1. French film ‘Particles’ wins the Golden Peacock Award at IFFI 2019
French film ‘Particles’ has won the coveted Golden Peacock Award at the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
Particles is a 2019 French-Swiss co-produced drama film directed by Blaise Harrison and produced by Estelle Fialon.
The Golden Peacock Award carries a cash prize of Rs 40 lakhs to be shared equally between the Director and the Producer, Trophy and the citation.
The IFFI 2019 ‘Best Director Award’ was conferred to Lijo Jose Pellissery for his Malayalam film ‘Jallikattu’.
The Best Director award carries a Silver Peacock trophy, a citation and a cash prize worth Rs 15 lakh.
The Best Actor (Male) Award went to Seu Jorge for his role in Marighella and Best Actor (Female) Award went to Usha Jadhav for her role in a Marathi crime film, Mai Ghatt: Crime No. 103/2005.
Source: DD News
Important Days
2. 29th November: International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
On that day, in 1947, the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine.
This date is based on the call by the United Nations General Assembly for an annual observance of the resolution on the partition of Palestine.
Note:
Palestine is a de jure sovereign state in the Middle East claiming the West Bank (bordering Israel and Jordan) and Gaza Strip (bordering Israel and Egypt) with East Jerusalem as the designated capital.
International Affairs
3. Maldives' former president Abdulla Yameen sentenced to 5 yrs in jail
Maldives’ former president Abdulla Yameen (served from 2013 to 2018) has been found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to five years in prison.
The five-judge bench of the criminal court unanimously concurred that Yameen is guilty on the charge of laundering state funds for personal gain.
He was accused of over 1 million dollars deposit in his bank account by a company that was used to channel resort acquisition fees.
4. Pak SC grants 6 months conditional extension to Army Chief Gen Bajwa
Pakistan's Supreme Court granted a six-month conditional extension to Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Current Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army Mr. Bajwa (since 29 November 2016) continue as the Army chief for another six months.
Pakistan's government withdrew the 19th August orders after the top court's observations in the case and issued a fresh notification which was also rejected by the court.
Note:
The Chief of Army Staff is appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and final confirmation by the President of Pakistan.
National Affairs
5. HRD Minister Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launches Kartavya Portal
Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has launched the portal (kartavya.ugc.ac.in) for holding monthly essay competitions for students.
The portal was launched as part of yearlong ‘Nagrik Kartavya Paalan Abhiyan’ being observed throughout the country.
Mr. ‘Nishank’ also launched three books which are a collection of stories for Children namely Kumbh, Garam Pahad and Dilli ki Bulbul (Sindhi edition) in New Delhi.
Books has been authored by a popular writer of children’s books and travelogues Dr Anita Bhatnagar Jain (IAS-1985 batch).
The three books are a collection of stories for children and have brought out environmental issues and topics like socio-cultural unity& cultural heritage in a very simple and interesting manner.
The Department of Higher Education under HRD Ministry will be holding 11 rounds of National Essay Competitions during the year.
The topics of the essay will be based on one Fundamental Duty every month.
6. Global Exhibition on Services-2019 organised in Bengaluru
Union Minister Piyush Goyal has inaugurated the 2019 Global Exhibition on Services (5th edition) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The inaugural function was also attended by Chief Minister of Karnataka B. S. Yediyurappa.
GES is an annual event established by the Department of Commerce, Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry in association with Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Honour & Award
7. G Satheesh Reddy awarded honorary fellowship by Royal Aeronautical Society of UK
G Satheesh Reddy (DRDO -chairman) has been awarded honorary fellowship by Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) of United Kingdom (UK) during the Medals and Awards presentation ceremony in London.
He is the first Indian recipient of the prestigious award in more than 100 years.
It is one of the world’s highest distinctions for aerospace achievement awarded for only most exceptional contributions to the aerospace profession.
It is considered as equivalent to Nobel Prize in the aerospace domain.
Banking & Finance
8. RBI raises concerns over bad loans from Mudra Yojana
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised concerns over increasing bad loans from the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.
RBI believes that there is an urgent need to monitor the loans sanctioned under Mudra Yojana.
According to RBI, the percentage of MUDRA loans were at 2.52% in 2017-18 (now raised to 2.89% in 2018-19)
It also says that the number of loans being sanctioned under the scheme has increased greatly.
In 2017 the loans provided under Shishu category were 83,892 and it increased to 1,39,652 in 2019.
According to RBI, out of 182 million MUDRA loans sanctioned, 3.63 million accounts have defaulted.
State Affairs
9. Shipping Ministry approves Loktak Inland Waterways project in Manipur
Shipping Ministry gave approval for the development of Loktak Inland Waterways improvement project in Manipur under the central sector scheme.
The estimated cost of the project is over 25 crore rupees.
The Loktak Lake is the largest fresh-water lake in Northeast located at Moirang in Manipur.
Obituaries
10. World-renowned rock climber Brad Gobright passes away in Mexico fall
A world-renowned rock climber Brad Gobright fell to his death while climbing a sheer rock face in northern Mexico.
Witnesses said the men had finished climbing the 900-meter (2,300-foot) summit and were rappelling back down when the accident occurred.
US national Gobright (31-years) and fellow American Aidan Jacobson (26-years) were climbing a route known as the Shining Path in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.
The late rock climber was known for his gravity-defying solo ascents with no ropes.
National Affairs
11. G Kishan Reddy inaugurates 1st Intl. Conference on “Landslides Risk Reduction and Resilience"
G Kishan Reddy (Minister of State for Home Affairs) has inaugurated the 1st International Conference on “Landslides Risk Reduction and Resilience" in New Delhi.
According to Mr Redd, landslides have attracted global attention as they may cause huge havoc on communities, livestock, environment leading to huge loss of lives.
He expressed hope that deliberations in this conference will go a long way in finding long term solutions to natural disasters.
Sports
12. Deepika wins gold, Ankita bags silver in Asian archery Championships
Indian archers Deepika Kumari won gold while Ankita Bhakat bagged the silver medal in the women's individual recurve event of the 21st Asian Championships in Bangkok.
Deepika defeated Ankita 6-0 in the one-sided final.
Earlier, the duo had secured an individual Olympic quota for the country by storming into the semi-finals of the event.
Note:
Asian Archery Championships is the archery championship organized by the World Archery Asia.
Source: AIR News
13. Sports Ministry constitutes a committee to review Draft National Sports Code
Sports Ministry has constituted a 13-member expert committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Mukundakam Sharma to review the Draft National Sports Code.
Former sports persons Gagan Narang, Bhaichung Bhutia, Anju Bobby George and national badminton coach Pulella Gopichand are part of the panel.
The panel has been formed to suggest measures to make the Sports Code acceptable to all the stakeholders.
It will try to strike a balance between the autonomy of National Sports Federations vis-a-vis need for transparency and autonomy.
