DAILY GK 26-27 NOV 2024
1.
GABON APPROVES NEW
CONSTITUTION IN REFERENDUM
·
The voters of Gabon have
approved a new
constitution in a referendum with preliminary results
indicating that 91.8% of
participants supported the proposed changes.
·
The voter turnout was reported at approximately 53.5%, according to Gabon’s
Interior Minister Hermann Immongault.
·
Presidential Term
Limits: The new
constitution introduces a limit of two terms for the presidency, with each term
extended from five to seven years.
·
Abolition of
the PM Position: The
role of prime minister has been abolished, centralizing executive power within
the presidency.
·
The constitution prohibits family members from succeeding a
president, aiming to prevent dynastic rule and ensure a more democratic
transfer of power.
·
Candidates must be exclusively Gabonese, requiring at least one Gabon-born parent
and a Gabonese spouse.
·
This provision
effectively disqualifies Ali Bongo Ondimba and his children from future candidacy
due to his marriage to a French national.
·
GabonCapital– Libreville
2.
ISRO
SIGNS IA WITH AUSTRALIAN AGENCY TO LAUNCH GAGANYAAN MISSION
·
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) formalised an
Implementation Agreement (IA) with
Australian Space Agency (ASA) for
strengthening the cooperation in space activities between both the countries.
·
This initiative enables collaboration on both space
agencies of crew and crew module recovery efforts for Gaganyaan mission (the country’s 1st Human spaceflight program).
·
The name Gaganyaan has its
roots in Sanskrit translating to ‘sky and vehicle’ and the primary objective of
this mission is to launch a team of astronauts into space, where they will
travel at an altitude of 400
km above Earth in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for a three-day
expedition before returning by landing in the Indian Ocean.
·
The launch of the
mission is expected to be in 2026.
·
Under the
Gaganyaan programme, ISRO will
carry out four missions who include 3
uncrewed space missionsand 1 crewed mission.
·
Group Captains
Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan and Angad Pratap, and Wing
Commander ShubanshuShukla, all with the Indian Air Force (IAF), have been
chosen as the astronaut-candidates for the mission.
·
ISRO is one of the six largest
space agencies in the world.
·
Chairman- Dr.Sreedhara Panicker Somanath
·
Headquarters- Bengaluru, Karnataka
·
Establishment– August 15, 1969
3.
COASTAL
DEFENCE EXERCISE ‘SEA VIGIL’
·
The Indian Navy(IN) conducted
the 4th edition
of the Pan-India Coastal Defence Exercise ‘Sea Vigil’ in two phases. The Coastal
Defence and Security Readiness Evaluation (CDSRE) phase and the tactical phase was conducted
cross all coastal States and Union Territories (UT) including Kerala,
Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
·
The exercise aims to strengthen the country’s maritime,
coastal, and offshore security and covers the entire 11,098 kilometres
(km) coastline and 2.4 million square kilometer (km²) of the Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ).
·
Chief of Naval
Staff (CNS)–
Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi
4.
NSG’S JOINT
COUNTER-TERRORISM, COUNTER-IED EXERCISE
·
The National
Security Guard (NSG) concluded the 10th national joint counter-terrorist exercise ‘Exercise Agnipariksha‘
and the 8th national joint counter-IED
exercise ‘Exercise Visfot Kawach‘
at NSG Garrison in Gurugram, Haryana.
·
The
exercise were aimed to enhance coordination and synergy
between the NSG and state forces in tackling terrorism and bomb disposal
scenarios.
·
The exercise saw
the involvement of 31
teams from Andhra Pradesh (AP), Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Puducherry, and
Chandigarh.
·
Additionally, 10 teams from five Central Armed Police
Forces (CAPFs) participated, totaling 667 elite commandos.
·
National
Security Guard (NSG) Director General (DG)– Brighu Srinivasan
·
Headquarters– Manesar, Gurugram
5.
CHINA’S
J-35 BECOMES SECOND 5TH-GENERATION FIGHTER
·
In November 2024,
China has unveiled its fifth-generation stealth fighter jet the Shenyang J-35 during
the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai,
China.
·
With this, China became the second nation in the world after the United States of America(USA)
to possess more than one fifth-generation fighter jet.
6.
CLIMATE
CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX 2025
·
According to Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2025, India ranked at 10th position with
overall score of 67.99 on
a list of over 60 countries assessed for efforts to fight climate change,
dropping from 7th position
in 2023.
·
As per the CCPI 2025, this latest ranking of India is
mainly attributed to its low per capita emissions and rapid deployment of
renewable energy.
·
The CCPI 2025 was released at the 29th Conference of
Parties (COP29) United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Baku,
Azerbaijan.
·
The index has left the 1st three places empty as no
country performed well enough across all index categories to achieve an
overall “very high” rating.
·
Thus, the index
is topped by Denmark (score
of 78.37) ranked at 4th
position, followed by the
Netherlands (score of 69.60) and the United Kingdom (UK) with overall
score of 69.29 ranked at 5th and 6th position,
respectively.
·
The latest edition
of CCPI has tracked the climate performance of 63 countries and the
European Union (EU), which
together generated over
90% of global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
·
The UK and India are the only two
Group-20 (G20) countries
ranked among the high climate performers in the CCPI 2025.
7.
WORLD
BANK’S ‘JOBS AT YOUR DOORSTEP’ REPORT
·
Union Minister DharmendraPradhan, Ministry of Education(MoE)
and Union Minister Dr.MansukhMandaviya,
Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E) launched the World Bank’s report titled “Jobs at Your Doorstep: A Jobs Diagnostics
for Young People in Six States” during an event held in
New Delhi
·
The 6 states covered in this report are Himachal Pradesh(HP), Kerala, Madhya Pradesh(MP), Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan, which are
collectively known as the Strengthening
Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) states.
·
The report
highlights the benefits of embedding skill-based
education from grades 9-12 to prepare students for a diverse career path.
·
NEP aims to achieve 50% of students accessing skill education by 2025 and all
secondary schools offering skill education by 2030.
·
The program is
implemented as a centrally sponsored scheme supported by the WB through a loan
of USD 500 million along with contributions of State share as per the fund
sharing pattern of the scheme.
8.
SUSTAINABLE
TRADE INDEX 2024
·
According to the Sustainable Trade Index (STI) 2024, India which is
the 5th largest
economy in the world, ranked at 23rd position
globally with overall score of 24 out
of 100.
·
India has improved its ranking by 1 place from 24th spot in 2023.
·
As per the STI 2024, New Zealand has again emerged as the “most sustainable trade economy” for
the 3rd consecutive
year with overall score of 100.
·
United
Kingdom (UK), ranks 2nd, followed by Australia in 3rd position
respectively.
·
India’s STI 2024 and its ranking position of three
pillars: 16th in Economic Resilience,28th
in Societal Pillar ,28th in Environmental Pillar.
·
Russia
has been consistently ranked lowest, with a score of 0 and a consistent 30th in
Environmental and 25th in Economic Pillars.
·
Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Papua New Guinea are
among the bottom 5 economies in STI 2024.
·
The International Institute for Management
Development (IMD) was established
in 1946 as the International Management Institute (IMI) and later renamed to
IMD in 1990.
·
Headquarters- Lausanne, Switzerland
9.
NETWORK
READINESS INDEX 2024
·
The Network Readiness Index 2024, published by
Portulans Institute (PI)
and Said Business School at the University of Oxford, has ranked the United States of America (USA) as the world leader in
network readiness for the 3rd consecutive
year with an overall score of 78.96.
·
Singapore was
ranked 2nd (76.94)
followed by Finland on
3rd (75.76), Sweden on 4th (74.99)
and Republic of Korea on 5th spot (74.85)
respectively.
·
India
is ranked 49th globally with a total score of 53.63.
·
Among the
lower-middle-income countries, India is ranked 2nd only to Vietnam (45th).
10.
UNICEF’S
SOWC 2024 REPORT
·
According to the
State of the World’s Children (SOWC
2024) report which is a global flagship report of United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), titled “The Future of Childhood in a Changing World”, the global child
population will stabilize at around 2.3
billion by 2050, with
a significant shift in regional distributions.
·
As per the report, South Asia will remain one of the regions
in the world with the largest child populations, along with Eastern and
Southern Africa as well as West and Central Africa.
·
Globally,
nearly 1 billion children
already face extreme vulnerability to climate and environmental hazards and
this figure is estimated to increase dramatically without significant
interventions.
·
UNICEF
Executive Director- Catherine
Mary Russell
·
Headquarters- New York
·
Established- 1946
11.
TIMES
INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE RANKINGS 2025
·
India has made great progress in global university
rankings, especially in
Interdisciplinary Science, as shown in the Times Higher Education (THE)
Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2025.
·
This ranking highlights universities that are leading the way in research and collaboration
across different subjects to tackle global challenges like climate change,
health issues, and technology developments.
·
India has emerged as the most represented country in the rankings, with 65 Indian universities making it to the list.
·
Top
Indian Universities Anna University (Rank 42),VIT University
(Rank 65),Jawaharlal Nehru University (Rank 105).
·
Global
Leaders in Interdisciplinary Science MIT
(USA) – Rank 1,Stanford University (USA) – Rank 2,National University of
Singapore (Singapore) – Rank 3
12.
IOC
COACHES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS 2024
·
Diving coach Jane Figueiredo (Zimbabwe/Portugal)
and Pole vault coach Vitaliy Petrov (Ukraine)
were honored with 6th International
Olympic Committee (IOC) Coaches
Lifetime Achievement Awards
·
The IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards was launched
in 2017.
·
This award is
annually awarded to 2 coaches each year (1 female, 1 male) to recognise the
vital role played by coaches in the life of any athlete, both on and off the
field of play.
·
IOC
President- Thomas Bach
·
Headquarters- Lausanne, Switzerland.
·
Establishment- 1894
13.
