1. Good Governance Day observed
1.
Good Governance day is annually celebrated in India on
December 25 to mark the birthday of Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee and
Bharat Ratna Madan Mohan Malaviya.
2.
The day was established in 2014 when Vajpayee and
Malaviya were declared re-cipients of the Bharat Ratna.
3.
Union
Minister for Health & Family Welfare J P Nadda launched four new IT-based
initiatives to provide citizen-centric health services.
4. The first initiative is Kilkari, an
audio-based mobile service that delivers weekly audio messages to families
about pregnancy, childbirth and child care.
5. The second initiative is Mobile
Academy, a mobile-based application that will help people to enhance
interpersonal skills.
6. Thirdly, M-Cessation is a tool to help
interested people quit tobacco abuse.
7. The minister also launched a
dedicated toll-free number (1800-11-6666) to provide treatment support and
counselling services to TB patients.
2. Syed Kirmani nominated for CK Nayudu award
1.
Former Indian wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani has been
nominated for this year’s CK Nayudu Lifetime achievement award, which comprises
a trophy, citation and a cheque for Rs.25 lakhs.
2.
Kirmani, who made his Test debut in 1976, played in 88
tests and 49 ODIs.
3.
The
award was instituted by the BCCI in 1994 to mark the birth centenary of Col.
Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu, India’s first Test captain.
4.
Dilip
Vengsarkar was the recipient of the award in 2014.
3. RBI postpones deadline to exchange pre-2005
currency notes
1.
The RBI has extended the date to exchange pre-2005
currency notes from December 31, 2015 to June 30, 2016.
2.
The currency notes post 2005 have more security
features that help to counter the problem of fake currency.
3.
Thus,
the RBI has urged people to exchange pre-2005 notes at identified bank branches
or issue offices of the central bank.
4. As per official data, over 164
crore pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations were shredded in RBI’s regional
offices in the past one year.
4. TCS drops plans to buy Dell’s Perot
Systems
1. The talks between Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS) and Dell’s Perot Systems have failed due to disagreements over
price.
2. Dell is in talks with other
companies like Cognizant, ATOS and NTT Data to sell Perot Systems in a bid to
reduce debts after agreeing to buy EMC Corps for $ 66 billion.
3. Dell is looking to gain $5 billion
from the sale of Perot Systems.
4. Perot Systems provides IT
consulting and outsourcing solutions to various governmental organisations and
hospitals in the US.
5.
North India’s first cable bridge inaugurated in J&K
1.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar inaugurated North
India’s first cable-stayed bridge in Basohali
town in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kathua district.
2.
The bridge will provide connectivity between Jammu & Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
3.
The cable bridge was inaugurated on River Ravi and has
been named ‘Atal Setu’ after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
4.
It is 592 metres long and was constructed by Border Roads
Organization (BRO).
5.
This is the fourth cable-stayed bridge in India, the other
three are in Kolkata, Allahabad and Mumbai.
6. Bollywood actress Sadhana passes away at 74
1.
Yesteryear Bollywood actress and style icon Sadhana Shivdasani
passed away at the age of 74 after a brief illness.
2.
She ruled the cinema scene in the 1960s and 1970s. She was
famous for her roles in movies like Love
in Simla, Hum Dono and Waqt, etc. She also was popular
as a fashionista and the ‘Sadhana haircut’ was quite a rage in the 1960s.
7. PM Modi inaugurates Afghanistan parliament
building
1.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Afghanistan
Parliament building, the foundation stone for which was laid by former Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005.
2.
The building stretches over 86 acres and has been built by
the Central Public Works Department (Indian government’s construction agency)
for an estimated cost of $90 million.
3.
It also comprises dining halls, a library and a mosque
that can house over 400 people.
4.
A block in the building was named ‘Atal block’, in honour of
former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
8. India, Russia sign 16
bilateral agreements
1.
India and Russia signed 16 pacts in Moscow to bolster bilateral
ties after the conclusion of the 16th annual India-Russia Summit in Moscow.
Deals have been signed across fields like defence, hydrocarbon, space,
investments, etc.
2.
It includes the manufacture of Russian Kamov 226 choppers in
India and the joint exploration of oil assets in Russia. Further, Russia agreed
to help built 12 nuclear reactors.
3.
Modi invited Russian CEOs to invest in Indian
infrastructure and aerospace sectors, stressing that India now has favourable
environment for growth and development.
4.
The countries have committed to strengthen cultural
cooperation, as part of which a festival on Russian culture will be organised in
India next year.
5.
Russia also endorsed India’s bid for a permanent UNSC seat.
9. Reliance Defence signs pact with Russia’s
Almaz-Antey
1.
Reliance Defence, the defence arm of Reliance
Infrastructure Ltd, has entered into a partnership with Russian state-owned
Almaz-Antey.
2.
The two firms will
work together on air defence missile systems, (including the TOR-1M missile
programme) radars and automated control systems under the Make in India
initiative and offset policies.
3.
The partnership also aims at enhanced R&D cooperation,
joint implementation of modernisation, repair and complete refits of Almaz-Antey
systems already in service with the Indian Armed Forces.
4.
Reliance Group also signed a deal with Russian United
Shipbuilding Company for warships.
10. IOC, OIL sign MoU with Rosneft
1.
The Indian Oil Corporation and Oil India Limited have signed
a MoU with
Russian national oil company Rosneft.
2.
The MoU is for long-term cooperation in geologic survey,
exploration and production of hydrocarbons in select onshore assets in the
Russian Federation.
3.
As per an official statement, the terms of the agreement will give additional impetus
to the development of one of the largest oil assets in East Siberia.
11. INS Godavari decommissioned
1.
INS Godavari, India’s first indigenously designed warship
was decommissioned in the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
2.
It was commissioned by the Navy on the December, 10 1983,
and served for 32 years.
3.
During its tenure, INS Godavari was deployed for ‘Operation Jupiter’ in
1988 (Sri Lanka) and ‘Operation Bolster’ in 1994 (de-induction of Indian Army
from Somalia).
4.
At the time of
decommissioning, INS Godavari was led by Commander Vishal Rawal.
12. Start-ups get $8.4 bn funding in 2015
1.
Start-ups across
India got a major boost in 2015 as nearly 1,000 deals were inked and funds
amounting to $8.4 billion were pumped in.
2.
The e-commerce
platform saw consistent rise with Flipkart, Snapdeal, and taxi-hailing app Ola
dominating the start-up investments space.
3.
Corporate honchos
like Ratan Tata and N R Narayana Murthy were primary investors, while globally
Alibaba and Softbank ruled the roost.
4.
However,
food-technology start-ups like TinyOwl and Zomato witnessed closure of operations
and downsizing.
13. Uber to set up its 1st engineering
centre in India
1.
Uber will set up its
first engineering centre in Bengaluru to customise solutions for the local
market.
2.
Uber India will hire
software engineers and products managers in Bengaluru, who will work closely
with its operations and product engineering teams in San Francisco.
3.
Uber plans to invest
$1 billion in India as it aims to expand services in its second-biggest market.
14.
Tech Mahindra launches NFC-based digital wallet
1.
It giant Tech
Mahindra has launched an NFC-based (near field communication) digital wallet
called MoboMoney.
2.
The firm claims that
is India’s first contactless wallet, which works online as well as at physical
stores.
3.
MoboMoney is a prepaid wallet issued in the form of an NFC Contactless Tag, which can
be used to pay through an NFC-enabled mobile phone. The money recharged into
customers’ digital wallets can be used to make over-the-counter payments, recharges,
as well as online payments.
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