Current Affairs 15th December 2015

Important Points : 

• Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015 passed by - Lok Sabha 
• Which operation has to be start from 1st January 2016 - Operation Smile-II
• Who has been appointed to head Judicial Committee on OROP - L Narasimha Reddy 
• Where did the 26th Conference of Southern Zonal Council held - Vijayawada
• Who has been awarded with Lifetime Achievement Awards by West Bengal Government - Bappi Lahiri & Kumar Sanu  
• Who has acquired Italian auto design firm Pininfarina - Mahindra Group

Details : 

Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015 passed by - Lok Sabha 

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 14th December 2015, the landmark Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was passed by the Lok Sabha. The bill was amended to overcome the difficulties faced in the setting up of new nuclear projects and modification of nuclear power generation.

The bill was passed with one accord. The bill will now wait for the approval from Rajya Sabha.

Atomic Energy Act, 1962 which authorize the central government to produce, develop, control, and use atomic energy will be amended that will make the way for Atomic Energy Units, including Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to enter into joint-ventures with other Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and government sector companies.

According to the Act, for export and import, production, use and acquisition of any plant designed for the production and development of atomic energy or research, a license is required.

Besides, the Bill also seeks that any license issued for producing atomic energy, and acquiring and using substances or minerals from which atomic energy can be obtained, will be cancelled if a licensee ceases to be a government company.

Which operation has to be start from 1st January 2016 - Operation Smile-II

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 14th December 2015, the states and Union Territories (UT) are requested by the Union Government to start Operation Smile-II from 1st January 2016 which will conclude on on 31st January. 

The operation is to salvage the missing children. This operation is a continuation of the exercise Operation Smile that has rescued 9146 missing children in the countries.

Activities to be carried out under Operation Smile-II

• Trained police personnel will perform screening of all the children residing in religious places, platforms, bus stands, shelter homes, roads and others 
• The Police Personnel from every state and territory will be trained to extract information from such children in a cautious manner.
• Apart from this they will also be trained about various contigency like Protection of Child Right Act, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) JJ Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act etc. 

Who has been appointed to head Judicial Committee on OROP - L Narasimha Reddy 

Among the important appointments, On 14th December 2015, Justice L Narasimha Reddy, retired Chief Justice of Patna High Court was appointed as the head the Judicial Committee on OROP by the Union Government.

The committee will be responsible for the following : 

• Removal of inconsistency that may come up in the enactment of the OROP.
• Removal of inconsistency that may come up of inter-services issues of the three forces due to implementation of OROP.
• Intimattions on service matters.

Where did the 26th Conference of Southern Zonal Council held - Vijayawada

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 12th December 2015, the 26th Conference of Southern Zonal Council (SZC) chaired by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was held in Andhra Pradesh at Vijayawada. 

Apart from this, Chief Ministers of Kerala and Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana were also present at the conference.

The Southern Zonal Council is formed by the five states and Puducherry together.

The council measured issues such as coastal security, finalisation of inter-State reciprocal transport agreement, peninsular region industrial corridor and introduction of peninsular tourism trains.

Do You Know : 

• Zonal Councils are the counselling bodies that examine and counsell the Central and State Governments on border disputes, health, security, social welfare, matters of infrastructures, linguistic minorities etc.
• In 1956, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru brought the idea of creation of Zonal Councils.

Who has been awarded with Lifetime Achievement Awards by West Bengal Government - Bappi Lahiri & Kumar Sanu  

Among the important awawrd distributions, On 14th December 2015, singer Kumar Sanu and music composer Bappi Lahiri were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards by the government of West Bengal.

The awards were presented at the inauguration of the annual Bangla Sangeet Mela by the State Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Some other awardees : 

• Sangeet Mahasamman Award - Shantanu Moitra 
• The Bishesh Sangeet Samman - Sandhya Mukherjee, Ajoy Chakraborty and Dwijen Mukhyopadhyay.
• Special Sangeet Samman - Fakir Alamgir, Vocalists Nachiketa, Sriradha Bandyopadhyay and Dileep Kumar Bose

Who has acquired Italian auto design firm Pininfarina - Mahindra Group

Among the important Bussiness Current Affairs, On 14th December 2015, Italian car designer Pininfarina SpA was acquired by the Tech Mahindra and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, part of the Mahindra Group for 165 million US dollars.

A total of 60:40 joint venture has been formed by Tech Mahindra and Mahindra and Mahindra for the acquisition of Milan-listed Pininfarina.

Paolo Pininfarina is the chairman of the board of Pininfarina. While after the acquisition, Pininfarina will continue to be an independent company.

76.06 % in Pininfarina will be acquired by the joint venture by its controlling shareholder Pincar Srl.

Do You Know : 

Cadillac, Maserati, Rolls-Royce and Ferrari are the cars designed by Pininfarina.