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Sania
Mirza appointed United Nations Goodwill Ambassador
World
> UN
Goodwill Ambassador > Nov 26
Indian tennis star Sania
Mirza has been appointed the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for
the South Asian region by UN Women at an event held to mark the
“International Day to end violence against women”. Sania is the
first South Asian woman to be appointed the goodwill ambassador in
the organisation's history. In her capacity as the goodwill
ambassador, Sania said that she will educate women about gender
equality.
State
Bank of India to launch Islamic Equity Fund
Bank
Specific >
Islamic Equity
Fund > Nov 26
India’s largest lender
State Bank of India has launched an Islamic equity fund on 1st
December aimed mainly at attracting investments from the country's
170 million Muslims. Banking regulator SEBI has allowed the
government-owned State Bank of India and three mutual funds to launch
Sharia funds. A large section of the Muslim population remains
outside the banking system because Islamic law (Sharia) prohibits
interest. Shares of companies linked to alcohol, tobacco, gambling
and casinos and financial institutions that earn interest would be
excluded from the fund. India is only the second country after the UK
and outside the Islamic world where a state-owned bank is offering a
Sharia-compliant fund.
WTO
adopts first global trade deal in its history after years of delay
World
> World
Trade Organization > Nov 27
The World Trade Organization
(WTO) adopted the first worldwide trade reform in its history on
Thursday, after 19 years of delay. As part of this trade reform, WTO
will introduce new standards for customs checks and border procedures
which will streamline the flow of trade around the world, adding as
much as $1 trillion and 21 million jobs to the world economy. The
trade deal is just a fraction of the original Doha Round of trade
talks which began in 2001. There were disagreements on various
aspects of the deal and ultimately the WTO decided to settle for a
much smaller deal. Even that was blocked by a four-month standoff
caused by India, which had vetoed adoption of the reform package on
food security concerns as the original deadline passed at midnight on
July 31. A compromise on wording recently reached by the U.S. and
Indian governments broke the deadlock.
RBI
issues final rules for payment banks and small finance banks
Bank
Specific >
Payment Banks And
Small Finance Banks > Nov 27
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has issued final rules for payment banks and small finance
banks that would allow mobile firms and supermarket chains, among
others, to enter the banking arena to cater to individuals and small
businesses. This is a new kind of niche banking being introduced by
the central bank aimed at deepening financial inclusion and boosting
saving habits. Those seeking to set up these two new categories of
banks would need minimum Rs 100 crore of capital and fulfill the
necessary 'fit and proper' criteria, among other conditions. Those
interested, would need to apply before January 16 for first round of
such permits. Among others, existing NBFCs and micro finance lenders
would be allowed to set up small finance banks, while large public
sector enterprises and big industrial houses would not be allowed to
establish such banking entities. For payment banks, which would not
be allowed to undertake lending activities, the state-run entities
would be eligible to apply.
Others
National
Milk Day celebrated on 26th November to commemorate birth anniversary
of Dr V. Kurien
India
> National
Milk Day > Nov 26
Major players of the Indian
dairy sector decided to celebrate 26 November as National Milk Day to
mark the 93rd birth anniversary of Dr. Verghese Kurien, the father of
the Milk Revolution. Indian diary sector majors such as National
Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Indian Dairy Association (IDA) and 22
state level milk federations including the Gujarat Co-operative Milk
Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that markets brand Amul have joined
hands to celebrate the day. As part of the celebrations, 200 lakh
milk pouches of Amul will carry the National Milk Day's logo
featuring Dr Kurien for a week across the country. On the occasion,
Amul has also organized school campaigns, contests, interactions,
plant visits etc. across the country.
PM
Modi inaugurates India-Nepal bus service, signs more than 10
agreements
World
> India-Nepal
Relations > Nov 26
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
inaugurated the Delhi-Kathmandu bus service and signed more than 10
agreements with Nepal on Tuesday. Modi also said that India expects
Nepal to draft an all-inclusive constitution. Modi and his Nepali
counterpart Sushil Koirala discussed a number of strategic issues,
including defence and security for over nearly 40 minutes. The new
India-Nepal motor vehicle agreement envisages regular bus services
between the two countries, including allowing private vehicles to
cross the border, facilitating hassle-free movement of people and
promote tourism. Initially, bus services will work on three routes:
Kathmandu-New Delhi, Kathmandu-Varanasi and Pokhara-New Delhi. The
two countries also finalized the $1 billion line of credit announced
during the PM's visit to Kathmandu in August. This will be utilized
for hydropower, irrigation and infrastructural development projects.
India will also help to build a police training academy in Nepal to
train over 400 police officers annually. Currently, India trains 350
Nepali police officers every year. Agreements were also signed on
traditional medicine, tourism and youth affairs and marketing of
tourist destinations, which may be complementary. Indians travelling
to Nepal will now be able to use Indian currency notes of Rs 500 and
1000 denominations. At present, only Rs 100 denomination notes are
allowed for Indian visitors, which hamper tourists and remittances
alike.
Assam
NGO wins 2014 United Nations Lighthouse Activities award
Awards
> United
Nations Lighthouse Activities Award > Nov 26
Aaranyak, an Assam-based NGO
working for the conservation of nature and a Kathmandu-based
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
have won the United Nations Lighthouse Activities award for the year
2014. They won the award under the focus area of information and
communication technology (ICT) solutions. They won the award for the
community-based flood early warning system that has benefited 40
villages and more than 20000 people living in flood-prone areas.
Sixth
anniversary of 26/11 attack
India
> 26/11 > Nov 26
India marked the sixth
anniversary of the deadly terrorist attack on Mumbai on 26th
November, 2008.
During his speech at SARRC
Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also remembered 26/11 attack
victims and requested the SARRC countries to work and combat
terrorism together.
Background:
The 26/11 attacks of Mumbai
lasted for four days, where a series of coordinated shooting attacks
and bombings carried out by the Pakistani terror outfit,
Lashker-e-Taiba killed 166 people and injured 304.
Boxer
Manoj Kumar receives Arjuna award
Sports
> Awards > Nov 26
Manoj Kumar the boxer who
won a gold medal at the commonwealth games was awarded with the
Arjuna award on Wednesday. The announcement came as a pleasant
surprise for the boxer as he was earlier snubbed for the honour in
favour of a boxer who had won the bronze at the event.
The
president of India writes a book on the emergency era
Books
>
Politics > Nov 26
A book titled The Dramatic
Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years has been written by the president of
India Pranab Mukherjee. The book is the first instalment of a trilogy
and covers the dramatic decade of 1970, which witnessed a war,
economic reforms and mainly the controversial emergency imposed by
the Indira Gandhi government. The next two books will cover the
period between 1981-88 and 1988-2012 respectively.
25
year old Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes passes away
Sports
> Cricket > Nov 27
2 days after Australian
batsman Phillip Hughes was struck on the head by a cricket ball, he
died in a hospital in Sydney. The mishap occurred in a domestic match
between South Australia and New South Wales. He was struck by a
bouncer from New South Wales pacer Sean Abott. The incident has come
as a big shock to the entire cricketing fraternity.
Black
Tornado: The Three Sieges - a book about 26/11 Mumbai attacks
released
Books
> 26/11 > Nov 28
A book titled “Black
Tornado: The Three Sieges”, written by Sandeep Unnithan, was
released on the 23rd of November. The book gives a detailed account
of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai and how the attack was
thwarted due to the efforts of Indian security forces, mainly the
National Security Guard (NSG).
Biography
on underworld gangster Abu Salem released
Books
>
My Name Is Abu Salem > Nov 27
My name is Abu Salem - a
biography on underworld gangster Abu Salem written by S Hussain Zaidi
and published by Penguin has been released. Zaidi, a former
journalist considered a veteran on the Mumbai Underworld, has tried
to present complete unknown details and first accounts of the
gangster.
Earth's
most abundant mineral named Bridgmanite
World
> Bridgmanite > Nov 29
The most abundant mineral on
earth that has remained nameless until now will be called
Bridgmanite. After a team of American geologists were able to extract
a sample large enough to analyze from a meteorite, Bridgmanite was
named officially. Bridgmanite makes up about 70 per cent of the
earth's lower mantle and 38 percent of the total volume of earth. It
is made up of high-density magnesium iron silicate. The new name is
in honour of Percy Bridgman, a pioneer in the use of high pressure
experiments to better understand how many geological formations come
about.
First
bio-waste powered bus becomes operational in the UK
World
> Bio-Waste
Powered Bus > Nov 30
A bus powered entirely by
human and food waste has become operational in the United Kingdom.
Initially the bus has started services between Bristol and Bath. The
40-seater Bio-Bus, which runs on gas generated through the treatment
of sewage and food waste that’s unfit for human consumption, helps
to improve urban air quality as it produces fewer emissions than
traditional diesel engines. The Bio-Bus can travel up to 300km on a
full tank of gas, which takes the annual waste of around five people
to produce. The gas is generated at Bristol sewage treatment works —
a plant run by the company GENeco, which claims to be the first
company to produce enough bio-methane from human and food waste to
provide a significant supply of gas to the UK national gas network.
UAE
captain Khurram Khan becomes oldest player to score a ODI century
Sports
>
Oldest Player To Score Century > Nov 30
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
captain Khurram Khan became the oldest player to score a century in
One-Day Internationals (ODIs). He scored the winning century (132
unbeaten) against Afghanistan in Dubai on 30 November 2014. Khurram
achieved the feat at an age of 43 years and 162 days thus breaking
the record held in the name of Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka.
Jayasuriya scored 107 against India in 2009 when he was 39 years old.
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