1.
Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik's Santa Claus sculpture featured in Limca Book of
Records
i. Well-known sand
artist Sudarsan Pattnaik’s Santa Claus sculpture on 29 December 2015 found a
place in Limca Book of World Records. Pattnaik claimed that he had created a 45
feet high sand Santa Claus at Puri beach on 24 December 2015, which was
recognised as the largest sand Santa Claus as of today by the Limca Book of
World Records.
ii. Pattnaik was
assisted by 20 of his students from the Sudarsan Sand Art Institute of Puri to
build the giant structure. It took him 22 hours to build the structure which
will be on display till 1 January 2016.
iii. The artist had also
created sculptures of Jesus and Mother Mary near Santa Claus. Pattnaik had
already created eight world records registered with the Limca Book of World
Records.
iv. Sudarsan Pattnaik is
a world-renowned Indian sand artist from Odisha. Born on 15 April 1977, he
self-taught himself the art of sand sculpture. He established The Golden Sand
Art Institute which is first of its nature in India.
v. His sculptures
include environmental crisis, famous festivals, national integrity and
religious tolerance. He has represented India in 50 international Sand
Sculpture championship and festivals all around the world and won 27
championship prizes for the country.
vi. In 2013, he won gold
medal at Saint Peters Burg in 12th International sand sculpture competition at
Russia. His sand sculpture on Black Taj Mahal earned him accolades all over the
world. In 2014, he was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India.
2.
Cabinet clears formation of JVs between Indian Railways and states
i. The Cabinet on
Wednesday approved the formation of joint venture companies with various state
governments to mobilise resources for undertaking rail infrastructure projects.
ii. The initial paid-up
capital of the Ministry of Railways will be limited to Rs. 50 crore for each
state. The joint venture companies would be formed with equity participation
from the Ministry of Railways and the state governments concerned. Each joint
venture will have an initial paid-up capital of Rs. 100 crore and based on the
projects to be undertaken, further fund infusion would be done on approval of
the project.
iii. The joint ventures
will be allowed to form project-specific special purpose vehicles with equity
holding from other stakeholders such as banks, ports, public sector
undertakings, mining companies, and others.
iv. “This would ensure
greater participation of state governments in implementation of railway
projects, both in terms of financial participation as well as the
decision-making process. This will also facilitate faster statutory approvals
and land acquisition,” an official statement added.
v. Meanwhile, the
Cabinet also approved signing of various memorandums of understandings in the
field of urban development. One such MoU is between SITNEF, Norway, and Central
Public Works Department for cooperation in development of human resource
capacity building and scientific research in recycling of construction and
demolition waste in India.
3.
WHO officially declared Guinea Ebola-free
i. The World Health
Organization (WHO) on 29 December 2015 declared the end of Ebola virus
transmission in the Republic of Guinea. The organization took the decision
after observing that 42 days have passed since the last person confirmed to
have Ebola virus disease and tested negative now.
ii. Guinea now enters a
90-day period of heightened surveillance to ensure that any new cases are
identified quickly before they can spread to other people. The decision came
after more than 2500 people died from the virus in the West African nation. With
this, Liberia becomes the only country still counting down for an end to this
ruinous epidemic.
iii. The end of Ebola
transmission in Guinea marks an important milestone in the Ebola outbreak in
West Africa. The original chain of transmission started two years ago in
Gueckedou, Guinea in late December 2013.
iv. The outbreak later
spread to neighbouring countries Liberia and Sierra Leone and ultimately
travelled to seven other countries. The total number of people infected with
Ebola eventually totalled more than 28000. And the number of people who died
from the disease reached more than 11200.
v. In addition to the
original chain of transmission, there have been 10 new small Ebola outbreaks
between March and November 2015. These appear to have been due to the
re-emergence of a persistent virus from the survivor population. This is for
the first time that all three countries Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have
stopped the original chains of transmission that were responsible for starting
this devastating outbreak.
4.
