
    10. Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani launched e-Pathshala, Saaransh and National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation Framework (Shala Siddhi) web portals.
      1. E-Pathshala web portal hosts educational resources for Students, Teachers, Parents. It contains books in English, Hindi and Urdu.
      2. Shaala Siddhi web portal enables schools to evaluate performance in more focused manner. It will help schools to assess themselves and results can be seen by all enabling them to provide feedback.
      3. Saransh allows schools to identify areas of improvement in students, teachers and curriculum to facilitate and implement change.
    11. Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance will meet Heads of Government banks every 45 days to take stock of various performance parameters and discuss evolving issues.
    12. India's Indiabulls Housing Finance acquired 40 % stake in OakNorth Bank of U.K. for $100 million.
    13. UAE-based Emirates NBD bank partnered with State Bank of India to help NRI customers in gulf to carry out remittances more conveniently.
    14. Beer Maker Anheuser-Busch InBev accquired SABMiller for $107 billion to create a company that makes almost a third of the beer consumed worldwide.
    15. Supreme Court upheld Kerala Government’s ban on online lotteries.
    16. A court of Belgium asked Facebook to stop tracking country's Internet users who are not members of Facebook. As per reports, Facebook uses a special cookie called DATR to track all activities of User even when they are not Facebook Members.
    17. Richard Proud-chaired Independent Commission on Doping in Sports submitted its report to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Vienna, Switzerland.
    18. Board of Control for Cricket in India excluded Barabati stadium in Cuttack (Odisha) from newly declared Test venues after fans recently hurled plastic bottled onto ground forcing match to stop.
  24. Nov 07, 2015
    1. BCCI president Shanshank Manohar will be new Chairman of International Cricket Council. He will replace former N. Srinivasan.
    2. Indian Army test-fired surface-to-surface nuclear capable missile Agni-IV with range of 4000 km.
    3. Nigeria won 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup by defeating Mali. It is the third championship for Nigeria. India will host bi-annual championship in 2017.
    4. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan appointed as Vice-Chairman of Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for three years.
    5. Scientists revealed that Himalayas were born about 47 million years ago when India and Eurasia initially smashed into each other. Research shows that 50 million years ago, India was travelling northwards at speeds of 15 centimetres / year, before it collided into Eurasia crustal Plates causing formation of Himalayan Mountain Range.
    6. Ajit Prakash Shah appointed as ethics officer (ombudsman) at Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
    7. Noted Pakistan cricketer Younus Khan retired from ODI cricket.
    8. Punjabi became third most common language, after English and French in House of Commons of Canada after 20 Punjabi-speaking candidates were elected to the parliament.
    9. Mana Patel (Female) and Virdhawal Khade (Male) emerged as best swimmers of 69th senior National Aquatic Championships 2015 in Rajkot (Gujarat).
    10. Internet firm Google will provide Internet connectivity in India by using large balloons under its ‘Project Loon. It uses big balloons floating at height of 20 kilometers above earth surface for transmission of Internet services. Google will initially partner with BSNL for testing this technology by using broadband spectrum in 2.6 Ghz band.
    11. Former Pakistani Cricketer Inzamam ul Haq has been made Afghanistan Cricket coach for 2 years.
  25. Nov 06, 2015
    1. Former Chief of Air Staff, Om Prakash Mehra passed away.
    2. Committee on Agriculture under Chairmanship of Hukm Deo Narayan Yadav took up Subject ‘Comprehensive Agriculture Research based on Geographical Condition and Impact of Climatic Changes to ensure Food Security for examination and Report.
    3. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture stated that India has set up target to achieve 1.00 % share of International Tourist Arrivals by 2016-17, which is at present 0.68%.
    4. Government Signed Loan Agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for $273 Million Loan under Rural Connectivity Investment Program for Improving Rural Roads in States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
      1. ADB headquarters is in Manila (Phillpinnes) with Takehiko Nakao as its Current Chief.
    5. Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked Central and State Governments to organise Qaumi Ekta Week to spread message of Communal Harmony and Integration -
      1. November 19, 2015 will be observed as National Integration Day
      2. November 20, 2015 will be observed as Welfare of Minorities Day
      3. November 21, 2015 will be observed as Linguistic Harmony Day
      4. November 22, 2015 will be observed as Weaker Sections Day
      5. November 23, 2015 will be observed as Cultural Unity Day
      6. November 24, 2015 will be observed as Women’s Day
      7. November 25, 2015 will be observed as Conservation Day
    6. Indian Railways tied up with USA-Based Company GE Global Sourcing India Pvt. Limited for Setting Up Diesel Locomotive Factory (DLF) at Marhowra, Saran District, Bihar. Factory will Manufacture Diesel Electric Locomotives of 4500 HP and 6000 HP for Indian Railways. 1000 Locos to be Manufactured in Ten Years with Cost of About Rs.14,656 crores.
    7. In October 2015, indirect tax revenue collections increased 36.8% as compared to October 2014.

