1. Philippines became first Asian country to approve world’s first Dengue vaccine. 

i) Philippines has become the first Asian country to approve world’s first dengue vaccine Dengvaxia. 

ii) This drug has been approved for prevention of all four types of the disease in individuals in the age group of 9-45 years. Dengvaxia also got approval in Mexico on December 9, 2015.

iii) As per the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) Dengvaxia, developed by French firm Sanofi SA, can be administered on preadolescents, adolescents and adults.

iv) As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), the vaccine had an average rate of effectiveness of about 60.8% in protecting against all the four strains of dengue. 

2. Nitish Kumar approves Patna Metro rail project

i) Bihar CM Nitish Kumar approved the Patna Rail project proposal, which will now be sent for Central government clearance. 

ii) This project was submitted to Bihar government by the Rail India Technical & Economic Service (RITES) in 2014, reducing the project estimates to Rs 14,000 crore from Rs 17,000 crore earlier. 

iii) The metro proposal will aim to form two corridors.  The first corridor will run east to west over 14.5 kilometres from Mithapur bus stand to Saguna Mor via Bailey Road and Patna Junction. 

iv) The second north-south corridor will run from Patna Junction to the proposed bus stand at Bairiya on Patna-Gaya road via Ashok Rajpath, Gandhi Maidan and Rajendra Nagar Terminal covering a distance of over 16.5kms.

3. Cabinet approves phase 1-A of Lucknow Metro Rail Project 

i) Union Cabinet has approved the Lucknow Metro Rail Project Phase 1-A. The project will cover a length of 22.878 kms with 22 stations. 

ii) The total route covered will be 22.878 kms, with a total of 19 elevated and 3 underground metro stations. 

iii) The metro train will ply between Chowdhary Charan Singh Airport and Munshi Pulia.

iv) The project will be implemented by the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC), which will be reconstituted into a jointly owned company of the Union Government and the Uttar Pradesh government.

v) The project will come under the legal framework of the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978; the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002; the Railways Act, 1989, as amended from time to time.

4. RS passes Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Bill, 2015 

i) The Rajya Sabha recently passed the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Bill, 2015. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on May 7, 2015. The bill now requires the President’s nod to be an act. 

ii) This bill replaces the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2000.  

ii) According this bill, juveniles between the ages of 16-18 years will be tried as adults for heinous offences.

iii) Any 16-18 year-old, who commits a lesser (serious) offence, may be tried as an adult only if he is apprehended after the age of 21 years. 

iv) The bill also stipulates that Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) and Child Welfare Committees (CWC) will be constituted in each district. The Juvenile Justice Board will decide the need for either sending a juvenile offender into rehabilitation or trying him/her as an adult. The Children Welfare Committee (CWC) will determine institutional care for children in need of care and protection.

v) The bill also includes the eligibility of adoptive parents and the procedure of adoption.

5. Scheme for integrated development and management of fisheries approved

i) Cabinet Committee on Economics Affairs (CCEA) has approved an umbrella scheme for integrated development and management of fisheries. It will be implemented for a period of five years.  

ii) This scheme will be implemented for management of inland fisheries, aquaculture, marine fisheries and all activities undertaken by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) towards realising Blue Revolution.

iii) This Central Sector Scheme aims at an integrated approach for development and management of fisheries and aquaculture sector to ensure an annual growth rate of 6% – 8% as against an overall annual growth rate of about 4% during the 11th Five Year Plan period.

6. International Tennis Federation announces 2015 World Champions

International Tennis Federation (ITF) has released names of 2015 world champions considering the performances of tennis players in the 2015 season.

The awards are as follows- 

Men’s World Champion – Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

Women’s World Champion – Serena Williams (the USA)

Men’s Doubles World Champions – Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands) & Horia Tecau (Romania)

Women’s Doubles World Champions – Martina Hingis (Switzerland) & Sania Mirza (India)

ITF Junior World Champions – Dalma Galfi (Hungary) & Taylor Fritz (the USA)

ITF Wheelchair World Champions – Jiske Griffioen (Netherlands) & Shingo Kunieda (Japan)

7. Winners of 2015 ICC awards announced

The International Council of Cricket (ICC) has announced the winners of the 2015 ICC awards. The awards have been decided based on the performance of individuals and teams, both men and women, between September 18, 2014 and September 13, 2015.

Australian captain Steve Smith received the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year. 

Other awards are as follows: ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year: AB de Villiers (South Africa)

ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year: Meg Lanning (Australia)

ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Josh Hazlewood (Australia)

ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year: Khurram Khan (UAE)

ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year: Faf du Plessis (South Africa)

ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year: Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)

David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year: Richard Kettleborough

ICC Spirit of Cricket Award: Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)

8. Pawan Kumar Agarwal appointed as FSSAI CEO 

i) IAS officer Pawan Kumar Agarwal has been appointed as the CEO of Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), succeeding Yudhvir Singh Malik. 

ii) Agarwal is a 1985 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre. He is presently serving as Joint Secretary in Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

9. RBI creates helpline to assist start-ups on forex 

i) India’s central bank recently set up a helpline email id to provide guidance to start-ups on issues related to foreign exchange (forex) for conducting cross-border transaction within the regulatory framework.

(ii) Cross-border transactions of resident Indians have to be done as per regulations stipulated in the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

10. FIFA bans Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini for 8 years 

i) FIFA President Sepp Blatter & Vice President and member of executive committee Michel Platini have been banned from football-related activities (administrative, sports, etc) on a national and international level for the next 8 years by the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee headed by Hans-Joachim Eckert. 

ii) Sepp Blatter & Michel Platini have also been fined with $40,000 & $80,000 respectively. 

iii) The decision was taken after the alleged payment of 20 lakh Swiss Francs (CHF) by Blatter to Platini in 2011.

11. Brendon McCullum to retire

i) New Zealand team captain Brendon McCullum announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket, namely Tests, ODIs and Twenty20.

ii) He has scored 6273 Test runs with 11 hundreds and 31 half-centuries at an average of 38.48. He is the only New Zealand batsman to score a triple century.

He has scored double test century against Pakistan which is the fastest test century by a New Zealander.

While in tests he took 194 catches and made 11 stumpings, in ODIs, he took 258 catches and did 15 stumpings. In ODIs, he scored 5909 runs from 254 matches. They include 5 centauries and 31 half-centauries.

12. Zimbabwe announced to adopt Chinese currency Yuan 

Zimbabwe has announced to adopt the Chinese Yuan as a legal tender. This announcement came up after the decision taken by Zimbabwe government in return to the debt cancellation worth 40 million dollars.

After the implementation of this new change, Yuan will be a function of trade between China and Zimbabwe and acceptability with customers in Zimbabwe. 

China is the largest investor for Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has received more than one billion dollars in low-interest loans from China which is Harare’s second largest trading partner after South Africa. 

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