INDIA THIRS LARGEST START UP HUB IN THE WORLD (Economy) The Nasscom report on Indian Tech Start‐Up Ecosystem said that India continues to the third largest start‐up ecosystem after China and US. India has added more than 1300 tech start‐ups in 2019 according to the report. Between January to September in 2019, there were 8900 to 9300 startups as compared to 7700‐8200 a year ago. NASSCOM is National Association of Software and Services Companies. It is a non‐profit trade association of Indian IT and BPO industries. The investment in startups in the period January‐September, 2019 touched 4.4 billion USD. The indirect jobs that created by the startup ecosystem can jump to 39 to 44 lakh by 2025 from 14 to 16 lakh in 2019 The Indian startups have the potential to grow about 4 to 5 times by 2025 Around 18% of the startups are leveraging deep‐tech, fin tech, retail tech that are the most mature sectors with strong metrics In 2019, the startups created 60,000 direct jobs as compared to 40,000 in 2018. Seven new unicorns were added in 2019. This takes the total number of unicorns in the country to 24 which is the third highest number of unicorns in a single country in the world. Unicorn refers to tech startup that reaches 1 billion USD market value. 71% of these unicorns are B2B focused. MAHARASHTRA TOPS IN JUSTICE DELIVERY (Polity) Maharashtra has topped the list of states in delivering justice to people followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana, according to a report by Tata Trusts. As per the findings, the country, as a whole, has about 18,200 judges with about 23% sanctioned posts vacant. Among the small states (where population is less than one crore each), Goa has topped the list followed by Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh, it said. The India Justice Report 2019 is based on publicly available data of different government entities on the four pillars of justice delivery — police, judiciary, prisons and legal aid. Releasing the report, former Supreme Court judge Justice M. B. Lokur said the findings highlight very serious lacunae in the justice delivery system. DANGERS OF DIOXINS LOOM LARGE OVER BRAHMAPURAM (Environment) The levels of dioxin observed in residual ash samples analysed after the major fire at Brahmapuram (Kochi in Kerala) on February 23 were in the range observed in various infamous waste dumping sites in Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Netherlands, Greece, and the United States. This was revealed in a study conducted by the CSIR‐National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR‐NIIST). The research team had carried out an on‐site ambient air and residual ash sampling on February 24. Dioxins are highly toxic chemical compounds which are harmful to health, and they are known as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The report prepared by the environmental technology division of the CSIR‐NIIST found that the average dioxin levels observed in ambient air was 10.3 pg TEQ/ m3 at a distance of 50 metres to 100 metres from the fire. The observed levels are 50 and 10 times higher than reference and field blank data. The Brahmapuram residue ash has a dioxin content of 159 ng TEQ/kg of ash. It is comparable with the results obtained from the ‘Burnhut studies’ (101.9 and 136.9 ngTEQ/kg of waste) conducted at the CSIR‐NIIST. The quantity of dioxins emitted during the fire at Brahmapuram is 72 milligram toxicity equivalence. The figure was arrived at by using the emission factors determined in Burnhut studies, it said. INTERNET PENETRATION IN INDIA (States) According to the Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) report, titled 'India Internet 2019', Kerala's Internet penetration rate is the second highest in the country (54%), with Delhi NCR topping the list with 69% penetration. The chart shows the Internet penetration rate (defined as number of individuals aged above 12 per 100 population who accessed the Internet in the last month; survey period January‐March 2019). The lowest penetration rate was in Odisha (25), Jharkhand (26) and Bihar (28). It is to be noted that the figure for Jammu & Kashmir is not reflective of the current situation as the survey period was before it was divided. The IAMAI report also notes that Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Delhi have the highest proportion of female Internet users. TRAI data as of June 2019 also show that Kerala is well‐placed in terms of Internet connections. It stands fourth among all telecom service areas in terms of Internet subscriptions per 100 population, behind Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. In urban areas, it does better — it ranks second behind Himachal Pradesh. The chart shows the number of Internet subscriptions across service areas per 100 populations. Kerala has about 70. OCI CARD The OCI card provides Overseas Citizenship of India status to a foreign citizen of Indian origin to live and work in India for an