Abu Dhabi Grand Prix title 2015

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany has won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix title of Formula One (F1) held at Yas Marina Circuit. Abu Dhabi Grand Prix title race was the nineteenth and final round of the 2015 season of Formula One. It was Rosberg’s overall fourteenth championship title of F1 in his career and the sixth win in the 2015 season after Spain, Monaco, Australian, Mexican and Brazilian Grand Prix.

Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton tournament 2015

Indian shuttler Pusarla Venkata Sindhu has won the $120,000 2015 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton tournament in the women’s single category.With this victory, she has won this title for the third consecutive time after she had won it in 2013 and 2014.

Davis Cup 2015

Andy Murray led Great Britain have won the 2015 Davis Cup for first time since 1936 and for the 10th time in the competition’s 115-year history. Great Britain tennis team defeated Belgium team by 3-1 score in the finals to win the 104th edition of the competition.

LRSAM missile

                       

Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) co-developed by India and Israel was successfully test-fired for the first time from an Israeli Naval Platform. The trial test was undertaken by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in the presence of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists. During the test the missile achieved the desired goal by hitting the incoming target.LRSAM is also called Barak 8 missile.Barak 8 is an advanced, long-range missile defence and air defence system. Its main features are long range, active radar seeker missile, vertical launch and multiple simultaneous engagements. 

World Bank's annual report 'Doing Business 2016'

As per the World Bank's annual report 'Doing Business 2016', India ranks 130 in terms of ease of doing business and has moved up 12 places from its previous ranking.World Bank's Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Kaushik Basu said that it is a remarkable achievement for an economy of the size of India.The report highlighted that India has effected several reforms to ease the process of doing business, the efforts of which are more perceptible in Mumbai and Delhi.

Commonwealth’s new Secretary General

British lawyer Patricia Scotland (60) has been elected as the new Secretary General of the Commonwealth.she became the first woman and  also first British citizen to be elected as secretary-general.she will succeed Kamalesh sharma from india and take charge on 1 April 2016.

First commercial satellite of JAPAN

The Japanese national space programme launched its first commercial satellite, thereby entering a business mainly dominated by Russian and European firms.The H-IIA rocket carried the TELSTAR 12V communications and broadcasting satellite for Canadian satellite operator Telesat.The launch was overseen by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from Tanegashima Space Center in southwest Japan.The H-IIA is Japan's first successful indigenous liquid-fuelled rocket..

MoU with Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) to enhance co-operation and technical assistance.Signed by the chairmen of the bodies in the presence of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the pact will enable the nation's capital market to gain from SEBI's extensive experience besides improving investor protection and promoting economic links. SEBI has thus far signed such agreements with 21 nations.

November 26

                                

The National Milk Day (NMD) was on 26 November 2015 observed across India to mark 94th birth anniversary of the Father of the White Revolution Dr Verghese Kurien. The idea of observing National Milk Day was first mooted by Indian Dairy Association (IDA) in 2014 on the lines of World Milk Day that is observed on 1 June every year under the aegis of UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).Dr. Verghese Kurien is also known as the Milkman of India and the architect of Operation Flood, the idea that transformed India from a milk-deficit country into the world’s largest milk producer. He founded around 30 institutions of excellence (like AMUL, GCMMF, IRMA, NDDB) which are owned, managed by farmers and run by professionals.

                          

The ‘Constitution Day’ of India is being observed on 26th November to spread awareness of Indian Constitution and its architecture Dr. B R Ambedkar.2015 Constitution Day is the first edition of this day and part of year-long nationwide celebrations of 125th birth Anniversary of Dr. B R Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Constituent Assembly. Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) is the nodal Ministry for celebration of Constitution Day.

November 25

                                     

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was observed across the world on 25 November 2015. The day is observed to raise awareness about violence against women and discuss solutions that would work for women community.The event is being organized under the UN Secretary General’s Campaign called UNiTE to End Violence against Women. As part of the event, 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence Campaign will be held from 25 November 2015 to 10 December 2015 (Human Rights Day).

