Greece becomes first developed nation to default on IMF debt

Greece became the first developed economy in the world to default a loan with the International Monetary Fund. It became a defaulter after it missed the deadline for payment of 1.7 billion dollar (1.5 billion euro) to IMF. The Eurozone Finance Ministers refused to extend its bailout to Greece after it rejected the proposal given by the troika viz., International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission (EC) and European Central Bank (ECB).

Bharti Airtel becomes 3rd largest mobile operator in world

Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel has become the world’s third largest mobile operator with 303 million subscriber. The global rankings were led by China Mobile (China), which had 626.27 million subscribers and was followed by Vodafone Group of the UK with 403.08 million subscribers worldwide.

Famous Writer Vishwanath Tripathi chosen for 28th Moorti Devi Award

Veteran Writer Vishwanath Tripathi was selected for the 28th Moorti Devi Award for the year 2014 for his book Vyomkesh Darvesh. Vyomkesh Darvesh is a lifetime story of Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi.

The Moortidevi Award is an annual literary award in India presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith organization for a work which emphasizes Indian philosophy and culture. The prize includes an amount of Rs. Four Lacs, a plaque, a statue of Saraswati, and a shawl.

The ‘father of SMS,’ Matti Makkonen, dies at 63

Matti Makkonen, a Finnish national, known as the “reluctant father of SMS” has passed away at the age of 63. SMS, or Short Messaging Service, was an idea that Makkonen first suggested at a Telecoms conference in 1984, but it was only on December 3 in 1992 that the first text message was sent.

He won the prestigious The Economist’s Innovation Award in 2008 in the computing and telecommunications category for his work on SMS.

Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa win 2015 Canada Open

Indian shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won the Canada Open women’s doubles title (2015) after beating the Netherlands pair of Eefge Muskens and Selena Piek 21-19, 21-16 in the final. This was Jwala and Ashwini’s first title since their reunion after the 2012 London Olympics.

Current Affairs One-liners

  • Cuba has become the first country in the world to eliminate the transmission of HIV or syphilis from mother to child during childbirth as announced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) .
  • Chennai became the seventh Indian city to have the metro rail system after Kolkata, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Jaipur.
  • Australia and New Zealand will play the first ever day-night Test under lights with a pink ball on 27 November at the Adelaide Oval (Australia) as announced in a schedule released by Cricket Australia (CA).
  • Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta won the 19th Commonwealth Chess Championship after settling for a quick draw with Arghyadip Das.