BANKING

30 December: The RBI committee under the Chairmanship of Deepak Mohanty (Executive Director, RBI) on pushing Financial Inclusion released its report. The committee recommended a slew of measures, including a special deposit scheme for the girl child, government-to-person social cash transfer, and opening interest-free windows (Islamic banking) by banks. This committee (titled ‘Medium-Term path on Financial Inclusion’) was constituted in July 2015 with the objective of working out a medium-term (five-year) measurable action plan for financial inclusion 29 December: Software services company Tech Mahindra Ltd, which is among the 11 firms to get a payments bank licence, launched a mobile wallet called ‘MoboMoney’. ‘MoboMoney’ will allow consumers to complete online as well as offline transactions, including payments at grocery stores, tea vendors and restaurants that accept only cash. The company claims the platform allows transactions as low as Rs.1. Tech Mahindra claimed that it is ’s first commercial rollout of a contact-less payment wallet. 28 December: In a major push to their strategic ties, India and Russia decided to expand cooperation in various sectors as they signed 16 pacts worth €6.4 billion, including on joint manufacture of 226 military helicopters and construction of 12 atomic plants with involvement of local companies in India. These agreements were signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two day visit to Russia. 28 December: The RBI once again extended the date for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes with new ones to 30 June 2016 from 31 December 2015. This is the fifth time RBI extended the deadline that started in January 2014. The old notes, of Mahatma Gandhi series, will continue to remain legal tenders. 28 December: Tata Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Development of Russian Far East to explore and develop investment opportunities in the energy sector. 26 December: E-commerce major Amazon has signed an agreement with the National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) aimed at encouraging SMEs to grow business profitably online. 26 December: Indian Railways tied up with ICICI Bank to sell rail tickets through its applications. It is the first time that IRCTC has tied up with a banking entity to sell tickets through the various applications of the bank. For this purpose the bank tied up with Railways’ e-ticketing platform Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

24 December: India's third largest software major Wipro Ltd. announced the acquisition of US- based back-office firm Viteos Group for alternative investment management industry for $130 million (Rs.861 crore). The initiative will help India's largest information technology company to strengthen its position in outsourcing area of the capital market. 24 December: State Bank of India launched a Mobile App “State Bank Samadhaan” on Google Play Store. This is a Self-Service App and will enable SBI customers to avail a range of services and obtain commonly sought information, without visiting the branch. The App will provide information about deposits, advances, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, EMI calculation, SBI Branch and ATM Locations. 23 December: Private sector lender Axis Bank has partnered with a digital security company, e- Mudhra to start online electronic signature service "e-sign". The new service will facilitate a Aadhaar holder to digitally sign a document within seconds. Axis Bank is the first bank in the country to launch this service. The online signature is legally valid and completely safe. 21 December: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) formally approved Afghanistan’s membership at its 10th ministerial conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. It thus became the 164th member of WTO, the global trade body engaged in promoting multilateral trade all over the world. Apart from this Afghanistan has become the 36th least developed country (LDC) to join the WTO. 21 December: Kotak Mahindra Bank launched ‘Phone Phone Mein Kotak’ campaign which will enable consumers to see how mobile banking using Kotak’s app and Hashtag Banking features, has transformed the way people lead their lives. Bank has offered 77 services through its mobile banking app which includes services like, mobile, DTH recharge, e-commerce exchange. 19 December: Rating agency ICRA downgraded United Bank of India's long-term ratings to ‘stable’ from ‘positive’. The long-term ratings of Kolkata-based United Bank of India were constrained primarily due to its weak asset quality and low profitability due to high credit provisioning. 19 December: India's GDP is likely to grow at 7-7.5% for FY 2015-16, lower than the earlier 8.1- 8.5% predicted, according to the Mid-Year Economic Review tabled in the Parliament. 18 December: The Supreme Court ruled that RBI is liable to disclose information about the banks and financial institutions for their action against the loan defaulters including industrialists under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. The Court further ruled that RBI has statutory duty to uphold public interest and not the interest of individual banks. 18 December: Union Finance Ministry made it mandatory to quote PAN (permanent account number) for all transactions in excess of Rs. 2 lakh, regardless of the mode of payment, to curb black money. The new rule, to come into effect from 1 January 2016 will cover purchases of all goods or services, such as gold jewellery or furniture. This includes all payments made through cash, cheques or debit or credit cards. 18 December: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between India and Spain on cooperation in Port matters. The agreement has been signed with an aim to strengthening cooperation and to render sustained mutual assistance and advice on port matters and other related maritime matters.

18 December: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval to an MoU signed between India and its BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) counterparts for strengthening and further developing of energy saving and energy efficiency cooperation based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit. 17 December: The World Bank has approved a $1.5 billion loan for the ambitious clean India campaign to support the government in its efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation and end the practice of open defecation by 2019. 16 December: IDFC Bank appointed Rajan Anandan, Vice President and Managing Director of Google South East Asia and India, as Independent Director. Rajan Anandan’s appointment expands the Board to 9 Directors, 7 of whom are Independent Directors. 16 December: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. announced to acquire the ‘South China Morning Post’, an iconic Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper, and other media assets of SCMP Group Ltd for $266 million. This all-cash deal will thus transfer control of the 112-year-old English language newspaper from Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok to Chinese billionaire Jack Ma. 15 December: India and Japan signed 16 agreements in the fields of high-speed trains, defence equipment and technology, security, infrastructure, education and economy including civil nuclear energy, etc. Japan committed $12-billion loan at negligible interest for the India's first "Bullet Train". The agreements were signed after the delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Japanese Prime MInister Shinzo Abe. 15 December: India’s Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow laid the foundation of the $7.6 billion and 1800-kilometre TAPI pipeline project in Mary, Turkmenistan, which will provide India gas for its power plants. They pushed a button which started the welding process of pipes. This pipeline will get operational by December 2019. 15 December: India announced to impose anti-dumping duties for five years on imports of Stainless Steel from China, the European Union and the United States with the objective of protecting the interests of local producers. Imports from South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan and Thailand will also be taxed. The anti-dumping duties, on cold-rolled flat stainless steel products, ranged from 4.6% to 57.4%. 12 December: RBI announced that Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) would be lowered to 20.5% by January 2017. As of now, banks are mandated to invest 21.5% of their total deposits in government securities. According to the new time table SLR would be reduced by 25 basis points to 21.25% as on April 2, 2016. It would fall to 21% by July 9, 2016. It would further be lowered from October 1, 2016 to 20.75%. In the last round of reduction in the SLR would be one 20.50% by January 1, 2017. 12 December: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it would lend $1 billion to state-run Power Grid Corporation for expanding its transmission capacity in the country. ADB will provide a $500 million government-backed loan and a further $500 million in non-sovereign lending to India's national transmission company, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.

11 December: India and United Kingdom launched a joint initiative 2016: UK-INDIA Year of Education and Research in New Delhi. It was launched by visiting Secretary of State, Business Innovation and Skill of the UK Sajid Javid along with Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani. In 2016, it will allow UK academicians to come to India under Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) programme. 11 December: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Indonesia in the field of new and renewable energy. The MoU was signed in Jakarta last month during Vice President, M. Hamid Ansari’s visit to Indonesia. 11 December: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex- post facto approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Britain on cooperation in the energy sector. 11 December: A New Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on suspension of collection of taxes during pendency of Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) was signed between India and South Korea. This MoU will relieve the burden of double taxation for the taxpayer in both the countries during the pendency of MAP proceedings. 9 December: International ratings agency Fitch Ratings announced that India’s investment rating would remain at ‘BBB-’ -- the lowest investment grade -- with a stable outlook. Fitch forecast that India’s GDP growth will accelerate to 7.5% in the current fiscal year, which will increase to 8% in 2016-17 supported by the government’s investments and reform measures. 9 December: Tata Trust entered into 5-year partnership agreement with Khan Academy, a free online education initiative for making localized content accessible to students across the country. Khan Academy is one of the world’s largest free online education initiatives and has been established by Silicon Valley-based education entrepreneur Salman Khan. 8 December: Singapore has replaced Mauritius as the top source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India during the first half of the current fiscal. During April-September 2015, India has attracted $6.69 billion (Rs. 43,096 crore) FDI from Singapore while from Mauritius, it received $3.66 billion (Rs. 23,490 crore), according to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). 8 December: In an important development in India-Pakistan relations NSA-Meet-India- Pakistan- 2015, the National Security Advisor-level talks between the two countries were held in Bangkok, Thailand. Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua held a four hour meeting. Discussions covered peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, and others including tranquility over the Line of Control. 8 December: Karur Vysya Bank announced a donation of Rs. 2 crore to the Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers Relief Fund to help the Chennai flood victims. 7 December: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) kept its economic growth forecast for India unchanged at 7.4 per cent for the current financial year and 7.8 per cent for the next fiscal.

