1. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have jointly topped the 2016 all-India State/Union Territory-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings, conducted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the World Bank. The rankings are on the basis of a 340-point business reform action plan and their implementation by the States. This covers the period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. Gujarat has acquired 3rd position in the 2016 DIPP-World Bank rankings, followed by Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
2. The 2016 Vigilance Awareness Week is observed every year from October 31 across India to promote probity in public life and achieve a corruption free society. The observance of week commenced with pledge taking by public servants in the Ministries, Departments, PSUs, Banks and all other Organizations. The 2016 theme of the week is "Public participation in promoting integrity and eradicating Corruption". During the week, several functions will be organized by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to create awareness among the people about the corrupt practices as it adversely affects the development of the country.
3. The United Nations' World Cities Day is observed every year on October 31 with the commitment to work together for a planned and sustainable urban life in the wake of rapid growth of population and problems. The 2016 theme is "Inclusive Cities, Shared Development" to highlight the role of urbanization as a source of global development and social inclusion.
4. India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Palestine for setting up of Palestine-India Techo Park at Ramallah in Palestine. The Technopark will serve as an IT hub in Palestine with complete IT facilities offering a one-stop solution to all IT-related service requirements. It will also provide state-of-the-art technology, host IT companies and foreign companies benefiting local business, universities and other institutions. The assistance is part of India's strong commitment to Palestinian cause. The project will help job creation, business and other opportunities for young Palestinians.
5. The Punjab government has observed November 1 as 'No Tobacco Day' in an effort to discourage tobacco use in the State. The purpose of the campaign is to reduce prevalence of Tobacco/Nicotine use in Punjab in order to reduce prevalence of Non Communicable diseases and to increase public awareness about preventing various non-communicable diseases such as Cancer and Cardiovascular diseases by pledging not to use Tobacco, Nicotine, Scented, processed, flavoured chewable tobacco products.
6. According to new norms for ECB route for startups, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted startups to raise External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) of up to $ 3 million in a financial year, with an aim to boost innovation and promote job creation. Under this, funds can be raised with a minimum maturity of 3 years and the borrowing should be denominated in any freely convertible currency or in Indian Rupees (INR) or a combination of both. The borrowing can be in the form of loans or non-convertible, optionally convertible or partially convertible preference shares and the minimum average maturity period will be 3 years. ECBs can be raised from a country which is either a member of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) or FATF-Style Regional Bodies.
7. Jhulan Goswami, the Indian women's cricket team captain, has recently acquired No.1 spot in the ICC Women's ODI bowling rankings, followed by Australia's Shelly Nitschke and Lisa Sthakelar.
8. The state of Maharashtra has been ranked first out of 29 Indian states, according to NITI Aayog's 2016 Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index. As per the states' score in the Index, Gujarat ranked second, followed by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Goa and Chhattisgarh. The purpose of the Index is to help the states to identify and address problems in the farm sector, which suffer from low growth, low farm income and agrarian distress.
9. The Indo-Nepal Joint Military Exercise "Surya Kiran-X" has started at Army Battle School, Saljhandi, Nepal from October 31 which will continue till November 13, 2016. The purpose of the exercise is to conduct battalion level joint training with emphasis on Counter Terrorism in mountainous terrain. It is an ideal platform for the contingent of both nations to share their experience and gain mutually.
10. Kylie Verzosa from Philippines has been crowned Miss International 2016 at the Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo, Japan. She is the 6th Filipino to win the crown of Miss International.
11. Sushil Chandra, a 1980-batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (IRS), is the newly appointed chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex policy making body for the Income Tax department. He succeeded Rani Singh Nair. Prior to this appointment, he was the member (Investigation) of the CBDT. The CBDT has six members apart from the chairman and is responsible for framing policy and administrative issues related to direct taxes and the Income Tax department.
12. Kerala has become the 3rd Open Defecation Free (ODF) state in India on its foundation day (November 1, 2016) under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) – Gramin. With this, Kerala has become first high density populated state in India to achieve ODF status. Earlier, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim had declared themselves ODF states.
13. Lewis Hamilton, a British Formula One racing driver from England, has won the 2016 Formula One Mexican Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
14. MN Sharma (93), the first chief architect of Chandigarh, has recently passed away in Chandigarh. He recently wrote a book "Making of Chandigarh: Le Corbusier and After", which brought the chronology of the events of the making of the city in his book. He was the first chief architect of Chandigarh, who closely worked with legendary Swiss-born French architect Le Corbusier. Sharma was the recipient of many national and international awards for his valuable contribution, including the award of the Institute of Life (France) for creating the best environment for the common man in 1973.
15. The Kerala government has launched four major programmes viz. Parippida Mission, Haritha Keralam, Ardram and Life—in the education, health, housing and sanitation sectors to mark the 60th anniversary of the state on November 1, 2016. Under Parppida Mission, the government plans to ensure housing for all, while "Ardram" proposes to upgrade basic facilities in government hospitals without inflating rates. At least 1,000 schools are supposed to be elevated to international standards under "Life", a scheme that will focus on improving liveability conditions. "Haritha Keralam", which means "Green Kerala", aims to look at effective methods of waste disposal, popularizing organic vegetable farming and conservation of forest and water resources. All schemes have a 5-year deadline.
16. Katherine Elizabeth Espín of Ecuador has won the crown of 2016 Miss Earth at the Mall of Asia Arena, Philippines. She competed with 83 delegates from around the world for the prestigious and coveted beauty title with the theme "Empowered to make a Change".
17. Silvio Gazzaniga (95), the Italian sculptor who designed and created the FIFA World Cup trophy in 1971, has recently passed away in Milan, Italy. He was also known as "Mr Cups", as he designed UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. The FIFA World Cup trophy is 18-carat solid gold trophy weighs approximately 6 kg (or 13 pounds). It depicts a moment of joy: two players celebrating with their arms outstretched and a globe resting on the backs of their shoulders.
18. The World Savings Day is observed every year on October 31 to increase the public's awareness of the importance of savings both for modern economies and for individuals alike. The main topics are focused on the importance of savings in the global economy and how every depositor contributes to its development. The 2016 theme is "Grabbing Hold of Your Financial Future".
19. The joint military training exercise "Sampriti-2016" will be conducted between India and Bangladesh at Tangail, Dhaka, Bangladesh from 05 to 18 November 2016. The training will culminate with a final validation exercise in which troops of both armies will jointly practice a Counter Terrorist Operation in a controlled and simulated environment.
20. The book "Immortal: Death is certain for all who are born…or is it?" has been authored by Krishna Udayasankar. It is the story of Asvatthama, the cursed immortal warrior from the Mahabharata, who is wandering on the Earth in the guise of Professor Bharadvaj.
21. The International Forum on Adopting an ICT Perspective to Education and Learning has started in New Delhi from October 31 and will continue till November 4, 2016. The forum is being organized by International Bureau of Education (IBE), UNESCO in partnership with Google. The participating countries in the international forum are Azerbaijan, Botswana, Egypt, Gabon, India, Lithuania, Oman, Seychelles, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Swaziland, etc. The forum targets mainly countries which are implementing the UNESCO developed General Education Quality Analysis Framework (GEQAF).
22. ICICI Bank Ltd has launched "ICICI Bank Home Overdraft" facility for salaried customers. The facility will enable customers to seek loans upto Rs 1 crore for personal needs against property. The minimum and maximum loan over the Home Overdraft facility is Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 1 crore. The customers can avail themselves of minimum 10% of the total amount as term loan and maximum 90% as overdraft.
23. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak has been appointed as a Brand Ambassador for "Swachh Rail Mission" of Indian Railway to promote cleanliness at rail premises. The initiative will help push the cleanliness drive of the Railway. Pathak is the founder of Sulabh International, an India-based social service organization. Sulabh International has been assigned to clean some important railway stations across the country as part of the mission. As a pilot project, Sulabh has started cleaning and maintenance of five important railway stations from September. These railway stations are Gorakhpur, Old Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Gwalior.
24. Kim Byong-joon has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of South Korea on November 2, 2016. He succeeded Hwang Kyo-ahn, who was sacked as Prime Minister amid the 2016 South Korean political scandal as President Park Geun-hye tried to rebuild confidence in her administration.
25. The World Vegan Day is observed every year on November 1 by setting up stalls, hosting potlucks and planting memorial trees to benefit the veganism for humans, non-human animals and the natural environment.
26. Indian shuttler Pratul Joshi has won the 2016 Bahrain International challenge Men's singles badminton tournament by defeating Aditya Joshi in the final by 21-17, 12-21, 21-15 at Segayya in Bahrain.
27. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently launched the "Saur Sujala Yojana" at Naya Raipur in Chhattisgarh that would provide solar powered irrigation pumps to farmers at a subsidized price. Chhattisgarh would be the first state to implement the scheme. Under the scheme, solar powered irrigation pumps of 3HP and 5HP capacity worth Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 4.5 lakh would be distributed to the farmers by March 31, 2019. The beneficiaries would get the pumps at the subsidized price.
28. Team India's limited-overs cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named as the top most valued athlete in India, as per the recently released Forbes Fab 40. Where as, Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer has been named as the most valued athlete in the world. Forbes Fab 40 list is a unique list which estimates the brand value of top sports labels, athletes, teams and events every year using different methodologies and is one of the most accurate listings in the world.
29. Maharashtra will be the first state in India to launch cyber police stations in each district to nab cyber criminals. Any offence related to cyber crime will be registered in these police stations at the district level. Additional cyber police stations will also be set up in some cities. Cyber police stations will also be set up at police commissionerate and Range IG offices.
30. The book "Harp" has been authored by Nidhi Dalmia. It is the story of Ashok who is caught between what is expected of him and what he wants it to be, which makes the book totally relatable to one's life as most of us have been there or are there.
31. India will host 7th session of Conference of Parties (COP7) on tobacco control from November 7-12, 2016 at India Exposition Mart in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The conference will provide an opportunity to learn from other countries and showcase the steps taken by India to check tobacco consumption. More than 1500 delegates from 180 countries along with other Observers in official relations with the WHO FCTC Secretariat, Geneva are expected to participate in the conference. It is the first occasion that a Conference of Parties (COP) meeting is being held in India. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the first global evidence-based public health treaty that recognizes the right of all people to the highest standard of health.
32. Nadda Jagat Prakash Nadda, the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, has recently launched "Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan" in New Delhi to improve health care facilities for pregnant women. Under the scheme, pregnant ladies will be given free health check-up and required treatment free of cost on 9th of every month. The scheme will be applicable for pregnant women in all Government hospitals across India.
