Latest Current Affairs of November 2016 for UPSC IAS Prelims Examination

1st International Agro-biodiversity Congress

• Held in New Delhi

3rd World Internet Conference

• Wuzhen, China

COP7 to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

• Held in Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Chhattisgarh

• First state in the India to accept a resolution on demonetization of Rs. 1000 notes and Rs. 500

Committee to push cashless economy

• Headed by Amitabh Kant (Niti Aayog CEO)
• Aim: To form a strategy to expedite the process of transforming India into a cashless economy

Exercise Sampriti

• India and Bangladesh: Joint military exercise
• Location: Tangail, Dhaka

Fidel Castro

• Prime Minister of Cuba(1959 to 1976)
• President of Cuba (1976 to 2006)
• Passed away on 25 Nov 2016

GOES-R (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R)

• Geostationary weather satellite

Healthy India Initiative/Swastha Bharat-ek pehal Magazine

• Quarterly magazine
• Launched by Government of India
• To provide health-related information and promote awareness about healthy living

India’s first payments bank

• Rajasthan
• Launched by: Airtel
  It offers 7.25% interest on savings bank accounts

India’s first LNG fuelled bus

• Thiruvananthapuram
• Launched by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
• The initiative is a joint effort of Petronet LNG Limited (PLL), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. and Tata Motors Ltd.

INS Chennai

• Last of the ships in the Project 15A( stealth guided missile destroyers)
• Commissioned into the Indian Navy

Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea by International Maritime Organisation

• Winner: Radhika Menon
• First female captain of Indian Merchant Navy
• First woman in the world to be conferred International Maritime Organisation Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea

International Press Freedom Award

• Malini Subramaniam
• For reporting from the Naxal-infested Bastar area

Kerala

• The largest state so far to be acknowledged Open Defecation Free (ODF) under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) (Gramin)

Russia

• The country which has decided to pull out from the membership of the International Criminal Court

Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2016

• Akshaya Mukul
• Award-winning books: Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India

Sushil Chandra

• Chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

TAPAS 201 (RUSTOM-II)

• Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV

Task Force to recalibrate ATMs

• Headed by: SS Mundra
• Purpose: To speed up the process of recalibration of ATMs to dispense the new denomination notes

The founder of Sulabh International

• Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak
• Brand Ambassador: Swachh Rail Mission

Hand in Hand 2016

• India- China
• Joint Training Exercise
• Location: Pune

The toll-free Aadhaar helpline

• 1947
• Number was launched by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)

Word of the year by Oxford Dictionary

• Post-truth
• Meaning: Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief

World Robot Olympiad

• Theme: Rap the Scrap
• It was held for the first time in India

World Sanskrit Award

• Winner: Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
• Princess of Thailand
  For the promotion of Language

XPNAV-1

• X-ray pulsar navigation satellite
• Launched by China
• To conduct in-orbit experiments using pulsar detector