      Tax

       

      October 2015

      April - October 2015

      2014-15

      2015-16

      % Growth

      2014-15

      2015-16

      % Growth

       Customs

      16800

      18998

      13.1

      104831

      122448

      16.8

      Central Excise

      13569

      22550

      66.2

      87588

      147685

      68.6

      Service Tax

      12528

      17143

      36.8

      89379

      112727

      26.1

       

      Total

       

      42897

       

      58691

       

      36.8

       

      281798

       

      382860

       

      35.9
    8. Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan visited Doha (Qatar) for 6th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable.
    9. India's latest communications satellite GSAT - 15 (3164 kg) launched successfully by European Ariane 5 VA-227 launch Vehicle.
    10. ICAN (International Civil Aviation Negotiations) 2015 held in Antalya (Turkey). Indian signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six countries - Finland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
    11. Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar launched new website – www.justclimateaction.org dedicated for climate change actions.
    12. Former RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn is appointed as Executive Director on board of International Monetary Fund (IMF). He will represent India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan on Washington-based IMF's Executive Board.
    13. Seventh India-Russia Joint Military Exercise ‘Indra-2015 to be held 7-20 November 2015 in Bikaner (Rajasthan).
    14. Arundhati Bhattacharya (SBI Chairman) is most powerful woman in Indian business in list of Fortune India. ICICI Bank’s Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank are second and third respectively. HPCL Chairperson and Managing Director (MD) Nishi Vasudeva is fourth, AZB Co-Founder Zia Mody and Aruna Jayanthi (Capgemini) are jointly at fifth.
    15. Wasim Jaffer became first cricketer to score 10000 runs in Ranji Trophy history.
    16. Santoor maestro Shiv Kumar Sharma has been honoured with Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Award for lifetime achievement by governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao.
  26. Nov 05, 2015
    1. PM Narendra Modi launched Gold Related Schemes along with First ever National Gold Coin minted in India with National Emblem of Ashok Chakra. Schemes launched are - Gold Monetisation Scheme, Gold Sovereign Bond Scheme and Gold Coin and Bullion Scheme.
      1. Gold Monetisation Scheme -
        1. Gold Deposit Scheme Guidelines -
          1. Minimum deposit shall be raw gold equivalent to 30 grams of gold of 995 fineness, with no maximum limit for deposit. 
          2. Gold will be accepted at Purity Testing Centres certified by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
          3. Deposit certificates will be issued by banks in equivalence of 995 fineness of gold.
          4. Principal and interest of deposit under the scheme will be denominated in gold.
          5. Designated banks will accept gold deposits under Short Term (1-3 years), Medium (5-7 years) and Long (12-15 years).
          6. Interest rate  in Short Term Bank Deposit (STBD) will be determined by banks. Interest rate in medium term bonds is 2.25% and long term bonds will have 2.5% interest rate.
          7. Premature withdrawal will be available subject to a minimum lock-in period and penalty.
          8. Interest on deposits will start from date of conversion of gold deposited into tradable gold bars after refinement or 30 days after receipt of gold at CPTC or Bank. During the period between receipt and interest accounting, gold will be an item in safe custody held by bank.
        2. Utilisation of Gold mobilised under GMS
          1. Banks may sell or lend the gold to MMTC for minting India Gold Coins or to jewellers, or sell it to other designated banks participating in GMS.
        3. Risk Management under GMS
          1. Banks will keep a risk management mechanism to manage risk arising from gold price movements in respect of their net exposure to gold.
          2. Banks may access international exchanges, London Bullion Market Association or use over-the-counter contracts to hedge exposures to bullion prices.
      2. Gold Sovereign Bond Scheme
        1. Government will invite Applications for first tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds from November 05- 20, 2015 and Bonds will be issued on November 26, 2015.
        2. Sovereign Gold Bond will be issued by RBI. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in Union Budget 2015-16 for developing a financial asset, Sovereign Gold Bond, as an alternative to purchasing metal gold.
        3. Bonds will be in multiples of gram(s) of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram. Tenor of Bond will be 8 years with exit option from 5th year. Minimum investment will be 2 units (2 grams of gold) and maximum amount 500 grams per person per fiscal year.
