17 December 2015 Current Affairs
India ranks 97th in Forbe’s list of best countries for business
India has been ranked a low 97th out of 144 nations, on Forbe’s annual list of the best countries for doing business in 2015. Denmark topped the list. The US has dropped four spots to number 22, United Kingdom on number 10 and Japan on number 23 positions. Other countries in the list include Germany (18), China (94), Russia (81), Sri Lanka (91), Pakistan (103) and Bangladesh (121).
US Federal Reserve increased interest rates
The Federal Reserve System, the Central Banking System of the USA, on 16 December, 2015 increased interest rate by 0.25 percent. With this, the interest rates in the US are now in the range of 0.25-0.50 per cent as compared to zero to 0.25 per cent rage earlier. This is the first rate increase since 2006. The present hike in interest rate might affect the capital flows into developing economies like China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea etc.
2015 Sahitya Akademi Awards
Sahitya Academy has announced the names of 23 poets and authors who will be conferred the prestigious 2015 Sahitya Akademi Award. This award has recognised premier works in 23 Indian languages that includes 6 books of short stories, 6 of poetry, 4 novels, 2 books each of essays, criticism and plays and 1 memoir. The famous feminist writer ‘Olga’ won the 2015 Sahitya Academy Award for her book on short stories, ‘Vimukta’ in Telugu. Playwright and novelist Cyrus Mistry’s English novel Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer and KR Meera’s Aarachar in Malayalam are among the works that have won the prestigious Sahitya Academi Award for 2015. The award in Bengali is to be announced later. Bhasha Samman award is announced to writer and scholar Shrikant Bahulkar in recognition of his contribution to classical and medieval literature.
“The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence” book released
Book titled “The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account” was released in month of November. Author of this book is Madhuri bose who is grand niece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. This book is based on role of the Bose Brothers in the Indian freedom struggle ie. Sarat and Subash Chandra Bose. It reveals their interactions with contemporary leaders like Chittaranjan Das, Jinnah, Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi.