CURRENT AFFIRES DECEMBER-2015 Head Office Nr. Bhumkar Chowk, Wakad, Pune Contact-09096790230 Branch T-5, Rohan Chembers,Nr. Karve Statue ,Kothrud, Pune Contact-09604001144 MINDCHANGERS ACADEMY, PUNE Page 1 W a s d d CURRENT AFFIRES DECEMBER-2015 Appointments 1. Arun Kumar Jain has been appointed as chief of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). 2. Devendra Chaudhary is appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI). 3. Gautam H Bambawale appointed as High Commissioner of India to Pakistan. 4. Giorgi Kvirikashvili has been elected as 12th Prime Minister of Georgia. 5. Government appointed Ahmad Javed as India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. 6. Government gave industry secretary Amitabh Kant an additional charge of post of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog. 7. Gyanendra D. Bandgaiyan has been appointed as Director General in National Centre for Good Governance under Department of Personnel & Training. 8. Henk Bekedam (Netherlands) is named as new World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to India. 9. Indian-American Vijay M Rao named as chairperson of prestigious Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors. 10. Indian-origin Pravin Gordhan appointed as South Africa's Finance Minister. 11. Janta Dal United's Vijay Kumar Chaudhary elected as new Speaker of Bihar legislative assembly. 12. Jeff Williams appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Apple Inc. 13. Jet Airways appointed Amit Agarwal as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). 14. Kaher Kazem is appointed as President and Managing Director of India operations of General Motors. 15. Kapil Chopra has been appointed as Chairman of World Travel & Tourism Council India Initiative (WTTCII) for 2016. 16. Karan Adani appointed CEO of Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ). 17. Mauricio Macri sworn in as new President of Argentina. 18. Metropolitan Stock Exchange (formerly MCX Stock Exchange) appointed Udai Kumar as MD and CEO. 19. Mohd.Jamshed taken over as new Member Traffic, Railway Board. 20. Noted Electrical Equipment Manufacturer ABB India appointed Sanjeev Sharma as Managing Director. 21. Ola Cabs appointed Joy Bandekar as Corporate President. MINDCHANGERS ACADEMY, PUNE Page 2 W a s d d CURRENT AFFIRES DECEMBER-2015 22. Open Government Partnership selected Indian-origin Sanjay Pradhan as its head. 23. Pawan Kumar Agarwal appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Food Regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). 24. Prakash Kumar Singh appointed as chairman of Steel Authority of India (SAIL). 25. R. K. Mathur has been appointed as Chief Information Commissioner in Central Information Commission. 26. Scientist M Nair Rajeevan is appointed as Secretary of Union Ministry of Earth Sciences. 27. Supreme Court appointed Virendra Singh as new Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh. 28. Tata Starbucks appointed Sumi Ghosh as Chief Executive Officer. 29. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan assumed Presidency of Royal Society in London. He was elected by society’s council earlier and will serve for five years. Top Awards 30. 6th Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) in Dubai - 1. Biocon Limited CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw honoured with 2015 Outstanding Business Achiever award. 2. Hinduja brothers and GMR Group chairman G.M. Rao presented with Achievement Award of ABLF. 31. Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah honoured with lifetime achievement award at 12th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). 32. Delhi Development Authority has been awarded with E-India award at E-India Summit 2015 for adopting technology to serve public better and using resources efficiently through mobile applications. 33. Gujarati litterateur Raghuveer Chaudhary has been selected for 51st Jnanpith award. He is fourth Gujarati litterateur to receive this prestigious honour. He wrote over 80 books including Amrita, Venu Vatsala, etc. 34. India's former cricketer Syed Kirmani has been selecte for BCCI Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award 2015. 35. Indian American professor Rakesh K. Jain has been selected for 2015 National Medal of Science of United States, along with 16 other winners. MINDCHANGERS ACADEMY, PUNE Page 3 W a s d d CURRENT AFFIRES DECEMBER-2015 36. Indian IT Firm Wipro won 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award for developing a solution for the Internet of Things (IoT), called Universal Data Parser (UDP). 37. Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bengaluru's Mr. U Ramamurty won 2015 Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) award in engineering. Jagdish Ladha (International Rice Research Institute, New Delhi) won in agricultural sciences and Sandip Trivedi (Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, Mumbai) in physics category. 38. Indian author Salman Rushdie awarded 2015 Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement. 39. Indian-American doctor Amit Majmudar has been named as first Poet Laureate by US state of Ohio for his various poetry styles. 40. Indian-American entrepreneur Frank Islam chosen for inaugural Uttar Pradesh Ratna Award for his achievements and outstanding contributions in a foreign country (USA). 