Daily Current Affairs: 24 November 2014

1) Former Union Minister, senior Congress leader Murli Deora died: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Murli Deora passed away in Mumbai on 24 Nov 2014 morning after prolonged illness. He was 77 and is survived by his wife and two sons, including former MP Milind Deora. He held the portfolio of Petroleum and Natural Gas during the UPA—1 regime. The Congress veteran had also served as the Mumbai Congress President for 22 years.

2) Winter Session of Parliament began: The winter session of parliament began on 24 November 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the new ministers who were inducted. The session, the first after the expansion of the council of ministers this month, will have 22 sittings and will end Dec 23.

3) Carlsen retains title at World Chess Championship: World chess champion, Norway's Magnus Carlsen retained his title, defeating Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand in the 11th round of their title match at Russia Sunday. The reigning world champion called off the exchange/sacrifice blunder or bluff of Anand on move 24 and wrapped up the 12 game in 45 moves. Interestingly Anand went for the misadventure of exchange/sacrifice - giving up his rook for Carlsen's bishop when he was enjoying a slight positional advantage. Carlsen scored 6.5 points first to retain the title that he wrested from Anand last year.

4) 2015 I-League to begin on Jan. 17: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has announced that the 2015 I-League will commence on January 17. TEN Sports will broadcast 75 of the 110 matches on its channel and website. The league will kick off in Bengaluru, the home of the defending champion Bengaluru FC.

5) Ajit Doval appointed special representative by PMO on Indo-China border issue: National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval has been appointed as the special representative by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to resolve the India-China border issue. "Ajit Doval, NSA, appointed as the special representative of India to conduct boundary negotiations and strategic consultations with China," the Prime Minister's Office said in the statement. "This arrangement will be part of NSA's overall assignment," the statement added. 

6) 2016 Olympic and Paralympic mascots launched: The mascots for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics have been revealed and are inspired by the animals and plants of hosts Brazil. The yellow Olympics mascot represents the animals of Brazil, while the blue Paralympics mascot "is a fusion of plants found in Brazilian forests". A poll will decide their names with the results to be announced on 14 December. The shortlisted pairings to chose from are Oba and Eba, Tiba Tuque and Esquindim or Vinicius and Tom.

7) Sarjubala, Saweety settle for silver at World boxing C'Ships: Indian pugilists S Sarjubala (48kg) and Saweety (81kg) faltered at the final hurdle to settle for silver medals, rounding off a decent campaign for the country in the 8th World Women's Boxing Championships being held at South Korea. Sarjubala lost to world No 3 Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan, who also happened to be a bronze-medallist from the previous World Championships. Saweety, on the other hand, lost to Yang Xiaoli of China.

8) Former SC judge Prasad to succeed Katju as PCI chief: Former Supreme Court judge CK Prasad is set to be appointed as the head of the Press Council of India. Information and broadcasting ministry sources said Prasad has been selected by a committee headed by Vice President Hamid Ansari and a communication has been received in this regard. Prasad will succeed justice Markanday Katju as the chairman of the PCI.

9) Federer hands Switzerland first Davis Cup title:  Roger Federer produced a vintage performance to crush Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 and seal Switzerland's maiden Davis Cup title with a 3-1 win over hosts France on Sunday. The 17-time Grand Slam champion shook off back problems during the weekend and recovered from Friday's defeat by Gael Monfils to hand France a third defeat in their last three finals.

10) Chuck Hagel quits as US defense secretary: US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel resigned amid reports of differences with President Barack Obama who apparently wants to install a new leadership at the Pentagon as he enters the last two years of his presidency facing new global challenges like the rise of IS.

11) Ex-IAS officer Deepak Gupta named new UPSC chief: The government has appointed former IAS officer Deepak Gupta as new chairman of UPSC, breaking away from the tradition of appointing the chief from the serving members of the Commission. Gupta, a retired IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, had on Saturday taken over as the chief of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), official sources said. He is the younger brother of former Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta.