General Studies & Current Affairs for Bank, SSC, CLAT, Civil Services and other Competitive Exams

11 November 2014 National: Jnanpith conferred on Hindi poet President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred the 49th Jnanpith award...

GK & Current Affair Updates: November 11 - 2014


11 November 2014

National:

Jnanpith conferred on Hindi poet
President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred the 49th Jnanpith award upon eminent Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh for his outstanding contribution towards Indian literature. The Jnanpith award, institutionalized by philanthropist couple Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain and Late Rama Jain, commemorates Indian authors for their contribution to Indian literature.

India’s milk production touches 137 million tones mark from 20 million tones in 1951
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has launched National Dairy Development Board’s, Golden Jubilee Year Celebrations at Anand in Gujarat. He said that India’s milk production has touched 137 million tones mark from 20 million tones in 1951. This has resulted in rise of per capita milk availability from 120 gram to 300 gram. He emphasized on the importance of programmes related to increasing productivity as cattle productivity in India is lower compared to other countries of the world. He said that India is largest milk producing nation of the world since 1998. Operation Flood, the world’s largest food and development program, formulated and implemented by NDDB resulted in the phenomenal growth of dairy sector in India.

SC lifts restrictions on women make up artists in Bollywood
The Supreme Court has put an end to restrictions on women make up artists in Bollywood. The apex court said the 59 year old practice which discriminates on the basis of gender is violative of constitutional values. A bench of justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit also held as unconstitutional a provision that makes it mandatory to have a five year domicile of Maharashtra to become a registered make-up artist in Bollywood. It directed the Cine Costume and Make-up Artist Association in Mumbai to delete the provisions within 10 days.


Kolkata ranks third in survey on Internet users
In a recent survey conducted in cities by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Kolkata has ranked third in the country in terms of the number of Internet users. Kolkata has 6.27 million people who have access to the internet. IAMAI is an industry association that conducts research on digital business. Mumbai with 16.4 million Internet users has topped the rankings whereas Delhi with 12.15 million Internet users has come second. In terms of the numbers of Internet users, Kolkata has climbed two spots compared to 2013 when it was ranked fifth in the IAMAI research with 4.4 million Internet users. In terms of annual growth of Internet users, Kolkata jointly holds the fifth place along with Ahmedabad with 33 per cent growth. Delhi has registered the highest annual growth of 50 per cent, followed by Mumbai (37 per cent) and Bangalore (36 per cent).

 M.K. Mishra, Prabakaran re-elected to Bar Council
Mannan Kumar Mishra of Bihar and S. Prabakaran from Tamil Nadu have been unanimously re-elected chairman and co-chairman of the Bar Council of India. Mr. Mishra is a senior advocate practising in the Supreme Court and Patna High Court. Mr. Prabakaran, who is practising in the Madras High Court and Supreme Court, is a member of various committees set up by the BCI, including the legal education panel. He is the spokesperson of the BCI and a member of the Academic and General Councils of the National Law School, Bangalore and Director, International Council of Jurists.

Javed Usmani is new CIC of Uttar Pradesh
Senior bureaucrat and former Chief Secretary Javed Usmani will be the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Usmani’s name was approved by Governor Ram Naik. The Governor had earlier returned the file to the government as it did not carry the mandatory Vigilance clearance report.

Test of Indo-Israel warship missile system successful
There is finally some hope for frontline Indian warships being commissioned without an adequate "area defence weapon" to guard against enemy aircraft, drones, missiles and helicopters. The long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) system, being developed by DRDO and Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) with an interception range of 70 km, was finally tested for the first time after a long delay in Israel. Israel is one of the largest defense suppliers to India, notching sales worth around $1 billion every year. But the long delay in the around Rs 13,000 crore development of two advanced SAM systems —LR-SAM project sanction in December 2005 for Rs 2,606 crore to arm Indian warships. Similar MR-SAM project sanctioned in February 2009 for Rs 10,076 crore for IAF air defense squadrons.

International:

UN Chief sets up Gaza war inquiry
United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon has set up a five-member panel to investigate Israeli attacks on UN shelters during the Gaza war and the discovery of Hamas weapons at UN sites. The inquiry will be led by retired Netherlands general Patrick Cammaert with Maria Vicien-Milburn of Argentina, American Lee O'Brien, Canadian Pierre Lemelin and K.C. Reddy of India as the members. The board would review and investigate a number of specific incidents in which death or injuries occurred at and damage was done to United Nations premises. Ban Ki Moon had described the three Israeli shelling of UN-run schools as a moral outrage. Israel maintains that Palestinian Hamas fighters were using the schools to store weapons.

100-year-old skydives on birthday
Eleanor Cunningham of Howes Cave, New York, has bested former President George H.W. Bush. He celebrated his 90th birthday by skydiving; she made the big leap to mark her centennial. It was her third jump, after taking up the sport at age 90.

Business & Economy:

RBI tightens NBFC norms by requiring them to have stronger capital base
RBI has tightened its norms for non-banking financial companies, NBFCs by requiring them to have a much stronger capital base, failing which they would lose their registration. This comes in the wake of public investors increasingly being defrauded in the name of non-banking financial services. The NBFCs would be subjected to a stronger set of rules and regulations if they raise public deposits. RBI announced a new set of norms that also mandate a huge eight-fold increase in the minimum 'net owned fund' requirement from 25 lakh rupees to 2 crore rupees by 2017 in a phased manner.

Sports:

Novak Djokovic beats Marin Cilic at ATP World Tour Finals in London
World number one Novak Djokovic swept past US Open champion Marin Cilic to begin his campaign for a third straight title at the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Djokovic defeated Cilic 6-1, 6-1 in 56 minutes. With the win, Djokovic has joined Stanislas Wawrinka at the top of Group A after the Swiss earlier thrashed Tomas Berdych. It was Djokovic’s 16th victory against a Top 10 opponent in 2014. He is unbeaten in 11 matches at the season finale, where he is a two-time defending champion.

Misra is selection committee chairman

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) reconstituted its selection committee with players who have represented the country, at its executive committee meeting held in Mumbai. The AITA stated that former Davis Cup captain S.P. Misra would be the chairman of the selection committee, with Rohit Rajpal, Balram Singh, Zeeshan Ali and Nandan Bal as other members.