Daily GK Update: 30th November 2021

 Honours & Awards

1. Dhanush wins Best Actor award at 6th BRICS Film Festival

• Veteran actor Dhanush has bagged Best Actor Award at the sixth edition of BRICS Film Festival for his fim ‘Asuran’.
• The 6th BRICS Film Festival was held in India, alongside 52nd IFFI in Goa from November 20 to 28, 2021.
• Other winners:
  • Best Film: South African film ‘Barakat’ and Russian film ‘The Sun above Me Never Sets’.
  • Best Actor (Female): Lara Boldorini for On Wheels (Brazil).
  • Special Jury Mention Award: Director Yan Han for A Little Red Flower (China).

 National & International Appointments

2. Harshwanti Bisht appointed as President of Indian Mountaineering Foundation

• Noted mountaineer Harshwanti Bisht (62 years) has been elected as the first woman President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF).
• She won 60 out of a total of 107 votes to get elected to the post IMF’s President
• She scaled Nanda Devi peak in 1981 for which she was honored with the Arjuna award.
• IMF: It is an apex national body to organize and support, mountaineering and rock-climbing expeditions at high altitudes in Himalayas. It was founded in 1958.

 National Affairs

3. Indian Railways to come up with World’s Tallest Pier Bridge in Manipur

• Indian Railways is constructing the tallest pier railway bridge of the world in the state of Manipur.
• It is being built at a height of 141 metres.
• Currently, tallest pier bridge record is of Mala-Rijeka viaduct built at Montenegro in Europe with 139 metre height.
• The ambitious bridge project of Indian Railways in Manipur is part of Jiribam-Imphal railway line, which is a part of broad-gauge line.
• It will enable passengers to cover 111 km of distance in 2-2.5 hrs

 National & International Appointments

4. Admiral R. Hari Kumar assume charge as 25th Chief of the Naval Staff

• Admiral R. Hari Kumar has assumed charge as the 25th Chief of the Naval Staff and received Guard of Honour at the South Block lawns in New Delhi.
• He succeeded Admiral Karambir Singh
• He was commissioned on 1st January 1983 into the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy
• During his 39 years long and distinguished service, he has served in a variety of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments
• Awards: Param Vishist Seva Medal, Ati Vishist Seva Medal, Vishist Seva Medal.

 National & International Appointments

5. Parag Agrawal takes over as CEO of Twitter

• Indian tech wizard Parag Agrawal takes over as the CEO of social media platform Twitter, after the departure of its co-founder CEO.
• He succeeded Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey, who will continue to serve on the board of Twitter until his term expires in 2022 to help with the transition, before moving on.
• Parag Agrawal is an IIT alumnus and joined Twitter in 2011 and became the CTO in 2017.
• Headquarters of Twitter: San Francisco, U.S.

 International Affairs

6. Merriam-Webster Dictionary declares ‘Vaccine' as Word of the Year 2021

• American publishing company Merriam-Webster has declared the word ‘Vaccine’ as its Word of the Year for 2021.
• Vaccine word saw a 601% increase in definition lookups over the year, compared to 2020.
• The term ‘vaccine’ was used as an adjective in 1799 by British general practitioner Edward Jenner and vaccination was introduced Richard Dunning in 1800.
• Merriam-Webster is America’s most trusted online dictionary for English word definitions, meanings, and pronunciation.

 Honours & Awards

7. NDTV & The Week honoured with International Press Institute Award

• Sreenivasan Jain and Mariyam Alavi of NDTV, and Lakshmi Subramanian and Bhanu Praksh Chandra of The Week have been jointly awarded with International Press Institute (IPI) India Award for Excellence in Journalism 2021
• IPI India Award for Excellence in Journalism 2020 has been conferred to Ritika Chopra of The Indian Express.
• The awardees will be felicitated in New Delhi in Dec 2021 or Jan 2022.
• This award comes with cash prize of Rs 1 Lakh, trophy and citation

 Honours & Awards

8. ‘Lingui, The Sacred Bonds’ wins ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal at 52nd IFFI

• Internationally co-produced drama film Lingui: The Sacred Bonds has won ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal at IFFI 52 in Goa.
• Lingui was co-produced by Belgium France Germany and was made in Arabic and French.
• It reflects the story of the sacred relationship between a mother and daughter and their survival against the harsh laws set by men
• ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal award: It is given to the IFFI film that best reflects Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence.

 Honours & Awards

9. Japanese film ‘Ring Wandering’ bags top honour at IFFI

• Japanese director Masakazu Kaneko’s Ring Wandering has bagged the coveted Golden Peacock Award at 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa
• It captures the story of a laborer and an aspiring manga artist, whose search for bones to complete his art piece unearths war-time memories
• The movie has won the award for being beautifully photographed combination of fantasy and manga-inspired reality, reflecting echoes of the past and present-day Japan

 Sports

10. Saurav Ghosal becomes 1st Indian to win Malaysian Open Squash Championship

• Indian Squash star Saurav Ghosal has become the first Indian squash player to win Malaysian Open Championships.
• He defeated Miguel Rodriguez of Colombia by 11-7, 11-8 and 13-11 in the men’s singles final in Kuala Lumpur to win 2021 Malaysian Open Squash Championships title
• His runners-up performance in the 2003 edition was India's previous best result in men's singles
• Women’s single title of 2021 Malaysian Open squash championships has been won by Malaysia’s Aifa Azman

 Important Dates

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

• Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare is observed every year on 30th November as recognized by United Nation
• It was first observed in 2005.
• This day marks tribute to the victims of chemical warfare, as well as to reaffirm the commitment of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to the elimination of the threat of chemical weapons, thereby promoting the goals of peace, security, and multilateralism.

 National Affairs

12. All India Radio launches #AIRNxt programme

• All India Radio has launched new programme #AIRNxt, as part of the celebrations under ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav for the voices that represent Young India, starting from November 28, 2021.
• Under this, AIR stations, in all States and UTs across India, will give opportunity to youngsters from local colleges, universities to take part in AIR programming
• It is the biggest single theme show in all major Indian languages and dialects.

 Honours & Awards

13. Prasoon Joshi awarded IFFI ‘Indian Film Personality of the Year’ award

• Renowned lyricist and creative writer Prasoon Joshi has been conferred with the ‘Indian Film Personality of the Year’ award at 52nd International Film Festival in Goa.
• He has been conferred for his contribution to cinema, popular culture and socially significant artistic work.
• He entered Indian cinema as a lyricist in 2001 with Rajkumar Santoshi’s Lajja, and then went on to Taare Zameen Par, Rang De Basanti, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Neerja, Manikarnika, Delhi 6 and many more.