29 November 2017 Current Affairs
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French film on AIDS wins Best Film Award at IFFI 2017
Robin Campillo’s French film 120 Beats Per Minute, about a passionate fight against indifference towards AIDS, won the prestigious Golden Peacock award for best film at the controversy-ridden 48th International Film Festival of India. The film’s actor Nahuel Perez Biscayart won the Silver Peacock in the best actor male category. Malayalam film Take Off, which is loosely based on the evacuation of nurses from Kerala, who were stranded in Iraq’s Tikrit in 2014, won two awards at the festival’s Indian Panorama section, winning Silver Peacocks for best direction (Mahesh Narayanan) and best actor female (Parvathy). Actor Amitabh Bachchan was also presented the Indian film personality of the year award.
Bitcoin Crosses $10,000 for the First Time Ever
Bitcoin rose above the symbolic $10,000 threshold for the first time, bringing its rise for the year to date to more than 900 per cent. The price of the cryptocurrency edged above $10,000 on Coinbase, the largest dollar denominated bitcoin exchange, which gave the latest price as $10,052 in Asia. Bloomberg data gave the intraday high as $10,058 before easing to $9,999.Bitcoin was trading at around $1,000 dollars at the beginning of 2017.
India and UK to sign MoU in Urban Transport Sector
India and United Kingdom (UK) will soon sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the urban transport sector for cooperation in policy planning, technology. The draft of MoU was finalised by Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari and Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport of UK. It will also help in promoting digital transactions and induction of high capacity diesel and electric vehicles (EVs) in India.
Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of Freedom of Oxford Award
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of the Freedom of Oxford award over her “inaction” in handling the raging Rohingya refugee crisis and turning a “blind eye to violence” in the country that forced over 600,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. Oxford City Council in London voted unanimously to permanently remove the honour given to 72-year-old Suu Kyi in 1997.
Snehlata Shrivastava appointed first woman Secretary General of Lok Sabha
Snehlata Shrivastava has been appointed as the new Secretary General of the Lok Sabha. She will be the first woman Secretary General of the Lok Sabha and will assume charge on 1 December. Her tenure will end on 30 November, 2018. She will succeed Anup Mishra who resigned from his post.
Jet Airways and Air France-KLM tie up to Boost Traffic
Jet Airways and Air France-KLM announced a partnership to route more traffic through Europe and on to North America, in a potential challenge to Gulf carrier Etihad Airways that is a shareholder in Jet. The agreement also includes Delta Air Lines, with which Air France KLM has an existing partnership.
Thodupuzha Vasanthi passes away
Popular Malayalam stage, movie and television actor Thodupuzha Vasanthi passed away at a private hospital in Thodupuzha, Kerala. Thodupuzha Vasanthi was 65 years old. She was battling cancer for some time now. Her film career began in 1975. She had acted in over 450 films. She had won the state government award for theater acting.
Pradeep appointed as Air India CMD
Senior IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Air India. Pradeep, a Karnataka cadre IAS officer, would replace Rajiv Bansal, who has been serving as the interim CMD for a little over three months. Currently, Pradeep Singh Kharola is the Managing Director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.
Russia to Help India to Set up National Crisis Response Centre
Russia will assist India to set up a national crisis management centre in the country to handle disaster and other emergency situations. This was agreed during a meeting between Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Russian Minister for Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov in Moscow. Both sides agreed that EMERCOM of Russia would cooperate with India in the establishment of the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) in India.