Daily Current Affairs and GK | 23 November 2021

Topic: National News

1. President Ram Nath Kovind presented Gallantry Awards and Distinguished Service Decorations to Armed Forces Personnel.

• At the Defence Investiture Ceremony conducted in Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Ram Nath Kovind bestowed Gallantry Awards and Distinguished Service Decorations to Armed Forces Personnel.
• Corps of Engineers Sapper Prakash Jadhav was posthumously awarded the second-highest peacetime gallantry award, the Kirti Chakra, for neutralizing terrorists in an operation in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal has been posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra.
• For killing an A category terrorist during an operation in Jammu and Kashmir, Naib Subedar Sombir was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra.
• The Vir Chakra was awarded to Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter plane in aerial battle.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

2. AB de Villiers announced his retirement from cricket in all forms.

• AB de Villiers has announced his retirement from all forms of the game.
• The 37-year-old cricketer's decision has effectively ended his association with the Royal Challengers Bangalore side in the Indian Premier League.
• He represented the Proteas in 114 Tests, 228 ODIs, and 78 T20Is. South Africa's national cricket team is also known as the Proteas.
• In 2018, he had announced his retirement from international cricket.
• De Villiers made his Test debut against England in 2004 and has since played 114 Tests, scoring 8,765 runs at a 50.66 average. He has the best score of 278 not out, as well as 22 centuries to his credit.
• De Villiers made his ODI debut against England in 2005 and has since played 228 ODIs, scoring 9577 runs at an outstanding average of 53.50.
• In one-day internationals, he had the highest score of 176 with a strike rate of 101.09. In ODIs, he has 25 centuries.
• He made his T20 international debut against Australia and has since scored 1672 runs at an average of 26.12 in 78 T20 internationals.

Topic: Reports and Indices

3. Andhra Pradesh ranked first in Indian Police Foundation's list of Smart Policing index.

• Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Assam are ranked at 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place respectively in Indian Police Foundation's list of Smart Policing index.
• Andhra Pradesh Police and Telangana Police have scored 8.11 and 8.10 points respectively. Assam Police achieved overall rating of 7.89 out of 10.
• Uttar Pradesh Police has got 28^th rank with a score of 5.81 points. Bihar Police got last and 29th position with a score of 5.74 points.
• PM Modi introduced and articulated idea of SMART Policing at the Conference of DGPs of State and Central Police Organizations organized in Guwahati in 2014.
• About IPF SMART Policing Survey 2021:
  • Indian Police Foundation (IPF) conducted “IPF SMART Policing Survey 2021” in 29 states and Union Territories of India and published its report.
  • The survey questionnaire was designed by IPF around 10 areas of SMART policing. It comprised 6 indicators of competence, 3 indicators of values and 1 indicator of public trust.   
  • The scores on a scale of 1 to 10 indicated levels of citizen satisfaction. A score of 10 meant highest satisfaction level.
  • Experts from IIT-Kanpur, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and other institutes were involved in the survey.
• Purposes of the survey:
  • Collecting information on citizens’ perceptions of the impact of the SMART policing
  • Assessing public perceptions of the quality of policing in India
  • Assessing level of public trust in the police

Topic: Personality in news

4. Gurmeet Bawa, famous as lambi hek di mallika, passes away.

• She was a renowned Punjabi folk singer and best known for her 45-second long ‘hek’.
• Hek is the alaap during the opening of a song. Her hek is considered the longest ever hek by any Punjabi folk singer.
• She was among the first women artists to perform on Doordarshan. She started the trend of long ‘hek’ before starting a song. She created the record of 45-second hek.
• She received Sangeet Puraskar by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and national Devi Ahilya Award by the Madhya Pradesh government.
• She also received Shiromani Gayika Award from the Punjabi Language Department.

Topic: State News/ Odisha

5. Udan Utsav celebrated in Jharsuguda, Odisha.

• Udan Utsav was celebrated at Veer Surendra Sai Airport in Jharsuguda, Odisha.
• Civil Aviation Minister Shri Jyotiraditya M Scindia interacted with the airport directors and beneficiaries of UDAN scheme during the celebrations of Udan Utsav.
• He also flagged off a new air route between Shilong and Dimapur under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
• An exchange of partnership agreement also took place between Udan and MakemyTrip.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

