NATIONAL NEWS

59th ABU General Assembly 2022

• The government of India owned public broadcaster Prasar Bharti which owns the All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD) is hosting the 59th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) General Assembly 2022 from 25 November to 30 November 2022 in New Delhi.
• Prasar Bharti was set up in 1997 by an act of Parliament.
• Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi announced that around 300 international delegates from 40 countries representing 50 organizations will participate in the event.
• Theme of the 59th ABU General Assembly is ‘Serving the People: Media’s Role in Times of Crisis’.
• The ABU was set up in 1964 is a non-profit, professional association of the broadcasting organizations of Asia and pacific region.

New Survey Vessel ‘Ikshak’

• The Indian Navy launched 'Ikshak', the third of the four Survey Ships (Large) being built by GRSE and L&T at Kattupalli, Chennai.
• It was launched in the presence of VADM MA Hampiholi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command.
• The ship has been named ‘Ikshak’ which means ‘Guide’.
• The ship has been named to signify the contribution of the Survey ships towards facilitating safe passage for Mariners at Sea.
• SVL ships will replace the existing Sandhayak Class survey ships with new generation hydrographic equipment to collect oceanographic data.

Aero India 2023

• The Union Ministry of Defence has announced on 27 November 2022 that the biennial air show AeroIndia-2023 will be held at the Air Force Station Yelahanka in Bengaluru's from 13 February to 17 February 2023.

• This year marks the 14th edition of Aero India.

• It is a premier global trade show which provides an opportunity for the international arms industry to showcase their products, technologies and solutions to the Indian military.

First Biodiversity Heritage Site

• The Tamil Nadu government issued a notification declaring the Arittapatti village near Melur in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu (TN) as a biodiversity heritage site under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

• It is Tamil Nadu’s first and India’s 35th Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS).

• The Site spreads in an area of 215 hectares in Arittapatti and Meenakshipuram villages in the Madurai district.

• Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS) are areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems having rich biodiversity consisting of any one or more endemic species, keystone species or fossil beds or components having cultural or esthetic values.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Exercise ‘AUSTRA HIND 22’

• The Bilateral military training exercise “AUSTRA HIND 22” between the Indian Army and the Australian Army will commence on 28 November 2022 at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges (Rajasthan).

• The exercise will take place from 28 November to 11 December 2022.

• This is the first exercise in the series of AUSTRA HIND with participation of all arms and services contingent from both armies.

• During the exercise, participants will engage in a variety of tasks ranging from joint planning, joint tactical drills, sharing basics of special arms skills.

BANKING

ADB to Invest in the VA Tech Wabag Water Company

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest Rs 200 crore in the VA Tech Wabag company which is in the business of treatment of municipal and Industrial wastewater and its technologies.

• This is the first time that ADB’s is investing in a private sector water company.

• The Chennai based VA Tech Wabag Company provides technologies and services for total water solutions in both municipal and industrial sectors.

• The fund will be used by the company for its working capital requirements.

SPORTS

Youth World Boxing Championships 2022

• Indian boxers Vishwanath Suresh, Vanshaj and Devika Ghorpade won gold medals at the IBA (International Boxing Association) Youth Men's and Women's World Championships 2022 in La Nucia, Spain on 25 November 2022.
• Vishwanath Suresh from Chennai won his gold medal by defeating Ronel Suyom of Philippines in the men's 48kg final.
• Devika from Pune won the second gold for India on the day by defeating England’s Lauren Mackie in the women's 52kg final.
• Asian Youth champion Vanshaj from Sonipat won the third gold medal by defeating Demur Kajaia of Georgia in the men's 63.5kg final.

First Player to Score in 5 Different World Cups

• Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in 5 different World Cups when he scored the first goal against Ghana in the FIFA World Cup.

• In the first match of Group H, Portugal captain Ronaldo scored the first goal in the 65th minute, becoming the first male footballer to score in five different World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022).

• Cristiano Ronaldo has increased his international goal count to 118. He scored his eighth career World Cup goal in a 3–2 win against Ghana.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Times Higher Education Employability Rankings

• The Global Employability University Rankings and Survey (GEURS) ranks the top 250 universities in the world for producing employable graduates according to employers.

• This ranking has been released by Times Higher Education (THE).

• The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi is the only Indian educational institution in the top 50 in the ranking.

• Among Indian institutions, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru is at the second spot (58), followed by IIT-Bombay at 72.

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology – USA ranked first in the list.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Film Bazaar Section of the IFFI in Goa

• The 5-day long Film Bazaar concluded at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa with Bangladesh feature film 'Agantuk' being named the winner of the Prasad DI award.

• The film has been directed by Biplob Sarkar.

• The Film Bazaar section in the IFFI is a converging point for film buyers and sellers from all across the world with a focus on discovering, supporting and showcasing South Asian content and talent in filmmaking, production and distribution.
• The Kannada film ‘Mithya’ bagged the Prasad Post-production award, while the multilingual Nepali ‘Kumaoni’ and Hindi film ‘Bahadur’ won the Movie buff Appreciation Award.

National Awards for e-Governance

• E-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (eGramSwaraj and AuditOnline) of Ministry of Panchayati Raj has won the Gold Award under the category ‘Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering for Digital Transformation’ of the National Awards for e-Governance.

• The award is a recognition of the excellent and exemplary work done by Team eGovernance and supported by Team NIC-MoPR.

• The prestigious National Award was handed over to Shri Alok Prem Nagar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj Union by Union Minister of State and Dr. Jitendra Singh during the 25th National Conference on e-Governance at Jammu on 26 November 2022.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO Launches PSLV-C54 Rocket

• The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched PSLV C 54 and eight nanosatellites, into space from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.

• This is the 56th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle of ISRO and 24th flight of the extended PSLV-XL version.

• The mission payloads including Oceansat (PSLV C 54) and eight other nanosatellites have separated in the specified two hours in two different sun-synchronous orbits.

• The mission objective is to ensure data continuity of ocean color and wind vector data to sustain the operational applications.

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Law Day

• Constitution Day or National Law Day is celebrated every year on 26 November as it marks the day when the Indian Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1949.
• On 19 November 2015, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment notified the decision of the Government of India to celebrate 26 November as 'Constitution Day'.
• The day was declared in the year which marked the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution.

OBITUTARY

Veteran Actor Vikram Gokhale

• Noted actor Vikram Gokhale passed away. He was at the age of 77.

• Vikram Gokhale who had a long career as an actor in theatre, television and movies, acted in several Marathi and Bollywood films, including "Agneepath" (1990), "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" (2007), "Natsamrat" (2015) and "Mission Mangal" (2019).

• In 2010, he received the National Award for Best Actor for his work in the Marathi film Anumati.

• With the Marathi film Aaghaat, he also made his directorial debut.