7 December: The government-constituted committee on Goods and Services Tax (GST) headed by Arvind Subramanian, the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA), submitted its report to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The committee recommended that the standard GST rate be in the range of 16.9-17.9%. The standard rate would apply to most goods and services under the new indirect tax regime. The committee also recommended that 1% tax proposed to be levied on the inter-state trade of goods to help the manufacturing states be done away with. 5 December: India's third largest private sector lender Axis Bank has become the first bank of the country to launch a 'display variant' debit card which does away with the hassles of generating one time password (OTP) over SMS while transacting. The card, which is being made available for high-value NRE customers, has an embedded EMV chip, a display screen and a touch-sensitive button which helps generating the OTP on the card itself. 5 December: National Textile Corporation (NTC) Limited signed a MoU with Transparency International India (TII) for adopting Integrity Pact (IP). With this signing, NTC became the 51st Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) and 49th Central PSU to sign a MoU with TII. Integrity Pact is a tool which ensures that all activities and transactions between a Company or Government Department and their Suppliers are handled in a fair, transparent and corruption-free manner. 4 December: Bihar has emerged as the fastest growing state in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), clocking a growth rate of 17.06 per cent in FY 2014-15, while Maharashtra grew by 11.69 per cent to become the biggest state with Rs. 16.87 trillion economy. Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh come in the second place, but far behind Maharashtra, with a GSDP of Rs 9.67 trillion each, according to the report by Brickwork Ratings. 4 December: Tata Group announced signing up an alliance with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) to provide it with a host of banking services. Under the alliance, ICBC will provide the Tata group with financing products, global cash management, consulting, international trade finance business, investment banking, foreign exchange, derivatives trading, and other global financial services. The services will be provided to Tata Group in locations including India, China, the United States and Europe. 4 December: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved signing and ratification of Protocol between India and Japan for amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) in order to facilitate tax-related exchange of information. DTAC was signed between the two countries in 1989 for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion through a protocol. 3 December: Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has inked an agreement with Exim Bank of Malaysia to strengthen financial cooperation. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) will also help in providing financial mechanisms to support projects of interest of both the banks. 3 December: Private sector lender YES Bank has signed loan agreements worth $265 million with OPIC and Wells Fargo to support small business growth in India. 3 December: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) admitted China’s Yuan into its benchmark currency basket. With this Yuan will be added to the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket alongside the dollar, euro, pound sterling and yen. The Yuan (also known as the Renminbi) will have a 10.92% share in the SDR basket and will officially be included in it from October 2016.

2 December: RBI released its fifth bi-monthly policy review of this fiscal. The key policy interest rates remain unchanged in the review. Repo rate will remain unchanged at 6.75%. Similarly CRR also remained unchanged at 4%. 2 December: Indian economy's GDP growth rate during the second quarter (July-September) of 2015-16 stood at 7.4%, as compared with 7% in the previous quarter (April-June 2015) and 8.4% in the same quarter last year, as disclosed in the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). 1 December: Albania and India have signed an agreement on the removal of visa requirements for diplomatic and service passport holders between the two countries. The agreement will serve the interests of both countries and strengthen friendly relations and cooperation in various areas of mutual interest.

NATIONAL

 31 December: The Centre has sanctioned over Rs. 5,000 crores for drought-hit Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Rs. 3049 crores have been allotted for the drought affected regions of Maharashtra and around Rs. 2000 crores for Madhya Pradesh.  30 December: In a decision to restrict subsidy only to those who need it, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced that the benefit of subsidised LPG will not be given to a consumer whose annual taxable income is more than Rs. 10 lakh in the previous financial year. This ruling will apply from 1 January 2016.  30 December: The Ministry of Culture has approved Rs. 400 crore for the scheme “National Mission on Libraries – Up-gradation of Libraries – Providing Services to the Public” for the 12th Plan period.  28 December: The first cable-stayed bridge of north India was inaugurated by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. The bridge that will provide close connectivity between the three states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, is built on River Ravi at Basholi in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. The Basohli Bridge is fourth of its kind in India. The other three cable-stayed bridges are – Hooghly Bridge at Kolkata, Naini Bridge in Allahabad and Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link in Mumbai.  28 December: J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare announced four new IT- based initiatives on Good Governance Day celebrated on 25th December. First initiative is ‘Kilkari’--an audio-based mobile service that delivers weekly audio messages to families about pregnancy, child birth and child care. Second is new mobile-based application, Mobile Academy, for training of ASHA workers. Third initiative is making the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) more patient-centric. Last initiative is ‘M-Cessation’- an IT-enabled tool to help tobacco users to quit tobacco.  26 December: Sports Authority of (SAAP) Chairman P.R. Mohan announced that Andhra Pradesh will host National Games in 2019. This announcement was made after the Indian Olympic Association, at its annual meeting held in Guwahati, agreed to the proposal of Andhra Pradesh to host the Games.  26 December: INS Godavari, the first indigenously designed and built warship of the Indian Navy, was decommissioned in Mumbai. INS Godavari, built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, was the first indigenously designed and built guided-missile frigate of the Indian Navy.

It was the lead ship of her class and was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 10 December 1983.  24 December: Union Cabinet approved the construction of first phase of the Metro Rail Project in Lucknow at an estimated cost of Rs. 6,928 crore. Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet approved the Lucknow Metro Rail Project Phase - 1A covering 22.878 km distance between Chowdhary Charan Singh Airport and Munshi Pulia with 22 stations.  24 December: Union Government took a big step towards putting in place an effective legal framework for insolvency resolution in a time-bound manner. This was done with introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2015 in the Rajya Sabha. It fixes a time limit of 180 days (extendable by a further 90 days) for completion of the corporate insolvency-resolution process. The current insolvency-resolution process in India is tedious and delay-ridden and it takes anywhere between 5and 15 years for lenders to recover money in the event of corporate default. As on date, there is no single law in India that deals with insolvency and bankruptcy  23 December: Gujarat has become the first state in the country to take up Public-Private Partnership Projects for in-situ redevelopment of slums in urban areas under the recently launched Prime Minister’s AwasYojana (Urban). The inter-ministerial Central Screening and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation chaired by Dr.Nandita Chatterjee, Secretary(HUPA) approved 30 PPP Projects proposed by Gujarat Government for rehabilitation of slum dwellers in Ahmedabd, Surat, Rajkota and Vadodara.  23 December: Seeking to make defence acquisition process simpler and transparent, government launched a new 'Make in India' website that will provide an interface with industry and promised to finalise the new revised defence procurement procedure by January.  23 December: The Uttar Pradesh Government and the Tata Trusts signed a long-term partnership agreement in community development related works. Its aim is to improve the quality of life of the people of Uttar Pradesh.  22 December: The Government has announced to set up the country’s first medical devices park with the cost of Rs. 500 crore in Gujarat, as it looks to encourage medical devices industry under the 'Make in India' mission. The proposed medical devices park will also have a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for research.  19 December: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav banned polythene bags in the state citing environment degradation as a major reason for the same. Yadav also announced the 'Dial 100' scheme for better handling of crimes in the state.  18 December: The Supreme Court gave two important decisions pertaining to usage of diesel vehicles in New Delhi and NCR, in order to control the environmental degradation in the region. It ordered a ban on registration of diesel-run passenger vehicles of over 2000cc engine capacity in New Delhi and NCR till 1 March 2016 and it banned the commercial vehicles registered before 2005 from entering Delhi.  18 December: President of France Francois Hollande will be the Chief Guest at 67th India’s Republic Day (26 January 2016) celebrations. Hollande accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  16 December: The Union Govt. constituted a committee to look into the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for the Ex-Servicemen. Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, retired Chief Justice of Patna High Court, will head the Judicial Committee.