6. Shows produced by Doordarshan and AIR received multiple awards at ABU-UNESCO Peace Media Awards 2021.

• At the recently held ABU - UNESCO Peace Media Awards 2021 at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, shows produced by Doordarshan and AIR have bagged many awards.
• Doordarshan’s programme 'DEAFinitely Leading the Way' won an award under ‘Living Well with Super Diversity’ category. The programme deals with the journey of a specially abled child.
• AIR’s progra​mme​​​ ‘Living on the edge – The coastal lives’​ ​​won another award in the category of ‘Ethical & Sustainable Relationship with Nature’. In this programme, life of fishing communities living on the edge in Visakhapatnam has been showcased.
• Under the ‘Together for Peace’ (T4P) initiative, UNESCO gave away the awards in collaboration with Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).
• The awards promote crucial role of independent, ethical journalism and citizens’ media literacy for building positive peace in human minds.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

7. Fifth EAS Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation being organized in Kolkata.

• Fifth East Asia Summit (EAS) Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation is being organized in Kolkata from 23rd to 24th November.
• India is organizing the EAS Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation in partnership with Australia.
• Organizers also include ASEAN-India Centre at Research and Information System for Developing Countries, Australia‘s National Maritime Foundation and Research Centre for East and North East Regional Studies, Kolkata.
• At the conference, experts will discuss maritime security cooperation under four thematic sessions given below.
  • Maritime Security
  • Resource and Information Sharing
  • Science and Technology Cooperation
  • Pandemic and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management

Topic: Appointments

8. ICC appoints Australian former cricketer Geoff Allardice as its full-time CEO.

• International Cricket Council (ICC) has appointed Australian former cricketer Geoff Allardice as its full-time CEO.
• Geoff Allardice was serving as ICC CEO on interim basis. Allardice replaced Manu Sawhney. Allardice has previously served as ICC General Manager, cricket.    
• In March 2021, Sawhney was sent on leave due to a pending inquiry against him. He had resigned in July 2021.

Topic: Reports and Indices

9. Sadar Bazar Police Station of Delhi ranked top in the Nation.

• As part of the yearly home ministry exercise to grade police stations, the Sadar Bazar police station in Delhi has been ranked as the best police station in the nation.
• Gangapur police station in the Ganjam district of Odisha has been ranked as the second-best police station in the Nation.
• Bhattu Kalan police station in Fatehabad of Haryana has been ranked as the third-best police station in the Nation.
• Top 10 police stations of the country:

• The police stations are ranked every year in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directives given during the 2015 DGP conference in Kutch, Gujarat.
• The ranking procedure evaluates police station effectiveness on factors such as handling of property offences, crime against women, crime against weaker sections, missing persons cases, infrastructure, approachability of personnel, and feedback of citizens etc.
• The best police station in the country in 2020 was Nongpok Sekmai PS in Manipur's Thoubal district, followed by the all-women police station Suramangalam in Salem City, Tamil Nadu; and Kharsang in Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh.

Topic: Sports

10. Alexander Zverev defeats Daniil Medvedev to win his second ATP Finals championship.

• In tennis, Alexander Zverev of Germany won his second Nitto ATP Finals title by defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the finals in Turin, Italy.
• In the semi-finals, Zverev had defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
• With his victory, Zverev became only the fourth player in tournament history to defeat the top two players in the ATP Rankings in the semi-finals and finals.
• Zverev, the World No. 3, won two ATP Masters 1000 titles in Madrid and Cincinnati earlier this year, as well as the Tokyo Olympic singles gold medal.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: State News/Jammu and Kashmir

11. A new Aayakar Bhawan-cum- Residential Complex 'The Chinars' inaugurated by Nirmala Sitharaman in Srinagar.

• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has inaugurated 'The Chinars,' a new Aayakar Bhawan-cum-Residential Complex at Rajbagh in Srinagar.
• The Income Tax Building was damaged in a terrorist attack in 2005.
• Many projects in Jammu and Kashmir have been completed under the Prime Minister's Development Programme (PMDP), Union Finance Minister said.
• Under this initiative, a number of developmental projects will be carried out in the coming days for the overall benefit of the inhabitants of the Union Territory.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Sports

12. 34^th All India Postal Wrestling Championship commenced on 22 November.

• 34th All India Postal Wrestling Championship commenced on 22 November in New Delhi.
• As Chief Guests, wrestler Bajrang Punia and coach Anil Mann attended the inaugural ceremony.
• Eleven postal circles from all over the country, including Delhi, are participating in this event.
• The inter-departmental competition will include a total of 98 wrestlers, including state and national champions.
• Women's wrestling has been inducted into the Postal Wrestling Championship for the first time in Championship history.

(Source: News on Air)