Today's Event – 26th November 2021

• 1476 – Vlad the Impaler defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Báthory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.

• 1778 – In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.

• 1789 – A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as proclaimed by President George Washington at the request of Congress.

• 1805 – Official opening of Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

• 1812 – The Battle of Berezina begins during Napoleon's retreat from Russia.

• 1863 – United States President Abraham Lincoln proclaims November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November. Following the Franksgiving controversy from 1939 to 1941, it has been observed on the fourth Thursday in 1942 and subsequent years.

• 1914 – HMS Bulwark is destroyed by a large internal explosion with the loss of 741 men near Sheerness.

• 1917 – The Manchester Guardian publishes the 1916 secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France.

• 1917 – The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams.

• 1918 – The Montenegran Podgorica Assembly votes for a "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia.

• 1922 – Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.

• 1922 – The Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor. (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so, but it was not widely distributed.)

• 1939 – Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates an incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.

• 1942 – Casablanca, the movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premieres in New York City.

• 1949 – The Constituent Assembly of India adopts the constitution presented by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

• 1965 – France launches Astérix, becoming the third nation to put an object in orbit using its own booster.

• 1968 – Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor.

• 1983 – Brink's-Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brink's-Mat vault at Heathrow Airport.

• 1986 – Iran–Contra affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.

• 1986 – The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of committing war crimes as a guard at the Nazi Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.

• 1991 – National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities back to their original names.

• 1998 – Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

• 1998 – The Khanna rail disaster takes 212 lives in Khanna, Ludhiana, India.

• 1999 – The 7.5 Mw  Ambrym earthquake shakes Vanuatu and a destructive tsunami follows. Ten people were killed and forty were injured.

• 2000 – George W. Bush is certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote.

• 2004 – Ruzhou School massacre: A man stabs and kills eight people and seriously wounds another four in a school dormitory in Ruzhou, China.

• 2004 – The last PoÊ»ouli (Black-faced honeycreeper) dies of avian malaria in the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, Hawaii, before it could breed, making the species in all probability extinct.

• 2008 – Mumbai attacks, a series of terrorist attacks killing approximately 166 citizens by 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan based extremist Islamist terrorist organisation.

• 2008 – The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2, now out of service, docks in Dubai.

• 2011 – NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani check post in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others.

• 2011 – The Mars Science Laboratory launches to Mars with the Curiosity Rover

• 2018 – The robotic probe Insight lands on Elysium Planitia, Mars.

National Events- 

• Indians in Israel commemorated the victims of senseless killings by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in the 26/11 Mumbai attack, demanding swift justice by punishing the masterminds of the 2008 carnage and seeking coordinated efforts to tackle the menace of terrorism. 

•  The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted searches at multiple locations in Kashmir in connection with the Al-Qaeda case of Lucknow. The searches were conducted at five locations in Shopian and Budgam districts of Kashmir, the agency said in a statement.

•  Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said the BJP is laying the foundation stone of Noida International airport while selling other existing airports in the country.

•  Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's direction that Asia's biggest airport has to be built in Uttar Pradesh, as he joined the foundation-laying ceremony for the Noida International Airport.

• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said the country has to decide if the sweetness of sugarcane will grow or the followers of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah will cause mischief in the State, in a veiled attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP).

International Events- 

•  A large explosion outside a school in Somalia's capital on Thursday killed at least eight people, including students, witnesses said. The extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.

•  Equity benchmark Sensex overcame a wobbly start to close with smart gains on Thursday, propelled by hectic buying in index heavyweight Reliance Industries amid expiry of monthly derivative contracts.  A depreciating rupee, persistent foreign fund outflows and mixed global cues capped the gains, traders said.  Reversing the previous session’s losses, the 30-share index ended 454.10 points or 0.78 per cent higher at 58,795.09. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 121.20 points or 0.70 per cent to close at 17,536.25. Reliance Industries hogged the limelight in the Sensex pack, soaring 6.10 per cent, followed by ITC, Infosys.

•  The Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC),which is part of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on Thursday said a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies will encourage non-state players, thereby leading to more unlawful usage of such currencies.

•  Interpol on Thursday elected a contentious official from the United Arab Emirates as its new president during the international law enforcement body's annual General Assembly held in Istanbul.

• Official figures released Thursday show Germany has become the latest country to pass the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

Job alerts-

• Naval Ship Repair Yard Jobs for ITI Apprentices and other posts. Last date 20/12/2021

• SVPUAT Jobs for Assistant Professors and other posts. Last date 10/12/2021

• HNBGU Jobs for Teaching Posts and other posts. Last date 17/12/2021

• DMER Jobs for Staff Nurse (Nursing Officer) and other posts. Last date 27/12/2021

• MECON Jobs for Assistant Manager and other posts. Last date 25 Dec, 2021

Sports-

• The first unofficial Test between India A and South Africa A here ended in a draw after play on fourth and final day was washed out. 

