NATIONAL AFFAIRS
FIRST INDIA & LUXEMBOURG VIRTUAL SUMMIT HELD
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and the Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, held the first-ever India-Luxembourg Virtual Summit.
Both countries have friendly relation of over more than seven decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1948.
During the Summit, both parties agreed for enhanced cooperation in areas of trade, finance, steel, space, ICT, innovation, manufacturing, automotive, sustainable development and the fight against climate change.
Prime Minister welcomed Luxembourg’s announcement to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), and invited it to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
S. JAISHANKAR AT 15TH EAST ASIA SUMMIT 2020
The External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar has represented India at the 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) on behalf of PM Modi.
The Summit was chaired by the Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc because Vietnam is ASEAN Chair in 2020.
Jaishankar underlined the key role played by the East Asia Summit (EAS) as a leading mechanism of the Indo-Pacific region and reiterated India’s support to make it stronger and more responsive.
The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a regional forum whose Membership expanded to 18 countries including Russia and the United States at the Sixth EAS in 2011.
PM UNVEILED 'STATUE OF PEACE' IN RAJASTHAN
PM unveils ‘Statue of Peace’ to mark 151st Birth Anniversary celebrations of Jainacharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj.
Mentioning the educational institutions established by the Jainacharya, the Prime Minister praised his efforts to make the country AatmaNirbhar in the field of education.
Shri Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj. He was a Jain monk born on October 26, 1870. He was a disciple of Vijayanand Suri. He was the founder of Shri Parshwanath Jain Vidyalaya in Pali district of Rajasthan.
ASIA'S FIRST SOLAR POWERED TEXTILE MILL
The first solar power-enabled Textile Mill in Asia is set to be set up in Parbhani district, Maharashtra.
Spread across 30 acres of land, the Jai Bhawani women’s cooperative textile mill will be first in Asia that will operate entirely on solar power.
Once functional, the mill will process cotton to cloth and would provide jobs to many women in the district.
Parbhani is the leading cotton-producing district in Maharashtra and with the operationalization of the mill; it will give momentum to the industrial sector in the district.
GOI AND NDB BANK SIGNED MOU OF USD 500 MILLION
The Government of India and the New Development Bank (NDB) has signed a loan agreement for lending USD 500 million for the ‘Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Project’.
This Regional Rapid Transit System provides fast, reliable, safe and comfortable public transport system in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The NCR is among the world’s largest urban agglomerations and a major economic centre of India. Due to the lack of efficient public transport options, the number of private vehicles in NCR has increased.
• New Development Bank Headquarters location: Shanghai, China.
• President of the New Development Bank: Marcos Troyjo.
INDIA'S FIRST GREEN ENERGY CONVERGENCE PROJECT
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture between PSU under the Ministry of Power and the DNRE of Goa City, has signed a MOU to implement India’s first convergence project in India.
EESL will implement solar projects, including:
• Establish a 100 MW decentralized ground-mounted solar power project on government land for agricultural water pumping.
• Replace approximately 6,300 agricultural pumps with BEE-star energy-saving pumps.
• Distribute approximately 160,000 LED bulbs to rural families.
VIJAYANAGAR BECOMES DISTRICT OF KARNATAKA
The world heritage site of Hampi, the erstwhile capital of the Vijayanagar Empire, will soon be part of a new district.
The Karnataka Government has approved to carve out Vijayanagara as a new district of the state. Vijayanagara will be the 31st district of the State.
The new district would be carved out of Ballari and named after the Vijayanagara empire that ruled from this region.
• Chief Minister of Karnataka: B.S. Yediyurappa
• Governor of Karnataka: Vajubhai Vala.
27TH EDITION OF INDIA-SINGAPORE MARITIME EXERCISE
The 27th edition of India – Singapore Bilateral Maritime Exercise SIMBEX-20 has been organised from 23 to 25 November 2020 in the Andaman Sea.
Indian Navy (IN) is the host for the 2020 edition of SIMBEX. The SIMBEX series of exercises are being held between the Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), annually since 1994.
The exercise aims at enhancing mutual inter-operability and imbibing best practices from each other.
From the Indian side, destroyer Rana with integral Chetak helicopter and indigenously built corvettes Kamorta and Karmuk, IN submarine Sindhuraj and P8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft will participate in the exercise.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
SPACEX LAUNCHES FOUR ASTRONAUTS INTO SPACE
SpaceX has launched Four Astronauts (3 Americans, 1 Japanese) to the International Space Station on the first full-fledged taxi flight for NASA by a private company.
They were launched by Falcon Rocket from the Kennedy Space Center.
The capsule has been named as “Resilience”. The crew was led by Commander Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk
JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA DEFENCE DEAL TO TACKLE CHINA
Japan and Australia have signed a ‘landmark’ defence pact in a bid to counter China’s growing influence in the South China Sea and over the Pacific island nations.
The deal called Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) was signed between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.
RAA will allow Japanese and Australian troops to visit each other’s countries and conduct training and joint operations. The treaty will strengthen its security ties and facilitate cooperation between defence forces.
• Japan Prime minister: Yoshihide Suga.
• Prime Minister of Australia: Scott Morrison.
NASA-ESA LAUNCHES SENTINEL-6 MICHAEL FREILICH
The US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched ‘Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite’, to monitor the rising global sea level.
The joint US-European satellite lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will help to enhance weather forecasts and provide detailed information on large-scale ocean currents to support ship navigation near coastlines.
This Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will be followed in 2025 by its twin, Sentinel-6B.
• The administrator of the NASA: Jim Bridenstine.
• Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States.
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
HDFC AND INDUSIND BANK PUT IN 'RED FLAG LIST'
HDFC Bank & IndusInd Bank have been put in the ‘red flag’ list, a system used for monitoring foreign portfolio investor (FPI) limits.
A listed company enters the list when the available legroom for overseas investment is less than 3% of the permissible limit. FPIs can invest up to 74% in both HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank.
The current FPI shareholding in case of HDFC Bank is 71.3 per cent, while that of IndusInd Bank is 73. 1 percent.
PM ADDRESSED BLOOMBERG NEW ECONOMIC FORUM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the 3rd Annual Bloomberg New Economy Forum through video-conferencing.
The forum witnessed discussions on refuelling the economy and charting a course for the future, as the world economy is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bloomberg New Economy Forum was established in 2018 by Michael Bloomberg, to build a community of leaders to engage in real conversations about the critical challenges facing a world economy in the throes of a historic transition.
GOLDMAN SACHS PROJECTS INDIA'S GDP FORECAST
The Investment bank, Goldman Sachs has revised upwards the growth forecast for India in FY21 to -10.3% from its earlier projection of -14.8% in September 2020.
For the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), the Goldman Sachs has projected India’s GDP at 13%. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York City.
The bank is one of the largest investment banking enterprises in the world. The group also owns Goldman Sachs Bank USA, a direct bank.
Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 and is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan.
MASTERCARD AND USAID TO LAUNCH 'PROJECT KIRANA'
Mastercard and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has collaborated under Women’s Global Development.
And also in Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP) to launch ‘Project Kirana’ in India, to help women entrepreneurs grow and thrive.
Project Kirana is a two-year programme, and initially, it will be rolled out in select cities of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, Kanpur and Varanasi.
APPOINTMENTS
ED DIRECTOR'S TEUNRE EXTENDED FOR ONE YEAR
The Union government has extended the tenure of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra by a year.
The ED is a central investigative agency that enforces two central laws, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
These laws were enacted to curb money laundering, terror financing, black money and hawala or illegal financial transactions that have cross-border ramifications.
• Enforcement Directorate Founded: 1 May 1956.
• Enforcement Directorate Headquarters: New Delhi, India.