Dhanush missile(a Naval Version of PRITHVI)

The nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile was successfully test fired from warship Subhadra, off the Puri coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal. The test was conducted by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and it was a perfect mission as the missile hit the target point with high degree of accuracy.It is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads with pay-load capacity of 500 kg and can strike targets in the range of 350 km.It is a nuclear capable missile.

President of ASSOCHAM

                          

The Vice Chairman of reputed non-banking finance company SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited Mr.Sunil Kanoria appointed as the President of The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Kanoria has succeeded Rana Kapoor, Yes Bank Managing Director and CEO.Kanoria has been associated with several industry associations - Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), Hire Purchase & Lease Association, Kolkata (HPLA), Merchants' Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata (MCC) and Federation of Indian Hire Purchase Association (FIHPA).He has also held the prestigious position as Member of the Working Group on Construction for the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-07) of the Planning Commission, Government of India. 

Chairperson of Target Olympic Podium Scheme

Anju Bobby George, the former long jump world champion,appointed as the chairperson of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). She will be assuming the charge in the first week of December 2015.Anju from Kerala was the first Indian athlete who won the bronze medal in the World Athletics Championships held in Paris in 2003.The TOP Scheme under the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) was formulated with the objective of identifying and supporting potential medal prospects for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. The focused disciplines of the scheme were Athletics, Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Wrestling and Shooting.

Tenth East Asia Summit

The 10th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 22 November 2015. It was chaired by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, the Honourable Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak and attended by the Heads of State/Government of ASEAN Member States, Australia, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States of America.

National Security Advisor of Pakistan

Retired Lieutenant General Nasser Khan Janjua has been appointed as the new National Security Advisor (NSA) of Pakistan. His appointment will increase army’s hold on the security affairs of the country.He will take the charge from Sartaj Aziz,86,who had been holding dual offices of NSA and Adviser on Foreign Affairs, with status of a federal minister but now the appointment of the new NSA will help Mr Aziz to concentrate on diplomatic affairs.

India’s first Paragliding World Cup

Himachal Pradesh is hosting Paragliding World Cup 2015 at Bir Billing in Kangra valley. The world cup will be held under the aegis of Para-gliding World Cup Association, France with Snow leopard as it's official mascot.This is for the first time that India will be hosting the Paragliding World Cup in which some of the best paragliders of the world from over 50 countries will participate.

Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma, who is also President of the Billing Paragliding Association (BPA), directed to ban construction activities near the takeoff and landing sites.

1st Male Member of National Commission for Women

Former Cabinet Secretary Alok Rawat has been appointed as the first male member of the National Commission for Women, filling the fourth seat in the five-member body.Mr Rawat is a 1977 batch Sikkim cadre IAS officer, and  has served as Director/Joint Secretary in Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways; Secretary (UPSC).He has also served as Secretary (Coordination and Public Grievances) in the Cabinet Secretariat and Secretary in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Basel-III reforms

Basel III  is a comprehensive set of reform measures, developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, to strengthen the regulation, supervision and risk management of the banking sector. It has to to implemented by countries central bank for growth of banking sector.

reforms target:

bank-level, or microprudential, regulation, which will help raise the resilience of individual banking institutions to periods of stress.

macroprudential, system wide risks that can build up across the banking sector as well as the procyclical amplification of these risks over time.

Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2015

Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2015 will be awarded to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The prize carries a cash award of Rs. 25 lakh and a citation. It was first awarded in 1986.UN General Assembly established UNHCR on December 14, 1950 initially to help people displaced by World War II. Since then it became the principal agency that has helped displaced persons the world over.International jury of the prize, headed by Vice President Hamid Ansari, has taken the decision, Secretary, Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, Suman Dubey said.

space agency is attempting to grow flowers in space

Flowers could be blooming on the International Space Station (ISS) after New Year,NASA's first flowering crop (lettuce) experiment on the orbiting laboratory became success on August 2015 and now attempting to grow Zinnias.NASA astronaut and Space Station crew member Kjell Lindgren set up a plant growth experiment.The Zinnias will grow for 60 days, which is twice as long as the first and second crop of lettuce that grew on the space station. During the growth cycle, the LED lights will be on for 10 hours and off for 14 hours in order to stimulate the plants to flower.

Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament 2015

India has won the 8th Asian junior hockey championship by defeating Pakistan in the final match in Malaysia. Harmanpreet became the highest scorer with his four goals in the match taking his tournament tally to 15 goals in the tournament.

First ‘Distinguished Indologist’ award

President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the first `Distinguished Indologist` Award to Prof. Emeritus Heinrich Freiherr Von Stietencron of the Federal Republic of Germany during the International Conference of Indologists at Rashtrapati Bhavan.First time a World Indology Conference in collaboration with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).Conference concluded with a special lecture by former President of ICCR, Dr. Karan Singh on Upanishads. 

UP Government Clean UP, Green UP

Uttar Pradesh has earned itself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the state government's green drive under which 10 lakh saplings were planted in one day within a span of eight hours.The certificate for UP Government’s record-setting performance was awarded to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at the function held in Saifai in Etawah district. On the eve of state government’s ‘Clean UP, Green UP’ initiative Chief Minister himself had planted peepal plant at Maudaha dam in Hamirpur district.

US Director of ADB

President Barack Obama has nominated India-born Swati A. Dandekar to be United States director of the Asian Development Bank(ADB), with the rank of ambassador.She served on the Iowa Utilities Board from 2011 to 2013.  Prior to joining the Utilities Board, Dandekar served in the Iowa State Senate from 2009 to 2011 and in the Iowa State House of Representatives from 2002 to 2008.Dandekar was the first Indian-born American citizen to win a state legislature seat in the United States.

interceptor AAD

Indigenously developed supersonic Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile was successfully test fired from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.The interceptor AAD missile has been indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under Ballistic Missile Defence Programme.It is a 7.5-meter tall and single stage solid rocket propelled guided missile. It is equipped with a navigation system along with a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical activator. It also has its own mobile launcher, sophisticated radars and independent tracking system to secure data link for interception and homing capabilities.

Annual Gender Gap Report 2015

The World Economic Forum released its annual Gender Gap Report on November.  Around 145 countries were evaluated for their approach to gender equality based on economic, educational, health-based and political indicators.The report showed the gap in the education-employment-leadership flow. While more women than men have enrolled in universities in 97 countries, women in only 68 countries constitute the majority of work force.The report also put India at the 108th rank in gender equality whereas, Iceland topped the chart for the seventh consecutive year.

The top five countries on the list are Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Ireland.

The last five countries are Iran (141), Chad, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen (145).

The non-European countries at the top 10 are Rwanda (6), Phillipines (7) and New Zealand (10).

Track Asia Cup cycling meet

India finished its campaign in the Track Asia Cup cycling meet by winning 11 medals, including 3 gold medals, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals, at the IG Sports Complex.India ranked third in overall medals tally.South korea finished at the top with 6 gold 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.Uzbekistan secured second place with three gold and four silver medals.

Indiana FIDE Rating Chess Tournament

Maharashtra’s chess player Srishti Pandey clinched the second Indiana All India FIDE Rating Chess tournament.The tournament was organised by Nagpur Taluka Chess Association, which concluded at Dr Hedgewar Smarak Samiti Hall, Reshimbagh, Nagpur.Fourteen years old Pandey shared points with Avadh Chaitanya from Madhya Pradesh playing on the top board and ended with seven and half points each at the end of the ninth and last round of the Swiss-league tournament.Srishti Pandey won Indiana FIDE Rating Chess Tournament.

