Vijay Diwas observed across the country to commemorate
India’s victory in 1971 war
i. Vijay
Diwas was observed across the country on 16 December 2015. On this day, nation
remembers martyrs, who laid down their lives during Indo-Pak War of 1971.
ii. On this
occasion, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Army Chief D S Suhag, Navy Chief R
K Dhowan and Air Chief Arup Raha remembered martyrs and paid tributes at Amar
Jawan Jyoti in New Delhi.
World Bank
approved 1.5 billion US dollar loan to support Clean India Campaign
i. The World
Bank on 15 December 2015 approved a 1.5 billion US dollar loan for the
ambitious Clean India Campaign (Swachh Bharat Mission). The loan was granted 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.
ii. The loan
will be used for Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Support Operation Project.
Combined Commanders Conference held on INS Vikramaditya off
Kochi coast
i. Combined Commanders Conference, an annual tri-services event
chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was held on board INS Vikramaditya
about 50 kms off Kochi coast. This is the first time when the conference was
held outside New Delhi.
ii. It was attended by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar,
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, all three services chiefs and other
senior officers of three armed services.
Key facts
- The Conference
is also known as the Unified Commanders’ Conference (UCC).
- During this
conference India’s defence policy, doctrine and operational challenges are
discussed in detail.
- Prime minister
also reviewed exercise like firing of surface-to-surface missile by INS
Nirghat during this conference.
- Prior to
conference PM revived the tri-services guard of honour at Southern Naval
Command.
SC appoints Virendra Singh as Lokayukta of
Uttar Pradesh
i. The
Supreme Court has appointed Justice (Retd) Virendra Singh as new Lokayukta of
Uttar Pradesh.
ii. The Court
exercises its right under Article 142 of the Constitution to make the
appointment while regretting that its several orders have not been
"heeded" by the Constitutional functionaries — the Chief Minister,
the leader of opposition and the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
iii. In an
unusual order, the Supreme Court on Wednesday exercised its Constitutional
authority and appointed former High Court judge, Justice Virendra Singh, as
Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh after the State government failed to comply with its
directives.
iv. The
Supreme Court observed that
- The failure of
constitutional functionaries to comply with the orders of the apex court
of the country is deeply regretted and astonishing.
- Expressed
displeasure that Chief Minister, leader of opposition and Chief Justice of
High Court failed to comply with its order.
Supreme Court bans registration of new diesel SUVs, luxury
cars in Delhi
i. Supreme
Court has banned the registration of all diesel SUVs (Sports Utility Vechiles)
and luxury cars in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi.
ii. The ban
will be valid to SUVs, luxury cars with engine capacity of 2000 cc or more till
March 31, 2016. The SC ruling aims at curbing the alarming pollution level in
Delhi.
iii. Presently,
over 23 percent (around 8.5 million) of the vehicles on Delhi roads run on
diesel and more than 1,400 new cars are added every day. These diesel vehicles
produce much more carcinogenic nitrogen oxide than petrol cars and are one main
source of Particulate Matters.
Pakistan successfully tests nuclear-capable Shaheen-IA
ballistic missile
i. Pakistan
has successfully tested the nuclear-capable Shaheen-IA ballistic missile with a
range of 900 km.
ii. The test
of the missile was aimed at re-validating several design and technical
parameters of the weapon system. However the location of the test was not
disclosed by Pakistan Government.
iii. It is
second nuclear capable missile test to be undertaken by Pakistan in December
2015. Earlier Shaheen-III surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of
2,750 km was tested.
Saudi Arabia announces 34 nations Islamic coalition to
fight terrorism
i. Saudi
Arabia has launched Islamic Military Coalition, a new military alliance of 34
nations mainly Muslim nations to fight terrorism.
ii. It has
been established in pursuance of the objectives and principles of the charter
of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It calls for all member
states to cooperate to combat terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations.
IAEA ends 12 year Iran Nuclear Weapon probe
i. International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has ended its 12-year investigation into concerns
that Iran might be developing nuclear weapons.
ii. In this
regard, IAEA Board of Governors have passed a resolution ending its
long-running inquiry against Ian but allowing inspectors to continue to police
the country’s nuclear programme.
iii. Earlier
IAEA has concluded that Iran had conducted nuclear weapons-related research
until 2003 and to a lesser extent until 2009, but found no evidence was
found.
iv. The move
is seen as a key step towards lifting UN, EU and US sanctions and a symbolic
victory for Iran.
Arun Kumar Jain appointed as Chairman of CBDT
i. Senior
revenue service officer Arun Kumar Jain appointed Chairman of Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT).
ii. His
appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Arctic Region hits record high temperature over land:
NOAA
i. The
average temperature over Arctic land for the year ending in September 2015 was
the highest on record indicating that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as
other parts of the Earth.
ii. It was
revealed by the annual Arctic Report Card of National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), a federal agency of US for monitoring condition of the
oceans and the atmosphere.
iii. The
temperatures in areas at latitude 60 degrees north and higher i.e. over Arctic
were 1.3 degrees Celsius above average for the year ending in September
2015.
Renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman won 2016 Genesis Prize
i. Renowned
Israeli-US violinist Itzhak Perlman on 14 December 2015 was announced as the
2016 Genesis Prize Laureate for his accomplishments as a musician, teacher and
advocate for people with disabilities.
ii. Perlman
will receive the award on 23 June 2016 from Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu at a ceremony in Jerusalem.
Lok Sabha passed Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015
i. The Lok
Sabha on 14 December 2015 passed the landmark Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill,
2015. The bill seeks to overcome difficulties encountered in the setting up of
new nuclear projects and enhancement of nuclear power generation.
ii. The bill
was passed with a voice vote from both treasury as well as opposition benches.
It will now be referred to Rajya Sabha for ratification.
Apurvi Chandela wins gold medal at National Shooting
Championship
i. Apurvi
Chandela from Rajasthan has won a Gold medal in the 59th National Shooting
Championship in Delhi.
ii. She won
the gold medal in 10-metre Air Rifle event in women’s category by shooting
207.8 score in the finals.
iii. She was
followed by Geetakshi Dixit (Rajasthan) at second spot and Anjum Moudgil
(Haryana) at third spot.
MESSAGE:
BA
family remembers "Jyoti Singh" aka NIRBHAYA on her 3rd Martyrs Day.
She lost her body to keep her soul alive, alive for a purpose, for a change,
for a revolution. But after three years of this blot on the destiny of Indian
women something has changed, changed for worse. The roads are not much more
than an abyss for Women who are adored as Durga but Raped as a commodity.
Please respect Girls, You are here because of her. Let's bring a change in your
mentality and make this world an Eden for all of us.
We salute you..!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment