Current affairs 25 - December - 2015

• North India’s first cable-stayed bridge named Atal Setu was inaugurated on Dunera-Basohli-Bhadharwah road in Basohali town in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. It was inaugurated by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar along with Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag.
• Australian cricketer Steve Smith has been named Cricketer of the Year for 2015 at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Awards ceremony in Dubai. With this, Smith became the 4th Australian and 11th overall player to win the prestigious award named after Sir Garfield Sobers. He was also adjudged the Test Cricketer of the Year for 2015.
• India’s former wicket-keeper batsman Syed Kirmani has been nominated for prestigious BCCI-instituted Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award 2015. He was conferred with the award for his contribution to Indian cricket. He was a member of the Indian team that won the World Cup in 1983 for the first time.
• In India, National Good Governance Day is being observed every year on 25th December on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna recipient Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In order to mark the occasion of this day on the 91st birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee several programmes were organized nationwide and new initiatives were announced. It should be noted that this day is also being observed as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Divas.
• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a resolution to designate 5th November every year as World Tsunami Awareness Day. The observance of the day would help to spread awareness among people across the world in matters related to the dangers of tsunami and shall stress on the importance of early warning systems in order to mitigate damage from the devastating natural calamity.
• The Centre for International Development (CID) at Harvard University has forecasted that India has the potential to be the world’s fastest growing economy gushing ahead of its South Asian economic rival China.
• The CID at Harvard University is a university-wide centre that works to advance the understanding of development challenges and offer viable solutions to problems of global poverty. It also focus on resolving the dilemmas of public policy associated with generating stable, shared and sustainable prosperity in developing countries.