Daily updates 18 November 2019

International News

1. Gotabaya Rajapaksa wins Sri Lanka Presidential election

• Sri Lanka's former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has won the Presidential election. He is the brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
• Gotabaya got 52.25 per cent of the total valid votes. According to the final vote count released by the country’s Election commission, he received around 6.9 million votes against his main rival, Sajith Premadasa who got around 5.56 million votes.
• Gotabaya served as the Defence Secretary during the end of the LTTE War.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS SO 2019:

• Sri Lanka Capitals: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte; Currency: Sri Lankan rupee.
• Prime minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe.

State News

2. Yogi Adityanath inaugurates North India's 1st sugar mill which will produce ethanol

• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has inaugurated North India's first sugar mill which will produce ethanol direct from sugarcane.
• The mill was inaugurated in Pipraich area of Gorakhpur, which is a unit of Uttar Pradesh Sugar and Sugarcane Development Corporation Limited.
• The mills, which previously produced around 8,000 quintals of sugar, will now produce more than 50,000 quintals of sugar every day.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/SSC CGL:

• Governor of Uttar Pradesh: Anandiben Patel.

3. Defence Minister inaugurates Sisseri Bridge built by BRO

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated Sisseri Bridge, built by the Border Road Organisation (BRO) on Pasighat-Bomjir Highway, Arunachal Pradesh.
• The 200-metre long bridge between Jonai-Pasighat-Ranaghat-Roing road will provide connectivity between Dibang Valley and Siang to meet the long-pending demand of the people of Arunachal Pradesh.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/SSC CGL:

• Director-General of BRO: Lt. Gen.Harpal Singh; Headquarters: New Delhi.
• Founder of BRO: Jawaharlal Nehru.

Awards

4. Veteran actors Sridevi and Rekha conferred with ANR National Award

• The veteran actors Sridevi and Rekha were conferred with the Akkineni Nageswara Rao National Award for 2018 and 2019 respectively.
• The award was presented by renowned Telugu actor Chiranjeevi.
• The award is instituted by the Akkineni International Foundation and honours those who have made a lasting impact on Indian cinema.

5. Rezwana Choudhury Bannya gets ICCR Alumni award in Dhaka

• Renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent from Bangladesh Rezwana Choudhury Bannya has conferred the ICCR distinguished alumni award in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• The award was given away by the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das in a musical function organised by the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC).
• Rezwana Choudhury Bannya is widely recognised as a great exponent of Rabindra Sangeet.
• She is known for her distinctive style of singing. She has established a musical school 'Shurer Dhara' in Bangladesh to carry forward the Guru-Shishya tradition as practised in Shantiniketan.
• Distinguished Alumni Award was instituted in 2015 to recognise foreign students who have studied in various Indian Universities under the ICCR sponsored scholarship schemes and made an exemplary contribution in varied fields.

Appointments

6. Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan takes oath as Chief Justice of Jharkhand HC

• Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan took oath as the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.
• Justice Ranjan has been appointed as the 13th Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.
• The post was lying vacant since May this year after the former Chief Justice, Anirudh Bose was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court.
• Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan was a judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
• He was elevated to Additional Judge of the Patna High Court on July 14, 2008.
• Later, he was appointed as a permanent judge on January 16, 2010.
• He also served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Patna High Court for a brief period last year.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/SSC CGL:

• Governor of Jharkhand: Draupadi Murmi; Chief Minister: Raghuwar Das.

7. Justice Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi sworn in as Chief Justice of Tripura High Court

• Justice Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the High Court of Tripura.
• Justice Kureshi was serving as a judge of the Bombay High Court before his transfer to Tripura.
• The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had recommended Justice Kureshi’s elevation as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, but the recommendation was not approved by the Department of Justice.

