[CA] Nov 2016 Current Affairs

Current Affairs [Nov 2016]

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Rs. 75/- [Pdf]

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[CA] Fidel Castro

Ø Revolutionary leader, Mr. Fidel Datro passed away at the age of 90 years

Ø The former Cuban President and leader of the Communist revolution ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century before handing over the powers to his brother Raul in 2008. His supporters praised him as a man who had given Cuba back to the people.

Fidel Castro

• Born on 13 August 1926, Fidel Castro governed Cuba as its Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976.

• Politically Marxist–Leninist, Castro also served the country as its President from 1976 to 2008.

• He was the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. He held the post from 1961 to 2011.

• His administration helped Cuba in turning into a one-party socialist state.

• Under him, state socialist reforms implemented throughout society and the industry and business were nationalized.

• In 1959, he along with his brother Raul Castro and Che Guevara overthrew the then Cuban President Fulgencio Batista by leading a guerrilla war against the then Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.

• He, who adopted the Marxist-Leninist model of development, converted Cuba into a one-party socialist state under Communist Party rule, which was first in the Western Hemisphere.

• Reforms introduced by Fidel Castro included

a) Central economic planning

b) Expansion of healthcare and education

c) State control of the press

d) Suppression of internal dissent

• He also survived countless American assassination attempts.

• Being a divisive and controversial leader, Castro was decorated with several international awards, including South Africa's highest civilian award for foreigners, the Order of Good Hope.

ü Besides, Castro also supported anti-imperialist revolutionary groups across the world.

ü He backed establishment of Marxist governments in Nicaragua, Chile and Grenada.

ü He sent troops to aid allies in the Ethio-Somali War, Yom Kippur War and Angolan Civil War.

ü From 1979–83, he also led the Non-Aligned Movement and helped in establishing Cuba’s profile on the world stage.

ü Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended condolences to the Cuban government and people of the country on the demise of Fidel Castro.

ü In a series of tweets, Narendra Modi said that Castro was one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century.

[CA] Sunday Bytes [Nov 27,2016]

·        Senior journalist Akshaya Mukul won the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2016 for his book "Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India"

·        Infosys Science Foundation declared the names of six individuals as the winners of Infosys Prize 2016

(i) Prof V. Kumaran for Engineering and Computer Science

(ii) Prof. Sunit Amrith for Humanities

(iii) Dr. Gagandeep Kang for Life Sciences

(iv) Prof. Akshay Venkatesh for Mathematical Sciences

(v) Dr. Anil Bhardwaj for Physical Sciences

(vi) Prof. Kaivan Munshi for Social Sciences

·        Captain Radhika Menon was bestowed with the 2016 International Maritime Organization (IMO) Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea at IMO Headquarters in London, United Kingdom. Captain Menon became the first female to receive the IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. Another Indian to receive a commendation certificate during the ceremony was B. M. Das, a winch operator and a diver of the rescue helicopter CG 822, Indian Coast Guard Air Station, Daman

·        Tennis Player Roger Federer has won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the 12th time in his career.

·        Bangladesh will honour 1668 members of the Indian Army, who were martyred during the Bangladesh Liberation War; their families will receive a Rs. 5 lakh purse as a mark of respect

·        India & Switzerland Signed ‘Joint Declaration’ for the implementation of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI); India will be possible to receive the financial information of accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland for 2018 and subsequent years from September 2019 onwards.

·        India has been elected as the Vice Chair for 2018 and Chair for 2019 of KPCS (Kimberly Process Certificate Scheme)

·        India and European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) signed an agreement for making India an Associate Member State of CERN; CERN is the world’s largest nuclear and particle physics laboratory, where scientists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the Universe by using the most sophisticated scientific instruments and advanced computing systems. CERN is based in Geneva on the French-Swiss border. Presently CERN has 22 member states, four associate member states, and the observer status is given to four states and three International Organizations.

·        Pankaj R Patel was elected as the new President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) for the year 2017

·        Former IAS officer Ms. Upma Chowdhary was appointed as the Director of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) at Mussoorie; She would be the 23rd director and first woman director of the prestigious academy, imparting training to officers of civil services.

[QandA] One Liners

(01) Name the LWE or Maoist affected States in India (as per Union Home Ministry Report)

(02) Name the three stamps (what pictures) issued at first by India in 1947

(03) Indian Railways in UNESCO World Heritage Site lists

(04) United Nations designated the __ as World Tsunami Awareness Day.

(05) National Rail Museum is located in the cities of

(06) Host country for World Environment Day 2016 is

(07) India's first National Security Advisor is

(08) Who is appointed as the chief of NSAB (National Security Advisory Board)

(09) Author of the book "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" is

(10) Maitree Volleyball Cup match is played between the countries of India and ____

(11) Author of the Book "Modi's Midas Touch in Foreign Policy" is

(12) World Post Day is observed on

(13) The first country in the world to ban plastic cups and plates with effect from 2020 is

(14) Who led the high level technical team to visit the Cauvery River basins of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu?