33. Bollywood actor Rekha will be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 13th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), which will be held from December 7-14, 2016.
34. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently inaugurated Asia's largest man-made "Jungle Safari" at Naya Raipur in Chhattisgarh. It is nearly 800-acre Nandanvan Zoo and Safari. The Jungle Safari has been divided into 8 zones viz. Monument zone, Parking zone, Administrative zone, Water zone, Waiting zone, Zoo zone, Safari zone, Management zone. It will have wild animals moving freely in natural surroundings. The eco-friendly vehicles would take the visitors around to have the enchanting glimpses of wild-life and nature's beauty. The Jungle Safari would accommodate around 10,000 visitors every day. There would be safaris for tigers, lions, bears and other wild animals. The area would also have separate zones for the carnivorous and herbivorous animals in the Safari.
35. LinkedIn has signed MoU with Union Ministry of Human Resource Development to create more jobs opportunities for Indian students. As part of the MoU, LinkedIn's 'Placements' product will be adopted by all Indian colleges affiliated with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The placements provides a level-playing field for all students, regardless of their location or college and allows them to take an online assessment test, which gives them direct access to thousands of openings in 35 top corporates in India.
36. Kwon Taek Im, the renowned South Korean director, will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 47th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. In the 2016 IFFI, South Korea will be the focus country and its' movies will be showcased and well-known film personalities will also attend the festival.
37. The Bhitarkanika National Park is a national park located in the Kendrapara District, Odisha. The park is a unique ecosystem, highly dynamic and at the same time fragile. The delta, the river mouth, the sea, mangrove forest, avian fauna, reptiles, amphibians and fauna and flora contribute to the park's biological diversity. It is in news because a two-member technical evaluation mission team of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) deputed by the UNESCO has recently visited the National Park. The purpose of the visit is for the ground-zero assessment of the bio-diversity of the unique mangrove eco-system of park.
38. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched an online survey for Overseas Indian Citizens in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai to assess level of awareness about the registration and voting process and to also gather opinion about their preferred method of voting. The purpose of the unique survey is to study and determine the registration and participation rates among overseas electors. The survey shall help in not only identifying information gaps but also in finding the preferred methods of voting which can subsequently be shared with the Government and Legislators. The link may be seen at www.everyvotecounts.in.
39. The 7th edition of Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) has inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on November 3, which will continue till November 5, 2016. The conference will pave the way for implementation of the framework in the Asian region and will also devise a mechanism for monitoring its progress. The conference has been organized by Government of India (GoI) in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). The purpose of the conference is to transform the commitments of governments and stakeholders during the Sendai Conference into national and local action. The AMCDRR is a biennial conference in the Asia region to ensure political and stakeholder's commitment towards Disaster Risk Reduction implementation.
40. The Chief Minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal has recently launched the "Aware and Care" campaign by flagging off 100 Information Education Communication (IEC) mobile vans. The basic purpose of IEC vans is to apprise people about the diseases like cancer, hepatitis-C, cervical cancer and the preventive measures to be taken to cure the patients suffering from these diseases in the early stages. The health awareness campaign would also aim to create awareness amongst the people about the diseases like dengue, chicken guniya, malaria with the focus on sensitizing them about personal hygiene and cleanliness of environs around them.
41. The Assam government has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN to boost State air connectivity. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) shall be the Implementing Agency for the scheme on behalf of Ministry of Civil Aviation. As per the MoU, the State Government shall reduce VAT to 1% or less on ATF at RCS Airports and for RCS flights from other airports located within the state. The Government of Assam shall also provide minimum land for development and expansion of RCS Airports and also provide multi-modal hinterland connectivity (road, rail, metro, waterways, etc.) as required.
42. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is an association of Indian businesses which works to create an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India. The headquarters of CII is located at New Delhi. It is in news because CCI has launched a unique platform "Startup Mentorship Circle" in Mumbai to help in connecting start-ups with the global marketplace. The platform is truly a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and startups to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.
43. Pandit Amaradeva (88), the legendary Sri Lankan singer and composer, has recently passed away in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka. He was the recipient of many international honours, including Ramon Magsaysay Award, Padma Shri, for his contribution to music.
44. The first-ever World Tsunami Awareness Day (WTAD) has been observed on November 5, 2016 to spread awareness among people across the world in matters related to the dangers of tsunami and shall stress on the importance of early warning systems in order to mitigate damage from the often devastating natural hazard. It also aims at reviving traditional knowledge about tsunamis. The 2016 theme of WTAD is "Effective Education and Evacuation Drills".
45. Aniruddha Rajput, a practicising lawyer of India's Supreme Court, has been elected to UN's International Law Commission. He is India's first time candidate to the Commission and a permanent representative to the UN Ambassador. Rajput is among the 34 individuals elected by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as members of the International Law Commission. The newly elected members will serve 5-year terms of office with the Geneva-based body, which will begin from January 2017. The members have been elected from five geographical groupings of African, Asia-Pacific, Eastern European, Latin American and Caribbean and Western European states.
46. The book "An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India" has been authored by Dr. Shashi Tharoor, the Lok Sabha MP. The book recalls in some detail the misdeeds of the British in looting India and making it suffer an agonizing and violent death. In it, author has rightly points out that British rule in India was effectively and regularly supplemented by famine, forced migration and brutality – the three examples of why British rule over India was despotic and anything but enlightened. The book has recently released by the Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari.
