Current Affairs - November 2020

Month Nov 2020 Type All

347 Current Affairs were found in Month - Nov 2020 for Type - All

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Appointments 1. Duarte Pacheco (Portugal) has been elected as President of Geneva (Switzerland) based Inter Parliamentary Union. 2. Gyanendra Ningombam from Manipur has been elected as President of Hockey India. He is First Hockey India Chief from Northeast region. 3. Joe Biden won US Presidential elections 2020, defeating Donald Trump. His Oath of Office as 46th President of US will be administered on January 20, 2021. Also, Indian Origin Person Kamala Harris became first woman vice president of US. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan arrived in US from Tamil Nadu, in 1958. 4. M.M. Kutty (Former Chief Secretary of Delhi) has been appointed as 1st Chairperson of newly formed Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM). 5. Priyanca Radhakrishnan became New Zealand’s first-ever Indian-origin minister, as Minister for Community and Voluntary Sector. 6. Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa has been named as Prime Miniser of Bahrain. He was named after earling serving PM Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa passed away. 7. Bharatiya (BJP) leaders Tarkishore Prasad and have been appointed as Deputy chief ministers of . This came after JDU's was recently re-appointed as Chief Minister of Bihar, for his 7th Term. Also, Renu Devi is first Female Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. 8. Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Girish Chandra Murmu has been elected as External Auditor of Geneva based Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), for 3 year term. Duarte Pacheco (Portugal) was recently elected as President of Geneva (Switzerland) based Inter Parliamentary Union. 9. Former Infosys Chief Kris Gopalakrishnan has been appointed as first Chairperson of Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, which has been set up to promote innovation across financial sector. 10. Heeralal Samariya, Saroj Punhani and Uday Mahurkar have been appointed as Information Commissioners of India. Y.K. Sinha was recently appointed as Chief Information Commissioner. Now, number of Information Commissioners (apart from Chief Information Commissioner) has risen to 7. Central Information commission includes 1 chief information commissioner and not more than 10 information commissioners. 11. Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra has been elected to the UN’s Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). 12. Japan formally proclaimed Crown Prince Akishino to the throne, after his elder brother Emperor Naruhito, became monarch last year following their father’s abdication. 13. Jishnu Baruah has been appointed as new chief secretary of Assam. 14. Maia Sandu has been appointed as First-Ever Female President of Moldova (Eastern Europe). 15. Misc. Appointments (November 2020) Rajiv Jalota has been appointed as chairman of Mumbai Port Trust. Housing and Urban Affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri and 9 others elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. Electronics Sector Skill Council of India (ESSCI) appointed PVG Menon as CEO. President appointed Sanjay Kumar Medhi , Nani Tagia, and Manish Choudhury as Judges of Gauhati High Court. National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Chairman Dilip Rath has been elected to board of global dairy body International Dairy Federation (IDF). AK Gupta is appointed as MD and CEO of PSU ONGC Videsh. Former West Indies Cricketer Michael Holding has been appointed as new patron of England's Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Foundation. Enforcement Directorate chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra received 1 year extension for his post. US President-Elect Joe Biden named Indian-American Mala Adiga as policy director of Jill Biden, who will soon be US first lady. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré has been re-elected as President of Burkina Faso (West Africa), for his 2nd term. 16. New US President-elect Joe Biden announced Task Force to deal with COVID-19 in US, to be led by Indian Origin Person Vivek Murthy, former Surgeon General of US. Also, Indian-American Kash Patel is named as Chief of Staff to the Acting US Defence Secretary Chris Miller. 17. New Zealand’s Greg Barclay has been appointed as new Chairman of International Cricket Council (ICC), replacing India's Shashank Manohar who had stepped down earlier. 18. Noted Indian Comic hero Chacha Chaudhary has now been named as Brand Ambassador of Namami Gange Programme. Diamond Toons will conceptualize and publish new Talking Comics with Chacha Chaudhary spreading awareness on cultural and spiritual significance of Ganga. Top

Awards 1. Indian film Natkhat won top prize at 3rd edition of Best Of India Short Film Festival 2020, which makes it eligible for 2021 Oscar qualification. The film has been directed by Shaan Vyas and has Vidya Balan in lead role. Best of India Festival was established by ShortsTV in 2018, to honour exceptional work in Indian cinema. 2. 2020 Booker Prize has been awarded to Douglas Stuart for his debut novel Shuggie Bain, receiving £50,000. Stuart is second Scottish author to win Booker Prize, after James Kelman in 1994. Earlier, the prize was called Booker–McConnell Prize (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019). It is a literary prize awarded each year for best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. 3. 21 scientists associated with innovative research ideas in several areas have been selected for Swarna Jayanti fellowships 2020. Swarna Jayanti Fellowships was instituted by Govt. to commemorate India's 50th year of Independence, which provides special assistance to selected young scientists, to enable them to pursue basic research in frontier areas of science and technology. Under this, awardees are given support, which will cover all requirements for performing research and will include a fellowship of 25000 per month for 5 years. Also, research grant of 5 lakh Rupees for 5 years is provided. 4. 2nd National Water Awards Conferred by Ministry of Jal Shakti, honoring commendable work in field of water resources conservation and management. Jury Committee, headed by Shashi Shekhar, selected 98 winners in 16 different categories. Tamil Nadu Stayed at top, followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan. 5. Actor Naseeruddin Shah has been honoured with 2020 Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar, at Sangit Kala Kendra Awards. Alongside, Neel Choudhary and Irawati Karnik were awarded Aditya Vikram Birla Kalakiran Puraskars. These awards were instituted in 1996 by Sangeet Kala Kendra (SKK), which was founded in 1973 by Aditya Vikram Birla. 6. Bangladeshi teen Sadat Rahman has been awarded International Children’s Peace Prize by international children’s rights organization KidsRights, for creating anti-cyber bullying app Cyber Teens, to help teenagers who are sufferers of cyber bullying. 7. Bhutan’s Queen Mother Gyalyum Sangay Choden Wangchuck has been awarded United Nations Population Award in individual category for 2020, for her work on sexual health and ending gender violence. Also, HelpAge India won the award in organisational category, for its work on elder care. 2 Indians have been honored by this award since its establishment in 1981 - former PM Indira Gandhi in 1983 and industrialist J.R.D.Tata in 1992. 8. Education Minister Nishank has been conferred with Vatayan Lifetime Achievement Award for his literary works, given by Vatayan-UK organization in London. 9. Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank launched Lilavati Award 2020, as AICTE's Innovative education program to empower women. With women empowerment as theme, it aims to create awareness about women's persisting issues. 10. Emmett Leahy award 2020 conferred on Dinesh Katre from Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) Pune. He is first Indian to bag this US award, which recognises contributions in field of records and information management. 11. Industrial Awards (November 2020) - Society of Biological Chemists (India) chosen Susanta Kar (CSIR-CDRI), for this year's A N Bhaduri Memorial Lecture Award, for his contributions towards defining survival tactics of Leishmania donovani. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan conferred away Students Innovations for Advancement of Research Explorations - Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (SITARE-GYTI) and Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technological Innovations-Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (SRISTI-GYTI) awards, with 14 awards under SITARE-GYTI and 7 under SRISTI-GYTI. Kerala’s Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission has been awrded coveted ‘Highly Commended’ Award by World Travel Mart London, in category of ‘Meaningful Connections’. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s K S Subramanian won Fertiliser Association of India Golden Jubilee Award 2020, for his outstanding contribution in the field of nano-fertilizers. CDRI Scientist Susanta Kar has been was honoured with A N Bhaduri Memorial Lecture Award 2020 by Society of Biological Chemists, for his contribution towards defining survival tactics of Leishmania Donovani. India-Japan cooperation won OECD Mutual Agreement Procedure 2019 Award, for highest agreement ratio for a pair of jurisdictions for transfer pricing cases. It demonstrates India’s commitment to provide tax certainty and dispute resolution mechanism for Japanese companies in India. Karnataka Based Visvesvaraya Technological University conferred Doctor of Science honorary doctorate upon ISRO Chairman K Sivan. 12. Malayalam writer S Hareesh won JCB Prize for Literature 2020, for his debut novel Moustache. It Includes cash prize of Rs 25 lakh. 13. Noted Author Ruskin Bond has been chosen to be conferred with Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. 14. Noted Malayalam writer Paul Zacharia has been selected for Ezhuthachan Puraskaram 2020, Kerala government’s highest literary honour. It consists cash prize of 500000. 15. Noted filmmaker Hariharan has been selected for JC Daniel Award, Kerala's highest award in Malayalam cinema. It is presented annually by Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, under Department of Cultural Affairs of Government of Kerala It carries Cash award of 5 lakh. 16. Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and Uttar Pradesh Forest Department won first international award TX2, for doubling its number of tigers in four years, against 10 years Target which was set in 2010. None of other thirteen tiger range countries could success in doubling the big cat population within 10 years. 17. Tamil nadu's 14-year-old Student Vinisha Umashankar won Children's Climate Prize for designing a mobile ironing cart using solar panels to power a steam iron box rather than conventional charcoal. She will receive prize of 100,000 Swedish krona (8.64 lakh INR). 18. Vice President M. virtually presented 21st Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence for 2020 to Sudha Murty, Chairperson of Infosys Foundation, as recognition of her outstanding philanthropic work. Top

Books 1. A Promised Land memoir by Former (44th) US President Barack Obama has been released. 2. How to Be a Writerm, New Book by Author Ruskin Bond has been released. 3. Actor Sonu Sood launched his autobiography titled I Am No Messiah, co-authored with Meena Iyer. 4. Biography of New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern will be published in 2021, by HarperCollins. It will be authored by Supriya Vani and Carl A Harte. 5. Book Reporting India: My Seventy Year Journey as a Journalist authored by Prem Prakash has been Launched. 6. Book Titled The Age of Pandemic (1817-1920): How they Shaped India And the World Authored by Chinmay Tumbe has been released. 7. Booklet PM Modi and his Government’s special relationship with Sikhs has been released, in Hindi, Punjabi and English. It was released on Occasion of Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji (Nov 30). 8. Hard and e-book versions of The Republican Ethic Volume III and Loktantra Ke Swar have been unveiled, comprising collection of selected speeches of President Ram Nath Kovind. 9. Italian Journalist Francesca Marino’s New Book Balochistan: Bruised, Battered and Bloodiedm has been Released. 10. Maharashtra Governor released book Majhi Bhint (My Wall) authored by former Maharashtra Minister of Education Rajendra Darda. 11. New Book Archaeology and the Public Purpose: Writings on and by M N Deshpande, written by Nayanjot Lahiri. It documents life of former director general of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Madhusudan Narhar Deshpande 12. New Book by Tamal Bandyopadhyay, titled Pandemonium: The Great Indian Banking Tragedy, has been released. 13. New Book by Rachna Bisht Rawat, Titled Insomnia: Army Stories, has been released. 14. New book Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi, written by Vinay Sitapati has been released. 15. New book on Covid-19 by AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, titled Till we win, has been released. 16. Noted Actor Anupam Kher's New book, Your Best Day Is Today, will soon be released. His earlier books are Lessons Life Taught Me Unknowingly and The Best Thing About You is You. 17. PM released book on life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, founder of 1st of 10 Gurus of Sikhism. It is written by Kirpal Singh. 18. Pandey Kapil's Book Phoolsunghi became First Bhojpuri Book to be Translated Into English, Translated by Gautam Choubey. 19. Sasindran Kallinkeel (Ex-SPG officer)’s new penned a novel Rasaathi: The Other Side of a Transgender, has been released. 20. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu launched New book Thavaasmi: Life and Skills through the lens of Ramayana, authored by Rallabandi Srirama Chakradhar and Amara Sarada Deepthi. 21. ‘Boskiyana’, a new Hindi book on Noted Lyricist Gulzar.It has been edited and compiled by Yashwant Vyas. Top

