Current Affairs
November 20, 2013
International Affairs
1. Prime Minister David Cameron telephoned President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday to become the first British premier to call an Iranian leader in over a decade, discussed the recent improvements in bilateral ties between London and Tehran, the conflict in Syria and the latest round of negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme.
2. Pakistan set up a special court to try former president Pervez Musharraf for high treason, the first time a civilian administration has sought to prosecute a military ruler.
3. Mexican authorities have caught 220 undocumented migrants in operations across the country, many from Central America and some from as far away as India, Armenia and Romania.
4. United Nations' Universal Children's Day celebrated to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide.
5. India has sought Congressional help in addressing its concerns over certain alleged discriminatory provisions of the comprehensive immigration bill, which if passed into law would adversely impact Indian IT companies.
6. US Secy John Kerry calls Afghan President Hamid Karzaito hammer out differences on bilateral security agreement ahead of meeting in Kabul.
7. Indonesia today downgraded its relations with Australia over spying allegations, further escalating the diplomatic tension between the two nations.
8. India and Saudi Arabia are likely to sign agreement soon to put an end to the role of middlemen in recruitment of Indian workers.
9. US President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American Vivek Murthy for the post of Surgeon General, which a top American lawmaker described as a historic moment for the community across the country. Once Confirmed, he will not only be the first-ever Indian-American to occupy this post but also the youngest ever Surgeon General of the country. The surgeon general serves a four-year term and is the administration’s top official on public health issues.
10. The General Assembly’s human rights committee passed a resolution on Tuesday urging Myanmar to give the stateless Rohingya minority equal access to citizenship and to crack down on Buddhist violence against them and other Muslims in the Southeast Asian nation. In 1982, Myanmar passed a citizenship law recognizing eight races and 130 minority groups but omitted the nation’s 800,000 Rohingya, among Myanmar’s 60 million people.
11. Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was presented with a record third “Golden Boot” award on Wednesday for scoring the most goals in Europe’s domestic leagues last season. The 26-year-old Messi helped Barcelona win the 2012-13 Spanish league by scoring 46 goals despite missing several games with a right hamstring pull near the end of the season. Messi also won the award for 34 goals in 2009-10, and a Spanish record 50 in 2011-12.
12. Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt last year, today received the EU’s Sakharov human rights prize at a ceremony in Strasbourg.
National Affairs
13. Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) being used on a large-scale for the first time in the country in the Mizoram Assembly polls.
14. Crisis-ridden bourse NSEL (National Spot Exchange Ltd) defaulted for the 14th straight time today as it could pay only Rs 6.10 crore to investors against a scheduled payment amount of Rs 174.72 crore.
15. The 44th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was inaugurated in panaji (Goa) today.
16. Meeting for the first time after the sinking of the INS Sindhurakashak, top officials of the Navy are expected to discuss ways to deal with the falling force levels of its under water fleet.
17. Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz remembered on his 29th death anniversary.
18. In a bid to give jail inmates some amount of freedom, West Bengal government has decided to set up an "Open Correctional Home" at Durgapur in Burdwan district, the second such home in the state for convicts.
19. The ten-day `Sangai Festival`, the largest tourism festival of Manipur showcasing its cultural heritage, eco-adventure activities, indigenous food and handicraft will begin at Imphal (Manipur) from tomorrow.
20. Finance Ministry today announced that it is finalising the official amendments to Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill so that it could be taken up in the Winter Session of Parliament beginning Dec 5.
21. A three-day conference of the country's top police brass will be held in Delhi from tomorrow to discuss key security issues including threat to hinterland from terror groups like Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) and Indian Mujahideen (IM) and use of social media in fanning communal riots. HM and PM will participate.
22. Uttarakhand govt relaxes admission norms for calamity-hit children in Rajiv Gandhi Navoday Vidyalayas without entrance test.
23. 27 Maharashtra districts to be covered under 2nd phase of Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayi Arogya Yojna, to be launched by SoniaGandhi tomorrow.
24. President Pranab Mukherjee is on two-day visit to West Bengal from tomorrow, during which he will attend functions at three educational institutions.
25. India today said it will provide a USD 100 million line of credit to Vietnam for defence purchases to help it modernise its armed forces.
26. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to provide loans to women self-help groups (SHGs) at 7% per annum to avail the benefit of interest rate subvention scheme under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana-Aajeevika (SGSY) scheme. All women SHGs will be eligible for interest subvention to avail the credit upto 3 lakh Rupees at 7% rate.
27. Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and the People’s Republic of China-based Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) have signed a memorandum of understanding to boost co-operation. The agreement is designed to facilitate potential collaboration in areas such as knowledge-sharing, research and price risk management.
28. The government has slapped an additional penalty of USD 792 million on Reliance Industries for producing less than targeted natural gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 block. A notice disallowing USD 792 million out of the cost already incurred on the Bay of Bengal fields was sent to RIL on November 14. With this, a total of $1.797 billion penalty in form of cost being disallowed, has been levied on RIL for producing less than targeted output during the past three years.
29. Anjolie Ela Menon, a contemporary artist was awarded with Dayawati Modi Award for Art and Culture and Education by Dayawati Foundation yesterday. The award comprised of a cash price of 2.51 lakh rupees, a silver shield and a scroll of hounour.
30. Engineering Excellence Award 2013 was conferred on the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), a Public Sector Unit under the Ministry of Finance, and Government of India. The award was given by Engineering Watch at SCOPE Convention Centre in Delhi. The second Best Engineering Marvel for Project Innovativeness was conferred on Modernisation of Ink Factory Project at Bank Note Press, Dewas.
31. The Dutch film “Kauwboy” directed by Boudewijn Koole, won the golden elephant trophy for the best live action feature film at the 18 thInternational Children’s Film Festival India (ICFFI) at Hyderabad yesterday. The movie is about how a 12-year-old boy Jojo adopts an abandoned baby jackdaw and takes care of it although his father does not approve of it. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh.
32. Rizvi-Springfield skipper Prithvi Shaw slammed world record 546 runs against St. Francis D’Assisi in the Harris Shield tournament match today breaking Armaan Jaffer’s previous Harris Shield record of 498. His innings of 546 came in 367 minutes and took 330 balls. He scored 85 fours and five sixes. It was Harris Shield, which first brought Sachin Tendulkar into national prominence after his world record partnership of 664 with Vinod Kambli that was broken a few years back.
33. India’s senior women’s hockey team coach Inderjit Singh Gill passed away today in a fatal road accident near Sangrur in Punjab. His wife suffered serious injuries in a road accident that took place when their car collided with a truck, police said. Both of them were on their way from Patiala to Dhanaula. He was 59. He was a Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach who did his NIS Diploma of Coaching in 1979.
34. Hockey India has appointed former Olympic gold-medallist V Baskaran as a coach of the men’s national team to work under the recently-appointed chief coach Terry Walsh. He has joined the training camp of the senior men’s hockey team at SAI Centre, Bhopal for preparations of the FIH World League Finals in Delhi in January 2014 and the FIH World Cup to be held in The Netherlands next year.
Deaths
35. Frederick Sanger, the British biochemist who twice won the Nobel Prize, has died at the age of 95.
36. The author of the screenplay manual that inspired James Cameron and Judd Apatow to make movies has died.
Science and Technology
37. Internet major Google is adding new features to its popular services like search page, maps and youtube to provide more personalised information especially related to day to day lives of its users.
38. Ancient viruses from Neanderthals dating back 500,000 years have been found in modern human DNA, Oxford scientists announced.
Business and Economy
39. Jet Airways on Wednesday concluded the sale of 24% equity stake in the airline to Etihad Airways for Rs 2,057 crore.
40. RBI asks non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to take part in Lok Adalat on Nov 23 for settlement of any pending cases or dues.
Sports
41. Out-of-form India pacer Ishant Sharma was named in the Delhi squad for their Ranji Trophy match against Haryana to be played at Roshanara Ground here from November 21-24.
QUIZ with Answers
1) The first all-women Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) was launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 19 November, 2013 with the inauguration of the first branch of the bank. This first branch of BMB was inaugurated at
Air India building at Nariman Point in Mumbai (The bank is being started with seven branches (Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow) initially. This will soon be followed by two other branches at Delhi and Indore – the delay is in deference to the elections being held there. The bank plans to reach a branch size of 25 in the next four months and thereafter add about 75 banks every year. The capital base for this bank is Rs. 1,000 crore)
2) What is a special fact associated with the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), which was launched on 19 November, 2013 on the occasion of the 96th birthday of late Indira Gandhi?
