2015-12-23

150 G.K. Capsule Current Affairs for IBPS Bank Clerk Main Exam 2015

Capsule 1. India and France launched the International Solar Alliance in Paris. The alliance was launched jointly by PM Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande during the United Nations climate change conference (COP21).

Capsule 2. Reserve Bank of India keep repo rate at 6.75 per cent in its fifth bi-monthly policy review .

Capsule 3. The World AIDS Day was on 1 December 2015 observed across the world with the theme Getting to zero, End AIDS by 2030. However, the federal theme for the World AIDS Day 2015 was The time to act is now.

Capsule 4. Roch Marc Christian Kabore was elected as the President of the West African country Burkina Faso.

Capsule 5. Internationally co-produced adventure drama film Embrace of the Serpent on 30 November 2015 was awarded with the Golden Peacock Award for the Best Film at the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa. The film is produced by Christina Gallego and directed by Ciro Guerra.

Capsule 6. Polish professional footballer Robert Lewandowski’s nine-minute, five-goal haul for German Football Club Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg was officially recognised on 30 November 2015 by Guinness World Record.

Capsule 7. The Union Government has launched inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) injection as part of the global polio endgame strategy in New Delhi.

Capsule 8. Indian Railways has signed 40,000 crore rupees contracts with General Electrics (GE) and Alstom to set up two locomotive plants in Bihar. Under this deal, first venture the electric locomotive factory would be set up at Madhepura city and diesel locomotive would be set up at Marhowrah district of the state.

Capsule 9. Former Indian Test Captain and ace spinner Anil Kumble has resigned as the Chief Mentor of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians with an immediate effect

Capsule 10. Russian legendary film Director and screenwriter Eldar Ryazanov passed away in Moscow, Russia.

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Capsule 11. India has been re-elected to the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) under Category ‘B’ at 29th session of the IMO Assembly held in London.IMO has 171 member states and 3 associate members.

Capsule 12. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) liberalised the external commercial borrowing framework by increasing the limit for Indian companies for raising funds — with minimum average maturity of 3 years — to $50 million from $20 million. Companies can also take the ECB route for raising 10-year funds which is capped at five years now.

Capsule 13. Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has launched Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) Scheme to boost the quality of higher education in India.

Capsule 14. Jharkhand government has declared the entire state as drought hit in view of less rainfall in 2015 monsoon season and loss of crops. Decision in this regard was taken at the state Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Raghuvar Das in Ranchi following Agriculture department’s report on drought.

Capsule 15. India’s Thakur Anoop Singh won gold medal in the 7th WBPF World Bodybuilding and Physique Championships. He won the medal in the fitness physique category.

Capsule 16. The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery was observed globally on 2 December 2015. The day is observed to focus on the elimination of human trafficking, child labour and other forms of modern-day slavery.

Capsule 17. President Pranab Mukherjee gave assent to Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2015 of Maharashtra. Among other things, the bill amends Section 66(1)(c) of the Factories Act, 1948 that restricts women from working at a factory between 7 PM and 6 AM.

Capsule 18. Tata Sons and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) have formed a long-term partnership, under which ICBC will become a strategic banking partner to the Tata group.

Capsule 19. Justice Tirath Singh (TS) Thakur was sworn in as 43rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Thakur succeeded incumbent Justice H L Dattu who retired on 2 December 2015.

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Capsule 20. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released Rs.1,000 crore for Tamil Nadu for flood relief, after undertaking an aerial survey of the affected areas in and around Chennai.

Capsule 21. Goa Government has launched the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 to benefit more than one third of the state’s population. It will bring more than one third population of the coastal state into legal entitlements of existing food security programmes and schemes of Central Government.

Capsule 22. The Union Cabinet has approved proposal of setting up of 6 new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across the country. The 6 new IITs would be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala and Karnataka.

Capsule 23. The Union Cabinet approved the signing of the agreement between India and Iran on visa facilitation for Diplomatic, Official/Service and Ordinary passport holders.

Capsule 24. International Day of Persons with Disabilities was observed across the world on 3 December 2015 with the theme Inclusion matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities.

Capsule 25. Brazil entered longest recession since 1930s. It was Brazil's third consecutive quarter of contraction starting from January 2015 and thus, making it the country's longest recession since the 1930s.

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Capsule 26. The proposed Dholera airport in Ahmedabad district has received much-needed environmental clearance from the Central government, which will make way for the setting up of one of the world-class greenfield airports in India.

Capsule 27. Union Cabinet has approved signing and ratification of a protocol between India and Japan for amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC). It aims at avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

Capsule 28. Senior Janta Dal United (JDU) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary has been elected as new Speaker of Bihar legislative assembly. The pro-tem Speaker and Congress MLA Sadanand Singh had announced election of Mr. Chaudhary as the new Speaker.

