Current Affairs Today – November 20 2016

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

Israeli President, Reuven Rivlin’s, Six day’s Visit to India
i. Israeli president Reuven Rivlin arrived India on November 14, 2016 on a six-day visit to strengthen bilateral ties.Rivlin, landed at the Mumbai airport with a large delegation of businessmen and presidents & senior representatives of Israeli academic institutions, from where he left for Delhi.
ii. In Chandigarh, he inaugurated ‘Agro Tech 2016′ along with President Mukherjee and in Karnal he visited the Centre of Excellence of Indo-Israeli Agricultural Project.
iii. India and Israel on November 15, 2016 inked pact to intensify its already strong defence partnership to combat radicalisation and extremism and act tough against terror networks and states supporting terrorism.
iv. The two countries also agreed to deepen their cooperation in a variety of areas including trade and investment, agriculture, water resources and cyber crime

Smriti Irani distributed PAHCHAN Identity Cards to Artisans in Gujarat
i. Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani distributed PAHCHAN identity cards to artisans of Gujarat belonging to Jamnagar, Naroda, Surendranagar, Amreli and Kalol at Ahmedabad Haat, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat on November 19, 2016.
ii. The cards will enable the artisans to take the benefit of any government scheme, participate in any domestic or international fair and also give the national identity to the artisans by registering them under a national database.
iii. 20 artisans from each of the 5 cities will also be imparted training under Guru Shishya Parampara, where nationally acclaimed designers will train the artisans.
iv. Artisans belonging to minority communities, Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes and BPL families will be provided free tool kits as per their art.
v. The cards shall enable to get easy access to loan, insurance and credit guarantee funds. The artisans can get the benefit of life insurance and Rs 1,200 per year for their children studying between class 9 and 12.

PM Modi to launch Pradhan Mantri Grameen Awas Yojna in Agra
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch Pradhan Mantri Grameen Awas Yojna, an ambitious housing scheme for rural poor, in Agra on November 20, 2016.
ii. Pradhan Mantri Grameen Awas Yojna which was previously known as Housing For All, was launched on June 25, 2016 with an aim of constructing about 2 crore houses across the nation to provide affordable housing to all Indian citizen below poverty line by the year 2022
iii. Mr Modi will also give away the allotment letters to 50 beneficiaries of the scheme that aims to provide about 3 crore new housing units countrywide.
iv. The Prime Minister will also address the BJP supporters in the city for the party’s electoral campaign in the region for the next year’s Assembly elections.

Mock Drill Conducted by NSG in New Delhi
i. A special counter-terror unit of NSG commandos conducted a three-hour-long mock drill at a Delhi Metro station located on the airport express line on November 19, 2016.
ii. The mock drill was named ‘intervention of rail coaches and countering of terrorist elements’.
iii. The ‘black cats’, as referred by Media, used modern weapons and equipments during the drill conducted in the early hours at the Dhaula Kuan station.
iv. The Dhaula Kuan station lies on a sensitive airport express line of the Delhi Metro.The NSG teams were drawn from the top counter-terror group.
v.The force keeps doing such mock exercises to keep itself prepared for any emergency and response to a terrorist threat on the Delhi Metro network that carries over 26 lakh people everyday in the national capital area.
vi. Mock Drill is a demo of real emergency accident, in which actual emergency situation is created to check the preparedness and response of team/employees.
The National Security Guard (NSG):
♦ NSG is an Indian special forces unit under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for combating terrorist activities with a view to protect states against internal disturbances.
♦ Formed: 1984
♦ Headquaters: New delhi

UP-100 Police Emergency Service Launched In UP
i. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav launched a state-wide integrated emergency service UP-100 in Lucknow on November 19, 2016.
ii. The UP-100 is the official name for Uttar Pradesh Police Emergency Management System which was previously called dial 100 project.
iii. Aim: To provide emergency services relating to public safety across the state round the clock.
iv. A centralized centre of UP-100 has been established at Lucknow where emergency calls will be received directly from across the state and the team of professional women communication officers would record the conversation; transfer the call to the police department that would finally send the necessary police assistance and also inform the local police station.
v. The center would control 3,200 police vehicles across the state in the first phase while 1,800 motorcycles would be added afterwards in the second phase.
vi. The service will initially work in 11 districts of the state and later, it will cover all the remaining districts. The state government has allocated Rs. 2,200 crore for the project.
vii. The new high-tech centralized emergency system will ensure that police reach a caller in a maximum of 20 minutes in rural areas and within 15 minutes in urban areas.