Committees 1. 15th Finance Commission led by Chairman N K Singh submitted its Report for 2021-22 to 2025-26. 15th finance commission has submitted 2 reports - first consisted of recommendations for FY 2020-21 and final report with has now been submitted with recommendations for 2021-26. The new report will be disclosed after being tabled in parliament. 2. Insurance regulator IRDAI has set up a working group headed by R Chandrasekaran, to revisit product structures of erstwhile engineering tariffs relevant for retail category, and make suitable recommendations for revising them. 3. International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) Expert Committee on international retail business development in IFSC, headed by Pradip Shah, submitted its final report. It Includes key recommendations related to Growth of Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets segments. 4. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting constituted a committee, to review Guidelines on Television Rating Agencies in India, notified by Ministry in 2014. It will be headed by Shashi S. Vempati (CEO of Prasar Bharti). Committee will study different aspects of television rating system in India as they have evolved over time. 5. NITI Aayog formed a panel to explore technological and commercial viability of Virgin Hyperloop technology for ultrahigh speed travel in India, headed by VK Saraswat. 6. RBI Internal Working Group headed by P K Mohanty, which was formed to review extant ownership guidelines and corporate structure for private sector banks, has submitted its report. Key recommendations - Cap on promoters’ stake in long run (15 years) may be raised from current 15 % to 26 % of paid-up capital of bank. Large NBFCs, with asset size of over 50000 crores, may be considered for conversion into banks subject to completion of 10 years of operations. For Payments Banks intending to convert to a Small Finance Bank, 3 years of experience may be considered sufficient. Minimum initial capital requirement for licensing new banks should be enhanced from 500 crores to 1000 crores for universal banks, 200 crore to 300 crores for small finance banks. 7. SEBI has set up an expert group to review framework of share-based employee benefit and issue of sweat equity, chaired by Sandip Bhagat. Group will revisit framework of share-based employee benefit and suggest policy changes. Top Days 1. Govt. observes Awaas Diwas on Nov 20, marking launch of Rural Housing Scheme Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) on 20thNovember 2016 at Agra. It aims for Housing for All by 2022. Also, Nov 16 - 22 is observed as Awaas Week. 2. Nov 01 is formation day of States of Andhra Pradesh (in 1956), Karnataka (in 1956), Kerala (in 1956), Tamil Nadu (in 1956), Madhya Pradesh (in 1956), Punjab (in 1966), Haryana (in 1966), Chhattisgarh (in 2000). For first time since its formation in 1956, Tamil Nadu state government celebrated 'Tamil Nadu Day' on November 1, 2019. On this occasion, Chhattisgrah Government launched Fortified Rice Distribution Scheme, aimed at reducing malnutrition and anaemia. Under this, fortified rice is distributed through fair price shops, which is mixture of Vitamin-B12, iron and folic acid. 3. Nov 1 - World Vegan Day. It was established in 1994 by Louise Wallis, then Chair of Vegan Society in UK. 4. Nov 10 is observed as World Science Day for Peace and Development, marked by UNESCO. 2020 Theme is Science for and with Society in dealing with COVID-19. 5. Nov 13, 2020 is observed as National Ayurveda Day, which is celebrated every year from 2016 on day of Dhanwantri Jayanti (Dhanteras). On this occasion, PM Narendra Modi dedicated 2 future-ready Ayurveda institutions to nation - Institute of Teaching & Research in Ayurveda Jamnagar (ITRA) and the National Institute of Ayurveda Jaipur (NIA). Jamnagar institute has been conferred status of an Institution of National Importance and NIA Jaipur has been designated an Institution Deemed to be University by University Grants Commission (UGC). World Health Organisation also announced to set up a Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India. Nov 13 is also observed as World Kindness Day, observed since 1998. 6. Nov 14 is observed as World Diabetes Day, with 2020 theme Nurses make the difference for Diabetes. It was proclaimed in 1991. 7. Nov 14 is observed as Children's Day in India. It commemorates Birth Anniversary of India's First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. On this Occasion, first-of-its-kind in world, a library on tram for children was launched in Kolkata (West Bengal). 8. Nov 15 is statehood day of Jharkhand. It was created on 15 November 2000, carved out of Bihar. Nov 15 also marks Birth Anniversary of Birsa Munda, a noted Indian tribal freedom fighter who belonged to the Munda tribe. Nov 15, 2020 is also marked as World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, observed annually on third Sunday in November. 9. Nov 16 is observed as UN International Day of Tolerance. In 1995, to mark UN Year for Tolerance and 125th anniversary of birth of M K Gandhi, UNESCO created a prize for promotion of tolerance and non-violence, called UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non- Violence. It is awarded every 2 years on International Day for Tolerance, 16 November. In 2020, Centre Résolution Conflits in Democratic Republic of Congo is laureate of 2020 Edition of UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence. It has been honored for its work for defence of human rights. Last Time, In 2018, Manon Barbeau (President and Founder of Wapikoni Mobile (Canada)), and Kenyan NGO Coexist Initiative were laureates of this Prize. Nov 16 is also observed as National Press Day in India. On this day, Press Council of India started functioning as a moral watchdog to ensure that press maintains high standards. 10. Nov 17 is observed as International Students' Day, commemorating Czech universities which were stormed by Nazis in 1939 and students who were subsequently killed and sent to concentration camps. Note that Oct 15, Birth Anniversary of Former (11th) President of India A P J Abdul Kalam, is observed by United Nations as World Students' Day. 11. Nov 19 - 25 is observed as Qaumi Ekta Week In india, to foster spirit of Communal Harmony - November 19 - National Integration Day (Birth Anniversary of Indira Gandhi) November 20 - Welfare of Minorities Day November 21 - Linguistic Harmony Day. November 22 - Weaker Sections Day November 23 - Cultural Unity Day November 24 - Women’s Day. November 25 - Conservation Day. Also, UNESCO World Heritage Week is observed annually between November 19 - 25. 12. Nov 19 is Birth Anniversary of Former (3rd) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Her Birthday is observed as National Integration day in India. Note that Indira Gandhi Birth anniversary (Nov 19) is observed as National Integration Day. While, Sardar Shri Vallabh Bhai Patel's Birth Anniversary (Oct 31) is observed as National Unity Day (Observed since 2014). Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, also called Indira Peace Prize, has not been announced in 2020. In 2019, it was given to British Broadcaster David Attenborough. 13. Nov 19 is also observed as World Toilet Day, marked by UN in 2013. On this occasion, Jal Shakti Ministry conferred Swachhata Awards on 20 best performing Districts. Also, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge, to ensure safety of septic tank or sewer cleaners during cleaning. Other Observations on Nov 19 - Nov 19 is also observed as Women's Entrepreneurship Day (WED), marked in 2014. Nov 19 is also observed as International Men's Day, Being observed since 1992. Nov 19 is also observed as World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse. Nov 19 is also Birth Anniversary of Great Warrior Rani of Jhansi, called Rani Lakshmibai. She was queen of Maratha princely state of Jhansi. Nov 19, 2020 is also observed as UNESCO World Philosophy Day. It is observed annually on third Thursday of November. 14. Nov 2 is Observed as UN International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. 2020 Theme is Protect Journalists, Protect the Truth. 15. Nov 20 is observed as UN World Children's Day, established in 1954. Nov 20 is also observed as UN Africa Industrialization Day. 2020 Theme is Inclusive and sustainable industrialisation in the AfCFTA era. 16. Nov 21 is observed as World Fisheries Day. On this occasion, for the first time in Fisheries Sector, Government awarded best performing States for 2019-20 namely, Odisha (amongst Marine states), Uttar Pradesh (amongst Inland states) and Assam (amongst Hilly and NE states). Nov 21 is also observed as World Television Day, proclamied by UN in December 1996. Also, Nov 15-21 is observed as National Newborn Week in India. 2020 theme is Quality, Equity, Dignity for every newborn at every health facility and everywhere. 17. Nov 24 is ‘Martyrdom Day’ of 9th Guru of Sikhs, Guru Teg Bahadur. He martyred on November 24, 1675. Also, World Health Organization observes Global Antimicrobial Awareness Week between November 18 - 24. 2020 Theme is United to Preserve antimicrobials. Also, Nov 24 is observed as Lachit Divas in several parts of India, Mainly in Assam. It marks birth anniversary of Lachit Borphukan, a commander in Ahom kingdom. He was known for his leadership in 1671 Battle of Saraighat, when he drove away Mughal forces under command of Ram Singh, to take over kingdom. 18. Nov 25 is Marked as UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 2020 Theme is Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect. On November 25 in 1960, three Mirabal sisters were assassinated upon orders from Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. In 1981, activists from Caribbean Feminist Encuentros marked November 25 as day to raise awareness of violence against women. In 1999, Date received official UN resolution. 19. Nov 26 is observed as Constitution Day in India (Samvidhan Divas). It commemorates adoption of the Constitution of India on 26 November 1949 by Indian Constituent Assembly. However, the Indian Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950. Government declared observing 26 November as Constitution Day in 2015, as 2015 represented 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, who had chaired the drafting committee of Constituent Assembly. Previously, Nov 26 was celebrated as National Law Day. On this Occasion - Social Justice & Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot e-launched National Portal for Transgender Persons and Garima Greh: A Shelter Home for Transgender Persons in Vadodara (Gujarat). He also e-released Documentary Illustrations and Calligraphy in the Constitution of India. Information Technology Minister launched International version of UMANG application (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance), on occasion of completion of 3 years of UMANG. It was launched in UK, US, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, UAE, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. iOS version of Nyaya Bandhu Application was also launched, with its onboarding on UMANG platform. Nyaya Bandhu mobile application was launched in February 2019, to ensure empowerment of common man. Also, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has been conferred with Platinum Partner Award for registering more than 25 lakh transactions on UMANG App. 20. Nov 26 is observed as National Milk Day In India, to commemorate birth snniversary of Dr. Verghese Kurien, father of India’s White Revolution. First National Milk Day was celebrated on 26 November 2014, marked by Indian Dairy Association (IDA). Dr. Kurien is also famous for his ‘Operation Flood’, world’s largest agricultural development program. He established 30 institutions which are run by various farmers and workers and played a key role in establishment and success of Amul brand. India is 2nd largest Milk producer in world, after US. 21. Nov 29 is observed as UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. 22. Nov 30 is observed as UN Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare. 23. Nov 5 is observed as UN World Tsunami Awareness Day, marked by United Nations in 2015. 24. Nov 6 is observed as International Day for preventing environmental exploitation during war and armed conflict, marked by UN in 2001. Also, November 2 - 6 is observed as International Stress Awareness Week, created in 2018. 25. Nov 7 is observed as National Cancer Awareness Day in India. 26. Nov 8 is observed as International Day of Radiology. It coincides with day of discovery of X-rays (on November 8, 1895), by German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen. Nov 8 is also observed as World Urbanism Day, also known as Town Planning Day, marked in 1949. 27. Nov 9 is observed as National Legal Services Day In India, to commemorate enactment of Indian Legal Services Authorities Act 1987. On 11 October 1987, the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 was enacted. It took effect on 9 November 1995. 28. Nov 9 is statehood day of Uttarakhand. On 9 November 2000, Uttarakhand became 27th state of India, being carved from Himalayan districts of Uttar Pradesh. 29. November 11 is celebrated as National Education Day in India, to commemorate birth anniversary of Maulana Abdul Azad, the first Education Minister of India. He is accredited for establishment of several premier institutes of country. It is being celebrated since 2008. 30. November 12 is observed as Public Service Broadcasting in India. It commemorates visit of M K Gandhi to studio of All India Radio in Delhi in 1947. Nov 12 is also observed as World Pneumonia Day, marked in 2009. 31. November 18 is observed as Naturopathy Day by Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) Ministry. It was first observed in 2018. Top

