26 November 2013 – Daily Current Affairs (Hindi and English)

26 November 2013 – Daily Current Affairs

Thai-Protests-2013

1) Which South East Asian country witnessed huge anti-government protests on 25 November, 2013 after which state of emergency was imposed in the capital? – Thailand (Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Thai capital Bangkok on 25 November in an effort to paralyse the government within three days and bring about a change in administration. Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seen as the de facto leader of the Pheu Thai party that leads the current government in Thailand. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is his younger sister. Suthep Thaugsuban, a former member of parliament with the opposition Democrat Party, led marches on government offices)

2) Who is the new defence lawyer in the ongoing case of Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, who has slammed the evidences in this case on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of this attack? - Rizwan Abbasi (Abbasi has been representing all seven accused in the case including Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba commander Zakiur Rehman. He took over the case after the exit of Riaz Akram Cheema. Abbasi said no concrete evidence was provided by the Indian authorities against any of the seven accused in jail)

3) The Centre and Nagaland government have recently landed into a constitutional row due to an act of the Nagaland govt. The Centre during November 2013 sent out a strong missive to the state govt. over this issue. This controversy arose after which decision of the Nagaland state govt.? – Nagaland state govt.’s assertion that it has right to independently exploit its natural resources (The issue at hand is the interpretation of Article 371-A of the Constitution relating to Nagaland. Nagaland govt. had in 2012 issued the Nagaland Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulation Act, under which it sought to regulate mining of natural resources)

4) The acquisition of land for a proposed nuclear plant in which village of Andhra Pradesh is witnessing a strong resistance from locals, who are opposing the construction of the plant here? – Kovvada, in Srikakulam district (A 6,000 MW nuclear power plant is proposed in this village and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and state govt. is in the process of acquiring the land for the proposed plant. However, the plant has been opposed on grounds of safety and compensation payable to them)

5) A Deputy Managing Director of State Bank of India (SBI) has been asked to go on leave while it is setting up an internal committee for investigating a graft case related with him. He has been named by the CBI in a case of alleged graft in disbursal of loan of Rs. 400 crore along with others. Who is this SBI official? – Shyamal Acharya

6) Indonesian government on 25 November, 2013 ordered evacuation of local residents after a volcano in Sumatra erupted nine times within a few days. Which volcano is this? - Mount Sinabung (Mount Sinabung had been dormant for 400 years before it erupted in August 2010. During November 2013 it started erupting in a series of eruptions posing serious threats to the local residents. The National Disaster Management Agency of Indonesia ordered residents of 17 villages in Karo district in North Sumatra province to leave and seek refuge in shelters)

7) Constitution Day was observed across India on 26 November 2013 to honour the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, which came into force on 26

January 1950. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is regarded as the father of the Indian Constitution. The Constitution of India is a supreme law of India, which lays down the framework that defines the political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties of Government institution.

8) Reserve Bank today widened the definition of infrastructure lending including hotels with project costing more than Rs. 200 crore as well as convention centres with project worth Rs. 300 crore. "The government has further updated the harmonized master list...the new sub-sectors have been added in the list. Hotels with project cost of more than Rs. 200 crore each in any place in India and of any star rating. Convention centres with project cost of more than Rs. 300 crore each," RBI said in a notification. RBI said that the new sub-sectors will get classified as 'infrastructure' for the purpose of lending by banks and select All India Term-Lending and Refinancing Institutions from the date of this circular.

9) YES BANK, India’s fourth largest private sector bank, today signed a multi-year deal with the Hockey India League (HIL) commencing with the 2014 season. YES BANK to mobilise sports innovation and infuse positive energy into hockey.

10) Talwars gets life imprisonment in Aarushi murder case. Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were yesterday convicted in the sensational double murder of their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and Hemraj by the court. After a 15-month trial,

Judge Shyam Lal held the Talwar couple guilty of destruction of evidence in the murder on the intervening night of May 15 and 16, 2008, days before the birthday of the class nine student in their residence in Noida. 