41. Indian-origin software engineer Nandagopal Lakshminarayanan won a prestigious award in UK for creating an innovative electronic smart key system which enables creation of keys and locks that cannot be copied. 42. Indian-origin writer Jamaludeen Mohamed Sali from Singapore has been awarded with 2015 South East Asia Write Award at annual ASEAN regional award for literary excellence in Bangkok (Thailand). 43. Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman awarded 2016 Genesis Prize (also known as Jewish Nobel prize). 44. London-based Asian Lite newspaper conferred its 2015 Person of Year honour on businessman K.T. Mohammed Rabeeh Rabeeulla. 45. Mireia Lalaguna of Spain won Miss World 2015 (65th edition of Miss World pageant) held in Sanya (China). 46. Pia Wurtzbach of Philippines won Miss Universe 2015 (64th Miss Universe pageant) held in Las Vegas (USA). 47. President Pranab Mukherjee has been awarded 2015 Garwood Award for Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business. 48. Pulin Kumar (Adidas India Executive) conferred with Indian National Bar Association's (INBA) General Counsel of the year 2015 - Retail Award. 49. Pump manufacturer CRI Pumps won Export Quality Excellence award for 11th time in a row in the Engineering Export Promotion Council Awards 2015. 50. Renowned violinist Lakshminarayana Subramaniam to be honoured with Sangeet Samman at ITC Sangeet Sammelan 2015 in Kolkata. MINDCHANGERS ACADEMY, PUNE Page 4 W a s d d CURRENT AFFIRES DECEMBER-2015 51. Sahitya Akademi Awards 2015 in 23 languages - 1. Jury headed by Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. Award in Bengali is to be announced later 2. Award carries plaque, shawl and a cheque of 1 lakh rupees and presented on 16 February 2016 during Festival of Letters (annual festival of Sahitya Akademi). 3. Awardees - 1. Poets - Brajendra Kumar Brahma, Dhian Singh, Ramdarash Mishra, KV Tirumalesh, Kshetri Ranjen, Ram Shankar Awasthi 2. Short Stories - Kula Saikia, Man Mohan Jha, Gupta Pradhan, Bibhuti Pattanaik, Maya Rahi, Volga 3. Novelists - Cyrus Mistry, KR Meera, Jaswinder Singh, Madhu Acharya 4. Essayists - Rasik Shah, A Madhavan 5. Play Writers - Uday Bhembre, Rabilal Tudu 6. Authors of Books on Criticism - Bashir Bhadarwahi, Shamim Tariq 7. Author selected for a book on memoirs - Arun Khopkar for Chalat Chitravyooh in Marathi 52. Sanctuary Asia magazine Awards 2015 - 1. Lifetime Service Award - Claude and Norma Alvares. 2. Sanctuary Legend - Ashok Kumar 3. Wildlife Service Awards - Varad Giri (National Centre for Biological Sciences), Nandini Velho (organiser of first Arunachal Pradesh Bird Festival), Param Jit Singh, Yash Veer Bhatnagar (Snow Leopard Trust's India) and Gir Lion Protection Team. 53. Time magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as Person of Year 2015. Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is named runner-up. 54. Two Indians, Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain won 2016 Queen's Young Leaders award in United Kingdom for their exceptional work in transforming lives of others and making lasting difference in communities. 55. West Bengal Government honoured Bappi Lahiri and Kumar Sanu with Lifetime Achievement Awards at annual Bangla Sangeet Mela. Musician Shantanu Moitra was awarded Sangeet Mahasamman Award. MINDCHANGERS ACADEMY, PUNE Page 5 W a s d d CURRENT AFFIRES DECEMBER-2015 Top Books 56. Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account written by Madhuri Bose(Grand-niece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose) has been released. 57. On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power, autobiography of former Union Minister Sharad Pawar has been released. Top Committees 58. Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian led Committee recommendations for Tax Rates under GST Goods and Services Tax (GST) - 1. Standard GST rate of 17 to 18 %. It is the rate at which most products would likely be taxed. 2. Revenue-neutral rate of 15 to 15.5 %. It is a single rate at which there will be no revenue loss to the centre and states in the GST regime. 3. Two options for states: Single rate of 1 % or a range of 17-18 %. 4. Three-tier GST rate structure: Essential goods will be taxed at a lower rate of 12 %. Demerit goods such as luxury cars, aerated beverages, pan masala and tobacco products will be taxed at 40 % and remaining all goods will be taxed at a standard rate of 17 to 18 %. 59. Delhi Assembly passed Members of Legislative Assembly Salaries, Allowances, Pension Amendment Bill 2015. It seeks 400 % hike in salaries of Delhi MLAs. It is based on recommendations of three-member PDT Achary panel. 60. Delhi Government appointed Gopal Subramanium Commission for enquiring DDCA (Delhi & District Cricket Association) scam. 61. Delhi became first to implement recommendations of Supreme Court appointed committee under KS Radhakrishnan To deal with traffic violations in the city. 62. Government appointed Justice L Narasimha Reddy as chief of Judicial Committee to look into implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for Ex-Servicemen. 63. Ministry of Finance released report of Committee on Revisiting and Revitalising Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model under Vijay Kelkar.