Haryana Launches VDS For Power Consumers
i. Manohar Lal Khattar lead Haryana government launched a Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) 2016 and Surcharge Waiver Scheme 2016 on November 19, 2016.This scheme shall remain in operation from November 20 to December 31, 2016.
ii. Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) :
♦ VSD Scheme for declaring tampered or defective meters for all categories of consumers having sanctioned load up to five KW
♦ The consumer will have the option to deposit the bill amount in lump-sum or in a maximum of six equal bi-monthly installments payable along with the next 6 bills.
Surcharge Waiver Scheme- 2016 :
♦ SWS for small domestic and non-domestic consumers (having sanctioned load up to 2 KW) in rural areas.
Haryana :
Lok Sabha Seats – 10
Rajya Sabha Seats – 5

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

World’s longest secure telecommunications network launched by China
i. China has launched a 712-km quantum communication line, on November 20, 2016.
ii. This quantum communication line is the world’s longest secure telecommunications network, with ultra-high security which makes it impossible to tap, intercept or crack the information transmitted through them.
iii. The new quantum communication line will connect Hefei, capital of Anhui province, to Shanghai, the China’s financial hub.
iv. It is part of a 2,000-km quantum communication line connecting Beijing and Shanghai which is expected to be completed at the end of this year.
v. The 712-km line has 11 stations and it took three years of construction.
vi. Experts from 18 countries witnessed a secure remote video meeting between Hefei and Shanghai via the quantum line at a recent international conference on quantum technology.

BANKING & FINANCE

Telangana Gov joins hand with IDFC bank introduces Coupon for Cashless Purchase
i. Telangana government joined hands with Mumbai based IDFC Bank to enable cashless transactions and to solve the change problem.
ii. Aadhar Card based Coupon was introduced at Rythu Bazaar in Kukatpally, Hyderabad.
iii. In this way, people get the coupon from Market counter, after their shopping if they have any amount remaining that will be credited back to their account.
IDFC bank :
♦ Founded :October, 2015
♦ Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ Managing Director & CEO: Dr. Rajiv B. Lall

BSE opened Regional Investor Service centre in Shimla
i. Leading stock exchange BSE has opened its regional investor service centre in Shimla on November 19, 2016 to expand its operations and conform to SEBI’s directives.
ii. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in July 2013 had asked stock markets to increase the number of investor service centres, to extend the reach of arbitration facilities to the investors.
iii. BSE is now available in 24 cities across the country with the opening of this new service centre.
iv. The centre will facilitate query handling, redressal of grievances against trading members and arbitration mechanism.
v. Among other, BSE centres are available in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Goa, Guwahati Bhubaneswar Kochi and Dehradun.
BSE:
♦ The Bombay Stock Exchange is an Indian stock exchange located at Dalal Street, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
♦ CEO: Ashish Chauhan
♦ Founded: July 9, 1875, Dalal Street, Mumbai
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai
SEBI:
♦ The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulator for the securities market in India.
♦ Chairman: Upendra Kumar Sinha
♦ Formed: 12 April 1992
♦ Headquater: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

BUSINESS

Himachal has emerged as hub of drug manufacturing
i. Himachal Pradesh State Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri announced that Himachal Pradesh has emerged as a hub of drug manufacturing units and meets 35 % of Pharma products demands in Asia.
ii. The announcement was made on November 19, 2016 at the 45th conference of the Federation of Corrugated Box Manufacturers of India at Zirakpur.
iii. The three-day conference is being attended by over 600 delegates from 10 countries.
iv. Himachal Pradesh will host ‘Invest Himachal Summit’ in February 2017 for which he appealed to industrialists to participate in the meet.
v. He assured the business community that the government would clear all industrial units within a month along with providing necessary incentives and concessions.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Al Nahyan conferred with prestigious Mother Teresa International Award
i. Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, has been conferred the prestigious Mother Teresa International Award by the Mumbai-based NGO Harmony Foundation.
ii. Shaikh Abdullah was honoured for his work in establishing institutions that protect youth from being brainwashed and radicalised from terrorist groups and other persons who create violence against innocent people.
iii. According to Dr Abraham Mathai, President of Harmony Foundation, Shaikh Abdullah was chosen for of his tremendous contribution in promoting peace and stability in the West Asia.
iv. The Mother Teresa Awards are to honour individuals and organizations that promote peace, equality and social justice, and aim to encourage the cause of justice and peaceful coexistence.
UAE:
♦ President     : Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
♦ Capital         : Abu Dhabi
♦ Currency     : United Arab Emirates dirham

