Important Dates & Festivities - Current Affairs for November, 2015

President of India extended greetings and felicitations to the people of Albania for their Liberation Day which was held on November 29, 2015. His Excellency H.E. Mr. Bujar Nishani, President of the Republic of Albania received a message from the President. Both nations are pluralistic democracies which have deepened cooperation in commercial and economic spheres apart from P2P contacts.

Islamic Republic of Mauritania celebrated its National Day on November 28 2015. President Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the nation on this august occasion. Currently the President of this nation is H.E. Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Warm bilateral ties exist between India and Mauritania.

National Milk Day was observed on 26th November 2015 across India to mark the 94th birth anniversary of father of the White Revolution in India, V. Kurien. The idea to observe this day was mooted by IDA/Indian Dairy Association in 2015 on the lines of World Milk Day observed on 1st June each year under FAO. Kurien, known as the milkman of India was the chief architect of Operation Flood and founded close to 30 organisations including AMUL and NDDB. He is the winner of the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan apart from the Ramon Magsaysay award and the World Food Prize.

The day was observed to create awareness about violence against women and discuss solutions to work for women community. The day was celebrated by an event called “Orange the world: End violence against women and girls across the world. The event is being organized under the UN Secretary General’s Campaign called UNiTE to End Violence against Women.16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence Campaign will be held from 25 November 2015 to 10 December 2015 (Human Rights Day) as part of the event.

Sri Ashok Prasad, secretary internal security, read out the Preamble to celebrate the formation of the Indian constitution on Constitution Day. It was on this day in the year 1949 that Constitution of India was adopted by CA.

Suriname celebrated its Independence day on 25th November 2015. President Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to His Excellency, Mr. D. D. Bouterse, the president of Suriname. India and Suriname have strong bilateral cooperation in numerous fields through CARICOM and CELAC.

The ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare proposed the formulation of an umbrella scheme ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries’ with an outlay of INR 3000 crore covering inland fisheries, aquaculture, marine fisheries including deep sea fishing, mari-culture and all activities undertaken by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) towards realising “Blue Revolution”.

The 46th edition of the International Film Festival of India opened with UK film “The Man Who Knew Infinity” at Panjim, Goa. The Man Who Knew Infinity is the true story of friendship that forever changed mathematics between Ramanujan and G.H. Hardy. The Centenary award was also conferred on music composer Ilaiyaraaja. Indian Centenary Personality of the Year award consists of a trophy, a cash component of INR 10 lakh and a citation.

National Press Day is celebrated on November 16 since 1966 when the Press Council of India started functioning as a statutory, autonomous, quasi judicial body. The first newspaper in India was ‘Hickey’s Gazette’ or ‘Bengal Gazette’ started on January 29, 1780 by an Irishman, James Augustus Hickey. TOI started its career as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.

PM Narendra Modi wished people of Jharkhand on their Statehood Day i.e 15th November 2015.Jharkhand was formed by the CAA in the year 2000 dividing Bihar into two states. Jharkhand has an area of 79,710 square km and borders states such as Odisha, Chattisgarh and WB.

IITF 2015 presents an ideal platform for the global fraternity. India’s attempt for inclusive economic growth and social advancement have shown the way forward to many developing countries. IITF endeavours to preserve, protect and promote India’s cultural heritage through collaboration amongst GoI, industry, artisans, craft persons as well as weavers. ITPO has adopted several initiatives this year to improve facilities offered to visitors. SAARC nations were given special participation roles as Afghanistan was the Partner Country and Bangladesh was the Focus Country in IITF 2015.

World Pneumonia Day was observed on 12th November 2015 across the globe. The theme for this year was Every Breath Counts: Stop Pneumonia Now. For marking this occasion, special programmes were held to raise awareness of pneumonia and promote prevention as well as treatment for combating this disease. A special Pneumonia Innovations Summit was organised by WHO in NY as well. Pneumonia is currently the biggest killer of children under 5 accounting for 16% of the deaths. Internationally, around 9 lakh children will die from this disease in 2015.

