GK and Current Affairs Updates

Vijay Diwas 2015, commemorating victory of Indian Forces and Mukti Bahini over Pakistani forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, a memorial service for martyrs of 1971 War was held at Vijay Smarak, Fort William, Kolkata on December 16, 2015.  Vijay Diwas celebrations at Fort William, Eastern Command assume a special significance as Mukti Jodhas & Indian war veterans who fought shoulder to shoulder reunite to celebrate this momentous occasion in history. This year 30 Mukti Jodhas attended the solemn occasion led by HE Md Qamrul Islam, Food Minister, Bangladesh. The Mukti Jodhas have been coming to attend the annual celebrations for the last nine years. Wreaths were laid by the Veterans, Members of the Bangladeshi delegation and by representatives of the three services. The gathering of uniformed personnel, veterans, civilians, school children and NCC cadets observed two minutes silence to pay homage to the martyrs of the 1971 war. 
All Inda Pakistan War 
1.Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 On Kashmir Issue 
2.Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 
3.Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 On Bnagladesh Issue or Bangladesh Liberation War
4.Indo-Pakistani War of 1999 On Kargil Issue 

 A committee of Ministry of Culture has recommended a Special Force along with the help of tools and electronic gadgets for protection of Monuments and art installations as part of a comprehensive security policy. At present the cultural assets are provided with security by regular watch and ward staff, Home Guards, CISF and private security guards. 
ALL World Hertiage Sites in India 
01.      Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam    
02      Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam 
03      Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya, Bihar    
04      Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi    Front view Delhi
05      Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi    
06       Red Fort Complex    Red Fort    Delhi, 
07       Churches and Convents of Goa    Basílica do Bom Jesus, Velha Goa
08    Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, Gujarat    Pavgadha hill,    Gujarat, 
10    Group of Monuments at Pattadakal   
11    Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh    
12    Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh    Madhya Pradesh
13    Khajuraho Group of Monuments, Madhya Pradesh    
14    Ajanta Caves    Ajanta Caves    Maharashtra, 
15    Ellora Caves    Kailash temple, Ellora    Maharashtra, 
16    Elephanta Caves    Elephanta Caves
17    Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus)    Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
18    Sun Temple, Konârak    Front view of Konark Sun Temple    Puri District, Orissa, India
19    Keoladeo National Park    Sarus crane, Keoladeo National Park    Bharatpur, Rajasthan, 
20    Jantar Mantar, Jaipur    Jantar Mantar    Jaipur, Rajasthan, 
21    Great Living Chola Temples    Chola temple sculpture    Brihadeeswarar temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Tamil Nadu, 
22    Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram    
23    Agra Fort, Uttar Pradesh
24    Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh    Panch Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri
25    Taj Mahal, Uttar Pradesh    
26    Mountain Railways of India    1999    Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (1999), Darjeeling, West Bengal    Nilgiri Mountain Railway (2005) Ooty, Tamil Nad     Kalka-Shimla Railway, Himachal Pradesh (2008)
27    Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks    Valley of flowers
28    Sundarbans National Park    
29    Western Ghats    Agasthymalai Peak    
30    Hill Forts of Rajasthan    ChittorgarhFort   Chittorgarh  kumbhalgarh Fort   Kumbhalgarh  Ranthambhore Fort    Ranthambhore Amber-fort    Amber Sub-Cluster Jaisalmer-fort    
31    Rani ki vav (The Queen's Stepwell)    Rani ki vav, Patan, Gujarat    
32    Great Himalayan National Park    Great Himalayan National Park,Kullu,Himachal Pradesh,

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has initiated a process of formulating a National Space Act for India for supporting the overall growth of space activities, with enhanced levels of private sector participation and offering more commercial opportunities. In this context, consequent to internal studies followed by a national level workshop with experts across the country, and subsequent consultations, a draft version has been formulated. 

Space Research in India.
ISRO is managed by the Department of Space (DoS) of the Government of India. DoS itself falls under the authority of the Prime Minister and the Space Commission, and manages the following agencies and institutes.

Other Indian Space Research Organisation
1.Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.
2.Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota.
3.ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bengaluru.Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad.
4.National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad.
5.Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun.
6.Antrix Corporation - The marketing arm of ISRO.
7.Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.
8.Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), Mohali.
9.Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram - India's space university.

In its thirty second flight conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR, Sriharikota evening of December 16, 2015, ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C29 successfully launched six satellites from Singapore, including the 400 kg TeLEOS-1, the primary satellite. The other five satellites were co. passenger payloads. PSLV-C29 launched all the six payloads into an orbit of 549 km height inclined at an angle of 15 deg to the equator. The six satellites carried by PSLV-C29 together weighed about 624 kg at lift-off. These six satellites were launched as part of the agreement entered into between ST Electronics (Satcom & Sensor Systems), Singapore and Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a government of India Company under the Department of Space (DOS). This is the eleventh flight of PSLV in ‘core-alone’ configuration (without the use of solid strap-on motors).

