Current Affairs Update – 2nd December, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 2nd December, 2015. These are Important for the upcoming IBPS Clerk and Insurance Exams.

• Country’s third largest private
  sector lender Axis Bank today said it has launched a ‘display variant’ debit
  card which does away with the hassles of generating one time password (OTP)
  over SMS while transacting.
• The card, which is being made
  available for high-value NRE customers, has an embedded EMV chip, a display
  screen and a touch-sensitive button which helps generating the OTP on the card
  itself.
• “This OTP, in conjunction
  with the user ID and password, allows the customer to transact on internet banking
  without having to wait for OTP delivery via SMS or email,” a bank
  statement said, adding that it is the first lender in the country to offer the facility.
• The card comes with free ATM
  access across the world, offers on lounge access, loyalty points on
  transactions and an air accident insurance of Rs 25 lakh and a personal accident
  insurance of Rs 5 lakh.
• Details on the charges or the
  minimum balance requirements were not immediately available.

• The Reserve Bank has signed an
  agreement with the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct
  Authority for supervisory cooperation and exchange of information.
• “The Reserve Bank signed
  separate Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on Supervisory Cooperation and
  Exchange of Supervisory Information with Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)
  and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), United Kingdom,” RBI said in a
  statement.
• The central bank had entered into
  an MoU for supervisory co-operation with the Financial Services Authority (FSA)
  of the UK in July, 2012.
• Subsequently, as part of
  comprehensive reforms implemented in UK financial services regulation, the
  functions exercised by FSA were transferred to PRA, FCA and Bank of England, it
  said.

• In a major leap forward for
  Telangana in the aerospace sector, Minister for IT K.T. Rama Rao, top
  executives of Boeing India and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) have
  announced setting up of a facility on the outskirts of the city to make the
  fuselage for Apache helicopters.
• The announcement came from Boeing
  India President Pratyush Kumar and Managing Director of TASL, Sukaran Singh in
  the presence of Mr. Rama Rao and Secretaries Arvind Kumar (Industries) and
  Jayesh Ranjan (IT).
• The finer details of the extent
  of land to be made available, the exact location and the timelines are yet to
  be firmed up.
• Briefing media after
  participating in a supplier meet during the ongoing Defence & Aerosupply
  Conclave 2015 here on Wednesday morning, the Minister said that it was a
  historic occasion to witness the signing of the the JV by the two majors.

• Maharashtra is the biggest
  economy within India at Rs 16.87 lakh crore in terms of gross state domestic
  product (GSDP), according to the latest report by credit rating agency
  Brickwork Ratings. The state is followed by Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
• The report, which said
  Maharashtra’s GSDP has grown by 11.69 per cent for the financial year ended
  March 31, 2015, also highlights the fact that Maharashtra earns approximately
  70 per cent of its total receipts through tax revenues — the highest among the
  bigger states — followed by Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
• The findings are part of
  Brickwork’s fourth edition of a nationwide, multi-state research analysing
  finances of all the states. The rating agency looks at the State government’s
  willingness and ability to honour debt obligations, and the rating criterion
  includes an analysis of political, economic, budgetary, financial and
  institutional parameters considered relevant to the State government’s
  creditworthiness.
• According to the report, Gujarat
  and Maharashtra accounted for 27.26 per cent and 25.18 per cent of GSDP
  respectively in 2014-15, and led other state economies in terms of level of
  contribution from the manufacturing sector. Other states with higher
  manufacturing sector share were Tamil Nadu (19.1 per cent), Jharkhand (18.8 per
  cent) and Haryana (18.1 per cent).

• Wipro, India’s third largest
  Information technology services company on Wednesday said it has signed an
  agreement with German-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) to acquire
  cellent AG for 73.5 million Euros (about Rs 517 crore or $77 million).
• cellent AG, which provides IT
  consulting and software services, is a fully-owned subsidiary of LBBW, a
  provider of banking and financial services. The company with a team of around
  800 German speaking consultants operates in Central Europe, primarily the DACH
  region, which includes Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In calendar year 2014,
  cellent AG had reported revenues of 87 million Euros (around $92 million).

