1. Colombian film 'Embrace of The Serpent' has been adjudged as the best film of the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Director Ciro Guerra of Embrace of The Serpent was bestowed with the Golden Peacock award and the cash prize of 40 lakh rupees. The Best Director award is given to Peter Greenway for the Netherlands film 'Eisenstein in Guanajuato. The Best male actor award is given to Vincent Lindon for the France film 'The Measure of a Man'. The Best Female actor award is given to five female actress for their roles in the Turkey Film 'Mustang'. The special Jury Award is given to Julia Vargas for his film 'Sealed Cargo'. The ICFT-UNESCO Fellini Award is presented to Kaushik Ganguly's Bengali film 'Cinemawala'.
2. India's second largest passenger car manufacturer Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) has launched 'Safe Move-Traffic Safety Campaign' under its CSR initiative.
3. The Special drawing rights (SDR) is a type of international reserve asset maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The value of SDR is based on the basket of key international currencies. The SDR basket currencies are reviewed by IMF every five years. Recently, International Monetary Fund (IMF) has included China's Yuan or Renminbi into its elite reserve currency basket mainly used as an international reserve asset with an effect from 1st October 2016. The other four currencies used in the SDR currency basket are U.S. dollars, euros, pounds sterling and Japanese yen.
4. India's Chess champion Dronavalli Harika has won the inaugural FIDE World Online Women Blitz Championship, the final of which was held in Rome, Italy. The other finalist form India, Padmini Rout finished at ninth position.
5. South Korea has been ranked at the top of UN International Telecommunications Union's ICT Development Index (IDI) 2015. It was revealed in UN ITU's flagship annual Measuring the Information Society (MISR) Report. Denmark and Iceland are ranked at second and third place respectively. Indian ranked at 131 position in the report. According to the report, globally 3.2 billion people are now online i.e. 43.4 per cent of the world's population.
6. Recently, Russia has imposed economic sanctions against Turkey, a NATO member over the issue of downing of a Russian Sukhoi 24 warplane on the Syrian border.
7. Belgium ranks as the top country for employee happiness.
8. Japan's $1.2 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is the world's largest pension fund. It was originally set up in 2001.
9. Recently, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon along with 13 agencies of the UN system has launched the new initiative titled "Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape" to build climate resilience in the world's most vulnerable countries. The 13 UN organisations participating in the Initiative are FAO, UNEP, UNFCCC, UN-Habitat, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNOPS, UNISDR, WFP, OCHA, WHO, and WMO. The initiative has been launched during the United Nations climate change conference (COP21) in Paris. The initiative will enhance the ability of the countries to anticipate climate hazards, absorb consequences and reshape development to reduce risks from climate hazards. The initiative will also work on mobilizing finance and knowledge and to create and operationalize partnerships to fight against climate change.
10. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private foundation in the world. It was founded by Bill and Melinda Gates in 2000. Its headquarters are located in Seattle, Washington.
11. The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is the world's largest bank by assets. It is one of the China's 'Big Four' state-owned commercial banks. It was founded in 1984. Its present assets worth US$3616 billion. By market capitalization, it is the second largest in the world. The other three China's state-owned commercial banks are the Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank.
12. The World Bank has launched a $500 million Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF) to help developing countries pay for emission reductions and combat climate change. The Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF) will establish the world's first programmatic carbon market. The scheme will reward countries for reducing emissions by paying a fee for each tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduced. The facility will help countries implement their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).
13. Recently, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has given an environment clearance to the proposed Dholera International airport in Ahmedabad district.
14. On December 3, the European Space Agency has launched the LISA Pathfinder to detect Albert Einstein's gravitational waves. The LISA Pathfinder was blasted off on a Vega rocket from the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. It is carrying gold-platinum cubes that will be released in freefall to try to detect the waves predicted by the one-hundred-year-old General Theory of Relativity. According to the theory, there should be universal ripples in the fabric of space and time, caused by massive objects accelerating through the Universe. But the fluctuations are so tiny, they have never been detected by scientists.
15. 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. It was launched by Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhi Nagar campus. GIAN Scheme aims at improving the quality of higher education in the country through international collaboration. Facilitate participation of high quality international academicians for delivering short-term courses and programs in Indian institutions.
16. The Aditya Birla Group's telecom company, Idea Cellular.
17. As per the latest report published by credit rating agency Brickwork Ratings, Maharashtra is the biggest economy among the states in India in the FY 2014-15. Maharashtra accounts for Rs. 16.87 lakh crore in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and is followed by Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. In terms of GSDP, the fastest-growing states of India are Bihar (17.06 %), Madhya Pradesh (16.86 %) and Goa (16.43 %).
18. According to the latest report of the NITI Aayog, Bihar has emerged as the "fastest growing economy" at 17.06 per cent growth rate in 2014-15. NITI Aayog's data takes into account growth rate of states on Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). Bihar is followed by Madhya Pradesh (16.86%) and Goa (16.43%). Maharashtra grew by 11.69 per cent to become the biggest state with Rs 16.87 trillion economies.
19. Recently, the 44th Indian Navy Day was celebrated on December 4, 2015 to commemorate the success of Operation Trident of Indian Navy that was carried out during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. On December 4, 1971, the Indian Navy carried out Operation Trident, which was a devastating attack on Pakistan Naval Headquarters of Karachi. The attack irreparably damaged destroyers and oil storage tanks at the Karachi port. To commemorate this, December 4 is celebrated every year as the Indian Navy Day.
20. The Union government will introduce the system of e-transfer of wages to the MGNREGA scheme beneficiaries from January 1, 2016 in Kerala. This will try to prevent the leakages in the scheme.
21. Himachal Pradesh has become the first Indian state to launch Rotavirus vaccination project. The vaccine will help in controlling the child mortality rate (under 5 years of age) due to diarrhoea. The rotavirus vaccines are administered orally to infants in three dose course at ages of 6, 10 and 14 weeks and are part of Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). The project was launched in Kangra district. It will soon be launched in Vellore (Tamil Nadu) and Pune (Maharashtra).
22. To promote Uttar Pradesh as an international bird watching destination, the state government is hosting the first International Bird Festival at the National Chambal Sanctuary (NCS), Agra from December 4. It will come to an end on December 6.
23. The Arvind Subramanian committee has submitted its report on 'Possible Tax rates under GST'.
24. The Bharatvani project is set to be launched by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The main objective of the project is delivering knowledge in and about all languages in India using multimedia such as text, audio, video, images formats through a website.
25. The United Kingdom has been selected as the host for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2018. The next Commonwealth summit was to be hosted by Vanuatu in 2017 but due to the devastating cyclone Pam, the country is unable to host the meeting.
26. Recently, India has launched the injectable inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) as part of the country's commitment to global polio eradication. The IPV injection will be given to children below one year of age, along with the third dose of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) at the routine immunization sessions free of cost. In the first phase, the vaccine will be introduced in six states namely Assam, Gujarat, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The introduction of IPV in routine immunization is as per recommendation made in the World Health Assembly in May 2015. In India, Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics Private Limited is manufacturing the ShanIPV vaccine, which is used in the country's injectable IPV programme. Shantha will provide 2.3 million doses of ShanIPV in 2015, and 9 million in 2016 to Unicef for India's needs.
27. The South Western Railways (SWR) Zone with headquarters in Hubli, Karnataka has introduced biodiesel for trains, operating under its zone.
28. 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). India has attracted 6.69 billion dollars FDI from Singapore while it received 3.66 billion dollars from Mauritius. Overall, Singapore accounts for 15 per cent of the total inbound FDI received by India during April 2000 and September 2015. However, Mauritius accounted for 34 per cent of FDI during the same period.
29. The Haryana Government has decided to celebrate "Gita Jayanti Mahotsava" throughout the state from December 19 to 21, 2015.
30. Andhra Pradesh (AP) has become the first Indian state to join the Centre's UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) scheme for revival of debt stressed power distribution companies. The scheme has been launched by Union Government to improve financial and operational efficiencies of power distribution companies. It envisages to reduce interest burden, cost of power and AT&C losses. The scheme is optional and operationalised through signing of MoU between state governments, state discoms and Centre. After Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand state also has joined the scheme.
31. The 2015 'Heart of Asia' conference is hosted by Islamabad, Pakistan. The focus of the 5th conference is to increase cooperation for countering security threats and promotion of connectivity in the region. From India, the external affairs minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj is attending the ministerial-level meeting. The 14 countries viz. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the UAE had launched the initiative launched in 2011 for encouraging economic and security cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours for dealing with the common problems of terrorism, extremism and poverty. India will host the 2016 Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan.
32. The Maharashtra state legislature has become the first in the country to launch an online mechanism for legislators to send questions and move different motions in the House.
33. The German Chancellor Ms. Angela Merkel (61) has been named as the 2015 Time magazine's 'Person of the Year'. The magazine cited her role in Europe's crises over migration and Greek debt. Ms. Merkel is followed by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (head of the Islamic State militant group), Mr. Donald Trump (nominated US Presidential candidate), Black Lives Matter ( activist group campaigning against violence towards black people, notably in the US), Mr. Hassan Rouhani (President of Iran), etc. With this, Ms. Merkel became only the 4th woman since 1927 to be named winner and the first women to feature in 29 years. The other three women were Wallis Simpson (1936), Queen Elizabeth II (1952) and Corazon Aquino (1986). The US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is the winner of the online readers' poll for TIME Person of the Year. The readers' poll differs from the TIME person of the year award, which is chosen by the editors.