Defence

8. First night trial of Agni II missile conducted successfully

• India has successfully conducted the first night trial of Agni-II, its versatile surface-to-surface medium-range nuclear-capable missile from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.
• Agni-II, an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), has already been inducted into the armed forces.
• The entire trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and two naval ships located near the impact point in the down-range area of Bay of Bengal.
• The test was carried out by the specially formed Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army with logistic support from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The two-stage ballistic missile can carry a payload of 1000 kg over a distance of 2000 km.

Summit and Conferences

9. 8th International Conference on Agricultural Statistics to be held in India

• The Ministry of Agriculture will organize the 8th International Conference on Agricultural Statistics (ICAS-VIII) in New Delhi.
• The Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar will inaugurated the conference and Bill Gates will be the Chief Guest at the Conference.
• The conference will be held with the theme of ‘Statistics for Transformation of Agriculture to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’.

Banking

10. New rules framed under IBC for rescue of non-bank lenders

• The Government of India has issued fresh rules under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to govern the rescue of non-bank lenders.
• The new rules are likely to help out distressed shadow banks and housing financiers, which have been battling a liquidity crunch for a year.
• These entities will be covered by a special window under the bankruptcy code, which will be notified from time to time.
• Reserve Bank of India has been given the authority to decide which companies will be taken up to a bankruptcy tribunal under these rules.
• The bankruptcy tribunal will appoint an administrator who will be nominated by the regulator, will try to stitch together a turnaround plan.
• In case a turnaround of the financial institution is not possible, the tribunal will gather the views of the regulator before deciding to liquidate it.

Sports

11. Korea's Kim Joo Hyung wins Panasonic Open

• South Korea's Kim Joo Hyung has won the Panasonic Open held at the Classic Golf and Country Club in Gurugram, India.
• India's Shiv Kapur finished tied runner-up with S. Chikkarangappa.
• The victory has made Hyung the second-youngest winner behind Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadugsil on the Tour at 17 years and 149 days.

12. IAAF officially changes its name to "World Athletics"

• The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has officially changed its name and will now be known as "World Athletics".
• The name has been changed in a bid to make the sport more accessible.
• The IAAF was founded in 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and changed its name to the "International Association of Athletics Federations" in 2001.

13. Spain's striker David Villa retires from football

• Spain's striker David Villa has announced his retirement from football.
• He represented Spain in three World Cups and was also a member of the Spanish side that lifted the trophy in 2010, and won the European Championships in 2008.
• He netted 59 times for Spain which is a national record.
• His achievements also includes a Champions League title with Barcelona, as well as two La Liga wins and a World Club Cup medal.

14. Harmeet Desai claims Indonesia Open TT Championship

• Indian paddler Harmeet Desai  wins men’s singles title at International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Challenge Indonesia Open 2019 Table Tennis tournament held at Batam, Indonesia.
• Harmeet had defeated compatriot Amalraj Anthony by 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9 score.

15. Sarita Devi elected as member of AIBA athletes commission

• Laishram Sarita Devi (Manipur) is among the 6 boxers from 5 continents who were elected as members of AIBA Athletes Commission.
• She was inspired by Muhammad Ali's achievements and turned professional in boxing in the year 2000. She is DSP in Manipur Police.
• The election of the Athletes Commission members was organized during AIBA Men and Women World Boxing Championships 2019 in Russia.
• Boxers from all over the world voted for new members - one per continent, except Europe which has two representatives.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS SO 2019:

• International Boxing Association Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland.

Important Days

16. The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims: 17 November

• The United Nations observes "World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims" on 17 November every year.
• The day has become an important tool in global efforts to reduce road casualties.
• It offers an opportunity for drawing attention to the scale of emotional and economic devastation caused by road crashes and for giving recognition to the suffering of road crash victims and the work of support and rescue services.
• The theme is based on Pillar 3 of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety – Safer vehicles.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS PO Mains:

• Headquarters of United Nations: New York, USA; Founded: 24 October 1945.
• Secretary-General of the United Nations: Antonio Guterres.