Nobel Prizes

Nobel Prize General Information

• Establishment: Started in 1901 based on the will of Alfred Nobel (inventor of dynamite, died 1896, will prepared 1895).
• Categories: Awarded in six fields.
• Economics Prize: Established in 1968 by Sweden's Sveriges Riksbank (also known as the Riksbank Award).
• Award Ceremony: All prizes, except the Peace Prize, are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
• Award Date: Announced earlier, but awarded on December 10, Alfred Nobel's death anniversary.

Current Nobel Prize Winners (as per lecture, stated as 2025)

• Physiology or Medicine:
  • Winners: Mary Bruncope, Friend Ramesdel, Simon Sakaguchi.
  • Reason: For the discovery of immune system tolerance.
  • First Winner (1901): Adolf von Behring.
• Physics:
  • Winners: Michel H. Deverot, John Clarke, John Martis.
  • Reason: For work on macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling in electrical circuits.
  • First Winner (1901): Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (for discovery of X-rays).
• Chemistry:
  • Winners: Richard Ropson, Umar Yagi, Susumu Kitagawa.
  • Reason: For their work on Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs).
  • First Winner (1901): Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff.
• Literature:
  • Winner: Laszlo Krazsnahorkai (Hungarian writer).
  • Reason: For his hypnotic and visionary works.
  • First Winner (1901): Sully Prudhomme.
• Peace:
  • Winner: María Corina Machado (Venezuelan opposition leader).
  • First Winners (1901): Henry Dunant (founder of Red Cross) and Frédéric Passy.
  • Note: The Red Cross has received the Nobel Peace Prize three times.
• Economics:
  • Winners: Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, Peter Howitt.
  • Reason: For identifying necessary conditions for sustainable development through technological advancement and creative destruction.
  • First Awarded: 1969.
  • First Winners (1969): Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen.

Indian Nobel Laureates

Laureate	Field	Year	Contribution/Notes
Rabindranath Tagore	Literature	1913	For 'Gitanjali'. First Indian and first Asian to win in Literature.
C. V. Raman	Physics	1930	For the Raman Effect (scattering of light).
Har Gobind Khorana	Medicine	1968	For artificial synthesis of genes (genetic code and protein synthesis).
Mother Teresa	Peace	1979	First Indian woman and first Peace Nobel for India.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar	Physics	1983	For work on the Chandrasekhar Limit (stellar structure and evolution).
Amartya Sen	Economics	1998	For his concept of the Public Welfare State. First Indian to win in Economics.
V. S. Naipaul	Literature	2001	For his book 'In a Free State'.
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan	Chemistry	2009	For his work on the structure of ribosomes.
Kailash Satyarthi	Peace	2014	Shared with Malala Yousafzai. Founder of 'Bachpan Bachao Andolan'.
Abhijit Banerjee	Economics	2019	For efforts to alleviate global poverty.

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Daily Current Affairs (December 16, 2025, as per lecture)

Global Indices and Reports

• Global AI Vibrancy Index 2024:
  • Issuer: Stanford University.
  • India's Rank: 3rd.
  • Top Ranks: 1st - USA, 2nd - China.
  • Focus: Efforts in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  • India's 2023 Rank: 7th.
• Arton Capital Passport Index (Canada):
  • India's Rank: 67th (out of 94 countries).
  • Visa-Free Access (Indian Passport): 74 countries.
  • 1st Rank: UAE (for 7 consecutive years), with visa-free access to 179 countries.
  • Last Rank (94th): Afghanistan.
• Other Index Mentions:
  • Corruption Perception Index: India - 96th
  • Sustainable Development Goal Index: India - 99th
  • Global Hunger Index: India - 102nd
  • Global Peace Index: India - 115th
  • Happiness Index: India - 118th
  • Economic Freedom Index: India - 128th
  • Henley Passport Index: India - 85th
  • Global Gender Gap Index: India - 131st
  • Human Development Index: India - 130th
  • Asia Power Index: India - 3rd
  • Press Freedom Index: India - 151st
  • NIRF India Ranking 2025 (Overall Category): IIT Madras ranked 1st.
  • Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2023: India's infant mortality rate - 25.