Online virtual science lab for school students
i. Students who have
opted for the Science stream at the high school level, but have no access to
physical labs now have the option to perform experiments in a virtual
science-lab. Thanks to the educational technology initiative - “Online Labs” -
developed by Amrita CREATE (Centre of Research in Advanced Technologies for
Education) in association with CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced
Computing).
ii. OLabs or Online
virtual Science Labs allows students to repeat the experiments as many times as
they wish; it includes simulators, videos, animation, theory and quiz. It is
based on the premise that lab experiments can be taught over the Net in a cost
effective and efficient manner.
iii. According to Venkat
Rangan, Vice Chancellor, Amrita University – the initiative is aimed at helping
students understand complex science concepts and build scientific temper. Ravi
Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology launched
this elearning programme on Tuesday. Under this nationwide initiative, Amrita
has set a target of preparing around 30,000 science teachers from across the
country on how to use OLabs, so they can in turn help students perform
experiments in a virtual lab.
iv. OLabs has been
officially endorsed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as a
teaching aid for all its schools. It is expected to be available in Hindi,
Malayalam and Marathi and offered in both urban and rural schools.
v. Online Labs
technology has an offline tablet-based component as well, which ultimately would
allow the trained faculty to take the labs to remote pockets, where
connectivity is still an issue. Amrita is hoping that in a span of three years
at least 10000 schools across the country would be provided free access to
OLabs. The Online Labs is said to have over 80,000 registered users already.
5.
Ian Fraser Lemmy Kilmister, founding member of metal band Motorhead, died
i. Ian Fraser Lemmy
Kilmister, founding member and singer in the British heavy metal band
Motorhead, passed away on 28 December 2015 after battling cancer. He was 70.
Popularly known as Lemmy, he played furiously on platinum-selling Motorhead
albums like Ace of Spades , Overkill and Iron Fist.
ii. He was born in
December 1945 in Staffordshire, England. He joined the English psych-rock band
Hawkwind in 1971, but got kicked out several years later for abusing
amphetamines drug. In response, he formed Motorhead in 1975.
iii. Motorhead has
released 22 studio albums with Lemmy as its only constant member. His last
album was Bad Magic in 2015. He was regarded as the godfather for rock n roll
endurance and genres like thrash and speed metal.
6.
Noted Gujarati writer Raghuveer Chaudhary selected for 51st Jnanpith award
i. Eminent Gujarati
litterateur Raghuveer Chaudhary was on 29 December 2015 selected for the 51st
Jnanpith award for his contribution to the Indian literature.
ii. The decision was
taken in a meeting of the Jnanpith Selection Board chaired by noted scholar
Namwar Singh. Other members of the selection board are Shamim Hanfi, Harish
Trivedi, Suranjan Das, Ramakant Rath, Chandrakant Patil, Alok Rai, Dinesh Misra
and Leeladhar Mandloi.
iii. Chaudhary is the
fourth Gujarati litterateur to bag this prestigious award after Uma Shankar
Joshi (1967), Pannalal Patel (1985) and Rajendra Shah (2001).
iv. Born in 1938 in
Gujarat, Raghuveer Chaudhary is a novelist, poet, critic, a prominent figure on
contemporary Gujarati literary scene and a Gandhian. His talent has been
influenced by works of Govardhanram Tripathi, Kaka Kalelkar, Suresh Joshi, Prof
Ramdarash Mishra and Prof GN Dickey.
v. He authored more than
80 books and some of his notable novels include Amrita, Venu Vatsala, Purvarang
and Laagni Samjyaa Vinaa Chuuta Padvanu. He also had worked as a columnist for
numerous newspapers such as Sandesh, Janmabhumi, Nirikshaka and Divya Bhaskar.
vi. He was a teacher at
the Gujarat University until his retirement in 1998. He has received numerous
awards including Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Trilogy Uparvaas in 1977.
7.
