CURRENT AFFAIRS 9163228262 NOVEMBER - 2019

AWARDS & RECOGNITION Indian actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has beenawarded the prestigious Golden Dragon Award forhis works in Hindi cinema at the CardiffInternational Film Festival (CIFF) 2019 held inWales, United Kingdom. U.S. based-Indian author Madhuri Vijay’s debut novel, “The Far Field” bagged this year’s JCB prize forLiterature, the most expensive Indian award forwriting. The 5th Edition of ‘Miss Asia Global Title 2019’ wasorganized at Gokulam Convention centre in Kochi,Kerala. Sara Damnjanovic from Serbia has beencrowned ‘Miss Asia Global 2019’ The Critically acclaimed movie “Bhonsle” directed by Devashish Makhija has won awards in the ‘Best Screenplay’ and ‘Best Director’ catego- ries at the Asian Film Festival Barcelona. The veteran actors and were conferred with the Akkineni Nageswara Rao National Award for 2018} and 2019 respectively. The Malayalam writer who has been chosen for the 55th Jnanpith Award – Akkitham Achutan Namboodri The Indian journalist who has been awarded the CPJ International Press Freedom Award 2019 for shedding light on important human rights issues through her investigative journalism – Neha Dixit The renowned broadcaster and natural historian who has been chosen to be awarded the 2019 Indira Gandhi Peace Prize by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust – Sir David Attenborough The well-known author, journalist and editor-in-chief of Rajasthan Patrika who has been chosen for the Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award Award by Press Council of India – Gulab Kothari The well-known Hindi writer who has been conferred 28th Vyas Samman for the year 2018 by KK Birla Foundation – Leeladhar Jagoori 50TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF INDIA  Venue : Goa  Best Film (Golden Peacock) Award Particles directed by Blaise Harrison  Best Director Award (Silver Peacock) Lijo Jose Pellissery for ‘Jallikattu’  Best Actor (Male) (Silver Peacock) Seu Jorge for Marighella  Best Actor (Female) (Silver Peacock) Usha Jadhav for Mai Ghatt: Crime No. 103/2005  Special Jury Award (Silver Peacock) Pema Tseden for Balloon  Best Debut Feature Film of a Director Amin Sidi Boumediene for ‘Abou Leila’ and Marius Olteanu for ‘Monsters’  The ICFT –UNESCO Gandhi Medal Rwanda by Riccardo Salvetti  Lifetime Achievement award Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (French actress)  Icon of the Golden Jubilee of the IFFI Rajnikanth

SPORTS The year in which India has been chosen to host Men's Hockey World Cup (to be held in Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela) – 2023 All India Football Federation has announced the appointment of Thomas Dennerby (Swe- den) as theIndian head coach of the Women’s U-17 footballteam. The FIFA U-17 women’s football World Cup 2020 will be hosted by India.

Pg. # 1 The Indian bodybuilder who has been crowned Mr. Universe (Pro) 2019 in the 90 kg category at an event in South Korea – Chitahresh Natesan The team which has won the 2019 Davis Cup defeating Canada in the finals in Madrid – Spain The Indian cricket team played its first-ever Day Night Test match (Pink Test) against Bangladesh held at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata from November 22-26. The Indian athlete who has been listed in the Time Next 100 that spotlights 100 rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics etc. – Dutee Chand Steve Smith became the fastest cricketer to score7,000 Test runs, shattering a record that had stoodsince 1946, while moving past Donald Bradman tobecome Australia’s 11th highest scorer. The cricketer who has become the first Indian (male) to take a hat trick in T20 Internationals (playing against Bangladesh in Nagpur) – Deepak Chahar The Indian cricketer who has become the first from the country (and second in the world) to play in 100 T20 internationals – Rohit Sharma The team which has won the 2019-20 Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament defeating India C in the finals in Jamshedpur – India B

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & DEFENCE The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D)will set up a space technology cell (STC) incollaboration with the Indian Space ResearchOrganization (ISRO). NASA (National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration) has launched its 1st all- electricexperimental aircraft named the X-57 “Maxwell” tobe operational by late 2020 Dhruv Prajapati, a research scholar from the Gujarat Ecological Education & Research Foun- dation, has discovered two new spider species in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Their names are “Marengo Sachin Tendulkar” named after Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar & “Indomarengo chavarapater” named after Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara. The Indo-US joint tri-services Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise held on the Eastern seaboard from 13 to 21 Nov 19 was named – TIGER TRIUMPH The bilateral maritime exercise conducted by Indian and Indonesian navies in the Bay of Bengal from 06 to 07 Nov 19 was named – Samudra Shakti The venue of first India-Uzbekistan military exercise Dustlik-2019 held from 04 to 13 Nov 2019 – Tashkent