(15) The First airport in India to go all solar in 2015 was

(16) The Two Indian Prime Ministers who not attended the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) so far are

(17) The Pakistani American who became the first

Muslim Federal Judge of USA

(18) India became ____ country to ratify Paris

Deal on Oct 02, 2016

(19) INS Arihant is capable of carrying nuclear tripped ballistic missiles, the class referred as SSBN. What is full form of SSBN?

(20) BRICS 2017 Summit will be held in

(21) World Bank has pledged 2 billion US dollars aid to tackle climate change to the country of

(22) 2017 world athletics championships will be held in

(23) Government constituted seven-member expert committee that said that the Saraswati River was not mythical and it existed was headed by

(24) Theme of BRICS 2016 was

(25) Centre has constituted a four-member Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under the Chairmanship of

(26) Which Commission / Committee on Centre - State Relations made a strong case for the establishment of a permanent Inter - State Council under Art. 263 of the Constitution?

(27) Inter State Council was established in the year of

(28) Who is the Chairman of the Zonal Councils?

(29) "Supreme Court held that the proclamation of a National Emergency can be challenged in a court on the ground of a malafide or that the declaration was based on wholly extraneous and irrelevant facts is absurd or perverse". Which case judgment is this?

(30) Under which Article, Vice - President to act as President or to discharge functions?

(31) What is the name of the joint tactical exercise, between Indian and China was recently held in Ladakh in Oct 2016?

(32) BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave 2016 was held in the City of

(33) RBI will administer the Sovereign gold bonds on through this e-portal. Name of this e-portal is

(34) On the occasion of the 96th birth anniversary of __________ Bharathiya Mahila Bank was launched in 2013?

(35) National summit on innovation and technology 2016 was held at

(36) Chandrayaan - 1, India's first successful mission to moon was launched on

(37) How many chemical elements make up the Rare Earth Metals?

(38) Which bustling Capital City has the "Ginza", one of the most luxurious shipping districts in the world?

(39) Which country was once called as Upper Volta?

(40) Aleppo is the largest city in the country of

(41) After his return from South Africa, who advised the Mahatma Gandhi to be an observer for a year before taking part in politics?

(42) First ever cricket test played in

(43) Which was the last non - capital city to host Summer Olympics?

(44) The Indian sports person who made his debut in the film "Rajdhani Express" is

(45) In which country is Waterloo where Napolean suffered his final decisive loss?

(46) Which is the largest living structure on the planet that is visible even from Outer Space?

(47) UN declared Malala Day on

(48) The two official languages of Israel are

(49) Name the first person to be featured on a postage stamp

(50) Into which body of water does the Yangtze empty?

[CA/Awards] Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2016

ü Senior journalist at the Times of India Akshaya Mukul has been awarded the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2016. He has been awarded for his book “Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India”.

ü The jury member comprising of Samanth Subramanian, Mahesh Rao and Janice Pariat described the book to be “eyeopening and captivating” in the way it explored the literary trend as if it came from the one who is known to the English-speaking urban India.

ü Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize: Shakti Bhatt was a young writer. The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize was set up in 2008 to encourage authors from the sub-continent. The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is a cash award of 2 lakh rupees, and a trophy. It is funded by the Shakti Bhatt Foundation and Priti Paul through the Apeejay Trust.

[CA] Newspaper @ Nov 21, 2016

[CA] Sunday Bytes [Nov 20,2016]

·       India has taken strong exception to the World Bank’s “inexplicable” decision to set up a Court of Arbitration and appoint a Neutral Expert to go into Pakistan’s complaint against it over Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.

·       A two member technical team of IUCN deputed by UNESCO visited Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha; Visit is to perform field assessment of the unique mangrove ecosystem of the park

·       High Level Meeting of Interior Ministers of the Indian Ocean Region to Counter Drug Trafficking was recently held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

·       India and Japan signed ten agreements to boost the bilateral cooperation between the two nations. The agreements were inked in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. Prime Minister was on a three-day visit (Nov 10 – 12, 2016) to Japan.

·       Russia has invited India to join in developing nuclear reactors and participate in its fast reactor research project.

·       Union Human Resource Development Minister, inaugurated the world’s largest digital national building initiative “Smart India Hackathon 2017” by handing over a torch to technology students over the country.

·       With an aim to reduce maternal and infant mortality, the government has rolled out a new scheme to provide fixed-day antenatal care to pregnant women on the ninth of every month.  The scheme — ‘Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan’ (PMSMA) — will provide free and comprehensive care on the ninth day of every month during the course of the pregnancy, especially to the poor.

·       The Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 2016 came to an end with the adoption of the ‘New Delhi Declaration’ and the ‘Asian Regional Plan for Implementation of the Sendai Framework’.

·       The regional news Unit of Radio Kashmir Jammu started morning news bulletin in Gojri language. The five minutes Gojri news bulletin will be aired at 10:15am daily from the transmitters of Radio Kashmir Jammu. Gojri is one of the most widely spoken languages of the state and over 20 percent chunk of the population in the state consists of Gojri speaking people.

·       Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Thiruvananthapuram have developed a gelator to recover marine oil spills.