11) India and Malaysia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 25 November 2013 to strengthen co-operation in public administration and governance as part of the efforts to enhance their strategic partnership. The MoU covers eight areas of co-operation including human resource management, e-governance, public delivery system, accountability and transparency, skills and capacity building and quality results. The MoU envisages cooperation via tours, workshops and conferences, sharing of public administration and governance information and expertise, common project implementation mechanisms and exchange of publications, state.

12) Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General on 25 November 2013 announced the Geneva-II peace conference is to be held on 22 January 2014. The international conference is aimed at a democratic political transition in Syria, which will bring the Government and the opposition to a negotiating table for the first time, since the conflict that started in March 2011.

13) BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is among Time magazine’s shortlisted candidates for its ‘Person of the Year’ title and has emerged as an early favourite among the readers in an online poll. Time has shortlisted 42 global leaders, entrepreneurs and celebrities for its ‘Person of the Year 2013’ and will announce the winner next month. Other candidates in fray are Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, US President Barack Obama, Pakistani teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and even the new heir to the British throne Prince George. Modi is the only Indian in the shortlist.

14) Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of a new railway line in his Parliamentary constituency Amethi. The 67 kilometer Uchahar-Salon-Amethi line was approved in the union budget in 2010-11. Rahul also flagged off the new Lucknow- Prtapgarh DMU service and Lucknow- Sultanpur EMU service.

15) The Meghalaya government has sought 50 thousand crore Rupees as award from the 14th Finance Commission. This is to meet non-plan expenditure and give a thrust to developmental projects in the state.

16) India's Deepak Lathore won a Gold and two Silver medals in the Boys' 50 kilogramme category of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships today. On the opening day of the event at Penang, Malaysia, Lathore took the Gold in Snatch with a lift of 83 kg. In Clean and Jerk, he lifted 102 kg to claim the Silver. With a total lift of 185 kg, he won another Silver in the event.

1) किस दक्षिण-पूर्वी एशियाई देश में 25 नवम्बर, 2013 को भारी सरकार-विरोधी प्रदर्शन शुरू हुए जिसके बाद उस देश की राजधानी में आपातकाल की घोषणा कर दी गई? - थाईलैण्ड (थाईलैण्ड की राजधानी बैंकाक में इस दिन सरकार के विरोध में लाखों लोग सड़क पर उतर आए जिसका उद्देश्य तीन दिन के भीतर सरकार को पंगु कर देश की प्रशासनिक व्यवस्था में बदलाव लाना था। उल्लेखनीय है कि थाईलैण्ड के एक बड़े वर्ग का मानना है कि देश की प्रधानमंत्री यिंगलक शिनावात्रा (Yingluck Shinawatra) की वर्तमान सरकार की असली कमान उनके भाई भूतपूर्व प्रधानमंत्री थाकशिन शिनावात्रा (Thaksin Shinawatra) के हाथों में है, जो निर्वासित जीवन व्यतीत कर रहे हैं। सरकार-विरोधी इन भारी प्रदर्शनों का नेतृत्व विपक्षी डेमोक्रेट पार्टी के पूर्व संसद सदस्य सुथेप थौगसुबान (Suthep Thaugsuban) ने किया)

2) वर्ष 2008 के मुम्बई आतंकी हमलों के कथित साजिशकर्ताओं के उस नवनियुक्त वकील का क्या नाम है जिसने इस घटना की पांचवीं वर्षगांठ के अवसर पर दोषियों को कठघरे में खड़े करने वाले साक्ष्यों को लेकर भारत सरकार की भर्त्सना की है? - राजा रिज़वान अब्बासी (अब्बासी इस मामले में लशकर-ए-तैयबा के कमाण्डर ज़कीउर-रहमान समेत सात आरोपियों का पक्ष देख रहे हैं। उन्होंने रियाज़ अकरम चीमा का स्थान लिया है। अब्बासी ने कहा कि भारत ने वर्तमान में जेल बन्द इन कथित आरोपियों के खिलाफ अभी तक कोई ठोस साक्ष्य नहीं दिया है)

