Current Affairs Updates - 22 November 2017
New Appointments: International
Justice Dalveer Bhandari's re-election to International Court of Justice (ICJ) makes his the third Indian, after Neeru Chadha and Soumya Swaminathan, to secure a prominent position in United Nations
- Justice Dalveer Bhandari was re-elected as a judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) overnight Tuesday, making him the third Indian to secure a prominent position in a United Nations (UN) body in recent months.
Acclaimed South African Indian-origin AIDS researcher Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim has been appointed as a UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents and HIV.
Rankings
According to an annual Forbes list Beyonce has been named the highest paid woman in music in 2017
- Beyonce’s hit album “Lemonade” and world tour made her the highest-paid woman in music in 2017, according to an annual Forbes list on Monday.
- The Pop Diva edged out Britain’s Adele and pop star Taylor Swift.
- The R&B singer earned some 105 million dollars from record sales and from her “Formation” concert tour, according to Forbes.
National Affairs
In order to better the coordination and implementation of various schemes of Women and Child Welfare department (WCD) with other government departments, Sudhir Mungantiwar, minister for finance and planning announced the setting up of Gender Budget Cells in his Maharashtra.
- Mungantiwar said that a nodal officer would be appointed in each administrative department to monitor the implementation of the schemes of WCD. “The cell shall be responsible for coordination between various departments and ensure quality and effective implementation of the schemes. Besides this the Cell while evaluating the schemes, it shall also pay attention to how best to improve its outcome,” said the minister. He stated that every department implementing WCD schemes would have to bear responsibility for the effective implementation of the schemes.
State-owned IOC, in collaboration with Ola, launched the country's first electric charging station at one of its petrol-diesel stations in Nagpur.
- The statement said: "As India's leading oil refiner and marketer, IOC considers promoting ecological sustainability as part of its core business. Thus, this partnership with Ola is the right step forward as we re-imagine how India will commute in coming years."
International Affairs
Sarajevo Haggadah, the 14th- century richly illuminated Hebrew manuscript, which was brought to Sarajevo through the efforts of Jews fleeing persecution in Spain, has been included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
- Haggadah in Hebrew means a story, handwritten on parchment, and it is read by family members on the occasion of the Jewish feast of Passover. It has been kept at the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1894.
Defence & Railway
First Indo-Myanmar Bilateral Military Exercise 2017 (IMBAX-2017) begins in Joint Training Node of the Indian Army at Umroi in Meghalaya.
- The exercise aims to train officers of Myanmar Army in various United Nations peacekeeping roles and tasks,” said a release issued here by defence public relation officer Lt Col Suneet Newton.
Agreements (MoU)
India and the World Bank on Monday signed a 98 million dollar loan pact, and a 2 million dollar grant agreement to help the country increase power generation capacity through cleaner, renewable energy sources. The first two solar parks are in the Rewa and Mandsaur districts of Madhya Pradesh.
- The first two solar parks are in the Rewa and Mandsaur districts of Madhya Pradesh, with targeted installed capacities of 750 MW and 250 MW respectively, it said. Other states where potential solar parks could be supported under this project are in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana.
On the 2nd Anniversary of Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), the Government of India signed four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Scheme with the State of Nagaland and with Union Territories (UTs) of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu for operational improvements.
- An overall net benefit of approximately Rs. 551 crores, Rs. 18 crores, Rs. 13 crores and Rs. 10 crores respectively would accrue to the State of Nagaland & UTs of Andaman & Nicobar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu by opting to participate in UDAY, by way of cheaper funds for capex, reduction in AT&C and Transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, etc. during the period of turnaround.
India-Russia sign pact for visa free entry of flight crew.
- India and Russia have agreed to implement the general declaration for visa free entry of the crew of chartered and scheduled flights between the two countries.
Awards & Honours
Popular Bengali writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen has been declared the winner in 'Author in Bengali language' category at the second edition of Big Little Book Award.
A first-of-its-kind initiative in India, the Big Little Book Award seeks to recognise and honour authors and illustrators who have contributed to children's literature that are global in appeal and contextual in nature.
Veteran journalist Manik Banerjee, who is also an acclaimed mountaineer was presented with the 'Life Time Achievement Award' by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF).
- The former sports journalist has made invaluable contribution in promotion of mountaineering and allied adventure activities in various media besides his service in spreading the spirit of adventure activities among the under privileged.
Anuk Arudpragasam was announced winner of the DSC prize for South Asian literature 2017 at the Dhaka Literature Festival in Bangladesh for his debut novel "The Story of a Brief Marriage".
- The Story of a Brief Marriage, is the story of a young man on the front lines between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tigers. Author and jury chair Ritu Menon, calling it an outstanding novel, said, “The novel is impressive for its intensity and rich detail, and for exploring the tragic heart of war with such quiet eloquence. It is also a testament to the redemptive power of love, and to the human spirit’s capacity for hope.”
Sports: Awards & Honours
Leander Paes and Purav Raja won their second title together after joining forces as they lifted the JSM Champaign Challenger trophy with a thrilling win over Ruan Roelofse and Joe Salisbury.
- The top-seeded Indian team battled past the British-South African combination 6-3, 7-6(5), 10-5 in the final of the USD 75000 hard court event, last night.
- It was second title-clash for Paes and Raja after joining forces since August, when they teamed up to compete at ATP 250 Winston-Salem Open.
India’s star doubles pair A Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan put up a stellar show in the Seamaster 2017 World Tour Swedish Open in Stockholm late on Friday to seize a bronze medal.
- They upset the top seeds of the tournament, Quadri Aruna from Nigeria and Diogo Carvalho from Portugal, 3-1 to make it to the semifinals in style. But they lost 1-3 (10-12, 3-11, 11-7, 4-11) to Hong Kong’s Kwan Kit Ho and Chun Ting Wong to miss out on the chance to make the title round.
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