Daily Current Affairs and GK | 1 December 2021

Topic: Appointments

1. Parag Agrawal has been appointed as Twitter's new CEO.

• Following the departure of its co-founder CEO, Indian tech wizard Parag Agrawal has taken over as CEO of the social media platform Twitter.
• Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, stepped down as CEO on 29 November, allowing Parag Agrawal, the company's current chief technology officer, to take over.
• CEO Dorsey has resigned from his position after spending nearly 16 years at the micro-blogging platform.
• Mr Dorsey was serving as chief executive of both Twitter and payment firm Square.
• Since joining Twitter in 2011, Agrawal has served as the company's chief technology officer (CTO).
• Agrawal holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University. He is a Computer Science and Engineering graduate of IIT Bombay.
• Twitter’s headquarters is located in San Francisco, California, USA. Its founders are Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. It was founded in 2006.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Sports

2. Saurav Ghosal won the Malaysian Open Squash Championship.

• After defeating Miguel Rodriguez in the men's singles final, squash star Saurav Ghosal created history by becoming the first Indian to win the Malaysian Open Championships.
• After defeating L Serme and M Gamal by the same score in the quarterfinals and pre-quarterfinals, Ghosal had defeated V Crouin of France 3-0 in the semifinal.
• He last won a Professional Squash Association (PSA) tournament in 2018, when he won the Kolkata International Open.
• Malaysia's Aifa Azman, on the other side, has won the women's singles title at the 2021 Malaysian Open squash championships.

Topic: Important Days

3. Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare: 30 November

• Every year on November 30, the Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare is observed.
• The day marks as a memorial to those who have died because of chemical warfare.
• It is a reminder of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) commitment to eliminating the threat of chemical weapons and fostering peace, security, and multilateralism.
• Chemical Weapons Convention had entered into force on 29 April in 1997. So, 29 April was chosen as the date for celebration of Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare.
• The date (29 April) was changed to November 30 at the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention's 20th session in 2015.
• Instead, the 29th of April was declared "International Day for the Foundation of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons" ("OPCW Day").

Topic: Space and IT

4. Nation’s first fully cryogenic rocket engine has been developed by Hyderabad’s startup.

• A Hyderabad-based startup, Skyroot Aerospace has built a fully cryogenic rocket engine that runs on two rocket propellants, liquid natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen (LoX).
• For approximately two years, a team of around 20 rocket engineers worked on this project.
• Skyroot has named their cryogenic engine 'Dhawan-1' after Satish Dhawan, the former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO.
• Cryogenic engines are rocket propulsion systems that utilize cryogenic propellants at temperatures below -150 degrees Celsius.
• This test is significant because it marks the first time a private space technology company has used LNG, a greener fuel.
• Now that the technology has been successfully demonstrated, the startup will focus on scaling it up to develop a larger engine that will launch into space in 2023 with its Vikram-2 launch vehicle.

Topic: Appointments

5. Maj. Gen. Ahmed Naser al-Raisi elected as new President of INTERPOL.

• Maj. Gen. Ahmed Naser al-Raisi has been elected as new President of International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
• Maj. Gen. Ahmed Naser al-Raisi is an inspector general at the United Arab Emirates’ interior ministry. He takes place of Kim Jong Yan from South Korea.
• Ahmed Naser al-Raisi has been elected at INTERPOL’s annual General Assembly held in Istanbul, Turkey for four year term.
• Recently, India’s candidate Praveen Sinha was elected as Delegate for Asia on Executive Committee of INTERPOL.
• INTERPOL is World’s largest international police organization with a National Central Bureau in all 195 member states.

Topic: Important Days

6. 57th Raising Day of Border Security Force (BSF) celebrated on 01 December.

• 57th Raising Day of Border Security Force (BSF) has been celebrated on 01 December.
• Director General of BSF, Pankaj Kumar Singh said that strict border patrolling has drastically brought down cases of cattle smuggling between India and Bangladesh.
• BSF Raising Day is celebrated on December 1 as BSF was established on this day in 1965.
• BSF is a paramilitary force. It protects International border of India along with Pakistan and Bangladesh borders.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Personality in News

7. ‘Sirivennela’ Seetarama Sastry dies at the age of 66.

• Noted poet, Telugu film Lyricist ‘Sirivennela’ Seetarama Sastry died at the age of 66.
• He was born in present day Andhra Pradesh in 1955.
• He shot into limelight when provided songs for Sirivennela directed by eminent Director K Viswanath.
• He was honored with Padma Sri Award in 2019. He received State Government Nandi Awards for 11 times and film fare awards for 4 times.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Appointments

8. Admiral R Hari Kumar takes charge as 25th Chief of the Naval Staff.

• Admiral R Hari Kumar took charge as 25th Chief of the Naval Staff on 30 November 2021.
• The new Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Hari Kumar succeeds Admiral Karambir Singh who superannuated on 30 November 2021.
• Admiral R Hari Kumar was commissioned into Executive Branch of the Indian Navy on 1st January 1983.
• He has served in a variety of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments.
• He has been decorated with the Param Vishist Seva Medal, Ati Vishist Seva Medal and Vishist Seva Medal.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Miscellaneous

9. Merriam-Webster selected ‘Vaccine’ as its 2021 word of the year.

• Merriam-Webster has selected ‘Vaccine’ as its 2021 word of the year.
• Earlier, Collins Dictionary has declared NFT as its 2021 word of the year. NFT stands for “non-fungible token”.
• According to Collins Dictionary, NFT is a “unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain that is used to record ownership of an asset such as an artwork or a collectible”.
• Merriam-Webster is an American company that is known for its dictionaries. Collins Dictionary is published by HarperCollins in Glasgow, UK.

Topic: State News/ Nagaland

10. Nagaland's 59th Statehood Day: Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio launched the NIPUN Bharat Mission.

• On December 1, Nagaland’s 59th Statehood Day has been celebrated. Nagaland became the Union of India's 16th state on December 1, 1963.
• Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the then-President of India, had performed the formal inauguration of the state.
• A state-level programme has been organised at the Civil Secretariat Plaza in Kohima on this occasion.
• On this occasion, the Chief Minister launched the NIPUN Bharat Mission in Nagaland, as well as inaugurated a photography exhibition on the state's Glimpses of History.
• NIPUN Bharat Mission aims that every child gets reading, writing and numeracy abilities by the end of grade 3.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. NDTV and The Week teams win awards from the International Press Institute.

• Sreenivasan Jain and Mariyam Alavi of NDTV and Lakshmi Subramanian and Bhanu Prakash Chandra of The Week have jointly won the IPI India Award for Excellence in Journalism-2021.
• The award includes ₹1 lakh cash prize, a trophy and a citation, to each team.
• After considering the entries received, the selection was made by an eminent jury headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice Madan B Lokur.
• Ritika Chopra of The Indian Express had received the Excellence in Journalism Award-2020.
• In December 2021/January 2022, the Awards for 2020 and 2021 will be awarded at a ceremony in New Delhi.
• So far this award has been given to 16 media organizations and journalists of print and electronic media.

Topic: Important Days

12. World AIDS Day 2021: 1 December

• The World AIDS Day is celebrated every year on 1 December worldwide.
• UNAIDS is emphasizing the urgent need to end the inequalities that drive AIDS and other pandemics around the world on World AIDS Day.
• The theme for the World AIDS Day 2021 is “Ending the HIV Epidemic: Equitable Access, Everyone’s Voice”.
• In 1988, the first World AIDS Day was celebrated.
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) targets the immune system and weakens people’s defense against many infections and some types of cancer.
• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the most advanced stage of HIV infection.