•  A decision will be taken in the next 24-48 hours if the Netherlands’ tour of South Africa will be allowed to continue amid concerns over a new COVID-19 variant, Cricket South Africa (CSA) stated in a press release on Friday.

•  A revamped SC East Bengal would look to set the record straight against favourites ATK Mohun Bagan in the Indian Super League season’s first Kolkata derby in Vasco, Goa on Saturday.

•  Manchester United are set to appoint German Ralf Rangnick as interim manager on a six-month contract.

• After the 2021 edition was cancelled due to the pandemic, the Tata Open Maharashtra is back on the ATP calendar for the upcoming season. South Asia’s only ATP 250 event is scheduled to take place starting January 31, a day after the Australian Open ends.

Technology-

• India's Tata group is in talks with three states to invest up to $300 million to set up a semiconductor assembly and test unit, two sources familiar with the matter said 

•  Concern is growing that SK hynix's plan to overhaul its Chinese factory with cutting-edge chipmaking machines could be in jeopardy due to opposition from the US.

•  Singapore's DBS Group said its online banking services had been fully restored after suffering disruptions for about two days in its biggest outage since 2010

•  Microsoft Edge offers a mini-game to users whenever the browser is not able to connect to the internet.

Economy – 

• The 30-share index ended 1,687.94 points or 2.87 per cent lower at 57,107.15. Similarly, the NSE Nifty plunged 509.80 points or 2.91 per cent to 17,026.45. 

•  The proposed international airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh is likely to boost property market of Noida and Greater Noida and will bring the two cities at par with Gurugram, according to real estate developers and consultants.

• Ashutosh Gangal, General Manager, Northern Railway held a meeting with the Ministers and Members of Parliament of constituencies that come under the jurisdiction of Ambala & Firozpur Divisions in Chandigarh on Thursday.   This is in accordance with the directives given by Minister of Railways  Ashwini Vaishnav, advising General Managers of Zonal Railways to increase public outreach to get feedback for providing better service to the nation. Railway related issues in each constituency were discussed with the public representatives to find solutions for the benefit of the passengers. 

•  The Income Tax Department has detected huge unaccounted income after it raided some Indian companies and their associates, being controlled by a neighbouring country, in Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat, the CBDT said on Thursday.

• Conglomerate ITC on Friday said it will acquire a 16 per cent stake in Mother Sparsh, a D2C Ayurvedic and natural personal care brand, for Rs 20 crore through a share subscription agreement.

Local –

• The row over namaz in Gurgaon took a fresh turn Friday as locals from villages of Mohammadpur Jharsa, Khandsa, Narsinghpur and Khatola occupied the designated namaz site near Sector 37 police station and conducted a havan ceremony. The men said the event was meant to commemorate the 26/11 martyrs on the 13th anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks. 

•  In a bid to introduce research-based and technology-assisted learning and teaching methods in civic schools in Mumbai, the Centre for Excellence in Teacher Education at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, in collaboration with the Mumbai civic body and with assistance from Capgemini, initiated the TELTA-21 project in civic-run schools.

• Amid uncertainty over holding of the Howrah civic polls, the State Election Commission (SEC) of West Bengal on Thursday notified dates for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election. As per the notification, Kolkata civic polls will be held on December 19. The last date for filing of nominations is December 1 and counting will begin on December 22. 

•  A day after Tamil Nadu Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R Sakkarapani said the state has planned to open 500 ‘Kalaignar Unavagams’ (Kalaignar canteens) named after former Chief Minister and DMK President M Kalaignar Karunanidhi, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam said the move is an “attempt to blackout the Amma Unavagam scheme”.

• Acting upon the directions issued by the Union Health Ministry to rigorously screen and test travellers coming from or transiting through three countries where a new variant of the novel coronavirus has been identified, Karnataka has decided to “closely track” contacts of those arriving from these countries as well. The instruction issued to health officials across the state by Principal Secretary T K Anil Kumar states that those arriving from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong, where cases of the new B.1.1529 variant were confirmed, “should be subjected to rigorous screening and testing”.

GK – 

As per the think tank IDEA’s “Global State of Democracy 2021”, which country was added to its annual list of “backsliding” democracies?

[A] India
[B] USA
[C] Brazil
[D] UK

‘Matosinhos Manifesto’, which was seen in the news, is approved by which space agency?

[A] ISRO
[B] NASA
[C] ESA
[D] JAXA

WMO Meeting on the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river basins is being held in which place?

[A] Varanasi
[B] New Delhi
[C] Patna
[D] Lucknow

Tantya Mama, who was seen in the news, was a tribal leader of which state?

[A] Karnataka
[B] Maharashtra
[C] Madhya Pradesh
[D] Jharkhand

‘FrogID’ is the national citizen science frog identification initiative of which country?

[A] India
[B] Australia
[C] Japan
[D] Germany