1. Gujarati writer Raghuveer Chaudhary to be conferred Jnanpith award
1. Noted Gujarati writer Raghuveer Chaudhary has been selected for the 51st Jnanpith award for his contribution to Indian literature.
2.
The prestigious award includes a cash prize of
Rs.11 lakh, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of goddess Saraswati.
3.
Chaudhary, who has authored over 80 books, also received the Sahitya Akademi Award
in 1977 for his novel Trilogy Uparvaas. Some of his notable works are: Amrita, Venu
Vatsala, Purvarang, Laagni Samjyaa Vinaa Chuuta Padvanu.
4. Chaudhary is the fourth Gujarati writer to receive this award, others being Uma Shankar
Joshi (1967), Pannalal Patel (1985) and Rajendra Shah (2001).
2. BPCL commissions Rs.1,419 crore CDU
at Mumbai refinery
1.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) has commissioned
a new 6-million tonne crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Mumbai refinery,
which will take the capacity of its oldest facility to 12 million tonne per
annum.
2.
Modern technologies
used in the Rs.1,419 crore CDU will help the PSU save Rs.128 crore annually due to
less fuel consumption.
3.
At approximately 10.5 million tonne
per day, this CDU has the
lowest sulphur dioxide emission levels vis-a-vis other refineries in India.
4.
Modernisation will help BPCL increase its revenue, which
is currently half of what Reliance and Essar Oil make.
5.
The Mumbai refinery was
set up by Burma Shell in 1955 with a capacity of 2.2 mtpa (metric tonnes per
annum). The government nationalised the oil sector a decade later and Burma
Shell was renamed as Bharat Petroleum Corporation.
3. 18th India-Iran Joint Commission meeting
held in New Delhi
1.
The 18th session of the India-Iran Joint Commission was held
in New Delhi in order to to further economic and strategic partnership.
2.
The session was co-chaired by Indian External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj and Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs
and Finance Ali Tayebnia..
3.
India stressed on the efforts underway to enhance
bilateral economic cooperation in energy, infrastructure – including shipping,
ports and railways – and trade and commerce.
4.
India also emphasised that connectivity afforded by Indian
participation in Chahbahar Port will facilitate linking Afghanistan and Central
Asia with India.
5.
Iran discussed the participation of India’s public and
private sectors in development of Chahbahar Port and Chahbahar Free Trade Zone
(FTZ) and in setting up industrial
units in the FTZ.
4. Gujarat
wins maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy
1.
Gujarat won its maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy, defeating Delhi by 139 runs at M
Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. This
was the 14th edition of the event.
2. Parthiv Patel
scored 105 runs off 119 balls, while bowler RP Singh clinched 4 wickets in the match.
3.
Patel and RP Singh shared the Man of the Match honour for their spectacular
performances.
5. Former Army chief General Om Prakash Malhotra passes away
1.
Former Army Chief of Staff General Om Prakash
Malhotra passed away in Gurgaon, aged 93.
2.
General Malhotra was the 13th chief and served in the post for three years (1978-1981).
3.
He also served as the Indian Ambassador to Indonesia
from 1981 to 1984 and Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh
from 1990 – 1991 when militancy was at its peak in the state.
4. He was honoured with Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 1976 for his exemplary contributions.
6. Nagendra Swamy is group medical director
of Manipal Hospitals
1.
Manipal Hospitals, India’s third-largest healthcare network, announced the
appointment of Dr Nagendra Swamy as the Group Medical Director.
2. He will represent the interests of clinicians
and the clinical activities of Manipal Hospitals.
3.
Swamy will continue
to serve as president of Manipal Health Enterprises and chairman of the quality council
at Manipal University.
4.
He has over 30 years’ experience in healthcare management and
has been associated with various national and international organisations.
7. BHEL commissions Prayagraj power project unit
in UP
1.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has commissioned a
660-MW unit of Prayagraj Super Thermal Power Project at Bara in UP’s Allahabad
district.
2.
This is the first
super critical thermal unit in the state to achieve capacity addition on
attaining full load. Super critical units consume less coal and are more
efficient and eco-friendly.
3.
