Current Affairs November 2016: News Snippets

This post shall contain summarized current affairs of November 2016 and shall be updated weekly.

National Current Affairs November:

  • Andhra Pradesh Government has launched the ‘Smart Water Distribution Monitoring’ web interface. The monitoring portal is a part of ourvmc.org from where it can be accessed. Using this portal people can check the status of drinking water in the water tanks nearby.
  • The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) won the prestigious 2016 Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance.
  • India’s longest expressway connecting Agra and Lucknow was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at Bangarmau in Unnao district of UP.
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formed Special Task Force under SS Mundra, Deputy Governor, RBI, to speed up the process of recalibration of automated teller machines (ATM) to dispense the new denomination notes.
  • The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for the first time has deployed a team of women commandos in anti-Naxal operations in Jharkhand. The 135 women commandos belonging to the 232 battalion’s Delta company have started carrying out anti-Naxal operations.
  • The Supreme Court ordered search engines Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing to immediately stop displaying advertisements relating to pre-natal sex determination tests. It also directed the Union government to constitute a nodal agency to monitor and trigger search engines to crack down on online pre-natal sex determination advertisements.
  • Union textile Minister Smriti Irani launched a scheme of ‘Pehchan’ identity cards to artisans in Ahmedabad.
  • Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh, which are Tirap, Changlang and Longding. They have been “disturbed area” under Section 3 of the AFSPA.
    • While NSCN-IM has signed agreement with India for peaceful negotiation of their demand of Greater Nagaland other organization such as NSCN-K continue to use violence as means to fulfill their demands, against Indian state.
  • Chhattisgarh Government has launched Lakshya Bhagirathi campaign to complete the irrigation projects that could not be completed.
  • The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched Healthy India Initiative magazine and No More Tension mobile App.
    • Healthy India Magazine be a quarterly magazine. It will cater to health related information and raise awareness about healthy living.
    • No More Tension App will help users to manage stress and will also provide information regarding stress, symptoms and its management.
  • Entry to Indian Citizen in Bengaluru Airport only through Aadhar Card.
  • National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has commissioned a 50 MW Wind Power Plant in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
    • Mini Ratna Category- I
    • Established: 1975 with Headquarters in Faridabad, Haryana.
  • The government is developing a national data registry (NDR) that will require all agencies— state, private and academic — that collect and store geospatial data to provide details of the data they store.
  • Maharashtra became the first state in the country to have a cyber-police station in each district to take on cyber criminals.
  • The Union Government announced that the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 which ensures supply of subsidized food-grains has been implemented across the country. As a result, 81.34 crore persons will get subsidized wheat at Rs. 2 per kg and rice at Rs. 3 per kg. The subsidy implication of about Rs. 1,40,700 crore per year.
  • The first titanium production project of India has started its test production Ganjam district of Odisha.The raw material ilmenite would be procured from Odisha Sands Complex (OSCOM), a unit of Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL).
  • Kerala has become the third Open Defecation Free state in the country after Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) (Gramin).
  • Prime Minister  Modi launched the Saur Sujala Yojana in Chhattisgarh, that would provide solar powered irrigation pumps to farmers at a subsidized price.
  • 1st November is the day of formation of Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Haryana.
    • Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh: 1956
    • Punjab & Haryana: 1966
    • Chhattisgarh: 2000
  • The Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation has enabled online submission of applications by the urban poor for affordable houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(Urban) from tomorrow. A MOU was signed today by the Ministry of HUPA and Common Services Centre e-Governance Services India Limited of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in the presence of respective ministers Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu and Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad.
  • Construction major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) became India’s first firm to get debt recast under RBI’s new Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A). Read about: S4A.
  • The Union Government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have inked a $500-million loan agreement to build a 9.8 km long road bridge across the Ganga River in Bihar. It will be country’s longest river bridge and shall provide better connectivity between North and South Bihar and also Patna and its surrounding areas.