34. The 2nd World Internet Conference (WIC) (or Wuzhen Summit) will be held in Wuzhen.
35. Recently, Myanmar has launched its first stock exchange – " Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX)".
36. India imports 80% of its oil demand. Presently Saudi Arabia is the largest supplier of oil to India. Saudi Arabia is followed by Iraq, Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran. Iran was India's second biggest supplier of crude oil after Saudi Arabia till 2010-11. After the Western countries sanctions imposed on Iran, India brought down the purchases in 2012-13 and had limited them in the years thereafter.
37. Recently, Iran has successfully test fired medium range Ghadr-110 ballistic missile near the Chabahar, a port city in southeast of country along the Gulf of Oman.
38. The International Anti-Corruption Day has been observed annually on December 9. The theme of this year is "Break the corruption chain".
39. The renowned Bollywood actor, Mr. Naseerudin Shah (66) has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) in Dubai.
40. For first time, the Indian cities of Varanasi and Jaipur have been designated as members of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network (UCCN).
41. The Indian-born author, Mr. Salman Rushdie (68) has been honoured with the prestigious 2015 Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
42. "On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power" is an autobiography of Sharad Pawar. The book has been released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 10 December 2015. The book was released on the 75th birthday of Pawar, who is the Maratha strongman and the leader of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
43. Recently, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the groups and schedule of the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016, which will be staged across eight venues in India from 8 March to 3 April. The men's event will carry a total prize money of $5.6million, while the total prize money for the women's event is $400,000.
44. Myanmar has launched its first UNESCO 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 Programme.
45. The Lasoong festival is the most popular festival of Sikkim.
46. The Zonal Councils in India are created under the State Reorganization Act, 1956.
47. Recently, the Union Health Minister has laid the foundation stone for India's largest National Cancer Institute at AIIMS campus in Haryana's Jhajjar district.
48. The government of India has appointed a Judicial Committee to look into the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for the ex-Servicemen. The committee will headed by the Justice (Retd) L. Narasimha Reddy, former Chief Justice of Patna High Court. The Committee, with headquarters in Delhi.
49. The 12th South Asian Games 2016 will be jointly hosted by Guwahati and Shillong from February 6-16, 2016. "TIKHOR", a one-horned rhino, is the mascot of the games. It carries the message and aspiration of peace, stability, amity and progress in the South Asian region. Tikhor is a popular character from Burhi Aair Sadhu (Grand Mother's Tales).
50. Operation Smile-II is a nation-wide campaign to rescue and rehabilitate the missing children.
51. Indian professional golfer Anirban Lahiri (28) has been presented with the 2015 Asian Tour's Order of Merit crown.
52. According to the 2015 Human Development Report (HDR) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India's rank on Human Development Index (HDI) rose by a notch in 2014 — to 130 th from 131st a year earlier. The list is topped by Norway followed by Australia, Switzerland, Denmark and Netherlands. The Human Development Index (HDI) is an average measure of basic human development achievements in a country. It is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development – a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.
53. The World No. 3 Golfer, Rory McIlroy has won the 2015 European Tour player of the Year award for the third time.
54. Recently, South African government has appointed Indian-origin politician Pravin Gordhan as the South Africa's new Finance Minister.
55. The Galkynysh natural gas field located in Turkmenistan is the world's second largest gas field. The gas field will provide the gas for the upcoming 1,814-km TAPI pipeline. The TAPI pipeline is the joint venture of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Recently, Turkmenistan has started work on its part of the pipeline.
56. Flood of Fire is written by Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh. It is the last volume of the Ibis trilogy. The other two novels of the trilogy are Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011).
57. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has been honoured with the Garwood Award for 'Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation' from US Berkeley-Haas School at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The University of California, Berkeley has established the Garwood Award to acknowledge individuals who have embraced, supported and encouraged open innovation in a significant and impactful way.
58. The Former Defence Secretary, Radha Krishna Mathur (62) has been appointed as the new Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission, New Delhi and he will have a tenure of about three years, till he attains the age of 65 years.
59. Ashok Kumar, who is one of the pioneers of the fightback against wildlife crimes in India and chairman emeritus of the Wildlife Trust of India, Noida.
60. Recently, the landlocked Asian country, Afghanistan has officially became the 164th member nation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to join the global trade body after 11 years of negotiations. Formally, the WTO has approved Afghanistan's membership proposal at its ongoing 10th ministerial conference in the Nairobi, Kenya. Before Afghanistan, Liberia has officially joined the WTO at the conference on December 16, 2015. At present, Bhutan is the only SAARC member which has so far not joined the multilateral trade body.