        4. Investors will get interest of 2.75 % per annum payable semi-annually on initial value of investment.
      3. Gold Coin and Bullion Scheme
        1. Indian gold coin & bullion is a part of the Gold Monetisation Programme. Coin will be first ever national gold coin minted in India with National Emblem of Ashok Chakra engraved on one side and M K Gandhi on other side.
        2. Coin will be available in denominations of 5 and 10 grams. 20 gram bullion will also be available.
        3. Indian Cold coin & bullion will be of 24 karat purity and 999 fineness and hallmarked as per BIS standards.
        4. Coins will be distributed initially through MMTC outlets and later through specified banks and post offices.
    2. 13th Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait (Qatar)-
      1. Important -
        1. Women's 10 m Air Pistol - India's Heena Sindhu won Gold and Shri Nivetha Paramanantham won Gold in Junior Individual.
        2. Men's 50 m Pistol - Jitu Rai won Silver in Individual Category.
      2. Others
        1. Women's 25 m Pistol - Chinki Yadav Won Bronze in Junior Individual.
        2. Men's 25 m Standard Pistol - Shigvam Shukla won Gold in Junior Individual.
        3. Men's 50 m Rifle Prone - Swapnil Kusale won Gold in Junior Individual.
        4. Men's 10 m Air Rifle - Akhil Sheoran won Gold and Prashant Prashant won Bronze in Junior Individual.
        5. Women's 50 m Rifle Prone - Gaayathri Ithyanadam won Silver in Junior Individual.
        6. Women's 10 m Air Rifle - Prachi Gadkari won Bronze in Yiuth Individual.
      3. shooter became first Indian Senior Player to won silver in 50 metre pistol event at 13th Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait (Qatar). In junior events, India won four silver and two Bronze.
    3. President Pranab Mukherjee launched Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India to boost research in the country. Initiative is joint venture of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISC) and aimed at developing roadmap for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges.
    4. Actor Vikram Gokhale has been awarded with Vishnudas Bhave Award for his contribution to Marathi Industry.
    5. France will deploy its largest warship named Charles de Gaulle (R91) in to boost operations against Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.
    6. Justin Trudeau of Liberal Party sworn in as 23rd Prime Minister of Canada.He appointed 4 Indo-Canadians as Cabinet ministers.
      1. Harjit Sajjan as Defene Minister.
      2. Amarjeet Sohi as Minister of Infrastructure and Communities.
      3. Navdeep Bains as Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
      4. Bardish Chagger as Minister for Small Business and Tourism.
    7. International Terra Madre- 2015 started in Shillong (Meghalaya) with theme The Future We Want: Indigenous Perspectives and Actions. Five day event will have 100 tribes from 58 countries.
    8. Supreme Court ruled that a daughter's right to ancestral property does not arise if father died before Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005.
    9. Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won 2015 Parliamentary Elections (25th) of Turkey.
    10. All India Radio's Programme on child labour Nilkkam Ivarkkoppam won first prize at 2015 Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Prize ceremony at 52nd General Assembly of ABU in Ankara (Turkey).
    11. World Health Organization officially declared African Nation Sierra Leone as Ebola-free.
    12. Indian Railways won 32nd Indian Oil Surjit Hockey tournament for first time by defeating Indian Oil Mumbai in final match played in Jalandhar (Punjab).
    13. Government announced Draft Aviation Policy 2015 -
      1. Aims to bring India to third position from the current 10th position in global aviation sector.
      2. Proposed hiking Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in domestic airlines to over 50 % in open skies policy, which is 49 % at present. Open skies policy - Under it overseas airlines can operate unlimited number of flights into and out of India.
      3. Ticketing:
        1. Airlines will not be allowed to charge over 2500 rupees for 1 hour flight between two small cities. under regional connectivity scheme.
        2. 2 % levy on all domestic and overseas tickets for funding the Scheme.
        3. Policy aims to create an eco-system to enable 30 crore domestic ticketing by 2022 and 50 crore by 2027. Similarly, international ticketing to increase to 20 crore by 2027.
    14. Former Cabinet secretary T.S.R. Subramanian has been appointed chairperson of a committee set up by the Human Resource Development Ministry to draft the new education policy.
    15. Anil Kumar Jha appointed as CMD of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (subsidiary of Coal India).
    16. Argentinian Footballer Lionel Messi has been made Global Ambassador of Tata Motors.
    17. Reliance Communications accquired telecom business of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) that operates MTS brand in a stock deal worth Rs.4,500 crores.