 

Science & Technology Current Affairs November:

  • India has been ranked 138th in the 2016 ICT Development Index out of a total of 175 countries. In 2015, India ranked 135th position.
  • India’s first banking robot named Lakshmi was launched by the Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank (CUB) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.  Lakshmi will be first on-site huamanoid (robot) in India.
  • Facebook’s Connectivity Lab has set a world record transmitting at nearly 20 Gbps for 13.2 kilometers using Milli Meter Wave (MMW) technology.
  • Doctors from Netherland have performed the first-ever brain implant on a 58-year-old woman paralysed by Lou Gehrig’s disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-ALS).
  • China’s ‘Sunway Taihulight’ has won the fastest supercomputer title in the recently released 48th edition of Top500 list of supercomputers.
  • NASA has successfully launched highly advanced geostationary weather satellite Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R).
  • Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Thiruvananthapuram have developed a gelator to recover marine oil spills.  Unlike current methods, the newly developed gelator can recover oil from oil-water mixture and the gelator can be reused several times. These gelators were produced using glucose as a starting material.
  • The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed a MoU with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi to establish a Joint Advanced Technology Centre (JATC). The JATC will be located in the campus of IIT Delhi at the upcoming Science and Technology Park (Mini-Science Park ‘MSP’).
  • World first hydrogen-powered and zero-emission passenger train named as Coradia iLint was unveiled in Germany. The first of its kind ecofriendly train has been developed by French rail company Alstom. The Coradia iLint only emits excess steam and condensed water into the atmosphere.
  • India’s first eco-friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG)-driven bus was launched in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
    • Please note buses in Delhi and other states are compressed natural gas (CNG) based.

cng-lng
 

  • Scientists have detected the presence of water on Psyche, the largest metallic asteroid in our solar system.
  • Indian archaeologists are planning to use Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology to survey the archaeological evidence, flora and fauna in the ancient Rajgir hills in Bihar.
  • NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission  has set the Guinness world record for highest altitude fix of a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal.
  • China has launched world’s longest super-secure quantum communication line: connecting Hefei, capital of Anhui province to Shanghai, the country’s financial hub. The super-secure quantum communication line is 712-km in length. It boasts of ultra-high security making it impossible to wiretap, intercept or crack the information transmitted through them.

Environment Current Affairs November 2016:

  • loktak-lakeEnvironment Ministry has constitutedFour-Member Team for Conservation of Loktak Lake, Manipur
    • Loktak lake is a Ramsar Wetland and famous for  the phumdis or floating plants.
    • The Keibul Lamjao National Park lies  surrounding loktak lake. It is natural site of Sangai (State animal of Manipur) deer, which is classified as endangered by IUCN.
  • The world’s first Genetic Garden of Halophytes (naturally occurring salt-tolerant plants) was inaugurated at the coastal town of Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu.

 

Defence Current Affairs November 2016:

  • As part of the ongoing India Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise SAMPRITI 2016 is being conducted at Tangail, Dhaka, Bangladesh from 05 to 18 November 2016.
  • The Indian Navy has formally inducted four types of indigenously developed sonars that will boost its underwater surveillance capability.These 4 types of sonars are Abhay, Humsa, AIDSS and NACS.
  • The sixth edition of India-China Joint Training Exercise “Hand in Hand 2016” has started in Pune, Maharashtra.
  • The tenth edition of India-Nepal Joint Military Training exercise- Surya Kiran– was conducted at Army Battle School (NABS), Saljhandi in Nepal from 31 October to 13 November 2016.