Amitav Ghosh named for 2016 Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award
i. Indian-American author Amitav Ghosh has been named for the 2016 Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award  in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian literary space.
ii. The award will be presented to Amitav Ghosh at Tata Literature Live!’s annual awards ceremony on 20 November 2016 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, Mumbai.
iii. Some of his best known and award winning books include: ‘Ibis Trilogy – Sea of Poppies’, ‘River of Smoke’, ‘The Shadow Lines’, ‘The Calcutta Chromosome’, ‘The Glass Place’, ‘The Hungry Tide’, ‘In An Antique Land’, ‘Dancing in Cambodia’, ‘At Large in Burma’, ‘The Great Derangement: Climate Change and The Unthinkable’.
iv. Mr Ghosh’s books has been translated into more than 20 twenty languages and he has also served on the Jury of the many Internatinal Film Festivals.

Sri Sri Ravishankar gets Dr Nagendra Singh international peace prize
Home Minister Rajnath Singh honoured Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar with Dr Nagendra Singh International Peace Award for his efforts in ensuring world peace on November 20 2016 at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.
Dr Nagendra Singh :
i. Dr Nagendra Singh is the first Indian judge at International Court of Justice, Hague. Later he was also elected as secretary of the International Bar Association.
ii. The international peace prize award has been instituted in the memory of Dr Nagendra Singh
Sri Sri Ravishankar :
i. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar or “Sri Sri” or Guruji or Gurudev is a spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation created in 1981.
ii. He established the International Association for Human Values in Geneva to foster shared global values.
iii. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in January 2016.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Umaro Sissoco Embalo sworn in as the PM of Guinea-Bissau
i. President of Guinea-Bissau, Jose Mario Vaz, named Umaro Sissoco Embalo as Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau, on November 18, 2016, replacing Baciro Dja.
ii. The decision was taken to solve a succession crisis in the West African state.
iii. The new 44-year-old PM is not a well-known public figure but has served as advisor to several heads of state.
iv. He has held various positions in previous governments, including advisor to the president, to the prime minister and to the speaker of parliament and was promoted to the rank of state minister and brigadier general in 2012.
v. Guinea-Bissau has been in distress and instability since its independence from Portugal in 1974.
Guinea-Bissau:
♦ Capital: Bissau
♦ Currency: West African CFA franc
♦ President: José Mário Vaz

Siby Sebastian Appointed As CEO Of SBM Bank (Mauritius), India
i. State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) Group was appointed Siby Sebastian as Chief Executive for its 4 branches operations in India on November 20, 2016.
ii. Sebastian has over 20 years of banking experience and has joined SBM Group from ICICI Bank.
SBM Bank (Mauritius) :
♦ SBM is the second-largest bank in Mauritius. SBM, together with its subsidiary businesses in Mauritius, Madagascar and India, is known as SBM Group.
♦  The SBM Group operates four branches in India :  Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ramachandrapuram.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Next Generation Weather Satellite GOES-R launched by NASA
i. NASA has successfully launched the A “next generation” US advanced weather satellites GOES-R from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US on November 20, 2016.
ii. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) will reach its final designated orbit in the next two weeks, where it will be renamed GOES-16.
iii. GOES-R will provide more accurate and timely forecasts, watches and warnings about hurricanes and storms.
iv. Improved space weather sensors on GOES-R will monitor the sun and transmit important information to forecasters so they can take necessary space weather alerts and warnings.
v. Data received from GOES-R will result in 34 new or improved meteorological, solar and space weather products.
NASA(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) :
♦ Founded      :        July 29, 1958
♦ Headquaters :       Washington, D.C.
♦ Administrator:       Charles Bolden