    18. Uttarakhand approved names of former footballer and Asian games gold medallist Ram Bahadur Chetri for Khel Ratna and athletics coach Renu Kohli for Devbhoomi Uttarakhand Award. Weightlifter Hansa Manral Sharma wil be conferred life time achievement award.
  27. Nov 04, 2015
    1. Punjab Government will set up bio-ethanol refinery to tackle issues wheat and paddy straw burning for approx 950 crores.
      1. Bio-ethanol refinery will solve problem of straw burning of leftover agro-based produce especially from wheat and rice feedstocks. It will also Benefit farmers economically.
      2. What is Bioethanol - It is an alcohol derived by fermentation mostly from carbohydrates of plant produce and feedstocks. Commonly from sugarcane, corn, potato, grapes, banana etc. It can be used as a quasi-renewable energy that be blended with petrol / diesel making it sustainable transport fuel.
    2. Noted archaeologist Virendra Nath Misra passed away.
    3. New Zealand has won 2015 Rugby World Cup for third time by defeating Australia. was played in England.
    4. Facebook partnered with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited for setting up 100 wi-fi (Wireless Fidelity) sites in rural India.
    5. Odisha Government imposed seven-month ban on fishing along Puri coast in order to protect endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles.
    6. Swiss Indoors Basel Men's Tennis Title 2015 -
      1. Singles - Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated Rafael Nadal of Spain.
      2. Doubles - Alexander Peya (Austria) / Bruno Soares(Brazil) defeated Rohan Bopanna (India) / Florin Mergea (Romania).
    7. Oscar-winning British writer and actor Colin Welland passed away.
    8. Meghalaya High Court asked Central Government to enforce Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 in militancy-hit Garo Hills region of Meghalaya.
    9. Maharashtra Government approved APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna scheme to provide cooked nutritious food to pregnant, lactating women in tribal areas.
    10. China's Parliament ratified Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank agreement that establishes legal framework for Bank. 54 founding members of bank signed agreement in June 2015 provides legal framework for Institution of AIIB.
    11. E-commerce firm Flipkart appointed Surojit Chatterjee as Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Experience and Growth.
    12. Indian boxer Shiva Thapa attained second rank in latest international rankings of boxing in 56 kilogram category with 1550 points.
    13. National Green Tribunal banned agricultural straw burning in New, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
    14. Michelle Payne (Australia) become first female jockey to win Australia 's prestigious horse race Melbourne Cup 2015 of 6.2 million dollars.
    15. United Nations General Assembly's Disarmament Committee / First Committee adopted draft resolution submitted by Japan calling for abolition of nuclear arms. Resolution was adopted by 156 countries, 17 abstained from voting and 3 voted in against.
  28. Nov 03, 2015
    1. Committee of Eminent Persons constituted by IIT Council under Chairmanship of Ashok Misra submitted its report about Major changes in structure of IIT - JEE from 2017 onwards.
    2. India test fired Ssupersonic cruise missile BrahMos with strike range of over 290 Km from Navys stealth destroyer INS Kochi.
    3. India moved up one position to become world’s seventh most valued ‘Nation Brand’ with increase of 32% in it’s brand value to 2.1 billion dollars. US remains on top with valuation of 19.7 billion dollars followed by China and Germany as per annual report on world’s most valuable nation brands by Brand Finance.
    4. 2015 WTA Finals women's tennis tournament at Singapore -
      1. Singles - Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) won by defeating Petra Kvitova (Czech  Republic).
      2. Doubles - Martina Hingis (Switzerland) and Sania Mirza (India) defeated Spain’s Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.
    5. Navy's Fast patrol vessel ICGS Arinjay commissioned in Kochi.
    6. Suresh N Patel is appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Andhra Bank.
    7. Nico Rosberg (Germany) won Mexican Formula One Grand Prix .
      1. 2015 Formula One season -
        1. Total 19 Grand Prix Races to be organized across the world in 2015. Calendar is -
          1. Grand Prix Date Winner
            Australia 15 March Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Malaysia 29 March Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
            China 12 April Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Baharain 19 April Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Spain 10 May Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Monaco 24 May Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Canada 7 June Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Austria 21 June Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Britain 5 July Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Hungary 26 July Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