BMB is the first bank started in the public sector space by an Act of Parliament (Other banks in public sector were nationalised in two tranches in 1969 and 1980)
3) Who will be awarded the coveted Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2013 as announced by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust on 19 November, 2013?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Merkel is being conferred this award for her exemplary leadership in Europe and the world during the financial crisis and her stewardship of German economic growth. Merkel, who became the first woman to be elected as Chancellor of Germany, has been a strong supporter of close relations with India)
4) What was the reason for the rise of diplomatic tensions between Indonesia and Australia on 18 November, 2013 due to which Indonesia recalled its Ambassador from Canberra to Jakarta?
Due to revealing of the fact that Australia was spying on Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife (This stinging revelation was made in the documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The documents disclosed that Australia attempted to intercept Indonesian president phone on at least one occasion and monitored his calls for 15 days in 2009 and other spying targets included the phones of First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and key government figures. Due to this development Ambassador to Australia Nadjib Riphat Kesoema was recalled by the Indonesian Govt.)
5) Assam Government recently decided in principle to accord the status of official State Anthem to the song “O Mor Aponar Desh” (O’ my beloved land). Who is the composer of this song, who composed this very-popular song way back in 1910?
Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbaroa (Bezbaroa is known as the doyen of modern Assamese literature. Unofficially, this song has been the State anthem for the people of Assam for over eight decades. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on 18 November, 2013 asked Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla to take steps for an approval of the decision by the State Cabinet in its next sitting)
6) The GoM, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, has completed the process of discussions with various stake holders and will submit its report to the Union Cabinet as early as possible to pave way for tabling Telangana Bill in Winter Session of Parliament. Who headed this GoM?
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde
7) The erstwhile Great Eastern Hotel at Kolkata was unveiled on 19 November, 2013 in its new avatar by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Which company is the present owner of this 172-year old heritage hotel formerly owned by the West Bengal government?
Lalit Suri Hospitality Group (This group acquired 90% of the equity in 2005 and was mandated to refurbish the hotel while keeping its heritage façade intact. Great Eastern Hotel is known as one of the Asia’s oldest luxury hotels)
8) “Sabaro”, the first-ever branded apple by an Indian company will be launched during November, 2013. Which company is launching this brand, which is expected to position and promote apples from India?
Mahindra Shublabh (Mahindra Shublabh is the agri-business division of Mahindra Group. Saboro, which means tasty in Spanish, is claimed to be the first national brand of apples, both in the domestic and export markets. At two million tonnes per annum, India ranks fourth globally in apple production, but is still way below China, which tops at 34 million tonnes. While imported apple brands sell Rs 200 a kg, Saboro will be priced lower, at Rs 170/kg. The Heritage Food chain of stores in Hyderabad will be the first to sell Saboro apples)
QUIZ:
1. With no sign of employees on strike relenting, the state government on Tuesday invoked Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), which makes the ongoing strike "100 per cent illegal". The invoking of ESMA comes amid renewed threat from the state government employees to "shut-down all the emergency services as well," if their demands for pay and perks similar to those of central government employees, are not met. In which state ESMA has been invoked on Tuesday, 19 Nov 2013?
[A] Andhra Pradesh
[B] Uttar Pradesh
[C] Rajasthan
[D] Orissa
2. On Tuesday, 19 November 2013, Indian football captain scored his 43rd goal to become the country's top goal scorer. Can you name him?
[A] Bhaichung Bhutia
[B] Sunil Chhetri
[C] Shabbir Ali
[D] IM Vijayan
3. Which country went to polls on Tuesday, 19 Nov 2013, to elect the Constituent Assembly of the country hit by political stalemate, Maoist threats and violence?
[A] India
[B] Bhutan
[C] Nepal
[D] Myanmar
4. An Indian-origin woman is first elected socialist in US. She has been elected to the prestigious Seattle City Council, making her the first socialist to be voted to an elected office. Who is she?
[A] Suchitra Krishnamoorthi
[B] Sonia Suri
[C] Neeru Chawla
[D] Kshama Sawant
5. What material has been used by US researchers to create the world’s smallest FM radio transmitter, a nano-mechanical system that can create FM signals?
[A] Graphene
[B] Caffene
[C] Biotene
[D] Stacene
Answers:
1. [B] Uttar Pradesh
2. [B] Sunil Chhetri
3. [C] Nepal
4. [D] Kshama Sawant
5. [A] Graphene
No comments :
Post a Comment