The thermal power project is a greenfield project
that is owned by Prayagraj Power Generation Company Limited.
4. BHEL is the leading power
equipment manufacturer in the country, with orders of 43 sets of super critical
boilers and 38 sets of super critical turbine generators by various customers.
8. Veteran
singer Subir Sen passes away
1.
Singer Subir Sen passed away in Kolkata due to lung
cancer at the age of 81.
2.
Sen, whose career span from the 1950s till the 1980s,
has many popular Bollywood songs to his credit.
3.
He was popular for his work in ‘Choti Behen’ and his
duets with Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar.
9. Global M&As hit all-time high in 2015
1.
Global deal
tracking firm Dealogic stated that worldwide mergers and acquisi-tions
(M&A) hit an all-time high in 2015 as corporates inked deals worth $4.86
trillion.
2.
As per its
report, the previous record of $4.61 trillion was set in 2007. This year’s
figure is 33% higher than 2014.
3.
A major
portion of this came from Asia Pacific-targeted deals, worth $1.16 trillion or
24% of global M&A.
4.
The
healthcare sector ranked highest, with deals worth $708.7 billion, a 62% rise
from 2014. Technology sector
came in second with 9,038 deals for $697.4 billion.
5.
The four
largest technology deals were all made public in 2015, with Dell’s $66 billion
bid for EMC taking the top position.
10. Apna Cabs to start services in Mumbai
1.
Apna Cabs, a government-authorised taxi aggregator, is all
set to start operations in Mumbai from January 2016.
2. To be launched by Shrikant Lingdi, a US-based professional,
Apna Cabs will have around 1,600 black and yellow CNG taxis armed with a
security device for women commuters.
3.
The 24×7 service will be available as a mobile app but
customers can also book a taxi through the call centre or the website.
4.
Apna Cabs will abide by the government-approved fare
chart.
11. Foodpanda India lays-off over 300
employees
1.
Foodpanda India has laid-off over 300 employees or
15% of its total workforce.
2.
Foodpanda, which is present in over 30 countries, faces rising
competition in India’s food-ordering and delivery industry, which is pegged at nearly
Rs.95,000 crore.
3.
The company stated that it decided to lay-off employees due to its
achievement of “about 98% automation rate in order processing”.
4.
Saurabh Kochhar, chief executive of Foodpanda India said,
“While we continued to invest in processes and technology, we also had to
take some difficult decisions but we believe them to be necessary steps on our
path to become sustainable and profitable within the targeted timeline”.
12. Twitter hires Jeffrey
Siminoff as VP of diversity and inclusion
1.
Jeffrey Siminoff has been appointed as the vice-president
of diversity and inclusion at Twitter.
2. The 50-year-old Siminoff, who succeeds Janet Van Huyesse, was earlier the
head of diversity at Apple and is also the co-founder of Out Leadership, an LGBT
advocacy organisation.
3. Twitter
has been criticised in the past for lack of diversity in its workforce. Employees have openly discussed issues in
hiring and retaining women and minorities after the company laid off more than
300 employees.
4.
This is the recent move by a technology giant to refute the perception
that, despite its assertions of equality, the industry’s collective track record in promoting a
diverse employee base is no better than other industries and possibly worse.
13. Scientists discover new contagious form of
cancer
1. Researchers from the University of Tasmania, Australia, and the University of
Cambridge, UK, have discovered a second type of transmissible cancer among Tasmanian
devils-a dog-sized carnivorous animal found in Australia’s island state of Tasmania.
2. Contagious cancers can spread between individuals
through transfer of living cancer cells.
3. Until now researchers knew only of the Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease (DFT1). Since this was first detected in 1996, the infectious tumor has spread across the island,
causing Tasmanian devils to be listed as endangered in 2008.
4. The newly-found second type of infectious cancer, coined DFT2, is similar except that
the cells are genetically distinct. This lowers the possibility that it is an offshoot or hybrid
version of the first.
5. Research on the second transmissible cancer began in 2014, when a devil with
facial tumours was found in south-east Tasmania. So far, it has been detected
in eight devils in the region.
6. Hitherto transmissible cancer was found only in dogs and soft-shell clams.
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