Defence 1. 2 day joint coastal security exercise Sagar Kavach held at Paradip Coast (Odisha). 2. 3 day Tri-Service Combat Exercise code-named “Bull Strike” held at Teressa Island in Nicobar Group of Islands. 3. 30th edition of India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) between Indian and Royal Thai Navy has been conducted. 4. DRDO flagged off first Production unit of Heavy Weight Torpedo (HWT) Varunastra, developed by Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL) of DRDO. It has been manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for Indian Navy. 5. Defence Minister launched Land Management System (LMS), to improve overall management of defence land. Intra-net portal shall digitize all requests of defence land management received by Department in future. 6. Fast Patrol Vessel ICGS C-452 has been commissioned in Indian Coast Guard, indigenously built by L&T. 7. India, Singapore and Thailand Navies held 2nd edition of India, Trilateral Maritime Exercise SITMEX-20, in Andaman Sea. 8. Indian Navy launched fifth Scorpene submarine Vagir, built by Mazagon Dock Limited (Mumbai). It is fifth submarine of first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for Indian Navy. It is expected to be commissioned in 2022. Other Submarines under this class are - INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, INS Vela and INS Vagsheer. 9. Indian and Singapore Navies held 27th edition of India - Singapore Bilateral Maritime Exercise SIMBEX-20, in Andaman Sea. 10. Misc. Defence News / Tests (November 2020)- DRDO Tested Enhanced PINAKA rocket system, meant to replace existing Pinaka Mk-I rockets. DRDO developed fire detection and suppression system for passenger buses, which can detect fire in buses in 30 seconds and can extinguish it in 60 Seconds. Model of Anti Satellite (A-SAT) Missile has been installed at DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi, by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Under Mission Shakti, India's first-ever Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) Missile was Tested successfully, in March 2019. This made India 4th nation in the world with this capability. India test fired all-weather Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air-Missiles (QRSAM), which is capable of striking aerial target at a height of 15 km. Indian Navy received its 9th Boeing P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, part of $1 billion deal with US for four additional planes signed in 2016. Russia test-fired Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile in Arctic, with range upto 11000 km and speed over Mach 8. 11. Phase 1 of 24th edition of MALABAR naval exercise held at Visakhapatnam (Bay of Bengal), with participation Navies from India, US, Japan and Australia. MALABAR series of maritime exercises commenced in 1992 as a bilateral IN-USN exercise. Japan joined in 2015. 2020 edition will now witness participation of Australia. 12. Phase 2 of 24th edition of MALABAR maritime exercise has been hosted by Indian Navy, in Arabian Sea. Phase 1 involved participation by India, US, Japan and Australia, which was conducted off Visakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal. MALABAR series of maritime exercises commenced in 1992 as a bilateral IN-USN exercise. Japan joined in 2015. 2020 edition witnessed participation of Australia for the First Time. 13. Second Batch of 3 Rafale combat aircrafts received by India, from France. It is part of 36 Dassault Rafale fighter jets to be received from France. First 5 had arrived in July 2020. Rafale is first imported fighter to be inducted into Service since Sukhoi-30s from Russia in late 90s. Top

Economy 1. As per Official Data, Total Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) inflows into India during 2nd quarter of FY 21 (July - September 2020) remained US$ 28.1 Billion, out of which FDI equity inflows were US$ 23.4 Billion. This takes FDI equity inflows during FY 21 upto September 2020 to US $30 Billion, 15% more than corresponding period of FY 20. US emerged as second-biggest source of FDI for India during April-September 2020 with 7.12 USD Billion FDI, replacing Mauritius (2 Billion USD). Singapore, with investment of USD 8.30 billion, retained its position on top. 2. Asian Development Bank approved USD 132.8 million loan to improve power distribution network in Meghalaya. 3. Competition Commission of India Approvals (November 2020)- Approved acquisition of General Insurance Business of Bharti AXA General Insurance Company by ICICI Lombard General Insurance. Bharti AXA is joint venture by Bharti General Ventures (51%) and Societe Beaujon (49%). Approved acquisition of 7.73% stake in Reliance Industries' Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) by Google Subsidiary Google International LLC, for 33737 Crores. Approved transfer of 100% shareholding of Sinochem Group Company and China National Chemical Corporation to a new company wholly owned by China State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration (Central SASAC). In India, Sinochem is engaged in several related businesses. Approved acquisition of Orix Wind SPVs by Greenko Energy Holdings from ORIX Corporation and equity stake in GEH by Orix. Approved acquisition of retail and wholesale undertaking and logistics and warehousing undertaking of Future Group, by Reliance Retail Ventures Limited. 4. Equitas Small Finance Bank launched women exclusive savings account called Eva. It also appointed Female Cricketer Smriti Mandhana as brand ambassador. 5. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman announced Various Stimulus measures Aatma Nirbhar Bharat 3.0. Highlights - New Scheme Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana, launched to incentivise creation of new employment opportunities during COVID recovery phase. Beneficiaries will be New employee joining employment in EPFO registered Firms (monthly wages under 15000) and Employees who had lost jobs between March 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020. Scheme to be operational till 30th June 2021. Govt. to provide subsidy for 2 years as Under - Up to 1000 employees - Employee’s contributions (12% of Wages) & Employer’s contributions (12% of wages) totalling 24% of wages. Over 1000 employees - Only Employee’s EPF contributions (12% of EPF wages) Rs. 3 lakh crore existing Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS 1.0), has been extended till 31st March, 2021. Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS 2.0) to be Launched. To be utilized for 100% guaranteed collateral free additional credit at capped interest rates to Entities in 26 stressed sectors identified by Kamath Committee plus health care sector, with credit outstanding Between 50 - 500 Crores. Tenor of additional credit under ECLGS 2.0 to be 5 years, including one year moratorium on principal repayment. Rs 1.46 lakh crore boost for Atmanirbhar Manufacturing Production-linked incentives for 10 Champion Sectors - Government had earlier approved PLI schemes for 3 sectors at a cost of 51355 crores Mobile Manufacturing - 40995 crores Critical Key Starting Materials, Drug intermediates and Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients - 6,940 crores Medical Devices - 3420 crores 10 more Champion Sectors will now be covered under PLI Scheme to boost domestic manufacturing (5 yearly Amount in Crores)- Advance Cell Chemistry Battery - 18100 Electronic/Technology Products - 5000 Automobiles & Auto Components - 57042 Pharmaceuticals Drugs - 15000 Telecom & Networking Products - 12195 Textile Products - 10683 Food Products - 10900 High Efficiency Solar PV Modules - 4500 White Goods (ACs & LED) - 6238 Specialty Steel - 6322 18000 crores as additional outlay for PM Awaas Yojana (PMAY) –Urban, over and above 2020-21 Budget Estimates (8000 Crores). Support for Construction & Infrastructure - Performance security on contracts to be reduced to 3 % instead of 5 to 10%. Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) will not be required for tenders and will be replaced by Bid Security Declaration. Relaxations will be given till 31-12-2021 under General Financial Rules. To drive infrastructure creation, Govt will infuse 6000 crores equity in National Infrastructure Investment Fund’s (NIIF’s) debt platform. This will help raise 1.10 lakh crores by 2025 for financing infrastructure projects. Support for Agriculture - 65000 crores for subsidised Fertilisers - Fertiliser consumption, which was 499 lakh MT in 2016-17, is expected to increase to 673 lakh MT in 2020-21. Boost for Rural Employment – Enhanced outlays of 10000 Crores to be Provided under PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana. Earlier, MGNREGA was provided 61500 crores in Budget 2020-21. 40000 crores was additionally provided in Atma Nirbhar Bharat 1.0. Boost for Project Exports - 3000 crores to EXIM bank for Lines of Credit, under IDEAS (Indian Development Assistance Scheme). 10200 crores additional budget outlay will be provided towards Capital and industrial expenditure. 900 crores being provided for Research and Development of Indian COVID Vaccine, Under Mission Covid Suraksha. 6. Government of Himachal Pradesh in partnership with Asian Development Bank (ADB) will to improve infrastructure in Mandi district, with estimated cost 15 crores. 7. ICICI Bank launched banking programme for millennial customers called Mine, Inspired by Millennial Network, as first such in India. It offers several preferential services to targeted customers, in age bracket of 18 - 35 years. 8. India Signed $50-million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB), to improve financial management procedures and operational efficiencies, to improve service delivery in West Bengal. 9. India signed $120 Million Loan agreement with World Bank, to improve transport sector of state of Meghalaya. 10. India signed USD 500 Million Loan agreement with Shanghai based BRICS Nations' New Development Bank (NDB), for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Project, to provide fast public transport system in National Capital Region (NCR). 11. Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Axis Bank, South Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda Acquired 6.67% stakes each in IBBIC, which is proposed to be set up as as a fintech company with an objective of providing a platform for building and implementing Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) solutions. 12. Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (November 2020)- Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service revised GDP forecast of India to -8.9 % Contraction in FY 21 (2020-21), upwards from -9.6 % contraction forecasted earlier. American Investment bank Goldman Sachs revised upwards the growth forecast for India in FY21 (2020-21) to -10.3%, from its earlier projection of -14.8%. For FY 22 (2021-22), Goldman Sachs has projected India’s GDP to grow at 13%. 13. International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) approved IFSCA (Banking) Regulations 2020, paveing way for putting in place rules for various banking operations that would be permissible at IFSC. It Includes guidelines for - Requirements for setting up IFSC Banking Units (IBUs), and their permissible activities . Permitting persons to open foreign currency accounts in any freely convertible currency at IBUs. To undertake any transaction under Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of RBI. 14. Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company launched ESG Opportunities Fund, which will focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors and Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI). 15. LIC launched digital application for agents for onboarding to get a life insurance policy, called ANANDA (Atma Nirbhar Agents NewBusiness Digital Application). 16. Markets regulator SEBI launched Securities Market Trainers (SMARTs) program, an initiative aimed at enhancing investor education and awareness. 17. Misc. Corporate Events (November 2020)- RBI imposed penalty of 1 crore on Jio Payments Bank, for non-compliance with RBI directions on timely submission of application in case of reappointment of MD & CEO. RBI also imposed penalty of 22 lakh on DCB Bank, for non-compliance with certain RBI directions. Private lender RBL Bank launched instant payouts for fintech firms by partnering with payments giant Visa, to leverage Visa’s real-time push payments platform Visa Direct. IT Firm Tech Mahindra signed contract of 400 crores for enterprise resource planning implementation Project Parivartan, by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Iffco Bazar, the e-commerce arm of IFFCO, integrated with SBI YONO Krishi app. It aims at ensuring wide variety of agriculture products are made accessible to Indian Farmers. NPCI allowed Facebook-owned WhatsApp to start its payments service in India, named WhatsApp pay. It will be allowed to expand its payments user base to only 20 million users in first phase. RBI announced that rate of interest on Government Floating Rate Bonds 2024 shall be 3.36 % per annum, applicable for half year November 07, 2020 to May 06, 2021. HDFC Bank has been named Most Outstanding Company - Financial Sector in India, by financial publication Asiamoney. SBI partnered with global non-profit education platform-edX to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). HDFC ERGO General Insurance launched AI tool IDEAS (Intelligent Damage detection Estimation and Assessment Solution), for automating motor claim settlements. Karnataka Bank launched new indigenous Rupay debit card called National Common Mobility Debit Card (NCMC). Equipped as an international Contact-less, it is a debit cum prepaid and inter-operable transport card. RBI imposed penalty of 50 lakh on Central Bank of India, for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI, related to disbural of housing loans. HDFC Bank launched SmartHub Merchant Solutions 3.0 for Small and mid-size enterprises, allowing them to instantly open a current account and start accepting payments. Payments Firm MobiKwik Launched Blue American Express Card, makin it first non-bank Indian company to become a member of American Express network. RBI imposed penalty of 1 crore on Punjab National Bank, for violating Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007 Guidelines. HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank have been put in red flag list, by a system used for monitoring foreign portfolio investor (FPI) limits. A listed company enters this list when available legroom for overseas investment is less than 3 % of permissible limit. FPIs can invest up to 74 per cent in both HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank. RBI banned Manta Urban Cooperative Bank in Jalna district of Maharashtra for six months for payment of money and loan transactions. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) acqured order worth over 7000 crores, to construct 87.569 KM of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR), also known as Bullet Train Project. Bharti Airtel acquired 5.2% stake in solar power firm Avaada MHBuldhana, for INR 4.55 crores. Avaada MHBuldhana is a subsidiary of Avaada Energy, a newly-formed entity that is developing a captive solar power plant in Maharashtra. YES Bank launched SMS Pay functionality on POS terminals, to allow merchants to accept contactless and remote payments, in collaboration with French payments Firm Worldline. HDFC Bank signed MoU with Inventivepreneur Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCI) to support SMEs and Start- ups. Car maker Mercedes-Benz partnered with State Bank of India to offer financial benefits to Bank’s High Net Worth Individual Customers. RBI Rejected proposal by Muthoot Finance, to buy IDBI Asset Management and IDBI MF Trustee Company, statimng it not in consonance with activity of an NBFC. HDFC Bank acquired 19.95 % stake in Renaissance Investment Solutions Asset Reconstruction Company, for 49.8 lakhs. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) signed MoU with Tamil Nadu government, to develop MSMEs in state. Receivables Exchange of India (RXIL) initiated a Trade Credit Insurance (TCI) backed transaction in Sandbox environment, with Tata AIG as insurer and ICICI Bank, YES Bank as financiers. This is first time a TReDS platform has tested efficacy of TCI backed transaction. 18. National Statistical Office (under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) released estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for first quarter (Jul-Sep) Q2 of 2020-21, both at Constant (2011-12) and Current Prices- GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q2 of 2020-21 is estimated at 33.14 lakh crores, as against 35.84 lakh crores in Q2 of 2019-20, showing a contraction of 7.5 %. Growth in earlier 5 Quarters - Q1 of FY 2020-21 - Minus 23.9 % Q4 of FY 2019-20 - 3.1 % Q2 of FY 2019-20 - 4.7 % Q2 of FY 2019-20 - 4.5 % Q1 of FY 2019-20 - 5 % GDP at Current Prices in Q2 of 2020-21 also shown contraction of 4 %. 19. New Investments in Reliance Subsidairy Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL). Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia will invest 9555 crores in Reliance subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), for 2.04% stake. Earlier Investments in RRVL Since October 2020, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) will invest 5,512.50 crores in Reliance subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) for 1.20% stake. American investment firm TPG will invest 1837.5 crores into Reliance subsidiary RRVL, for 0.41% stake. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC to buy 1.22% stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), for 5512 Crores. Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co to pick up 1.4% stake in Reliance Retail, for 6247 Crores. American investment firm General Atlantic invested 3675 crores into Reliance Retail ventures Limited (RRVL) for .84 % stake. American investment firm KKR invested 5550 crores into Reliance Retail ventures Limited (RRVL) for 1.28% stake. American investor Silver Lake invested 7500 Crores INR for 1.75% Stake in Reliance Retail. In concerned 8 Deals, RRVL has divested 10.14 % Stake so far, Raising 47265 Crores. 20. RBI issued draft of amalgamation of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with DBS Bank India, a subsidiary of DBS Bank Singapore. DBIL will bring in additional capital of 2500 crore upfront, to support credit growth of merged entity. LVB was recently put Under Moratorium by RBI, amid its deteriorating finances. RBI had appointed T. N. Manoharan as Administrator of LVB. 21. RBI laucnhed a Co-Lending Model (CLM) scheme under which banks can provide loans along with NBFCs to priority sector borrowers based on a prior agreement. CLM is an improvement over co-origination of loan scheme announced by RBI in September 2018, seeking to provide greater flexibility to lenders. NBFCs shall be required to retain a minimum of 20 per cent share of the individual loans on their books. 22. RBI, in its First ever Nowcast publication, has signaled India entering a technical recession in first half of 2020-21, for first time in history. GDP had shrank 8.6% in Q2 (Jul-Sep) and 23.6 % in Q1 (Apr-Jun) of FY 2021 (2020-21). 23. Reliance Industries’ retail arm acquired 96 % stake in Bengaluru-based online furniture retailer Urban Ladder for over Rs 182 crores. 24. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has doubled overseas investment limit for individual mutual funds from $300 million to $600 Million, with overall industry limit of $7 billion. SEBI also reserved $50 million for each fund house. Limits for mutual funds were last changed 12 years back, when RBI increased overall industry limit to $7 billion, from $5 billion. 25. TransUnion CIBIL and Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) launched MSME Credit Health Index, To provide a reliable measure and benchmark of growth and strength of MSME sector in India. 26. UAE's Abu Dhabi’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) MIC Redwood 1, became first foreign SWF that has been granted 100% income-tax exemption for long-term investments to be made in specified priority sectors in India. 27. Under First tranche of commercial coal mine auction, 19 mines were auctioned which with revenue of 7000 crores, with peak rated capacity of 51 million tonnes. Mines are in Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. In June 2020, PM Narendra Modi had launched auction process of 41 blocks of commercial mining, to reduce dependence on coal imports. Top