• Tata group holding firm, Tata
  Sons and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have formed a
  long-term partnership, under which ICBC will become a strategic banking partner
  to the Tata group.
• The global alliance will spread
  across geographies, including India, China, Singapore, Europe, USA, and South
  America. At present, of its $100 billion global revenues, the Tata group earns
  close to 70 per cent from its international operations.
• As per the alliance, ICBC will
  provide Tata group with financing products, global cash management, consulting,
  international trade finance business, investment banking, foreign exchange,
  derivatives trading, and other global financial services.
• ICBC will also create a global
  service team which will support Tata group’s strategic development plans. Tata
  group will consider proposals from ICBC and solicit its participation on
  bilateral transactions and tender offers.
• A team of Tata executives, led by
  Chairman Cyrus P. Mistry, met with Jiang Jianqing, Chairman from ICBC and his
  team to formalise the engagement.

• President Pranab Mukherjee on 1
  December 2015 gave assent to Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2015 of Maharashtra.
  Among other things, the bill amends Section 66(1)(c) of the Factories Act, 1948
  that restricts women from working at a factory between 7 PM and 6 AM.
• The Factories (Amendment) Bill,
  2015 was passed by the Maharashtra legislature in July 2015. Later, it was
  reserved for consideration of the President by the State Governor C Vidyasagar
  Rao under article 200 of the Constitution.

• Workers to be eligible for paid
  leave after working for 90 days in a year instead of the existing 240 days or
  more.
• It would not be mandatory for
  workers to take the management’s permission for overtime, the limit for which
  in three months will be increased to 115 hours from the current 75.

• Idea Cellular, Aditya Birla
  Group’s telecom company, signed a memorandum of understanding with Akshaya
  Patra Foundation in Odisha for providing mid-day meals to school students in
  the state.
• Around 47,000 students from 625
  schools in 10 locations of the state would benefit through this initiative.
• The objective of this mission is
  to provide children with nutritious meals every day and also ensure that they
  attend school daily, a company release said today.
• This initiative was launched in
  Bijaya Ramchandrapur UGUP School in Puri district and Khannagar Nodal UP School
  in Cuttack district through two separate events organised recently by the Idea
  team in Odisha, it said.

• Senior World Health Organisation
  (WHO) public health specialist Dr Henk Bekedam has taken charge as the UN body’s
  representative to India.
• Dr Bekedam, a Dutch national and
  medical doctor by training, has worked for 19 years with WHO as its representative
  in China and Egypt, Director of Health Sector Development in the WHO Western
  Pacific Region Office in Manila, and as team leader of the health sector reform
  project in Cambodia, a WHO release said today.
• Bekedam, who did his M.Sc in
  Economics from London School of Economics in 1996, was seconded to governments
  in Zambia and Malawi before joining WHO.
• Incidentally, Bekedam’s work has
  included supporting the Chinese government in successfully containing the SARS
  outbreak in 2003.

• Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan on 1
  December 2015 assumed Presidency of the Royal Society in London. He was elected
  to the office in March 2015 by the society’s council and will serve for up to
  five years.
• With this appointment, he became
  the 61st president of the society. And, he joined the elite club that has
  included Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, Joseph Banks, Humphry
  Davy, and Ernest Rutherford.
• The Indian-American scientist
  Venkatraman Ramakrishnan received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009 with
  Tom Steitz and Ada Yonath.
• He was awarded a knighthood in
  2012

• Country’s transparency watchdog
  Central Information Commission has gone headless again with incumbent Chief
  Vijai Sharma completing his tenure yesterday and no appointment made by the
  Central Government.
• The situation has arisen second
  time since the BJP Government came into power in 2014. The appellate body
  remained headless for nearly 10 months after the then Chief Information
  Commission Rajiv Mathur retired in August 2014.
• Sharma, who was appointed on June
  9, 2015, attained the age of 65 yesterday and demitted office.
• The Chief Information
  Commissioner is the administrative head of the Commission and as per convention
  s/he decides the formation of benches, administrative and financial matters of
  the Commission besides distribution of workload which comes to halt in the absence.
• During the 10 months without
  Chief, over 35,000 cases were accumulated before the panel.

