ENGLISH NEWS -23-09-2016

DAILY G.A UPDATE : 23-09-2016

In this competitive age, everyone needs to be updated with the current affairs. So, here is the important news for your upcoming exams like IBPS PO, IBPS CLERK, RRB and many more. 

1. Tamil film 'Visaranai' to represent India at Oscars 2017

Filmmaker Vetrimaaran's crime thriller "Visaranai" beat competition from films like "Bajirao Mastani" and "Fan" to become India's official entry to the Oscars next year in the best foreign film category

The movie, which won three honours at this year's National Film Awards, has been produced by actor Dhanush

There were total 29 films in the competition, FFI secretary general Supran Sen said.

"Visaranai" is based on the novel "Lock Up" by M Chandrakumar.

Featuring Dinesh Ravi, Anandhi and Aadukalam Murugadoss in the lead roles, the film deals with police brutality, corruption, and loss of innocence in the face of injustice.

Pandi (Ravi), Murugan (Murugadoss), Afzal (Rathnasamy), Kumar (Pradheesh Raj) are homeless Tamil labourers who are working in Andhra Pradesh.

"Visaranai" is the ninth Tamil movie to represent India at Oscars. The last Tamil film to be submitted as India's oscar entry was Kamal Haasan's "Hey Ram" (2000). Other submissions were "Nayakan", "Anjali", "Deiva Magan" and "Jeans" among others’

At the 63rd National Awards, "Visaranai" won awards in the categories-- best feature film in Tamil, best supporting actor for Samuthirakani and best editing for Kishore Te.

The film premiered in the Orrizonti (Horizons) section of the 72nd Venice Film Festival, where it won the Amnesty International Italia Award

India has never won an Oscar in the best foreign film category. The last Indian film that made it to the final five list was Ashutosh Gowarikers "Lagaan". "Mother India" and "Salaam Bombay" are the other two Indian movies to have made it to the top five.

2. Vijay Kelkar elected president of ISI

Former petroleum secretary Vijay Kelkar has been elected president of the prestigious Indian Statistical Institute (ISI). 

Kelkar succeeded former RBI governor C Rangarajan. 

He was elected at the general body meeting of the institute, which functions under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, an ISI release said.

3. Navtej Sarna appointed Ambassador to the US

India’s High Commissioner to UK Navtej Sarna was appointed as Ambassador to the US, a high-profile posting where he will face the task of engaging with a new administration in Washington following the November 8 Presidential poll. 

Sarna, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1980 batch, was serving as Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs before he was posted in London in January. 

He succeeds Arun Singh, who is due for retirement.

The 59-year-old diplomat was among the longest-serving spokespersons of the MEA. He had held the post between 2002 and 2008. 

Government has also appointed 1988-batch IFS officer Taranjit Singh Sandhu as the next High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka. He will replace Yash Sinha.

4. Indian-origin physician gets National Humanities Medal in US

An Indian-American physician and author has been presented with the National Humanities Medal, America's highest humanities award by US President Barack Obama for his contribution in the field of medicine. 

Currently a professor of medicine at the Stanford School of Medicine, Abraham Varghese has authored several acclaimed books including 'My Own Country' and 'Cutting for Stone'.

He was presented with the medal along with several other recipients at a ceremony held at the White House.

"The 2015 National Humanities Medal to Abraham Verghese for reminding us that the patient is the center of the medical enterprise," the citation of medal read. 

Started in 1997, the National Humanities Medal "honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of the human experience, broadened citizens' engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects". 

As many as 12 medals are awarded each year. 

Verghese is a critically acclaimed, best-selling author and a physician with an international reputation for his emphasis on empathy for patients in an era in which technology often overwhelms the human side of medicine, the Stanford University said in a statement. 

5. India to launch eight satellites in two different orbits on September 26

India on September 26 morning will launch its weather satellite SCATSAT-1 and seven other satellites - five foreign and two domestic - with its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, said an official of Indian space agency.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) the PSLV rocket with eight satellites is expected to blast off at 9.12 a.m. on Monday from its rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The rocket's main cargo will be the 377 kg SCATSAT-1 for ocean and weather related studies which will be placed into a 720 km polar sun synchronous orbit.

According to ISRO, SCATSAT-1 is a continuity mission for Oceansat-2 scatterometer to provide wind vector data products for weather forecasting, cyclone detection and tracking services to the users.

The satellite carries Ku-band scatterometer similar to the one flown onboard Oceansat-2.

The mission life of the satellite is 5 years.

The five foreign satellites are from Algeria, Canada and US and the two from Indian universities/academic institute satellites will be placed into a 670 km polar orbit.

This is the first mission of PSLV in which it will be launching its payloads into two different orbits.

The multiple burn technology was first tested by ISRO while flying its PSLV rocket on December 16, 2015

Launching of multiple satellites with a single rocket is nothing new for ISRO and it has been doing that for several years. The challenge, however, is to launch several satellites at different orbits with one rocket, but the ISRO already did so successfully when the PSLV ejected out six Singaporean satellites on December 16, 2015.

6. President released a book named 'Citizen and Society'

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee released the book ‘Citizen and Society’ written by Vice President Mohd Hamid Ansari.

7. Andhra Bank ties up with Cigna TTK, Reliance General Insurance

Andhra Bank has entered into corporate agency agreements with Cigna TTK Company Ltd, and Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd for providing health and general insurance respectively, to its customers.