67TH GRAMMY
AWARDS NOMINATIONS
·
Indian music
composer and environmentalist Ricky Kej and Anoushka Shankar, British-American
sitarist and Indian musician have been nominated at the 67th Grammy
Awards.
·
The 67th Grammy
Awards are set to be held in February 2025, in Los Angeles (LA),
California, the USA.
14.
PFIZER
AWARD
·
Professor Projit Bihari Mukharji of
Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana has received the 2024 Pfizer Award for
his book “Brown
Skins, White Coats: Race Science in India, 1920–66” published in 2023 by University of
Chicago Press.
·
The award, presented by the History of Science Society (HSS), recognizes his
significant work exploring the intersection of race, science, colonialism, and
nationalism in India.
15.
GREEN
WORLD AWARDS 2024
·
Coal
India Limited (CIL), ‘Maharatna’ enterprise under the Ministry of
Coal, Government of India, has been honored with the prestigious Green World Environment Award 2024 in
the Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) category and named Green World Ambassador.
·
The award was received by Director (Personnel/IR),
CIL, VinayRanjan at
The Orangery, Kensington Palace, London, United Kingdom (UK).
·
The award was
presented by The Green
Organization, an independent environmental group established in
1994 to promote global environmental and CSR best practices.
·
Coal
India Limited (CIL), the
state-owned coal mining corporate established
in 1975, is headquarters situated in Kolkata, West Bengal.
16.
DR.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. GLOBAL PEACE AWARD
·
NarendraModi, Prime
Minister (PM)
of India was
honoured (in absentia) with
the Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. Global Peace Award for Minority Upliftment.
·
The award was jointly presented by Washington Adventist University and
Association of Indian American Minorities (AIAM) to PM Modi.
·
The award recognised PM Modi’s efforts toward inclusive development and minority welfare.
·
The award is named after Dr.Martin Luther King Jr., an American, known for his contributions to the
American Civil Rights Movement, and it honours his lasting legacy in
promoting equality, justice, and human rights.
17.
FIH
HONORARY MEMBER AWARD
·
Former Euro
Hockey President MarijkeFleuren(Netherlands)
was honoured with the FIH
Honorary Member Award by FIH President TayyabIkram during the
49th FIH Statutory Congress held in
Muscat, Oman.
·
During the event,
FIH launched FIH Women
in Hockey Empowerment Project, a transformative platform
designed to uplift and engage female players, coaches, officials, and leaders
in Hockey.
18.
WOMEN’S
ASIAN CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2024
·
The Indian
women’s hockey team won the 8th Women’s Asian
Champions Trophy(ACT) 2024 by defeating the People’s
Republic of China (PRC)
1-0 in the final held at the Rajgir
Hockey Stadium in Bihar.
·
This marks India’s 3rd Womens ACT title.
·
China secured the 2nd spot while Japan beat Malaysia 4-1
to finish 3rd in the Women’s ACT 2024.
·
India received the prize amount of USD 10,000, while China and
Japan were awarded USD
7,000 and USD
5,000 respectively.
·
With this title
win, India has now equaled with South Korea for the
most Women’s Asian Champion’s Trophy titles, with 3 titles each.
·
The event features six best Asian women’s
national teams.
19.
RAFAEL
NADAL RETIRES FROM TENNIS
·
Spanish
tennis
legend Rafael Nadal (38
years old) retires from professional tennis after Spain lost to the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
·
He has ended his 23-year long career with winning 22 Grand Slam titles.
·
He is second in terms of the greatest number of Grand
Slam titles only behind Novak Djokovic (Serbia)., currently with 24 the most major
titles.
·
Roger Federer (Switzerland) has 20 Grand Slam titles
to his name.
·
He also won
Olympic singles gold at
the 2008 Beijing
Olympics.
·
He secured an
Olympic doubles gold
at the 2016 Rio Olympics with
Marc López.
·
Nadal surpassed
his joint-record with Djokovic and Federer for the greatest number of Grand
Slam men’s singles titles at the 2022
Australian Open, and became one of four men in history to
complete the double Career Grand Slam in singles.
·
He is known as
the King of Clay as
he dominated the French Open tournament
with the greatest number of wins with 14 titles
being the most won by any player at a single major tournament and
winning 112 of
his 116 major matches at Roland Garros.
20.
ARCHERY:
INDIA FINISHED 3RD AT GT OPEN 2024
·
India finished 3rd on the medal tally
with 2 medals (1
Gold and 1 silver) at the GT
Open 2024 – Indoor World Series (IWS) 250 event held
in Strassen, Luxembourg.
·
Indian archer JyothiSurekhaVennam won
the Gold medal
in the Women’s Compound event and AbhishekVerma won
the silver medal
in the Men’s compound event.
·
The Netherlands topped
the medal tally with 2 gold medals
followed by Croatia at
2nd rank with 3 medals (1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze).
·
South
Korea and India were
jointly ranked 3rd with 2 medals (1 Gold and 1 Silver) each.