47. The 12th edition of International Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition "Petrotech-2016" will be held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on December 5. The 2016 theme is "Hydrocarbons to fuel the future – Choices and Challenges". The purpose of the global event is to bring Energy Ministers, industry leaders, professionals, academicians and domain experts from the energy sector on a common platform. It is a biennial platform for national and international experts in the oil & gas industry to exchange views and share knowledge, expertise and experiences.
48. The Government of India (GoI) will host the 2016 International Energy Forum – International Gas Union (IEF-IGU) Ministerial Forum in New Delhi on December 6, 2016, which is also supported by GAIL (India) Limited and the Natural Gas Society of India. The main theme of the forum will be "Gas for Growth: Improving economic prosperity and living standards". The purpose of this forum is to increase the dialogue between Governments, Organisations and Companies in the global gas industry.
49. The first ever International Agro-biodiversity Congress (IAC) has started in New Delhi on November 6, 2016. The 4-day Congress has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will be attended by 900 delegates from 60 countries. The event will initiate and encourage a dialogue among stakeholders, including farmers, to better understand everyones role in agro-biodiversity management and the conservation of genetic resources. It will address the threats imposed by climate change and ways to achieve sustainable agriculture production. India is one of the mega-diversity centres possessing unique crop and animal diversity.
50. Indian women's hockey team has won the 4th edition of the 2016 Asian Women's Hockey Champions trophy- 2016 by defeating China in the final by 2-1 in Singapore. This is first time that Indian women's hockey team has won the Asian Champions Trophy competition.
51. The 7th session of Conference of Parties (COP7) on tobacco control has started at India Exposition Mart in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh from November 7, 2016. The 6-day conference will provide an opportunity to learn from other countries and showcase the steps taken by India to check tobacco consumption. About 1500 delegates from 180 countries along with other observers in official relations with the WHO FCTC Secretariat, Geneva are expected to participate in the conference. This is first time that India is hosting the crucial global tobacco control conference.
52. India has been ranked 2nd out of 36 nations on the global business optimism index during the third quarter (July-September 2016), according to the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report. The report stated that the improvement in the optimism ranking in the recent past clearly reflects that the reform agenda of the government and its efforts on improving the climate for doing business are having an impact. The list is topped by Indonesia, while Philippines acquired 3rd position. The report is prepared on the basis of a quarterly conducted global business survey of 2,500 businesses across 36 economies.
53. The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has started at Marrakech in Morocco on November 7. In the 12-day global climate conference, delegates will deliberate on the details of implementing the Paris deal, such as drafting rules for how to measure and report emissions as well as the financial contributions meant to help poor countries deal with climate change.
54. The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed a MoU with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi to establish a Joint Advanced Technology Centre (JATC). The JATC will be located in the campus of IIT Delhi at the upcoming Science and Technology Park.
55. Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Switzerland tourism's campaign for 2017 "Nature wants you back".
56. Indian Army has launched "Operation school chalo" in South Kashmir under a local slogan 'Chyem ne zaroorat Daulat-o-ubab, Faqat Gochum School te Kitab (I don't need money and fame, I need books and school'. In it, Indian Army will identify areas and provide students with free coaching and make them participate in extra-curricular activities. Beside this, Army officers and men will also encourage the parents to send their children to makeshift dwellings to study.
57. The National Cancer Awareness Day is observed every year in India on November 7 to stress upon the early detection and cure of cancer.
58. M Rajeshwar Rao has been appointed as the new Executive Director (ED) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He will succeed G Mahalingam, who is taking voluntary retirement from the central bank. Rao will look after Department of Statistics and Information Management, Financial markets Operations Department and International Department. Prior to this appointment, he was the Chief General Manager, Financial Markets Operations Department. He has also worked as the Banking Ombudsman, New Delhi and in the Reserve Bank's regional offices at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and New Delhi.
59. The book "Game Goes On" has been authored by an Australian commentator, Alan McGilvray. The book is based on his more than 50 years of the involvement with the game of cricket. He includes recollections of games he has witnessed through his life as a commentator and, in his younger days, as a player associated with extravagant cricketers like Bradman, Oldfield, McCabe, and O'Reilly.
60. Praveen Kumar Sharma has been appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI). Sharma is the General Manager of the State Bank of India (SBI).The CERSAI is a central online security interest registry of India, which provide the platform for filing registrations of transactions of securitization, asset reconstruction and security interest by the banks and financial institutions. Any person can also search and inspect the records maintained by the registry on payment of prescribed fees. The headquarters of CERSAI is located at New Delhi.
61. Kanubhai Gandhi (87), grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and a former NASA scientist, has recently passed away in Surat, Gujarat. He was famously captured in an iconic photograph as the boy tugging at Mahatma Gandhi's walking stick during salt satyagraha at Dandi, Gujarat. Kanubhai was the son Ramdas Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi's third son). He came back to India in 2014 after a four-decade long stay in the US, where he had worked with NASA for 25 years.
62. The 9th Annual Meeting of International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH) has started at Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi from November 8, 2016. It is organized by Ministry of AYUSH and is inaugurated by Minister of State for AYUSH Sripad Yesso Naik. The purpose of IRCH meeting are to globally promote and facilitate the safe use of herbal medicines, facilitate and strengthen cooperation between national regulatory authorities by sharing experience, information and knowledge related to the regulation, quality, safety and efficacy of herbal medicines, etc.