Children’s Day was observed on 14th November 2015 across the nation. For marking this occasion, Ministry of WCD has conducted programmes for child development. President of India Pranab Mukherjee has also presented National Child Awards for recognising the achievements of children and the services of persons and institutions working for child welfare. 19th edition of the biennial International Children’s film festival of India known as The Golden Elephant has also been inaugurated in Hyderabad.

Ministry of Women and Child Development will hold the annual Women of India exhibition with the theme Women and Organic Products from 13th to 23rd November 2015 at INA. Exhibition will involve sale or exhibition of organic products such as food and eco friendly products from all states of India, mostly from rural areas. Over 500 women artisans across the nation will come together for the first time with organic products.

President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended greetings to government and people of the Republic of Maldives on their Republic Day held on November 11, 2015. The current president of the republic is His Excellency Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom. He also extended greetings to the Republic of Angola on their national day (11th November 2015). Currently, the president of Angola is Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. The latter country is the second largest source of crude oil in Africa for India. Maldives and India also have strong bilateral ties.

World Science Day for Peace and Development, known as World Science Day was observed on November 10th 2015 across the globe. The theme of this day was Science for a Sustainable Future and to mark this day, UNESCO held several special campaigns and visits to museums for school children. Theme for this day was chosen against the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development approved by the UN. This day was created as a follow up to the World Conference on Science in 1999.

Amidst the current debate on the issue of intolerance, MHA has directed that the government will observe Qaumi Ekta Week/National Integration Week from November 19, 2015. The aim is to foster ad reinforce the spirit of communal harmony across the nation.

The 21st National Legal Services Day was celebrated on November 9, 2015. On this day, a call was issued to ensure fair justice for citizens. Fair justice delivery was emphasised by the PM and legal aid clinics, a NALSA initiative were lauded along with Lok Adalats and awareness programmes. The day also promotes awareness among people regarding their legal rights.

The first Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav was organised by GoI’s Ministry of Culture. This is the first of its kind National Cultural Festival. Festival say hours of daily cultural performances apart from a presentation of 150 art forms and performances by 1500 artists. Visitors viewed the artifacts, handicrafts like Haveli paintings from Punjab, Rogan artworks from Gujarat, Banarasi silk, Kalamkari (hand-painted art), Tanjore paintings and much more.

The International Indigenous Terra Madre-2015, which brings over a 100 tribes from 58 nations together, commenced on 3 November 2015 in Shillong, Meghalaya and will run till 7 November 2015. The event’s theme is The Future We Want: Indigenous Perspectives and Actions. Reps from 14 African nations and 17 Asian countries as well as 8 nations from EU and 12 American nations along with 7 Oceania nations will take part in this 5 day long food fiesta.

First IFFPD or International Film Festival for Persons with Disabilities will be held in Delhi from December 1st to 3rd, 2015. Festival is organised to sensitise people on issues pertaining to disabilities and showcase cinemas of relevance. Around 40 films comprising 10 feature films, 14 documentaries and 16 short films will be screened during the festival. December 3rd is the International Day for Persons with Disabilities and marks the final day of the festival.

President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has extended greetings to the people and government of republic of Panama on their national day (3rd November, 2015). The people of Panama are led by president His Excellency Mr. Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez. The two countries India and Panama have cordial bilateral relations.

President of India Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria on the eve of their national day on November 1st, 2015. India has high value for partnership with this nation with which it shares goals of sustainable development and inclusive economic growth.

PM Narendra Modi has greeted people on the occasion of the State Foundation Day in MP and Chhattisgarh . It was also celebrated as the Haryana and Karnataka State Formation Day apart from being the occasion of Piravi in Kerala.

National Unity Day was observed across India on 31st October 2015 for commemorating the birthday of S. V. Patel on the occasion of his 140th birth anniversary. the PM also flagged off a Run for Unity at New Delhi’s Rajpath on this occasion. Day was observed in several other states as well. The government in October 2014 declared 31 October as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day to mark the birth anniversary of India's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.