NATIONAL UPDATES:
I. Aruna Sundarajan appointed as new
Steel Secretary: She has been appointed as Secretary in
Ministry of Steel.
II. Govt. appoints 5 member committee
to review Research Grants offered by UGC: The Review
Committee will submit its report to the Ministry by December 2015. The ministry
has also directed the UGC not to implement its decision to discontinue the
non-NET fellowships and continue all existing fellowships.
III. India, France ink MoU on preserving
Written Heritage at National Library in Kolkata:Both
the countries have signed a MoU to conserve, develop and publicize written
heritage at the National Library in Kolkata.
IV. MP Government announces 33 percent
quota in Government jobs.
V. Najib Shah appointed as Chairman of
CBEC: He has been appointed as the Chairman of Central
Board of Excise and Customs.
VI. IBM and TASK signed MoU to ensure
cloud technology in Telangana colleges: The agreement aims at
making the IBM cloud available to colleges in Telangana for faculty and
students to utilize it for practicals and project work.
VII. Supreme Court reinforced its
earlier view of No Reservation in Super Speciality Courses in Medicine.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
I. Mahatma, Modi among most admired
globally: WEF Survey: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the
10th most admired personality globally, as per a new survey by the
World Economic Forum (WEF) that has ranked late South African President Nelson
Mandela on the top. Mahatma Gandhi is
ranked 4th most admired leader.
II. Asia Pacific Region most disaster
prone part of the world, says UN report: The Asia-Pacific
region is the most disaster prone part of the world as it had suffered around
1625 disasters in the decade through 2014. It was revealed in recently released
2015 United Nations Asia-Pacific Disaster Report.
III. UNGA members voted a resolution
condemning US embargo on Cuba: United Nations General
Assembly overwhelmingly approved the resolution condemning an economic embargo
imposed by the US on Cuba. It stated that existence of such restrictions
undermines multilateralism and credibility of the UN.
IV. Freedom on the Net 2015 Report
released: Freedom House, a non-government watchdog, released
the report on the theme-Privatizing Censorship, Eroding Privacy. As per the
report, global online freedom declined for a 5th consecutive year as
governments, including some advanced democracies, continue to clamp down
dissidents using social media platforms on the internet. With respect to India,
the report found that freedom on the internet is partly free with a total score
of 40 on a 0 to 100 scale.
V. Nepal signed MoU with China to ease
fuel crisis: Nepal signed the MoU with China in order
to ease fuel crisis in the country by importing all kinds of fuel. This will be
the 1st time that China is commercially supplying petroleum to
Nepal.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS:
I. Hockey India signed
three years partnership with Sports Authority of India: As per the terms of agreement, SAI will promote hockey,
which is amongst the world’s most popular sports, as a tool for youth
development and excellence in sports.