63. The 2016 Urban Mobility India conference has started at at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on November 8 with the theme "Planning Mobility for City's sustainability". The 4-day conference has been organized jointly by Ministry of Urban Development and Gujarat Government. About 2500 delegates will discuss climate friendly urban transport systems in the conference.
64. Syrian freelance journalist Hadi Abdullah has been bestowed with the 2016 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) – TV5 Monde Press Freedom Prize in journalist category for reporting from some of the most perilous zones in his country's 5-year-old war. He has unhesitatingly ventured into danger zones, where western journalists are no longer willing to go to film and interview civilian. Apart from him, the Chinese news website "64Tianwang" and Chinese citizen journalists Lu Yuyu and Li Tingyu has also been honoured with the award in the media and citizen journalist category.
65. The 6th edition of India-Bangladesh Joint Military Exercise "SAMPRITI-2016" has started at Bangabandhu Senanibas in Tangail, Bangladesh on November 4, 2016. A Company Group of The MAHAR Regiment is representing the Indian Contingent. The main focus of the 14-day joint exercise is on Counter-Terrorism Operations in mountainous and jungle terrain under the United Nations Mandate. The purpose of this exercise is to achieve interoperability in joint operations the troops from both sides would acquaint themselves with respective approach of the two armies towards the conduct of such operations.
66. The 64th edition of International Congress of Aviation and Space medicine (IAASM) has started in New Delhi on November 7 and will continue till November 10, 2016. The Congress is which is organized by Indian Society of Aviation Medicine (ISAM) and is being attended by more than 300 delegates across the world. The theme of IAASM 2016 is "Learn and Overcome". IAASM 2016 will provide an opportunity to Indian Aerospace Medicine (IAM) specialists to interact with eminent personalities from the field of Aerospace medicine around the world and learn from them the newer advances made in the field.
67. Recently, Indian wushu team has won 5 medals in 8th Sanda World Cup at Xian, China. In it, Y Sanathoi Devi won the silver for India in 52kg category after losing to China's Luan Zhang. Devi is the Arjuna Awardee and world silver medalist. The other silver medallist for India were Uchit Sharma in the 52kg, Suraya Bhanu Pratap Singh in 60kg and Monika in 56kg categories. Pooja Kadian in 75kg category secured the lone bronze medal.
68. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned $48 million loan to help Assam state continue to its drive to improve access to efficient and reliable power in the national capital. This is the 2nd tranche loan of the $300 million multi tranche financing facility for the Assam Power Sector Investment Program that was approved by the ADB Board in July 2014. The project will help Assam to enhance capacity and efficiency of its power distribution system to improve electricity service to end users. The first tranche loan of $50 million was signed in February 2015.
69. The Rashtriya Kalidas Samman will be conferred to Banshi Kaul for 2016-17 and Raj Bisaria for 2015-16. Both the theatre artists are known for long cherished practice, excellence and continuous creative activeness in the country. Governor Omprakash Kohli will present the awards at an award ceremony to be held on November 10, 2016 in Ujjain. The Kalidas Samman is a prestigious arts award presented annually by the government of Madhya Pradesh in India. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 200,000 and a citation.
70. The book "The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology" has been authored by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. It is a non-fiction book about artificial intelligence and the future of humanity.
71. The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda has recently launched the "Healthy India Initiative" magazine and "No More Tension" mobile App for promotion of health and to strengthen the health communications programmes in New Delhi. The Healthy India is a quarterly magazine and will cater to health related information and raise awareness about healthy living. The magazine will cover different aspect of health including women and child health, elderly health, seasonal ailments, daily nutritional needs, safe medication practices and home remedies for healthy living. The app helps users to manage stress and will also provide information regarding stress, symptoms and its management. The application allows the user to measure their stress level and learn various techniques like yoga and meditation to reduce stress from their lives.
72. The 2018 International Competition Network (ICN) annual conference will be hosted by Competition Commission of India (CCI) at New Delhi in March –April 2018. ICN is an international body consists of 132 members from 120 competition jurisdictions exclusively devoted to international competition enforcement. The 2017 ICN Annual Conference will be hosted by Portuguese Competition Authority.
73. The Chhattisgarh government has launched "Lakshya Bhagirathi" campaign to complete the irrigation projects that could not be completed. Under the campaign, the water resources department had identified 108 projects that could not be completed. For the last three decades, the projects were pending for required clearances.
74. Guy Ryder Guy Ryder has been re-elected Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for a second five-year term that will start officially on October 1,2017. Ryder, who is the 10th ILO Director-General, has some 35 years of experience in the world of work. The headquarters of ILO is at Geneva, Switzerland.
75. Amitav Ghosh, an acclaimed Indian-American fiction author, will be honoured with the Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award for 2016 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian literary space. The award will be presented to him at Tata Literature Live!'s annual awards ceremony to be held on November 20, 2016 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, Mumbai.
76. India's first-ever Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) driven bus has been jointly launched by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala. The first pilot eco-friendly bus is a joint effort of Petronet LNG Limited (PLL), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd to introduce LNG as a fuel in commercial vehicles in the state capital. LNG is considered to be a cleaner and safer fuel which emits 50 % less carbon for mass transportation.
77. The 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will be held in Lima, Peru from November 19-20.The theme of the summit is "Quality Growth and Human Development" and the official logo of the APEC summit is the architecture of the ancient city of Caral.