 14 December: Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the autobiography of Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar -- “On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power”. Through this autobiographical book, Pawar offers the inside story of numerous political events in which he was involved.  12 December: Ahead the Varanasi visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe on December 12, Japan Foundation of the government of Japan and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) of educational cooperation to promote Japanese language in Varanasi. Under this the Japan Foundation will establish country's largest Japanese Language Center in BHU.  12 December: Telangana Intellectual Property Crime Unit (TIPCU) , country’s first-of-its-kind anti-piracy police is being established in the state of Telangana to stop online piracy of movies. It is expected to start work in the next few months and its main aim will be to stop piracy of movies done online. TIPCU is modeled on London’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU).  11 December: Japan will build the first high-speed bullet train for India that will run between Mumbai and Ahmedabad — with the possibility of extending it to Delhi in future. Japan left behind China to win this project. The cost of this project is Rs. 98,000 crore.  11 December: Department of Heavy Industry and Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship have signed a MoU for capital goods and automotive sector for large scale capacity building by providing infrastructure and facilities, improving training content, curriculum and methodology and use of latest technologies, during DHI-FICCI-HMFI WIN (World of Industry) India conference.  10 December: Indian Parliament passed Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that permits the filing of cases at the place where a cheque is presented for clearance and not the place of issue in cases pertaining to cheque bouncing. The bill seeks to overturn a Supreme Court ruling which said cases have to be initiated where the cheque-issuing bank branch is located.  9 December: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the first Goa to Mumbai double- decker Shatabdi train through video conference from Panaji, Goa. The fully air-conditioned double-decker train is the first-of-its-kind in India and it will promote tourism.  8 December: After Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand has become the second state to join the union government’s UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) Scheme, aimed at revival of debt-stressed power distribution companies. The Jharkhand government has conveyed its in-principle approval for joining UDAY Scheme.  8 December: Vyachakurahalli village (in Gauribidanur taluk of district) in was officially declared as India’s first “smokeless village”. Every households in the village gained access to LPG connections. This became possible as Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) piloted the ‘Mission Smokeless village’ project, under which 274 households in the village were provided LPG connection.  7 December: To address pipeline safety concerns, state-run energy major GAIL and National Remote Sensing Centre, a unit of ISRO, have launched an innovative surveillance geo-portal called 'Bhuvan-GAIL Portal' for utilising space technology for its pipeline application.

 7 December: The first India International Science Festival (IISF) was organised at IIT-Delhi. The aim of this festival is to support flagship programs like Make in India, Digital India, Start-ups India, Smart Villages, Smart Cities, etc. initiated by the Govt. of India.  7 December: Microsoft founder and one of the world's richest men Bill Gates met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to discuss support to health, education and other sectors for  human development. Bill Gates has assured support to Bihar to improve health and education sector.  5 December: Social media giant Facebook, which has over two million Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) on its platform, has set up a SME Council in India to help small ventures from various industries share feedback and discuss ideas around leveraging technology to grow their enterprise. This is the second SME Council set up by Facebook globally, the first one being in the USA.  5 December: Union Minister of Finance, Arun Jaitley along with Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Thaawar Chand Gehlot launched “Accessible India Campaign” (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan), a nationwide campaign that will enable persons with disabilities to gain universal access, equal opportunity for development, independent living and participation in  all aspects of life in an inclusive society. Under the campaign, atleast 50% of all the government buildings of National Capital and all the State capitals will be made fully accessible for persons with disabilities by July 2018.  5 December: With the launch of the Rotavirus vaccination project by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in the country to start this project. The vaccine will help in controlling the child mortality rate (under five years of age) due to diarrhoea.

INTERNATIONAL

 31 December: Asia's largest underground railway station opened in the China's Shenzhen city, enabling high-speed trains to slash the travel time between Guangzhou and Hong Kong to half an hour. The Futian High-speed Railway Station covers a total area of 147,000 sq. metres, or the size of about 21 football fields.  30 December: The Iraqi Government has liberated Ramadi, an important Iraqi city from the Islamic State. Ramadi is situated around 90 km west of Baghdad, which was captured by the militant group Islamic State in May 2015.  29 December: Nepal government has decided to grant free visas to visitors from neighbouring China. During his China tour Nepal's Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa also issued instructions to implement it immediately.  29 December: China officially junked its controversial one child policy, allowing couples to have a second child amid deepening demographic crisis of shrinking workforce and aging population in the world's second largest economy. Chinese lawmakers passed a historic decision allowing all couples to have two children from January 1, ending its over three and half decades old policy.  29 December: Afghanistan's new Parliament complex, built by India, was inaugurated by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the Indian PM Narendra Modi in Kabul. This inauguration function was held on the occasion of Modi’s state visit to Afghanistan. The new Parliament building is located across from the now-ruined ‘Darul Aman Palace’, the now-gutted palace of King Amanullah Khan.

 26 December: Zimbabwe has announced that it will make the Chinese yuan legal tender after Beijing confirmed it would cancel $40m in debts.  24 December: Slovenia rejected same-sex marriage in the country in a referendum held in the country. About 63.4% of voters of Slovenia rejected the law in a referendum that would have given same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt children.  24 December: China launched the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) Satellite to shed light on mysterious dark matter. It was the country's first space telescope and launched on a Long March 2-D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The purpose of the satellite is to search for smoking-gun signals of dark matter, invisible material that scientists say makes up most of the universe's mass.  22 December: The United States lifted a 40-year-old ban on export of crude oil. The US administration lifted the ban on the export of US crude oil, a policy enacted during the 1970s. In the 1970s America banned crude-oil exports in an effort to stabilize domestic prices.  22 December: The 10th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded with some landmark agreements on a series of trade initiatives. This WTO Conference was held at Nairobi (Kenya). It is the first such meeting hosted by an African nation. The Conference was chaired by Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Amina Mohamed.  22 December: The UN declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses (IYP) to create greater awareness about the importance of Pulses for human health.  21 December: The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has issued commemorative silver coins to mark the establishment of ASEAN - Association of Southeast Asian Nations - Community. The ten Asean members inked the 2015 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Community which will be formed on December 31.  19 December: India announced to contribute $500,000 to a UN rapid response funding mechanism for the 2015-16 period to support global humanitarian relief operations.  17 December: 34 Islamic countries announced to form an “Islamic military alliance” to fight terrorism. Saudi Arabia is leading this alliance, which will primarily target the Islamic State (IS). This alliance will have a joint operations centre based in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh.  17 December: New Zealand confirmed the black, white and blue design, called Silver Fern, to become country’s new flag, after the final votes were counted in a referendum for the same. About 1.5 million votes were casted in the referendum  17 December: Russian spacecraft Soyuz with three new crew onboard was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) from the space launch facility of Kazakhstan. The crew included Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko (Russia), NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra (US) and European Space Agency’s Timothy Peake (Britain). The mission is to spend 6 months aboard the space station.  15 December: A historic climate agreement was adopted unanimously at the UN Climate Change Summit (COP21) in Paris with 196 countries adopting a goal of “well below 2 degrees C” for temperature rise, and instituting a regime of financing of developing economies to help make the transition. The agreement is scheduled to go into effect from 2020 while first global evaluation of the implementation of the agreement is to take place in 2023, and thereafter every five years to help all countries.

 15 December: Gambian President Yahya Jammeh declared his Muslim-majority country an Islamic republic. 90% of Population of Gambia is Muslim.  15 December: At least 20 women have won seats in Saudi Arabia's municipal polls, the country's first-ever elections open to female voters and candidates. Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi created history by becoming the first woman elected representative of Saudi Arab by winning the municipal council elections of Madrakah, a region in Mecca.  14 December: The U.S. Administration updated its technology transfer policy associated with Gas-turbine engine technology transfer agreement, a major defence cooperation agreement with India. This will help India in developing this technology in India. This was done during India's Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's US visit.  14 December: Pakistan successfully test-fired the medium-range Shaheen-III surface-to-surface ballistic missile which can carry nuclear warheads up to 2,750 kms bringing many Indian cities within its range.  12 December: The U.S. military successfully test-fired a missile defense system 'SM-3 missile' interceptor designed to protect NATO forces in Europe from attack. An Air Force C-17 aircraft launched a medium-range target over the ocean southwest of Hawaii.  12 December: North American country Mexico, approved the use of the first-ever vaccine against dengue fever, which will be publicly available for the first time. This vaccine is developed by French pharmaceutical group Sanofi's medicine department 'Sanofi Pasteur'. This vaccine is only for the 9 to 45 years age group.  10 December: India will host the next multilateral meeting on Afghanistan, the 'Heart of Asia' conference, in the last quarter of 2016. This year Heart of Asia conference is organised in  Islamabad, Pakistan. The aim of this conference is to coordinate the efforts of the countries in the region to support Afghanistan in achieving peace and stability  10 December: Democratic Unity Roundtable won the National Assembly elections with a comfortable majority in Venezuela. This overturned the nearly two decades of dominance of the ruling Socialists. The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable won 112 of the total 167 seats in Venezuelan National Assembly, while President Nicolás Maduro’s ruling PSUV got just 55 seats.  10 December: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar visited the US Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii, in order to deepen military ties between the two strategic partners. Hence, he became the first-ever Indian Defence Minister to visit the key center.  9 December: The 8th edition of the Indo-Russian joint naval exercise INDRA NAVY-15 commenced in the Bay of Bengal, off the coast of Andhra Pradesh. INDRA is the name given to the bi-annual naval exercise held between India and Russia. The primary aim of this exercise is to increase interoperability between the two navies and develop common understanding of procedures for maritime security operations.  8 December: India received its first uranium consignment of about 2730 tonnes from Canada. The uranium is shipped to India for the country’s nuclear power reactors.  7 December: A broad coalition of nations, river basin organizations, business and civil society announced the creation of the International Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change Adaptation. The announcement was made at the Water Resilience Focus event held under the Lima to Paris Action Agenda on climate change.