ENVIRONMENT

China receives first snowfall amid blue alert   
i. China’s weather department issued  first blue alert warning of snow in northern part of the country .
ii. The rain and snow are forecast to last more than 40 hours, with a blizzard possible for the western and northern areas of the city.
iii. The city will see a significant temperature drop to as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius after the snow said by Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre
iv. The snow will disperse the smog and air quality will be good from November 20 to November 22.
China Typhoon names :
Typhoon Haima, Typhoon Sarika and Typhoon Haikui

SPORTS

Kenya’s Olympic champion Kipchoge wins Delhi Half Marathon
i. Reigning Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya won the men’s race of Delhi Half Marathon in a fast time while Worknesh Degefa from Ethiopia clinched the women’s title on November 20, 2016 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.Both the winners will get USD 27,000 for their victories
ii. Kipchoge taken 59 minute and 44 seconds to cover the 21.097km distance and win the race ahead of Ethiopia’s Yigrem Demelash.
Indian Participants :
♦ Indian men winners : G Lakshmanan(1h and 4 m) followed by Mohd. Yunus  and Man Singh
♦ Indian women winners: Monika Athare(1h and 15 m) followed by Sanjeevani Jadhav and Swati Gadhave .

PV Sindhu won maiden China Open Super Series title defeating Sun Yu of china
i. Rio Olympics silver medallist, PV Sindhu clinched her maiden Super Series Title as she defeated China’s Sun Yu in a tough final of the China Open Badminton tournament 
ii. The Indian badminton player  used her speed, agression and alertness and defeated her opponent in the first half.
iii. However, in the second half Yu matched Sindhu on aggression levels and did not let Sindhu go too far ahead on points and took the set away from her.
iv. In the third and final set, Sindhu scored consecutive 8 points on her way to the game point and after scoring the winning point, Sindhu roared and went on to celebrate with her mentors.
v. It is Sindhu’s maiden China Open title. P V Sindhu has become the second Indian to win the China Open Super series. The only Indian woman to win the title before Sindhu was Saina Nehwal who won it in the year 2014.
2016 Winner list :

Ashwin 1st bowler ever to take 50 wickets in consecutive years
i. Indian Cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin become the first bowler to complete 50 wickets in two consecutive years after his 5-wicket haul against England in the Visakhapatnam Test on November 20, 2016.
ii. Ashwin, with four instances of a fifty and five wickets in an innings in the same Test match, has equalled Kapil Dev’s Indian record.
iii. He took 62 wickets in 9 Tests in 2015 and has so far claimed 52 wickets in 9 Tests in 2016
Another achievements :
Bairstow has become the first batsman to amass 1200 runs or more in Tests in 2016. He become the tenth England batsman to aggregate 1200 runs or more in Tests

Manavjit Singh Sandhu Bagged Gold Medal for National Shooting Championship
i. Former World No.1 Trap shooting champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu clinched the gold medal in men’s trap event at the 60th National Shooting Championship for Shotgun in Jaipur on Saturday.
ii. Manavjit Singh Sandhu shot 117 in qualifying game and reached the six-man final rounds at fourth spot. He then shot 12 out of 15 birds in the semi-final stage and finally made it to finals where he clinched gold medal by defeating Raninder Singh, who was representing Odisha, with 14-13.
iii. Young Kynan Chenai of Telengana, bagged the bronze medal beating Adhiraj Singh Rathore of Rajasthan 14-12.
iv. Manavjit Singh an Indian sport shooter from Punjab specialized in trap shooting. He is a 4-time olympian as well as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee in 2006 and Arjuna Awardee in 1998.

IMPORTANT DAYS

The Universal Children’s Day celebrated on November 20 2016
i. The Universal Children’s Day is celebrated worldwide on November 20.The event for 2016 Universal Children’s Day will be held on November 21 by ‘Save the Children’.
ii. Aim: to promote awareness in the society for international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.
iii. The theme of the day this year is “Stop Violence against the Children.”
iv. Environmentalist Kehkashan Basu has been announced one of the three finalists for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2016.