Current Affairs November 20, 2016

Mumbai poetry festival to feature 51 poets from 5 countries

The 'Poets Translating Poets' festival in Mumbai, scheduled during November 25-27, will feature 51 poets from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Germany.
The festival will be the culmination of a two-year-long Indo-German literary exchange project aiming to "transcend boundaries of language and culture, through the act of translation and poetry"

Brazil couple sets world record for shortest married couple

Paulo Gabriel da Silva Barros and Katyucia Lie Hoshino from Brazil, with a combined height of 181.41 centimetres, is the shortest married couple, according to the Guinness World Records. Individually, Paulo Gabriel measures 90.28 centimetres while Katyucia Lie measures 91.13 centimetres. The couple, who got married on September 17, 2016, was recognised for the same earlier this month.

Ashwin 1st bowler ever to take 50 wickets in consecutive yrs

Ravichandran Ashwin, with his 5-wicket haul against England in the Visakhapatnam Test, became the first bowler ever to complete 50 wickets in two consecutive calendar years. The off-spinner took 62 wickets in 9 Tests in 2015 and has so far claimed 52 wickets in 9 Tests in 2016. Notably, Ashwin was the top wicket-taker in Tests last year.

Global Citizen Festival has star lineup

Coldplay, the British rock band that has doled out several memorable tracks including Sky Full Of Stars, Viva La Vida and Fix You arrived at the concert at the Global Citizen Festival 2016 India tonight in Mumbai.

The concert that has the likes of Jay Z, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, AR Rahman, Parineeti Chopra and Arijit Singh in performance is taking place just before the eighth anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
It is symbolic of the spirit of Mumbai — the show must go on.

International Children’s Peace Prize

Kehkashan Basu, a 16-year-old Indian girl in the UAE, is one of the three finalists for the International Children’s Peace Prize instituted by the KidsRights Foundation.

IFFI begins today

The 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will begin here on Sunday as a nine-day event as against 11 days in the previous years.
M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, will inaugurate the festival, in the presence of Bollywood director Ramesh Sippy, at the Dr. Shama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium. Actor and film-maker Ajay Devgn will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony and director S.S. Rajamouli at the closing ceremony. S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, who has served the film industry for five decades as a playback singer, actor and director, will be presented with the Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year

Women SHGs to get interest-free loans

Karnataka government will provide loans to members of women’s self-help groups at zero percent interest soon. This announcement was made at the birth centenary celebration of former prime minister late Indira Gandhi at Nehru Maidan.