China launched Gaofen-4 dual-use geostationary satellite
i. China on 29 December
2015 successfully launched Gaofen-4 Earth observation satellite toward a
geostationary orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the
south-western province of Sichuan. The Satellite was launched aboard a Long
March-3B carrier rocket.
ii. Launched as a part
of the China High-resolution Earth Observation System (CHEOS), Gaofen-4 is
located at the orbit 36000 kilometres away from the earth and moves
synchronously with the earth.
iii. It can see an oil
tanker on the sea with a huge CMOS camera, reaching the best imaging level
among global high-orbit remote sensing satellites. It will be used for disaster
prevention and relief, surveillance of geological disasters and forest
disasters, and meteorologic forecast. It will offer optical spatial resolution
of better than 50 metres and infrared sensing capabilities from geostationary
orbit.
iv. It is designed to
operate for eight years at an altitude of almost 36000 km above the Earth. The
satellite was launched as a part of Gaofen project that aims to launch seven
high-definition observation satellites before 2020. Gaofen-1, the first
satellite of the project, was launched in April 2013.
8.
Veteran singer Subir Sen passed away
i. Veteran singer Subir
Sen passed away on 29 December 2015 due to lung cancer in Kolkata. He was 81.
He is survived by his wife and a daughter. Sen was condemned to be clone of
senior and talented Hemant Kumar. From the 1950s till the 1980s, the melodious
singer had sung a number of hit songs. He had also sung duets with Asha Bhonsle
and Lata Mangeshkar.
ii. A hit film Aas ka
Panchhi marked the peak of Sen’s popularity. Similarly, Chhoti Bahen had
several duets by him and Lata Mangeshkar which dominated the charts of the
time.
iii. Some of Sen’s
well-known songs include Aa ja re nain dware from the Dev Anand-Waheeda Rehman
starrer Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and Main rangeela pyar ka raahi in Chhoti
Bahen.
iv. He was also known
for his Bengali songs like Dhoronir pathey pathey, Monalisa tumi ki bolona and
Saradin tomay cheye.
9.
Ex Chief of Indian Army General Om Prakash Malhotra passed away
i. General Om Prakash
Malhotra, former Punjab Governor and ex-Chief of Army, passed away on 29
December 2015 due to old age. He was 93. He is survived by his wife and two
children. General Om Prakash Malhotra was the 13th Chief of Army Staff of the
Indian Army from 1978 – 1981.
ii. He was born in
Srinagar, Kashmir, in August 1922 and attended Government College in Lahore
before being selected to join the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He was
commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery. He commanded different
Artillery Regiments between November 1950 and July 1961.
iii. He was the Military
Attache at the Indian Embassy in Moscow for over three years from June 1962. He
served as the Ambassador of India to Indonesia from 1981 - 1984. He was
appointed as the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh from 1990 -
1991.
iv. He was also the
President of the Equestrian Federation of India for nearly nine years. For his
outstanding services to the nation and the Indian Army, he was honoured with
Param Vishsist Seva Medal in 1976. In 1994, he was conferred with the Degree of
Doctor of Letters (Honours Causa) by the University of Jammu.
10.
Indian Navy successfully test fires Barak-8 long range missile from INS Kolkata
i. In a boost to India’s
maritime prowess, the Navy today successfully test-fired the nearly 70 KM range
Surface to Air Missile Barak 8 from INS Kolkata, paving the way for
installation of the system, developed jointly by India and Israel, on board
country’s frontline warships. The Navy described the maiden firing of its newly
developed Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR SAM) as a significant milestone
in enhancing its anti-air warfare capability.
ii. The firing was
undertaken on the Western Seaboard by INS Kolkata, wherein the missile
successfully intercepted an aerial target at extended ranges, a statement by
Navy said. Two missiles were fired yesterday and today on high speed targets,
during naval exercises being undertaken in the Arabian Sea.
iii. Apart from the
missile, the system includes a Multi Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert
Radar (MF STAR) for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile. The firing
trial of the LR-SAM has been jointly carried out by the Indian Navy, DRDO and
Israel Aerospace Industries.
iv. Israel made MF-STAR
radar system is capable of simultaneously tracking hundreds of airborne targets
to a range of more than 250 KM. DRDL, Hyderabad, a DRDO Lab, has jointly
developed this missile in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries. The
LR-SAM has been manufactured by M/s Bharat Dynamics Limited.
