Genesis-December 2015 Issue II PDF

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve
The Genesis
December 2015-Issue-II
Current Affairs
Climatechangeconference:Donedeal
India
States
10
World
11
Sports
14
Economy
16
Corporate
19
CyberBuzz
24
Science&Technology
25
Climate Conference: 3
The agreement aims to keep
the
rise
in
global
temperatures well below 2
degrees Celsius from preindustrial times to the end of
this century and endeavour
to limit them even further to
1.5 degrees Celsius
People
Faces:SunilBhartiMittal
17
BusinessBiography:VandanaLuthra
18
Knowledge Corners
RecentReleases:UnquietLand,NationatPlay,PublicIntellectual
26
GD:Honouringthenationalanthem
27
Crossword,Sudoku
28,36
Doyouremember?
29
CorporateKnowledgeQuiz
32
PointCounterpoint
35
Group Discussion: 27
A video has gone viral on
social media showing some
people arguing with a family
who refused to stand up
when the national anthem
was played in a theatre of
PVR Cinemas in Mumbai. The
family left the cinema hall
after the manager made a
request to them
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No destiny attacks us from outside.But, within him, man bears his fate. Antoine De Saint-Exupery
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THE GENESIS
Climate change conference: Done deal
The agreement aims to keep the rise in global temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius
from pre-industrial times to the end of this century and endeavour to limit them even further
to 1.5 degrees Celsius
After two weeks of rigorous negotiations, a legallybinding pact seeking to limit global warming to below 2
degree Celsius - will come into effect from 2020 - reached
after nearly 200 countries reached a landmark deal to
fight global warming and accepted the final draft of an
ambitious climate change agreement in Paris on
December 12.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced that
the Paris agreement has been adopted, marking consensus
among the ministers, who stood for several minutes to
clap.
Climate change agreement: Key points
To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible

and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of
greenhouse gases in the second half of this century
To keep global temperature increase well below 2C
and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C
To review progress every five years
$100bn a year in climate finance for developing
countries by 2020, with a commitment to further
finance in the future
The deal ended decades-long rows between rich and poor
nations over how to carry out a multi-trillion-dollar effort
to cap global warming. The pact, which is partly legally
binding and partly voluntary, is the first to commit all
countries to cut carbon emissions. Key blocs, including
G77 group of developing countries, and nations such as
India and China supported the proposals.
Welcoming the deal, Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar said, Today is a historic day. What we have
adopted is not only an agreement, but we have written a
chapter of hope in the lives of 7 billion people.
Environment groups said the Paris agreement is a turning
point in history and spelt the demise of the fossil fuel
industry, pointing particularly to the significance of the
1.5 degree Celsius goal.
The gathered countries agreed that they would try to peak
their global emissions soonest possible with developed
countries doing so before others do. But collectively they
would ensure that in the second half the century the net
greenhouse gas emissions turn to zero. In this too the

developed countries would have to put more effort than
others and the developing countries would get latitude to
ensure poverty eradication.
The high degree of unity among developing countries in
the G77+China group, and especially between India and
China within the Like Minded Developing Countries,
ensured that the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities (CBDR) found place in the agreement
ensuring that the developed world would still be taking
the lead and that the burden on the developing world to
fight climate change would not be more onerous than that
of the developed world.
While the deal commits developed countries to contribute
at least $100 billion a year from 2020 onwards for
adaptation and mitigation efforts of developing countries,
this is not legally binding on them. Success in achieveing
targets set in Paris hinge on the availability of finance and
technology required by developing countries to keep
emissions low. Though the accord commits wealthy
nations to provide more climate finance to poorer nations,
there is ambiguity both on how much they are obliged to
assist and on what constitutes climate finance. It is
similarly waffly on technology sharing and transfer
key concerns of developing nations such as India.Richer
nations must help poorer ones by adept technology
transfer, financial assistance and through institutionbuilding. In the absence of robust social and economic
institutions, poorer nations will be unable to move
towards what has fashionably come to be called the green
economy. Most developing nations need money to bypass
the use of fossil fuels and move towards renewable
sources of energy. Rich nations have a responsibility to
help nations most vulnerable to climate change.
For India, the signal from Paris is clearly for a shift away
from polluting fossil fuels such as coal and oil to
renewable energy. Like all other countries, India is now
required to periodically report on its targets and
performance under the Agreement. The question of
adaptation to climate change and addressing loss and
damage looms large for India, given the regular cycles of
crippling droughts, devastating flooding and lost
livelihoods.
THE GENESIS
Current Affairs: India

HAPPENINGS
India State of Forest Report released: Indias forest and tree cover has increased by 5081 sq km. While the
total forest cover of the country has increased by 3775 sq km, the tree cover has gone up by 1306 sq km over 2013.
According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015 released in New Delhi in December, the total forest and tree
cover is 79.42 million hectare, which is 24.16% of the total geographical area. Union Minister of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar said the Government is committed to take necessary steps to ensure that the
forest cover goes up from 24% to 33% of the total geographical area. Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover of
77,462 sq km in the country, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, with a forest cover of 67,248 sq km and Chhattisgarh
55,586 sq km. Mizoram, with 88.93% of forest cover has the highest forest cover in percentage terms.
Massive floods batter Chennai: Battered by incessant rains and massive flooding that killed more than 200
people, Chennai started returning to normalcy in the second week of December. Storm water receded from most of the
inundated areas and power supply was restored in most places. NDRF, and Armed forces sent by Centre rescued more
than 28,000 persons in flood affected areas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each
to the families of those who lost their lives due to flood
Power of remission cant be exercised suo motu by states: The Supreme Court ruled held that States
cannot exercise statutory power to remit sentences of convicts, tried under central laws and probed by central agencies
like CBI without consulting the centre. Settling the constitutional issues that had arisen out of the Tamil Nadu
governments decision to set free the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the apex court said in December
that though the states have power to grant remission, they cannot exercise it suo motu. A five-judge Constitution Bench
headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu also said that the Centre will have primacy in granting remission to convicts in cases
registered under the central law and probed by central agencies like the CBI. The Tamil Nadu government wanted to
release three convicts -- Murugan, Santhan and Peraarivaalan, whose death sentence had been commuted to life term.
Global Initiative of Academic Networks launched: The Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN)
programme was formally launched by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Smriti Irani in
Gandhinagar on November 30. Over the next year or so, faculty from highly rated institutions abroad will visit India,
interact and partner with their counterparts and with students, and deliver specialised courses. These lectures would be
made available later to the students across the country online. A web portal (gian.iitkgp.ac.in) has been designed by IIT
Kharagpur to allow electronic registration and online assessment.
Accessible India Campaign launched: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Accessible India Campaign
(Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) on December 3 on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities and
presented National Awards for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. The campaign aims to make transport, public
spaces and information and communication technology accessible to differently-abled people. An Indian-American
techie Pranav Desai was appointed as advisor to the campaign. Also the first International Film Festival for Persons with
Disabilities was organised in New Delhi in December.
National organ donation registry launched: Union Health Minister JP Nadda inaugurated a national organ
donation registry that will track, facilitate and promote organ donations across the country. Headquartered at Safdarjung
hospital in New Delhi, the registry called National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) will also lay
down policy guidelines and protocols for organ donation and network with similar state-level organizations. November
27 was observed as the 6th India Organ Donation Day. Tamil Nadu was adjudged the state that saw the highest number
of organ donations and did the highest number of awareness programmes.
Media campaign on Hepatitis-B awareness launched: J.P. Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family
Welfare launched a media campaign on Hepatitis-B in Mumbai in November. The drive will aim to create awareness
THE GENESIS
about Hepatitis-B and its vaccine through campaigns led by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan. The
actor said that Hepatitis B can be present in our blood streams for years and go undetected, only to strike with a
vengeance when you least expect it. Having been a patient himself, the actor said he was happy to narrate his story to
create awareness about this cause.
South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise held: The first South Asian Annual Disaster
Management Exercise (SAADMEx) - 2015 was organised in New Delhi in November. O P Singh, Director General,
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), called for the need to develop better mechanism for tackling disasters and
also minimize the impact.
Govt brings forward the target date for PMGSY: The Government has brought forward the target date by
three years from 2022 to 2019 to achieve complete rural connectivity through all-weather roads under Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sadak Yojana, PMGSY. This was announced by Union Minister for Rural Development Birender Singh in
November. PMGSY was launched in year 2000 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with the objective to provide single allweather road connectivity to all eligible unconnected rural habitations. PMGSY was launched during the tenure of Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in 1999-2004.
Samanvay 2015 organised in Delhi: The fifth edition of Indian Languages Festival - Samanvay 2015 was
organised at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi in November. The central theme of the four day event was
Insider/Outsider: Writing Indias Dreams and Realities. Tamil writer Perumal Murugans novel Madhorubhagan was
honoured with the fourth ILF Samanvay Bhasha Samman. Also eminent Malayalam poet and translator Attoor Ravi
Varma was felicitated for winning the debut Vani-Samanvay Distinguished Translator Award.
Byelections held for 2 LS, 5 Assembly seats: Congress snatched the Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha seat from the
BJP while BJP retained Dewas Legislative Assembly seat in by-elections in Madhya Pradesh in November. In
Telangana, Telanagana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) retained the Warangal Lok Sabha seat when its candidate P. Dayakar won
by a record majority of 4.59 lakh votes. In Manipur, the BJP opened its account in the state assembly by winning bypolls
in Thangmeiband and Thongju constituencies. In Mizoram, the Congress won the Aizawl North-III Assembly seat. In
Meghalaya, the Hill State Peoples Democratic Party (HSPDP) retained the Nongstoin Assembly seat. Elections were
held for two Lok Sabha and five assembly seats in these states.
Winter session of Parliament begins: Winter session of Parliament began on November 26 with the Lok Sabha
holding a special two day discussion on commitment to Indias Constitution. This is part of the 125th birth anniversary
celebration of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, architect of the Indian Constitution. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till November 27
due to death of a sitting member Khekiho Zhimomi of the Nagaland Peoples Front. Zhimomi, 69, died in New Delhi on
November 26.
17thInternational conference of APYF organised: The 17thInternational conference of Asia Pacific Youth
Forum on Conservation of Biodiversity through Environmental Awareness was organised in Kozhikode in November.
As many as 200 delegates from abroad as well as from India participated in the five-day event organised by the
Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA).
Megacity Security Conference organised: A two-day long Megacity Security Conference by the US Consulate
General, Mumbai in collaboration with the South Asia Centre of Atlantic Council, Washington DC and India Foundation,
was organised in Mumbai in November. The conference saw participation by policymakers, law enforcement officials,
security experts, and leading thinkers, who shared first-hand experience dealing with security policy in some of the
worlds largest megacities such as Mumbai, New York, Istanbul, Chicago, Manila, Dhaka, Nairobi, and Mexico City.
Urban Mobility Conference organised: A four-day conference on the theme of transforming mobility for
livability was organised in New Delhi in November. The event was organised by United Nations Environment
Programme and Indias Urban Development Ministry. About 1,200 delegates from India and 50 from abroad including,
mayors, municipal commissioners, experts, town planners, designers and architects attended the conference. The
THE GENESIS
conference discussed issues such as traffic engineering and safety, real time traffic modelling, climate change in
transportation, pedestrians, land use planning, inclusive uses of road space, strategies for low-carbon transport and
shaping the future cities.
Mobile Science bus on Digital India launched: The National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), an
autonomous organisation under the Culture Ministry, launched a Science Bus in Kolkata highlighting various aspects
and benefits of digital technology in different sectors. Museobus, which accommodates 15 exhibits, was flagged off
during the golden jubilee celebrations of the NCSM earlier on November 24. The exhibition describes the role of the
Internet, the World Wide Web and mobile phones in transforming the modern digital world.
International Conference on Ramlila organised: The Second International Conference on Ramlila: A
Festival Celebrating the Masterpieces of Intangible Heritage of Humanity was organized by IGNCA under Ministry of
Culture at IGNCA in New Delhi in November. The First International Conference on Ramlila was held in Trinidad &
Tobago in July 2013. Also the first ever World Indology Conference was organised by the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations at Rashtrapati Bhavan on November 21-23.
Child protection posters launched at railway stations: Minister of Women and Child Development
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and Minister of Railway Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu jointly started the pasting of posters for Child
Protection in trains at New Delhi Railway Station in November. A Childline Kiosk with the helpline number 1098 was
also inaugurated on the occasion. The posters advise the public to be cautious and conscious of children who may need
protection and also advise to what to do in case they come across such a child.
Interceptor missile test successful: Indias ballistic missile defence system received a boost after an upgraded
version of the indigenously developed interceptor missile was successfully launched against an electronically simulated
target missile over the Bay of Bengal in November. Immediately after receiving radar signals of the launch of target
missile from Chandipur in Odishas Balasore district, the upgraded interceptor missile, AAD (Advanced Air Defence),
lifted off from the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island and destroyed the incoming missile.
Agni-I test successful: India successfully test-fired its in indigenously developed nuclear capable surface-to-surface
ballistic missile Agni-I from Dr Abdul Kalam Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast on November 27. The user trial of the
missile was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command. Agni-I can travel at a speed of 2.5 km per second and destroy
targets nearly 700 km away. The missile can carry both conventional and nuclear payload of about 1000 kg.
Prithvi II test successful: India successfully test-fired the indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II
surface-to-surface missile with a strike range of 350 km from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha on
November 26. The missile test was carried out from a mobile launcher. Prithvi-II is capable of carrying upto 1,000 kg of
warheads. It has the ability to dodge enemy missiles and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear payloads.
LRSAM test successful: The Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM), jointly developed by the Israel
Aerospace Industry and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), was successfully flight tested from
the Israel Naval Platform for the first time in November. The dual propulsion system and other safe arm mechanism for
the solid propulsion system were designed and developed by DRDO and the Defence Research Development Laboratory.
DEFCOM-2015 organised: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has stressed the need to enhance the Information,
Communications, Technology, Electronics and Cyber (ICTEC) infrastructure capabilities of the Indian Army to ensure
protection from disruptive cyber-attacks and manipulations. He was addressing the 2-day DEFCOM-2015 organised in
New Delhi in November. The DEFCOM-2015 was jointly organised by the Corps of Signal (Indian Army) and CII under
the theme Leveraging ICTEC Infrastructure and Harnessing the Human Capital for Digital Army.
Anti-submarine corvette Kadmatt delivered: Kadmatt, the second of the four indigenously-built stealth antisubmarine warfare (ASW) corvettes being built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), was formally
THE GENESIS
handed over to the Indian Navy in Kolkata in November. Named after an island in the Lakshadweep archipelago,
Kadmatt is slated to be commissioned in January at Visakhapatnam, joining the Eastern Fleet.
Martyr status for paramilitary personnel approved: Personnel from the paramilitary forces who die in the
line of duty will be accorded the status of a martyr. The Home Ministry has given an in-principle approval for it, said
Border Security Force (BSF) Director General D K Pathak in November. The seventh Central Pay Commission had also
called for granting martyr status to personnel of central paramilitary forces, on the lines of armed forces.
AWARDS
International Film Festival of India Awards
Acclaimed for its excellent originality and powerful storyline, Columbian adventure drama Embrace of the Serpent
was adjudged the Best Film at the 46th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji in November.
The Best Film Award comprises the Golden Peacock and a citation with a prize money of Rs 40 lakhs (Rs 4 million) to
be shared between the Director and the Producer. The film, directed by Ciro Guerra, is about the friendship between
Amazonian shaman Karamakate and two scientists who work together over the course of 40 years to search the Amazon
for a sacred healing plant.
The only Indian name in the winners list was that of Bengali filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly, who was given the inaugural
ICFT - UNESCO Fellini Medal for his movie Cinemawala about the sad state of single screen cinema halls in West
Bengal. In collaboration with International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication (ICFT), Paris,
and UNESCO the UNESCO Fellini Award was presented at IFFI for the first time this year. This medal is given to a film
that reflects the socio-cultural ideals promoted by UNESCO.
The Best Director award went to Peter Greenaway for the film Eisenstein in Guanajuato, about a Soviet filmmaker
Sergei Eisenstein who travels to a new place and culture and is forced by the experiences he has there to question his
assumptions about himself and Stalinist Russia. The Best Director is presented with a Silver Peacock, a citation and a
prize money of Rs 15 lakhs (Rs 1.5 million)
For his portrayal of a laid off factory worker Thierry Taogourdeau in the film The Measure of a Man, Vincent Lindon
was adjudged Best Actor. The Best Actress trophy was shared by the five female stars -- Gunes Sensoy, Doga Doguslu,
Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan and Ilyada Akdogan -- of Turkish film Mustang. The Best Actor Male and Female are
awarded the Silver Peacock, citation and a prize money of Rs 10 lakhs each (Rs 1 million)
The Special Jury Award went to the Spanish film Sealed Cargo (Carga Sellada) directed by Julia Vargas. The Special
Jury Award carries a Silver Peacock, citation and a cash prize of Rs 15 lakhs (Rs 1.5 million)
The Serbian film Enclave directed by Goran Radovanovic got the Special Mention award. The main theme of the film
is life of Kosovo Serbs in small isolated communities, called enclaves
Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred to Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov, who was also paid tribute during
the 10-day festival with the screening of his films Sunstroke, the Barber of Siberia and Burnt by the Sun. The
Lifetime Achievement Award carries a Silver Peacock, certificate, shawl and a scroll along with a cash prize of Rs 10
lakhs (Rs 1 million)
Minister of State, I&B, Rajyavardhan Rathore along with Governor of Goa, Mridula Sinha, Chief Minister Goa
Laxmikant Parsekar and Secretary I&B, Sunil Arora attended the closing ceremony at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
Indoor Stadium in Panaji on November 30.
Ramnath Goenka Journalism awards: Veteran journalist, columnist and author Kuldip Nayar was honoured
with Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to journalism at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence awards in in
New Delhi in November. Nayar is former editor of the Indian Express. During Emergency he was jailed under the
THE GENESIS
Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for leading a protest against the excesses of the administration. Information
and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley handed over the awards to 56 journalists for their exceptional reportage in print
as well as broadcast media in various categories for years 2013 and 2014. Among the winners, Radheshyam Bapu Jadhav
of The Times of India bagged the Prakash Kardaley Memorial Award for Civic Journalism (2014) for his reports on
illegal buildings in Pune and the fear of the residents, amid political apathy.
DSC Prize shortlist announced: the shortlist of six contenders for the USD 50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian
Literature was announced in November. Established in 2010 the award is given to an author of any nationality writing
about South Asia and its people. Shortlisted books: Family Life by Akhil Sharma, Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha
Roy, Hang Woman by K R Meera, The Book of Gold Leaves by Mirza Waheed, The Lives of Others by Neel
Mukherjee and She Will Build Him A City by Raj Kamal Jha.
Kolkata International Film Festival awards: The 8-day 21st Kolkata International Film Festival was
organised in November. The Hungarian Film Wednesday Child directed by Lili Horvath received Golden Royal
Bengal Tiger Award for best women directed film. Libia Stllia Gomez was given Best Women Director award. 149 films
from 61 countries were screened at the festival.
Presidents Standard awarded to 2 Bengal-based IAF squadrons: President Pranab Mukherjee

presented Presidents Standard to two Indian Air Force (IAF) squadrons based in Hasimara in West Bengal on November
28. Hasimara is an Indian Air Force (IAF) station, around 15 km away from India-Bhutan border. The squadrons which
have been honoured are the 18 Squadron and the 22 Squadron. The 18 Squadron is also called Flying Bullets and came
to be known as Defenders of Kashmir Valley during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. The 22 Squadron is also called The
Swifts.
Murali Kartik wins PETA Compassionate Athlete Award: In recognition of his work in encouraging
the public to follow his lead by going meat-free, cricketer Murali Kartik was selected for its Compassionate Athlete
Award by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in November. Kartik promotes vegetarian meals on
social media and has also starred in a PETA India campaign. Kartik has worked to highlight how animals suffer in the
meat industry. In addition to his work to promote vegetarian meals, Kartik is quick to report animals in distress to PETA.
PERSONSINNEWS
APPOINTMENTS: Mumbai Police Commissioner Ahmad Javed has been appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia,
which has a 2.8 million-strong Indian community. Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pankaj Saran has been
appointed as Indian Ambassador to Russia. Former Union Home Secretary K. Padmanabhaiah assumed charge as the
Chairman of the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad in November.
RESIGNATIONS: Professor Yellapragada Sudershan Rao, who was appointed by the Narendra Modi
government 16 months ago as chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), resigned from his post in
November. Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalams nephew, Syed Haja Ibrahim, resigned from the BJP in Tamil Nadu
in November, upset over failure of the Modi government to convert the residence occupied by the former President in
Delhi into a knowledge centre.Chief Information Commissioner Vijai Sharma completed his tenure on December 1
after attaining the age of 65.
OBITUARIES: Padma Bhushan (2006) awardee sarangi player Ustad Sabri Khan, hailing from the Sainia Gharana,
died at the age of 88 in New Delhi on November 30. Noted labour economist T.S. Papola, a founder Member of New
Delhi-based Institute for Human Development (IHD), passed away on November 23 at the age of 74. Seven time
Congress MLA A. S. Ponnammal died in Madurai on November 24 at the age of 89. Writer, columnist and journalist
Mahip Singh passed away in Gurgaon on November 24 at the age of 85. Noted litterateur and former chairman of
Rajasthan Brijbhasha Academy, Professor Surendra Upadhyay died at the age of 74 in Jaipur on November 24. Sitting
BJP Member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly R. Jagadish Kumar died in Bengaluru on November 23 at the age of
58. Veteran journalist and freedom fighter Vishnu Dutt Chopra died in New Delhi on November 21 at the age of 96.
THE GENESIS
EXTERNALRELATIONS
ASEAN: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a line of credit of $1 billion to promote projects that support
physical and digital connectivity between India and ASEAN countries at the ASEAN-India Summit in Kuala Lumpur on
November 21. ASEAN is Indias fourth largest trading partner. India is, in turn, the sixth largest trade partner for
ASEAN. Indias exports to ASEAN were US$ 31.81 billion and Indias imports from ASEAN were US$ 44.71 billion.
ASEAN is headquartered in Jakarta. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries and their
currencies are: Indonesia (Rupiah), Malaysia (Ringgit), the Philippines (Peso), Singapore (dollar), Thailand (Baht),
Brunei (Dollar), Cambodia (Riel), Laos (Kip), Myanmar (Kyat) and Vietnam (Dong).
MALAYSIA-SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on a four-day tour to Singapore and Malaysia in
November. In Malaysia, Modi addressed two regional blocs at the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits, besides holding
talks with Prime Minister Najib Razak. At Kuala Lumpur, Modi unveiled a 12-ft bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda at
the Ram Krishna Mission. He also announced that the Indian Cultural Centre in Kuala Lumpur will be named after
freedom fighter and commander of the Indian National Army (INA) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. In Singapore, Modi
paid homage at the INA Memorial Marker whose foundation was laid by Netaji in July 1945. Modi and his Singapore
PM Lee Hsien Loong issued a joint postage stamp featuring the presidential residences of both nations Istana of
Singapore and Indias Rashtrapati Bhavan to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
NEPAL: Leaders of Nepals Indian-origin Madhesi community, whose protest against the countrys new Constitution
has crippled supplies from India, met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi in December. The Minister
called for broad based ownership of Constitution and encouraged speedy political solution and return to normalcy on that
basis. The agitation by Madhesi leaders in Terai region bordering India has crippled services in Nepal as the protesters
have blocked all border trade points between the two countries, triggering shortage of supplies including fuel and
medicines. The Madhesi community is opposed to splitting the country into seven provinces under the new Constitution
and has been demanding adequate protection of their rights.
USA: A historic Chola-era bronze sculpture of Shiva and Parvati (860 -1279 CE), stolen from a temple in India and
smuggled into the United States by notorious Indian art dealer Subhash Kapoor, has been recovered from a university in
Indianaand would be repatriated to India along with six other sacred Chola bronzes recovered by HSI.The U.S.-India
Business Council (USIBC) concluded its 7th Annual Legal Services Conference in November where it awarded the
Lifetime Achievement Award to Retd. Justice Fathima Beevi, the first female Supreme Court Justice in India.
PAKISTAN: Indias National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Khan Janjua in
Bangkok in the first week of December where the two sides discussed peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir
and other issues including tranquility along the Line of Control. The meeting comes in the backdrop of Prime Minister
Narendra Modis meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Paris recently. Foreign secretaries of both the
countries were present during the high level meet.
UK: The British Government has selected Pune and Amravati in Maharashtra and Indore in Madhya Pradesh for
developing them as Smart Cities, British High Commissioner in India announced in November. UK would assist in
efforts to develop these cities as smart cities for improved traffic, better education, and infrastructure.
AFRICA: A delegation of businessmen from FICCI, led by the Director General of Foreign Trade, participated in the
2-day business forum Namaskar Africa 2015 in Mozambique in November with a view to enhance trade and economic
ties between India and Southern African nations.
CHINA: The China-India Yoga College has formally started classes in Chinas Kunming city. The college, which is
the first Yoga institute established by India outside the country, was set up during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit
in May. The formal operation of the college coincided with the visit of Indias Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma who
arrived in Kunming to attend the China International Travel Forum in November.
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Current Affairs: States

BIHAR: Nitish Kumar took oath as Chief Minister of Bihar for the fifth time along with 28 ministers of the RJDJD(U)-Congress grand alliance on November 20. The grand alliance government of was sworn in at a ceremony attended
by several top leaders from political parties. Lalu Prasads son Tejaswi Yadav and Tejpratap Yadav were sworn in as
cabinet ministers. While Tejaswi Prasad has been accorded status of Deputy Chief Minister with three important
portfolios like road construction department. His elder brother Tejpratap Yadav has got health department. Nitish Kumar
has kept department of home affairs, Information and public relations, and general administration department under
him.CM Kumar also announced ban on sale of liquor in the state from April 1, 2016 fulfilling his pledge made during
recently held assembly elections in the state.
JAMMU & KASHMIR: The government decided to provide State Government jobs and transit accommodations
in the Kashmir Valley for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants in November. Minister of State in the PMO Dr. Jitendra
Singh said additional 3000 jobs in the state government will be provided to the migrants with financial assistance from
the central government. As many as 62,000 Kashmiri Pandit migrants families are registered with the government, out
of which 39,000 stay in Jammu, 19,000 in Delhi and remaining in other parts of the country. The decision comes close on
the heels of the Prime Ministers announcement Rs. 80,000 crore package for various projects in J&K.
RAJASTHAN: The state government signed 295 MoUs committing investment of about Rs. 3.3 lakh crore, including
from leading industrial houses like Adani Group, Reliance and Aditya Birla group, at the Resurgent Rajasthan
Partnership Summit in November, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje announced in Jaipur. The Centre announced plans to
set up a National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) involving investment of Rs. 500 crore in
the district of Jhalawar over next two years. Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, announced a
new National Institute of Design (NID) campus in the state.
UTTAR PRADESH: The state has earned itself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the state
governments green drive under which 10 lakh saplings were planted in one day within eight hours. The certificate for
UPs record-setting performance was awarded to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav recently. On November 7, under the
state governments Clean UP, Green UP initiative, over 10 lakh saplings were planted at 10 locations in the state in
eight hours.
WEST BENGAL: The state government has decided to train informal health care providers, referred to as quacks,
operating in rural areas of the State and acknowledge them as Village Health Workers. Trained Informal Healthcare
Providers will be acknowledged as village health workers with clear delineation of the care that they can provide. They
shall be clearly asked to stop using the doctor prefix, a government notification said in November. The government
order also talks about a standard operating procedure (SOP) for these Village Health Workers to be prepared in
consultation with health experts. Meanwhile the Calcutta High Court quashed a notification of West Bengal government
stopping pension to political prisoners, which was initiated by the previous Left Front government.
MAHARSHTRA: The Bombay High Court stated in November that it will not decide on religious matters like the
ban on entry of women in the sanctum sanctorum of Mumbais iconic Haji Ali Dargah. A division bench said that people
become very sensitive when it comes to matters of religion and the atmosphere these days makes it easy for people to
make wrong assumptions. The court has urged the parties involved to try and amicably resolve the issue outside of court
and has posted the petition for further hearing.
TAMIL NADU: Madras High Court for the first time heard an urgent petition through Skype as none of the judges
were in station due to the week-long Diwali vacation and the petition for urgent hearing was filed at the last moment. It
was a petition seeking protection for a marriage at a church in Ramanathapuram district. The court directed the police to
provide security during the wedding in November.
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Current Affairs: World

