Daily Current Affairs 18th Nov 2021 – News, Videos & MCQs

Get All the Important Current Affairs of 18th Nov 2021 in this blog. It covers all important sections like Banking Current Affairs, Finance Current Affairs, Sports Current Affairs, Latest Appointments, Awards and more. In this blog, you also get to solve Important Current Affairs MCQs of 18th Nov 2021.

Daily Current Affairs 18th Nov 2021

Important Days

World Philosophy Day is celebrated on Third Thursday of November each year.

• In 2021, the day falls on 18 November.
• It was first celebrated in 2002 by the United Nations.
• WPD aims to raise public awareness of the importance of philosophy.
• Philosophy comes from the Greek word phílosophía which means ‘the love of wisdom.’
• It is the study of the nature of reality and existence, of what is possible to know, and of right and wrong behaviour.

National Naturopathy Day is observed in India on 18 November every year, to promote
positive mental and physical health through drugless system of medicine, called as
Naturopathy.

• The day was declared by the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), Government of India, on November 18, 2018.
• It was on this day in 1945, when Mahatma Gandhi became life time Chairman of the All India Nature Cure Foundation Trust and signed the deed with the object of making the benefits of Nature Cure available to all classes of people.

National News

PM Modi has inaugurated the 82nd All India Presiding Officers Conference (AIPOC) in Shimla.

• The first Conference was held in Shimla in 1921 and the AIPOC is being held in Shimla for the seventh time.
• All India Presiding Officers’ Conference (AIPOC) is celebrating its hundred years in 2021.
• In this conference, various issues will be discussed such as the responsibility of presiding officers towards the Constitution, the House and the people.

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has presided over the conference.
• The Conference attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the presiding officers of all the States and Union Territories added the Lok Sabha speaker.
• Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also participate in the meeting.

• The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are the Presiding Officers of the Lok Sabha.
• The vice-President is the Presiding Officers of the Rajya Sabha.

First-of-its kind, dedicated fisheries business incubator has been inaugurated
in Gurugram of Haryana to nurture fisheries start-ups under real market-led conditions.

• The incubator is known as LINAC- NCDC Fisheries Business Incubation Centre (LlFlC).
• It was inaugurated by Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Parshottam Rupala on November 16, 2021
• The centre has been established at a cost of Rs. 3.23 crore under the central flagship Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
• The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) is the implementing agency for the LIFIC.
• The first batch of ten incubatees from four states (Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra) have already been identified.

Note: Prime Minister has set a target to achieve 22 million tonnes of fish production and
export to the tune of Rs one lakh crore by 2025.

Tamil film Koozhangal will be screened at the Indian Panorama segment in the 52
International film festival Goa.

Koozhangal is also India’s official entry for Academy Award for Oscars.

• It is a story about the relationship between an alcoholic, abusive husband and his wife. The story is from the viewpoint of their Child.
• 52 International Film Festival of India will be organized from 20 -28 November 2021 in Goa.

3-day Rashtra Raksha Samparpan Parv will be held in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh as part
of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

• 19th of November is the Birth Anniversary of Rani Lakshmi Bai, the epitome of bravery and courage and a great National icon of Rashtra Raksha and India’s Independence struggle.
• As a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, Rashtra Raksha Samparpan Parv will be organised from November 17 to November 19, 2021.
• This event is being organised by the defence ministry in association with the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

State in News

India’s first ‘grass conservatory’ or ‘germplasm conservation centre’ spread over an area
of 2 acres was inaugurated at Ranikhet in Almora district of Uttarakhand.

• This conservatory is funded under the Central Government’s CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) scheme and is developed by the research wing of the Uttarakhand Forest Department.
• To create awareness about the importance of grass species, promote their conservation, and facilitate research in the field.

Nainital district of Uttarakhand, a first of its kind botanical garden named ‘Shivalik
Arboretum’ has been inaugurated, for conserving over 210 species of trees found in
the Shivalik range of Himalayas.

• India’s first pollinator park has been developed at Haldwani in Nainital, of the state of Uttarakhand.
• India’s first Moss Garden has been unveiled at Nainital district of Uttarakhand.
• ITBP has established a ‘Water Sports and Adventure Institute (WSAI)’ near Tehri Dam Reservoir in Uttarakhand.
• India’s highest altitude herbal park has been inaugurated at Mana village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
• First-of-its-kind ‘Forest Healing Centre’ of India has been inaugurated at Ranikhet

▪ Uttarakhand Governor: Lt Gen Gurmit Singh;
▪ Uttarakhand Chief minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Financial News

WePOWER India Partnership Forum was held on November 9, 2021 in a virtual format.

• The event was organised by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in partnership with the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF).

• The objective of the forum was to scale up the South Asia Women in Power Sector Professional Network (WePOWER) in India.
• The event was attended by 168 key energy sector stakeholders.
• The WePOWER was launched in February 2019 jointly by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• WePOWER is a network of 28 energy sector utilities and organizations.
• Their work is to implement systematic and incremental gender activities to promote participation of women in energy projects and utilities and bring change in women and girls in Science Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education.

Defence News

Indian Army conducted the sixth edition of the biennial training exercise “Shakti”, with
the French Army from November 15, 2021. Shakti 2021 will be conducted from November
15 to November 26 in Frejus, France.

A platoon strength of a Gorkha Rifles Infantry Battalion is representing the Indian
Army in this bilateral exercise and the French side is being represented by troops of 21st
Marine Infantry Regiment of 6th Light Armoured Brigade.

▪ Important Exercise b/w India and France:
▪ Shakti
▪ Varuna
▪ Garuda
▪ Desert Knight

3rd edition of the Trilateral Maritime Exercise named SITMEX – 21 is being held from 15 to
16 Nov 21 in the Andaman Sea.

• The Navies of the India, Singapore and Thailand will participate in the event.
• Indian Naval Ship (INS) Karmuk is participating in the 3rd edition from India. It is an indigenously built Missile Corvette.
• The event is being hosted by Royal Thai Navy (RTN) in the Andaman Sea with an aim to enhance the cooperation between the participating navies towards augmenting the overall maritime security in the region.

Award

Two Delhi-based Indian teenage brothers Vihaan and Nav Agarwal have won the 17th
annual KidsRights International Children’s Peace Prize 2021 for tackling pollution from
household waste to achieve the goal of ‘Zero Waste India’.

• The prize includes a grant for their education and 100,000 euros for their project.
• They developed the “One Step Greener” initiative for segregating recyclables and organizing pickups for trash from thousands of homes.
• The duo received the award by Indian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi in The Hague, Netherlands.

Obituary

Padma Vibhushan awardee historian and author Babasaheb Purandare passes away at 99

• The eminent historian, orator and noted author from Maharashtra, Balwant Moreshwar Purandare has passed away. He was 99.

• The celebrated author was popularly known as Babasaheb Purandare.
• Purandare wrote extensively about Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
• He had earned the moniker ‘Shiv Shahir’ which literally means Shivaji’s bard.
• He was felicitated with the India’s second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, on 25 January 2019.

Former Vice President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Anand Shankar Pandya, has
passed away.

• He was over 99 years old.
• Pandya Ji was a prolific author and public intellectual.
• He wrote extensively on history, public policy and spirituality.

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Weekly Current Affairs

Monthly Current Affairs

Current Affairs 18th Nov 2021 – MCQs

Q. PIDF scheme was launched by RBI in January 2021, to subsidize deployment of
payment acceptance infrastructure (PoS) in Tier-3 to Tier-6 centres. The total corpus of
Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) of RBI has reached ______.
a) Rs 345 crore
b) Rs 945 crore
c) Rs 313crore
d) Rs 484 crore
e) Rs 614 crore

Answer: Option E
▪ Over 57 lakh payment acceptance devices deployed as on Sept’21
▪ Initially when the scheme was launched the corpus of PIDF was Rs. 345 crore
▪ Now various other Authorised Card Networks (Rs. 153.72) and Card Issuing Banks (Rs.
210.17 crores) have increased their contribution to the PIDF Scheme hence taking the
total corpus to Rs. 613.89 crore (approx Rs 614 crore).

Q. Which of the following Bank has signed an MoU with the Army Insurance Group
(AGI) to offer retail mortgage loans to the Indian Army personnel?
a) State Bank of India
b) Axis Bank
c) Karnataka Bank
d) Punjab National Bank
e) Kotak Mahindra Bank

Answer: Option B
As all Army personnel are entitled to draw pension, the borrower can also extend its
repayment period beyond their retirement thus enabling them to borrow higher loan, the
bank said.
▪ Through this agreement, the bank will offer higher loan amounts and also
provide facilities to transfer the balance of customers’ loans from AGI to Axis Bank.
▪ Founded: 3 December 1993
▪ Headquarters: Mumbai
▪ MD & CEO: Amitabh Chaudhary
▪ Chairperson: Shri Rakesh Makhija

Q. Who among the following has won the JCB Prize for Literature 2021 for his novel
‘Delhi: A Soliloquy’?
(a) S Hareesh
(b) M Mukundan
(c) Nandakumar K
(d) Benyamin
(e) Fathima E V

Answer: Option B

Author M Mukundan won the 2021 JCB prize for Literature, for his book ‘Delhi: A
Soliloquy’.
▪ The book, which has originally been written in Malayalam has been translated into
English by Fathima EV and Nandakumar K.
▪ The jury for this award comprised Sara Rai (Chair), Annapurna Garimella, Shahnaz Habib,
Prem Panicker, and Amit Varma.
▪ He will receive a prize amount of Rs 25 lakh.

Q. Which of the following Company has signed an MoU with Indian Oil Corporation
Limited (IOCL) to collaborate in the field of Renewable Energy and mutually explore
opportunities for supply of low carbon/RE RTC (round the clock) captive power.
a) BPCL
b) NTPC
c) PFC
d) CIL
e) HPCL

Answer: Option B
▪ This comes in the backdrop of Indian Oil announcing its plan to build the country’s first
green hydrogen plant at its Mathura refinery.
▪ NTPC Limited Founded: 1975
▪ Chairman & MD: Gurdeep Singh
▪ IOCL Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
▪ Headquarters: Mumbai
▪ Founded: 30 June 1959

Q. Which railway station has been renamed as Rani Kamlapati railway station ?
a) Indore Junction
b) Itwari Junction
c) Yesvantpur Junction
d) Bhopal Junction
e) None of these

Answer: Option E

▪ PM inaugurated revamped Rani Kamlapati railway station, earlier known as Habibganj, in
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
▪ The “most modern” Habibganj railway station has been renamed after Gond queen Rani
Kamlapati.
▪ It is said that Rani Kamlapati was the widow of the Gond ruler of Nizam Shah, the chief of
Ginnorgarh. The redeveloped station in Bhopal has been built on a cost of Rs 100 crore.

That is all from us in this blog on Current Affairs 18th Nov 2021.