Current Affairs
November 23 2013
International Affairs
1. The International Criminal Court has adjourned Kenya Vice President William Ruto's crimes against humanity trial until 13th January.
2. A meeting of top defence official of the US and Pakistan have agreed to continue their counter-terrorism co-operation and strengthen their military to military ties in coming years, much beyond their cooperation in Afghanistan.
3. A North Carolina newspaper deliveryman Anthony Cannon picked up a teddy bear on a rural road, only to have authorities tell him later a bomb had been stuffed inside.
4. Belgium's Princess Astrid leading a delegation of 300 businessmen, is on a week-long visit to India with an aim to further deepen cooperation with India in diverse sectors, particularly trade and investment.
5. Iran and six major powers have made some progress toward an interim deal to curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, but both sides said that they still have significant differences to overcome.
6. Portugal police chief Paulo Valente Gomes has resigned a day after thousands of off-duty officers staged a protest against the debt-wracked government's austerity measures.
7. The Obama administration has asked the Karzai government of Afghanistan to sign the bilateral security agreement with it as soon as possible before the end of this year and insisted the text of the agreement is final from its side.
8. UCPN-Maoist chief Prachanda finally got elected from Siraha 5 constituency in southern Nepal by a thin margin.
9. The United Nations warned that 1.5 million children are at risk of malnutrition in typhoon-ravaged areas of the Philippines and called for greater efforts to provide food and water.
National Affairs
10. Today is 76th death anniversary of Acharya Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, Bengali polymath, physicist, biologist, botanist, archaeologist.
11. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh releases the 1st ever commemorative postage stamp on the IB logo - Awake, Day and Night
12. India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile from a naval ship off Odisha coast today. Dhanush missile is capable of carrying conventional as well as nuclear payload of 500 to 1,000 kg and hit both land and sea-based targets.
13. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday declared that the dollar swap window would be closed on November 30; however, banks which will get firm commitment from international financial institutions will be able to continue availing the special incentive till December 31, 2013. The dollar swap window was introduced provide a boost to the country’s forex (foreign exchange) buffer and strengthen the rupee.
14. Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to set up an Asia Pacific Infrastructure Fund to cater to the infrastructure financing needs of countries in the region. India has expressed its keenness to be part of this fund that would have contributions from various Asia Pacific nations, besides the ADB, Rajat M. Nag, Managing Director-General of ADB, said.
15. The 9th North East Business summit began on 22 November 2013 at Dibrugarh in Assam. The summit is being jointly organized by the Indian Chambers of Commerce and the DoNER Ministry in Dibrugarh from 22 to 24 November 2013.
16. Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Pawan Singh Ghatowar has inaugurated the two day summit. The other issues on focus include Energy, Power, Horticulture, Food Processing, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Tourism and Hospitality, Healthcare and Financial Services in sync with ‘Look East’ Policy of India.
17. The Cyclonic storm ‘Helen’ on 22 November 2013 struck Andhra Pradesh coast near Machilipatnam, triggering heavy rains and strong gales, killing eleven people and causing massive damage to the crops in the coastal region. Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari and Guntur districts and part of Krishna district were the worst affected due to the cyclone. The cyclone also brought heavy to very heavy rains in the Krishna district and its nearby districts.
Deaths
18. Fr Alec Reid, who was a key figure in the Northern Ireland peace process, acting as a go-between between the IRA and politicians, has died.
Awards and Honors
19. Squadron leader Shalija Dhami will become the first woman from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to qualify as a Flying Instructor from the Flying Instructors' School in Chennai on Saturday.
Business and Economy
20. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has suggested the establishment of a North East Corridor, linking businesses in the region to the economically prosperous South East Asia.
Science and Technology
21. Twitter announced it has toughened the encryption of traffic at the globally popular one-to-many messaging service to thwart online snooping.
India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile from a naval ship off Odisha coast.
22. India's first indigenous Aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, being built at public sector Cochin Shipyard Limited and formally launched in August this year, would be commissioned by 2017, chief of Naval Staff Admiral D K Joshi said today.
Sports
23. 14-year-old V R Aravindh Chithambaram has won Chennai Grandmaster International Open Chess tournament.
24. Indian professional tennis player on Saturday earned himself a Grand Slam debut by securing a wild card entry into Australian Open men's doubles main draw as he won the play-off tournament with Kiwi partner Michael Venus even as he lost the chance to compete in the singles.
25. Magnus Carlsen becomes Youngest World Chess Championship 2013. Five-time title holder Viswanathan Anand’s reign as the world champion came to a heart-breaking end today with Norway’s Magnus Carlsen taking the crown after a hard-fought draw in the 10th game of the World Chess Championship match. Magnus Carlsen defeated the previous world champion Viswanathan Anand of India by 6.5-3.5 in the match that was held from 7th November in Chennai, India.
26. World No. 1 women’s tennis player Serena Williams was named WTA Player of the Year. The 32-year-old won 78 out of her 82 matches, procuring 11 titles including the U.S. Open and the French Open in the 2013 season, reports Xinhua.
Current Affairs related questions with answers
1. Who dethroned Viswanathan Anand as the World Chess Champion with a 65 move draw in the 10th game on Friday, 22nd November 2013 in Chennai, and becomes the first World Champion from Norway?
[A] Gary Carlsen
[B] Magnus Heinsen
[C] Magnus Warner
[D] Magnus Carlsen
2. A panel of ministers(EGoM), headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, on Friday, 22 Nov 2013, decided to slash the starting prices of spectrum to be auctioned in January, hoping to attract interest from debt-laden telecom operators that largely stayed away from the previous two rounds citing high base levels. What does EGoM means?
[A] Empowered Group of Ministers
[B] Encore Group of Ministers
[C] Enhanced Group of Ministers
[D] Engineered Group of Ministers
3. On 22 Nov 2013, eminent Scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee Prof CNR Rao has become the first Indian scientist to be elected as honorary foreign member of which academy?
[A] Chinese Academy of Science
[B] US Academy of Science
[C] UK Academy of Science
[D] German Academy of Science
4. In a mammoth exercise to settle 39 lakh pending cases, Supreme Court Chief Justice ____________ Saturday inaugurated a day-long National Lok Adalat where for the first time cases are being taken up simultaneously all over the country for settlement. The Lok Adalats are taking place in the Supreme Court, 24 high courts and all the district courts of the country.
[A] J C Oberoi
[B] P. Sathasivam
[C] K. Halaskar
[D] G D Batra
5. India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable ballistic missile from a naval ship off Odisha coast today, 23rd November 2013. The surface-to-surface missile is the naval variant of India's indigenously developed 'Prithvi' missile. The single-stage, liquid propelled missile has already been inducted into the armed services and is one of the five missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). Can you name the missile?
[A] Dhruva
[B] Dhanush
[C] Shastra
[D] Astra
Answers:
1. [D] Magnus Carlsen
2. [A] Empowered Group of Ministers
3. [A] Chinese Academy of Science
4. [B] P. Sathasivam
5. [B] Dhanush
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