3) नगालैण्ड की राज्य सरकार द्वारा अभी कुछ समय पहले की गई एक घोषणा के चलते केन्द्र सरकार तथा नगालैण्ड की राज्य सरकार के बीच संवैधानिक संकट पैदा हो गया है। इसके चलते केन्द्र सरकार ने नवम्बर, 2013 के दौरान इस मुद्दे पर नगालैण्ड की राज्य सरकार को एक कठोर पत्र भी लिखा है। यह संकट नगालैण्ड सरकार द्वारा की गई किस घोषणा के बाद उत्पन्न हुआ? - नगालैण्ड राज्य सरकार द्वारा की गई इस घोषणा के चलते जिसमें उसने राज्य के प्राकृतिक संसाधनों पर अपना अधिकार जताया था तथा कहा था कि वह वह उनके दोहन के लिए स्वतंत्र है (उल्लेखनीय है कि इस मामले से संवैधानिक संकट भारतीय संविधान के अनुच्छेद 371-A की व्याख्या को लेकर पैदा हुआ। यह अनुच्छेद नगालैण्ड से सम्बन्धित है तथा इसी की दुहाई देते हुए नगालैण्ड की राज्य सरकार ने वर्ष 2012 में नगालैण्ड पेट्रोलियम व प्राकृतिक गैस रेग्यूलेशन कानून पारित किया था जिसमें उसने राज्य में खनन करने को अपने अधिकार क्षेत्र के अंतर्गत बताया था)

4) आन्ध्र प्रदेश के किस गाँव में एक प्रस्तावित परमाणु ऊर्जा केन्द्र के लिए भूमि अधिग्रहण प्रक्रिया का तीव्र विरोध स्थानीय लोगों द्वारा किया जा रहा है, जोकि इस संयंत्र की यहाँ स्थापना किए जाने के खिलाफ हैं? – कोव्वडा - Kovvada, जोकि श्रीकाकुलम जिले में स्थित है (उल्लेखनीय है कि कोव्वडा में 6,000 मेगावाट परमाणु ऊर्जा केन्द्र के लिए भारत के परमाणु ऊर्जा निगम (NPCIL) तथा राज्य सरकार द्वारा भूमि अधिग्रहीत की जा रही है। लेकिन स्थानीय निवासी यहाँ परमाणु ऊर्जा केन्द्र स्थापित किए जाने के खिलाफ तथा उचित मुआवजा दिए जाने की मांग कर इसका विरोध कर रहे हैं)

5) भारतीय स्टेट बैंक (SBI) के उस उप-प्रबंध निदेशक (Deputy MD) का क्या नाम है जिसपर CBI द्वारा भ्रष्टाचार के आरोप लगाए जाने के कारण बैंक ने छुट्टी पर भेजने का निर्णय किया है? - श्यामल आचार्य (उल्लेखनीय है कि उनपर 400 करोड़ रुपए के ऋण प्रदान करने में भ्रष्टाचार में लिप्त होने का आरोप लगाया गया है)

6) इण्डोनेशिया की सरकार ने 25 नवम्बर, 2013 को सुमात्रा में स्थित एक ज्वालामुखी के लगातार नौ बार प्रस्फुटित होने के कारण स्थानीय लोगों को सुरक्षित स्थानों पर भेजना शुरू कर दिया। इस ज्वालामुखी का नाम क्या है? - माउण्ट सिनाबुंग - Mount Sinabung (उल्लेखनीय है कि सुमात्रा द्वीप पर स्थित यह ज्वालामुखी पिछले लगभग 400 वर्ष शांत रहने के बाद अगस्त 2010 में पहली बार प्रस्फुटित हुआ था। अब इस माह के दौरान लगातार प्रस्फुटित होने के बाद स्थानीय लोगों के समक्ष खतरा पैदा होने के चलते लोगों को स्थानीय निवासियों को सुरक्षित स्थानों पर भेजने की कार्रवाई शुरू की गई है)