Capsule 29. Veteran industrialist and former parliamentarian MAM Ramaswamy passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was 84. He was the last King of Chettinad and co-founder and past chairman of the Rs. 10,000 crore Chettinad Group of companies.

Capsule 30. Himachal Pradesh became the first state of India to launch Rotavirus vaccination project.The vaccine will help in controlling the child mortality rate (under five years of age) due to diarrhoea.

Capsule 31. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).
Among other things, the PSL target was increased to 75 percent of total outstanding from the existing 60 percent. The revised target will be effective from 1 January 2016.

Capsule 32. Union Government has released a commemorative postage stamp to mark the Centenary year of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). The postage stamp was released by Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in the presence of Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi.

Capsule 33. YouTube along with Subhash Ghai-owned film school Whistling Woods International, has opened its first video production studio in the country.

Capsule 34. The panel led by Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian has recommended a range of 15 to 15.5 per cent as the revenue neutral rate of the Goods and Services Tax, setting the stage for consensus building for this important reform to get through Parliament in the winter session.

Capsule 35. Bengaluru ranks as the most attractive destination for investments besides attracting the most FDI among Indian cities followed by Mumbai and Delhi-NCR region.

Capsule 36. China's first domestically developed electricity-powered aircraft known as RX1E was approved for production by Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Capsule 37. The International Volunteer Day (IVD) was on 5 December 2015 observed across the world with the theme The world is changing. Are you? Volunteer!.

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Capsule 38. Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced a 60 billion dollars package to African nations during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The package will benefit Africa in 10 major areas (sectors) such as industry, infrastructure, agriculture, financial services, trade and investment facilitation, green development, poverty reduction and public welfare, public health, peace and security and people-to-people exchanges.

Capsule 39. Uttar Pradesh Government has launched International festival on Birds in a bid to promote state as an international bird-watching destination. The first-of-its-kind festival was inaugurated by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at the National Chambal Sanctuary (NCS).

Capsule 40. Australia’s Federal Parliament has passed Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill, 2015 to strip citizenship of convicted persons on terrorism charges. The new legislation allows government to strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are convicted of terrorism offences.

Capsule 41. The Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG or PAHAL scheme, has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World records as the largest cash transfer programme in terms of number of households.

Capsule 42. Canada has sent the first uranium consignment of 250 tonnes to India for its nuclear power reactors, over two years after the civil nuclear deal signed between the two countries came into force.

Capsule 43. The South Western Railways (SWR) Zone with headquarters in Hubli, Karnataka has introduced biodiesel for trains, operating under its zone. In this regard, SWR’s first train Hubballi-Bengaluru Janshatabdi Express powered by five per cent biodiesel blended with High Speed Diesel was flagged off from Hubli.

Capsule 44. Greece’s Parliament has approved the 2016 budget that includes deep spending cuts and tax hikes amid economic recession.The government forecasts zero economic growth this year and a contraction of 0.7 percent in 2016. Earlier, it had predicted declines of 2.3 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

Capsule 45. Singapore has replaced Mauritius as the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India during the first half of the current fiscal year 2015-16. It was unveiled by the data during April to September 2015 period released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Capsule 46. The eighth edition of India-Russia joint naval exercise-INDRA . NAVY-15 has begun in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. INDRA NAVY-15 is a bilateral maritime joint naval exercise between the Indian and Russian navies for epitomising the strategic relationship between the two countries.

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Capsule 47. National Security Advisor (NSA) level talks between India and Pakistan were held in Bangkok, Thailand. It was attended by India’s NSA Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Khan Janjua. Foreign secretaries S. Jaishankar (India) and Aziz Ahmad Chaudhary (Pakistan) were also present during the high level meet in Bangkok.

Capsule 48. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the first Goa to Mumbai double-decker Shatabdi train through video conference from Panaji, Goa. The fully air-conditioned double- decker train is the first-of-its-kind in India.

Capsule 49. Australia defeated Belgium by 2-1 to win 2014-2015 Men’s Hockey World League Final, which was held at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium, Raipur.

Capsule 50. Armed Forces Flag Day was observed across India on 7 December 2015. The Day is celebrated all over India in order to collect the funds from people all around the country for the wellbeing of the staff of the Indian Armed Forces.

Capsule 51. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released 2 commemorative coins on Dr B R Ambedkar as part of the 125th birth anniversary year celebrations of the architecture of Indian Constitution. The coins are of 10 rupee and 125 rupee denomination and were issued on the 60th Mahaparinirvan Divas of Babasaheb Ambedkar. The Union government is celebrating 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar in the year 2015.