 

International Current Affairs November:

  • Colombian Government has signed revised peace agreement with the country’s largest rebel movement, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).The revised document was signed between President Juan Manual Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londono in Bogota, capital city of Colombia. President Juan Manual Santos is the sole recipient of 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

columbia

 

  • Iran for the first time ever has surpassed Saudi Arabia to become India’s top crude oil supplier. It was revealed by ship tracking data and a report compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts.
  • India and Cyprus have inked a revised Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal evasion (DTAA) with respect to taxes on income, along with its Protocol.
  • Techno Park to be made in Ramallah, Palestine with help from IIT- Chennai.

ramallah

  • The Union Government has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of steel wire rods from China to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap in-bound shipments.
  • venezuelaIndia and Venezuela have signed an oil production deals worth about 1.45 billion US dollar to increase oil production. The agreement was signed between Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Venezeulas Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), and Venezuela’s consortium Delta Finance BVin Caracas.

venezuela-oil

  • peruThe 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Summit will be held in Lima, Peru from November 19 to 20, 2016.  The theme of the summit is “Quality Growth and Human Development” and the official logo is the architecture of the ancient city of Caral.
    • APEC is regional economic forum of 21 Pacific Rim member countries and promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. These 21 member countries collectively account for nearly 50% of the world’s trade and about 57% of GDP.

 

Person in NEWS November 2016:

  • Pankaj Patel was elected as the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2017.
  • António Costa, the Indian origin Prime Minister of Portugal will be the chief guest at the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention. The PBD Convention is scheduled to be held from January 7 to 9, 2017 in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
  • High energy particle physicist and an institution builder of Indian science  Prof. M G K Menon passed away.
  • Indian journalist Malini Subramaniam was conferred with the 2016 International Press Freedom Award. She has been honored for her reporting from the Naxal-infested Bastar area and for the commitment to a free press.
  • The Union Government has appointed Yudhvir Singh Malik as the Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
  • US President-elect Donald Trump has named Indian-American Governor of South Carolina State, Nikki Haley  for the high-profile post of US ambassador to the United Nations.
  • Madhya Pradesh Government has selected renowned theatre personality Prof Raj Bisaria for the prestigious ‘Kalidas Samman’ national award for 2015-16.
  • Union government has appointed Jagdish Singh Khehar, a judge of the Supreme Court, as the new Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA).
  • Noted flautist Pandit Hari Prasad Chourasia was conferred 2016 Sumitra Charat Ram Award for lifetime achievement in the field of Indian classical music.
  • The Union Government has appointed Praveen Kumar Sharma as the Central Registrar (CR), Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI).
  • Union Ministry of Railways has appointed Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak (73), the founder of Sulabh International as a Brand Ambassador for Swachh Rail Mission of Indian Railway.
  • Sushil Chandra, IRS (1980 Batch), today took over as the Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)
  • India born Sarabjit Singh Marwah has become the first Sikh to be appointed to the Canadian Senate (upper house).
  • ‘An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India’ authored by Dr. Shashi Tharoor – was released by Vice-President Hamid Ansari.
  • Indian lawyer, Aniruddha Rajput (33) has been elected as a member International Law Commission (ILC). LC was established by the UNGA in 1947 to undertake the mandate of UN to ensure promotion and progressive development of International law and its codification. It holds an annual session at the UN Office at Geneva.
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed M Rajeshwar Rao as Executive Director (ED) following voluntary retirement of G Mahalingam.
  • Guy Ryder from United Kingdom has been re-elected Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) for a second five-year term.
  • California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris created history by becoming the first India-American to win the US Senate (upper chamber) seat from the state. She belongs to Republican party.

Sports Current Affairs November 2016:

  • Indian Women’s hockey team has won the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy held in Singapore.
  • India’s ace shuttler and Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu has won the $700,000 2016 China Open Super Series title in women’s category. It was her maiden Super Series Premier title and first post 2016 Rio Olympics title.
  • International Master Padmini Rout has won the 2016 National Women Premier Chess Championship.
  • Aditi Ashok (18) became the first Indian woman to win a Ladies European Tour title. She achieved this feat by winning the Hero Women’s Indian Open held at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram, Haryana. She won a prize purse of 60,000 dollar.
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