Current Affairs-GK December 12, 2015
Supreme Court dismissed petition against Haryana Panchayati Raj
(Amendment) Act, 2015
On
10 December a bench of the Supreme Court dismissed a batch of petitions
challenging the validity of the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015.
The Act requires that general candidates must have passed Class X examination
while women and Dalit candidates need to have cleared Class VIII. Dalit women
candidates must clear Class V.
Apart
from Haryana, Rajasthan is the only other state to fix minimum education
qualifications for those contesting panchayat polls.
Salman Rushdie awarded 2015 Mailer Prize for Lifetime
Achievement
India-born
author Salman Rushdie has been awarded the prestigious 2015 Mailer Prize for
Lifetime Achievement. He has been bestowed with this award for fully exercising
his freedom of creativity and thrived on dialogue and debate. He has authored
12 novels including the Booker Prize winner novel Midnight’s Children and The
Satanic Verses. His most recent novel is Two Years Eight Months and
Twenty-Eight Nights, published in September 2015.
A portal to help SMEs get bank loans
While
the SMEs that have managed to get timely finance from banks prefer not to
comment on the difficulties in getting the support, there are many that are not
even aware of the support system. According to an IFC survey, there are about
55 million registered SMEs, of which just about 35 per cent are in the banking
system.
Industrial output growth jumps 9.8% in October
Industrial
output grew a robust 9.8 per cent in October. This Index of Industrial
Production (IIP) was much higher than the revised growth level of 3.84 per cent
in September this year. In October last year, IIP had contracted 4.2 per cent,
hitting a three-year low. Industrial growth in October was led by a 42.2 per
cent expansion in consumer durables and 16.1 per cent growth in capital goods
output, both of which had contracted in October 2014.
Mauricio Macri Blanco sworn in as President of Argentina
Mauricio
Macri Blanco sworn in as the President of Argentina. He succeeded Cristina
Elisabet Fernandez de Kirchner who was in the office for two terms between 2007
and 2015. Mauricio Macri is the leader of the centre-right Cambiemos (Let's
Change) coalition. He secured 51.5 percent of votes in the elections held in
November 2015.
Indian cyclist Deborah Herold became World No. 4 Cyclist
Indian
cyclist Deborah Herold on 11 December 2015 became the first Indian female
cyclist to be ranked fourth in the World Elite Women Ranking for the 500m time
trial event. The ranking was issued by cycling world body International Cycling
Union (UCI).