Capsule 52. The World Bank has launched a $500 million dollars Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF) to help developing countries pay for emission reductions and combat climate change. It is market-based scheme specially designed to help developing countries and would establish the world’s first programmatic carbon market.

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Capsule 53. Union Government has launched Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan (Accessible India Campaign), a nationwide campaign in a bid to achieve universal accessibility to persons with disabilities.

Capsule 54. Chinese capital Beijing issued its first-ever red alert on air pollution ordering schools to close due to hazardous air quality. Red alert is the highest possible state of caution. The order was issued after acrid smog enveloped the capital for the second time in December 2015.

Capsule 55. Latvia’s first female Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma announced her resignation .

Capsule 56. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited joined Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative of the World Bank on the sidelines of Conference of Parties-21 (COP-21) of UNFCCC in Paris.

Capsule 57. The IPL Governing Council has named Intex Mobiles and Sanjeev Goenka's New Rising as the two new team owners from Rajkot and Pune respectively for the 2016 and 2017 seasons of IPL.

Capsule 58. The Maharashtra legislature has become the first in the country to launch an online mechanism for its members to send questions and move different motions in the House. In this regard state government has launched a website mls.org.in as part of Digital

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Capsule 59. Markets regulator SEBI has ordered attachment of bank and demat accounts of Sunplant Forgings, its promoters and directors, to recover dues worth over Rs 17 crore.

Capsule 60. Tata Communications will sell majority of its subsidiary Neotel’s fixed line assets to Vodacom South Africa but will retain control of licences including spectrum.

Capsule 61. The fifth edition of ‘Heart of Asia’ conference, an annual regional gathering of Asian and other countries commenced in Islamabad Pakistan. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani jointly inaugurated the ministerial-level meeting.

Capsule 62. Yes Bank Limited on 8 December 2015 announced to mobilize 5 billion US dollars from 2015 to 2020 for climate action through lending, investing and raising capital towards mitigation, adaptation and resilience. The announcement was made on the occasion of COP 21 climate summit in Paris.

Capsule 63. Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma became the co-owner of the Pro Wrestling League team, UP Warriors. The team includes celebrated Indian wrestlers like Sushil Kumar and Joginder Kumar.

Capsule 64. International Anti-Corruption Day was observed across the world on 9 December 2015 with the theme Break the corruption chain. The day was observed to raise public awareness about corruption and what people can do to fight it.

Capsule 65. Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs announced that it received the approval of Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch fixed-dose combination therapy Ledipasvir-Sofosbuvir. The product will be available under the brand name Ledisof in India.

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Capsule 66. China’s Chen Long and all England and World champion Carolina Marin bagged the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Male and Female Player of the Year Awards respectively in Dubai.

Capsule 67. Iran has successfully carried out test of medium range Ghadr-110 ballistic missile near the Chabahar, a port city in southeast of country along the Gulf of Oman.

Capsule 68. Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist Frank Islam (63) has been selected for the prestigious 2015 Uttar Pradesh Ratna Award. He has been chosen for this award in recognition of his achievements and outstanding contributions in a foreign country.

Capsule 69. Time magazine has named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as Person of the Year 2015. She was named for her role in Europe’s crises over migration and Greek debt as she had provided steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply. Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was named runner-up and US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump was placed.

Capsule 70. Human Rights Day (HRD) is marked annually on 10th December to commemorate the day in 1948 when the United Nations (UN) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

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Capsule 71. India has been placed at fourth position in black money outflows among the developing and emerging economies. It was revealed by Global Financial Integrity’s (GFI’s) Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2004-2013 Report.
Top 10 countries: China (1st), Russia (2nd), Mexico (3rd), India (4th), Malaysia (5th), Brazil (6th), South Africa (75th), Thailand (8th), Indonesia (9th) and Nigeria (10th).

Capsule 72. Luxembourg became the 10th country to ratify the Articles of Agreement (AoA) that will lay the legal framework for the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Capsule 73. Two Indians, Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain, have won the 2016 Queen's Young Leaders award in the United Kingdom which will be presented by the British monarch in Buckingham Palace in June 2016.

Capsule 74. Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was awarded with an honorary life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

Capsule 75. Bengaluru Yodhas, the JSW Group owned franchise in the Pro Wrestling League, has announced India's Test captain Virat Kohli as the co-owner of the team.

Capsule 76. British Columbia may become the first foreign government to invest onshore in India as it plans to tap the ‘masala bond’ route for this purpose. ‘Masala bonds’ are basically rupee- denominated bonds issued in offshore capital markets. These bonds are offered and settled in US dollars to raise rupees from international investors for infrastructure development in India.

