Current Affairs 12th December 2015

Current Affairs 12th December 2015 - Important Points

• Who has been honoured with Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement - Salman Rushdie

• Which cities has been designated as members of Creative Cities Network by UNESCO - Varanasi & Jaipur

• Aegis Graham Bell Award 2015 for innovation in IoT won by - Wipro

• Who has won gold in 59th National Shooting Championships - Elizabeth Susan Koshy

• Which country has launched its first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake - Myanmar

• Which Indian has became World No. 4 Cyclist - Indian cyclist Deborah Herold

• Who has agreed to buy 112-year old newspaper South China Morning Post of Hong Kong - Alibaba

Current Affairs 12th December 2015 - Details

Who has been honoured with Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement - Salman Rushdie

On 10th December 2015, Author Salman Rushdie was awarded with the prestigious Mailer Prize for lifetime achievement. He was presented with the award by american experimental performance artist Laurie Anderson.

About Salman Rushdie

• His some of the famous writings include The Satanic Verses and Midnight’s Children.
• In September 2015 his work Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights was published.
• He is a member of British Royal Society of Literature.
• He has received various awards including a US National Arts Award, the Writers’ Guild Award, the London International Writers’ Award, the European Union’s Aristeion Prize for Literature and the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel (twice).

People who have received this award previously are :

• Toni Morrison in 2009
• Orhan Pamuk in 2010
• Elie Wiesel in 2011
• Joyce Carol Oates in 2012
• Maya Angelou in 2013
• Don DeLillo in 2014

Which cities has been designated as members of Creative Cities Network by UNESCO - Varanasi & Jaipur

On 11th December 2015, for the first time ever, UNESCO has designated two Indian cities, Varanasi and Jaipur as the member of the Creative City Network in the categories, City of Music and City of Crafts and Folk Art.

About UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network

In 2004, the UCCN was created to stimulate cooperation with and among cities that have recognized creativity as a essential factor for sustainable urban development.

The Network covers seven creative fields: Literature and Music, Gastronomy, Media Arts, Film, Design, Crafts and Folk Arts.

Aegis Graham Bell Award 2015 for innovation in IoT won by - Wipro

On 11th December 2015, 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award was won by Global software giant Wipro for developing Universal Data Parser (UDP), a solution for the Internet of Things (IoT).

About Aegis Graham Bell Awards

• The Aegis Graham Bell Awards was established as a tribute to the father of the telephony, Sir Alexander Graham Bell by The Aegis School of Business.
• The motive of the award is to promote innovation in the country.
• Telecom Centres of Excellence (TCOE) India and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) support the Aegis Graham Bell Award.

Who has won gold in 59th National Shooting Championships - Elizabeth Susan Koshy

On 11th December 2015, the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions Gold at the 59th National Shooting Championships was won by Kerala’s Elizabeth Susan Koshy.

Anjum Moudgil from Haryana bagged the silver medal while Gaayathri N of Tamil Nadu settled for the bronze.

Apart from this, Tejaswini Sawant, Commonwealth Games gold medalist along with Priyal Keni and Anjali Bhagwat won gold for Maharashtra.

About Elizabeth Susan Koshy

• She won the first gold for Kerala in the 2015 National Games women's 50m Rifle Prone event.
• In 2011, at the State championship held in Thiruvananthapuram, she won five gold medals.
• She represented India in the 2013 and 2014 World Cups and won silver in the Asian Shooting Championships.

Which country has launched its first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake - Myanmar

On 11th December 2015, first UNSECO Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake was launched in Shan state of Myanmar. In June 2015, the Inle Lake was designated as UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Paris.

With this, Myanmar fulfilled its commitment to bio-diversity and eco-system conservation under the UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Prorgamme.

The construction of Inle Lake as one of the world natural heritage sites by the UNESCO came after that of Myanmar's three Pyu ancient cities.

About Inle Lake

It is located in Nyaungshwe township, Taunggyi district in Myanmar's eastern Shan state and has an area of 489721 hectares. It is funded under the framework of the Inle Lake Conservation and Rehabilitation project from the government of Norway.

The lake is home to 267 species of birds and is the nesting place for globally endangered Sarus crane.

Which Indian has became World No. 4 Cyclist - Indian cyclist Deborah Herold

On 11th December 2015, the first Indian female cyclist to be ranked fourth in the World Elite Women Ranking for the 500m time trial event is Indian cyclist Deborah Herold. International Cycling Union (UCI) issued the ranking.

Apart from this, Indian team moved up to the 13th place in the world ranking and became the highest ranking Asian country in 500m time trial.

About Deborah Herold

• She hails from Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• She completed her training from Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Andaman.
• She is the first Indian to win 5 medals at the Taiwan Cup Track International Classic.

Who has agreed to buy 112-year old newspaper South China Morning Post of Hong Kong - Alibaba

On 11th December 2015, the 112-year old English newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) was bought by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

The acquisition also comprise of SCMP Group's other media assets, such as licenses to the Hong Kong editions of Esquire, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Harper's Bazaar.

SCMP has a market value of 3.04 billion Hong Kong dollars or 392 million dollars, according to Thomson Reuters.