International 1. 15 Asia Pacific countries signed world’s biggest free trade deal led by China, during 37th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit. Deal is called Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). It is to be world’s largest trading bloc, comprising of 10 Southeast Asian countries, as well as South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Members of the RCEP accounts for nearly a third of the world’s population and around 30% of global gross domestic product (GDP). India has kept itself out of RCEP for now, mainly due to concerns of dumping manufactured goods from China and also of diary products from New Zealand and agricultural products from Australia. India imports heavily from these countries, which will cost India huge if RCEP is Joined by India. Vietnam is ASEAN Chair for 2020, which will be replaced by Brunei in 2021. 2. 2 India sponsered resolutions have been adopted by United Nations - Convention on Prohibition of the use of Nuclear Weapons and Reducing Nuclear Danger. Convention on Prohibition of the use of Nuclear Weapons - It is being tabled since 1982. It requests Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to commence negotiations to prohibit use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances. Reducing Nuclear Danger - It was tabled since 1998. It draws global attention of accidental use of nuclear weapons, and underscores need to review nuclear doctrines. 3. As per Global Bribery Risk Matrix 2020 released by TRACE - India ranks 77th, compared to 78th in 2019. Top 3 - Denmark (1), Norway (2), Finland (3) Bottom 3 - North korea (194), Turkmenistan (193), South Sudan (192) Neighbors - China (126), Pakistan (153), Bangladesh (166), Sri Lanka (87) 4. As per US' Stanford University, 1494 Indian scientists featured in list of top 2 per cent of world scientists. Notably, It Includes 22 researchers of IIT Guwahati and 7 from Tezpur University. 5. At 1st Virtual Bilateral Summit Between India and Luxembourg, attended by PM Narendra Modi and PM Xavier Bettel, 3 MOUs were signed - MoU between India International Exchange (India INX) and Luxembourg Stock Exchange. MoU between State Bank of India and Luxembourg Stock Exchange. MoU between Invest India and Luxinnovation. 6. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Sirius (Russia) launched ‘AIM–Sirius Innovation Programme 3.0’, as 14-day virtual programme for Indian and Russian school children. 7. Australia-India Water Centre (AIWC) has been inaugurated virtually, led by University of Western Sydney from Australia and IIT Guwahati from India. 8. Bangladesh and US held joint Naval Exercise CARAT (Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training). 9. Belarus (Eastern Europe) formally opened its first nuclear power plant, which is sharply criticized by neighbouring Lithuania. It has been built by Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom. 10. China launched an unmanned spacecraft to moon, onboard Long March-5 rocket. It was named after ancient Chinese Goddess of the moon, Chang’e-5. If successful, China will be third country to retrieve moon samples, After Soviet Union and US. 11. China launched world’s first 6G experiment satellite, expected to be over 100 times faster than 5G. It was launched along with 12 other satellites. 12. China powered up its first domestically developed nuclear reactor, called Hualong One. The reactor can generate 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year and cut carbon emissions by 8.16 million tons. 13. Covid - 19 Updates (November 2020)- National - IIT Madras developed COVID Game, to create awareness about COVID-19 virus, among children. EEPC India and National Institute of Design partnered to promote and upgrade technology for medical devices industry, enabling it to meet emerging needs in health sector. Uttarakhand's Dehradun Municipal Corporation launched initiative named Plastic Lao MASK LE JAO, to fight menace of plastic waste and contain spread of Covid-19. 6 women led startups have won COVID-19 Shri Shakti Challenge organized by MyGov in collaboration with UN Women. In addition to earlier announced reward of 5 lakh for top 3 winners, UN Women also rewarded 2 lakh each to 3 startups. Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Arunachal Pradesh became first in northeast to provide insurance cover against Covid-19 for “green soldiers”. Tata Medical and Diagnostics Ltd (TataMD) TataMD CHECK, as a novel diagnostic testing for COVID-19. It is world’s first CRISPR CaS-9 based diagnostic tool and is powered by FELUDA. Delhi Govt launched Jeevan Seva app, Aiming at timely transportation of COVID-19 patients to healthcare facilities. Home Minister inaugurated mobile COVID-19 RT-PCR Lab at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) New Delhi, to add more capacity to COVID-19 testing. Cerry blossom festival, hosted by Meghalaya in November, has been cancelled this year due to Covid-19. Fast method of Dry Swab-Direct RT-PCR, developed by CSIR lab Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad for scaling up of SARS-CoV-2 detection has approved by ICMR. International - Bangladesh signed agreement with Serum Institute of India (SII) for procurement of 3 crore doses of Oxford/ Astrazeneca vaccine. UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched New Food Coalition alliance, to prevent COVID-19 pandemic from triggering a catastrophic world food crisis. G20 finance ministers agreed for first time on a new joint framework for restructuring government debt, as a relief to some poor countries amid Covid-19 Pandemic. UN along with Vaccine Confidence Project of University of London launched Team Halo, which aims to tackle misinformation on safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. UN released USD 100 million in emergency funding to 7 countries at risk of famine in Africa and Middle East, amid conflict and COVID-19 pandemic. 80 Million will be for Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen and Ethiopia. 14. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport became Asia Pacific’s first Level 4+ (Transition) accredited airport under ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation program. 15. Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s bi-ennial Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) report - Hong Kong (China), Paris (France) and Zurich (Switzerland) are most expensive cities. Damascus (Syria), Taskent (Uzbekistan), Lusaka (Zambia) rank last in List of 133 named cities. 16. Five Eyes Alliance Members US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand Criticized China for increasing Chinese curbs on autonomy of Hong Kong, after China imposed new rules disqualifying elected members from Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. 17. Gulf Nation Qatar ruler approved Country's First National elections, to be held in October 2021. The Shura Council elections will be held in October 2021, to strengthen traditions of Qatari shura, with wider participation by citizens. 18. India and Maldives signed 4 agreements, during visit of Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Maldives. One MoU for grant of $100 million by India for Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP), with cost $500 million. Rest $400 million for project will also be provided by India. It will link capital Male with three islands. 2nd agreement is about setting up a plant and soil testing laboratory with a grant of 1.71 million Maldivian rufiyaas. 3rd agreement for establishment of a drug detox facility with another grant of 7.7 million Maldivian rufiyaas. 4th MOU for increasing cooperation in field of sports and youth affairs. 19. India and US extended their Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation on Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) by 10 years. Centre was officially opened in 2017 im Bahadurgarh (Haryana), to support international cooperation in nuclear energy applications. India and USA signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement in 2008, also called 123 Agreement, after international Nuclear Suppliers Group agreed to relax international nuclear trade restrictions against India. Extension of MoU was agreed during 3rd US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held in New Delhi in October 2020. 20. Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has been accepted as a component of World-Wide Radio Navigation System by International Maritime Organisation (IMO), for its operations in Indian Ocean Region. This will enable vessels to use IRNSS to obtain position information similar to GLONASS and GPS. Navigation system up to 1,500 km in Indian Ocean waters can now replace GPS. India has became fourth country to have independent regional satellite navigation system (after US, Russia and China), and recognized by IMO under its WWRNS. Operational name of IRNSS is NavIC, having 8 satellites. 21. Isolated UK overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha has been declared largest fully protected Marine reserve of Atlantic Ocean, which will This prohibit sand extraction, bottom trawling fishing and deep-sea mining in the territory. 22. Japan and Australia signed defence deal called Reciprocal Access Agreement, to counter China's growing influence in South China Sea and Pacific island nations. It allows Japanese and Australian Forces to visit each other's countries and conduct training and joint operations. 23. Joint US- European satellite built to monitor global sea levels has been launched by SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, named Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. 24. Month-long Operation Thunder 2020 has been coordinated by Interpol and World Customs Organisation, which involved law enforcement agencies in 103 countries. 25. PM Narendra Modi launched phase two of RuPay card in Bhutan, issued by Bhutan National Bank. Prime Ministers of India and Bhutan had jointly launched Phase-I of project during Visit of PM Modi to Bhutan in August 2019. Phase-I enabled visitors from India to access ATMs / PoS terminals across Bhutan. Phase-II will now allow Bhutanese card holders to access RuPay network in India. 26. Russia approved new Governance Reforms, which are to begin from January 1, 2021. As per reforms - Staff within central administrative office is to be reduced by 5% and staff within territorial governments is to be reduced by 10%. Reform will create a special working group that will deal with matters that are related to reform procedures. Also, President Vladimir Putin recently signed an order to increase number of Deputy Prime Ministers from 9 to 10. 27. Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced plans to ease foreign workers' contractual restrictions, improving a controversial seven- decade-old sponsorship system known as kafala, Under Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. It will take effect in March 2021. It will grant foreign workers the right to change jobs and leave the country without employers' permission. Earlier, this restriction used to result in exploitation of workers by employers. 28. Sudan has been removed by US, from list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Sudan was designated as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993, for its support of militant Palestinian organizations such as Hamas. Also, after UAE and Bahrain, Sudan recently became third country to normalise relations with Israel. 29. To reduce greenhouse Emissions, UK will ban sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, as against Britain's earlier plans of banning sale of new petrol and diesel-powered cars from 2035. 30. UAE approved golden visa grant, allowing 10-year residency for certain professions including specialised degree-holders and others. 31. UAE became first Arab country to generate electricity from coal, with 600 MW Hassyan Coal Plant to be set up in Dubai at 3.4 billion USD. Capacity of plant is to be increased to 2400 MW by 2023. Power plant will fulfil 20% of its energy requirements of Dubai. Coal-based power plants in the Gulf region have been abandoned. 32. UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and World Health Organization (WHO) launched global group called One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. Group aims at catalyzing global attention to preserve antimicrobial medicines and avert its disastrous consequences. 33. US formally withdrew from Treaty of Open Skies, 6 months after notifying its decision to withdraw. Signed by 35 nations in January 2002, Treaty of Open Skies is an agreement that seeks to foster trust by allowing unarmed aerial surveillance flights over entire territory of participating countries. 34. US officially withdrawn from Paris climate accord, becoming only country to formally pull out of deal since it was adopted in 2015. As per rules, a country cannot officially leave before 1 year of notifying UN of its intent to withdraw. US has now completed one year of advance notification. Top