CHOGM organised: The 3-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015, also known as CHOGM
2015, was held in Valletta, Malta in the last week of November. Britain will host the next Commonwealth Summit, in
2018. UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced setting up of a five-million-pound fund to target terror groups as
the Meeting focussed on ways to counter extremism and terrorism besides exploring steps to deal with climate change.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj represented India at the three-day Summit which was inaugurated by Queen
Elizabeth II. The theme for this years CHOGM was Adding Global Value. British lawyer Patricia Scotland was
appointed as the Commonwealths new Secretary General, becoming the first woman to occupy the post in the 53member block.
G-20 Leaders Summit organised: The 2-day G-20 Leaders Summit was organised at Antalya in Turkey on
November 15-16. The Summit concluded that risks and uncertainties in financial markets still remain and observed that
geopolitical challenges are increasingly becoming a global problem. China will host the 2016 G20 Summit in Hangzhou
in September 2016. The Group of Twenty (G20) is a forum for global economic and financial cooperation that brings
together the worlds major advanced and emerging economies, representing around 85% of global GDP. The G20
members are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK, USA and the EU.
APEC Summit organised: The two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting
concluded in Manila on November 19 with the 21-member economies issuing a joint declaration focused on inclusive
economic growth. The theme of the event was Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World: A Vision for an
Asia-Pacific Community. Lima, Peru will host the APEC Leaders Meeting in November 2016.
NATO invites Montenegro to join: The Brussels-based NATO invited Montenegro to become the 29th member
of the US-led military alliance in December, defying Russias warnings it would have to respond to what it branded a
threat to its security. NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg, announcing the move at a meeting of the alliances foreign ministers
in Brussels, insisted the historic invitation to Montenegro was no one elses business and not directed at anyone.
Montenegro, a Balkans country of just over 600,000 people, won its independence in 2006 following the bloody break-up
of what was Yugoslavia and the end of a federation with Moscows long-time ally Serbia. Russia has traditionally been a
friend of Montenegro but relations have soured since Montenegro joined EU-led sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
Norway tops global Gender Gap Index: On the back of stronger representation of women in political
leadership, India has improved its ranking from 114th in 2014 to 108th position among 145 countries in the global gender
gap index prepared by the World Economic Forum. On individual parameters, India is 9th in political empowerment,
139th in economic participation & opportunity, 125th in educational attainment and 143rd in health & survival. Iceland
has once again topped the rankings followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Rwanda, the Philippines,
Switzerland, Slovenia and New Zealand in top-10. The rankings are based on a countrys performance in terms of
economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.
India among 10 worst affected in Global Terrorism Index: India is among the 10 countries most impacted
by terrorism in 2014, according to a new report which said that ISIS and Boko Haram are now jointly responsible for
more than half of all global fatalities from terrorist attacks. According to the third edition of the Global Terrorism Index
2015 (GTI) launched by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in December, India ranked 6th out of
162 nations most affected by terrorism in 2014. Globally, terrorism is highly concentrated in just five countries Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria - accounting for 78% of all deaths in 2014. Iraq continues to be the
country most impacted by terrorism.
South Korea tops ICT Development Index: Globally 3.2 billion people are now online, representing 43.4 per
cent of the worlds population. Mobile-cellular subscriptions have reached almost 7.1 billion worldwide, with over 95 per
cent of the global population now covered by a mobile-cellular signal, according to the UN International
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Telecommunications Unions annual Measuring the Information Society Report released on November 30. The report
ranked South Korea first in the information and communication technology (ICT) 2015 Development Index (IDI) of 167
countries. India has been ranked 131st. The IDI, which measures countries according to their level of ICT access, use and
skills, saw South Korea closely followed by Denmark and Iceland.
UN Internet Governance Forum concludes: The Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a platform that enables
the discussion of public policy issues pertaining to the Internet, organised its 4-day annual meeting on the theme,
Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development, in Joo Pessoa, Brazil, in November. This
years IGF focused on Cybersecurity and Trust; Internet Economy; Inclusiveness and Diversity; Openness; Internet and
Human Rights; Critical Internet Resources and Emerging Issues.
Global Conference on Traffic Safety held: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari Minister
represented India at the two day global conference on road safety organised in Brazil in November. The 2nd High Level
Global Conference on Traffic Safety - Time of Results, was held in the capital city Brasilia. The conference reaffirmed
the international communitys commitment towards reduction of traffic accidents that are responsible for 1.2 million
fatalities every year.
Russia, China agree $2 billion deal for Su-35 warplanes: Russia and China have agreed on the sale of 24
advanced Sukhoi Su-35 fighters to Beijing, the Russian state holding Rostec said in November. The deal is Russias first
sale of Su-35. Moscow and Beijing, which were rivals during the Cold War, have strengthened cooperation in recent
years to counterbalance perceived dominance by the United States. The sale will also help fill Russias state coffers as its
economy has been reeling from low oil prices and Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis.
IMF includes Yuan in reserve currency basket: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it has included
Chinas currency, the yuan into its elite reserve currency basket. Yuan will join the US Dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen and
British Pound in 2016 in the basket of currencies that the IMF uses as an international reserve asset. IMF Managing
Director Christine Lagarde called the decision an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the
global financial system.
Turkey shoots down Russian war plane on Syria border: NATO member Turkey shot down a Su-24
Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border on November 24, threatening a major spike in tensions between two key
protagonists in the four-year Syria civil war. The Turkish army said the plane was shot down by two Turkish F-16s after
violating Turkish airspace 10 times within a five-minute period. With a major diplomatic crisis looming between two
states on opposing sides in the Syria conflict, Russia insisted the jet was all the time inside Syrian airspace and
condemned the downing as a very serious incident.
Crew errors, faulty rudder blamed for AirAsia crash: Indonesian investigators said that crew errors and a
fault with the rudder control system were the major causes of the crash of an AirAsia jet on December 28, 2014 killing all
162 people on board. The new report from the National Transport Safety Committee, released in December after a yearlong investigation, added that the crews response contributed to the disaster. The Airbus A320-200, travelling from
Surabaya to Singapore, crashed into the Java Sea. Investigators had initially indicated that stormy weather was a major
factor in the crash.
Putin approves nuclear cooperation with Iran: President Vladimir Putin has lifted a ban on Russian firms
from working on Iranian enrichment sites during his Tehran visit in November. Under a historic deal with world powers
in July 2015, Iran agreed to dramatically scale back its nuclear programme, making it much more difficult for it to
develop nuclear weapons. Putin also held talks with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan
Rouhani.
BRICS Media Summit held: Leaders of 25 Media organisations from the 5 BRICS countries have pitched for
building consensus to deal with terrorism, climate change and other key issues. 2-day BRICS Media Summit that
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concluded on December 1 in Beijing pledged to follow the latest trends in information dissemination to cope up with fast
paced developments in new media.
UN launches Orange the World to end violence against women: The United Nations call to Orange
the World started on November 25 with an aim to galvanize global action calling for an end to violence against women
and girls. The initiative involves holding of parades, soccer matches, school debates and the lighting up of hundreds of
iconic monuments in orange to create awareness about the issue. The campaign was run from November 25, the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, until December 10, Human Rights Day.
NLD wins Myanmar polls: Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory
in Myanmar general elections held in November. NLD won 348 of the 664 seats in the two houses of parliament. This
represents a two-thirds majority of the contested seats. Meanwhile, the ruling military-backed Union Solidarity
Development Party (USDP) had only 40 seats. Under the constitution, Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991,
cannot become president herself. Not all the seats in the Hluttaw (parliament) were up for grabs. The military-drafted
constitution guarantees that unelected military representatives will take up 25% of the seats in the Hluttaw and have a
veto over constitutional change. In the last nationwide elections held in 1990, the NLD had won 392 of the 492 available
seats, taking 52.5% of the national vote. But the military refused to relinquish power.
AWARDS
New York Film Critics Circle awards: Carol dominated the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, taking
Best Film and a leading four awards overall. The New York critics voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Carol
starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. They also awarded Best Director for Haynes, Best Screenplay for Phyllis
Nagy and Best Cinematography for Edward Lachman. Best actor went to Michael Keaton, who plays one of the
journalists that make up the ensemble cast of the Boston Globe drama Spotlight. Saoirse Ronan earned best actress for
her performance as an Irish immigrant in Brooklyn. The awards will be handed out in a ceremony on January 4, 2016.
Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize: A Saudi lawyer imprisoned in his country for
defending human rights in the oil-rich kingdom has been awarded the prestigious the Ludovic Trarieux International
Human Rights Prize in Geneva in November. Walid Abulkhair is renowned for his defence of Saudi rights blogger Raif
Badawi, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and 1,000 lashes on charges of insulting Islam, in a case that
triggered global outrage. South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, while still in prison, was the first in 1985 to
receive the Prize, awarded by European bar associations to lawyers who defend human rights and fight against
intolerance and racism.
Presidential Medal of Freedom: President Barack Obama honoured 17 Americans with the nations highest
civilian award the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington on November 25. Those honoured included giants of
the entertainment industry, baseball legends and politicians and activists. The Medal was presented to filmmaker Steven
Spielberg, musicians Gloria and Emilio Estefan, singer James Taylor, composer Stephen Sondheim, violinist Itzhak
Perlman and actress Barbra Streisand, who won an Academy award for her performance in the classic film musical,
Funny Girl. The sports honourees were Baseball players Willie Mays and late Yogi Berra.
PERSONSINNEWS
APPOINTMENTS: Opposition candidate and Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri of the Republican Proposal
party won Argentinas presidential election held on November 22, marking an end to the left-leaning and often
combative era of President Cristina Fernandez, who along with her late husband dominated the countrys political scene
for 12 years. Antonio Costa, the leader of Portugals Socialist Party, was named Prime Minister in November.
OBITUARIES: Douglass C North, an American economist who was a co-recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in
economic sciences, died at the age of 95 on November 23 in Michigan. Nepals noted Indian-origin businessman
Banwari Lal Mittal passed away in Kathmandu on November 25 at 79. Actor Warren Mitchell, who played Alf Garnett in
TV series Till Death Us Do Part and In Sickness and in Health, died at the age of 89 in London on November 14
THE GENESIS
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Current Affairs: Sports

CRICKET
India win Freedom Trophy: India beat South Africa by 337 runs in the fourth and final cricket Test at Feroz Shah
Kotla Ground, Delhi on December 7, winning the Freedom Trophy and the four-match series by a 3-0 margin. Ajinkya
Rahane (127 & 100 not out) was Man of the Match and the only batsman to score a century in the series. Rahane was
also the best batsman in the series with 266 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin was the best bowler with 31 wickets was Man of
the Series. India received the Freedom Trophy that is awarded to the winner of Test series between the two countries. SA
were led by Hashim Amla while Virat Kohli was Indias captain. India had won the third Cricket Test against South
Africa at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur, by 124 runs on November 27. Rain washed out the
second test at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore while India won the first test played at the Punjab Cricket
Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh, on November 7 by 108 runs.
Australia win Trans-Tasman Trophy: Steven Smith-led Australia won the first ever day and night cricket test
against Brendon McCullum-led New Zealand by three wickets at the Adelaide Oval on November 29. The match was
played with a pink Kookaburra ball. The change has been made largely for fans, so that they can watch on TV in prime
time or head to the ground after work to catch the second half of the days action. The hosts also won the 3 test series for
the Trans-Tasman Trophy 2-0. Australias David Warner was the highest run-getter in the series with 592 runs from 3
tests at an average of 85.42. Mitchell Starc was the best bowler with 13 wickets in three tests. Australia had won the first
test at Brisbane Cricket Ground on November 9 while the second test at the Played at Western Australia Cricket
Association Ground in Perth had ended in a draw on November 17.
Pune and Rajkot to replace CSK and RR in IPL: The cities of Pune and Rajkot were added as the two new
franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in December, replacing the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan
Royals for two years. New Rising, owned by Kolkata-based industrialist Sanjiv Goenka up the Pune franchise, while the
Rajkot bid was won by the Delhi-based Intex Technologies. Goenka also owns the football franchise Atletico de Kolkata,
part of IMG-Reliances Indian Super League, which has completed two seasons so far. The next edition of the Indian
Premier League (IPL) will be held from April 9 to May 29, 2016.
Newsmakers: Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar was appointed as the director of the National Cricket Academy
by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Bangalore in November replacing Brijesh Patel, who reportedly
had to step down from his position after BCCI president Shashank Manohar introduced the conflict-of-interest
guidelines. The ICC suspended West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine from bowling in international cricket in November
after an independent assessment revealed that all variations of his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance
permitted under the regulations.
BOXING
Abraham retains super middleweight title: Germanys Arthur Abraham successfully defended his World
Boxing Organisation (WBO) super middleweight belt with a split-decision win over Martin Murray of England in
Hannoveron November 21. Abraham improved to 44-4 (29 knockouts) after defending his title for the fifth time. Murray
dropped to 32-3-1 (15 knockouts).
Tyson Fury crowned heavyweight champion: British boxer Tyson Fury ended the nine-year reign of
Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko as the heavyweight champion when he claimed the WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO
heavyweight titles by unanimous points decision in Dusseldorf on November 29. Fury improved his record to 25 wins
with 18 knockouts and handed Klitschko his first defeat in 11 years.
TENNIS
Davis Cup: Great Britain won the Davis Cup beating hosts Belgium in the final at Ghent on November 29. On
November 27, Belgiums David Goffin beat Kyle Edmund 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 while Britains Andy Murray beat
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15
Belgian Ruben Bemelmans 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. On November 28, Britains doubles team of Andy Murray & Jamie Murray
defeated Steve Darcis & David Goffin 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. In the first of the two reverse singles on November 29, Andy
Murray defeated David Goffin 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 to give Britain an unbeatable 3-1 lead. The second reverse singles was not
played.
ATP Tour Finals: Serbias Novak Djokovic, the winner of this years titles at Wimbledon, Australian and US Open,
crushed Swiss Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 in the final at London on November 23 to win the ATP Tour Finals title for a
record fourth successive year. The Doubles title was won by Jean-Julien Roger and Horia Teacu who beat Indias Rohan
Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea 6-4, 6-3.
BADMINTON
PV Sindhu wins Macau Open: Indias P.V. Sindhu beat Japans Minatsu Mitani 21-9, 21-23, 21-14 to win the
Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Womens Singles title on November 29. Mens Singles title was clinched by Jeon Hyeokjin of South Korea who beat Chinas Tian Houwei 21-11, 13-21, 23-21 in the final. Mens Doubles title was won by the
South Korean pair of K. Sung-hyun & Shin Baek-cheol while the Womens Doubles title was won by Poon Lok Yan &
Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong. Mixed Doubles final was won by South Koreas Shin Baek-cheol & Chae Yoo-jung.
SAI and P. Gopichand to set up Badminton Academy: Sports Authority of India and Pullela Gopichand
Badminton Foundation joined hands in November to establish a SAI Gopichand National Badminton Academy in
Hyderabad. The Academy will select 50 players in a nation-wide talent search scheme in 11-14 yearage group.
MISC
Australia win Hockey series against India: India won the third hockey test 32 against Australia at the Sardar
Vallabh Bhai Patel International Hockey Stadium in Raipur on November 23 but lost the three-match series in the
penalty shootout taken to decide the series winner after both teams had won 1 match each and one had ended in a draw.
India lost the penalty shootout 2-3. India had lost the second test 12 on November 22 while the first test had ended in a
2-2 draw on November 19. Meanwhile at the Wisma Belia Stadium in Kuantan (Malaysia) on November 22, India
thrashed Pakistan 6-2 in the final to clinch the eight Junior Mens Asia Cup.
Rosberg wins season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: 30-year-old German Nico Rosberg ended his 2015
season in triumph on November 29 when he won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit ahead of his
Mercedes team-mate and world champion Lewis Hamilton. Finn Kimi Raikkonen finished third ahead of his Ferrari
team-mate, four-time former champion Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez of Force India. This was Rosbergs sixth win
of the year and the 14th of his career. Hamilton won 10 out of the 16 races this year.
IAAF World Athletes of the Year: The IAAF has named American decathlete Ashton Eaton and Ethiopian
middle-distance runner Genzebe Dibaba as World Athletes of the Year in November. Eaton broke his own decathlon
world record at the world championships in Beijing in August 2015. The 27-year-old also won world gold in Moscow in
2013, a year after clinching Olympic gold in London. Dibaba, 24, is the current world record holder in the womens
1500m and holds three further world records indoors. She won gold in the 1500m in the Beijing world championships.
DP World Tour golf: Northern Irelands Rory McIlroy won the DP World Tour Championships golf in Dubai on
November 22 while Indias Anirban Lahiri finished 34th. Meanwhile in Manila, Natipong Srithong from Thailand won
the USD 1 million Resorts World Manila Masters golf tournament on November 22 while Indias Rahil Gangjee finished
fifth.
IBSF World Snooker Championship: Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in
November when he defeated his Chinese opponent Zhua Xintong 8-6 in the final at Sunrise Crystal Bay resort in
Hurghada, Egypt.
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Current Affairs: Economy

Vedanta and Hindalco to exit Sensex: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) announced that Adani Ports and
Special Economic Zone and Asian Paints will be included in
the 30-share BSE Sensex, effective December 21. These two
stocks will replace Vedanta and Hindalco. Currently the 30share BSE Sensex comprises: Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, Bharat
Heavy Electricals, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Coal India, Dr.
Reddys Laboratories, GAIL (India), HDFC Bank, Hero
MotoCorp, Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC,
ICICI Bank, Infosys, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Lupin, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, NTPC, ONGC,
Reliance Industries, SBI, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, TCS, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Vedanta, Wipro.
Minimum train passenger hiked to Rs. 10: The minimum train passenger fare went up from Rs. 5 to Rs. 10
from November 20 as railways decided to increase the minimum chargeable fare in non-suburban services at par with the
platform ticket. To begin with, this will be applicable only to second class non-suburban services only. The platform
ticket price was revised from 5 rupees to 10 rupees in April 2015 as proposed in the rail budget with a view to control the
rush on platforms. The objective, however could not be realised as passengers opted for purchasing the minimum single
journey second class tickets priced at 5 rupees in lieu of the platform ticket.
PAN card gets costlier by Re 1 due to Swachh Bharat cess: With the imposition of the Swachh Bharat
cess, getting a new Permanent Account Number (PAN) card for income tax purposes has become costlier .Under revised
charges, a PAN card, issued by the Income Tax department will now be costing 107 rupees instead of 106 rupees. The
new cess was announced recently by the government and it will levy a surcharge of 0.5 per cent on all taxable services.
PAN is a 10-digit unique alphanumeric number allotted by the Income Tax department to taxpayers and is issued to an
individual or entity. The government wants to deepen the PAN reach in order to add more taxpayers to the I-T net and
ensure better taxpayer services.
SBI tags Mallya, his 2 firms as wilful defaulters: After a protracted legal battle, State Bank of India (SBI)
declared industrialist Vijay Mallya a wilful defaulter for defaults on nearly Rs 7,000 crore loans to the long-grounded
Kingfisher Airlines. In the grievance redressal committee meeting which was held in November, the industrialists
lawyers could not satisfactorily present a case of genuine distress of Mallya and his companies in not paying the money
they owe to the bankers. The banks plan to e-auction the assets of the grounded airline to recover their dues. Kingfisher,
started by Mallya in May 2005 with much fanfare, went on to become the second largest in its heydays even though it
never made a single penny in profit. As cashflow issues mounted on the airline, it was grounded since October 2012, and
the airline lost its flying licence two months later.
Roadmap to phase out tax exemptions unveiled: The Finance Ministry unveiled a detailed roadmap in
November to phase out tax exemptions for the corporate sector and to bring down its tax rate from 30% to 25%. Profit
linked, investment linked and area based deductions will be phased out for both corporate and non-corporate tax payers.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced in his last Budget speech that the rate of Corporate Tax will be reduced to
25 per cent over the next four years along with a corresponding phasing out of exemptions and deductions. He had said,
this is a step towards simplification of tax laws, which is expected to bring about transparency and clarity.
Lok Sabha passes bill to replace Bureau of Indian Standards: The Lok Sabha passed a bill in December
that provides for establishing Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India and enable the
government to bring more products, systems and services under ambit of standardisation. In his reply to the debate on the
Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said
that the government did not want an inspector raj but there will be investigations in case of complaints. The bill seeks
to replaces the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 and to empower the central government to authorize any other
agency having necessary accreditation for the purpose of conformity assessment against Indian standards.
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Faces
Sunil Bharti Mittal: Telecom tycoon
The Padma Bhushan recipient is the Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises which has interests in
telecom, retail, realty, financial services and agri-products.
The philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises has launched

Nyaya Bharti, a programme to legally and financially
support underprivileged undertrials thats driven by
Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal. Half the yearly grant
toward the initiative will come from a Rs 5-crore cut in
Mittals salary. The trigger for the social initiative led by
the Bharti Foundation was Mittals experience of the
Patiala House Courts in 2013 for a case related to the
allocation of telecom spectrum. Hes since been
discharged from the case. Once you go through a life
experience like that, you feel that you are privileged to get
access to the best legal counsel in the country. Most of the
people dont have that kind of access, Mittal told the
media in November.
Sunil Mittal was born in Ludhiana in 1957. His father, Sat
Paul Mittal, had been a Congress Rajya Sabha MP from
Punjab. He attended Scindia School at Gwalior and
graduated in 1976 from Panjab University, Chandigarh,
with a Bachelor of Arts &Science.
A first generation entrepreneur, Bharti Enterprises was
founded by Sunil in 1976-79. The business started as a
small scale manufacturing unit for bicycle components. It
diversified into production of yarn, stainless steel sheets
for surgical utensils.
Bharti tied up with Suzuki, Japan to import and distribute
portable gensets. By 1984 Bharti was the largest importer
of portable gensets in India.
In 1985-88, Bharti maked it entry into the telecom sector
with Bharti Telecom. It entered into a technical tie-up
with Siemens AG of Germany and became the first
company in India to manufacture electronic push button
telephones in Gurgaon.
In 1989, Bharti tied-up with Takacom Corporation, Japan
to become the first company in India to manufacture
telephone answering machines and in 1990 Bharti joined
hands with Lucky Gold Star (LG today), South Korea to
become the first company in India to manufacture
cordless telephones.
Bharti Cellular Ltd. was set up in 1992. It formed a
consortium with SFR-France, Emtel-Mauritius and MSIUK, to bid for mobile service provider licenses in Indian
metros. Bharti launched GSM

mobile services under the Airtel
brand.
In 1997, Bharti won fixed-line
service provider licence for Madhya
Pradesh becoming the first private
company in India to win a fixed-line
licence. In 1998, Bharti became the
first Indian company to offer telecom services in
international markets when it started mobile services in
Seychelles. In 1999, Bharti BT Internet launched ISP
services in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore under the
Mantra online brand.
In 2002, Bharti went public and got listed on stock
exchanges. Bharti forayed into the foods business in 2004
with a 50:50 JV called FieldFresh with Rothschild.
In 2005, Bharti became Indias first mobile service
provider to complete a national footprint in all 23 telecom
circles. It also marked its foray into financial services.
Forms joint venture with Axa of France to offer life
insurance products.
In 2007, Bharti and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. formed a joint
venture Bharti Wal-Mart Private Limited, for wholesale
cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management
operations in India. Also Bharti brought in Del Monte as a
strategic partner in FieldFresh to enhance focus in the
processed food segment.
In 2008, Bharti launched its first set of retail stores in
Ludhiana under the easy day brand. In the same year,
Bharti joined hands with Idea and Vodafone to form
Indus Towers an independent tower infrastructure
company.
In 2009, Bharti Walmart launched its first Cash & Carry
Store under Best Price Modern Wholesale brand. Also
Bharti Airtel crossed became the first Indian company to
cross the 100 million telecom customers mark.
In 2010, Bharti Airtel acquired the mobile operations of
Zain in 15 African countries. In 2012, Bharti Airtel
launched Indias first 4G service in Kolkata. In 2014,
Airtel crossed 200 million mobile customer mark in India.
THE GENESIS
18
Business Biography
Vandana Luthra: Shaping lives
VLCC, which started off by offering beauty and slimming services, is now acknowledged as the
pioneer in its business
When Vandana Luthra, Founder VLCC Healthcare,

approached her rather conservative father-in-law with the
idea of working and doing something on her own, he
asked her, What do you want to do? Vandana said, I
want to open a small wellness and beauty centre.
You want to be a barber? My bahu (daughter-in-law) is
going to be a barber! Her father-in-law was almost
scathing in his comments.Vandana explained that she was
not going to be a barber. She would provide a range of
beauty services to people and that included skin care and
haircuts.
He was not very convinced and predicted that her venture
would not last more than six months. Seeing that her mind
was made up, he allowed her to do what she had decided.
With the backing of her husband, who procured a loan of
Rs 1.5 lakh for her, Vandana bought out a beauty salon in
Delhis upmarket Safdarjung enclave. Vandana started off
by offering beauty and slimming services in this first
outlet.
Her father-in-laws dire prediction did not come true.
That was in 1989. Today, Vandana Luthras Curls and
Curves, or as it is more easily recognised, VLCC
Healthcare, has more than 300 centres spread across 9
countries.
Vandana Luthra was glamour-struck right from an early
age. She was bright but was an average student at school
though she did make it to Lady Shriram College, where
she graduated in Psychology.While she was still in
college, she took training in a beauty course from a
polytechnic institute.
After graduating from college, she went to Germany,
where she studied nutrition. But her interest was
cosmetology, so she went onward to Paris and London to
study and gain expertise in that area.
Vandana did not immediately plunge into her business
after completing courses on beauty and nutrition. She
married at the age of 23 in a conservative family. It was 8
years before she could finally get down to the task of
starting her venture. In the meantime she had two
daughters.
VLCC started off by offering beauty and slimming

services. Her clientele grew mostly by word of mouth
from satisfied customers. In a few months, she opened her
second centre in Delhi at Safdarjung. Vandana realised
early that services have to meet consistently high
standards to retain customers.
Today, VLCC has positioned itself as a middle-class,
affordable brand catering to the upwardly mobile, classconscious, aspiring consumer segment which willingly
spends more on looking good.
When Vandana started out, she had a team of 12 people;
now the company employs more than 6,000 people across
India and overseas.
Unlike her rivals, Vandana offers a complete range of
services. Lakme of Hindustan Unilever and Kaya Skin
Clinic owned Marico Industries cater to the beauty and
skin care market and are two of the few corporate players
in the segment. Talwalkars runs Indias largest chain of
health clubs but it offers only fitness and nutrition
services. Then there are other smaller services run by
specialists in their fields, like dermatologists, dieticians
and nutritionists. VLCC happens to be the only one
straddling all the three areas beauty, fitness and
nutrition.
Vandana has taken on the role of a mentor in the
organisation now. She has appointed heads of businesses
who take all the operational decisions. Her focus is now
more on research and development and technical training.
Along with her business, Vandana is expanding the reach
of the industry as well. In 2001, she set up the VLCC
Institute of Beauty and Nutrition, which now has 51
campuses in 39 cities and offers specialised courses in
beauty, hair cosmetology, make-up, spa therapies and
nutrition.
Over the past decade, VLCC has observed November 26
as Anti-Obesity Day to highlight the perils of obesity,
with emphasis on the need to live a healthy lifestyle. In
2012, the World Economic Forum recognized the VLCCWorld Food Program (WFP) initiative, titled the Global
Balance Program as one of the best worldwide.
THE GENESIS
19
Current Affairs: Corporate
RANKINGS&INDEXES
Most Trusted Brands: Results of the 2015 edition of Brand Equitys Most Trusted Brands survey were released in
November. Colgate has retained its position as Indias Most Trusted Brand for four years running. Tata Salt has risen to
the second position from 16 in 2014. Conducted by Nielsen, Most Trusted Brands remains among the largest researches
of its kind in India, with a design sample of 7,200 - distributed across socio-economic classifications, age, income and
geography. Top 10: Colgate, Tata Salt, Dettol, Dove, Lifebuoy, Horlicks, Samsung, Lux, Maaza and Surf Excel.
Most Creative Brands: Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group has been ranked as Indias most creative brand,
according to a TRA Research study in November. Brands insights company TRA Research conducted the study in 16
cities. Creativity is not just viewed from a point of novelty, entertainment and utility alone, but from a position of future
risk amelioration and protection. Tata is a pioneer, one willing to take risks and go through unchartered territories to
deliver better or new solutions. Samsung Mobiles was ranked second followed by LG and Sony.
Most Meaningful Brands 2015: Milk and milk products brand Amul has emerged as Indias Most Meaningful
Brand in a study of Havas Meaningful Brands 2015 in November. The study shows how our quality of life and
wellbeing connects with brands at both a human and business level. Among the top 10, Meaningful Brands 2015 in India
were Amul, Cadbury, Google, Britannia, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Microsoft, Intel, HP, Parle and Samsung.
Globally, the top 10 brands included Samsung, Google, Nestl, Bimbo, Sony, Microsoft, Nivea, Visa, IKEA and Intel.
HAPPENINGS
Reliance Group wins 12 defence production licenses: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has bagged 12 of
the 32 Defence manufacturing licences cleared by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in
November. Reliance bagged the licence to manufacture the full spectrum of defence equipment, including aircraft,
helicopters, missiles, and land systems. Reliance Infrastructure itself has just started the process of completing the
acquisition of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company.
Kotak Mahindra forays into general insurance: Kotak Mahindra General Insurance Company (Kotak
General Insurance) received IRDAI approval to commence business as an insurance company in November. With the
addition of general insurance business, Kotak Mahindra Group with existing presence across banking, wealth
management, life insurance, broking, mutual funds and alternate asset management will be able to offer the complete
range of financial products and services to retail and wholesale customers.
ICICI Bank sells 6% in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance: ICICI Bank sold a 6% stake in ICICI Prudential
Life Insurance, a joint venture with Prudential PLC of UK, to two entities--Premji Invest, owned by Wipro chairman
Azim Premji, and Temasek, a subsidiary of Singapore governments investment arm --for Rs 1,950 crore in November.
The deal valued the private sector life insurance major at about Rs 31,500 crore. After the deal is completed, ICICI Bank
will hold a 68% stake in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, while its UK partner will hold 26%.
Qatar Airways to sponsor IPTL for 3 years: The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) signed a threeyear sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways in November as its Presenting Partner. Founded in 2013, the IPTL brings
together current champions, tennis legends and upcoming talent in a new format. It is the first city-based professional
tennis league, played with teams in five Asian cities. The star-studded league is scheduled to take place in Kobe, Manila,
New Delhi, Dubai and Singapore between December 2 and 20. The Indian Aces walked away as the first ever IPTL
winners in 2014.
Betway to sponsor Davis Cup, Fed Cup: The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced in November
that Betway, a leading betting and gaming company, has become an international sponsor of both Davis Cup and Fed
Cup. The announcement follows the renewals of Davis Cup and Fed Cup international sponsor Adecco, and Davis Cup
international sponsor Rolex, respectively, earlier this year.
THE GENESIS

20
Titan Co tie up with HP for smart watches: Watch maker Titan Co and global information technology
major HP joined hands in November to offer a range of smart watches to be launched soon. Titan, a joint venture
between the Tata Group and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) has presence in watches,
jewellery and eyewear.
Foodpanda ties up with IRCTC: Online food ordering platform Foodpanda tied up with Indian Railway Catering
and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to allow passengers order food from restaurants during their train journeys from
November. IRCTC is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles catering, tourism and online ticketing operations.
Launched in Delhi, the service will be extended to more cities later. Passengers can pre-order their meals from the
options available for delivery at the opted station.
MSM and SRK form alliance: Multi Screen Media (MSM) and Red Chillies Entertainment, owned by actor
Shahrukh Khan, announced a strategic alliance in November under which they will explore opportunities to co-produce
television, digital and film content.
OYO Rooms selected for hospitality sector skill training: Online hotels aggregator OYO Rooms said in
November that it has been selected by Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council (THSC) to train and certify hospitality staff
across India. This was disclosed by OYO Rooms Founder & CEO Ritesh Agarwal. THSC is assigned with the task of
skilling India in the tourism and hospitality sector under the governments skill development programme across country.
Worlds first washable smartphone developed: A Japanese firm claims to have developed the worlds first
waterproof smartphone that can be washed with soap and water. Waterproof phones have been on the market for a while
in Japan. However, that did not protect phones from the kind of rigorous scrubbing needed to actually clean the device
and kill bacteria. To address the issue, Kyocera launched Digno Rafre as the worlds first soap-proof phone. The Rafre
is designed to be used in all kinds of environments without fear of getting dirty, since it can be cleaned off easily with
hand soap. Kyocera is a Japan-based electronics and ceramics manufacturer.
Infosys gives Rs. 56 crore for 11 faculty chairs: Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of IT major
Infosys has instituted 11 faculty chairs at eight leading academic institutes across India over the past yearwith a total
commitment of Rs. 56 crore. The donated funds will be used for research in areas such as obstetrics & gynaecology,
agriculture, economics, mathematics, technology, biology, rural development and cancer. In a statement in November,
Infosys said the beneficiaries include IIIT-Bangalore, IISc, ICRIER, Presidency University, AIIMS and IIM-A.
TCS to train 1000 UK graduates: A thousand young British university graduates will have the opportunity to
spend a year training and working for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) at its Innovation Labs and software development
centres across India through a new partnership between the British Council and TCS. By providing 1,000 British
graduates with the opportunity to work and train with TCS, we hope to help address this skills shortage and give UK
employers access to the digital expertise that they will need to compete and succeed in the hyper-connected digital
economy, said N Chandrasekaran, Managing Director and CEO, TCS, said in a statement in November.
HSBC to train 75,000 in India: UK-based HSBC announced a skill development programme for India that will
impart skills to more than 75,000 people with requisite skill sets, over the next five years, to enable them to earn a
sustainable livelihood. The launch of the programme - HSBC Skills for Life - was announced during the UK visit of PM
Modi in November. HSBC Skills for Life would support non-profit organisations in three focus areas -- employmentlinked skills development of disadvantaged, upskilling of educators and teachers and womens empowerment through
livelihood enhancement.
SBI launches Neev fund: The State Bank of India (SBI) launched the countrys first low-income state
infrastructure equity partnership (or the Neev fund) during the UK visit of PM Modi in November. SBI has launched
Neev in tie up with the British department of international development and SBI. The fund aims at providing equity
partnerships for small infrastructure development in sectors like water and sanitation, clean energy and urban
infrastructure.
THE GENESIS
21
PERSONSINNEWS
Pawan Munjal: Hero MotoCorps promoter Pawan Munjal emerged as the highest paid director among the top listed
private companies, taking home a pay packet of nearly Rs 44 crore in 2014-15. He was followed by the groups two other
promoters - late Brijmohan Lall Munjal (Rs 43.64 crore) and Sunil Kant Munjal (41.87 crore), according to proxy
advisory firm InGovern in November. Desh Bandhu Gupta, chairman of Lupin, earned a salary of Rs 37.58 crore, while
Larsen & Toubro chairman A M Naik drew an annual remuneration of Rs 27.32 crore.
Herve Falciani: HSBC whistleblower Herve Falciani, whose Swiss leaks have been key to Indias black money
probe, was sentenced to five years in prison by a Switzerland court in November for industrial espionage. The trial took
place in absentia in the Swiss Federal Court as Falciani had refused to appear. He had leaked documents that apparently
revealed that HSBCs Swiss private banking arm aided over one lakh clients to evade taxes. The list of account holders
had later reached the French government and subsequently was shared with India as it had accounts of those Indians who
had stashed funds abroad.
Fauja Singh: As part of completing 100 years in India, food and beverage brand Nestl, celebrates the incredible spirit
of 104-yr-old marathon runner Fauja Singh in an inspiring video #100andRunning. Fondly called the Turbaned
Tornado, Singh, who ran his first marathon at the age of 89, is regarded as the oldest marathon runner in the world. In
September 2015, Nestl India rolled out a campaign A part of Indias life for 100 years.
Sebastian Coe: IAAF president Sebastian Coe bowed to intense pressure and announced in November that he had
stepped down from his paid role as an ambassador for Nike to focus more on cleaning up world track and fields
beleaguered governing body. Coe, unpaid as head of track and fields world governing body, received around 100,000
pounds (142,000 euros) a year for his global ambassadorial role for Oregon-based Nike.
Yusuf Hamied, non-executive chairman of Indian pharma company Cipla, was named in November by UN chief Ban
Ki-moon to a high-level panel that is tasked with encouraging investments in research and development for diseases
where financial returns are not guaranteed. The UN said Hamied has led efforts to treat and eradicate AIDS and other
diseases in the developing world, and to give patients life-saving medicines regardless of their ability to pay. He offered
the worlds first affordable AIDS medicine at the unprecedented cost of $1 per day in 2001.
M.A.M. Ramaswamy, veteran industrialist and founder of the Rs 10,000-crore business empire Chettinad Group,
passed away in Chennai at the age of 84 on December 2. The Chettinad Groupis present in various verticals, including
cement, education and hospitality. Widely known for philanthropic activities, his final years witnessed a downward spiral
as he was not elected as a director of the groups flagship company Chettinad Cement Corporation. The board, however,
approved him of being elected as the groups chairman emeritus.
APPOINTMENTS: Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman of Ambuja Neotia group, was elected President of industry
body FICCI for 2016 in November following the completion of the term of current President Jyotsna Suri. SREI
Infrastructure Finance vice-chairman Sunil Kanoria assumed charge as President of industry body ASSOCHAM in
November. Veteran sports marketing professional and former IPL COO Sundar Raman joined Reliance Industries as its
chief executive in November.
BRAND AMBASSADORS: Hinduja Global Solutions Limited (HGS) signed Indias top golfer Anirban Lahiri
as its brand ambassador in November. Sun Pharma launched Volini Spray with 360 degree technology in the presence of
brand ambassador Sania Mirza in November. FMCG firm Emami roped in actress Parineeti Chopra to endorse its new
skincare product BoroPlus Cocoa Soft Moisturising lotion in November.
AWARDS & HONOURS: Narendra Kothari, CMD of the state-owned iron ore mining major NMDC, has been
awarded the Tata Gold Medal by the Indian Institute of Metals at the National Metallurgists Day and Annual Technical
Meet 2015 in Coimbatore in November. TV actor Rithvik Dhanjani was crowned as the winner of the inaugural season
of reality show I Can Do That, which is an adaptation of the American series of the same name, in November.
THE GENESIS
22
LAUNCHES
Piaggio Fly: The Pune-headquartered Piaggio India, the local subsidiary of the Italian company, is considering
targeting the sub-125cc segment presently dominated by Honda Activa. For this Piaggio plans to introduce a new brand
called Fly in a few months (the brand was launched globally in 2013), its fourth in India apart from Vespa, Aprilla and
Piaggio. The company is also trying to build its brand among the growing biking community in the country and
Motoplex, a concept store, is meant to provide auto enthusiasts with a flavour of the Piaggio brands.
Free Electric: Billionaire philanthropist Manoj Bhargava unveiled a bicycle named Free Electric in November that
produces electricity when pedalled. The U.S.-based billionaire plans to sell bicycles in the price range of Rs.12000Rs.15000, in India by March 2016. Free Electric works by converting kinetic energy into electric energy. One hour of
pedalling can meet a rural households electricity needs for 24 hours. Also in November, Mercedes Benz launched its
fastest car, the GTS AMG sports car, which has a top speed of 310 kmph, priced at Rs 2.4 crore in India in November.
Uber Business Profiles: App-based taxi aggregator Uber has introduced a new feature Business Profiles, through
which it looks to get more corporate customers to use its platform. Business Profiles allows customers to seamlessly
switch between profiles for Business and Personal, helping track and organise corporate travel spending. Users will be
able to get invoices delivered directly to their work email ids and even setup different payment modes for each profile.
MTV-themed cafes: Viacom18 Consumer Products, an arm of media firm Viacom18, in November said it is
foraying into the food and beverages sector and will launch MTV-themed cafes. Viacom18 Consumer Products has tied
up with Funbars Hospitality in a five-year licensing deal, and will open 10 cafes in the next five years. Viacom 18 is a
joint venture between US-based Viacom and Network 18. In 2014, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries had acquired
control in Network 18 Media & Investments, including its subsidiary TV18 Broadcast, for Rs 4,000 crore.
Viaan Mobiles: Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her businessman husband Raj Kundra launched Viaan Mobiles,
named on their three-year-old son, in November. The unique selling point of Viaan Mobiles is a V-Assist, feature
exclusively available to Viaan smartphone users. Its a 24*7 personalized concierge service. The phones are launched at
different price ranges to suit the needs of multiple consumers and it includes one-year free subscription to V-Assist. The
variants include V-1.8, V-Emerge, V-Empower, V-Encore and V-Eternal.
BizLab: European aviation major Airbus inaugurated its third aerospace business accelerator BizLab, in Bengaluru in
November after Toulouse (France) and Hamburg (Germany) as part of its strategy to establish a global network. The
company also announced opening of the first round of applications for start-ups, seeking supports for early-stage projects
in the region.
IRCTC to run Desert and Heritage tourist trains: PSU Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
Limited (IRCTC) will launch two semi-luxury train services in December which will showcase Indias deserts and
heritage. The premium train services, Desert Circuit and Heritage Circuit, will start from New Delhi on a five-day
odyssey. Desert Circuit will traverse Rajasthans Jaisalmer and Jaipur while Heritage Circuit will touch Varanasi,
Khajuraho and Agra. Desert Circuit packages range from Rs.20625 to Rs.36900 while Heritage Circuit packages are
priced between Rs.18290 and Rs.35900.
HDFC Musical logo: Countrys second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank, which has launched sonic
branding or a musical logo, in November said it will spend over Rs 30 crore to promote the new brand positioning which
stresses on the digital banking. The sonic branding is being included at all the touch-points like ATMs and phonebanking application, where customers will hear the tune.
Batua: After launching a mobile wallet app, SBI Buddy, for smartphone users, State Bank of India said in November
that it will soon come out with a mobile wallet app for customers with feature phones. It will be called Batua.
Magic Retry: Online mobile payment firm PayUbiz has launched Magic Retry feature that will now allow
consumers to retry a failed transaction by simply picking up from the point where the last error message appeared. The
feature is first of its kind development in the digital and electronic payments ecosystem in the country.
THE GENESIS
23
NewsAsia International: Direct-to-Home (DTH) major Tata Sky has launched channel NewsAsia International, a
Singaporean news channel on its platform. In a joint press statement with MediaCorp in November, Tata Sky provider
said with the new offering it has expanded its range of news channels to 96, including 14 English news channels, 22
Hindi news channels and 57 regional news channels.
Da Vinci Learning: German TV channel Da Vinci Learning launched its HD educational channel in the country in
association with Raghav Bahl-promoted Quintillion Media in November. The company, which has formed 50:50
partnership with the Quintillion, has plans to launch the channels in vernacular languages as it is expecting India to be
one of its leading markets in future.
MERGERS&ACQUISITIONS
Idea Cellular to buy Videocon spectrum: Idea Cellular Ltd, Indias third-biggest mobile phone operator, has
agreed to buy spectrum in two services areas from smaller rival Videocon Telecommunications for $499 million. The
deal announced in November comes a month after the government allowed carriers to trade mobile airwaves, a move
aimed at improving services in the worlds second-biggest market by number of mobile customers. Idea, a unit of the
Aditya Birla conglomerate and nearly a fifth-owned by Malaysias Axiata, plans to use the acquired spectrum for
launching 4G broadband services in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (west).
Pfizer, Allergen finalise merger deal: Viagra maker Pfizer Inc and Botox manufacturer Allergan agreed to
merge in a record USD 160 billion deal in November, creating a drug making behemoth, in the biggest buyout in the
healthcare sector. The deal will technically see Dublin-based Allergan buying its much larger partner. Ian Read, CEO of
Pfizer will be chairman and CEO of the new company, while Allergan CEO Brent Saunders will be president and chief
operating officer, overseeing sales, manufacturing and strategy.
CAMPAIGNS
#AndGeneration: Homegrown mobile handset maker Micromax Informatics has released a new ad film called
#AndGeneration, aimed at promoting its Canvas 5 smartphone. The communication is based on the insight that
youngsters today are making multiple choices in their daily lives and are not happy with whats given to them; they want
more. This behavior is visible in the everyday choices they make while shopping, eating out and other leisure activities.
The brand has identified such people as the And Generation, which also happens to be the theme of the film.
Jhatpat banao, befikar khao: Patanjali Ayurved, the FMCG venture promoted by yoga guru Baba Ramdev,
launched Patanjali atta noodles in November and positioned it on the tagline jhatpat banao, befikar khao. Ramdev said
Patanjali Ayurved will launch baby care under Shishu Care brand, beauty care products under Saundrya brand and
health supplement powder under Power Vita brand. The company had sales turnover of Rs 2,007 crore in 2014-15.
Dont be a Boo Boo: Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has developed a digital ad campaign called Dont be a Boo
Boo, aimed to create awareness about road safety. The campaign launched in November features the Boo Boos, a family
of five cartoon characters, who flout traffic rules such as not wear seat belts, indulge in drunken driving, and text while
driving. As a result, they get into trouble and pay fines. The film also draws attention towards Bajaj Allianz Motor
Insurance features.
Jaanoge Tabhi Toh Maanoge: Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund launched a new TVC in November that urges
investors to evaluate yesterdays tools for investments and highlights SIP as the new-age investment tool. Jaanoge Tabhi
Toh Maanoge the Investor Education Initiative from Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Limited launched its
latest TV commercial Love Note.
Aaj ke zamaney ki leap: Maruti Suzuki Celerio launched a campaign Aaj ke zamaney ki leap in November that
exemplifies progressiveness by showing openness in everyday contexts relevant to young Indians. It intends to reach out
to customers by showcasing Maruti Suzuki Celerio as a contemporary car for the new age, progressive Indian.
THE GENESIS
24
Cyber Buzz
Facebook enters transport biz with Uber
Politicians vie for controlling internet
In Facebooks first foray into the transportation business,

the firm has agreed to work with Uber to allow users to
hail Uber cabs directly from the Messenger app.The new
service means Messenger users will be able to ask for an
Uber vehicle without leaving the Facebook software.
Users will not need to download the Uber app
separately.Uber on Messenger began in parts of USA in
December.
Whos in charge of the internet? In the third week of

December, two influential political figures, one Chinese,
the other American, have given their views on this issue.
The companies announced their new venture via separate

blogs. Facebook has some 1.5 billion users globally and
Uber is the worlds biggest driver-hailing app in terms of
financing..
If successful, the partnership between the firms will give
Uber access to many new and potential clients Facebooks Messenger app has some 700 million users
worldwide.
With the ability to request, view, and pay for an Uber
ride in Messenger, taking your next ride is as simple as
sending a message, Uber said on its news blog.
You can request a ride from a car service without ever
needing to download an extra app or leave a
conversation, Facebook explained.
The social media giant said the new transportation
function on its Messenger app was part of its ongoing
development.More countries and other transportation
partners will be available soon.
Facebook also said the service would be super easy.
Driver status updates and payment receipts will get
delivered to a private conversation between the consumer
and Uber. Uber and Facebook said they would offer users
their first ride for free - for a trip worth up to $20.
Facebook said the offer would be in place for a limited
time.
In April, the social media giant removed its instant
messaging service from its main mobile app and said
users would have to download the Messenger app in
order to send and receive messages on their smartphones.
San Francisco-based Uber was founded six years ago. It
has operations in about 60 countries but has faced
opposition in various parts of the world. Earlier this year,
Facebook bought the messaging service WhatsApp for
$19 billion.
Both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump clearly thinks it is

time for national governments to grasp control of the
internet to bend it to their own political purposes.
Chinas leader was speaking in Wuzhen at an event called
the World Internet Conference, which sounds grand and
did bring in delegates from leading technology companies
including Apple and Microsoft, plus the Internet naming
body ICANN. But the only world leaders in attendance
were from Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan, countries presumably sympathetic to Chinas
view of how the internet should be governed.
Cyberspace is similar to the real world in that both
freedom and order are necessary, President Xi declared
in his opening keynote speech. But it seems that order
is the priority in China, where the increasingly
sophisticated Great Firewall acts as a strict border control
for the internet, making sure it conforms with the
Communist Partys view of the world.
Xi also called for cyber sovereignty with each country
respecting the right of others to manage the internet
according to their own priorities.
The United States, which has accused China of being a
leading offender when it comes to hacking and the
cyberspace arms race will look at the Chinese
presidents speech with a sceptical eye.
But some US politicians may share his view that it is time
to rein in the internet.Take Donald Trump. At a recent
Republican debate, he declared that technology was the
way to take on the terrorist threat: We should be able to
penetrate the internet and find out exactly where Isis is.
The internet was our idea but the US needed to close
off areas of the internet because Isis was using it better.
The idealistic internet pioneers - most of them American saw it as a global community without borders, a space for
free exchange of ideas untrammelled by national laws.
But whether it is China determined to shore up its Great
Firewall, the US wanting to curb communications
between terror groups, or indeed Europe debating at what
age children should be allowed online, local politicians
are asserting their right to bend the internet to their will.
THE GENESIS
Science & Technology

Self-driving cars must have driver
Regulators in California have published draft proposals in
December
designed to pave
the way for the
public to start
using
selfdriving cars on
the
roads.However,
the
cautious
recommendations from the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) will, initially at least, insist on a fully
licensed driver being behind the wheel, ready to take over
in an emergency or if the technology fails.
California has been the testing ground for most of the
development, and so regulations in the state are
considered to be precedent-setting.
Prospective users of self-driving cars will need to
undergo special training, and manufacturers would be
required to monitor the cars use.
Answering a common query, regulators said any traffic
violations or accidents would remain the responsibility of
the human driver.
Many firms are investing heavily in researching and
creating self-driving vehicles, such as Ford, Uber and
Tesla.
Google, which leads the research field, has made a selfdriving car without any controls such as steering wheels
or pedals.
But the DMVs proposals would mean such vehicles
would not, for the foreseeable future at least, be made
available for consumers.
A statement from the DMV read: Given the potential
risks associated with deployment of such a new
technology, DMV believes that manufacturers need to
obtain more experience in testing driverless vehicles on
public roads prior to making this technology available to
the general public.
Instead, any car offering self-driving capability must also
be fitted with traditional controls - such as the adapted
Lexus Google has been testing on roads already.
25
This slightly dampens hopes that self-driving technology
would enable those who are currently unable to drive such as people with disabilities - to get on the roads.
However, the DMV said it would reassess the safety of
fully-autonomous vehicles in the future.A public
consultation on the draft will take place in the new
year.The draft also adds requirements for manufacturers
to ensure that vehicles are protected from cyber attacks.
Tech giants pledge $1bn for altruistic AI

Prominent
tech
executives
have
pledged $1bn in
December
for
OpenAI, a non-profit
venture that aims to
develop artificial intelligence (AI) to benefit humanity.
The ventures backers include Tesla Motors and SpaceX
CEO Elon Musk, Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel, Indian
tech giant Infosys and Amazon Web Services.
Open AI says it expects its research - free from financial
obligations - to focus on a positive human impact.
Scientists have warned that advances in AI could
ultimately threaten humanity.Musk recently told students
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that
AI was humanitys biggest existential threat.
Earlier British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking
speculated that AI could potentially re-design itself at an
ever increasing rate, superseding humans by outpacing
biological evolution.However, other experts have argued
that the risk of AI posing any threat to humans remains
remote.
A statement on OpenAIs website said the venture aims
to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most
likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a
need to generate financial return.
Its hard to fathom how much human-level AI could
benefit society, and its equally hard to imagine how
much it could damage society if built or used
incorrectly.
The statement said AI should be an extension of
individual human wills and, in the spirit of liberty, as
broadly and evenly distributed as is possible safely.
THE GENESIS
RECENT RELEASES
ThisUnquietLand
A book on contemporary India,
This Unquiet Land tells the truth
about the countrys secrets and lies,
its torments and triumphs, and its
heroes and villains. This is the first
book by well-known journalist
Barkha Dutt.
Indias fault lines run wide and
deep.Some of them go back
centuries, others are of comparatively recent origin. The
myriad villains these fault lines have spawned include
rapists, murderers, terrorists, prophets of religious hatred,
corrupt politicians, upholders of abhorrent caste
traditions, opponents of free speech and dissent,
apologists for regressive cultural practices, and external
adversaries who try to destabilize our borders. All of
them are responsible for impeding the countrys progress,
destroying the lives of numberless innocents, usually the
poorest and most vulnerable of our people, and
besmirching the democratic, plural, free and secular
nature of our society.
Set against these enemies of our nations promise are the
heroic onesthe poor, illiterate woman who was gangraped but helped change the nations attitude towards
women through her determined fight for justice; the
young soldier whose courage and sacrifice in the high
Himalayas was an inspiration to his comrades fighting the
Kargil War; the wife whose husband was beheaded by
Maoist terrorists, yet sought not revenge but succour for
the poor and underprivileged; and the son of the village
blacksmith who was lynched by a mob of religious
fundamentalists appealing for an end to discord and
sectarian violence. These stories, and dozens of others
like them, map our countrys fault lines. In this book,
Barkha Dutt recounts the ones that have left an indelible
mark on her. Taken together, they provide a vivid,
devastating and unforgettable portrait of our unquiet land.
NationatPlay
Reaching as far back as ancient
times, Ronojoy Sen pairs a novel
history of Indias engagement with
sport and a probing analysis of its
cultural and political development
under monarchy and colonialism,
and as an independent nation.
Some sports that originated in
26
India have fallen out of favor, while others, such as
cricket, have been adopted and made wholly Indias own.
Sens innovative project casts sport less as a natural
expression of human competition than as an instructive
practice reflecting a unique play with power, morality,
aesthetics, identity, and money. Sen follows the
transformation of sport from an elite, kingly pastime to a
national obsession tied to colonialism, nationalism, and
free market liberalization. He pays special attention to
two modern phenomena: the dominance of cricket in the
Indian consciousness and the chronic failure of a billionstrong nation to compete successfully in international
sporting competitions, such as the Olympics. Innovatively
incorporating examples from popular media and other
unconventional sources, Sen not only captures the
political nature of sport in India but also reveals the
patterns of patronage, clientage, and institutionalization
that have bound this diverse nation together for centuries.
ThePublicIntellectualinIndia
The public intellectual in India is an
endangered species. Should we care?
In this well-argued book, historian
Romila Thapar and others tell us
why we should. Thapar begins by
defining the critical role that such
individuals play in our societies
today. Collectively, they are the
objective, fearless, constructive
voice that asks the awkward questions when government,
industry, religious leaders and other bulwarks of society
stray from their roles of ensuring the proper functioning
of a country whose hallmarks are (or should be) social
and economic equality, justice for all, and the liberty to
say, think and profess the fundamental requirements of
good citizenship. Through the lens of history, philosophy,
science, and politics, she shows us the key role
enlightened thinkers and activists have played in India,
Europe and elsewhere. Today, as the liberal space in
India is threatened by religious fundamentalism, big
business, and, worryingly, a government that appears to
be tacitly (and sometimes overtly) encouraging the attack
on freedom of expression, secular values and rational
readings of history, there could be no book as timely as
this one. With contributions from writers and scholars in
the fields of philosophy, science, history, journalism and
social activism, The Public Intellectual in India shows us
why it is important to have independent voices to protect
the underprivileged, ensure human rights and social
justice, and watch over the smooth functioning of our
liberal, secular democracy.
THE GENESIS
27
Group Discussion
Honouring the national anthem
A video has gone viral on social media showing some people arguing with a family who refused to stand up when the national anthem
was played in PVR Cinemas in Mumbai on November 29. The family left the cinema hall after the manager made a request to them.
FOR
One can keep debating on the merits and non-merits of
playing the national anthem before or after a film.
However, there can be no discussion or debate about one
thing. If the national anthem is playing and if you are an
Indian, then you must stand up for it. You must stand up
for your pride in India, you must stand up for the soldiers
on the front protecting you. And its a matter of just 90
seconds. Its not that you are being pushed into doing
something unbelievably bad.
The law is quite clear in this matter. Section 3 of the
Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971 states
that whoever intentionally prevents the singing of the
Indian National Anthem or causes disturbance to any
assembly engaged in such singing shall be punished with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years, or
with fine, or with both. A logical interpretation of this
Section implies that only those who intentionally
prevent or cause disturbance to the singing of the
National Anthem are liable to be prosecuted under the
Act.
The Supreme Court has said that the audience in cinema
houses need not stand up when the national anthem was a
part of a running news reel, documentary or movie.
Disposing of an appeal by producer-director of the film
Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham Karan Johar against the
Madhya Pradesh High Court order directing the deletion
of the national anthem from the film, the court said the
audience was not expected to stand up.
According to the Union Home Ministry It is not
expected of the audience to stand as standing is bound to
interrupt the exhibition of the film and would create
disorder and confusion rather than add to the dignity of
the Anthem. This makes the picture clear. The family
who refused to stand up was in the wrong as the anthem
was played before the start of the movie.
One doesnt have a choice when the national anthem
plays. It is not a question of forcing someone to stand up.
There shouldnt be any discussion on that. It is every
Indias duty, respect and basic good manners to stand
anywhere anytime if the countrys National anthem is
played. Patriotic citizens would righteously be offended if
someone doesnt stand up when it is being played. The
Constitution has to be honoured.
AGAINST
There is something unsavoury and sad about a roomful of
people clapping in triumph after allegedly hounding out a
family from a cinema hall for not standing up during the
playing of the national anthem. It is an unfortunate
moment in the history of what ought to be a modern and
mature democracy.
There is no penalty for someone who refuses to stand in
such cases. Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to
National Honour Act states that causing disturbance
during the playing of the anthem, or preventing the
singing
of
the
anthem,
is
punishable
by
imprisonmentand/or a fine. But nowhere in the law is it
mentioned that refusing to stand is a crime.
There is nothing in the law that might justify the
harassment and/or eviction from a public place of people
who are not disrupting in any way the performance of the
national anthem. And even if it has become some sort of a
convention to stand up, choosing not to do so does not
amount to a public offence.
Too much social and legal energy is wasted in India over
such banal sentiments, fostering a culture of
authoritarianism, insecurity and sheer aggression that
keeps the public sphere in a state of political and cultural
immaturity, which cannot be salutary for individual
citizens, communities and the country in general.
Says Supreme Court advocate Rajeev Dhavan: We are
reaching a stage where patriotism is a badge you must
wear to which you must adhere to. A greater premium is
being placed on nationalism vis--vis these symbols and
Muslims have to prove their fidelity. Songs and symbols
had a role to play when nations were at war but that has
eased up and most nations dont give a damn anymore.
There is a larger problem here that plays itself out in the
Indian life at two levels. First, there has always been an
archaic and knee-jerk insecurity in India about showing
disrespect to national symbols, anthems, rituals and icons
- an anxious, humourless and authoritarian touchiness that
often makes a mature and modern democracy look
ridiculous. This tendency, emanating from the State,
expresses itself in fits of law-wielding outrage that begins
to look like the parody of patriotism to sensible citizens
born with the gift of humour or a sense of proportion.
THE GENESIS
Crossword:
28
(Solution on page No: 36)
ACROSS
1. _____Caves: historic caves
in Maharashtra (6)
4. _____ -gang: a group of
convicts made to work
together? (5)
7. ____ out: obliterates or
obscures? (6)
13. Starch root much relished
as food in Kerala (7)
14. National Assoc. for the
blind (3)
15. Weapons are usually
stored here (7)
16. Covered thinly with gold?
(4)
17 Men m Black, abbr. (3)
18. A Chinese type of dog (4)
21. Equestrian (8)
23. More powerful (8)
27. Hateful or abhorrent;
detestable (9)
29. Kevin of England and
RCB (9)
31. Current Minister of
External Affairs (1.1.7)
32. Kitchen electrical device
(9)
33. Where to go for fast food?
(5.3)
37. Industrially developed
city in Punjab (8)
ACROSS
42. Prefix for one thousand (4)
43. No obj. cert. (3)
44. Place where corn is ground (4)
47. Podded vegetable (4.3)
48. A long time (3)
DOWN
1. Behaving or performing? (6)
2. High mountains (4)
3. Hot geographic regions (7)
5. Ram bhakt ____ (7)
6. Receives into the mind or character; absorbs (7)
8. Piece of writing that ridicules someone (7)
9. Illegal seizure of control (4)
10. Part of the Gramophone which moves over the record and
holds the needle (6)
11. Opening batsman Gambhir (6)
12. Lung ____: smokers hazard? (6)
19. ___ sign: this tells the motorists not to leave their cars around
here? (2.7)
20. Ripening or maturing (9)
22. Gas composed of nitrogen &hydrogen with a typical odour (7)
ACROSS
49. Italian port or type of hen (7)
50. 1, 2 or 3 as against a, b, or c? (6)
51.Region of Gujarat famous for its desert and business
community (5)
52. Acquires facts etc. in small amounts?(6)
DOWN
24. Capital of Bhutan (7)
25. ______off: take off from the launching site (5)
26. Marked with writing fluid? (5)
28. Horizontal Situation Indicator (3)
30. Gads son? (3)
34. A lame person or animal (7)
35. Capital of Madhya Pradesh (6)
36. Structured poem (7)
37. Secretive, taciturn or shy (7)
38. Ms Kapadia of Bollywood (6)
39. Not according to law (7)
40. ______ Button: 2009 F1 World Champion (6)
41. Screens off or cuts out (6)
45. Period of prosperity or sudden activity in commerce? (4)
46. _____ fide: real and genuine? (4)
THE GENESIS
29
Do you remember?
(All questions based on content of previous issue; Answers on page No: 32)
1. Which two requirements for clearing FDI projects in
22. World ____ Day for Peace and Development was
housing construction sector were scrapped in

November?
Government notified the One-Rank- One-Pension
Scheme for ex-servicemen in November. Pension will
be revised once every ______ years.
Which category of ex-servicemen will not get benefits
under One-Rank- One-Pension Scheme?
Government notified the One-Rank- One-Pension
Scheme for ex-servicemen in November. The benefits
will be effective from which data?
What was the coastal security exercise along the coast
of Kerala, Lakshadweep, Minicoy islands and Mahe in
November called?
Who is the CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace
which produces the supersonic cruise missile
BrahMos?
BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture of India & ___.
What is the strike range of Agni-IV missile?
Expand the abbreviations CCTNS and ICJS.
Which is the only Indian institute in Worlds Top 100
Universities for Engineering and Technology ranking
by Times Higher Education in November?
What is the joint initiative by IITs and IISc to launch
research aimed at engineering and technology
challenges faced by society called? President launched
it in November.
Expand the abbreviation UNCITRAL?
Which city was the venue of the first International
Conference on Gender Equality (ICGE) in November?
Which city was the venue of the World Congress on
Disaster Management in November?
The Indian ____ History Congress was organised in
Coimbatore in November.
The three-day First ____ Summit was organised in
Mumbai organised by Maharashtra government in
association
with
UNICEF
in
November
(Child/Foods/Nutrition/Immunisation).
The third National Conference on Social _____ was
organized by the Pune International Centre in Nov
(Development/Responsibility/Reforms/Innovation).
Which city was the venue of the second India Idea
Conclave in November?
Which was the focus country at the India International
Trade Fair (IITF) organised in New Delhi in
November?
World Toilet Day was observed on _______.
The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes
against _____ was observed on November 2
(Journalists/Children/Women/Refugees).
observed
on
November
10
(Human
Rights/Health/Science/Press).
The _____ World Records Day was observed on
November 14.
When was the World Day of Remembrance for Road
Traffic Victims observed in November?
World Philosophy Day was observed on ______.
World Fisheries Day and World Television Day were
observed on the same day. When?
India observes Childrens Day on November 14. When
was the Universal Childrens Day observed in
November?
International Day of ________ was observed on
November 16 (Peace/Tolerance/Happiness/Humour).
______ Industrialization Day was observed on
November 20 (Asia/Africa/America/Australia).
When was the World Quality Day observed in
November?
International Day for the Elimination of Violence
against _____ was observed on November 25
(Journalists/Children/Women/Refugees).
Whose birth anniversary was observed as National
Education Day in India on November 11?
Constitution Day was observed in India on:
Whose birth anniversary was observed as National
Milk Day in India on November 26?
When was the Public Service Broadcasting Day
observed in India in November?
Which organisation was selected for the Indira Gandhi
Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for
2015 in November?
Which actor is the head of Childrens Film Society of
India?
Where was the International Childrens Film Festival
of India organised in November?
Golden ________ was given to the Best Film at the
International Childrens Film Festival of India
organised
in
November
(Peacock/Elephant/Horse/Squirrel).
Which international organisation along with Bilquis
Bano, the Pakistani caretaker of Indian girl Geeta, was
chosen for the Mother Teresa Memorial International
Award-2015 for Social Justice in November? The
award is given by Harmony Foundation, Mumbai.
Bindeshwar Pathak of NGO Sulabh is in The Global
Diversity List of 50 top world personalities in
November. Which magazine created this list?
Golden _____ Award was given to the Best Film at the
17thMumbai Film Festival in November.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
THE GENESIS

43. National Press Day was observed on:
44. Who is the new Chief Justice of India?
45. Who is the new Director of National Council of
Educational Research and Training (NCERT)?
30
66. Which commonwealth nation has decided to scrap
67.
46. Who is Indias next Permanent Representative of India
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
to the United Nations? He replaces Asoke Kumar

Mukerji.
Who is Indias new Ambassador to China?
K. Shankaran Nair (died: November 17) was the
former head of which espionage agency?
Om Prakash Mehra (died: November 8) was the
former
Chief
of
which
defence
service
(Army/Navy/Coast Guard/Air Force)?
Who holds the record for presiding over a State
Assembly for the longest duration of 29 years? He
died on November 2 at the age of 80.
Former bureaucrat RK Trivedi, who served as Central
_____ Commissioner in 1980-82 died on November
19.
Kolipaka Gattaiah (38), famous as Indias _______
man, died on October 30 at the age of 38
(shortest/tallest/fattest).
Which 12th century scholars statue was unveiled
during his tour of UK by the Indian Prime Minister in
November?
Whose memorial at 10 King Henrys Road in London
was inaugurated by the Indian PM during his tour of
UK in November?
Who are the monarch and PM of UK?
Anup Chetia was handed over to the CBI by the
Bangladesh authorities in November. He was the
founder of which insurgent group?
Which US city was the venue of the Regional Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas on November 14-15?
India and which country conducted their joint combat
exercise `Indra near Bikaner in Rajasthan in
November?
Which country bestowed its Grand Cordon of the
Order of the Rising Sun Services to former diplomat
Aftab Seth in November?
Which state launched Annapurna Bhandar Yojna for
providing multi-brand products of daily consumption
at fair price shops in November?
Which city was the venue of the 21stBASIC
Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change in November?
IORA is ____ ____ Rim Association.
Which state observed its foundation day on Nov5?
Expand the abbreviation NSCN (K).
President of which Asian country met his Chinese
counterpart after more than 70 years in November?
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
knights and dames from its national honours system

from November?
What was the US-Nepal joint military exercise in
November called?
Egypts Sharm el-Sheikh is on the coast of which Sea?
World Diabetes Day was observed on _____.
Which organisation gave awarded Syrian journalist
Zaina Erhaim her defence of press freedom in
November?
Liberias Abraham Keita was awarded which prize at
The Hague, Netherlands in November for his tireless
campaigning to end violence against minors.
Crippled America: How to Make America Great
Again is a recent book authored by:
Who is the new Prime Minister of Romania?
Who is the new UN High Commissioner for
Refugees?
Colin Welland won an Oscar for best original
screenplay for which movie in 1982? He died on
November 2.
Expand the abbreviation WADA.
Lewis Hamilton is the 2015 Formula One World
Champion. He races for which team?
Who won the Fed Cup tennis title in November?
Which nations athletics team was banned from
competing in 2016 Olympic Games by WADA for
widespread doping?
Who won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paulo on
November 16?
Who beat Saina Nehwal in the final to win Womens
Singles title at the China Open Super Series Premier
Badminton tournament at Fuzhou in November?
The government launched a reform package UDAY
for loss-making state electricity utilities in November.
Expand the abbreviation UDAY.
Which fund was launched by government to support
micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in
adoption of energy efficient technologies?
How much cess has been imposed by the government
on all services which come under the purview of
Service Tax from November 15?
Who was sacked from his position of Tobacco Board
Chairman in November?
Who resigned as Chairman of empowered group of
State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax in
November?
Who is the author of Dial D for Don? Neeraj Kumar
Who headed the Seventh Central Pay Commission that
submitted its report to the Finance Minister in Nov?
Answers on next page
THE GENESIS
31
Do you remember? Answers