• Indian off-spinner Ravichandran
  Ashwin and seamer Mohammed Shami were the only Indians to feature in the
  International Cricket Council (ICC) Test and One-Day International (ODI) teams
  of the year 2015, respectively, announced here on Wednesday.
• Ashwin is the highest
  wicket-taker of 2015 with 55 scalps, ahead of England pacer Stuart Broad (51). But
  he was been named the 12th man of the Test side.
• Shami has been included in the
  first 11 of the ODI team.

1. ICC Test Team of the Year 2015: David Warner, Alastair Cook
   (captain), Kane Williamson, Younis Khan, Steven Smith, Joe Root, Sarfraz Ahmed
   (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Trent Boult, Yasir Shah, Josh Hazlewood,
   Ravichandran Ashwin.
2. ICC ODI Team of the Year 2015: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Hashim
   Amla, Kumar Sangakkara (wicket—keeper) AB de Villiers (captain), Steven Smith,
   Ross Taylor, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Mitchell Starc, Mustafizur Rahman,
   Imran Tahir, Joe Root.

• India’s Thakur Anoop Singh on 28
  November 2015 won gold medal in the 7th WBPF World Bodybuilding and Physique
  Championships. He won the medal in the fitness physique category.
• Overall, India won 11 medals in
  the championships that saw participation from 47 nations. The championships
  were held in Bangkok, Thailand.
• Along with him, Arambam Boby
  (Manipur) also won gold in the championship. For him, it was the 4th world
  title in his career.
• Also, Thingbaijam Sarita who had
  won a silver medal in Asian Bodybuilding Championships 2015 also bagged a
  bronze medal in the event.

• The International Day for the
  Abolition of Slavery was observed globally on 2 December 2015. The day is
  observed to focus on the elimination of human trafficking, child labour and
  other forms of modern-day slavery.
• According to the International
  Labour Organization (ILO), there are currently an estimated 21 million forced
  labour victims worldwide, creating 150 billion US dollars in illegal profits in
  the private economy each year.
• To tackle with the situation, ILO
  has adopted a new legally binding Protocol designed to strengthen global
  efforts to eliminate forced labour and which will enter into force in November
  2016.

• Renowned violinist Lakshminarayana
  Subramaniam will be honoured with the Sangeet Samman at the ITC Sangeet
  Sammelan 2015 beginning on 4 December 2015 at the Victoria Memorial Hall,
  Kolkata.
• The ITC Sangeet Research Academy
  Executive Director Rabi Srinibasan on 1 December 2015 announced the name of the
  artist for the award .
• Born on 23 July 1947, Subramaniam
  was trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical
  music. The artiste is known for his virtuoso playing techniques and
  compositions in orchestral fusion.
• The violinist has also composed
  the film scores for the films like Salaam Bombay and Mississippi Masala
  directed by Mira Nair.
• Subramaniam has been awarded with
  the Lifetime Achievement Award by Limca Book of Records in 2012. He also won
  the President’s Award for Best Violinist, All India Radio in 1963. In 2001, the
  renowned violinist was honoured with the Padma Bhushan.

• The Delhi Development Authority
  (DDA) was on 1 December 2015 awarded with the E-India Award for adopting
  technology to serve the public better and using resources efficiently through
  mobile applications.
• The award was received by VS
  Tomar, Director (Systems) DDA during the e-INDIA SUMMIT 2015 in Mumbai.

• It bagged the award under the
  category of Digital India IT initiatives for extraordinary IT initiatives in
  the field of land protection and engineering projects.
• It was awarded for the vacant
  land photo uploading system app wherein officials of the land and engineering
  department upload photographs of vacant land to keep a check on encroachment.
• The second award winning app of
  DDA was the Measurement Books for e-filing of measurement of engineering projects
  for exact estimation of parameters and project requirements.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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