Meetings 1. 2020 Afghanistan Conference organized Virtually by UN in Geneva (Switzerland), with India represented by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. It was co-hosted by United Nations, Afghanistan and Finland. Notably, India recently concluded with Afghanistan an agreement for construction of Shatoot dam, which would provide safe drinking water to 2 million residents of Kabul city. India announced Phase-IV of High Impact Community Development Projects for Afghanistan worth USD 80 million. 2. 2020 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meet held under Chairmanship of Malaysia, as First ever Virtual meet of 21 APEC Nations. APEC 2020 ended with the adoption of APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040 and 2020 Kuala Lumpur Declaration. Theme was Optimising Human Potential Towards a Resilient Future of Shared Prosperity: Pivot. Prioritise. Progress”. APEC Summit 2021 will be hosted by New Zealand. 3. 20th Summit of SCO Council of Heads of State held Virtually, chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Indian PM Narendra Modi led Indian delegation. This was first SCO Summit held in Virtual Format and 3rd meet that India participated after becoming a full member in 2017. India proposed to set up a Special Working Group on Innovation and Startups and a Sub Group on Traditional Medicine within SCO. Summit adopted 16 documents including key ones on countering spread of extremist ideologies and promoting digital economy. SCO Members - China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan. India and Pakistan joined in 2017. 4 SCO Observers - Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia. 4. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented India at 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) held Virtually, chaired by Vietnam. EAS is regional grouping of 18 participating countries - 10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and US. 5. Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S. Puri (MoS (I/C)) Inaugurated 13th Urban Mobility India Conference, held on theme Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility. 6. PM Narendra Modi attended Virtual 15th G20 Summit, presided by Saudi Arabia. It was held with theme Realising Opportunities of 21st Century for All. Subsequent G20 summits - Italy (2021), Indonesia (2022), India (2023). 7. PM Narendra Modi participated in 17th ASEAN-India Summit, held Virtually. Summit saw participation of all ten ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Member States (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos). Vietnam is current Chair of ASEAN. During summit, PM annoucned that India is to contribute 1 million USD to COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund. 8. PM Narendra Modi virtually attended 12th BRICS Summit, held under Chairmanship of Russia. India will be taking over Chairmanship of BRICS in 2021. Theme of 12th edition of BRICS Summit was “Global stability, shared security and innovative growth”. BRICS Members adopted counter terrorism strategy, to deal with terrorism. Top