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Capsule 77. The Union Cabinet cleared a Rs.4,000-crore package to spur India’s ship building industry, combined with a slew of incentives which include the right of first refusal on all government purchases for Indian shipyards, tax incentives and the ‘infrastructure’ status for shipbuilding and ship repair industry that would help them tap easier financing.

Capsule 78. The Cabinet cleared the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015 that aims to set up State level real estate regulators and mandate developers to register their projects and regularly disclose milestones to home and commercial property buyers.

Capsule 79. The Cabinet approved The National Waterways Bill, 2015, based on amendments recommended by a parliamentary panel that would designate 106 existing inland waterways as national waterways.

Capsule 80. Mauricio Macri Blanco was sworn in as the President of Argentina. He succeeded Cristina Elisabet Fernandez de Kirchner who was in the office for two terms between 2007 and 2015.

Capsule 81. Veteran Indian actor Naseerudin Shah was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) in Dubai.

Capsule 82. The International Cricket Council announced new global partnership with OPPO, one of the world’s leading mobile telephone device companies.

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Capsule 83. On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power, an autobiography of Sharad Pawar was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi .

Capsule 84. The United Nations agencies and partnerslaunched the Sahel humanitarian appeal for 2016. The purpose of the initiative is to mobilise international support to tackle triple crisis of poverty, insecurity and climate change that plagues the Sahel region in Africa.

Capsule 85. Pakistan has successfully test-fired nuclear-capable Shaheen-III ballistic missile. The missile was test fired in the Arabian Sea and validated all the desired parameters including various design and technical parameters of the weapon system.

Capsule 86. Mexico Government has approved world’s first-ever Dengue fever vaccine branded as Dengvaxia for the public use.

Capsule 87. India and South Korea have inked a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) on suspension of collection of taxes during pendency of mutual agreement procedure.

Capsule 88. Prakash Kumar Singh has taken charge as Chairman, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the public sector undertaking .

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Capsule 89. Israel has successfully tested Arrow ballistic missile Weapon System as part of its defence upgradation measures in the face of regional threats. The missile system has been jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the US aviation giant Boeing.

Capsule 90. National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered ban on registration of new diesel-run vehicles in Delhi to curb the growing menace of air pollution in the capital city.

Capsule 91. India, Japan ink pacts on bullet train, civil nuclear energy. Taking their robust bilateral ties to a new level, India and Japan inked a number of pacts in key areas of defence and nuclear energy as well as building of first bullet train network between Mumbai-Ahmedabad at a cost of about Rs. 98,000 crore.The two sides also inked agreements — one concerning the Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology and another related to Security Measures for Protection of Classified Military Information.

Capsule 92. Two Indian cities for first time have been designated as members of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network (UCCN).

Varanasi City (Uttar Pradesh): It has been added in the City of Craft category of network. Jaipur City (Rajasthan): It has been added in the City of Music category of network. It was announced by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

Capsule 93. India-born author Salman Rushdie has been awarded the prestigious 2015 Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement. He has been bestowed with this award for fully exercising his freedom of creativity and thrived on dialogue and debate.

Capsule 94. Indian cyclist Deborah Herold became the first Indian female cyclist to be ranked fourth in the World Elite Women Ranking for the 500m time trial event. The ranking was issued by cycling world body International Cycling Union (UCI).

Capsule 95. Myanmar launched its first UNSECO Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake in Shan state. The Inle Lake was designated as UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Paris in June 2015.With this, Myanmar fulfilled its commitment to bio-diversity and eco-system conservation under the UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Prorgamme.

Capsule 96. Global software giant Wipro announced that it won the 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award for developing a solution for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Capsule 97. Saudi Arabia Salima bint Hazab al-Otaibi had become the first woman elected to public office in the conservative Islamic kingdom after winning a seat on the municipal council in Mecca in Saturday's election.

Capsule 98. Legendary actor Dilip Kumar was presented the Padma Vibhushan by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at the thespian’s residence in suburban Bandra. The 93-year-old legend was presented a medal, a certificate and a shawl by Singh, in the presence of the actor’s wife Saira Bano.

Capsule 99. Economist, agriculturist, prolific journalist and stalwart farmer leader Sharad Joshi, who founded the Shetkari Sanghatana, passed away at his residence in Pune on Saturday. He was 81.

Capsule 100. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced that it has agreed to buy the 112-year old English newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) for an undisclosed amount.

Capsule 101. India continued to rank low in the Human Development Index (HDI), but climbed five notches to the 130th rank in the latest UNDP report on account of rise in life expectancy and per capita income.<

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