2015 IBSF World Snooker Championship

India's most successful cueist Pankaj Advani won the 2015 IBSF World Snooker Championship. In the final match played at Hurghada (Egypt), he defeated his Chinese opponent Zhua XintongHe had entered the finals of the Championship after defeating Alex Borg of Malta.He also became the first person in history of Snooker to take the short (6-Red) and the long snooker format in the same calender year. 

23.55% salary hike

7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) headed by Justice AK Mathur has recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees. In this regard the commission has submitted its report to Union Finance Ministry in New Delhi and the recommended pay revision will come into effect from 1 January 2016.pay will go up by 16 percent, allowances by 63 percent and pension by 24 percent.

Tianhe-2

China’s Tianhe-2 supercomputer has emerged as the world’s most powerful supercomputer system for the sixth consecutive time. Chinese Supercomputer is capable of performing calculations with processing speed of 33.86 petaflops per second (Pflop/s).

Supercomputer Titan of the US Department of Energy has been placed at second position. It has a performance of 17.59 Pflop/s. 

2015 Sultan of Johor Cup of Hockey

Great Britain won the 2015 Sultan of Johor Cup under-21 field hockey tournament by defeating defending champions India.Sumit Kumar and Harmanpreet Singh of India with three goals each have been the top scorers in the tournament for the country.Match played at Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Established in 2011 and named after the Sultan of Johor, a ceremonial hereditary seat and title of the nominal ruler of the Malaysian state of Johor. The tournament held annually in Malaysia and it is the only invitational junior hockey competition played at international level.

India’s ambassador to China

Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to China.Mr.Gokhale currently serving as the India’s Ambassador to Germany. He is a 1981 batch India Foreign Service (IFS) officer.Mr. Gokhale has also held the posts of director (China and East Asia) and then Joint Secretary (East Asia) and is known to be one of the most knowledgeable officials, who is well-versed with China affairs.

Biggest Collaboration of NASA and ISRO

ISRO and NASA are jointly working on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission.This mission will be the biggest collaboration between the two space agencies.NISAR mission is a dual frequency (L & S Band) Radar Imaging Satellite.ISRO will be providing the "spacecraft bus'',S- band SAR payload and the  launch vehicle,while NASA will be providing the L-band SAR and the engineering payload for the mission.The mission involves building a 2,600 kg satellite that will “effectively make a time-lapse movie of the earth” while keeping a close eye on disturbances in the ecosystem, ice-sheet collapses and natural hazards.It is expected to be launched in 2020.

new AIFF advisor

All India Football Federation (AIFF) has appointed former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia as an advisor for overall issues of the game and fedaration.

India's Permanent Representative to United Nations

Syed Akbaruddin,who was the chief coordinator of the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) held in New Delhi last month, has been appointed as the new permanent representative of India to the United Nations in New York.Syed Akbaruddin is a 1985-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and has been the spokesperson of External Affairs Ministry (MEA).He is currently serving as an Additional Secretary in MEA.Mr Akbaruddin will be replacing Asoke Kumar Mukherjee, who will be retiring.

2015 Brazilian Grand Prix

German Formula One motor racer Nico Rosberg defeated Lewis Hamilton to grab the Brazilian Grand Prix trophy. Sebastian Vettel grabbed the third position in the race.Rosberg reserved his place as runner-up in 2015 Formula One world championship.The 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race that was held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, in São Paulo, Brazil.

2015 China Open

Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has won silver medal at 2015 China Open Superseries Premier Badminton tournament after finishing at second position in the Women’s Singles category.Final match held at Haixia Olympic sports centre in Fuzhou.Saina was defeated by Xuerui Li from china by 12-21,15-21 score.