 7 December: Ola– India’s largest app-based taxi aggregator announced forming an alliance with four companies--- China’s Didi Kuaidi, US-based Lyft and Southeast Asia’s GrabTaxi . The main objective of this alliance is to strongly take on Uber, their biggest rival globally. This global alliance has been promoted by Japan’s SoftBank and China’s leading online marketplace Alibaba.  5 December: With 16 Indian educational institutes among top 200 universities, India occupied third place in Times Higher Education BRICS and Emerging Economies rankings for 2016. At 16th place, Indian Institute of Science, is the only Indian institute to feature in the top 20. China dominates the rankings, with Peking University and Tsinghua University at first and second position respectively.  5 December: Brazil’s economy contracted by 1.7 percent during July-September 2015 compared to April-June period in 2015. It was Brazil's third consecutive quarter of contraction starting from January 2015 and thus, making it the country's longest recession since the 1930s. Inflation rose to over 10 percent, the highest in 12 years, in October 2015. Unemployment rate was pegged at 8.9 percent during July-September 2015 up from 6.8 percent in 2014-15.  4 December: Four European countries - Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland - announced a new $500 million initiative that will find new ways to create incentives aimed at large scale cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries to combat climate change. The World Bank Group worked with the countries to develop the 'Transformative Carbon Asset Facility' initiative.  2 December: The United Nations Climate Change Conference or the 21st United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP21) started in Paris on 30 November 2015. This ambitious and historic conference aims to unite around 150 nations for a single agreement on tackling climate change. COP21 aims to cap the rate of global warming at 2 degrees Celsius, as compared to the current 2.5 to 3.76 degrees celsius.  2 December: During the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, 21 countries including India launched an ambitious initiative to double their clean energy research and development budget over the next five years as part of global efforts to tackle climate change. Under ‘Mission Innovation’ countries pledged $20 billion to promote clean technologies.  1 December: India and Japan exchanged documents for Japan's Official Development Loan Assistance (ODA) worth Rs. 5,536 crore to India for Chennai and Ahmedabad Metro Rail Projects.  1 December: The 2-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for 2015 (CHOGM 2015) concluded. This 24th edition of the biennial meet of the 53 Commonwealth countries was held in Malta. External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj represented India in the meeting instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. London will host the next edition of CHOGM in 2018, as the next summit originally scheduled for 2017 in Vanuatu, was cancelled.

APPOINTMENT

 31 December: The Georgian Parliament confirmed Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the country`s new prime minister. Kvirikashvili, 48, became Georgia`s third prime minister since the Georgian Dream coalition came into power in October 2012. Kvirikashvili was nominated by the Georgian Dream ruling coalition as new prime minister following surprise resignation of Irakli Garibashvili.  31 December: Senior IAS officer Aradhana Johri has been shifted out as Disinvestment Secretary to Cabinet Secretariat. Johri, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been replaced by Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Special Secretary in Department of Public Enterprises. Now Johri has been appointed as Chairperson of National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention under Cabinet Secretariat. Sanjay Mitra has been named as the new Road Transport and Highways Secretary.  30 December: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Amitabh Kant, Secretary of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the additional responsibility of being Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, effective from 31 December 2015. Kant will replace the incumbent NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar whose extended tenure will end on 31 December 2015.  29 December: Satyavati Berera has been appointed as the COO of a ‘Big Four’ accounting firm in India. She is the first woman officer to acquire this post. She will take charge as COO on January 1, 2016, becoming second only to chairman Deepak Kapoor in hierarchy. Berera will replace Neil Wilson, who is moving to London as global operations partner with PwC.  28 December: Senior diplomat Gautam Bambawale, currently India’s envoy to Bhutan, has been appointed as next High Commissioner to Pakistan. An IFS officer of 1984-batch, Bambawale will replace T.C.A. Raghavan, who is retiring at the end of this month.  26 December: Senior IAS officer Pawan Kumar Agarwal was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). He succeeded Yudhvir Singh Malik, who was shifted as Additional Secretary in Niti Aayog in September 2015.  26 December: The United Nations has appointed a new peacekeeping chief in Mali, amid criticism of the country's peace process. Chad's foreign minister Mahamat Saleh Annadif will replace Tunisia's Mongi Hamdi, who held the position for just a year.  23 December: Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) has appointed Parthasarathi Mukherjee as its MD & CEO. Mukherjee succeeds Rakesh Sharma, who joined Canara Bank as MD & CEO in September.  21 December: Former Defence Secretary R.K. Mathur was appointed as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), thus breaking away from the convention of appointing the head from among the serving Information Commissioners. The post had fallen vacant after Vijai Sharma completed his tenure on 1 December 2015.  21 December: Apple Inc., an American consumer electronics company, has appointed Jeff Williams as its new chief operating officer, a job that hasn't been filled since Tim Cook left the position more than four years ago to become CEO.  18 December: The Supreme Court, in an unusual order, invoked its constitutional powers and appointed Justice Virendra Singh as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh after the State government failed to comply with its directives to appoint Lokayukta. The Supreme Court appointed former High Court judge, Justice Virendra Singh, as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution.

 17 December: Senior revenue service officer Arun Kumar Jain was appointed Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Jain will have short tenure of two months, till January 2016.  17 December: Union Government appointed senior diplomat Akhilesh Mishra as India's High Commissioner to Maldives. Mishra, a 1989 batch IFS officer replaced Rajeev Shahare who has been appointed as India's ambassador to Denmark.  16 December: Pravin Gordhan, a widely respected Indian-origin politician, has been appointed South Africa's new Finance Minister by President Jacob Zuma, becoming the third finance chief of the country in a week amid a raging economic turmoil.  15 December: Muniba Mazari (disabled from both legs) has become Pakistan’s first female UN Goodwill Ambassador. ‘UN Women’, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women appointed her on this post to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.  14 December: Prakash Kumar Singh has taken charge as Chairman of Steel Authority of India (SAIL). Prior to this assignment, 57 year old Singh was the chief executive officer of SAIL's Durgapur unit, a position he took over in 2012.  14 December: Mumbai Police Commissioner Ahmad Javed was appointed as India's next Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, six months after last Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao had retired. Javed is expected to take charge after his retirement next January.  9 December: General Motors (GM) India appointed Kaher Kazem as the President and Managing Director of the company with effect from 1 January 2016. Kazem will succeed Arvind Saxena. Kazem is an Australian executive who became GM India's Chief Operating Officer (COO) in August 2015.  8 December: Renowned Scientist M. Nair Rajeevan has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences. 54-year-old Rajeevan is presently Director, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune.  7 December: India will head the first Asian Youth Hostelling Union. Union will represent all youth hostel organisations in the continent that will promote efforts to provide adequate accommodation to young people. Mohammad Shafi Pandit, a retired IAS officer from Jammu and Kashmir, will be chairperson of the newly created body which will take forward the youth hostelling movement in the Asian region.  5 December: Indian-American Dr. Vijay M. Rao was named as the chairperson of the prestigious Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors.  4 December: Senior Janata Dal (United) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary was unanimously elected new Speaker of the 16th Bihar Legislative Assembly.  4 December: Senior public health specialist Henk Bekedam has taken charge as the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to India. Henk Bekedam is a Dutch national and a medical doctor by training.  2 December: Anil Khanna has been re-elected as the President of Asian Tennis Federation (ATF). He was elected for four years in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. At present, he is the president of the All India Tennis Association (AITA).

 2 December: India has been re-elected unopposed to the Council of the International Maritime Organization [IMO] under Category 'B' at the 29th session of the Assembly of the IMO held in London.  1 December: Dominica-born lawyer Patricia Scotland, who is a former attorney general to the British government, was elected as the new Secretary-General of the Commonwealth during its summit (2015) in Malta. She thus became the first-ever woman to be elected for running the 53- country organisation. She will thus replace Indian diplomat Kamalesh Sharma on 1 April 2016, who will complete his second term then.  1 December: A.R.K. Kini, IPS (BH:81), Special DG, BPR&D took over the additional charge of the post of Director General, Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D). He succeeded N.R. Wasan, IPS (AP:80), DG BPR&D.  11 December: Latvia’s first female Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma announced her resignation. Straujuma resigned from the post after the elections held for the Parliament of Latvia for the formation of a new government. She became the first female Prime Minister of Latvia in 2014.  22 December: FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA boss Michel Platini have been suspended for eight years from all football-related activities following an ethics investigation.