National 1. Cabinet Approvals (Nov 26, 2020) - MOUs - Cooperation in field of Physical Culture and Sport among BRICS Countries. MoU between Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Vereniging van Registercontrollers(VRC) of the Netherlands. CCEA - Approved FDI proposal for acquisition of 12.32% of equity share capital of ATC Telecom Infrastructure by ATC Asia Pacific PTE, leading to FDI inflow of 2481 crores. General - Approved equity infusion by Government of 6000 crores in NIIF Debt Platform, sponsored by National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), comprising of Aseem Infrastructure Finance Limited (AIFL) and NIIF Infrastructure Finance Limited (NIIF-IFL). Only 2000 crore would be allocated during current FY 21. NIIF Strategic Opportunities Fund has set up a Debt Platform comprising an NBFC Infra Debt Fund and an NBFC Infra Finance Company. Approved Scheme of Amalgamation of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with DBS Bank India (DBIL). RBI had earlier put LVB under moratorium for period of 30 days, appointing T. N. Manoharan as Administrator of LVB. LVB will be amalgamated with DBIL, with no further restrictions on depositors regarding withdrawal of their deposits. Also, RBI Advised Lakshmi Vilas Bank to fully write-down series VIII, IX and X Basel-III compliant Tier-2 bonds worth 318 crores. Earlier, RBI Asked Yes bank to write down additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds, as part of reconstruction plan. 2. 10th science film festival began in a virtual mode, Jointly organized by Vigyan Prasar and Tripura State Council of Science and Technology. 3. 3 New Ramsar Sites added from India, taking number of Ramsar Sites in India to 42. Tso Kar (Ladakh), known for its size and depth, is a fluctuating salt lake situated in Rupshu Plateau and valley. Keetham lake, also known as Sur Sarovar, in Agra of Uttar Pradesh. Lonar Lake in Buldhana district of Maharashtra, which was formed by impact of a meteorite on basalt bedrock several years ago. 4. 3rd Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo (RE-Invest 2020), held virtually, organised by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, with theme Innovations for Sustainable Energy Transition. First two editions of RE-Invest were held in 2015 and 2018. India has ambitious target of having 175GW of renewable energy by 2022 and 450GW by 2030. 5. A solar energy-driven miniature train, inaugurated at Veli Tourist Village in Kerala, termed as country's first of its kind. It has 3 bogies, with 45 people capacity. 6. AI & Robotics Technologies Park (ARTPARK) will be set up in Bengaluru, to promote technology innovations in Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, as unique not-for-profit foundation established by Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru (IISc) with support from AI Foundry. It has been set up with seed funding of 170 Crores from Department of Science & Technology under National Mission on Inter-disciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). ARTPARK will develop AI & Robotics facilities to support technology innovations as well as capacity building. It will develop DataSetu, to enable confidentiality to share data and BhashaSetu, which will enable real-time Indic language translation. 7. Agri. Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated Honey Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) Programme in 5 states, to address issues faced by beekeeping industry. 5 FPOs will be set up by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) in East Champaran (Bihar) Morena (Madhya Pradesh) Bharatpur (Rajasthan) Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) Sunderbans (West Bengal). 8. Agri. Minister Narendra Singh Tomar unveiled National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)'s Sahakar Pragya, to impart training to primary cooperative societies in rural areas, along with Lakshmanrao Inamdar National Cooperative Research and Development Academy (LINAC). 45 training modules pf Sahakar Pragya to be delivered at LINAC and its countrywide network of 18 Regional Training Centres, will address need for training of Primary cooperatives, FPO-Cooperatives and Self Help Groups federating. 9. Andhra government launched Jagananna Thodu welfare scheme, aimed at providing interest-free loans to small traders and street vendors. Through this, banks would provide loans of approx 1000 crores to nearly 10 lakh people and government would bear interest of upto 100 crores annually. 10. Andhra government launched Abhayam project, a one-of-its-kind initiative aimed at ensuring safety of women and children while travelling in public transport. 11. As per Migration Now's Interstate Migrant Policy Index (IMPEX) - Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are most successful in integrating migrant workers. While, Delhi has least Interstate Migrant Policy Index. Average IMPEX score of India is 37 out of 100. 12. Asia’s oldest stock exchange BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) signed MoU with Government of J&K's Mission Youth, to spread financial awareness and encourage sustainable livelihood in UT of J&K. 13. Assam CM laid foundation stone of Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence for Vegetables Protected Cultivation at Khetri near Guwahati, expected to provide exposure to latest Israeli technologies to state’s farmers and helping them maximize their production and income. 14. Assam’s Tezpur Litchi has been given geographical indication (GI) tag, in response to application made in 2013 by North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC). Litchi’s from Tezpur is known for its excellent quality, pleasant flavour, juicy pulp with attractive red colour. 15. Bihar Assembly Election 2020 Results (243 Seats) - National Democratic Alliance (NDA) emerged winner with 125 seats, which mainly Includes BJP (74) and JDU (43). JDU's Nitish Kumar will be re-appointed as Chief Minister of Bihar, for his 7th Term. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) emerged as single largest party, with 75 seats. 16. Cabinet Approvals (Nov 04, 2020)- MOUs - Spain - develop scientific and technical collaborations in astronomy UK - Telecommunication/ICT, Medical Products Regulation Israel - Health and Medicine CCEA Approvals - Approved investment of 1810 crores for 210 MW Luhri Stage-I Hydro Electric Project located on river Satluj, in Shimla &Kullu (Himachal Pradesh). It will generate 758 million units of electricity annually. Construction will complete in 5 years and will result in employment to around 2000 persons. 17. Cabinet Approvals (Nov 12, 2020) - General - Approved to introduce Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme in 10 key sectors for Enhancing India’s Manufacturing Capabilities and Enhancing Exports, under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan. 10 New Sectors will now be covered under PLI Scheme to boost domestic manufacturing (5 yearly Amount in Crores)- Advance Cell Chemistry Battery - 18100 Electronic/Technology Products - 5000 Automobiles & Auto Components - 57042 Pharmaceuticals Drugs - 15000 Telecom & Networking Products - 12195 Textile Products - 10683 Food Products - 10900 High Efficiency Solar PV Modules - 4500 White Goods (ACs & LED) - 6238 Specialty Steel - 6322 Government had earlier approved PLI schemes for 3 sectors at a cost of 51355 crores Mobile Manufacturing - 40995 crores Critical Key Starting Materials, Drug intermediates and Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients - 6,940 crores Medical Devices - 3420 crores CCEA - Approved Continuation and Revamping of Scheme for Financial Support to Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Infrastructure Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme, till 2024-25 with a total outlay of 8100 Crores. Revamped Scheme mainly related to introduction of 2 sub-schemes - Sub scheme 1 - Social Sectors such as Waste Water Treatment, Water Supply, Solid Waste Management, Health and Education sectors etc. Projects eligible under this category should have at least 100% Operational Cost recovery. Sub scheme 2 - Demonstration/pilot social sectors projects. The projects may be from Health and Education sectors where there is at least 50% Operational Cost recovery. 18. Chennai Based CSIR Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC) has developed indigenous technology called Emergency Retrieval System (ERS), for quick retrieval of power transmission in event of failure of transmission line towers. CSIR-SERC has signed agreement for licensing of ERS technology with Advait Infratech. At present, ERS systems are imported. ERS is a lightweight modular system that is used as temporary support structure to restore power immediately after the collapse of transmission line towers during natural calamities. 19. Coastal Security Police in Karnataka launched 'Kadalu App' to help fishermen to submit information about their arrival and departure from fishing harbour. 20. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) signed agreement with World Bank, to avail advisory services from asset monetization. DIPAM is mandated with facilitating monetization of non-core assets of government CPSEs under strategic disinvestment or closure and enemy property of value of INR 100 crores and above. 21. Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' inaugurated 46 online AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs), to train teachers of higher education institutions associated with All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), in 22 states. London-based organization recognized FDPs as a world record, under which 1000 online FDPs in over 100 emerging areas will benefit one lakh faculty members across premier institutions. 22. Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank announced Centre of Excellence for Indian Knowledge System to be set up at IIT Kharagpur. 23. Engineering Firm Tata Technologies signed agreement with Karnataka government to modernise 150 state-run ITIs, with outlay of 4600 crores. 24. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar launched India Climate Change Knowledge Portal, as single point Information resource about different climate initiatives. 25. Environment Ministry approved construction of the Song Dam Drinking Water Project worth Rs 1100 crore in Dehradun, with 6 MW Capacity. 148 Metres high project will be providing 24-hour drinking water to city of Dehradun and will give rebirth to River Rispana. 26. Finance Ministry approved creation of National Database of Unorganised Workers, as first-ever national database for migrant workers. It will be maintained using 12-digit Aadhaar number of workers. It will help in enhancing employability of migrants, by making it easier for employers to find suitable person. 27. Food Processing Industries Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated capacity building component of Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises scheme (PM-FME Scheme) and launched GIS One District One Product (ODOP) digital map of India. Under this component of PM-FME, training of the Master Trainers would be delivered through online mode, assisted by NIFTEM and IIFPT. Master Trainers will train District Level Trainers, who will train beneficiaries. PM-FME Scheme was Launched under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, which aims to enhance competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in unorganized segment of food processing industry, With outlay of 10000 crores over 5 years. 28. Food Processing and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated Mega Food Park (MFP) at Phagwara in Kapurthala district of Punjab, to benefit 25000 farmers and generate employment for 5000 persons. 29. General Conferences (Nov 11-20, 2020) - Madhya Pradesh CM launched roadmap to Aatma Nirbhar Madhya Pradesh 2023, to promote self dependence in state. (Commerce and Industry, Railways, and Food Minister) attended India: Drivers of Change conference organized by Bank of America. Punjab Governor V.P. Singh Badnore launched Mobile Based Application (App) for online monitoring of rescue, reporting and release of wildlife in Chandigarh. Telangana Govt Launched 2 Mobile Apps - Palle Pragathi Panchayat Secretary app & Palle Pragathi Inspection Officer app, To Monitor Palle Pragathi Scheme Implementation. Ayodhya’s ‘Deepotsav’ celebrations entered Guinness World Records, with over 5.8 Lakh earthen lamps were lit on banks of river Saryu. UP’s Gorakhpur will Host International Bird Festival in February 2021. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020, organised Virtuall by Government of Karnataka and several partners. It was attended by Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison. 2020 theme is Next is Now. Govt announced 50 % subsidy will be provided to Himalayan and North-Eastern states for air transportation of 41 notified fruits and vegetables to any place in country, under Operation Green. Science, Technology and Innovation Ministers of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) met Virtually. It was attended by Science & Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan on India'a Behalf. Also, BRICS Health Ministers Meet was held Virtually, attended by Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. Marathi film Karkhanisanchi Waari (Ashes on a Road Trip), directed by Mangesh Joshi, is was Only Indian Entry at 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival. Armed conflict began in Tigray Region of Ethiopia, between Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and forces supporting Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The confilct has claimed several thousand lives so far. India received first commercial shipment from Bangladesh through water route, at Assam’s Karimganj, on Protocol for Inland Water Trade and Transit (PIWTT) route. The protocol was first signed in 1972 and renewed in 2015. India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) report on ‘Deepening Cooperation in IBSA: Perspectives from Key Sectors’ has been launched, which is prepared by second batch of fellows of IBSA Visiting Fellow Program. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar participated in third India-Canada Track 1.5 Dialogue, held Virtually. Haryana CM virtually unveiled Project Air Care, to combat rising Air Pollution in Gurgaon, which will Include setting up 65 Wing Augmentation Air Purifying Units (WAYU). Ministry of Textiles launched a campaign for Diwali- Local4Diwali, to promote Indian handicraft during Deepawali 2020. India and Kazakhstan held seventh round of foreign office consultations, during which, Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of High Impact Community Projects in Kazakhstan was signed. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chaired 147th session of WHO Executive Board. In May 2020, Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan was elected Chair of World Health Organization’s Executive Board. Communications & IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad released My Stamp on Chhath Puja, as an innovative concept initiated by Department of Posts. Under this, Any person / organisation can now get a personalised photograph or an image of a Postage Stamp. 12th Counter Terrorism Dialogue between India and European Union (EU) held virtually. International Energy Agency (IEA) Issued Its new publication Energy Technology Perspectives 2020, focused on technology needs and opportunities for reaching international climate and sustainable energy goals. 30. General Conferences (Nov 21-30, 2020) - PM Narendra Modi Unveiled Commemorative Coin & Postal Stamp for 100th Foundation Day The University Of Lucknow. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated newly electrified Dhigawara-Bandikui section of North Western Railway, as key step towards making NCR region free from Railways diesel engines. Railways also launched completely digitized online Human Resource Management System (HRMS). 59th National Pharmacy Week (NPW) Observed Between November 16-22, with theme Pharmacists: Frontline Health Professionals. Govt of Karnataka renamed Haveri Railway station as Mahadevappa Mailara Railway Station. 12th Counter Terrorism Dialogue between India and European Union (EU) held virtually. India and European Union also virtually held 6th round of consultations on disarmament and non-proliferation matter. India and Vietnam held Virtual Defence Ministers meet, which Included signing implementation agreement on hydrography. VVIP Aircraft Air India One (Call Sign of President /Vice President / Prime Minister of India on board), had its Inaugural Flight with President onboard. 31. General News / Conferences (Nov 1-10, 2020) - Minister of State (IC) Development of North Eastern Jitendra Singh launched long-awaited Mansar Lake Development Plan (J&K), aiming to lead to employment generation of 1.15 crore man-days and generate over 800 crores of annual income. Airports Authority of India (AAI) handed over Lucknow airport (Uttar Pradesh) and Mangalore Airport (Karnataka), to Adani group on lease for 50 years. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde inaugurated India's first-ever E-resource centre Nyay Kaushal at Judicial Officers Training Institute in Nagpur (Maharashtra). Also, Gujarat High Court became 1st High Court in India to Live-Stream its Court Proceedings on Youtube. Minister of State (IC) for Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated Tourist Facilitation Centre at Guruvayur (Kerala), under project PRASHAD Scheme (National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive). First India -Nordic – Baltic CII Conclave held Virtually, attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on India's Behalf. Nations Include Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended virtual India-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Dialogue, and urged GCC members to ease return of Indian workers to Gulf countries, to resume work. 4th India-OPEC Energy Dialogue was held virtually, attended by Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. As per World Oil Outlook 2020 of OPEC, India will account to 16% of global economy by 2045. Also, per day oil demand of India will increase from 4.7 million to 10.7 million barrels per day by 2045. 40th Meeting of SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Group held virtually, under Chairmanship of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. He also inaugurated SAARCFINANCE Sync, a closed user group secure communication network. PM Narendra Modi chaired Virtual Global Investor Roundtable (VGIR) 2020 Conference, aimed at attracting investment in country, organised by Ministry of Finance and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. Virtual Bilateral Summit between India and Italy held Virtually, attended by Indian PM Narendra Modi and Italy PM Giuseppe Conte. Italy will assume the Presidency of G-20 in December 2021, followed by India in 2022. 15 MoUs/Agreements in various sectors such as energy, fisheries, ship building, design etc. were signed during Summit. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs organized 13th Urban Mobility India Conference, held Virtually, with theme Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility. West Bengal will have India’s first Tyre Park, where artworks made from scrap and defective parts will be on display. Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge. The challenge focuses on shaping cities for young children and their families. It is conducted with the support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation, Netherlands. The technical support for the challenge is provided by WRI lndia. 1st Virtual Indo-Africa Summit Held; Addressed by Union Minister Piyush Goyal Ministry of Road Trasport & Highways made FASTag mandatory to be available by January 01-2021, in all 4 wheelers. Also, renewal of fitness certificate will be done only after fitment of FASTag for Transport Vehicles. Finance Minister participated in 1st BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting, held virtually under BRICS Chair Russia. UAE announced major changes to its Islamic laws, including loosening of alcohol restrictions, allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate and loosening criminalization of honour killings. One rank one pension scheme of armed forces has completed 5 years, disbursing 42700 crores to over 20 lakh ex-servicemen so far. Go Electric campaign launched by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Andhra Pradesh State Energy Conservation Mission, aiming to set up 400 Electric Vehicle charging vehicles all over state. 32. Haryana Government passed Right to Recall Panchayat Member Bill, which enables recalling an elected member of Panchayati Raj Institutions. It allows recalling village sarpanches and members of district-level zila parishads and block-level panchayat samitis if they fail to perform their duties. It provides reservation of 8% to more disadvantaged among Backward Classes and increases women participation in Panchayati Raj Institutions with 50% reservation for women in gram panchayats, zila parishads and panchayat samitis. 33. Haryana government passed State Employment of Local Candidates Bill 2020, to provide 75 % reservation to local candidates applying for private-sector jobs in state, that pay less than 50000 per month. 34. Himachal Pradesh government launched Him Suraksha Abhiyan, to sensitize people regarding Covid-19 pandemic and also to collect information regarding symptoms of several diseases by door to door campaign. 35. Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated various infrastructure projects worth approx 70000 crore in Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai. It Includes laying foundation stone for second phase of Chennai Metro Rail Project, worth 61843 crores, and dedicated newly constructed reservoir at Theravaikandigai. Chennai Metro plans to complete the phase II project within 6 years, spanning 118.9 km from northern to southern end of city with three corridors - Madhavaram to SIPCOT, Madhavaram to Sholinganallur and Light House to Poonamallee. 36. India Meteorological Department (IMD) will start issuing forecast for malaria outbreaks from next monsoon. It will also ramp up its high performance computing (HPC) facility from the existing capacity of 10 petaflops to 40 petaflops, to improve weather predictions. 37. India will launch ambitious Deep Ocean Mission, to explore of minerals, energy and marine diversity of underwater world. It will cost approx 4000 Crores. 38. India’s first Sandalwood Museum will be established in Aranya Bhavan in Ashokapuram in Mysuru (Karnataka), to educate farmers about the significance of cultivation of sandalwood. 39. India’s longest single-lane motorable suspension bridge inaugurated in Tehri-Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, named Dobra- Chanti Jhula. It is 725-metre long and has been built in 14 years over Tehri lake. 40. Invest India and United Nations Development Programme launched sustainable development goal investor map for India, laying out 18 Investment Opportunity Areas in 6 critical sustainable development goals. 41. Italian gas group Snam and Indian renewable energy developer Greenko signed agreement to develop Hydrogn value chain in India, including production methods and industrial applications of the fuel. 42. Jai Bhawani Women cooperative textile mill announced to soon operate on solar power, becoming first Solar Power enabled textile mill in Asia, located in Parbhani district of Maharashtra. 43. Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched India’s first solar-based Integrated Multi-Village Water Supply Project (IMVWSP) in Arunachal Pradesh. Also, Arunachal Jal Sankalp programme has been launched, to supplement Jal Jeevan Mission of Central Govt. 44. Jharkhand Assembly passed a resolution for provision of a separate Sarna Code for tribals, seeking a special column for followers of Sarna religion in Census 2021. Sarna followers are nature worshippers who do not consider themselves and have been seeking for a separate religious identity. 45. Karnataka Government will declassify 6.64 lakh hectares of 9.94 hectares of deemed forests in state. Deemed Forests are land tracts that appear to be forest but have not been notified as forest in historical records or government records. The deemed forests comprise 1% of forest land in India. In 1996, Supreme Court ordered states to identify and classify deemed forests. Uttarakhand Government recently defined deemed forests as forest land with tracts of 10 hectares and having canopy density over 60%. 46. Karnataka cabinet approved creation of Vijayanagara as state's 31st district, carving out of Ballari district. 47. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated Joint Indo-Dutch Centre of Excellence for Vegetables and Flowers at Regional Agricultural Research Station Ambalavayal, to help rejuvenate agriculture. 48. Kerala government launched a pioneering eco-sustainable programme called Parivarthanam, to improve livelihood of fishing community. 49. Kerala’s elephant rehabilitation centre near Kottoor will become world’s largest care-and-cure centre for pachyderms, enhanced with upgraded facilities and features. It will be under state government’s special programme for the conservation and protection of elephants. 50. Labour Ministry notified Draft Rules under - Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020 - Operationalization of provisions in Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020 relating to safety, health and working conditions of the Dock Workers, Building or other construction workers, Mines workers, Inter- State Migrant worker, Contract labour, Working journalist, Audio-visual workers and Sales promotion employees. Code on Social Security 2020 - Relating to Employees’ Provident Fund, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation, Gratuity, Maternity Benefit, Social Security and Cess in respect of Building and Other Construction Workers, Social Security for Unorganised Workers, Gig Workers and Platform Workers. Labour Law Reforms (Industrial Relations Code 2020 AND The Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2020 AND The Code On Social Security 2020) were passed in Monsoon Session 2020. 51. Larsen and Toubro Construction (L&T) bagged 3000 crores contract to construct India’s longest road bridge across river Brahmaputra connecting Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya. The 19 km long bridge will be built along National Highway 127-B. 52. Letter of Understanding signed between Rajasthan government and United Nation''s World Food Programme (WFP), for proposed participation to achieve food and nutritional security goals. 53. Madhya Pradesh Government constituteed Cow Cabinet, to conserve and promote cow cattle in state. Earlier In 2019, state Govt had amended Anti-Cow Slaughter Act 2004, to increase jail term and fine in case of offences. 54. Maharashtra CM Uddav Thackeray launched Maha Awas Yojana, aimed at building 8.82 lakh rural houses in 100 days, estimated at 4000 crores. 55. Manipur government launched campaign to protect Amur falcons, birds which migrate to hilly districts of Manipur for two months. Senapati and Churachandpur districts have banned hunting, rearing and sale of Amur falcons. 56. Mastercard and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched Project Kirana, to enable women entrepreneurs to grow. Under this, a 2 year programme is to be rolled out in selected cities of Uttar Pradesh, to increase revenue and expand financial inclusion. 57. Ministry of AYUSH and Invest India will collaborateto set up a strategic policy unit called Strategic Policy & Facilitation Bureau (SPFB), to facilitate planned and systematic growth of Ayush Sector. 58. Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITy) and IBM India collaborated to create a robust education and skilling ecosystem. 59. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) Launched a Time bound Competition to crowd-source implementable ideas for conceptual design of iconic structure at Nav Bharat Udyan in New Delhi, to commemorate 75th year of Indian Independence, as part of Central Vista Dome Project. 5 lac is prize for winning entry while 5 commendation prizes of 1 lac will also be announced. Under Central Vista Master Plan, Central Vista Axis will be extended from 2.9 km to 6.3 km from ridge to river. 60. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has brought Digital/Online media under its purview, amending 2nd Schedule of Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961. It Now Includes Films and Audio-Visual programmes, News and current affairs content. Digital content providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video etc will now be regulated by Ministry. 61. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has scaled up Target for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme. It now aims to achieve enhanced solar capacity of 30.8 gigawatt (GW) by 2022, with revised Central financial support of 34035 crores. In February 2019, Cabinet had approved launch of PM-KUSUM scheme, which provides financial and water security to farmers. It had aimed to add a solar capacity of 25.8 GW by 2022, which has now been revised upwards. Ministry also amended implementation guidelines of 3 Components of PM-KUSUM Scheme, aiming to enable greater solar energy generation in farm sector. 62. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways issued draft Merchant Shipping Bill 2020 for public consultation, aiming to replace Merchant Shipping Act 1958 and Coasting Vessels Act 1838. It aims to promote growth of shipping industry by incorporating the best practices adopted by other advanced countries. Highlights - Bill does away with requirement of general trading license for Indian vessels Bill seeks to increase India’s tonnage by widening eligibility criteria for ownership of vessels. Bill seeks to introduce for first-time statutory framework for regulating maritime emergency response against maritime incidents. Bill incorporates powers of Director-General to take action against vessels that pose threat to safety of life at sea and environment. 63. Misc. MOUs (November 2020)- Bengaluru Based Dynamatic Technologies and Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIR-CSIO) signed MoU, for jointly developing futuristic solutions for defence, aerospace, healthcare and agriculture industry. CSIR-CMERI Durgapur signed MoU with Indo-Danish Tool Room (IDTR) under MSME Technology Centre Jamshedpur, to step-up cooperation across various verticals. Prasar Bharati signed MOU with Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (Under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology). Under this, 51 DTH education TV channels shall be available to all DD FreeDish viewers. IIT Madras 's International Centre for Clean Water (ICCW) collaborated with Japanese firm DG TAKANO, to introduce new clean water technologies in India. TRIFED and JD Centre of Arts signed MoU for collaborating on joint socio-cultural research work and anthropological study of tribal art and tradition in tribal dominated regions of India. Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed MOU with NTPC subsidiary NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), to promote usage of electric vehicles and set up solar power plants at its airports. Embassy Group signed MOU with Government of Karnataka, for all-round development of children in Bangalore. Power Finance Corporation (PFC) along with REC Ltd aigned MoU with SJVN Subsidiary SJVN Thermal Pvt Ltd, for Extending Loan of 8520 Crores for 2x660 MW Buxar Thermal Power Project (Bihar). FICCI's Women wing FLO signed agreement with IIM Shillong and Incubation and Enterprise Support Centre (IESC), to mentor Female entrepreneurs. 64. MoUs signed between Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and leading oil & gas marketing companies to establish Compressed Bio-Gas CBG) plants across India under Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative, To boost availability of affordable and clean transport fuels. Government under SATAT initiatives envisages setting up of 5000 CBG plants by 2023-24 with production target of 15 MMT. 65. National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) launched FutureSkills PRIME Beta Platform, to foster an ecosystem to enhance India’s digital talent with right set of skills. 66. North Kohima Police Station has been awarded ISO 9001:2015 certification for Quality Management System, becoming first state government agency in Nagaland, to receive such recognition. Also, Bhubaneswar became 1st Indian city to receive ISO-9001:2015 certification, for its effective Faecal Sludge & Septage Management FSSM services. 67. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launched Secha Samadhan mobile application, to address irrigation problems faced by farmers without them having to visit offices physically. 68. On occasion of Diamond Jubilee of National Defence College (Established on Apr 27, 1960), President approved establishment of “President’s Chair of Excellence on National Security”, to help in enhancing intellectual capital of college and also uplift its credibility. 69. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Ro-Pax terminal at Hazira and flagged off Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat. He also renamed Ministry of Shipping as Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. 70. PM Narendra Modi launched Har Ghar Nal Yojana for residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra and Mirzapur districts, costing approx 5555 Crores. The region was chosen as Despite having many rivers like Ganga, Ghaghara, Yamuna and Sarayu, water scarcity prevails in the region. 71. PM Narendra Modi unveiled Statue of Peace, to mark 151st birth anniversary of Jain Acharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj, made of Ashtadhatu, and installed in Pali (Rajasthan). 72. PSU Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and Goa Govt signed MOU for rolling out India’s first Convergence Project in Goa, to generate Green Energy for agriculture and rural areas in state. 73. Panna National Park in Madhya Pradesh has been declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, mentioning Panna Tiger Reserve as a critical tiger habitat. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) declared Panna Tiger Reserve as a Biosphere Reserve in 2011. Now, UNESCO has included it in Man and Biosphere programme. 74. Power ministry mandated all electricity distribution utilities or discoms to comply with Energy Conservation (EC) Act 2001, to reduce energy losses and bring in more transparency. Earlier, only discoms with annual energy losses equal to or above 1,000 MU (million units), notified as designated consumers, used to come under purview of EC Act. 75. President Ram Nath Kovind promulgated Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance 2020, to further amend Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. Ordinance aims to ensure that all stakeholders get opportunity to seek unconditional stay of enforcement of arbitral awards, where underlying arbitration agreement are induced by fraud / corruption. 76. Puducherry UT Govt rolled out a free breakfast scheme for school students named after late DMK President M Karunanidhi. 77. Pune 's Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope observatory has been provided with IEEE milestone status, as 3rd IEEE milestone recognition being offered to India, after JC Bose in 1895 and CV Raman in 1928. Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, operated by National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, is an array of thirty fully steerable parabolic radio telescopes, Each of 45 metre diameter. In February 2020, the telescope helped in observing biggest explosion in history of Universe, called Ophiuchus Supercluster Explosion. 78. Punjab Cabinet approved new scheme Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojana, to empower persons with disabilities, to be implemented in 2 Phases. 79. Rajasthan government signed MoU with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), to establish Ultra Mega Renewal Energy Power Park near borders areas, with capacity 8000 megawatts (MW). 80. SpiceJet launched dedicated freighter services connecting Leh with rest of the country, as first time a civil airliner has started freighter services to Leh. Also, Ladakh UT's largest solar power project has been set up at Leh IAF station, with 1.5 MW Capacity. 81. Supreme Court pronounced that consent of State Government is mandatory for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to extend its jurisdiction in state. This came after 8 states withdrew their consent for CBI to probe fresh cases in jurisdiction of the state - Jharkhand, Kerala, West Bengal, Mizoram, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. 82. Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami launched Thee mobile app, for benefit of public to reach out to State Fire and Rescue Services, in case of a need. 83. Tamil Nadu Government granted 100% motor vehicle tax exemption for Electric Vehicles. State Government already provides 100% GST reimbursement and 50% capital subsidy to EV manufacturing units. 84. Telangana government's Rythu Vedika initiative has been launched, with inauguration of first Rythu Vedika at Kodakandla (Jangaon). Rythu Vedika aims to bring farmers under one platform and help them attain higher returns, constructing over 2600 Rythu Vedikas. 85. To address land-related hassles in wind power projects, Ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has proposed wind-solar hybrid energy park development scheme. Under it, states will prepare necessary infrastructure for wind power project developers under plug- and-play model. MNRE will provide financial assistance of Rs 20 lakh per megawatt (MW) to park developers for preparing sites. MNRE has identified potential wind park zones across several states, with potential of about 54 GW of new wind plants under the scheme. 86. Tripura Government launched Mukhyamantri Unnoto Godhan Prakalpa (MUGP) scheme, as a 3-year plan to introduce gender- sorted artificial insemination of cattle. It is aimed at making Tripura self-sufficient in milk production by ensuring that more cows are born through selective chromosome selection. 87. UNDP Accelerator Lab India launched Grassroot Innovation Database (GRID) to foster inclusive development at community- level in India. GRID has been co-created for public use by GIAN (Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network), Honey Bee Network Institution and UNDP- Accelerator Lab-India. 88. Under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) begun 125 days programme for skill training of 3 Lakh migrant workers from identified 116 districts across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. It aims to empower migrants / rural population in post-COVID era, through demand-driven skilling. 89. Under National Mission on Saffron, cultivation of Saffron has been extended to Arunachal Pradesh's Yangyang, which was earlier confined to Kashmir. Similarity of climatic conditions between Pampore (Kashmir) and Yangyang (Sikkim) has led to successful sample farming of Saffron in Yangyang. 90. Under PMJAY (Jan Arogya Yojana), 50000 Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) have been made operational, against target of 1.5 lakh AB-HWCs by December 2022. HWCs Aim at providing Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) services to the communities closer to their homes. 91. Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched Mission Purvodaya in Kolkata, aimed at accelerated development of eastern India through establishment of integrated steel hub. India aims at 300 Million Tonne Steel capacity by 2030-31. Mr. Pradhan also - Inaugurated Oil India's 220 Crores Seismic Survey Campaign in Mahanadi Basin in Odisha. Laid foundation stone for first 50 LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) fueling stations, across golden quadrilateral and major National Highways. 92. Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), BSNL and Andaman and Nicobar Administration signed tripartite agreement for Operation and Maintenance of Chennai- Andaman & Nicobar Islands Submarine Cable (CANI-SMC) Project. Government had approved CANI Submarine Optical Fiber Cable project, to connect Chennai Cable Landing Station (CLS) with Port Blair CLS and seven Islands viz. Swaraj Dweep, Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Campbell Bay, Long Island and Rangat. BSNL was named Implementing Agency and NEC Infrastructures was engaged as Executing Agency, with project cost 1212 Crores. 93. Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approved renaming Ayodhya airport as Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram Airport. Also, Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute of Bengaluru has been named after former PM . 94. Uttar Pradesh cabinet passed Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion ordinance, that makes forced religious conversions punishable with a jail term up to 10 years and fine upto 50000. Ordinance also declares marriage being done for sake of conversion as null and void. The Ordinance is passed amid ongoing forced conversions in named of love jihad. 95. Uttarakhand Govt dedicated newly-built Moss Garden to people, as country’s first such garden, spread over 10 hectares in Kumaon’s Nainital district. 96. Vice President Venkaih Naidu Launched International ‘Satavadhanam program, as a Telugu literary feat, that involves solving tricky literary posers, improvising poems and tests a person's capability of performing such multiple tasks simultaneously. 97. Virtual Court (traffic) and e-Challan project inaugurated in Assam, soon after Maharashtra's 2nd virtual court called Nyay Kaushal was recently inaugurated. With this 9 virtual courts become functional across country. 98. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee announced schemes for redressing grievances of people at block level and providing motorbikes to youths to help them run small businesses. Under Duare Duare Paschim Banga Sarkar, administration will set up camps in blocks, from which officials will redress grievances of people. CM also launched Karmai Dharma, under which 2 lakh youths will be provided with motorbikes, with assistance from cooperative banks. Top