International Meetings and Agreements

• 11th UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Forum Meeting:
  • Venue: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
  • Indian Delegation Head: P. Kumaran (former Foreign Secretary of India).
  • Theme: "Two Decades of Dialogue for Humanity" (UNAOC founded 2005).
  • UNAOC Launch: 2005 by Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary-General from Ghana).
  • UNAOC Headquarters: New York, USA.
• India-Liberia MoU on Pharmacopoeia Cooperation:
  • Countries: India and Liberia (African country, capital Monrovia).
  • Purpose: To strengthen cooperation in pharmacopoeia and ensure quality standards for medicines in Liberia.
  • Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) Headquarters: Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
• Other Meeting Mentions:
  • G7 Summit: Canada
  • G20 Summit: Johannesburg, South Africa
  • BRICS Summit: Brazil
  • ASEAN Summit: Malaysia
  • BIMSTEC Summit: Thailand
  • SCO Summit 2025: Tianjin, China
  • COP30: Belem, Brazil
  • IUCN Meeting: Abu Dhabi

National Appointments and Awards

• IEEE-SA Corporate Award:
  • Winner: C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics) - First Indian organization to win.
  • C-DOT Establishment: 1984.
  • C-DOT Focus: Indigenous telecom technology, 4G/5G, cyber security, quantum communication.
  • IEEE-SA Establishment: 1884, Headquarters in New York.
• Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India:
  • New CIC: Rajkumar Goyal (former IAS officer).
  • Sworn In: December 15, 2025, by the President.
  • Replaced: Hiralal Samariya.
  • Appointment Process: Appointed by the President based on the recommendation of a committee (Prime Minister as Chair, a Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of Opposition).
  • Origin: Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 (implemented October 12, 2005).
  • Note: Reappointment to the same post is not allowed for the CIC.
• BJP National Working President:
  • New President: Nitin Naveen.
  • Replaced: J.P. Nadda.
  • Nitin Naveen: MLA from Bakipur constituency in Bihar.
  • BJP Establishment: 1980 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• UNFPA India's Honorary Ambassador for Gender Equality: Kriti Sanon.
• Comptroller General of Accounts (CGA): TCA Kalyani.
• First Woman Head of Press Club of India: Sangeeta Barua.
• Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2025:
  • Selected: Architects of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  • Key Figures Mentioned: Sam Altman (OpenAI, ChatGPT creator), Jensen Huang (Nvidia CEO), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Elon Musk (X/Twitter).
  • Historical Note: In 1982, the Computer was named Time's Person of the Year.

Government Schemes and Initiatives

• New Name for MGNREGA:
  • Old Name: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
    • NREGA Act: 2005, implemented February 2, 2006.
    • Renamed MGNREGA: October 2, 2009.
    • Previously provided 100 days of guaranteed employment.
  • New Name: "Pujya Bapu Gramin Rojgar Yojana".
  • Approved On: December 12, 2025.
  • Increased Work Days: Guaranteed work days increased from 100 to 125 days per year.
  • Effective From: April 1, 2026.
  • Daily Wage: ₹240 per day for rural workers.
  • Constitutional Basis: Aligned with Article 41 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) (Right to Work).
• Meri Yojana Portal:
  • Launched by: Uttarakhand government.
  • Launcher: CM Pushkar Singh Dhami in Dehradun.
  • Purpose: To provide easy access to information about central and state welfare schemes to target beneficiaries in simple language, aiming to increase transparency and accountability.
• Sujalam Bharat App:
  • Launched by: Jal Shakti Ministry (Minister C. R. Patil).
  • Purpose: For efficient management of potable water supply.
• Pehla (Initiative): Launched by APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) to promote agricultural exports.

GI Tags and Other Recognitions

• Ponduru Khadi GI Tag:
  • State: Andhra Pradesh (from Srikakulam district).
  • Historical Note: Praised by Mahatma Gandhi.
  • Other Andhra Pradesh GI Tags: Tirupati Laddu, Kalamkari.
• Postal Stamp Release: Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan released a postal stamp in honor of Tamil Emperor Perambidugu Mutharaiyar II (also known as Subran Maran).

Defence and Technology

• India-Thailand Joint Military Exercise 'Maitri': 14th edition held in Umroi, Meghalaya.
• Indian Army's 'Yudh Kaushal Abhyas 3.0' and 'Achuk Prahar Abhyas': Held in Arunachal Pradesh.
• First Indigenous Tempered Glass Manufacturing Facility: Noida.
• First Indigenous Micro-Processor: Vikram 32.
• Adiwani: Related to the Tribal Ministry.

Sports

• Commonwealth Senior Weightlifting Championship (25th):
  • Venue: Ahmedabad.
  • Point Table: China 1st, India 11th.
• BWF World Championship 2025 (Paris): Satwik-Chirag pair won bronze in badminton.
• 2026 Badminton World Championship: India will host.

Other Information

• Educate Girls (Rajasthan): First NGO to win the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2025.
• Mother Mary Comes to Me (Book): Arundhati Roy.
• First Vulture Conservation Portal: Assam.
• GST Council 56th Meeting (GST 2.0 rates): 5%, 18%, 40%.
• Infant Mortality Rate (India): 25 (as per Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2023).
• Arawali Mountain Range: Discussion on new standards to define Arawali, potential impact on conservation due to illegal mining.