AWARD

. 31 December: Noted Gujarati writer Raghuveer Chaudhary has been selected for the Jnanpith award for the year 2015. 77-year-old Chaudhry will be honored with 51st Jnanpith award at a ceremony next year. . 31 December: Mizoram footballer Lallianzuala Chhangte became the youngest ever goal-scorer for India in an international match. 18-year old Lallianzuala Chhangte made his name into history books as he scored two goals in India’s thrashing of Nepal in a match of the South Asian Football Federation Cup (SAFF Cup). . 29 December: Chhattisgarh has been adjudged as the best performing state for its exemplary work in the field of information technology during the 'Digital India Week 2015'. The state received the award from Communication and IT Minister Ravishankar Prasad . 28 December: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) topped the Fortune 500 List of Indian companies for 2015 with an annual revenue of Rs. 4,51,911 crore. This was the sixth consecutive time that IOC grabbed the top spot. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was second in the list. Tata Motors is on the third place. State Bank of India moved to the fourth position. . 28 December: In the ORB International's ‘International World Leader Index’ survey, people from across 65 countries around the world voted. In terms of popularity the US President Barack Obama tops the list. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on 7th number. According to the survey, Obama is followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is second on the list and British Prime Minister David Cameron is on the third place. . 26 December: American Football team and Toronto FC Captain Michael Bradley has been awarded U.S. Soccer's Male Player of the Year for his unmatched performances. . 24 December: Australia captain Steve Smith has been named the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test player and cricketer of the year while South Africa’s A.B. de Villiers has been awarded the best ODI player for 2015.

. 24 December: Haryana Government has appointed film actor Dharmendra and MP Hema Malini as brand ambassador of the tourism department to promote tourism in the state. Haryana government has decided this to promote tourism industry in the state. . 23 December: Britain's Davis Cup hero Tennis star Andy Murray won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award for 2015. The world number two, who was picking up the honour for the second time, led Great Britain to their first Davis Cup title since 1936 last month. . 22 December: Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach was crowned at the final of 64th edition of Miss Universe held in Las Vegas, the USA. First runner-up was Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutiérrez and Miss US was second runner-up. Urvashi Rautela who represented India in the contest couldn't make it to the top 15. . 22 December: Mireia Lalaguna Royo, the 23-year old professional model from Barcelona (Spain) won the 2015 Miss World beauty pageant in Sanya (China). The victory marked the first-ever win for a Spanish contestant. Sofia Nikitchuk of Russia was the runner-up and Indonesia's Maria Harfanti took third place in the final following a lengthy competition featuring 114 women. . 21 December: Pakistani actress Jeba awarded Indian film director Madhur Bhandarkar in the Rafi Peer International Film Festival 2015. The National Award-winning filmmaker is best known for his films like "Chandni Bar", "Page 3", "Traffic Signal" and "Fashion. . 19 December: Cairn India, India's largest private sector oil and gas exploration and production company has been awarded CII-ITC Sustainability Awards for the year 2015 for its improved performance in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) sector. . 19 December: The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee received Garwood Award for ‘Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation’ from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The University of California, Berkeley, one of the most prestigious educational institutes in the world, has established the Garwood Award to acknowledge individuals who have embraced, supported and encouraged open innovation in a significant and impactful way. . 19 December: InterGlobe Aviation, an Indian private sector aviation company which operates ‘IndiGo’ brand of airlines, created history by becoming the first-ever aviation company to enter the top-50 most valuable companies in terms of market capitalization (m-cap) on the BSE. It stood at 47th place in overall. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) topped the list. . 19 December: India has been ranked 97th out of 144 nations, behind Kazakhstan and Ghana, on Forbes’ annual list of the best countries for business in 2015, scoring poorly on metrics like trade and monetary freedom and tackling challenges like corruption and violence. Denmark topped the list. . 18 December: Veteran actress Rekha has been selected for 3rd National Yash Chopra Memorial Award. The award was constituted by the T. Subbarami Reddy in association with Shashi and Anu Ranjan 3 years back. Rekha will be presented with the award in a ceremony to be organised on January 25 2016. . 17 December: Rajasthan’s Apurvi Chandela bagged a Gold medal in the 10-metre Air Rifle event on the final day of the 59th National Shooting Championship in Delhi.

. 17 December: Renowned Israeli-US violinist Itzhak Perlman was announced as the 2016 Genesis Prize Laureate for his accomplishments as a musician, teacher and advocate for people with disabilities. Perlman will receive the award on 23 June 2016 from Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at a ceremony in Jerusalem. . 16 December: Global software giant Wipro announced that it won the 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award for developing a solution for the Internet of Things (IoT). Wipro’s IoT solution and development, Universal Data Parser (UDP), fetched the prestigious award. . 15 December: Dilip Kumar, Indian cinema’s one of the greatest actors, was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour. The 93-year-old actor received the award from Home Minister Rajnath Singh at his residence in Mumbai. . 14 December: Jamaludeen Mohamed Sali, a 76-year-old Indian-origin writer whose 57 books are read in universities has been declared as the winner of this year's prestigious South East Asia Write Award. Better known as J.M. Sali, he has been writing for over 50 years. The author has written 57 books, 80 plays and more than 400 short stories. . 14 December: superstar Shah Rukh Khan acquired the No. 1 position in the 2015 Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, with a whopping Rs. 257.5 crore earnings. With Rs. 202.75 crore earnings Salman Khan has acquired second rank in the list. Salman was followed by megastar (Rs.112.00 crore). Indian cricket ODI captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni maintained his position at No. 4 in the list. . 12 December: Reliance Industries and Hindustan Petroleum CEO Nishi Vasudeva are among a handful of global energy companies and individuals, awarded for their leadership, innovation and performance at the 17th annual Platts Global Energy Awards, often called the Oscars of energy. Reliance Industries has been awarded under the category of corporate social responsibility, while Vasudeva has bagged the top honours for chief executive of the year. . 12 December: India’s legendary actor Naseeruddin Shah and the great French actor, Catherine Deneuve were presented with Lifetime Achievement award in the 12th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival opened in Dubai. Naseeruddin Shah's most popular films include “Sparsh”, “Paar”, “Aakrosh” and “Chakra”. Naseeruddin Shah also worked in Hollywood movie ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'. . 11 December: German Chancellor Angela Merkel was named as 2015 Person of the Year by Time Magazine. The magazine has given her this award for her commendable leadership in Europe’s crisis over migration and Greek debt. . 11 December: Frank Islam, an Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, will be conferred with Uttar Pradesh Ratna Award on 4 January 2016 at the inaugural UP Pravasi Diwas in Agra by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The Uttar Pradesh Government will be honouring Islam to recognise his achievements and outstanding contributions in a foreign country. . 10 December: Professor U. Ramamurty of the Indian Institute of Science has bagged the 2015 Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) prize, which carries a cash prize of $15,000, in the engineering category.

. 10 December: India's Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services and consultancy company, bagged four awards in the European Software Testing Awards, 2015. The awards were organised by TEST Magazine, the UK's leading software testing magazine. These four awards are: The Best Agile Project award, The Best Mobile Project award, Testing Innovator of the Year award and The Leading Vendor award. . 9 December: China’s top badminton player Chen Long was awarded the Male Player of the Year award and Spain's Carolina Marin was awarded Female Player of the Year award by World Badminton Federation (BWF). . 9 December: The Indian multinational information technology company Tech Mahindra was awarded the prestigious 'Forbes Top 100 Middle East - Global Meets Local 2015' Award in Dubai. The award was organized by Forbes Middle East. The winners are judged on criteria's of Global strength, experience in region, Geographical reach, Employment impact & Position in the Middle East region. . 7 December: The Union Territory of Chandigarh has been conferred with CSI-Nihilent e- Governance Awards for 2014-15 under the category of state for sustained excellence in e- governance. This award recognises Chandigarh for its key projects like Sampark, gram-sampark, e-kosk, online payment of utility bills, campus wide area network, online college admission portal, grievance redressal system and e-stamping. . 4 December: Pulin Kumar, senior legal and compliance director of Adidas India group , has been conferred with the Indian National Bar Association's ‘General Counsel of the year 2015 - Retail Award’. Kumar received the award for his contribution to the legal field in and outside the country for more than 21 years. . 3 December: The film “Embrace of Serpent” won the prestigious Golden Peacock award in the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2015) that concluded in Goa. Colombian film ‘Embrace of Serpent’ was declared the best film of IFFI 2015. The best director award went to Peter Greenaway for ‘Eisenstein’. The only Indian name in the winner’s list was that of Bengali filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly, who was given the inaugural ‘ICFT – UNESCO Fellini Medal’ for his movie ‘Cinemawala’. . 2 December: Hinduja Brothers were honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) Series in Dubai. . 2 December: Wealth-X released the World’s 20 Most Generous People list. Microsoft co- founder Bill Gates ($27 billion) was adjudged as the top philanthropist in the world, Wipro’s Chairman Azim Premji ($8 billion) was the only Indian in the list and stood at the fourth position. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway ($21.5 billion) came on the second place. George Soros, Founder of Soros Fund Management ($8 billion) ranked third on the list. . 1 December: Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group has been ranked as India's most creative brand, according to a TRA Research study. Brands insights company TRA Research, formerly Trust Research Advisory, conducted the study in 16 cities.