Persons 1. Obituaries (November 2020) - TN Krishnan - Padma Bhushan awardee Noted violinist. Notable Deaths due to COVID-19 - R Doraikannu - Tamil Nadu's serving Agriculture Minister. Sudarshan Rattan - Noted Filmmaker. Ashish Kakkad - Noted actor, filmmaker and voiceover artiste in Gujarati industry. Satish Prasad Singh - Former Chief Minister of Bihar (6th and shortest serving). He served for 5 days, in 1968. Faraaz Khan - Bollywood Actor. H.G. Somashekar Rao - Noted Kannada actor. Don Talbot - Legendary Australian swimming coach. Carlos González Vallés (Father Vallés) - Noted Spanish-Indian Jesuit priest and author. He lived in India for 5 decades and wrote extensively in Gujarati and on mathematics. Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa - Serving PM of Bahrain. He is noted as World’s longest serving Prime Minister of any Nation. He became PM of Bahrain in January 1970, but took office in August 1971, after country’s independence From Britain. Charles Kenneth Spears - American producer and writer. He was co-creator of Animated Character Scooby Doo. Satyajit Ghosh - Former Indian Footballer. Sanchaman Limboo - Former (4th) Chief Minister of Sikkim. Soumitra Chatterjee - Noted Bengali actor. Ravi Belagere - Noted journalist and writer from Karnataka. Arjun Prajapati - Renowned Sculptor from Rajasthan (Padma Shri Awardee). Bhanwarlal Meghwal - Serving Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in Government of Rajasthan. Mridula Sinha - Former Governor of Goa. Chandrawati - Haryana's first woman MP and former Puducherry Lt Governor. Masatoshi Koshiba - Noted Japanese Noble Prize Winning Physicist. He shared 2002 Nobel prize for detection of cosmic neutrinos. Ahmed Patel - 8 Times Congress Member of Parliament from Gujarat. Tarun Gogoi - Former Chief Minister of Assam. He served 3 Terms, and is longest serving CM of Assam. Shaik Khaja Hussain - Noted Telugu poet and scriptwriter. Faquir Chand Kohli - Noted Industrialist. He was founder and first CEO of Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest IT Firm. Diego Maradona - Noted Argentine footballer. James Wolfensohn - Australian-American economist, who served as president of World Bank Group. David Prowse - Noted British actor. Sadiq al-Mahdi - Sudan's last democratically elected prime minister, who was toppled by dictator Omar al-Bashir.. 2. Persons Resigned / Retired (November 2020)- Australian Cricketer Shane Watson announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels (Jamaica) announced his retirement from cricket. Peruvian President Manuel Merino has been forced out of power (forced to resign). Indian cricketer Sudeep Tyagi announced retirement from all forms of cricket. 3. Visits From India (November 2020) - National Security Advisor Ajit Doval Visited Sri Lanka, to attend 4th Trilateral meeting on maritime security cooperation between India, Sri Lanka and Maldives. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar Visited Indian Ocean nation Seychelles. Indian Army Chief Manoj Mukund Navarne Visited Nepal, where he was conferred with rank of honorary General of Nepal Army. 4. Visits to India (November 2020) - General Robert Kibochi - Chief of Defence Forces of Kenya. India is first country that CDF Kenya is visiting outside Africa. 5. Wipro founder-chairman Azim Premji topped EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020, with 7904 crores contribution between April 2019 and March 2020 towards philanthropic causes. HCL Chairman Shiv Nadar 2nd (795 crores), Mukesh Ambani 3rd (458 crores). Rohini Nilekani (47 crores) is at top among Indian women. Top

