Monday, November 24, 2014

Current Affairs daily Updates: 23 November 2014

1) Hamilton takes second F1 title with win in Abu Dhabi: Lewis Hamilton clinched his second drivers' world championship and became the first British multiple champion for 46 years when he won Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 29-year-old Englishman, who took his first title in 2008 with McLaren, won not only the 55-laps race, but also his private duel with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who suffered prolonged problems with his car after making a poor start from pole position.

2) INS Vikrant fades into history: Despite last ditch attempts by activists and former navy servicemen to save it, INS Vikrant — the county’s first aircraft carrier — has finally faded away into history. The BJP, whose leaders had promised to keep the vessel alive before elections, shifted the blame on to the previous Congress–NCP government and said had it acted sooner, Vikrant could have been saved. The dismantling of the majestic vessel began in Mumbai opposite the Darukhana ship breaking yard. The Bombay High Court had given the go-ahead for Vikrant to be auctioned in January, after it rejected a public interest litigation petition to save the vessel and convert it into a maritime museum. The Centre said it was difficult to maintain the vessel. In March, the Indian Navy sold Vikrant to a Mumbai-based ship breaking company for Rs. 63 crore.

3) Parrikar inaugurated Information Management and Analysis Centre at Gurgaon: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today inaugurated the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC), a joint operations facility of the Indian Navy and  the Coast Guard, set up near Gurgaon to provide coastal security and to avert incidents like the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai.

4) Centre to launch 'Jal Gram' scheme in 2015: Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati on Saturday said that the Centre will launch the Jal Gram (Water Village) Scheme in 2015. "There will be one Gram (village) in every district, which will be taken as a pilot project and the village with poorest indicators of water availability will be chosen," Bharati told reporters on the concluding day of the three day Jal Manthan conference in New Delhi.

5) Arunachal Pradesh bagged Skill Development award: Arunachal Pradesh has bagged India's Best Project-2014 award for implementation of skill development and employment generation in the state for the benefit of youth, mostly less-educated and school drop-outs. The award, instituted by Gurgaon-based Skoch Group dealing with socio-economic issues, was given in a ceremony at the national capital last evening, Director of Department of Skill Development and Employment Generation Subu Tabin said.

6) Indians, Chavara and Euphrasia, conferred sainthood by Pope Francis: Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Sister Euphrasia from India were on Sunday conferred sainthood by Pope Francis in Vatican City at a special canonisation mass, in a moment of elation and spiritual fervour for the Christians in India. Reformist Catholic priest Chavara and reclusive nun Euphrasia from Kerala along with four other beatified Italians were declared Saints by the Pope during the mass at St Peter's Square at Vatican, attended by a large number of devotees, two Cardinals, bishops, clergy and nuns from the state.

7) West Bengal governor to hold additional charge of Bihar: West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi will hold the additional charge of Bihar, the President's secretariat on Sunday said. Bihar governor Dr DY Patil completes his tenure on November 26. "The President of India has been pleased to appoint Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, governor of West Bengal, to discharge the functions of the governor of Bihar, in addition to his own duties," a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

8) SAARC panel decided to dissolve 3 regional centres: The SAARC committee on 23 Nov 2014 decided to dissolve three regional centres, including one in India, and merge four others to end the duplication of work and reduce its budget. The 49th meeting of the programming committee comprises of joint secretaries of the SAARC countries. The centres that would be dissolved include the Information Centre in Kathmandu, Human Resource Development Centre in Islamabad and the New Delhi-based Documentation Centre, according to officials at the Foreign Ministry. The move aims to end the duplication of work carried out by the regional centres and to economise the budget of the centres, the officials said.

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