20 Nov 2015 Important current affairs / gk / ga

Nov 22, 2015

7^th Central Pay Commission submitted its report recommending 23.55 percent hike.

7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) headed by Justice AK Mathur submitted its report on 19 November 2015 to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The commission recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees.
The recommended pay revision will come into effect from 1 January 2016.
The minimum pay for government employees is recommended to be set at 18000 rupees per month.
The maximum pay is recommended to be 225000 rupees per month for Apex Scale and 250000 per month for Cabinet Secretary and others presently at the same pay level.

23^rd APEC Economic Leaders Summit held at Manila.

23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Summit was held at Manila, Philippines from 18 November to 19 November 2015.
The summit was chaired by Philippines President Benigno S. Aquino III.
The theme of the Summit was Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World.

Bihar Chief minister : Nitish Kumar sworn in as CM for fifth time.

The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna.
Governor Ramnath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to Nitish Kumar.
He also administered the oath of the office to other council of ministers belonging to RJD, JD(U) and Congress parties.
RJD president Lalu Prasad’s sons, first time MLA Tejaswi Prasad Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav, were also sworn in.

TCS and Intel launched Centre of Excellence for IoT in Hyderabad.

India’s largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) launched a new Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Internet of Things (IoT) in collaboration with Intel.
The CoE is located at the TCS campus in Hyderabad.
Its focus is to integrate IoT solutions developed by TCS on Intel IoT platforms and to fast-track creation of end-to-end solutions.

UNHCR chosen for Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2015.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was on 19 November 2015 chosen for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2015.
A decision in this regard was taken by the international jury of the prize, headed by Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari on the occasion of birth annniversary of Indira Gandhi.
The UNHCR was chosen for the award in recognition of its immense contributions in assisting millions of refugees in their rehabilitation and resettlement.

Global Gender Gap report 2015 released by World Econoic Forum (WEF).

It ranked 145 economies according to how well they are leveraging their female talent pool, based on economic, educational, health-based and political indicators.
Out of the 145 countries surveyed, while Iceland topped the Gender Gap Index for the seventh year in a row, India stood at the 108th position.

Top 5 countries with high gender equality are :

Five countries with least gender equality are :

University of East London awarded honorary doctorate to Ashok Amritraj.

Tennis champion-turned Hollywood filmmaker Ashok Amritraj on 19 November 2015 was awarded with an honorary doctorate of Arts by the University of East London.
Amritraj was honoured for promoting talented moviemakers from across the world, including India.

CCEA approves extension of Indian Development and Economic Assist ace Scheme.

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 18 November 2015 approved extension of Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS) for five years from 2015-16 to 2019-20.
The extension was approved by the Prime Minister-headed CCEA in view of continued relevance of the scheme.
During the extended period, about 3771 crore rupees will be utilized as part of the scheme.

Srishti Pandey wins Indiana FIDE Rating Chess Tournament.

The tournament was organised by Nagpur Taluka Chess Association, which concluded at Dr Hedgewar Smarak Samiti Hall, Reshimbagh, Nagpur.