1.Renowned German conductor Kurt Masur passes away
i) Considered to
ii) He was known for serving as a music director of the New York Philharmonic (NYP) from 1991-2002. Earlier, he led the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in then-Communist eastern Germany for nearly three decades. He was a specialist in the music of Central European composers, namely Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mahler and Bruckner.
iii) To mark Germany’s reunification in 1990, he directed a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in the official celebrations held in Berlin.
iv) He was the principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) from 2000-2007. Later, he became honorary music director at the National Orchestra of France.
2. Chennaiyin FC win ISL championship
i) Chennaiyin FC became the champions of the 2nd Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament, defeating host team FC Goa 3-2 in the finals held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa.
ii) Chennaiyin FC’s Colombian player
iii) Teammate and Goalkeeper Apoula Edima Edel Bete got the Golden Glove award.
3. Tata Motors among world’s top 50 R&D spenders
i) As per the European Commission’s annual Industrial R&D (research and development) Investment Scoreboard for 2015, Tata Motors is among the world’s top 50 companies in terms of R&D investments.
ii) German carmaker Volkswagen tops the list, followed by Samsung, Microsoft, Intel and Novartis.
iii) Tata Motors has moved up from 104th position in 2014 to 49th place this year. It has also shown the largest increase in R&D investment on the list. With 26 firms, India is placed 15th in terms of the number of companies on the list.
iv) Other companies to feature in the list are: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, M&M, Reliance Industries, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Infosys.
4. Eugeneson Lyngdoh & Bala Devi receive top AIFF awards
i) Bengaluru FC midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh & Indian women’s national football team captain Bala Devi received the 2015 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year & Woman Footballer of the Year awards respectively.
ii) 29-year-old Lyngdoh was also voted the Players’ Player-of-the-Year’ and Fans’ Player-of-the-Year at BFC’s annual awards. He will be presented with Rs.2 lakh and trophy and Bala Devi will receive Rs.1 lakh and trophy.
iii) The remaining AIFF awards are as follows :
a) Emerging Player of the Year: Pritam Kotal
b) Woman Footballer of the Year: Pyari Xaxa
c) Best Grassroots Programme: Football Association of Odisha
d) Long-time Contribution to Football: Coca-Cola
5. US Senate passes IMF reform in budget bill
i) The US Senate ratified reforms in the budget bill in order to increase representation of emerging economies at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The bill has now gone to President Barack Obama for final ratification.
ii) After adoption of this bill, emerging economies and industrially powerful countries like India & China will have enhanced negotiating power in policy making of IMF.
iii) After the reforms, China will become the third-largest shareholder in IMF, with increased voting rights (from 3.8% to 6%). As a result US voting rights will drop from 16.7% to 16.5%. However, the veto power still remains with the US.
iv) These reforms will double IMF’s resources to about $660 billion. By these new proposals, the entire IMF board will be newly elected.
v) India’ s voting rights will also increase from 2.3% to 2.6%.
6. Iraq gets its first beauty queen since 1972
i) Miss Iraq beauty pageant was recently held for the first time since 1972 in Baghdad. Despite threats to contestants from ISIS, the contest was successfully held.
ii) Shaymaa Qasim Abdelrahman, a 20-year-contestant from the city of Kirkuk was crowned Miss Iraq.
iii) The Miss Iraq beauty pageant was not conducted over the last four decades due to unrest in the Middle East.
7. Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach crowned Miss Universe 2015
i) Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach was crowned Miss Universe 2015 at the finale of 64th edition of the contest held in Las Vegas, US.
ii) Wurtzbach is a Filipino-German actress, model and beauty pageant title-holder.
iii) Indian contestant Urvashi Rautela did not make it to the semi-finals.
8. Miss Spain Mireia Lalaguna Royo crowned Miss World 2015
i) Miss Spain Mireia Lalaguna Royo was crowned Miss World 2015 at the Crown of Beauty theatre in Sanya, China. This is the first time a Spaniard has won this title.
ii) Miss Russia Sofia Nikitchuk and Miss Indonesia Maria Harfanti were declared first and second runners-up respectively.
iii) By winning the People’s Choice Award, India’s Aditi Arya ensured her direct entry in the competition but failed to make it to the top 20 list.
9. FC Barcelona wins the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup
i) FC Barcelona won the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup by defeating Argentina’s River Plate 3-0. The final match was held at the International Stadium in Yokohoma, Japan.
ii) By scoring a goal in the final match, Lionel Messi became the first player to score in three finals after leading Barcelona to victory in 2009 and 2011.
iii) Uruguay’s Luis Suarez received the Player of the Match award and the Golden Boot.
iv) Bayern Munich won the 2013 World Cup that was held in Morocco.
10. OUE Singapore Slammers win IPTL 2015
i) The Singapore Slammers team led by two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka won the 2015 International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) final held in Singapore on December 20, defeating the Indian Aces 26-21.
ii) Singapore Slammers won the prize money of $1 million while Indian Aces received $5,00,000.
iii) Most Valuable Player award in male & female category went to Ivan Dodig (Indian
iv) To fulfil the demand for top level tennis in Asia, IPTL was launched by Mahesh Bhupathi. It’s the first city-based professional league in the world.
11. Abhay Singh wins U-19 Singapore Squash Open
i) Indian squash player Abhay Singh recently won the U-19 title of the Old Chang Kee Singapore Squash Open, defeating second seed Alwin Chai of Malaysia.
ii) Abhay Singh has won seven junior titles in total, of which two are international titles.
12. RS passes SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015
i) Rajya Sabha recently passed the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015. Lok Sabha passed this bill in August. It seeks to amend the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
ii) As per this bill, forcing an SC/ST individual to vote or not vote for a particular candidate in an unlawful manner was an offence. This bill also adds that obstructing certain activities related to voting will also be considered an offence.
iii) The word ‘wrongful’ has been defined in the context of occupying land belonging to SCs or STs, which is an offence under this act.
iv) Several wrong actions are defined as offence as regards assault or sexual exploitation
v) The bill necessitates establishment of district-level Exclusive Special
13. UN launches 2016 International Year of Pulses
i) Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh announced to take necessary steps to improve production of pulses to reduce India’s dependence on imports. These steps have been undertaken as part of the 2016 International Year of Pulses, an initiative launched by the UN on November 10 this year in Rome.
ii) The theme of this year is ‘Nutritious Seeds for a Sustainable Future.’
iii) The objective of launching this year is to raise awareness of the varied benefits of pulses, boost their production and trade and encourage novel and smarter uses across the food chain.
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