v. With the successful
proving of these systems, the Indian Navy has become part of a select group of
Navies that have this niche capability, which would provide a fillip to India’s
maritime operations. The firing trial of the LR SAM has been jointly carried
out by the Indian Navy, DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries. It is expected
that India and Israel are likely to win orders worth billions of dollars for
the multi-purpose Barak-8 missile system.
vi. A Barak-8 battery,
including the Adir radar system made by IAI subsidiary Elta Systems, a command
and control system, and the missile launchers, is already installed on the deck
of Israeli Navy ship Lahav, from which the new interceptor was fired last week
as part of a complete trial of the system.
11.
HAL ties up with Russian firm Rostech to build 200 Kamov helicopters
i. Under the "Make
in India" initiative, Russian firm Rostech State Corporation has tied up
with India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to manufacture 200 Kamov 226T
light helicopters. The new fleet of Kamovs will replace the ageing Cheetah and
Chetak helicopters.
ii. The deal is
estimated to be worth $1 billion, according to Press Trust of India report. It
is believed Rostech will organise the production of the Kamov helicopters for
at least 200 units.
iii. Last week, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The two
leaders signed a deal for Russian Kamovs to be manufactured in India under the
"Make in India" initiative. The agreement also proiveded for maintenance,
operation and repair facility of the helicopters in India.
iv. Of the 181 Cheetah
and Chetak helicopters held by Indian Army, 51 were approximately 40 years old
and 78 were between 30-40 years old, Press Trust of India quoted a CAG report
as saying. "Rostech's competitive advantage lies in the fact that we are
ready to deal with not only the localisation of helicopters in India, but also
offer our partners the localisation of production technology," Rostech's
CEO said in an official statement.
v. The Kamov 226T
helicopters have a unique capability of operating in dense urban areas to
mountainous regions such as Siachen, a Hindustan Times report stated. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a helicopter production facility at
Tumakuru in Karnataka on Sunday, Press Trust of India reported.
12.
Rakhi Haldar, Kavita Devi bagged gold at National Weightlifting Championship
i. Rakhi Haldar and
Kavita Devi on 29 December 2015 bagged gold in their respective weight
categories in the Senior National Weightlifting Championships held in Patiala,
Punjab.
ii. Haldar lifted 94
kilograms in the snatch and 119 kilograms in clean and jerk to come up with a
total lift of 213 kilograms in Women's 69 kilograms to grab the gold medal.
Lalchhanhimi bagged the silver with a total lift of 210 kilograms, while
Rajwant Kaur finished with a bronze with an overall effort of 201 kilograms.
iii. In Women's 75
kilograms category, Devi lifted 95 kilograms in snatch and 122 kilograms in
clean and jerk for a total of 217 kilograms to win the top medal. Sushila
Panwar and Daljit Kaur bagged the second and third positions with lifts of 213
kilograms and 198 kilograms, respectively.
iv. On the other hand, V
A Christopher clinched the gold medal in Men's 105 kilograms with an overall
lift of 329 kilograms, while Laljit Singh accumulated 317 kilograms to settle
for silver. Rashpal Singh, who also came up with a total lift of 317 kilograms,
had to settle on a bronze.
13.
Gujarat clinched maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy
i. Gujarat on 28
December 2015 clinched the Vijay Hazare Cricket Trophy. It is the first time
that Gujarat won the trophy. In the final of the limited overs tournament,
Gujarat defeated Delhi by 139 runs at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The
2015–16 Vijay Hazare Trophy was the 14th season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
ii. The Vijay Hazare
Trophy is also known as the Ranji One Day Trophy.
iii. It was started in
2002–03 as a limited-overs cricket domestic competition involving state teams
from the Ranji Trophy plates.
iv. From the
tournament's inaugural edition during the 1993–94 season through to the 2001–02
season, no finals were held, and teams consequently played only within their
zones, with no overall winner named.
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