78. The Union Minister of Human Resource and Development, Prakash Javadekar has launched the world's largest digital national building initiative "Smart India Hackathon 2017" in New Delhi to harness creativity & technical expertise of over 30 lakh students from technology institutes in remotest parts of India. The purpose of this initiative is to find digital solutions to problems in the areas of power, education, health, water, finance, agriculture, energy, etc. The 'Smart India Hackathon 2017' is a pan-India 36-hour nonstop digital programming competition which will take place in more than 20 centres simultaneously. The initiative will help institutionalize a model for harnessing the creativity and skills of youth for nation-building. It is the first initiative of this kind that has been ever launched in India.
79. The Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana has been launched by Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who is the Minister of State (I/C) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. It is the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)'s flagship scheme on entrepreneurship education and training. The scheme spans over five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) with a project cost of Rs. 499.94 crore, and will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over 7 lakh students in 5 years through 3050 institutes. It will also include easy access to information and mentor network, credit, incubator and accelerator and advocacy to create a pathway for the youth.
80. The second-edition of BRICS Communication Ministers meeting has started in Bengaluru, Karnataka on November 10, which is chaired by Minister of State for Communication Manoj Sinha. The High Level delegation from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will deliberate for greater cooperation in Telecommunication and ICT sectors. The 2-day conference will draw course of action on creating new frameworks of cooperation and collaboration among BRICS countries. The meeting will discuss ways to improve collaboration in the field of digital economy, future communications, mobile technology among other things.
81. Rahul Dravid, the former Indian Cricketer and Captain, has become the brand ambassador for 2017 T20 Blind Cricket World Cup, which will be hosted by India. The tournament will be played from January 28 to February 12, 2017, with 10 countries participating in the event. On this occasion, Dravid has also launched the 'Support Blind Cricket by buying a Cricket Ball' campaign.
82. The World Science Day for Peace and Development (WSDPD) is observed every year on November 10 to highlight the important role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives. The 2016 WSDPD is celebrated with the theme "Celebrating Science Centres and Science Museums".
83. Leonard Cohen (82), the legendary singer-songwriter of Canada, has recently passed away in California, United States. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality and personal relationships.
84. The 6th edition of 'Kathakar: International Storytellers Festival' has started in New Delhi on November 11, 2016. It is organized by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in collaboration with NGO Nivesh. The 3-day long festival will showcase both contemporary stories and tales from the histories and oral traditions of different countries. The festival will feature both national and international storytellers.
85. Ishaat Hussain is the newly appointed interim-chairman of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). He succeeded Cyrus Mistry and shall hold office as chairman of the company until a new chairman is appointed in his place.
86. The book "Beyond the Last Blue Mountain: A Life Of J. R. D. Tata" has been authored by R M Lala. Partition. It is the biography of J.R.D. Tata, the patriarch of the biggest industrial house in India.
87. The Public Service Broadcasting Day is observed every year on November 12 in India to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi's maiden visit to All India Radio (AIR) studio. On November 12, 1947, the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi visited the studio of All India Radio, Delhi for the first and last time. He addressed the refugees from Pakistan, stationed at the camp at Kurukshetra in Haryana after partition.
88. Mike McCormack from Ireland has won the 2016 Goldsmiths Prize for his novel "Solar Bones". The annual prize is a British literary award and has £10,000 remuneration. It is awarded to a book that is deemed genuinely novel and which embodies the spirit of invention that characterizes the genre at its best.
89. India's first banking robot "Lakshmi" has been launched by the Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank, which will become the first on-site bank helper in India. The artificial intelligence powered robot "Lakshmi" can speak English, gesture and engage in a life-like manner in conversations. The robot can interact with customers on more than 125 subjects including account balance and interest rates on loans.
90. The 'Maharatna' firm, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has won the prestigious 2016 Golden Peacock Award for Corporate GovernanceGolden Peacock Award. The award was received by Ashwini Kumar, CEO of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) on behalf of SAIL during the 16th London Global Convention on Corporate Governance and Sustainability in London, United Kingdom (UK).
91. Narinder Batra has become the first Indian to be elected the President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). He succeeds Spaniard Leandro Negre, who has been the FIH chief since 2008. Batra, who is the president of Hockey India, has become the 12th FIH President and the first Asian to grab the post.
92. The 36th edition of India International Trade Fair (IITF) will be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi on 14th November, 2016 and will continue till November 18, 2016. The fair will be inaugurated by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee with the theme of "Digital India". This year's partner country and states are South Korea and Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand respectively. The focus country and state are Belarus and Haryana respectively.
93. The first Indian National Open Accuracy Paragliding Championship has started at Bir-Billing, Himachal Pradesh. In it, 107 pilots from 15 countries will take part.
94. Noted geophysicist Janardhan G Negi (81) has recently passed away in Hyderabad. He was the former Director-grade scientist at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI). He was known for making outstanding contribution in understanding earthquakes, mass extinctions, especially dinosaurs and the movement of the Indian sub-continent plates.
95. The book "SRK – 25 Years of a Life" has been authored by writer and filmmaker Samar Khan. The book traces the journey of the Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan through all his directors' eyes. The thought behind the book was to show why his directors thought of such iconic characters for Shah Rukh.
96. Indian women's carrom team has won gold at the 7th World Carrom Championship by defeating Sri Lanka in Birmingham, UK. India's S Apoorwa and Kajol Kumari also won gold in the women's doubles event.
