Current Affairs: November 20, 2016

www.talentsprint.com 1

November 20, 2016

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia receives 2016 Sumitra Charat Ram Award

Noted flautist Pandit Hari Prasad Chourasia (78) was

conferred 2016 Sumitra Charat Ram Award for lifetime

achievement in the field of Indian classical music. The

prestigious award bestowed upon him by Lt Governor

Najeeb Jung at a function held in New Delhi. Chaurasia

had started learning vocal music at the tender age of 15

from his neighbour Pandit Rajaram. Later, he had switched over to playing the classical flute

under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna of Varanasi. He plays in the North Indian

tradition. He joined the All India Radio (AIR), Cuttack, Odisha in 1957 and worked as a

composer and performer.

Tamil Nadu gets world’s first salt-tolerant plant garden

The world’s first Genetic Garden of Halophytes

(naturally occurring salt-tolerant plants) was

inaugurated at the coastal town of Vedaranyam in

Tamil Nadu. The first of its kind garden in the

world was inaugurated by Mauritius President

Ameenah Gurib Fakim through video-

conferencing. The garden has been set up by M S

Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) founded by eminent agriculture scientist Prof M S

Swaminathan, father of Indian Green Revolution. It will have over 1,600 species belonging to

Current Affairs: November 20, 2016

www.talentsprint.com 2

550 genera and 117 families of Halophytes plants. Initially it will comprise halophytes occurring

along the coasts of India including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Income Tax Department to launch Project Insight in May 2017

The Income Tax department is planning to implement the

first phase of ‘Project Insight’ from May 2017 to monitor

high value transactions, with a view to curbing the

circulation of black money. This project has been initiated

for data mining, collection, collation and processing of

such information for effective risk management with a view to widening and deepening tax

base. ‘Project Insight’ is an integrated platform that will utilize vast amount of information

easily available on social media to conduct raids online rather than traditional way of

conducting random searches, known as tax raids.

World Toilet Day is observed on November 19

The World Toilet Day is observed every year across the

world on 19 November to raise awareness and inspire

action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. Significance of

Day: It seeks to draw attention of people around the

world to raise global awareness of the daily struggle for

proper sanitation which in fact is a human right along with clean water. 2016 theme is ‚Toilets

and jobs‛. It focuses on how sanitation or the lack of it, can impact on livelihoods. It also

highlights the importance of crucial role played by Toilets in creating a strong economy, as well

as improving health and protecting people’s safety and dignity, particularly women’s and girls’.

Current Affairs: November 20, 2016

www.talentsprint.com 3

The observance of this day is coordinated by United Nations-Water in collaboration with

Governments of member countries and relevant stakeholders.

NASA launches Next Generation Weather Satellite GOES-R

The NASA has successfully launched highly advanced

geostationary weather satellite Geostationary Operational

Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R). It was launched on

board of Atlas 5 rocket which had lifted off from Cape

Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The satellite will boost

the US’s weather observation capabilities, leading to more

accurate and timely forecasts, watches and warnings. GOES-R is the first of four new advanced

weather satellites of the GOES-R program managed by US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA). It will become operational within a year after undergoing a testing

and validation of its six new instruments, including the first operational lightning mapper in

geostationary orbit.