indefinite period. The OCI card was launched in 2005, under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2005. The Union Home Ministry cancelled the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status of Aatish Taseer, a prominent Indian‐origin journalist and novelist, on November 7, 2019 stating that he had concealed important information and not complied with very basic requirements to be eligible for the card. The OCI card was introduced after demands for dual citizenship grew, especially from the Indians living in developed countries. The Indian constitution does not allow its citizens to hold dual citizenship. While the OCI card allows the holders to live and work in India, it has its own limitations as the citizens having the card do not enjoy the right to vote, right to hold constitutional offices or the right to buy agricultural properties. In the UK, however, the OCI card is considered as holding dual nationality. SAMUDRA SHAKTI (Security) The Navies of India and Indonesia are holding bilateral naval exercise called ‘Samudra Shakti’ in Bay of Bengal on 6‐7 November 2019. This year is the second edition of India, Indonesia Bilateral Naval Exercise. The inaugural edition of exercise was held at the port of Surabaya, Indonesia in November 2018. Objective: To strengthen bilateral relations, expand maritime co‐operation, enhance interoperability and exchange best practices between the Navies of India and Indonesia. Participants: As part of exercise INS Kamorta, India’s anti‐submarine warfare corvette, is jointly exercising with Indonesian warship KRI Usman Harun, a multi‐role corvette. The joint exercise also include‐ weapon firing drills, manoeuvres, air defense exercises, surface warfare exercises, helicopter operations and boarding operations. ReSAREX‐ 19 (Security) The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted the ‘Regional Level Search and Rescue Workshop and Exercise 2019’: ReSAREX‐ 19 off Goa coast. The two‐day event was organised by Coast Guard District Headquarters‐11 (Goa) to test efficiency and preparedness of ICG. The exercise comprised of a search and rescue workshop and table top exercise, followed by a search and rescue exercise at sea Participants: Dornier aircraft, 5 ICG ships, 2 Chetak helicopters were used for workshop. Moreover, the resources from Captain of Ports, Indian Mission Control Centre (Bengaluru), State Marine Police, Goa Medical College, Goa state administration and Marmugao Port Trust were also pressed into service. Need: With increase in maritime and fishing activities being further complicated by frequent cyclones, the maritime search and rescue services still remains a challenge and need to respond to every situation with utmost clarity, and by exercising full coordination with other support agencies. The workshop also assumes significance in the wake of recent search and rescue operations carried out during cyclones Kyaar and Maha. WORLD’S LARGEST PENCIL SKETCH (Culture) A pencil drawing of a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi won Tirupati‐based Kasturba Gandhi Kendra Trust (KGKT) a place in the prestigious Guinness Book of Records. Budding artist Aman Singh Gulati, 18, from Lakhimpur in Uttar Pradesh came up with the painstaking artwork on a canvas spread over 410.26 square metres (4,416 sq. ft). Mr. Gulati completed the sketch on October 2 to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma. Mr. Gulati, who holds several records to his name, has now surpassed the previous record held by a teenager Alex Dzaghigian of The Republic of Cyprus, whose sketch measuring 323.90 sq.m. depicted a turtle in an ocean surrounded by plastic waste. CYCLONE BULBUL (States) Following a weather office alert of cyclonic storm’s possibility of developing into a deep depression, the Bengal Government has announced a high alert in the coastal areas of the State. The cyclonic storm Bulbul over Bay of Bengal on Wednesday had already intensified into a deep depression, and was likely to travel northwestwards towards Bengal and Odisha coast line India Metrological Department (IMD) has said. The storm is likely to move towards north‐northwards and hit the coast of Odisha and Bengal on Saturday onwards. Odisha and Bengal are likely to receive light to heavy rainfall from November 9 which would continue for next couple of days JHARKHAND – PAYAL DEV BECOMES MUSIC COMPOSER Breaking all stereotypes, women in India are forging ahead and repeatedly making their mark in all spheres of life. One such example is of Payal Dev (30) ‐ a singer and music composer from Ramgarh, Jharkhand, who has been creating ripples in the Bollywood music industry. Her music composition for the romantic song ‘Tum Hi Aana' from the upcoming movie Marjaavaan has struck cords with many across the globe. Featuring Sidharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria, the song composed by Payal has crossed over 41 million views in just a little time from its release.