43rd CJI : Justice Tirath Singh Thakur
- He sworn in as 43rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
- Thakur succeeded incumbent Justice H L Dattu who retired on 2 December 2015.
Union Cabinet approves signing of MoU between India and Iran on Visa facilitation.
- Union Cabinet on 2 December 2015 approved the signing of the agreement between India and Iran on visa facilitation for Diplomatic, Official/Service and Ordinary passport holders.
- As per the agreement, upon presentation of an official note by the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with the visa application, the resident Diplomatic Missions in the host country would, within 20 working days, issue a gratis visa valid for 90 days for the holders of valid Diplomatic/Official/Service passports, assigned on long-term missions to the Diplomatic Missions or the Consulates General.
Industrialist MAM Ramaswamy passes away following prolonged illness.
- He was 84. Popularly known as MAMR in political, business and sports circles, Ramaswamy was born on 30 September 1931 into a respected family in the Nattukottai Chettiar community, also known as The Rajah Family.
- The industrialist also served as the Member of the Parliament of India representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha.
Pulin Kumar of Adidas India wins prestigious INBA Award.
- Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani presented the award to Kumar on the occasion of INBA’s Annual International Conference-66th National Law Day.
- INBA Awards also acknowledge top women lawyers, young women general counsel, young emerging lawyers and global general counsel.
NAVY insucted decoy system Maareech.
- A fully indigenous decoy system, that can divert underwater torpedo attacks on ships and submarines, has been developed by Visakhapatnam-based Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL).
- The torpedo defence system, Maareech, was recently inducted into the Indian Navy.
- Maareech has been termed a complete package involving sensors and decoys for defence against torpedoes.
- Maareech has been termed “an excellent model of synergy between the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation), Indian Navy, and public and private industries.”
Vijay Kumar Choudhary elected as Speaker of Bihar Assembly.
- He was elected to the post after consensus was generated on his name among all political parties of the state, including the opposition.
- The pro-tem Speaker and Congress MLA Sadanand Singh announced the election of Chaudhary as the new Speaker.
Union Cabinet approves DTAC agreement with JAPAN.
- Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved signing and ratification of Protocol between India and Japan for amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) in order to facilitate tax-related exchange of information.
- DTAC was signed between the two countries in 1989 for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion through a protocol.
- The protocol will facilitate exchange of information as per accepted international standards on tax matters, including bank information and information without domestic tax interest.
Brazil’s economy entered longest recession since 1930s.
- Brazil’s economy contracted by 1.7 percent during July-September 2015 compared to April-June period in 2015.
- An announcement in this regard was made by the government on 1 December 2015.
- It was Brazil’s third consecutive quarter of contraction starting from January 2015 and thus, making it the country’s longest recession since the 1930s.
Union Govt approved setting up of 6 new IITs.
- Six new IITs will be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Goa, Jammu, Kerala and Karnataka.
- The Cabinet also approved the operationalisation of these IITs by forming Societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 in order to give a legal status to them till the amendment for their incorporation in The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 is enacted.
Indian American Dr Vijay M Rao named as Chairperson of RSNA.
- RSNA : Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
- As the chairperson at RSNA, Dr Rao brings her expertise in health services and policy matters to bear in a shifting healthcare landscape of increasing complexity and declining reimbursements.
- Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) is an international society of radiologists, medical physicists and other medical professionals with more than 54000 members from 136 countries across the globe.
Country’s first ‘display variant’ debit card launched by Axis Bank.
- The card 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.