AWARDS & HONOURS
SCOTTISH WRITER WINS 2020 BOOKER PRIZE FOR FICTION
Scottish writer Douglas Stuart has won the 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction. He has been awarded for his debut novel, “Shuggie Bain”. The 44-year-old Stuart is only the second to have won the prestigious literary prize.
The Booker Prize for Fiction, (formerly known as the Booker–McConnell Prize (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019)), is a literary prize awarded each year.
It is awarded for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the United Kingdom. It carries £50,000 prize ($66,000).
NASEERUDDIN SHAH HONOUED WITH ADITYA BIRLA AWARD
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has been honoured with the 2020 Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar at annual Sangit Kala Kendra Awards.
Alongside, two emerging stars, in the firmament of theatrics – Neel Choudhary and Irawati Karnik were awarded the Aditya Vikram Birla Kalakiran Puraskars. “Theatre” is the central theme, for this year’s awards.
The Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar and Kalakiran Puraskar awards were instituted in 1996 by the Sangeet Kala Kendra (SKK). It was founded in 1973 by Aditya Vikram Birla (former Chairman of Aditya Birla Group)
K SIVAN: DOCTOR OF SCIENCE HONORARY DOCTORATE
Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala presented Doctor of Science honorary doctorate upon ISRO Chairman K Sivan. The Visvesvaraya Technological University has conferred the doctorate to him.
The Governor highly praised the role of ISRO in defining our Space programme and the social role that it has played in the country.
Kailasavadivoo Sivan (born 14 April 1957) is an Indian space scientist who is the current Secretary (Space) and ex-officio chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Space Commission.
He has previously served as the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
SPORTS
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS TURKISH GRAND PRIX 2020
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-Great Britain) has won the Turkish Grand Prix 2020 at Istanbul Park, Turkey.
Sergio Perez (Racing Point-BWT- Mexico) secured the second position and Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari finished third. This was Hamilton 10th victory of the season and 94th F1 win of his career.
With this win, he claimed the seventh Formula One championships title of his career to equal the record of Michael Schumacher.
FIFA U-17 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2021 CANCELLED
The 2021 U-17 Women’s World Cup, which was scheduled to be held in India, has been cancelled due to the Corona virus pandemic.
It has also been decided that India will host the 2022 edition of the World Cup.
The 2020 U20 Women’s World Cup has also been cancelled along with the U17 edition. While Costa Rica will get the chance to host the 2022 U20 Women’s World Cup.
• Headquarters of FIFA: Zürich, Switzerland.
• President of FIFA: Gianni Infantino.
IMPORTANT DAYS AND DATES
NATIONAL PRESS DAY: 16TH NOVEMBER
National Press Day is observed on 16th November every year to celebrate free and responsible press in India.
It commemorates the day when the Press Council of India started functioning.
In 1956, the First Press Commission was planned to form a Press Council to protect freedom of the press in India. On 4 July 1966, the Press Council was established in India.
It came into effect from 16 November 1966 under the Press Council Act of 1978. Therefore, 16 November is celebrated as National Press Day every year.
3RD NATUROPATHY DAY CELEBRATED: 18TH NOVEMBER
The National Naturopathy Day is observed in India on 18 November every year, to promote positive mental and physical health through a drugless system of medicine, called as Naturopathy.
The day was declared by the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), Government of India, on November 18, 2018.
National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Pune under Ministry of AYUSH has organised a series of webinars on ‘Gandhian philosophy of Self Reliance through Self Health Reliance’ on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations from 2nd Oct 2020.
• Minister of State (IC) of the Ministry of AYUSH: Shripad Yesso Naik
WORLD COPD DAY 2020: 18TH NOVEMBER
World COPD Day is observed on the third Wednesday of November every year to raise awareness about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and improve COPD care throughout the world.
World COPD Day 2020 falls on 18 November 2020. The 2020 theme for the COPD day is “living Well with COPD-Everybody, Everywhere”.