97. Meng Hongwei, a politician of People's Republic of China, has been elected as the new President of International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). Interpol is the 2nd-largest international organization after the United Nations in terms of international representation. The headquartered of INTERPOL is located at Lyon, France. Its work focuses on public safety and battling terrorism, crimes against humanity, environmental crime, genocide, war crimes, etc.
98. Gurumoorthy Mahalingam has become the new Whole-Time Member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a period of 5 years or till the age of 65 years,whichever is earliest. He will get a consolidated salary of Rs 3.75 lakh. Previously, Mahalingam was the executive director and former regional director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
99. The World Pneumonia Day (WPD) is observed every year on November 12 to provide an annual forum for the world to stand together and demand action in the fight against pneumonia. The 2016 theme is "Keep the Promise, Stop Pneumonia Now".
100. The International Conference and Exhibition on "Sugarcane Value Chain – Vision 2025 Sugar" has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Manjari near Pune on November 13, 2016. It is organised by Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI). Around 1,500 delegates are expected to participate in this conference from across the globe.The VSI is an autonomous body established in 1975 by cane growers of co-operative sugar mills in Maharashtra with support of State and Central government.
101. Jackie Chan, the popular Chinese actor, has been bestowed with the honorary Academy Award (or Oscar) by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the 8th Annual Governors Awards at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles on November 12, 2016 for his extraordinary achievements in the movies. Chan is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons and innovative stunts, in his movies. Beside him, the honorary Oscar has been given to editor Anne Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and documentary maker Frederick Wiseman.
102. Indian Golfer Aditi Ashok has become the first Indian woman to won a Ladies European Tour title by clinching the Hero Women's Indian Open 2016 at Gurugram, Haryana. She won a prize purse of $60,000.
103. Lewis Hamilton, a Mercedes Formula One racing driver from England, has won the 2016 Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Brazil. It is his 9th win in 2016 season and the 52nd of his career.
104. Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling has recently laid the foundation stone of a ropeway and support facilities for the Bhaleydhunga Skywalk Project at Dhapper in Yangang, which once completed, will be the world's highest skywalk. The Bhaleydhunga Skywalk will be built at a height of 10,300 feet with world class infrastructure and will be the second of its kind in Asia and the first in India.
105. The 6th edition of India-China Joint Training Exercise "Hand in Hand 2016" will be held in Pune from November 15 to 27. The purpose of the joint training is to share the expertise in drills and practices while tackling insurgency and terrorism and also to promote healthy military to military relations between the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army of China.
106. Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman, an Indian-origin man in South Africa, has been awarded the prestigious Global Citizen Award by international citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners for his innovative and visionary contribution to the global community. Sooliman is the founder of the internationally-lauded Gift of the Givers Foundation. The Global Citizen Award is bestowed annually to an inspirational individual who has made an extraordinary contribution towards improving the global community. The award consists of a specially-made commemorative medal, an award certificate and a $ 50,000 monetary prize, of which $ 25,000 is donated to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
107. The Supreme Court has recently constituted Justice Kailash Gambhir committee to verify the availability of night shelters, including if they are in compliance with the operational guidelines under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and to inquire into the reasons for slow progress in setting up shelter homes by the States/Union Territories. The committee will submit its report within 4 months. Justice Gambhir is the former Delhi High Court judge.
108. The World Diabetes Day (WDD) is observed every year on November 14 as an annual campaign to raise awareness about diabetes by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The theme of WDD 2016 is "Eyes on Diabetes". This year the focus will be on promoting the importance of screening to ensure early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and treatment to reduce the risk of serious complications.
109. The book "The Burning Forest: India's War in Bastar" has been authored by sociologist Nandini Sundar. Through book, the poet draws on many years of research in the beautiful and war-torn region of Bastar.
110. Lyricist-writer Gulzar will be honoured with the Tata Literature Live! Poet Laureate Award for 2016 for his contribution to Indian literature through his heart-rending poetry. The award carries a citation, plaque and cash prize and will be presented to him at Tata Literature Live!'s annual awards ceremony to be held on November 17, 2016 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, Mumbai.
111. Padmini Rout has recently won the 43rd edition of National Women Premier Chess Championship 2016 in New Delhi. It is 3rd time she won the championship. Rout is an Indian chess player who holds the titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster.
112. The 2nd edition of National children's film festival (NCFF) has started at Birla Auditorium in Jaipur, Rajasthan on November 14, 2016 with the theme "Make in India".
113. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formed a special task force under the Chairmanship of Deputy G Governor of RBI SS Mundra to re-calibrate all ATMs and cash dispensing machines with the new design of (Rs 500 and Rs 2000) notes. The task force will consists of representatives from the government, large banks like SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and select channels.
114. The Government of India (GoI) has recently signed a $500 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build a 9.8 km long road bridge across the Ganges River to improve transport connectivity between North and South Bihar and for better link between Patna and the surrounding areas. This will be India's longest river bridge. The project will also build viaducts, embankments, and toll and service facilities, and will link to national highway networks.
115. India and Israel has inked two agreements in the field of water resources management and agriculture. The agreements were signed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in New Delhi.
