Daily Current Affairs : 21st November 2013

1. PM Dr Manmohan Singh today inaugurated the 3^rd BRICS International Competition Conference in New Delhi. On this occasion he called for freeing state-owned enterprises from bureaucratic control and giving them greater functional autonomy to enable them to face competition. The theme of the conference is: Competition Enforcement in BRICS Countries: Issues and Challenges. The participating countries are BRICS Nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The two-day conference is organised by Competition Commission of India (CCI) on behalf of BRICS countries.

2. Malala Yousafzai on Wednesday received the EU's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize for her brave crusade for the right of the children to education. The European Parliament President Martin Schulz presented the award to the 16-year-old at a ceremony in Strasbourg, France. Malala, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year, dedicated the award to "the unsung heroes of Pakistan" and to human rights campaigners worldwide. The 50,000-euro (USD 65,000) prize is considered Europe's top human rights award.

3. A Dutch Film named Kauwboy, directed by Boudewijn Koole won the Golden Elephant Award for best film in the 'International Live Action' category. The film is about a 10 year old boy and a bird. The 18th International Children's Film Festival concluded on 20 November 2013 in Hyderabad. The Jury Prize for the best artwork was won by a Hindi film Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya directed by Shilpa Ranade. During the film festival, Batul Mukthiar received the best director award for his film Kaphal in the International Live Action. The best screenplay award went to Nono-The Zigzag Kid.

4. India and Vietnam signed eight agreements on 20 November 2013 in areas of defence and security, oil exploration, civil aviation and scientific research. India will also assist Vietnam in the modernization and training of the defence and security forces of Vietnam and agreed to give a 100 million dollar line of credit to Vietnam for defence purchases. The agreements were signed by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong in New Delhi after delegation level talks.

5. Fifty-three years after their trip to India as Crown Prince and Crown Princess, Japanese Emperor Akihito and his wife Empress Michiko will arrive here on a six-day visit beginning November 30 with an aim to further strengthening bilateral ties. This will be the first time of an Emperor and Empress of Japan to India.

6. Cyclonic storm, 'HELEN' likely to cross south coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh tomorrow. NDRF teams being deployed to handle rescue and relief operations.

7. The All India Football Federation on Wednesday re-appointed its General Secretary Kushal Das for a second term of another three years in its Executive Committee meeting in New Delhi.

8. V. Baskaran appointed as Coach of the Senior Men Hockey Team on 20 November 2013. Baskaran will work under the recently appointed Chief Coach Terence Walsh. Hockey India on 15 October 2013 appointed the Terence Walsh as Chief Coach of the Senior Men National Hockey Team.

9. The long-serving Gurbax Singh Sandhu was on Wednesday retained as the national coach of the men's Indian boxing team till the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Sandhu, under whose guidance India won its first Olympic and World Championships medal through Vijender Singh (75kg), has been with the team for two decades. 

10. Frederick Sanger, a British biochemist who is the only person to win Nobel Prize two times for Chemistry died on 19 November 2013 in Cambridge, eastern England. He was aged 95.

11. India's senior women's hockey team coach Inderjit Singh Gill passed away in a fatal road accident near Sangrur in Punjab on 20 November 2013. Gill died at the age of 59. He was a Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach.

12. 14-year-old Mumbai teenager Prithvi Shaw created a national record on Wednesday, hitting an astonishing 546 playing for Rizvi Springfield against St Francis D'Assisi Borivali in an inter-school match for the prestigious Harris Shield in Mumbai. Prithvi hit 85 boundaries and five sixes in the match played at the Azad Maidan. In the process, Shaw became the first schoolboy cricketer to hit a 500 plus score in an official inter-school match. Prithvi eclipsed his senior schoolmate and former India opener Wasim Jaffer's nephew Arman's score of 498, which he scored a few years back. 

13. Uruguay became the last team to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, with a goal-less draw against Jordan in the return leg of their play-off in Montevideo.

14.  Ashes series begins at the Gabba, Brisbane. The opening Test match of the Ashes Series began at Gabba, Brisbane this morning.Australia won the toss and chose to bat to begin their defence of an unbeaten Test record at the Gabba since 1988-89. 

15. Darvis Patton, the US sprinter on 18 November 2013 announced his retirement after 13 years career. He won the Olympic silver medal as part of the 4x100 relay teams in the 2004 Athens Olympics and in London Olympics in 2012. 

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