The day is organized by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). The first World COPD Day was held in 2002.
WORLD TOILET DAY 2020: 19TH NOVEMBER
World Toilet Day (WTD) is observed globally on 19 November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.
World Toilet Day celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation.
It is about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
The day was established by the World Toilet Organization in 2001 and officially declared by the UN General Assembly in 2013. This year the theme remarks on the importance of “Sustainable sanitation and climate change”.
• World Toilet Organization Headquarters: Singapore.
• World Toilet Organization Founder and Director: Jack Sim.
• World Toilet Organization Founded: 19 November 2001.
WORLD CHILDREN'S DAY 2020: 20TH NOVEMBER
World Children’s Day is observed globally on 20 November every year.
The day is celebrated to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.
November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
NATIONAL NEWBORN WEEK 2020: 15 TO 21 NOVEMBER
In India, the National Newborn Week 2020 is observed every year from 15 to 21 November.
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan has chaired an event to mark the National Newborn Week 2020.
The main purpose of the week is to reinforce the importance of newborn health as a key priority area of the health sector and reduce the infant mortality rate by improving healthcare conditions for babies in the neonatal period.
The theme of National Newborn Week 2020 is ‘Quality, Equity, Dignity for every newborn at every health facility and everywhere’.
WORLD FISHERIES DAY: 21ST NOVEMBER
World Fisheries Day is celebrated on 21 November every year throughout the world by the fisherfolk communities.
It highlights the importance of healthy oceans ecosystems and to ensure sustainable stocks of fisheries in the world. 2020 is the fourth World Fisheries Day.
The World Fisheries Day helps in highlighting the critical importance to human lives, of water and the lives it sustains, both in and out of water. Water forms a continuum, whether contained in rivers, lakes, and ocean.
REPORTS AND INDEXES
INDIA'S PARAM SIDDHI RANKED 63RD IN LIST OF 500
According to the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Indian supercomputer, Param Siddhi has achieved 63rd rank in the list of 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world.
Param Siddhi is the high-performance computing-artificial intelligence (HPC-AI) supercomputer established under National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) at C-DAC.
The supercomputer will also help in acceleration of research and development in the fight against COVID19 through faster simulations, medical imaging, genome sequencing and forecasting and is a boon for Indian masses and for start-ups and MSMEs in particular.
INDIA RANKED 77TH IN 'TRACE BRIBERY RISK MATRIX 2020'
India is placed at 77th position in the TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix 2020. India has achieved a score of 45 in a global list that measures business bribery risks of 2020.
India’s rank stood 78 positions in 2019. It was a better performance than neighbouring nations such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and China. But, Bhutan scored better than India and got 48th place in the list.
North Korea, Turkmenistan, South Sudan, Venezuela and Eritrea had the highest commercial bribery risk. Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand showed the lowest bribery risk. The TRACE Matrix list is released by TRACE International.
WORLDWIDE COST OF LIVING (WCOL) INDEX 2020
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released its biannual ‘Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL)’ report of the World’s Most Expensive Cities in 2020, based on their cost of living.
Hong Kong (China), Paris (France) and Zurich (Switzerland) share the top spot as the most expensive cities in the list, which comprises of 133 cities.
Damascus (Syria), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Lusaka (Zambia) ranked the last three spots as the cheapest cities in the list, which comprises of 133 cities.
The report took into account the price of 138 items, used in every day for survival, and the falling or rising value of that country’s currency due to Covid to rank the cities accordingly.
• Economist Intelligence Unit Headquarters: London, United Kingdom.
• Economist Intelligence Unit Founded: 1946.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRED QRSAM SYSTEM
India successfully test-fired the Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system off the coast of Balasore in Odisha.
The QRSAM system has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in association with Bharat Electronics Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited for the Indian Army.
The system is capable of detecting and tracking targets on the move and engaging target with short halts. The system is designed to give air defence coverage against strike columns of the Indian Army.
