21st November 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Today (21st November) is World Hello Day.
• Aim : To express that conflicts should be resolved through communication rather than the use of force.
• This day began in 1973 in response to the conflict between Israel and Egypt and since then over 180 countries have taken part in the event.
• Today is World Television Day.
• In December 1996 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 November as World Television Day commemorating the date on which the first World Television Forum was held in 1996.
• French President Francois Hollande will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade of January 26, 2016. 
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends ASEAN-India Summit today.
• He invites Malaysia, Singapore and other ASEAN countries to invest in infrastructure projects in India.
• The UN Security Council unanimously approved a French-sponsored resolution calling on all nations to redouble and coordinate action to prevent further attacks by Islamic State terrorists and other extremist groups.
• The resolution says the Islamic State group “constitutes a global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security” and expresses the council’s determination “to combat by all means this unprecedented threat.”
• Note : This measure is the 14th terrorism-related resolution adopted by the UN’s most powerful body since 1999.
• The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that tightens restrictions on the resettlement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, amid security concerns.
  
• The bill follows the attacks in Paris that left 129 people dead, claiming to the be the work of Islamic State.

National Affairs

• President Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated the first ever three-day World Indology Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
• As many as 29 eminent Indologists from across the world will be guests at this Conference.
• Note : Indology is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent and includes study of Sanskrit literature and Hinduism along with the other Indian religions, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
• A ‘Distinguished Indologist’ Award will be presented by President Mukherjee to Prof. Heinrich Freiherr Von Stietencron from Germany on the occasion.

MOUs

• Russia today signed two agreements with Egypt.
• According to the first agreement, Russia will finance and build Egypt's first nuclear power plant.
• Under the second deal, Russia will grant a 35-year loan to the Cairo.
• South Australia today signed a historic 'sister-state agreement' with Rajasthan that would pave new ways to boost export and investment opportunities between the two states.
• The sister-state relationship between South Australia and Rajasthan is based on a two-way exchange of research, policy and technical capabilities.
• The agreement provides partnership and collaborative opportunities across key sectors where South Australian business can offer services and product support.

National Affairs

• Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the landmark Silchar-Lumding broad gauge rail line in Assam.
• The rail line brings Assam's underdeveloped but strategically important Barak Valley on the broad gauge map.  
• The Lumding-Silchar Gauge Conversion Project under the Northeast Frontier Railway was sanctioned in 1996-97 and was declared a National Project in 2004.

Science & Technology

• The Chinese navy has conducted drills that simulate war in "certain waters" in the South China Sea, employing major destroyers and frigates, carrier-based helicopters and new submarines.
• The exercise was based out of the Sanya training base of the People's Liberation Army Navy, focusing on anti-submarine warfare, according to a navy statement issued on Friday, without detailing the exact time and places for the maneuvers.

Awards & Honors

• A UK based Syrian journalist Zaina Erhaim wins Reporter Without Borders Award 2015.
• She went to war-torn Syria and reported about the inhuman torture faced by innocent Syrians and trained over 100 citizen reporters.

New Appointments

• Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal appointed as the new BJP President of Assam.
• Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman of Ambuja Neotia group, has been elected president of industry body FICCI for the year 2016.
• Neotia, a 'Padma Shri' awardee, is also a member of the Rajasthan Chief Minister's Advisory Council and West Bengal Chief Minister's Core Committee on Industry.
• Currently, he is the senior VP of the industry body.
• Neotia will take over from the current Ficci President Jyotsna Suri during the chamber's AGM next month, Ficci said in a statement.

Sports

• India enters the final of 8th Junior Men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament.
• In Tennis, Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner enter ATP World Tour doubles Final.

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