SPORT

 31 December: Rakhi Haldar and Kavita Devi bagged gold in their respective weight categories in the Senior National Weightlifting Championships in Patiala, Punjab. Rakhi lifted 94kg in the snatch and 119kg in clean and jerk to come up with a total lift of 213kg in Women's 69kg to win the gold medal. In Women's 75kg, Kavita Devi lifted 95kg in snatch and 122kg in clean and jerk for a total of 217kg to clinch the yellow metal.  30 December: Gujarat won its maiden Vijay Hazare Cricket Trophy. In the final match played in Bengaluru, they beat Delhi by 139 runs.  30 December: Premier Badminton League (PBL) announced Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar as the brand ambassador for the much-awaited badminton League tournament beginning January 2, 2016.  30 December: Indian Golfer S. Chikkarangappa won the McLeod Russel Tour golf Championship Title. Bangalore's 22 years old Golfer Chikkarangappa made a double delight by sealing his maiden Rolex Player of the Year title for the PGTI order of merit. Chikkarangappa became the youngest Golfer to win the Rolex Ranking title (order of merit).  30 December: Ashok Kumar, International UWW Referee from India has been qualified for officiating in the 2016 RIO Olympic Games scheduled to be held at Rio-de-Janeiro Brazil from 5th to 21st August 2016 as Wrestling referee. Ashok Kumar is presently serving in the Indian Air- Force as Warrant Officer.  29 December: Mumbai Garuda emerged as the champions of the inaugural Pro Wrestling League after they defeated Haryana Hammers 7-2 in the finals to clinch the title in New Delhi  29 December: Lionel Messi has topped Spanish paper Marca’s list of the top 10 players of 2015. was eighth on the list  29 December: The five-time Olympian and two-time Asian champion India's star player Shiva Keshavan grabbed a silver medal in the 18th edition of the Asian Luge Championship concluded in Japan. The first place was claimed by defending champion Hidenari Kanayama of Japan. On the other hand, South Korea's Kim Dong-hyeon grabbed the third place and won bronze medal  28 December: Sanjita Chanu and Korada Ramana bagged gold medals in the women’s 48 kilogram and men’s 56 kilogram categories, respectively in the Senior National Weightlifting Championships at the SAI centre in Patiala.  24 December: The International Tennis Federation (ITF) named the Indo-Swiss pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis as the 2015 ITF women's doubles World Champions. American Serena Williams and Serbian Novak Djokovic were named the women's and men's singles World Champions, respectively.  24 December: A 50-year-old disabled Keralite has swum his way into the URF Asian Records. With 40 per cent disability, E. D. Baburaj, swam 10km at the widest part of the Vembanad lake, which flows through in Kerala. The URF Asian Records is on a par with the Asian record title and is recognised globally.  23 December: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum announced his retirement from international cricket. The 34-year-old batsman has confirmed that the two-Test series against Australia in February will be his last.

 23 December: Bengaluru FC (BFC) midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh and striker Bala Devi was named the 2015 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player-of-the-Year and woman Footballer- of-the-Year respectively.  22 December: Barcelona FC has won the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup for a record third time. In the final match played at International Stadium Yokoham in Japan the winning team defeated River Plate FC.  22 December: The 2015 (ISL) for football, which is India’s most prestigious professional football league, was won by Chennaiyin FC. They defeated hosts Goa FC by in a dramatic final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda (Goa). This was the second edition of ISL. The first edition of ISL was won by Atletico de Kolkata in 2014.  21 December: Pakistani actress Jeba awarded Indian film director Madhur Bhandarkar in the Rafi Peer International Film Festival 2015. The National Award-winning filmmaker is best known for his films like "Chandni Bar", "Page 3", "Traffic Signal" and "Fashion.  19 December: Cairn India, India's largest private sector oil and gas exploration and production company has been awarded CII-ITC Sustainability Awards for the year 2015 for its improved performance in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) sector.  19 December: The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee received Garwood Award for ‘Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation’ from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The University of California, Berkeley, one of the most prestigious educational institutes in the world, has established the Garwood Award to acknowledge individuals who have embraced, supported and encouraged open innovation in a significant and impactful way.  19 December: InterGlobe Aviation, an Indian private sector aviation company which operates ‘IndiGo’ brand of airlines, created history by becoming the first-ever aviation company to enter the top-50 most valuable companies in terms of market capitalization (m-cap) on the BSE. It stood at 47th place in overall. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) topped the list.  19 December: India has been ranked 97th out of 144 nations, behind Kazakhstan and Ghana, on Forbes’ annual list of the best countries for business in 2015, scoring poorly on metrics like trade and monetary freedom and tackling challenges like corruption and violence. Denmark topped the list.  18 December: Veteran actress Rekha has been selected for 3rd National Yash Chopra Memorial Award. The award was constituted by the T. Subbarami Reddy in association with Shashi and Anu Ranjan 3 years back. Rekha will be presented with the award in a ceremony to be organised on January 25 2016.  17 December: Rajasthan’s Apurvi Chandela bagged a Gold medal in the 10-metre Air Rifle event on the final day of the 59th National Shooting Championship in Delhi.  17 December: Renowned Israeli-US violinist Itzhak Perlman was announced as the 2016 Genesis Prize Laureate for his accomplishments as a musician, teacher and advocate for people with disabilities. Perlman will receive the award on 23 June 2016 from Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at a ceremony in Jerusalem.  16 December: Global software giant Wipro announced that it won the 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award for developing a solution for the Internet of Things (IoT). Wipro’s IoT solution and development, Universal Data Parser (UDP), fetched the prestigious award.

 15 December: Dilip Kumar, Indian cinema’s one of the greatest actors, was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour. The 93-year-old actor received the award from Home Minister Rajnath Singh at his residence in Mumbai.  14 December: Jamaludeen Mohamed Sali, a 76-year-old Indian-origin writer whose 57 books are read in universities has been declared as the winner of this year's prestigious South East Asia Write Award. Better known as J.M. Sali, he has been writing for over 50 years. The author has written 57 books, 80 plays and more than 400 short stories.  14 December: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan acquired the No. 1 position in the 2015 Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, with a whopping Rs. 257.5 crore earnings. With Rs. 202.75 crore earnings Salman Khan has acquired second rank in the list. Salman was followed by megastar Amitabh Bachchan (Rs.112.00 crore). Indian cricket ODI captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni maintained his position at No. 4 in the list.  12 December: Reliance Industries and Hindustan Petroleum CEO Nishi Vasudeva are among a handful of global energy companies and individuals, awarded for their leadership, innovation and performance at the 17th annual Platts Global Energy Awards, often called the Oscars of energy. Reliance Industries has been awarded under the category of corporate social responsibility, while Vasudeva has bagged the top honours for chief executive of the year.  12 December: India’s legendary actor Naseeruddin Shah and the great French actor, Catherine Deneuve were presented with Lifetime Achievement award in the 12th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival opened in Dubai. Naseeruddin Shah's most popular films include “Sparsh”, “Paar”, “Aakrosh” and “Chakra”. Naseeruddin Shah also worked in Hollywood movie ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'.  11 December: German Chancellor Angela Merkel was named as 2015 Person of the Year by Time Magazine. The magazine has given her this award for her commendable leadership in Europe’s crisis over migration and Greek debt.  11 December: Frank Islam, an Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, will be conferred with Uttar Pradesh Ratna Award on 4 January 2016 at the inaugural UP Pravasi Diwas in Agra by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The Uttar Pradesh Government will be honouring Islam to recognise his achievements and outstanding contributions in a foreign country.  10 December: Professor U. Ramamurty of the Indian Institute of Science has bagged the 2015 Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) prize, which carries a cash prize of $15,000, in the engineering category.  10 December: India's Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services and consultancy company, bagged four awards in the European Software Testing Awards, 2015. The awards were organised by TEST Magazine, the UK's leading software testing magazine. These four awards are: The Best Agile Project award, The Best Mobile Project award, Testing Innovator of the Year award and The Leading Vendor award.  9 December: China’s top badminton player Chen Long was awarded the Male Player of the Year award and Spain's Carolina Marin was awarded Female Player of the Year award by World Badminton Federation (BWF).  9 December: The Indian multinational information technology company Tech Mahindra was awarded the prestigious 'Forbes Top 100 Middle East - Global Meets Local 2015' Award in Dubai.