National Award for child Welfare, 2014

This award is presented by President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee to institutions and individuals for their outstanding performance in the field of child development and welfare.
Shri Emidio Pinho from Goa
Shabina Ahmed from Assam
Shri Pentakota Satyanarayana from Andhra Pradesh
Society for Welfare of the Handicapped, Patiala, Punjab
SATHI (Society for Assistance to Children in Difficult Situation), Bangalore, Karnataka.

Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award

“Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award for Service to Children” in 1994 to honour individuals who have made outstanding contribution towards the cause of children. The Award was instituted on 20th August,1994, the 50th Birth Anniversary of the late Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi who had deep love and concern for children.

The award is presented by shri Pranav Mukherjee to 3 individuals for their outstanding contribution towards service or children.

Moji jini from Arunachal Pradesh

Smt Vaijayanti M. Chougala from Karanataka

Santhosh. G. Thomas from Thiruvananthapuram

Neev fund

Nation's first low income state infrastructure equity partnership or Neev Fund was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in UK in the presence of David Cameron, PM, United Kingdom.Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, SBI said “State Bank of India is proud to be associated with the Department for International Development (DFID) Government of UK for launching of the Fund which will invest in small infrastructure projects in eight low income states of the country.The fund will invest in small infrastructure projects in eight low-income states.The fund aims at providing equity partnerships for small infrastructure development in sectors like water and sanitation, clean energy and urban infrastructure and to help small projects to raise capital in the long-term with equitable growth.

Best Finance Minister of Asia Award

 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been chosen as 'Finance Minister of the Year, Asia' by London-based publication Emerging Markets.In an article the magazine said that Jaitley too deserves 'some recognition' for India's relative economic success over the last 18 months.India's relative economic success have gone to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, who was recognised with Emerging Markets' Central Bank Governor of the Year award for Asia last year.

35th IITF in New Delhi

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated 35th edition of India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. IITF 2015 presents an ideal platform for the global fraternity which has a shared interest in trade relations to enhance peace and prosperity.The 14 day fair has been organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), under aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Over 7,000 firms from India and overseas are participating.

Theme of 2015 edition of IITF is Make in India in order to encourage companies to manufacture their products in India.

2015 International Children's Peace Prize

                                    

Liberian teenager  Abraham M Keita awarded with the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prizeon 10 November 2015 from Nobel Peace Laureate and his countrywoman Leymah Gbowee in The Hague,the Netherland.He was awarded for his extraordinary and peaceful fight for justice for child victims of physical or sexual violence, and for successfully campaigning for the Liberian parliament to adopt the Children’s Law.

GSAT-15

 

The Indian Space Research Organisation has given the nation the most appropriate Diwali gift - An indigeneously made communications satellite GSAT-15. It was successfully launched at 03:04 am (IST) today, using one of the world's largest rockets - the Ariane-5. The launch took place from Kourou in French Guyana in South America.The GSAT-15 satellite weighs 3164 kilograms and has been made at a cost of Rs 278 crores. It carries a suite of 24 transponders which will help in Direct-to-Home (DTH) broadcasting. It also carries a GPS-Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands, which will help in aircraft navigation.

Loan Agreement with Asian Development Bank

The Union Government on 9 November 2015 signed 273 million US dollar loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue improving rural roads in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.The loan agreement was signed by S Selvakumar, Joint Secretary (Bilateral Cooperation), Department of Economic Affairs and Teresa Kho, Country Director of ADB. 

Ethics Officer (Ombudsman) at BCCI

Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, was on 9 November 2015  in appointed as the ethics officer (ombudsman) at Board of Control for CricketIndia (BCCI). He will preside as the sole decision maker on all conflict of interest issues plaguing Indian cricket.The decision to appoint an ombudsman was taken at the Board's 86th Annual General Meeting to end the problem on conflict of interest in the Board. This is being considered as a BCCI’s clean-up operation.

Vice-chairman of Bank of International Settlement

Raghuram Rajan, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor who has been a vocal votary for increased co-ordination among central banks, has been elected vice-chairman of the Bank of International Settlement (BIS). Mr. Rajan will have a three-year term as vice-chairman of the BIS.