INDIA BECOMES 4TH NATION TO GET IMO NOD
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has been recognized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a part of the World Wide Radio Navigation System (WWRNS) for operation in the Indian Ocean Region.
India has become the fourth country in the world to have its independent regional navigation satellite system recognized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The other three countries that have its navigation systems recognized by the IMO are the US, Russia and China. The IRNSS was designed to provide accurate position information services to assist in the navigation of ships in Indian Ocean waters.
OBITUARIES
JAPANESE NOBEL PRIZE WINNER PASSED AWAY
Physicist Masatoshi Koshiba, who shared 2002 Nobel Prize for the detection of cosmic neutrinos, passed away.
Koshiba’s most famous work involved detecting neutrinos from a distant supernova explosion using a vast detector based in a mine in central Japan. Koshiba, a distinguished professor at the University of Tokyo.
His student, Takaaki Kajita, won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2015 for research at the Super- Kamiokande facility that found neutrinos have mass.
FORMER ASSAM CHIEF MINISTER TARUN GOGOI PASSED AWAY
Three-time Assam Chief Minister from Congress party Tarun Gogoi passed away.
Tarun Gogoi had served as the Chief Minister of Assam between 2001 and 2015. He was the longest-serving chief minister of Assam.
Apart from this, Gogoi had also served as the food and food processing industry minister in the Union Cabinet of India under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao between 1991 and 1996.
MISCELLANEOUS
LONAR LAKE IN MAHARASHTRA CHOSEN AS RAMSAR SITE
The Lonar Lake in Buldhana district of Maharashtra has been chosen as a wetland site of international importance under the Ramsar conservation treaty.
Lonar Lake was formed by the impact of a meteorite on basalt bedrock several thousand years ago.
A Ramsar Site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The name Ramsar comes from the Ramsar City of Iran, where this treaty was signed.
The Convention on Wetlands is also known as the Ramsar Convention.
DEFENCE MINISTER RAJNATH SINGH UNVEILED TWO BOOKS
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has unveiled two books.
‘The Republican Ethic Volume III’ and ‘Loktantra Ke Swar’ which is a collection of selected speeches of President Ram Nath Kovind during the third year of his presidency.
Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar unveiled the e-book versions of the two books.
Mr Rajnath Singh stated that the President’s speeches depict his concern towards issues such as girls education, empowerment of women, and welfare of the weaker sections.
LEGAL AFFAIRS
CCI INITIATED PROBE AGAINST GOOGLE
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has initiated a probe into alleged abuse of dominant position by the company to promote its payments app, Google Pay.
CCI highlighted two main anti market practices by google to unfairly push Google Pay it’s payment app:
• Mandatory Use: Google’s policy of mandatory use of Google Play’s payment system for purchasing the apps and IAPs (in-app purchases) in the Play Store.
• Exclusionary Practices: It excluded other mobile wallets/UPI (Unified Payments Interface) apps as one of the effective payment options in Google Play’s payment system.
The probe against Google Pay comes days after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) allowed rival Facebook-owned WhatsApp to go live on the UPI in the multi-bank model.
ED'S PRELIMINARY INQUIRY OF KIIF BOARD
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has opened a preliminary inquiry to examine if borrowings by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) from overseas markets violated the provisions of the FEMA 1999.
KIIFB was established to manage the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund (KIIF), as per the KIIF Act 1999. In 2016, the government changed the role of KIIFB from handler of investment bonds to an entity to mobilise the resources.
KIIFB had also overstepped its legal bounds by issuing masala bonds to raise money from foreign markets in violation of Article 293 (1) of the Constitution.
Article 293 (1): The executive power of a State extends to borrowing within the territory of India upon the security of the Consolidated Fund of the State within such limits.
The ED has also asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about the details of ‘no objection certificate’ it had supposedly extended to the KIIFB, enabling the agency to take sizable loans from the foreign financial market.