The award was organized by Forbes Middle East. The winners are judged on criteria's of Global strength, experience in region, Geographical reach, Employment impact & Position in the Middle East region.  7 December: The Union Territory of Chandigarh has been conferred with CSI-Nihilent e- Governance Awards for 2014-15 under the category of state for sustained excellence in e- governance. This award recognises Chandigarh for its key projects like Sampark, gram-sampark, e-kosk, online payment of utility bills, campus wide area network, online college admission portal, grievance redressal system and e-stamping.  4 December: Pulin Kumar, senior legal and compliance director of Adidas India group , has been conferred with the Indian National Bar Association's ‘General Counsel of the year 2015 - Retail Award’. Kumar received the award for his contribution to the legal field in and outside the country for more than 21 years.  3 December: The film “Embrace of Serpent” won the prestigious Golden Peacock award in the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2015) that concluded in Goa. Colombian film ‘Embrace of Serpent’ was declared the best film of IFFI 2015. The best director award went to Peter Greenaway for ‘Eisenstein’. The only Indian name in the winner’s list was that of Bengali filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly, who was given the inaugural ‘ICFT – UNESCO Fellini Medal’ for his movie ‘Cinemawala’.  2 December: Hinduja Brothers were honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) Series in Dubai.  2 December: Wealth-X released the World’s 20 Most Generous People list. Microsoft co- founder Bill Gates ($27 billion) was adjudged as the top philanthropist in the world, Wipro’s Chairman Azim Premji ($8 billion) was the only Indian in the list and stood at the fourth position. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway ($21.5 billion) came on the second place. George Soros, Founder of Soros Fund Management ($8 billion) ranked third on the list.  1 December: Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group has been ranked as India's most creative brand, according to a TRA Research study. Brands insights company TRA Research, formerly Trust Research Advisory, conducted the study in 16 cities.  1 December: Britain's tennis player Andy Murray won the 2015 Davis Cup Tennis title by defeating Belgium's David Goffin in the 2015 Davis Cup finals held at Ghent in Belgium. Great Britain have won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936.  1 December: Indian badminton ace P.V. Sindhu won the women’s singles title of Macau Open by defeating Japan’s Minatsu Mitani. With this title win, Sindhu completed a hat-trick of titles at the Macau  Open.  1 December: British boxer Tyson Fury created history in the world of boxing when he defeated legendary Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko’s on points basis in a title fight. With this Klitschko’s 11-year reign as the world heavyweight champion came to an end. This bout was held in Dusseldorf (Germany) and Fury won it on points basis.

EULOGY

 28 December: Veteran actress Sadhana Shivdasani passed away. She was 74. She had worked in about 35 films. Some of her famous movies were Mera Saya, Woh Kaun Thi and Waqt.  15 December: Noted agriculture-economist, politician, journalist and well-known farmer leader Sharad Joshi passed away at the age of 81 in Pune. He had founded ‘Shetkari Sanghatana’- famous farmer’s organisation in Maharashtra.  5 December: Noted industrialist and former parliamentarian M.A.M. Ramaswamy passed away. He was 84-years old. He was the Chairman of Tamil Nadu's famous Chettinad Group. The group is engaged in diverse areas like cement, granite and engineering services.  4 December: Former US National Security Adviser Sandy Berger passed away. He was 70 years old. He served as National Security Adviser during the tenure of former US President Bill Clinton.  3 December: Renowned sarangi player Ustad Sabri Khan passed away in New Delhi. He was 88. The Government of India honoured him with the prestigious Padma Shree Award in 1992 and Padma Bhushan Award in 2006.

MISCELLENEOUS

o 31 December: Indian Navy achieved a significant milestone in enhancing its Anti Air Warfare capability with the maiden firing of its newly developed Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM). The firing was undertaken on the Western Seaboard by INS Kolkata, wherein the missile successesfully intercepted an Aerial Target at extended ranges. o 31 December: American Movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” became the fastest movie to pass the $1 billion mark in global box office sales. The statement released by US production house Disney mentioned that the movie made this record in just 12 days after it first hit screens. It thus broke the record of ‘Jurassic World’ which took 13 days to reach $1 billion mark. o 31 December: World's highest observation deck 'Burj Khalifa At The Top' has been voted as the 'Best Attraction' in the world for 2015 in an international poll. The observation deck of Burj Khalifa offers visitors to soak up views of whole of Dubai through telescope. 'Burj Khalifa At The Top' surpassed Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Britain's London Eye in the poll conducted by Attractiontix, an online ticket specialist for attractions around the world. o 30 December: China launched its most sophisticated observation satellite, Gaofen-4, as part of the country's high-definition (HD) earth observation project. Gaofen-4 was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the southwestern province of Sichuan aboard a Long March- 3B carrier rocket. It was the 222th flight of the Long March rocket series. o 29 December: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati and top Russian pay-tv programmer Digital Television Russia (DTR) have inked a pact for joint production and exchange of TV programs and related services. This alliance will focus on high-quality production, marketing and distribution of content related to art, culture, trade & science, research and technology among others. o 26 December: The Philippines became the first Asian country to approve the sale of the world's first-ever dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia. The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration approved the dengue vaccine. It is for individuals in the age group of 9 to 45 years.

o 23 December: Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Lov Verma, formally launched the ‘Eyeway National Helpdesk’ for the blind and visually impaired at the Department Headquarters in Paryavaran Bhawan. Eyeway National Helpdesk is an initiative of Score Foundation with support from the Department and other organizations like Essel Foundation, Tech Mahindra Foundation and the Hans Foundation. Now visually impaired citizens of India will be able to call the Eyeway Helpdesk on a toll free number, 1800-300-20469, and get queries addressed. o 22 December: Tata Motors has entered the top-50 league of the world's biggest companies in terms of their R&D investments, topped by German automaker Volskwagen. It is the only Indian company in the list. This list is prepared by European Commission, Volkswagen is followed by Samsung, Microsoft, Intel and Novartis. Tata Motors has moved up from 104th position last year to 49th now. o 19 December: Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment and acclaimed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios jointly formed a new film, television and digital content creation company. Its name is Amblin Partners. o 18 December: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the PSLV-C29 rocket into the space from its Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh that carried with it 6 satellites of Singapore. These satellites will be used to help the country gather information on disaster monitoring and urban planning. Of the six satellites, TeLEOS-1 is the primary satellite. TeLEOS-1 is the first Singapore commercial earth observation satellite. o 16 December: The 2015 edition of the Global Human Development Report was released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). India was placed at 130th place in the index thus gaining one place from its 131st place during 2014. 2015 HDI ranking is based on data from 188 countries. Norway topped the 2015 HDI ranking, followed by Australia, Switzerland and Denmark. o 16 December: India's IT major Infosys invested USD 3 million in U.S.-based sports equipment manufacturer startup company WHOOP to pick up a minority shareholding in the company. WHOOP’s system includes a device worn by athletes on their wrist. This enables athletes and coaches to gain visibility into the drivers of high performance, guide training and make optimal game day decisions. o 14 December: In an important decision, the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) quashed the Rs. 6,316.59 crore penalty imposed on 11 cement firms by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The CCI had passed the orders after an investigation into complaints, against alleged price cartelisation among cement firms. On 20 June 2012, the CCI imposed a heavy penalty of Rs. 6,316.59 crore on these 11 cement companies. o 12 December: Delhi has the highest per capita income in India during 2014-15 as reported in Delhi government’s Delhi Statistical Hand Book, 2015. It mentioned that Delhi’s per capita income in 2014-15 rose 13.5% to Rs. 2,40,849 from Rs. 2.12 lakh in the previous year. Puducherry recorded the second highest per capita income in the country at Rs. 1,75,006, followed by Haryana at Rs. 1,47,076 during 2014-15. o 12 December: Ministry for Skill Development has set up Self-Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) mechanism with the objective of supporting all aspects of start-up businesses and entrepreneurs who are engaged in self- employment activities. o 11 December: China put a new communication satellite successfully into orbit from the southwestern Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The “ChinaSat 1C” satellite was carried by the Long March-3B carrier rocket. It will provide high-quality voice, data and radio and TV transmission services. o 10 December: India ranks fourth in black money outflows with a whopping USD 51 billion siphoned out of the country per annum between 2004-2013, according to the annual report released by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based research and advisory organisation. China tops the list with USD 139 billion average outflow of illicit finances per annum, followed by Russia (USD 104 billion per annum) and Mexico (USD 52.8 billion per annum). o 10 December: USS Zumwalt headed out to sea for the first time. USS Zumwalt is the name of the newest and the largest destroyer ship ever made for the U.S. Navy. It is 183 meter tall and weighs almost 15,000 tons. USS Zumwalt is named after former US naval officer Elmo Russell Zumwalt, Jr. The huge ship is a guided missile destroyer having incredible stealth capabilities. o 5 December: Aricent, a US-based product engineering firm, tied-up with Nasscom Foundation to launch Aricent Employability Programme. This programme is CSR initiative to create employability opportunities for 2500 engineering graduates. The programme will be offered to under graduate students across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi NCR and Rajasthan. o 4 December: Four persons of Indian origin are featured in 'Foreign Policy' magazine's list of 100 Leading Global Thinkers who have generated ideas that could promise humankind a better future. These four thinkers are Nina Tandon, Rajan Anandan, Ayesha Khanna and Zainab Ghadiyali. o 3 December: Thaawar Chand Gehlot inaugurated First International Film Festival for Persons with Disabilities at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi. The film festival started with the screening of the film Yellow. Yellow is a Marathi film directed by Mahesh Limaye. o 3 December: India has been ranked a low 131 out of 167 nations on Global Index of Information Technology Access, that measures the level of information and communication technology access, even as the number of households with Internet and computer has increased in the country over the last five years. South Korea is ranked at the top of the index. South Korea is followed by Denmark and Iceland, in second and third place. o 3 December: In an important development in the field of global solar energy scenario, India launched International Agency for Solar Technologies and Applications (IASTA), an international solar alliance at the UN Climate Summit at Paris. It seeks to mobilize public finance from richer countries to help deliver universal global energy access. IASTA will have its headquarters in India. The Indian government is investing an initial $30m in setting up its headquarters in India. o 1 December: In an important event associated with India’s defence forces, the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM), jointly designed and developed by Israel’s IAI and India’s DRDO, was successfully flight tested from an Israeli naval platform. LRSAM (or Barack 8, as it is called in Israel) is an advanced, long-range missile defence and air defence system. Its main features are long range, active radar seeker missile, vertical launch and multiple simultaneous engagements.

