National
• India has joined select club nations to build Liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships after state owned Cochin Shipyard has received certification in this regard. Cochin Shipyard also became first shipyard in India to get the nod to build LNG-transporting ships for any client world-wide.
• Lok Sabha has unanimously passed the National Waterways Bill, 2015 by voice vote after it was introduced by Union Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. The bill aims at declaring 106 additional inland waterways as National Waterways in addition to the five existing National Waterways.
• Union Ministry of Defence has launched a new Make in India website www.makeinindiadefence.com to make defence acquisition process simpler and to provide an interface with industry.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off first prototype pollution free electric bus for Members of Parliament.The bus powered by battery has been manufactured in the lines with Union Government’s flagship Make in India campaign.
• Parliament has passed Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015 for trying juveniles as adults.
• The Union Government has notified the revised standards for coal-based Thermal Power Plants in the country with the primary aim of minimizing pollution In this regard, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) has issued notification and proposed theses standard to be implemented in a phased manner.
• Tripura government has decided to include Yoga in school curriculum in support to the national campaign. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has declared that Yoga would be introduced as a subject in State-run and government-aided schools from 2016.
• Union Government has adopted the strategy of developing integrated industrial/economic corridors across the country in partnership with respective State Governments for boosting industrial development.
• Indian Navy has conducted a large scale Fleet exercise on the eastern seaboard to maintain high levels of combat readiness and counter emerging threats.
• India’s first indigenously designed warship INS Godavari decommissioned has been decommissioned after 32 years of service. It was decommissioned at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai (Maharashtra) after it completed its full life cycle, meeting all responsibilities and duties assigned in 3 decades of service. After decommissioning, the ship would be used as a target to practice missile firing for final burial at sea.
• Parliament has passed three bills in ongoing winter session. These bills were passed by the Rajya Sabha without discussion after they were earlier passed by Lok Sabha. These 3 bills are Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2015, Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015.
• The Lok Sabha has passed The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to allow doubling of wage ceiling for calculating bonus of factory workers and establishments with 20 or more workers.
• Union Government has launched two mobile applications namelyCrop Insurance and AgriMarket Mobile to benefit farmers.
• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval for implementation of an umbrella scheme for integrated development and management of fisheries.
• The Union Cabinet has given its nod to the Model Agreement on exemption from visa requirements for the holders of diplomatic and official passports.
• The Union Cabinet has approved the reconstruction and completion of Salma Dam Project in Afghanistan at the Revised Cost Estimates (RCE) of 1775.69 crore rupees.
• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Lucknow Metro Rail Project Phase &ndash 1 A. It will cover a length of 22.878 (approx 23) km with 22 stations and the metro train will ply between Chowdhary Charan Singh Airport and Munshi Pulia.
• The government has increased the tatkal ticket booking charges by up to 33 per cent. The Indian Railways has increased the tatkal booking charges for travel in sleeper class, AC-III tier, AC-II tier and executive class and will come into effect from December 25.
• North India’s first cable-stayed bridge named Atal Setu was inaugurated on Dunera-Basohli-Bhadharwah road in Basohali town in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The Union Government has added 106 drugs including that of HIV/AIDS, Cancer and Hepatitis C to the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new building of Afghanistan Parliament in the capital city Kabul built by India.
• Scientist from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) recently have successfully tested crucial anti-jamming capability of the Astra missile.
International
• Ruling conservative People’s Party (PP) of Spain led Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy by has won the 2015 general election of the country.
• Greece’s parliament has approved legislation legalising civil partnerships for gay couples, two years after the country was condemned by a European Court for discrimination.
• A plot of land for India to build its first naval base in the Indian Ocean region has been allocated by the Seychelles government in the Assumption Island.
• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a resolution to designate 5th November every year as World Tsunami Awareness Day.
• China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the top organ of China’s parliament has adopted the country’s first counter-terrorism law.
• China has officially abandoned its One Child Policy amid deepening demographic crisis of shrinking workforce and aging population in the world’s second largest economy.
• China’s Parliament has adopted the country’s first law against domestic violence that prohibits any form of domestic violence, including psychological abuse.
• Philippines became the first Asian country to approve the sale of the world’s first ever dengue vaccine Dengvaxia in the country.
Business and Economy
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations by another six months to June 30, 2016.
• IT major Tech Mahindra has launched first of its kind Tap N Paycontactless digital payment wallet MoboMoney for the Indian masses.
• State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has emerged as the country’s biggest company in terms of annual revenue as per an annual list of 2015 Fortune 500 companies in India.
Sports
• The International Tennis Federation (ITF) named the Indo-Swiss pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis as the 2015 ITF women's doubles World Champions.
• Brendon McCullum has officially announced that he will retire after the second Test against Australia in February. It also means that he will not be available for the World T20 starting soon after and Kane Williamson is set to lead New Zealand in the marquee tournament.
• Seasoned Indian luger Shiva Keshavan has won a silver medal at the 2015 Asian Luge Championship held in Nagano, Japan.
Awards
• Indian American Professor Dr. Rakesh K. Jain has been selected for 2015 National Medal of Science of the United States.
• India’s former wicket-keeper batsman Syed Kirmani has been nominated for prestigious BCCI-instituted Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award 2015.
• Australian cricketer Steve Smith has been named Cricketer of the Year for 2015 at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Awards ceremony in Dubai.
New Appointments
• Private air carrier Jet Airways has appointed Amit Agarwal as its new full time Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
• Senior IAS officer Pawan Kumar Agarwal has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Food Regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Science and Technology
• The US space agency NASA has suspended the planned launch of a Mars lander called InSight in March 2016 due to unsuccessful attempts to repair a leak in a French-built seismological instrument.
• SpaceX sent a Falcon rocket soaring towards the orbit with 11 small satellites, its first mission since an accident last summer. Then in an even more astounding feat, it landed the 15-storey leftover booster back on Earth safely.
Death
• Veteran Bollywood actress Sadhna Shivdasani (mononymously known as Sadhana) passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. She was 74.
• Renowned American science-fiction writer George Clayton Johnson passed away in Los Angeles, US. He was 86.
Special Days
• In India, 24th December is being observed as National Consumer Day. On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the President.
• In India, National Good Governance Day is being observed every year on 25th December on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna recipient Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Current Affairs: 31st December, 2015 Important Days in November and December Current Affairs bullet points Round up 15th to 21st December, 2015 Current Affairs Round up November, 2015.
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