GK and Current Affairs Updates

The board of Tata Steel voted to replace Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of the company and named State Bank of India veteran OP Bhatt as an interim replacement until the general meeting (EGM) is held on December 21. 
●    At the EGM, shareholders will vote to remove Mistry and Nusli Wadia as directors of the company as it takes note of the leadership changes at Tata Sons. 
●    The company said this decision was taken to also ensure stability in the larger interest of Tata Steel’s stakeholders including employees, trading partners, financial stakeholders and local community around its operations. 
●    Tata Steel said the decision to hold the EGM was taken at a board meeting on Friday -- a fallout of the November 10th notice from Tata Sons. 
●    Tata Sons, owns 29.75 per cent in Tata Steel and is the principal shareholder. 

West Bengal will get a share of Rs 900 to 1,000 crore out of Rs 21,000 crore additional fund sanctioned by the NABARD for the current rabi sowing season to tide over the cash crisis resulting from demonetisation.
●    National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Chief General Manager A K Raybarman expressed confidence that there would be no scarcity of money with sanctioning of up to Rs 1,000 crore.    
●    State Bank of India CGM P P Sengupta also said the bank would give priority to make cash available in the districts to take care of the farm sector.
●    If demand for cash is reduced by 70 per cent then it will be smooth going in the rabi season despite demonetisation, bankers felt.
●    Last year farm credit demand was some Rs 3 lakh crore in India.
 

Noted journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of the ‘Times of India’, Dilip Padgaonkar passed away on 25 November 2016, following a heart attack and multi-organ failure. 
●    He was 72.
●    Padgaonkar along with Information Commissioner Prof. M M Ansari and Prof. Radha Kumar formed a three-member interlocutors team, who were chosen by the Union Government in 2010 to conduct dialogues with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. 
●    He was born in Pune in 1944. 
●    His educational background includes schooling from St. Vincent’s High School, graduation from Fergusson College and finally a doctorate in humanities from the Sorbonne in France. 
●    Being fluent in French, he joined the Times of India as a correspondent from Paris and continued thereon to serve the company in different positions until he was appointed as the editor in 1988. 
●    He also worked with UNESCO in Bangkok and Paris from 1978-1986. 

The Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ashok Gajpathi Raju has said that his Ministry is committed to provide a hassle-free and comfortable air travel experience to people. 
●    To do this, he said, it is necessary to recognize the pattern of problems that people face, and make suitable systemic improvements in our working. 
●    The Minister launched the AirSewa portal and mobile app in New Delhi today. AirSewa is an initiative of the Ministry to offer people a convenient and hassle-free air travel experience. 
●    It will be operated through an interactive web portal as well as through a mobile app for both android and iOS platforms. 
●    The portal will include a mechanism for grievance redressal, backoffice operations for grievance handling, flight status/schedule information, airport Information and FAQs.
●    Participating in a panel discussion on the occasion Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation said that flight delays, problem in refunds, long queues and lack of proper facilities at airports and complaints of lost baggage are the most common problems that air travellers are facing today.
●    With the launch of AirSewa, passengers will be able to register their grievances through the mobile app or a web portal. 
●    The users will have the facility to upload voice or video along with an elaborate description of their issues. 
●    They will be given a unique reference number for each of their reported grievances which would also be communicated through an email as well as an SMS.

Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader of Cuba, died on 25 November 2016. He was 90. News of his death was announced on national television by President Raul Castro.
●    The former Cuban President and leader of the Communist revolution ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century before handing over the powers to his brother Raul in 2008. 
●    Born on 13 August 1926, Fidel Castro governed Cuba as its Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976.
●    Politically Marxist–Leninist, Castro also served the country as its President from 1976 to 2008.
●    He was the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. He held the post from 1961 to 2011.
●    His administration helped Cuba in turning into a one-party socialist state.
●    Under him, state socialist reforms implemented throughout society and the industry and business were nationalized.
●    He, who adopted the Marxist-Leninist model of development, converted Cuba into a one-party socialist state under Communist Party rule, which was first in the Western Hemisphere.

The 13th edition of the World Robot Olympiad, which is being held in India for the first time, aims to find innovative solutions using robotics technology to reduce, manage and recycle waste. 
●    Organised by National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) in collaboration with the India STEM Foundation (ISF), the three-day international championship that begins today, will see participation by over 2000 students from 54 countries.
●    Students in the age group of 9 to 25 years, will be participating in four categories – regular category, WRO football, open category and advanced robotics challenge.
●    According to organisers, the theme ‘Rap the Scrap’ is in line with Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission.
●    A science, technology, and education event, the Olympiad brings together young minds from across the world to develop their creativity and problem solving skills through challenging and educational robotics competition.
●    About 245 teams from India qualified for the National Championship held at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata and 27 teams qualified for WRO International Championship in different categories.
 

The 2016 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was observed across the world on 25 November 2016. 
●    The theme for the day is “Orange the World - raise funds to end violence against women”.
●    The colour orange in the theme symbolizes a better future without the pervasive human rights violation that affects 1 in 3 women and girls all over the globe.
●    The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed to raise awareness about violence against women and discuss solutions that would work for women community.
●    The United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women through a resolution 54/134 of 17 December 1999.
●    Women's activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981.
●    On 20 December 1993, the General Assembly, by resolution 48/104, adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, and Rodrigo Londono, the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), signed a new peace agreement on 24 November 2016.
●    The revised agreement will be submitted to Colombian Congress for approval. 
●    It will not be put to a country-wide vote, and would also not form a part of the Colombian constitution.
●    It is Colombian Government’s second attempt to end Latin America’s longest-running conflict, which has killed around 220000 people.
●    President Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.
●    The new accord introduces around 50 changes, which are intended to temper critics led by still-powerful former President Alvaro Uribe.
●    Under the revised accord, the rebels will have to declare their assets. The money will be used for reparation payments to victims of the conflict.

Physicists from the University of Sussex have developed a groundbreaking new technique that makes it much simpler to build large-scale trapped ion quantum computers, bringing us one big step closer to making quantum computers a reality in the near future.
●    Quantum computers are merely a concept, numerous computer science researchers around the world and billions of dollars have been invested to create them.
●    And it is believed that these new super-powerful computers will be available within the next 50 years.
●    Currently researchers around the world are building quantum computer systems either using trapped ions and atoms; particles of light; or superconducting circuits that act as qubits (a technique being researched by IBM).
●    To develop a quantum computer that makes use of trapped ions, the current method involves using laser beams to build quantum gates.
●    The research, entitled "Trapped-Ion Quantum Logic with Global Radiation Fields" is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Chinese technology company Lenovo has partnered with Paytm to ensure hassle-free cashless transactions that will benefit laptop buyers who are facing cash crunch after demonetisation.
●    The company’s entire notebook portfolio is covered under this initiative and is currently rolled out in 40 cities covering 350 retail partners of Lenovo.
●    “We have designed these schemes specially for our consumers and channel partners so that they can have a convenient and comfortable buying experience,” said Rajesh Thadani, Head and Executive Director, Consumer, Online and E-commerce, Lenovo India, in a statement.
●    Lenovo has also collaborated with Pine Labs to allow smooth conversion of transactions into EMI.
●    In addition to this, Lenovo has introduced special zero interest EMI option which will allow consumers to purchase any Lenovo laptop with zero down payment at the time of purchase, and is valid till November 30.