Notes:
IKEA, the Swedish furnishing retailer, has launched its first experiential centre “IKEA Hej (Hello) HOME’ in India at Hyderabad. The Hej Home, designed and set up over a six-month duration, highlights what the retailer stands for and what to expect from an IKEA store. It is an exhibition of IKEA products and solutions which its future customers can actually buy it from its store (in Hyderabad) in spring 2018. The display includes the bedroom, living area, kitchen and dining, play area among others. After the Hyderabad store, the second store will open in Mumbai during 2019, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi NCR.

Notes:
David Cassidy (67), the teen and pre-teen idol who starred in the 1970s sitcom ‘The Partridge Family’, and sold millions of records as the musical group’s lead singer, has passed away in Florida, United States on November 21, 2017.

Notes:
Jon Hendricks (96), the legendary jazz singer and lyricist, has passed away in New York, United States on November 22, 2017. Hendricks found fame in the 1950s and ’60s teaming with Dave Lambert and Annie Ross. The Jazz singer wrote the lyrics to existing Basie songs, and the three recorded their own voices in layers instead of using backup singers. The trio’s first album, “Sing a Song of Basie,” won acclaim for its use of vocalese, in which the voices mimic the instrumental parts. Others experimented with vocalese before Hendricks, but he is widely regarded as the father of the spirited singing style for popularising it. After the group broke up in 1962, he pursued a solo career in London, worked as a jazz critic in San Francisco and released several solo albums.

Notes:
The Chandoli National Park (CNP) is a natural World Heritage Site and is spread over Satara, Kolhapur and Sangli Districts of Maharashtra. It covers an area of 317.67 square kilometres. The historical places of the park include the 17th century Shivaji’s Forts, Prachitgad and Bhairavgad, of the Maratha kings Shivaji and his son Sambhaji. It is home to Bengal tigers, Indian leopards, Indian bison, leopard cats, sloth bears, etc.

Notes:
The Adichunchanagiri Wildlife Sanctuary (AWLS) is located in Nagamangala Taluk of Mandya district of Karnataka and is spread over 0.88 square kilometres. This was created mainly for the conservation of peacocks. It also houses nearly 250 species of birds.

Notes:
The scientists from New Zealand have developed the world’s first artificial intelligence politician “SAM” that can answer a person’s queries regarding local issues such as policies around housing, education and immigration. It was created by Nick Gerritsen, an entrepreneur in New Zealand. It constantly learns to respond to people through Facebook Messenger as well as a survey on its homepage. It may help to bridge the growing political and cultural divide in many countries.

Notes:
World no. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei has won the women’s singles title at the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament by defeating P V Sindhu in the final at Kowloon on November 26, 2017. This was Tai’s 8th win against Sindhu in 11 meetings and fourth on the trot. This is also Sindhu’s second loss in the four finals that she reached this season. She had lost to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara at the World Championship final, while clinched two titles at India and Korea this year.

Notes:
Shaktikanta Das, the former Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), has been appointed as India’s G20 Sherpa till December 31, 2018 for the Development Track of the G20 summit. There are two tracks in G-20 — Finance Track and Development Track. Finance Track is managed by the secretary (economic affairs) as India’s Deputy to G-20 and the Development Track is coordinated by the Sherpa. A Sherpa is a personal representative of the leader of a member country at an international Summit meeting such as the G8, G20 or the Nuclear Security Summit and are responsible for thrashing out the details before the meeting of the leaders. There is only one Sherpa per Summit for each member country; he/she is assisted by several sous Sherpas. Prior to Das, former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya, held the responsibility of the G20 Sherpa.

Notes:
Professor Hiroshi Marui of Japan has been conferred with the 3rd Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Distinguished Indologist Award -2017 by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, for his exemplary contribution to Indology at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Professor Marui has spent over 40 years working on Indian philosophy and Buddhist Studies. His many acclaimed publications and research papers are considered a final authority on several subjects the world over.

Notes:
Pandit Narayanrao Bodas (84), the renowned exponent of the Gwalior gharana of Hindustani classical music, has passed away in Pune, Maharashtra on November 28, 2017. He was born in Karachi into a musical aristocracy steeped in the traditions of Indian classical music. Despite his dedication to conserving the heritage of classical vocal music, Pandit Narayanrao devoted a considerable amount of his career to Marathi natya sangeet (enactment of musicals on stage). Though he acted in some films and worked in the television medium, Pandit Narayanrao remained devoted to the uncompromising art of Hindustani classical music — and promoting it in its purest form.