Business & International:

  • The United States (US) has lifted a 40 year ban on oil exports marking a historic shift for the booming US oil industry.
  • Singapore has replaced Mauritius as the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India during the first half of the current fiscal year 2015-16.
  • Afghanistan has become 164th member nation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
  • State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has emerged as the country’s biggest company in terms of annual revenue as per an annual list of 2015 Fortune 500 companies in India.
  • IT major Tech Mahindra has launched first of its kind ‘Tap N Pay’ contactless digital payment wallet MoboMoney for the Indian masses.
  • Seychelles government allowed India to build its first Naval Base on the Assumption Island in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) as a joint project between both countries.
  • Ruling conservative People’s Party (PP) of Spain led Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy by has won the 2015 general election of the country.
  • Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully placed six commercial satellites from Singapore in their dedicated orbits.
  • Pakistan has successfully tested the nuclear-capable Shaheen-IA ballistic missile with a range of 900 km.
  • Ground breaking ceremony of 1800-kilometre-long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project was held at the ancient city of Mary of Turkmenistan.
  • India and Japan have signed historic Memorandum of Co-operation (MoC) to introduce High Speed Rail (HRS) on Mumbai Ahmedabad sector to revolutionize Indian Railways.
  • India and Japan have signed a Protocol for amending the existing convention for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to income taxes.

National:

  • From 1st January, there will be no interviews for central government jobs in Class­III and IV categories.
  • Senior IAS officer Amitabh Kant has been given additional charge as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
  • North India’s first cable-stayed bridge named Atal Setu was inaugurated on Dunera-Basohli-Bhadharwah road in Basohali town in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • India’s first indigenously designed warship INS Godavari has been decommissioned after 32 years of service.
  • Union Government has launched two mobile applications namely Crop Insurance and AgriMarket Mobile to benefit farmers.
  • India’s biggest Wildlife Rescue Centre named as Gorewada Zoo and Wildlife Rescue Centre has been commissioned at Gorewada near Nagpur, Maharashtra.
  • Former Defence Secretary Radha Krishna Mathur (62) has been appointed as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).
  • Senior revenue service officer Arun Kumar Jain appointed Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
  • India has been placed at 130th position in the 2015 Human Development Index (HDI) among the 188 countries. Top Three Countries are Norway (1st rank), Australia (2nd) and Switzerland (3rd).

 Persons in News:

  • Justice Tirath Singh Thakur was sworn in as 43rd Chief Justice of India (CJI).
  • Indian American professor Dr. Rakesh K. Jain has been selected for 2015 National Medal of Science of the United States.
  • India’s star golfer Anirban Lahiri (28) has won the coveted Order of Merit crown of Asian Tour for year 2015.
  • India-born author Salman Rushdie has been awarded the prestigious 2015 Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
  • Time magazine has named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as Person of the Year 2015.
  • Kaher Kazem has been appointed as President and Managing Director General Motors (GM) India operations.
  • Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini banned for eight years by the FIFA ethics committee.

Sports:

  • Gujarat wins the Vijay Hazare Trophy after defeating Delhi by 139 runs in the final at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
  • Australia captain Steve Smith has been named the ICC Test player and cricketer of the year.
  • South Africa’s AB de Villiers has been awarded the best one-day international player for 2015 by International Cricket Council.
  • Indian bowler Ravichandran Ashwin have finished 2015 as the number­-one ranked bowler in ICC Test Cricket. Ashwin become the first India bowler since Bishan Bedi in 1973 to achieve the milestone of finishing the year in number­-one Test position.
  • The International Tennis Federation (ITF) named the Indo­Swiss pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis as the 2015 ITF women’s doubles World Champions. Serena Williams of America and Novak Djokovic of Serbia were named the women’s and men’s singles World Champions, respectively. 
  • BCCI named Virat Kohli as the Cricketer of the Year and selected for the Polly Umrigar Award.
  • FC Barcelona wins the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup after defeating Argentina’s River Plate by 3-­0.
  • India’s former wicket-keeper batsman Syed Kirmani has been nominated for prestigious BCCI-instituted Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award 2015.
  • Chennaiyin FC has won the second edition of Indian Super League (ISL) Football tournament. In the final played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, they defeated hosts Goa FC by 3-2 goals score.
  • World number one women shuttler Carolina Marin from Spain has won the 2015 Female Badminton Player of the Year award. She was presented with the award by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) President Poul-Erik Hoyer in Dubai.
  • Pune and Rajkot have become the new interim franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) through the reverse bidding process. They will replace the suspended teams of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) for a period of two years.
  • The Pune franchise was bought by Kolkata-based company New Rising owned by business tycoon Sanjiv Goenka, while Intex Mobiles won the bid for the Rajkot franchise.
  • Apurvi Chandela from Rajasthan has won a Gold medal in the 59th National Shooting Championship in Delhi.
  • Australia has won the 2014-15 Men’s Hockey World League Final by defeating Belgium. India was placed at third place in this league after defeating world number two and defending champions Netherlands by 3-2 goals in the penalty shoot-out.
  • English Tennis player Andy Murray received the 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in London.

Miscellaneous:

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power, an autobiography of former Union Minister Sharad Pawar.
  • Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach has been 64th crowned Miss Universe.
  • Mireia Lalaguna Royo of Spain wins the Miss World 2015 beauty pageant in Sanya, China.
  • The eighth edition of India-Russia joint naval exercise-INDRA NAVY-15 has begun in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
  • President of France Francois Hollande will be the Chief Guest at the 2016 Republic Day celebrations.
  • India has been placed at fourth position in black money outflows among the developing and emerging economies. Top Five countries are China (1st), Russia (2nd), Mexico (3rd), India (4th), Malaysia (5th).
  • Indian Railways has flagged off the first inaugural service of the Goa to Mumbai double-decker air-conditioned Shatabdi train.
  • Colombian film ‘Embrace of The Serpent’ has been adjudged as the best film of the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Directed Ciro Guerra of Embrace of The Serpent was bestowed with the Golden Peacock award and the cash prize of 40 lakh rupees.

 Important Days in December:

  • 1st December: World AIDS Day
  • 4 December: Navy Day
  • 10 December: Human Rights Day
  • 22nd December: National Mathematics Day
  • 24th December: National Consumer Day