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Who has been appointed the new Director-General of NDRF ? —Atul Karwal +     Atul Karwal, a 1988 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre was on November 9, 2021 appointed Director-General of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) by the Central government. Prior to be appointed as DG of NDRF, Mr Karwal was director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy. The Secretariat of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet confirmed the appointment of Karwal as the Director-General of NDRF by temporarily upgrading the post to the level of DG for a period of two years. Senior IPS officer Sheel Vardhan has been appointed as the new Director-General of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). l       Who has been appointed as Director-General of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) ?           —            Satya Narayan Pradhan +     Satya Narayan Pradhan, a Jharkhand cadre 1988-batch IPS officer, was appointed as Director-General of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) by the Centre government on November 10, 2021 on a deputation basis till the date of his superannuation on August 31, 2024, or until further orders. Pradhan was currently holding additional charge of NCB chief despite holding the responsibility of Director General of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). But a day earlier, Atul Karwal became DG of NDRF. l       Who assumes charge as the Chairperson of NCLAT ?                                                — Justice (Retd.) Ashok Bhushan +     Former Supreme Court judge Justice Ashok Bhushan on November 8, 2021 assumed charge as the chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) which has got a permanent head after a gap of almost 20 months following the retirement of its first Chairperson Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya. Justice Bhushan had retired from the Supreme Court on July 4, this year where he had led the bench that was monitoring the COVID-19 management and relief throughout the pandemic days. NCLAT has been constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013 for hearing appeals against the orders of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). l       Which Indian city has been included in the list of Creative Cities Network (UCCN) by UNESCO ?     —Srinagar +     Srinagar, the summer capital of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir joined the coveted list of UNESCO Creative Cities Network as UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay on November 8, 2021 announced the inclusion of 49 cities including Srinagar worldwide in the UNESCO's Creative Cities Network (UCCN) list in 2021. Srinagar joins other Indian cities as Chennai and Varanasi - UNESCO Cities of music; Jaipur - UNESCO city of crafts and folk arts; Mumbai - UNESCO city of film and Hyderabad - UNESCO City of gastronomy. Now the number of such cities has reached 295 in the world. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development. l   India launches the 41st scientific expedition to                                            — Antarctica +     India on November 15, 2021 launched the 41st scientific expedition to Antarctica with the arrival of the first batch comprising 23 scientists and support staff of its contingent at the Indian Antarctic station Maitri. Four more batches are expected to land in Antarctica by mid January 2022, using the DROMLAN facility. The 41st expedition has two major programs. The first program encompasses geological exploration of the Amery ice shelf at Bharati station. This will help explore the link between India and Antarctica in the past. The second program involves reconnaissance surveys and preparatory work for drilling of 500 meters of ice core near Maitri.

Which Indian has been elected to the UN International Law Commission for the Asia-Pacific group ?     — Bimal Patel Store +     Professor Bimal Patel from India was elected to the UN International Law Commission by emerging on top of the Asia-Pacific group for the election with 163 votes in his support in the UN General Assembly out of 192 members present and voting on November 12, 2021. The Asia-Pacific group included candidates from China, South Korea and Japan. India topped the group with 163 votes for Patel, followed by 162 votes for Thailand, 154 for Japan, 145 for Vietnam. Professor Patel, Vice-Chancellor, Rashtriya Raksha University and Member of National Security Advisory Board of India, has been elected to the ILC for a five-year term starting January 1, 2023. l       Who have been honoured with the Nizami Ganjavi International Award this year ?    — Tedros Ghebreyesus and Tatiana Valovaya +     World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus and UN Geneva Office Director General Tatiana Valovaya were honoured with the Nizami Ganjavi International Award on November 4, 2021 during the 8th Global Baku Forum titled “The World After #COVID19”. The awards were organised by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center under the chairmanship of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. The Nizami Ganjavi International Award was established in 2012. The award celebrates the great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjvai and is presented to distinguished personalities and institutions who embody the values that Nizami Ganjavi promoted through his poetry. l       Which country joins the International Solar Alliance as its 101st member country ?        — USA +     The United States of America (USA) on November 10, 2021 became the 101st member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an inter-governmental organisation formed by India and France to accelerate the global adoption of solar power. The US special envoy for climate, John Kerry, announced at the COP26 in Glasgow that the US has joined the ISA as a member country after signing the framework agreement. India and France launched the ISA in November 2015 at COP21 in Paris. The ISA’s key interventions focus on enabling activities, risk mitigation and innovative financing instruments to facilitate the deployment of solar technologies.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                l       Which word has been chosen as Word of the Year 2021 by the Oxford Dictionary ?                                             — Vax +     The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in November, 2021 declared 'Vax' as the word of the year for 2021 due to its frequent usage throughout the year as medical breakthroughs happened around the world. The word Vax is defined as, "a colloquialism meaning either vaccine or vaccination as a noun and vaccinate as a verb." Vax is used as a short form for vaccines and means a substance put into a person’s body to prevent him from getting a disease. Vax and vaxx are both accepted spellings but the form with one x is more common. l       Which country becomes the first one to approve an oral anti-viral pill against COVID-19 ?                           —Britain +     Britain on November 4, 2021 became the first country in the world to approve the COVID-19 antiviral oral pill jointly developed by US-based Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency authorised Molnupiravir for the treatment of the mild-moderate COVID-19 cases, who are at an "increased risk of developing severe disease". The approval is the first for an oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 and the first for a COVID-19 drug.