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
minimum floor area (20,000

sq m earlier), minimum
capitalisation ($5 million
earlier)
5 years
Those who retired voluntarily
July 1, 2014
Theera Veta
Sudhir Mishra
Russia
4000 km
Crime
and
Criminals
Tracking
Network
and
Systems, Integrated Criminal
Justice System
Indian Institute of Science
(IISc) Bangalore
IMPRINT
(IMPacting
Research Innovation and
Technology) India
United Nations Commission
on International Trade Law
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
Art
Foods
Reforms
Panaji
Bangladesh
November 19
Journalists
Science
Guinness
November 15
November 19
November 21
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
November 20
Tolerance
Africa
November 24
Women
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
November 26
Dr. Verghese Kurien
November 12
United
Nations
High
Commissioner for Refugees
Mukesh Khanna
Hyderabad
Elephant
Medecins Sans Frontieres
The Economist
Gateway
November 16
Justice Tirath Singh Thakur
Hrushikesh Senapaty
Syed Akbaruddin
Vijay Keshav Gokhale
Research and Analysis Wing
(RAW)
Air force
Hashim Abdul Halim, West
Bengal Legislative Assembly
Vigilance
Tallest
Basaveshwara
Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar
Queen Elizabeth II, David
Cameron
ULFA
Los Angeles
Russia
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
Japan
Rajasthan
Beijing
Indian Ocean
Jharkhand
National Socialist Council of
Nagaland-Khaplang
Taiwan
Australia
Balance Nail
Red Sea
November 14
Reporters Without Borders
International
Childrens
Peace Prize
Donald Trump
Dacian Ciolos
Filippo Grandi
Chariots of Fire
World Anti-Doping Agency
Mercedes AMG Petronas
team
Czech Republic
Russia
Nico Rosberg of Team
Mercedes
Li Xuerui
Ujwal Discom Assurance
Yojana
Technology Acquisition and
Development Fund (TADF)
0.5%
K. Gopal
K M Mani
Neeraj Kumar
Justice A.K. Mathur
THE GENESIS
32
Corporate Knowledge Quiz

(All questions based on content in this issue& previous issue)
(Answers Key on Page No: 36)
1. The government raised the threshold limit of approval

by Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) from the
earlier Rs.3000 crore to ______ crore from November.
a) Rs 4,000 crore
b) Rs 5,000 crore
c) Rs 6,000 crore
d) Rs 7,000 crore
2. Which consulting firm has rated Mizoram and
Meghalaya as best states in gender parity in its The
Power of Parity: Advancing Women Equality in India
report in November?
a) McKinsey
b) E&Y
c) KPMG
d) PwC
3. Philanthropic foundation run by which Indian IT
company announced the setting up of 11 faculty chairs at
8 leading academic institutes across India with a total
commitment of Rs. 56 crore in November?
a) Wipro
b) TCS
c) Infosys
d) Tech Mahindra
4. Which DTH company has channel NewsAsia
International, a Singaporean news channel on its
platform, in November?
a) Videocon d2h
b) Dish TV
c) Tata Sky
d) Airtel Digital TV
5. Which Gulf-based airline signed a three-year
sponsorship deal as Presenting Partner of International
Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in November?
a) Emirates
b) Lufthansa
c) Qatar Airways
d) Etihad Airways
6. What is the minimum gold deposit required for
investment in governments Gold Monetisation Scheme
(GMS) in November? a) 5 grams
b) 20 grams
c) 30 grams
d) 50 grams
7. Which government-owned bank announced plans to

launch mobile wallet app Batua in November?
a) State Bank of India
b) Canara Bank
c) Bank of Baroda
d) Bank of India
8. Which industry body appointed Harshavardhan Neotia
of Ambuja group as its new President in following
election in November?
a) CII
b) IMC
c) FICCI
d) ASSOCHAM
9. Which banks ex-employee Herve Falciani is wanted
by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland for
passing on information on Swiss bank accounts to tax
regulatory authorities in India and other countries?
a) HSBC
b) Citibank
c) Royal Bank of Scotland
d) Standard Chartered Bank
10. Which of the following announced plans to launch its
Fly 2-wheeler in the segment dominated by Honda
Activa in November?
a) Suzuki
b) Bajaj Auto
c) Hero MotoCorp
d) Piaggio
11. Which nation has topped the annual 2015 Prosperity
Index of 142 territories by London-based international
think tank Legatum Institute in November? Norway
a) Luxembourg
b) France
c) Norway
d) Sweden
12. Which brand foods company feted 104-yr-old
marathon runner Fauja Singh, fondly called the
Turbaned Tornado, in a video #100andRunning in
November?
a) PepsiCo
b) McDonalds
c) Subway
d) Nestle
THE GENESIS

13. Who topped the list of Indias Top 100 Most Trusted
Brands unveiled by Brand Equity supplement of
Economic Times newspaper in November?
a) Nokia
b) Dettol
c) Bata
d) Colgate
14. Which of the following launched its fastest car, the
GTS AMG, priced at Rs 2.4 crore in India in
November?
a) Mercedes
b) Porsche
c) Rolls Royce
d) BMW
15. Which private sector bank launched sonic branding
or a musical logo in November?
a) Axis Bank
b) ICICI Bank
c) HDFC Bank
d) Kotak Mahindra Bank
16. Which Indian mobile phone company has launched a
new ad film called #AndGeneration in November?
a) Lava
b) Karbonn
c) Micromax
d) Intex
17. Which mutual fund launched the Jaanoge Tabhi Toh
Maanoge campaign to educate investors about the
benefits of Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs)?
a) UTI MF
b) HDFC MF
c) Reliance MF
d) Birla Sun Life MF
18. Who among the following announced Rs. 5 crore
contribution from his salary to fund a programme to
legally and financially support underprivileged
undertrials languishing in jails?
a) Sunil Bharti Mittal
b) Kumar Mangalam Birla
c) Mukesh Ambani
d) Anil Ambani
19. What is the FDI ceiling in single brand retail trade
(SBRT)?
a) 49%
b) 51%
c) 74%
d) None, 100% allowed
33
20. Who among the following Indian Americans was
in news for launching a bicycle Free Electric that
generates electricity in November?
a) Bharat Desai
b) Romesh Wadhwani
c) K. Ram Shriram
d) Manoj Bhargava
21. IAAF President Sebastian Coe has stepped down
from his paid role as an ambassador for which sports
goods company to avoid conflict of interest in
November?
a) Nike
b) Puma
c) Lotto
d) Adidas
22. Which of the following is not among the three airlines
slapped with penalties of more than Rs. 250 crore by the
Competition Commission of India (CCI) for cartelisation
in fixing cargo fuel surcharge in November?
a) IndiGo
b) Air India
c) SpiceJet
d) Jet Airways
23. Which industrialist heads Railways Kayakalp
council?
a) Nandan Nilekani
b) Azim Premji
c) Shiv Nadar
d) Ratan Tata
24. Which taxi aggregator firm has introduced a new
feature Business Profiles to get more corporate
customers to use its platform?
a) Meru Cabs
b) Uber
c) Ola Cabs
d) Taxi For Sure
25. Tata Groups Titan announced a tie up with which of
the following in November for launching smartwatches?
a) Dell
b) Acer
c) Lenovo
d) Hewlett Packard
26. Which media company announced its foray into the
food and beverages sector in November with the launch
of MTV-themed cafes?
a) Viacom
b) Star
THE GENESIS

c) Zee
d) Sony
27. Which of the following announced a $499 million
deal to acquire spectrum of Videocon in Gujarat and
Uttar Pradesh (West) telecom circles in November?
a) Bharti Airtel
b) Idea Cellular
c) Vodafone
d) Reliance Communications
28. Frederick Banting is known for his research leading to
the cure of which ailment?
a) Malaria
b) Diabetes
c) Cancer
d) Meningitis
29. What is the FDI ceiling in multi brand retail trade
(MBRT)?
a) 49%
b) 51%
c) 74%
30. Who among the following launched Viaan Mobiles
named after her kid in November?
a) Kajol
b) Shilpa Shetty
c) Aishwarya Rai
d) Karishma Kapoor
31. Which industry body appointed Sunil Kanoria as its
new President in November?
a) CII
b) IMC
c) FICCI
d) ASSOCHAM
32. Which of the following pairs of promoters of pharma
companies is not matched correctly?
a) Yusuf Hamied Cipla
b) Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Biocon
c) Habil Khorakiwala Torrent
d) Desh Bandhu Gupta Lupin
33. Which is the movie production company promoted by
actor Shahrukh Khan?
a) Filmkraft
b) Dreamz Unlimited
c) Red Chilies Entertainment
d) White Feather Films
34
34. Which government-owned bank launched Neev
fund to finance infrastructure projects in low-income
states in November?
a) State Bank of India
b) Canara Bank
c) Bank of Baroda
d) Bank of India
35. Which is the best in the world according to Worlds
Top 100 Universities for Engineering and Technology
ranking by Times Higher Education in November?
a) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
b) California Institute of Technology
c) Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
d) School of Engineering, Warwick
36. What is the FDI ceiling in construction sector?
a) 49%
b) 51%
c) 74%
37. Which Indian IT company gave prizes of Rs.65 lakh
each to Mahan Maharaj (Mathematical Sciences), Umesh
Waghmare (Engineering & Computer Science), G.
Ravindra Kumar (Physical Sciences), Amir Sharma (Life
Sciences), Srinath Raghavan (Social Sciences) and
Jonardon Ganeri (Humanities) in November?
a) TCS
b) Wipro
c) Tech Mahindra
d) Infosys
38. What is the FDI ceiling in defence manufacturing
sector?
a) 49%
b) 51%
c) 74%
39. Which multinational bank launched a skill
development programme for India in November? It will
train more than 75,000 people under its Skills for Life
programme.
a) Standard Chartered Bank
b) Barclays Bank
c) HSBC
d) Royal Bank of Scotland
40. Which is worlds most generous nation in the World
Giving Index of London-based Charitable Aid
Foundation (CAF) in November?
THE GENESIS

a) Laos
b) Thailand
c) Myanmar
d) Mongolia
41. Former RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn was
appointed as an Executive Director at which international
organisation in November?
a) World Bank
b) Asian Development Bank
c) World Trade Organisation
d) International Monetary Fund
42. Santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was
conferred this years ______ Kalashikhar Puraskar for
lifetime achievement in Hindustani music in November?
a) JRD Tata
b) Ramnath Goenka
c) Dhirubhai Ambani
d) Aditya Vikram Birla
43. What is the foreign investment (FIIs/FPIs/QFIs)
ceiling in private sector banks?
a) 49%
b) 51%
c) 74%
44. Which Indian tyre company announced the
acquisition of Reifencom, one of the largest tyre
distributors in Germany for Euro 45.6 million in
November?
a) Apollo Tyres
b) JK Tyres
c) CEAT
d) MRF
45. Which Indian IT company signed has tied up with the
British Council in November to train British graduates at
its Innovation Labs and software development centres
across India?
a) TCS
35
b) Wipro
c) Tech Mahindra
d) Infosys
46. Which of the following organised its India summit in
New Delhi in November with Delivering Growth in the
New Context as the theme?
a) WTO
b) WEF
c) UNCTAD
d) World Bank
47. What is the maximum investment allowed in a
financial year in governments Gold Sovereign Bond
Scheme (SGBS) launched in November?
a) 100 grams
b) 250 grams
c) 500 grams
d) 1000 grams
48. Whose painting titled Women of Algiers ($179
million) holds the record for the highest price paid for a
painting?
a) Auguste Renoir
b) Claude Monet
c) Henri Matisse
d) Pablo Picasso
49. The UN launched the International Year of _____
2016 in November.
a) Corn
b) Wheat
c) Rice
d) Pulses
50. Indian journalist Amit Verma won the 2015 Bastiat
Prize for Journalism in November for his work as
columnist at which newspaper?
a) Economic Times
b) Businessline
c) Business Standard
d) Financial Express
Point-Counterpoint
Why should I be scared of anyone? I am

Indira Gandhis daughter-in-law, I am not
scared of anyone.
If someone is someones daughter-in-law

or son-in-law, it has no effect on the law.
Sonia Gandhi, Congress President, on

facing the law in the National Herald case
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Communications

and IT Minister
THE GENESIS
36
Corporate Knowledge Quiz: Answer Key

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Sudoku
(Solution below)
SUDOKU II
SUDOKU I
Solutions:
CROSSWORD
SUDOKU I
SUDOKU II
THE GENESIS

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Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Climate change conference: Done deal

Climate change agreement: Key points

To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible

greenhouse gas emissions turn to zero. In this too the

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Current Affairs: India

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Presidents Standard awarded to 2 Bengal-based IAF squadrons: President Pranab Mukherjee

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Current Affairs: States

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Current Affairs: World

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Current Affairs: Sports

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Current Affairs: Economy

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The philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises has launched

metros. Bharti launched GSM

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When Vandana Luthra, Founder VLCC Healthcare,

VLCC started off by offering beauty and slimming

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Current Affairs: Corporate

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Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

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Politicians vie for controlling internet

In Facebooks first foray into the transportation business,

Whos in charge of the internet? In the third week of

The companies announced their new venture via separate

Both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump clearly thinks it is

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Science & Technology

Tech giants pledge $1bn for altruistic AI

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Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

(Solution on page No: 36)

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

1. Which two requirements for clearing FDI projects in

22. World ____ Day for Peace and Development was

housing construction sector were scrapped in

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Educational Research and Training (NCERT)?

46. Who is Indias next Permanent Representative of India

to the United Nations? He replaces Asoke Kumar

knights and dames from its national honours system

Answers on next page

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Do you remember? Answers