CURRENT ECONOMY / GOVT. SCHEMES Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has launched a new mobile app called ‘Farmitra’ for the ease of farmers. The National Council of Applied EconomicResearch (NCAER) has pegged India’s gross domesticproduct (GDP) growth for 2019-20 at 4.9% asagainst 6.8 % in 2018 (or FY-19). The Asian Development Bank has approved the 2ndtranche of USD 150 million (about Rs 1,065 crore)for West Bengal to boost capital investment andinfrastructure in the state Global rating agency Moody’s expects the Centre’sfiscal deficit to touch 3.7% of the GDP Gujarat Government has given approval to the world’s first CNG terminal at Bhavnagar port, Gujarat. Joint venture of United Kingdom-based Foresight Group and -based Padmanabh Mafatlal Group will invest 1,900 crore in the project The first bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and Qatari Emiri Naval Forces con- ducted from 17 to 21 Nov 19 at Doha was named – Exercise Za’ir-Al-Bahr (Roar of the Sea) The Indo-US joint tri-services Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise held on the Eastern seaboard from 13 to 21 Nov 19 was named – TIGER TRIUMPH The bilateral maritime exercise conducted by Indian and Indonesian navies in the Bay of Bengal from 06 to 07 Nov 19 was named – Samudra Shakti Pg. # 2 The venue of first India-Uzbekistan military exercise Dustlik-2019 held from 04 to 13 Nov 2019 –Tashkent The venue of joint counter-terrorism drills under 'Exercise Shakti-2019' carried out by the armies of India and France from October 31 to November 13 – Mahajan, Rajasthan PM Narendra Modi announced a $400 million line of credit to Sri Lanka for strengthening its economy. OrangeTheWorld The Home Ministry in collaboration with the UNWomen flagged off an awareness campaign To End Violence Against Women from Sultanpur metrostation in Delhi.V’ The initiative is part of the # Orange The World global campaign. National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) has been launched in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Assam Govt approves Arundhati scheme to provide 1 Tola Gold to Brides free of cost. The Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh has launched a first of its kind job helpline number 76260-76260 for the unemployed youth of the state under ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ programme. Andhra Pradesh government has launched the‘Nadu-Nedu’ programme which aims to introduceEnglish medium from classes 1 to 6 in state-runschools. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfarelaunched Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)2.0 portal in New Delhi.

PERSONS IN NEWS / APPOINTMENTS General Bipin Rawat to be first Chief of Defence Staff. He will end his tenure as the Army Chief in December 2019 Mohammad Imran has been appointed as the new High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India. Senior IAS officer Nilam Sawhney has become the first woman Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Who has been appointed as the new pro tem speaker of state assembly ? Dilip Patil New Governor of Mizoram Shri PS Sreedharan Pillai The new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka who succeeds Ranil Wickremesinghe – Mahinda Rajapaksa Shiv Sena Chief and Maha Vikas Aghadi nominee Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He is the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He was named as the leader of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance called the ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’. The Indian sportsperson who has been named PETA India's Person of the Year 2019 for his ani- mal advocacy efforts – Virat Kohli The new President of Sri Lanka who succeeds President Maithripala Sirisena for a five-year term – Gotabaya Rajapaksha The new and 47th Chief Justice of India who succeeds Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi – Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde The noted Indian academic and mathematician who passed away on 14 November 2019 – Dr. Vashishtha Narayan Singh The Union Minister who has been given the additional charge of Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises due to the resignation of Arvind Ganpat Sawant (Shiv Sena MP) – Prakash Javadekar The veteran communist leader and trade unionist and former Member of Parliament who passed away on 31 Oct 2019 – Gurudas Dasgupta

IMPORTANT DAYS / WEEKS & THEME 28 Oct- 02 Nov. Vigilance Awareness Week Theme: Integrity, A way of life. 05 November World Tsunami Awareness Day 10 November World Science Day for Peace and Development Theme: Open Science,

Pg. # 3 leaving no one behind 14 November World Diabetes Day Theme : The Family and Diabetes. 19 November World Toilet Day Theme: Leaving no one behind. 20 November Universal Childrens' Day . 25 November International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women Theme: Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands Against Rape. 26 November National Milk Day. OBITUARY Shri TN Seshan Born: 15 Dec 1932; Death: 10 Nov 2019 Cabinet Secretary March to Dec 1989 Chief Election Commissioner Dec 1990 to Dec 1996 Won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Govt service in 1996 Contested the Presidential elections against Shri KR Narayanan in 1997 Books written The Degeneration of India and A Heart full of Burden The veteran communist leader and trade unionist and former Member of Parliament who passed away on 31 Oct 2019 – Gurudas Dasgupta The noted Indian academic and mathematician who passed away on 14 November 2019 – Dr. Vashishtha Narayan Singh Sahitya Akademi awardee writer Nabaneeta DevSen passed away

MISCELLANEOUS The motto of the Lokpal adopted in presence of Lokpal Chairman Justice (retired) Pinaki Chandra Ghosh Ma Gridhah Kasyasvidhanam (Do not be greedy for anyone’s wealth) The Oxford Word of the Year 2019 Climate Emergency The green tea and white tea of this place in West Bengal have been granted GI (Geographical Indication) tag Darjeeling The rank of India in the Global Bribery Risk Index 2019 released by the US based organisation Trace International 78 The theme of 39th edition of India International Trade Fair inaugurated by Shri Nitin Gadkari at Pragati Maidan in Delhi Ease of Doing Business The cyclone which hit West Bengal and Bangladesh causing substantial loss of lives and prop- erty was named Bulbul The Lok Sabha has passed a bill to regularise the unauthorised colonies of which city? Delhi Which country has the largest number of migrants living abroad, as per World Migration Report 2020 ? India The 25th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) was started from November 8 The green tea and white tea of Darjeeling have been registered as a geographical indica- tion (GI) products in the country. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed that Census 2021 will be conducted in 16 languages. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Brazil to attend the 11th BRICS Summit in Brasilia, Brazil. The theme of the Summit this year is “Economic Growth for an Innova- tive Future”.

BOOKS & AUTHORS How to Avoid a Climate Disaster Bill Gates Bridgital Nation Shri N Chandrasekaran and Ms. Roopa Purushottam Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life Vishwanathan Anand Dewas Ki Sanskritik Parampara Jeevan Singh Thakur

Pg. # 4