RECURRING TERMS

(1) LRSAM

In an important event associated with India’s defence forces, the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM), jointly designed and developed by Israel’s IAI and India’s DRDO, was successfully flight tested from an Israeli naval platform. LRSAM (or Barack 8, as it is called in Israel) is an advanced, long-range missile defence and air defence system. Its main features are long range, active radar seeker missile, vertical launch and multiple simultaneous engagements.

(2) SDR The International Monetary Fund (IMF) admitted China’s Yuan into its benchmark currency basket. With this Yuan will be added to the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket alongside the dollar, euro, pound sterling and yen. The Yuan (also known as the Renminbi) will have a 10.92% share in the SDR basket and will officially be included in it from October 2016.

(3) INDRA NAVY-15 The 8th edition of the Indo-Russian joint naval exercise INDRA NAVY-15 commenced in the Bay of Bengal, off the coast of Andhra Pradesh. INDRA is the name given to the bi-annual naval exercise held between India and Russia. The primary aim of this exercise is to increase interoperability between the two navies and develop common understanding of procedures for maritime security operations.

(4) 'HEART OF ASIA' CONFERENCE India will host the next multilateral meeting on Afghanistan, the 'Heart of Asia' conference, in the last quarter of 2016. This year Heart of Asia conference is organised in Islamabad, Pakistan. The aim of this conference is to coordinate the efforts of the countries in the region to support Afghanistan in achieving peace and stability.

(5) 2016: UK-INDIA Year of Education and Research India and United Kingdom launched a joint initiative 2016: UK-INDIA Year of Education and Research in New Delhi. It was launched by visiting Secretary of State, Business Innovation and Skill of the UK Sajid Javid along with Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani. In 2016, it will allow UK academicians to come to India under Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) programme.

ABBREVIATION

LiDAR - Light Detection and Ranging technology

DMFs - District Mineral Foundations

BSEC - Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission

JAXA - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

NIIF - National Investment and Infrastructure Fund

AMRIT - Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment

ITPO - India Trade Promotion Organisation

APEC- Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation

TPP- Trans-Pacific Partnership

IFS- Indian Foreign Service

CIL- Coal India Limited

RRSK- Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh

NFDB- National Fisheries Development Board

LiDAR- Light and Radar

OIR- Operation Inherent Resolve

ISIS- Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

CIBIL- Credit Information Bureau of India Limited

NABARD- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

EDI- Electronic Data Interchange

DRI- Differential Rate Of Interest

IMPORTANT DAYS

December 1: World AIDS Day December 2: International Day for the Abolition of Slavery December 3: World Conservation Day December 5: World Soil Day December 7: International Civil Aviation Day December 9: The International Day against Corruption December 10: Human Rights Day December 11: International Mountain Day December 14: World Energy Day December 18: International Migrants Day December 20: International Human Solidarity Day December 29: International Biodiversity Day

SPECIAL FEATURE OF THIS MONTH

(1) CHOGM 2015

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for 2015 (CHOGM 2015) concluded. This 24th edition of the biennial meet of the 53 Commonwealth countries was held in Malta. External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj represented India in the meeting instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. London will host the next edition of CHOGM in 2018, as the next summit originally scheduled for 2017 in Vanuatu, was cancelled. Dominica-born lawyer Patricia Scotland, who is a former attorney general to the British government, was elected as the new Secretary-General of the Commonwealth during its summit (2015) in Malta. She thus became the first-ever woman to be elected for running the 53-country organisation. She will thus replace Indian diplomat Kamalesh Sharma on 1 April 2016, who will complete his second term then.

(2) COP21

The United Nations Climate Change Conference or the 21st United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP21) started in Paris. This ambitious and historic conference aims to unite around 150 nations for a single agreement on tackling climate change. COP21 aims to cap the rate of global warming at 2 degrees Celsius, as compared to the current 2.5 to 3.76 degrees celsius. During the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, 21 countries including India launched an ambitious initiative to double their clean energy research and development budget over the next five years as part of global efforts to tackle climate change. Under ‘Mission Innovation’ countries pledged $20 billion to promote clean technologies. In an important development in the field of global solar energy scenario, India launched International Agency for Solar Technologies and Applications (IASTA), an international solar alliance at the UN Climate Summit at Paris. It seeks to mobilize public finance from richer countries to help deliver universal global energy access. IASTA will have its headquarters in India. The Indian government is investing an initial $30m in setting up its headquarters in India. A historic climate agreement was adopted unanimously at the UN Climate Change Summit (COP21) in Paris with 196 countries adopting a goal of “well below 2 degrees C” for temperature rise, and instituting a regime of financing of developing economies to help make the transition. The agreement is scheduled to go into effect from 2020 while first global evaluation of the implementation of the agreement is to take place in 2023, and thereafter every five years to help all countries.

(3) 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2015)

 The 10-day long International Film Festival of India (IFFI) for year 2015 commenced at Panaji (Goa) from 20 to 30 November 2015.  IFFI, which is country’s biggest film extravaganza, featured as many as 187 films in World Cinema section. This is 46th edition of IFFI.  The festival was inaugurated with actor Anil Kapoor presiding over the opening ceremony as the chief guest.  Spain has been selected as the Focus Country at the IFFI-2015.

The film “Embrace of Serpent” won the prestigious Golden Peacock award in the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2015) that concluded in Goa. Colombian film ‘Embrace of Serpent’ was declared the best film of IFFI 2015. The best director award went to Peter Greenaway for ‘Eisenstein’. The only Indian name in the winner’s list was that of Bengali filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly, who was given the inaugural ‘ICFT – UNESCO Fellini Medal’ for his movie ‘Cinemawala’. (4) Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan

Union Minister of Finance, Arun Jaitley along with Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Thaawar Chand Gehlot launched “Accessible India Campaign” (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan), a nationwide campaign that will enable persons with disabilities to gain universal access, equal opportunity for development, independent living and participation in all aspects of life in an inclusive society. Under the campaign, atleast 50% of all the government buildings of National Capital and all the State capitals will be made fully accessible for persons with disabilities by July 2018.

(5) NSA-Meet-India- Pakistan-2015

In an important development in India-Pakistan relations NSA-Meet-India- Pakistan-2015, the National Security Advisor-level talks between the two countries were held in Bangkok, Thailand. Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua held a four hour meeting. Discussions covered peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, and others including tranquility over the Line of Control.