1) Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited India.
- Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan concluded his 3-day visit to India. He is also the deputy supreme commander of UAE armed forces.
- He visited India on invitation of Narendra Modi who became the first Prime Minister to visit the UAE after a gap of 34 years in August 2015.
Highlights of 3-day visit :
- He held talks with President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on a gamut of bilateral relations.
- During the visit, both countries signed 9 agreements and Memorandums of Understanding.
- The agreements and MoUs covered a wide range of sectors like the sphere of cyber security, infrastructure, renewable energy and finance.
- Both the countries issued a joint statement that expressed resolve to increase trade by 60 percent over by 2020.
2) President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Infosys Prize 2015.
- President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Infosys Prize 2015 on six winners in New Delhi.
- The awards were received by Prof. Umesh Waghmare, Prof. Jonardon Ganeri, Dr. Amit Sharma, Prof. Mahan Mj, Prof. G. RavindraKumar and Dr Srinath Raghavan.
About Infosys Prize 2015 Winners :
Engineering and Computer Science:
- Won by Prof. Umesh Waghmare of Theoretical Sciences Unit, of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore.
- He was awarded for his innovative use of first-principles theories and modelling in insightful investigations of microscopic mechanisms responsible for specific properties of certain materials such as topological insulators, ferroelectrics, multiferroics and graphene.
Humanities:
- Won by Prof. Jonardon Ganeri, Global Network Professor of Philosophy, New York University and Recurrent Visiting Professor, Department of Philosophy, King’s College London, UK.
3) Pakistan Cricket umpire Asad Rauf banned for 5 years.
- The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has banned Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf for five years after its disciplinary committee found him guilty of corrupt practices.
- It was announced by BCCI president Shashank Manohar who had headed the disciplinary committee.
- The BCCI Committee has found Rauf guilty of misconduct and corruption under multiple statutes of its BCCI Anti-Corruption Code. He was accused of accepting expensive gifts from bookies besides placing bets on IPL matches in the 2013 edition.
- Earlier Rauf had served as part of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC’s) elite panel. He was withdrawn from panel by Pakistan after the allegations against him broke out.
4) Piruz Khambatta named ambassador for Make in India.
- Rasna chairman Piruz Khambatta has been named ambassador of the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative by the Government of India.
- Rasna said it will support entrepreneurs who wish to come up with turnkey plant to manufacture food products which it would market under its own brand on a contract manufacturing basis, in addition to fostering and mentoring startups as part of the Make in India initiatives.
5) Manish Arora conferred France’s highest honour.
- Fashion designer Manish Arora has been conferred with the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), France’s highest civilian honour.
- French Ambassador Francois Richier presented the award to Arora for his renowned and critically-acclaimed contribution to the fashion world.
- The Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur is France’s premier award to recognise eminent accomplishments of service to France.
- It is bestowed on both citizens of France as well as foreigners. In the past, personalities such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Amitabh Bachchan and J.R.D. Tata have been honoured with the prestigious award.
About the Award :
- The National Order of the Legion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur) is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 May 1802.
- The Order is the highest decoration in France and is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand’Croix (Grand Cross).
- The order’s motto is ``Honneur et Patrie`` (``Honour and Fatherland``).
6) Australia Photographer wins World Press Photo of 2015.
- The World Press Photo of the Year honors the photographer whose visual creativity and skills made a picture that captures or represents an event or issue of great journalistic importance.
- The jury of the 59th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected an image by Australian photographer Warren Richardson as the World Press Photo of the Year 2015.
- The premier award, the World Press Photo of the Year, carries a cash prize of 10,000 euros. In addition, Canon will present the winning photographer with the recently launched Canon EOS-1D X Mark II camera and lens kit.