Current Affairs Update – 7th December, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs Update of 7th December, 2015. These are Important for the upcoming IBPS Clerk V Mains 2015.

Finance/Economy
Singapore replaced
Mauritius as top source of FDI into India

  • Singapore replaced Mauritius as top source of Foreign Direct
    Investment (FDI) into India during April-September of 2015-16 financial year.
    An announcement in this regard was made by the Department of Industrial Policy
    and Promotion of Ministry of Commerce and industry in the first week of
    December 2015.
  • As per the data, between 15 April and 15 September 2015,
    India received 43096 crore rupees as FDI from Singapore. In the same period FDI
    from Mauritius was 23490 crore rupees.
  • In the same period, While Netherlands was at number three
    with 7017 crore rupees of investment, the USA stood at the stood fourth with
    5435 crore rupees.

Arvind
Subramanian-led panel recommended standard rate for GST at 17-18 %

  • The Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian led panel on 4
    December 2015 submitted its report on Possible Tax rates under Goods and
    Services Tax (GST) to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
  • The commission recommended standard rate for GST at 17 to 18
    percent, the rate at which most products would likely be taxed. The Committee
    has suggested doing away with a proposal to levy a one percent inter-state tax
    on transfer of good.
  • The committee excluded real estate, electricity and alcohol
    and petroleum products while calculating tax rates but has suggested bringing
    them under the ambit of GST soon.

Highlights of
Recommendations
  • It recommended a range of 12 to 40 percent for various
    products and services.
  • Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR) proposed at 15-15.5% (Union and
    states combined).
  • Include petroleum and alcohol in GST regime.
  • Impact on inflation expected to be minimal.

India
Ministry of Railways
flagged off first double decker Goa-Mumbai train

  • Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on 6 December 2015 flagged
    off the first Goa to Mumbai double-decker Shatabdi train through video conference
    from Panaji, Goa.
  • The fully air-conditioned double-decker train is the
    first-of-its-kind in India.
  • The train will run thrice a week between Margao and the
    Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Mumbai.
  • The double decker train will cover the distance in around 12
    hours.

Commemorative coins
of Rs 125, Rs 10 released in honour of Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6 December 2015 released two
    commemorative coins of 125 rupees and 10 rupees, as part of the 125th birth
    anniversary year celebrations of Dr. Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
  • The coins were issued on his death anniversary, which is
    observed as Mahaparinirvan Divas of Babasaheb Ambedkar. He breathed his last on
    6 December 1956.

Cochin Shipyard
launches fast patrol vessels ICGS Atulya for Coast Guard
  • The public sector Cochin Shipyard Ltd has launched the
    nineteenth of the 20 Fast Patrol Vessels being built for Indian Coast Guard.
    The vessel was named “ICGS Atulya” and launched by Hema Subramaniam, wife of
    Commodore K. Subramaniam, Chairman & Managing Director, CSL.
  • As on date, 15 ships out of 20 have been handed over to the
    Indian Coast Guard. Cochin Shipyard has successfully delivered 15 ships in a
    span of just 25 months with an average delivery interval of 1.6 months, against
    the contractual commitment of 3 months interval.
  • The last vessel of the order is to be delivered by Mar 2017
    as per the contract with ICG. However, with the current pace of construction,
    the yard is targeting to accomplish this by mid of 2016, much ahead of
    schedule.
  • The yard also paid a dividend of ₹16.99 crore to Government of India. The company
    is paying dividend for the seventh consecutive year, a release said.

India received first
consignment of uranium from Canada
  • India on 4 December 2015 received its first uranium
    consignment of about 2730 tonnes from Canada. The uranium is shipped to India
    for the country’s nuclear power reactors.
  • The consignment consists of uranium mined and milled at
    Cameco’s McArthur River and Key Lake operations in northern Saskatchewan.

Facts related to
the shipment
  • The consignment was shipped by Canada’s Cameco Inc, which
    entered into a contract with India’s Department of Atomic Energy during Prime
    Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ottawa in 2015.
  • The first consignment of uranium from Cameco arrived more
    than four decades after Canada protested strongly about India’s first nuclear
    test in 1974. Afterwards, Canada had completely banned exports of uranium and
    nuclear hardware to India.

Sports
India won four-match
Test series against South Africa, 3-0

  • India on 7 December 2015 won the four-match Test series
    against South Africa 3-0. In the fourth and final match played at Feroz Shah
    Kotla, Delhi, India defeated South Africa by 337 runs.
  • Chasing a mammoth 481, the Proteas, despite their best
    efforts to block every delivery, failed in their attempt to save the Test. The
    visitors lost their last five wickets within a span of seven runs.
  • Ashwin claimed his 15th five wicket haul of his Test career
    to send the Proteas on the backfoot. Team India skipper Virat Kohli has now won
    both his first two Test series.
  • The test series between India and South Africa was named as
    Freedom Trophy. The trophy was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela
    who won independence for their country with nonviolence.
  • Man of the Series: Ravichandran Ashwin for his brilliant
    bowling in the entire series.

Australia defeated
Belgium to win Hockey World League Final
  • Australia on 6 December 2015 defeated Belgium by 2-1 to win
    2014-2015 Men’s Hockey World League Final, which was held at Sardar Vallabh
    Bhai Patel Stadium, Raipur.
  • India defeated world number two and defending champions
    Netherlands by 3-2 in the penalty shoot-out, and clinched the bronze medal in
    the tournament.

Days
Armed Forces Flag Day
observed across India

  • Armed Forces Flag Day was observed across India on 7
    December 2015. The Day is celebrated all over India in order to collect the
    funds from people all around the country for the wellbeing of the staff of the
    Indian Armed Forces.
  • On the occasion of Flag Day, the Indian Army, the Indian Air
    Force and the Indian Navy arrange a variety of shows, carnivals, dramas and
    other entertainment programmes to showcase the efforts of their personnel to
    ensure national security.

Appointments
Kaher Kazem appointed
General Motors India head
  • General Motors (GM) has appointed Kaher Kazem as President
    and Managing Director of its India operations, effective January 1.
  • Kazem, who is currently chief operating officer (COO) of GM
    India, will be replacing Arvind Saxena who has decided to retire after leading
    the company since early 2014, the carmaker said in a statement.
  • Kazem joined GM Holden in Australia in 1995 as a senior
    engineer. He later held several leadership positions at GM Holden Manufacturing
    Operations.
  • In 2009, he was appointed vice president of Manufacturing
    and Quality for GM Thailand/Asean.

World
Atlas V rocket lifted
off with Cygnus Cargo Spaceship to ISS
  • A United Launch Alliance Atlas V (401 configuration) rocket
    carrying the OA-4 Cygnus cargo spacecraft with much needed supplies blasted off
    towards the International Space Station (ISS) on 6 December 2015.
  • The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape
    Canaveral Air Force Station after three days of delay due to poor weather.
  • The current Cygnus mission would be the first US delivery of
    cargo since April, the last time SpaceX’s Dragon capsule reached the station. A
    Cygnus last reached the station in July 2014.

World’s first
biologically powered chip created

  • In a major breakthrough, researchers at Columbia Engineering
    have harnessed the molecular machinery of living systems to power an integrated
    circuit.
  • They achieved this by integrating a conventional solid-state
    complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit with an
    artificial lipid bilayer membrane containing adenosine triphosphate
    (ATP)-powered ion pumps.
  • In living systems, ATP is used to transport energy from
    where it is generated to where it is consumed in the cell.

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