Science 1. Param Siddhi, India's high performance computing-artificial intelligence (HPC-AI) supercomputer established under National Supercomputing Mission at C-DAC, has been named 63rd in TOP 500 most powerful non-distributed computer systems globaly. It has Rpeak of 5.267 Petaflops and 4.6 Petaflops Rmax (Sustained). 2. American Space Exploration Firm SpaceX Launched Crew Dragon spacecraft Resilience, carrying crew of four astronauts to International Space Station (ISS) on 6 month long mission. Mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew-1 Program, whose objective is to make access to space exploration easier. Background - NASA had recently certified SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket, making it first spacecraft certification provided by NASA. This will enable SpaceX to operate regular flights to space station. Boeing and SpaceX were selected by NASA in September 2014 to develop transportation systems meant to transfer crew from US to ISS. 3. ISRO Launched EOS-01 and 9 international customer satellites, onboard PSLV-C49, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR Sriharikota. EOS-01 is an earth observation satellite, intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. It is the third of three-satellite constellation, with other two being RISAT-2B and RISAT-2BR1. 4. Indian Astronomers have collaborated with 2020 Physics Nobel Laureate Andrea Ghez, for Thirty Meter Telescope Project. TMT is a proposed extremely large telescope, planned to be set up at Mauna Kea on island of Hawaii (US). It is designed for Ultra Violet to mid infra red observations. It has 30 metres prime mirror diameter and is three times as wide as the largest existing visible light telescope in world. Due to objections by local communities, project has not made any significant progress. Thus, India has suggested for change of location, to Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in Canary Islans, Spain. India has committed to offer 200 milion USD, 10% of proposed cost. TMT has government-level support from Canada, China, Japan and India. US is also contributing some funding, but less than formal partnership. 5. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) partnered with Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc), to develop hydrogen generation technology based on biomass gasification, to help produce fuel cell grade hydrogen at an affordable price. Top

Sports 1. 2020 Indian Premier League Cricket Title (13th edition, Sponsored by Dream 11) - Mumbai Indians won the title (their 5th), defeating Delh Capitals in Final. Facts - It was hosted in UAE, due to Covid-19 Pandemic. Player of series (Most Valuable Player) - Jofra Archer (RR) Most runs (Orange Cap) - K. L. Rahul (KXIP) Most wickets (Purple Cap) - Kagiso Rabada (DC) Emerging Player of the season - Devdutt Padikkal (RCB) 2020 Women's T20 Challenge was also held on sidelines. It was sponsored by Jio and won by Trailblazers. 2. 2020 ATP Finals Men's Tennis (London) - Singles - Daniil Medvedev (Russia. He Defeated Dominic Thiem (Austria) Doubles - Wesley Koolhof (Netherlands) AND Nikola Mektić (Croatia) 3. 2020 ITTF Women's World Cup Tennis (Weihai, China) - Medalists are China's Chen Meng (Gold), China's Sun Yingsha (Silver), Japan's Mima Ito (Bronze). 4. 2020 Rolex Paris Masters Men's Tennis Title - Singles - Daniil Medvedev (Russia), defeated Alexander Zverev (Germany) Doubles - Félix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) AND Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) 5. 2020 Upper Austria Ladies Linz Tennis Title - Singles - Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) Doubles - Arantxa Rus (Netherlands) AND Tamara Zidanšek (Slovenia) 6. As per International Cricket Council (ICC)'s new minimum age policy, a player must be at least 15-years-old to play International cricket. 7. Mercedes F1 Racing Driver Lewis Hamilton (UK) won Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. 2020 F1 Season - Round Grand Prix Winner Race date

1 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 5 July

2 Styrian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 12 July

3 Hungarian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 19 July

4 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 2 August

5 70th Anniversary Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian-Dutch) 9 August

6 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 16 August

7 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 30 August

8 Italian Grand Prix Pierre Gasly (France) 6 September

9 Tuscan Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 13 September

10 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 27 September

11 Eifel Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 October

12 Portuguese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 25 October

13 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 1 November

14 Turkish Grand Prix 15 November

15 Bahrain Grand Prix 29 November

16 Sakhir Grand Prix 6 December

17 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 13 December 8. Mercedes F1 Racing Driver Lewis Hamilton (UK) won Turkish Grand Prix, securing his 7th F1 Title. 2020 F1 Season - Round Grand Prix Winner Race date

1 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 5 July

2 Styrian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 12 July

3 Hungarian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 19 July

4 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 2 August

5 70th Anniversary Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian-Dutch) 9 August

6 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 16 August

7 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 30 August

8 Italian Grand Prix Pierre Gasly (France) 6 September

9 Tuscan Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 13 September

10 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 27 September

11 Eifel Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 October

12 Portuguese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 25 October

13 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 1 November

Turkish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 15 November 14

15 Bahrain Grand Prix 29 November

16 Sakhir Grand Prix 6 December

17 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 13 December 9. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports restored recognition to Archery Association of India as a National Sports Federation for promotion and regulation of Archery Sport in country. Recognition was withdrawn 8 years after failure to conduct its elections in accordance with National Sports Development Code 2011. 10. Misc. Sports Events (November 2020) - Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju inaugurated Sports Authority of India’s (SAI)'s new Regional Centre in Zirakpur (Punjab), to act as main SAI centre for northern India. Indian female tennis player Rutuja Bhosale won $15,000 ITF Women’s event in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt). Pakistani Umpire Aleem Dar broke record for most ODIs as an on-field umpire, after standing in his 210th ODI. He surpassed South African Rudi Koertzen. Indian boxers Amit Panghal, Sanjeet and Ashish Kumar won gold at Alexis Valentine Tournament held in Nantes (France). It was first post lockdown international event that Indian boxers were part of. FIFA cancelled Women Under-17 world 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, which was to be held in India. FIFA announced that Costa Rica will host FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup 2022 and India will host FIFA Under- 17 Women’s World Cup 2022. Indian cricketer Virat Kohli became quickest batsman to complete 22000 International runs, taking 462 innings, getting past Sachin Tendulkar. 11. Serbian Tennis Player Novak Djokovic earned ATP Tour No. 1 trophy for finishing 2020 as year-end world No. 1. He became second player in tennis history, after Pete Sampras, to receive the trophy sixth time. Top

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