PSLV has successfully launched 57 satellites for customers from abroad including the six Singapore satellites launched on December 16, 2015. Vice President of India congratulates ISRO on successful launch of PSLV–C29 The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on successful launch of PSLV–C29. 

About PSLV-29
A core-alone version of the PSLV (without solid strap-ons) took off from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, 100km north of Chennai, at 6pm on Wednesday. A little more than 18 minutes later, the rocket ejected the 400kg TeLEOS-1 into a 555km circular orbit successfully putting the 6 Singapore satellites in precise orbit. It was PSLV’s 32nd flight, and the 31st consecutively successful one.

Hayabusa 2 a Japnese space probe has reached a milestone by successfully entering into earth’s orbit. It is now heading towards its destination i.e. asteroid.
Hayabusa: First mission, in which spacecraft arrived at the small asteroid "Itokawa" whosesize is only about 500m. It helped in exploring the mysterious world. The Asteroid is a rock-rich S-type one.
About Hayabusa-2: 
It is an unmanned explorer. It was launched a year ago aboard Japan’s main H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima Space Centre for its six-year mission
Mission: to bring samples from the surface of an asteroid to earth. It will visit a C-type asteroid. C-type asteroids are also rock quality but supposedly contain much more organic matter and water. An asteroid, currently considered as a target of Hayabusa-2 is temporally called 1999 JU3. It is expected to return by 2020.

Union government has appointed this commission to look into the implementation of one rank one pension scheme.It is headed by Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, former Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.
About one rank one pension scheme:
1. This scheme is for the Ex-Servicemen.
2. It implies that uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of their date of retirement. Future enhancements in the rates of pension would be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. This would aid ins bridging the gap between the rate of pension of current and past pensioners at periodic intervals.

Union Environment Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar launched an initiative - Climate + Change - Indian Himalayan Region: Our Mountains, Our Future.
-Aim: to provide a platform for innovative solutions action to strengthen a resilient climate smart community across the Indian Himalayan region.  This initiative is an attempt to bring thousands of people together working to promote networking of change agents from across the Himalayan region.Meetings are held between Members of Legislative Assemblies, members of Panchayats and Members of Zila Panchayats so as to decide upon solid waste management, E-waste management, construction waste management which are a big concern in Himalayan states.Meeting with Members of Parliament from Himalayan states will attract the attention of the government and the people then, can also aid in policy-making.
- The India-ICIMOD Week 2015, Partnership for Sustainable Mountain Development was held from December 11-15, 2015 to celebrate International Mountain Day 2015 on December 11. The programme had been organised jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED) and International Centre For Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). This year’s theme for International Mountain Day was - Promoting Mountain Products for Better Livelihoods.
  

The Farmers Portal along with mKisan Portal aims to serve as a One Stop Shop for all the farmers for accessing information on agricultural activities.
The Portal provides information about:
1. Package of practices; 
2. Crop and seed varieties; 
3. Common pests; 
4. dealer network for seeds, 
5. fertilizers & pesticides; 
6. machinery and tools; 
7. agro-met advisories, 
8. credit & insurance, 
9. rain-fed areas etc.
-Both these Portals are easily accessible to farmers in any part of the country free of cost.  The Ministry’s official site’s URL is: www.farmer.gov.in and www.mkisan.gov.in. 
- Its activities are also highlighted through short discussion/interview on “DD Kisan Channel”. 

The Central Government has constituted Central Council of Homeopathy under the provisions of Homeopathy Central Council Act, 1973 to regulate education and practice of Homoeopathy. The Central Government has also established Homeopathy Pharmacopoeia Laboratory.
Purpose: for standardization of Homoeopathic Drugs.
Other agencies: Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy
- Carry out research activities in different aspects in Homoeopathy
- Has a network of 22 research centers and five Homoeopathic treatment Centers and is carrying out intramural research including collaboration with institutes of excellence. 
National AYUSH Mission
- Government is promoting homeopathic further through this mission.
- Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has launched National AYUSH Mission (NAM) during 12th 5 year Plan for implementing it throughout States/UTs.
- Vision:a. To provide cost effective and equitable AYUSH health care throughout the country by improving accessibility of the services.b. To revitalize and strengthen the AYUSH systems turning them into prominent medical streams in addressing the health care issues of the society.c. To improve educational institutions capable of imparting quality AYUSH educationd. To promote adoption of Quality standards in AYUSH drug making and ensuring their  availability as well as sustaining the supply of raw material for the process. 

India is placed on the 130^th position out of 188 by United Nations Development Report. UNDP releases HDI every year.
- Top 3 countries are:
1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Switzerland
- India stands ahead of its nighboure Bangladesh and Pakistan but lower than countries like Namibia, Guatemala, Tajikistan, and Iraq.

Dimension Indicators