Mr. Rajan is the first Indian central bank Governor to become the vice-chairman of BIS.BIS is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and acts as a coordinating body among central banks to ensure global monetary and financial stability. The BIS board meets at least six times a year.Mr. Rajan was appointed Governor of the RBI in September 2013, and was given a three-year term. This new role of Mr. Rajan will surely boost his chances for an extension next year, according to central bank watchers.

13th Asian Shooting Championships

10m air pistol junior women’s event: Shri Nivetha of India won a gold medal with a score of 195.8. She defeated Shinemurun Nyamdorj of Mongolia (195.4) and Heesun Kim of Korea (174.4) who have won the silver and bronze medals respectively.
10M air pistol uouth women’s team event: Indian trio of Harshada Nithave (374), Nayani Bharadwaj (374) and Malaika Goel (365) won the gold medal in this team event. Mongoloia won the silver medal and South Korea won the bronze medal.
 25m pistol men’s junior event: Shivam Shukla of India won gold medal by shooting a score of 576. Jungwoo Park (575) and Jaekyoon Lee (572) both from South Korea claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively.
Junior skeet men’s competition: Angad Bajwa of India won the individual gold medal.
 In the team event of this category, Angad Bajwa (121), Anant Naruka (112) and Arjun Mann (114) shot a total score of 347 winning team gold medal.

13th Asian Shooting Championship

Ace Indian shooter, Heena Sidhu has won Gold medal in 10 metre Air Pistol event in women’s category at 13th Asian Shooting Championships held in Kuwait. In the final match, Heena shot 198.2 score to defeat Gundegma Otreyad of Mongolia who shot 198 winning Silver medal. Jangmi Kim of South Korea won the bronze with a score of 176.2.

global growth forecast

A further sharp downturn in emerging market economies and world trade has weakened global growth to around 2.9 percent this year – well below its long-term average – and is a source of uncertainty for near-term prospects, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).In its latest twice-yearly Economic Outlook, the OECD projected a gradual strengthening of global growth in 2016 and 2017 to 3.3 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, but said any pick-up would require a smooth rebalancing of activity in China and more investment in advanced economies.

Agni-IV

Indian Army’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) on 9 November 2015 successfully test-fired surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile. The nuclear capable missile was test-fired from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast.SFC is entrusted with the task of handling strategic weapons of the country. It is 20 meters in length weighs 17 tonnes and carries a pay load of one tone. With light weight, the missile has two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with re-entry heat shield.

 It was developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is the fourth missile in the series of Agni missiles. It was earlier known as Agni-II prime.

                                    

ICC chairman

BCCI president Shashank Manohar is set to replace N Srinivasan for the remainder of the latter's term as ICC chairman. Manohar will occupy the position till end of June next year. The BCCI also appointed former ICC president Sharad Pawar as the second nominee to attend ICC meetings in case Manohar was unavailable.The decision to remove Srinivasan was taken at the BCCI’s 86th Annual General Meeting , virtually signalling the end of his hold on Indian cricket.

Most Powerful Woman In Indian Business

Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson of country's largest bank SBI, remains the most powerful woman in the Indian business sector. ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank follow Bhattacharya at the second and third place, respectively.Besides, HPCL Chairperson and Managing Director (MD) Nishi Vasudeva has bagged the fourth position, while AZB & Partners Co-Founder Zia Mody and Aruna Jayanthi Chief Executive of Capgemini India shared the fifth rank.

Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom

Mr. Navtej Sarna, presently Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of lndia to the United Kingdom.Mr. Sarna, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1980 batch, was expected to take up his assignment shortly.Mr. Sarna, who is also a well-known author and columnist, had earlier served as Joint Secretary (External Publicity) and official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs between October 2002 and September 2008 in the longest stint for anyone so far in that key position.

New Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India

Shri Deepak Singhal has taken over as the new Executive Director at the Reserve Bank of India today, November 2, 2015. He will look after Central Security Cell, Corporate Strategy and Budget Department, Department of Corporate Services, Human Resource Management Department (including HR Operations Unit), Rajbhasha Department and Right to Information Act Division.Deepak Singhal replaced K K Vohra.

FIFA World Rankings 2015

Belgium moved to the top for the the FIFA world ranking list in football of first time. The team rose from third to first after overtaking Argentina & world champions Germany.The former No. 1 ranked side, Argentina, dropped to third, while Copa America champions Chile rose four places to fifth, your highest ranking. Austria improved one place to a best ever tenth place. Iran continued to top the rankings among AFC countries followed by Korea & Japan.

RBI announced Uniform Guidelines on Internet Banking

Reserve Bank for the India (RBI) on 5 November 2015 announced revised & uniform guidelines on Internet Banking for all licensed cooperative banks involving Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), Cooperative Banks (StCBs) & Districts Co-operative Banks (DCBs).These guidelines relate to Internet Banking (View Only) facility & Internet Banking with Transaction facility.

Three Gold Schemes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three gold related scheme viz Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS), Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme (SGBS) and Indian Gold Coins (IGC). These ambitious schemes were launched to reduce the physical demand for gold and fish out 20,000 tonnes of the precious metal lying idle with households and institutions.

World’s Most Powerful Person

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as World’s ninth Most Powerful Person in the Forbes annual ranking of 73 persons list of 2015. The list gives the annual ranking of the World’s 72 Most Powerful People on the basis of their financial resources, scope and use of power and the number of people they impact.

13th Asian Shooting Championship

Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai has won silver medal in 50 metre pistol event category at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait City. With this he became India’s first senior player to win the Asian Shooting Championship. In the final, he lost to South Korea’s Park Daehun who shot record score of 199.2 to clinch the gold medal. Jitu Rai scored 189.5 points to settle at second position.

First female jockey to win Melbourne Cup

Michelle Payne has become the first female jockey to win Australia’s most prestigious horse race Melbourne Cup 2015 worth 6.2 million dollars. Payne achieved this feat after she rode New Zealand-bred Prince of Penzance to a famous victory in the race.She is also the 4th female jockey to ride in the Cup during its 155-year history which is dubbed as Australia’s richest and most prestigious horse race.

Replacing of two satellites

 

GSAT 15 will be launched next week to replace two satellites INSAT 3A and INSAT 4B which are expiring in the coming months. The Satellite mainly caters to the DTH operators ,VSAT operators who provide broadband and and DSNG (digital satellite news gathering) for TV news channels.  Saudi Arabia’s Arabsat-6B/Badr-7 also will be launched alongside on  European Arianespace’s Ariane-5 launcher.

Highest Terrestrial Research

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has established the world’s Highest Terrestrial Research Centre near Pengong Lake at Changla in Ladakh. The centre dubbed as Extreme Altitude Research Centre is located at 17,600 feet above mean sea level and was inaugurated by Director General of DRDO Dr S Christopher.

Maharashtra Government approves APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna

Maharashtra Government has approved APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna scheme to provide one full hot cooked nutritious food to pregnant, lactating women in the tribal areas. It was approved by the state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai.

Chief Justice of India

Justice T S Thakur (63)  will be next Chief Justice of India. His name has been recommended by current  CJI Justice Dattu. Current CJI Justice Dattu will retire on December 2, 2015. Presently, Justice Thakur is the senior most judge of the Supreme Court. He would be the 43rd CJI.

Global trade growth

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) recently lowered the global trade forecast for 2015 to 2.8 percent.The organisation stated factors like lower global crude oil and other commodity prices, exchange rate fluctuations and feeble import demands in emerging markets for reducing the forecast from its 3.3 percent estimate in April.