            Belgium 23 August Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Italy 6 September Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Singapore 20 September Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
            Japan 27 September   Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Russia 11 October Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            USA 25 October Lewis Hamilton (UK)
            Mexico 1 November Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Brazil 15 November
            Abu Dhabi 29 November
    8. Russian and Indian defence ministers signed military-technical cooperation agreement.
    9. 11th International Food Data Conference held at National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad. Conference jointly organised by International Network of Food Databases (Infoods), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and National Institute of Nutrition (NIN).
    10. Manpreet Vohra appointed India’s new envoy to Afghanistan.
    11. Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik announced retirement from Test cricket.
    12. Tropical Cyclone Chapala hits Yemen triggering heavy flooding.
    13. President of Maldives Abdulla Yameen declared emergency for 30 days on grounds of threat to national security.
    14. Justice T S Thakur will be next (43rd) Chief Justice of India. He will replace H L Dattu.
    15. Former President APJ Abdul Kalams last book ‘Advantage India-From Challenge to Opportunity has been released. It has been co-authored by Srijan Pal Singh of Institute of Management-Ahmedabad.
    16. Mysuru Railway Station (Karnataka) became first blind-friendly Railway Station in India after installation of blind - friendly facilities.
    17. Forbes Worlds Most Powerful People 2015 List -
      1. List provides annual ranking of Worlds 73 Most Powerful People.
      2. List was topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin for the third year in a row. Putin is followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel (rank 2), USA President Barack Obama (rank 3).
      3. Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ranked as worlds ninth most powerful person, up from 14th position in 2014.
  29. Nov 02, 2015
    1. Book Inter-linking of Indian Rivers written by Radha Kant Bharati has been released.
    2. TN chief electoral officer Sandeep Saxena appointed as deputy election commissioner.
      1. Nasim Zaidi is Chief Election Commissioner while A K Joti and Om Prakash Rawat are election commissioners.
    3. Railways signed Memorandum of Understanding with Odisha to form an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) for Implementation of Railway Projects in Odisha.
    4. USA's Sun Edison Won Auction for supplying 500 Megawatt Project in Andhra Pradesh at 4.63 Rupees Per Kilowatt-Hour.
    5. Director General of Foreign Trade extended duty incentives under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) from Rs 18,000 to Rs 21,000 crore to boost textile and apparel exports.
    6. Bankruptcy Law Reform Committee under Chairmanship of T. K. Viswanathan submitted its report.
      1. Report is in two parts - Rationale and Design/Recommendations and A comprehensive draft Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill covering all entities.
    7. Government approved Memorandum of Understanding with Colombia for strengthening cooperation in Tourism.
    8. Government approved Memorandum of Understanding with Belgium for co-operation in energy.
    9. Goverment approved amending Double Taxation Avoidance Convention with Turkmenistan signed in 1997 for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion.
    10. Government approved returning 803 acres land in Kashipur under Nepa Limited to Government of Uttarkhand.
    11. Madhya Pradesh proposed 1,656 cr AMRUT Action Plan to improve basic infra in 32 mission cities with 8,279 cr investment proposed in 5 years to ensure water and sewage connections in urban households.
    12. Government approved Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojna (UDAY scheme) under Ministry of Power for financial turnaround of Power Distribution companies (DISCOMs).
      1. Power sector is seeing good growth but the weakest link in value chain is distribution - DISCOMs in the country have accumulated huge debts. Revival of these stressed DISCOMs is important for ensuring power supply for all.
      2. DISCOMs are trapped in cycle a where operational losses being funded by debt. This has increased Outstanding debt of DISCOMs from 2.4 lakh crore in 2011-12 to 4.3 lakh crore in 2014-15.
      3. Features of UDAY Scheme -
        1. States shall take over 75% of DISCOM debt as on 30 September 2015 over 2 years (50% in 2015-16 and 25% debt to be taken over in 2016-17).
        2. States will issue non-SLR including SDL bonds in the market or to banks holding DISCOM debt to the appropriate extent. DISCOM debt not taken over by State shall be converted by Bank into loans or bonds.
        3. States shall take over future losses of DISCOMs as follows:

          Year

          2015-16

          2016-17

          2017-18

          2018-19

          2019-20

          2020-21

          Previous Year’s DISCOM loss to be taken over by State

          0% of the loss of 2014-15

          0% of the loss of 2015-16

          5% of the loss of 2016-17

          10% of the loss of 2017-18

          25% of the loss of 2018-19

          50% of the previous year loss
        4. States accepting UDAY and performing well will be given additional funding under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana,Integrated Power Development Scheme, Power Sector Development Fund or other schemes. States not meeting operational milestones will have their claims forfeited.
        5. UDAY is optional for all States. However, States are encouraged to participate.
    13. Book From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet released on second anniversary of launch of Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft.
    14. 21st International Conference on ‘Frontiers in Yoga Research and its Applications (INCOFYRA) will be organized by Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Sansthana from 3rd to 7th January 2016 at Bengaluru with theme Yoga in Integrated Healthcare Systems.
    15. Naushad award has been given to Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan.
    16. Li Yuanchao, Vice President of China visited India.
    17. Government will impose Swachh Brarat Cess of 0.5% on all services liable to service tax from 15th November 2015. Proceeds from this cess will be exclusively used for Swachh Bharat initiatives.
    18. SATYAM (Science and Technology of Yoga and Meditation) program has been launched to strengthen research in the areas of yoga and meditation.
  30. Nov 01, 2015
    1. Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) (Under Ministry of Communication and Information Technology)'s product Gyansetu has been named best product capable of bridging gaps in connectivity at vast rural part of India. during ITU Telecom World 2015 at Budapest (Hungary).
    2. Krishna Swaminathan appointed as Commanding Officer of INS Vikramaditya, Indian Navy's new aircraft carrier commissioned in Russia in November 2013.
    3. Muhammad Farid Habib, Chief of Bangladesh Navy visited India.
    4. Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan visited Japan.
    5. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu visited London (UK).
    6. Railways organized an International Summit on Energy Efficient Technologies in Railways in partnership with United Nations Development Programme in New Delhi.
    7. First international film festival for persons with disabilities (IFFPD) will be held in Delhi from 1st to 3rd December 2015.
    8. Virender Mohan Khanna appointed as Air Officer-in-charge Maintenance of Indian Air Force.
    9. Book President of India and the Governance of Higher Education Institutions written by faculty of O.P. Jindal Global University has been released.
    10. Nov 1 - State Formation day of Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
      1. Chhattisgarh - 1 November 2000
      2. Karnataka - 1 November 1956
      3. Madhya Pradesh - 1 November 1956
      4. Haryana - 1 November 1966
    11. Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram inaugurated National Tribal Crafts Mela ‘Aadishilp in New Delhi, Organized by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED).
    12. Noted Industrialist and Founder of Hero Cycles, Brijmohan Lall Munjal Passed away.
    13. Minister of State (IC) Development of North Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh inaugerated 7th Nuclear Energy Conclave organised by India Energy Forum on theme Creating conditions for rapid capacity addition on nuclear power in India in Delhi. 
    14. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary in Ministry of Tourism visited London (UK) for World Travel Market event. He said India is aiming to attract one million UK visitors by 2020.

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