61. In India, 24th December is observed as National Consumer Day. On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the President. The enactment of this Act was considered as a historic milestone in the consumer movement in the country. The theme of the 2015 National Consumer Rights Day is "Safe & Healthy Food: Combating Food Adulteration". World Consumer Rights Day is observed on 15th March every year.
62. Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (26) has won the 2015 Miss Universe crown at the 64th Miss Universe pageant held in Las Vegas, the USA. She is a professional model, actress, host and TV personality.
63. The Government of Mexico has approved the use of the first-ever vaccine (Dengvaxia) for dengue fever.
64. The WTO's 10th Ministerial Conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 15 to 19 December 2015. It culminated in the adoption of the "Nairobi Package", a series of six Ministerial Decisions on agriculture, cotton and issues related to least-developed countries (LDCs). The present Director-General of the WTO is Roberto Azevedo.
65. Recently, China has launched the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) satellite to shed light on mysterious dark matter.
66. The Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on 22 December 1887. In recognition of his contribution to Mathematics, December 22 has been observed as the National Mathematics Day in India since 2012.
67. Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the reconstruction and completion of Salma Dam Project in Afghanistan at a revised cost estimate of Rs 1,775.69 crore. The dam project is situated on the upper reaches of Hari Rud River in Herat province, it involves construction of a 107.5 metre high earth and rock fill dam and a 42 MW powerhouse with three units of 14 MW each.
68. The Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) has became the first licensed shipyard in India to build Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) ships for any client worldwide.
69. Andhra Pradesh has won the bid to host the 2019 National Games after Meghalaya withdrew from the bidding process after a series of meetings with its Andhra Pradesh counterparts. While Goa is hosting the next edition (36th) of National Games in 2016, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Haryana had placed bids for the 2018 games. Although National Games are held once in two years, the next calendar is said to have been adjusted to 2019 following AP's request.
70. Philippines has became the first Asian country to approve the sale of the world's first ever dengue vaccine Dengvaxia in the country. The Dengvaxia vaccine has been manufactured by French pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur. It has been designed to protect people in the 9-45 age groups from all four subtypes of the virus.
71. Gujarat has become the first state in the country to take up Public-Private Partnership Projects for an in-situ redevelopment of slums in urban areas under the recently launched Prime Minister's Awas Yojana (Urban).
72. Recently, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a resolution to designate 'November 5' as World Tsunami Awareness Day every year.
73. Recently, the Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has inaugurated the cable stayed-bridge on river Ravi at Basholi area of Kathua district of Jammu province.
74. The Australian captain, Steven Smith has became the 4th Australia player and 11th player overall to won the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015. He also won the 2015 ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award.
75. Tech Mahindra has launched the 'MoboMoney', a first of its kind 'Tap N Pay' contactless digital payment solution for the Indian masses.
76. Search engine Yahoo said that 'Cow' has emerged as the 'Personality of the Year 2015' on the back of online buzz around beef ban and associated discussions on intolerance.
77. India is building its first Naval Base on the Assumption Island of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as a joint project between both countries. India's first Naval Base project has acquired significance following China acquiring its first African naval base in Djibouti (near Horn of Africa) in November 2014.
78. The senior IAS officer of Kerala cadre, Amitabh Kant has been given additional responsibility of being Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog from December 31, 2015. He will succeed the incumbent NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar whose extended tenure will end on December 31, 2015. Currently, Kant is serving as Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and is expected to retire on February 28, 2016.
79. Telangana has become the second State after Maharashtra to set up the Zoroastrian jury. The 15-member Zoroastrian jury will aid the settlement of marriage and divorce of the Parsi people in the State within their community.
80. The first ever Iranshah Udvada Utsav(IUU) was organised in Udvada, Navasari of Gujarat from December 25-27. Udvada is the holiest place for Paris from across the world. The plan is to develop Udvavda as pilgrim centre. Iranshah Udvada Utsav is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The IUU was jointly organised by the Foundation for Development of Udavada (FDU) and the Udavada Samast Anjuman (USA), which have eminent Parsi leaders as members.
81. The noted Gujarati litterateur, Raghuveer Chaudhary (76) has been selected for the 51st Jnanpith award for his contribution to Indian literature. He wrote more than eighty books including novels, poetry, plays and literary criticism. Some of them are Trijo Purush, Purvarang, Laagni, Sikandar Sani, Tamasa, Akasmik Sparsh, etc. Chaudhary is the fourth Gujarati writer to won this prestigious award after Uma Shankar Joshi (1967), Pannalal Patel (1985) and Rajendra Shah (2001).
82. Asia's largest underground railway station has been opened in China's southern city of Shenzhen. The three-storey 'Futian High-speed Railway Station' would cover an area of 147,000 square meters and have seating for 3,000 passengers. It is also the world's second largest underground railway station, only after the Grand Central Station in New York, the USA.
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