Important Dates & Festivities - Current Affairs for December, 2015

This day was celebrated at Sriganganagar Military Station and a small village close to the international boundary called Nagi in the memory of soldiers who had laid down their lives for the Battle of Nagi between December 27th, 28th 1971. To celebrate the occasion, numerous events were held at the Nagi Memorial on 27th and 28th December 2015.

A national event and week on good governance was inaugurated on December 28th 2015 and 25th respectively at IHC. The event was organised in participation of DietY, DOP and DoT. Successful implementation of Digital India will transform India into a digitally empowered society. India Post will also launch Payment Banking by March 2017.

To mark the birth anniversaries of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former PM of India and late freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya, Good Governance Day was celebrated on December 25, 2015. This day also marks the birthday of Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif.

The 30th National Consumer Right Day was observed across India on 24th December 2015. This provides the opportunity to highlight consumer movement and make consumers aware of their rights and responsibilities. This day is being observed as National Consumer Right Day since 24th December 1986.

India on 22nd December 2015 celebrated the birth anniversary of well known Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan as the National Mathematics Day. India and UNESCO agreed to jointly spread the knowledge and joy of learning the subject to Indian students on this day. A conference on the Zero was held in UNESCO HQ in Paris and IISc Bengaluru in recognition of the invention of zero by Indian mathematician Aryabhata. The declaration to observe 22 December as National Mathematics Day was made by ex Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 26 February which was the 125th birth anniversary of Ramanujan.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the Emperor and People of Japan on the eve of their national day on 23rd December 2015. The current emperor of Japan is Emperor Akihito and his birthday is celebrated on the national day of Japan. The two countries have recently strengthened bilateral ties into Special Strategic and Global Partnership.

International Migrants Day was observed across the world on 18th December 2015. Since 2014, close to 5000 people have lost their lives in search of a better life while migrating. Year 2015 is the year of migrant tragedies and with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, world leaders vowed to protect the labour rights of migrants and curb criminal human trafficking networks. This day has been celebrated since 2000.

President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the people of Republic of Niger on the eve of their national day which was December 18th, 2015. Mr. Mahamadou Issoufou, the President of the Republic of Niger, was also congratulated by the President. Greetings were also extended to the people and State of Qatar on their national day. The Emir is presently His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

Vijay Diwas was celebrated across the nation on 16th December 2015 in memory of martyrs who laid down their lives during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Defence Minister as well as supreme commanders of the armed forced paid tributes at Amar Jawan Jyoti on this occasion.

December 17th, 2015 was celebrated as the National Day of Bhutan. For this day, President Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the king and people of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Bhutan;s current king is Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

Indian president Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings and felicitations to the people of Bahrain on their national day on December 16, 2015, apart from the King Hamad bin lsa Al-Khalifa, the King of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The president also extended greetings to the government and people of Republic of Kazakhstan on the same day which was the 24th anniversary of their independence day.

Losar, the biggest Tibetan Buddhist festival commenced on 12th December 2015 in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir marking the beginning of the new year. Festival began with the illumination of religious and residential places. Losar is celebrated on the last two days of the 10th Bodhi month that coincides with December of Christian calendar. Ancestor worship forms a significant part of this festival.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the government and people of Republic of Kenya on the eve of the nation’s independence day (December 12, 2015). Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is currently the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kenya. The 52nd anniversary of this independence day was celebrated in 2015.

Human Rights Day was celebrated across the world on 10th December 2015 to promote and raise awareness of the two Covenants of Human Rights Day- International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This day marks the 50th anniversary of these two International Covenants, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office launched Our Rights. Our Freedoms. Human Rights Day commemorates the day on which the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) took on the UDHR in 1948.

The International Anti-Corruption Day was observed across the world on 9th December 2015. The theme was Break the Corruption chain. The day was held to create public awareness about what people can do to fight corruption. UNDP and UNODC are the main bodies which oversaw the observance of this day. This day is being celebrated since 2003 when the United Nations Convention Against Corruption was adopted.

Inaugurating Kala Utsav on the theme of `Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ at Bal Bhawan in New Delhi on 8th December 2015, Union HRD Minister Smt. Smriti Irani said that Kala Utsav is a unique platform which provides an opportunity to learn about the art, culture and language of various States and UTs of the country at one place. Kala Utsav was conceived on 4th September by the Indian PM.

The 31st Charter Day of the eight-member grouping SAARC was observed in Nepal on 8th December which saw participation of senior ministers and officials. SAARC was set up on December 8th 1985 between the following states-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka signed the SAARC Charter. SAARC witnessed 18 summit meetings so far.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the government and the people of the Republic of Finland on their independence day which is 6th December 2015. President of the Republic of Finland is currently Sauli Niinitso. India and Finland share cordial bilateral relations.

International Volunteer Day was observed on December 5th across the world. The theme was “The World is Changing. Are You? Volunteer”. The theme challenges everyone to be part of the effort to access the sustainable goals for development through mobilisation and engagement with communities and governments.

The first India International Science Festival was held on 4th December 2015 at IIT-Delhi to translate academic research into industrial occupations for helping common man. The festival sought to explore the growing importance of science and technology to communities in India and worldwide.

National Day of Thailand was observed on December 5th 2015. The current king of Thailand is Bhumibol Adulyadej. Bilateral ties between India and Thailand are strong.

The birth anniversary of former president R. Venkatraman was observed on 4th December 2015. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented floral tributes to the ex president’s memorial portrait on the occasion.

The 44th Navy Day was observed on 4th December 2015 and saw screening of Navy Telefilm 2015 titled Empowering India Through Maritime Security and Indigenisation on DD National. This day is celebrated each year to celebrate the success of Operation Trident of Indian Navy on Karachi Harbour during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Innovation trophies were presented to 4 awardees on this day as well.

On this day, the theme was “Inclusion Matters: Access and Empowerment for People of All Abilities”. Around 1 billion persons are living with disabilities across the world. Sub themes for this year were making cities inclusive and accessible, improving disability data and statistics and including persons with invisible disabilities in society and development. UNGA passed a resolution in 1992 to observe this day.

International day for Abolition of Slavery is observed to focus on the elimination of human trafficking, child labour and other forms of modern-day slavery. As per ILO, currently there are 21 million forced victims of slavery and labour across the globe, creating USD 150 billion in illegal profits. 2004 was also proclaimed as the International Year to commemorate struggle against slavery and abolition.

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Laos People’s Democratic Republic and UAE on the eve of their National Day (December 2, 2015). Mr. Choummaly Sayasone, the President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates were also greeted by the President.

Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot inaugurated 1st International Film Festival for Persons with Disabilities at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi on 1st December. The film festival started with the screening of the film Yellow by M. Limaye. The Accessible Indian campaign was also discussed at this event.

The day was observed across the globe with the theme “Getting to zero: End AIDS by 2030”. Federal theme for the day was “The Time to Act is Now.” Both themes comply with fast-track strategy of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, to end the AIDs epidemic by 2030 and ensure the averting of 21 million AIDSs-related deaths, 28 million new HIV infections and 5.9 million new infections among children by 2030. Idea to observe World AIDS day was first proposed by Bunn and Netter in 1987.

The festival is being organised jointly by the Department of Tourism and the Legislative Assembly Secretariat at Mahe, which is Puducherry’s exclave in Kerala. It will conclude on December 1, 2015. National as well as international performers will be part of this festival called Fete de Mahe.