116. India's first Cherry Blossom Festival has started at Shillong in Meghalaya on November 14, 2016, which is widely celebrated in Japan. The 4-day festival will provide opportunities to showcase the unique beauty of pink and white cherry blossoms and traditional arts, culture and cuisine to the naturalists and tourists of state. The Cherry Blossom Festival is popularly known as Sakura Festival in Japan i.e. held in April every year.
117. The book "Heyday: Britain and the Birth of the Modern World" has been authored by Ben Wilson. It is a lucid survey of episodes, diversities of experience and responses to these innovations as the Northern Atlantic cultures begin to span far-flung geographies and histories of peoples.
118. The 3rd edition of World Internet Conference has started in Wuzhen, China on November 16, 2016 to discuss the future of the digital economy.The 3-day event is expected to be attended by delegates from more than 120 countries, including 8 top foreign leaders.
119. The Maharashtra government has become the first Indian state to adopt the Fly Ash Utilization Policy to generate wealth from waste and environment protection. The state cabinet has recently approved a policy for 100 % use of fly ash generated from thermal power plants and biogas plants for construction activities. The policy will create new employment opportunities in the power plant sector and pave way for prosperity by generating Wealth from Waste. The fly ash will be used to make bricks, blocks, tiles, wall panels, cement and other construction materials. This policy will save soil excavation and aid construction of low-cost housing.
120. Veteran journalist S Nihal Singh has been honoured with the 2016 Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award for his outstanding contribution to journalism on the occasion of the National Press Day (NPD) and is presented by the Press Council of India (PCI). The award carries a cash component of Rs 1 lakh. The National Press Day (NPD) is celebrated every year in India on November 16 as a symbolic of a free and responsible press in India. This year, the day is coincides with Golden Jubilee of Press Council of India.
121. The The United Nations' (UN) International Day for Tolerance is observed on November 16 every year to appreciate the rich variety of world's cultures, forms of expression and ways of being human. The day recognises the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms.
122. Chhattisgarh has become the first Indian state to adopt a resolution on demonetization of high-value currency notes. The decision was taken to flush out black money from the system and to usher in the clean transaction and clean money system. Besides fighting black money, it will also impact various other contentious issues plaguing the system.
123. The Union Government has hiked Rs. 100 per quintal in wheat Minimum Support Price (MSP) to Rs. 1,625 per quintal for the 2016-17 and pulses by up to Rs. 550 per quintal to boost the output of these rabi (winter- sown) crops and check prices. Apart from this, MSP on Gram has been hiked to Rs. 4,000 per quintal including bonus, from 3,500 rupees per quintal while MSP of Masur has been raised to Rs. 3,950 per quintal from Rs. 3,400. The support price on Mustard and safflower has been hiked to Rs. 3,700 per quintal each. On Barley the support price has been increased to Rs. 1,325 from Rs. 1,225 per quintal. To incentivize cultivation of pulses and oilseeds, CCEA also announced a bonus on these crops over and above MSP. The MSP is the rate at which government buys the grain from farmers.
124. The comprehensive joint exercise "2016 Raad ul Barq – Strike of thunder" has been conducted by Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force in Khairpur Tamewali firing range of Cholistan desert, near Indo-Pak border, to showcase the combat readiness of the country's defence line with live firepower demonstration using heavy artillery fighter jets and air defence weapons.
125. The Bihar government has recently launched "Har Ghar Bijli Lagataar (continuous power to every home)" programme to provide free electricity connection to about 50 lakh households above the poverty line. The purpose of the programme is to supply power to every household in Bihar in the next two years.
126. The 6th edition of India-China Joint Military Training Exercise "Hand-in-Hand 2016" has started at the parade ground in Aundh Military Camp in Pune, Maharashtra from November 15 and will continue till November 27. The purpose of the joint exercise is to share the expertise in drills and practices while tackling insurgency and terrorism and also to promote healthy military to military relations between the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army of China.
127. Indian chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand has won the 2016 Champions Showdown in Saint Louis, USA. Anand beat three other grandmasters- Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Veselin Topalov to clinch the top spot. The tournament saw each competitor play 24 matches, including two classical round robins, two rapid round robins and four blitz round robins. Anand won seven and drew 16. His only defeat came on the final day against Nakamura.
128. The "Water for Elephants" is a historical novel authored by Sara Gruen. The novel presents us with a fascinating history of the American circus as well as a painful look at the time known as "The Great Depression".
129. Haryana sprinter Dharambir Singh is in news because he has been slapped an 8-year ban by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) because of his second dope-related offence. Earlier, he was barred from representing India in the 2016 Rio Olympics at the last minute for failing a dope test.
130. The Hind-Iran portal "hindirantrade.org" has been launched between India and Iran to facilitate trade. The purpose of the trade portal is to disseminate information relevant to Indo-Iran Trade and to provide an e-marketplace for the buyers and sellers of the two countries. It is a joint initiative of STC and Douman Queshm, Iran.
131. The 2016 World Travel Market (WTM), the leading global event for the travel industry, has started in London, United Kingdom (UK). The 3-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry will be attended by almost 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press. Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (GoI) has participated as Official Premier Partner at WTM London 2016.
132. Sunway Taihulight has been named as the world's fastest supercomputer title, as per recently released semiannual Top 500 list of supercomputers. It is developed by the China's National Research Centre of Parallel Computer Engineering and Technology (NRCPC). Taihulight can perform 93 quadrillions calculations per second (petaflop/s). It is intended for use in research and engineering including climate, weather, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and data analytics. The TOP 500 list is considered one of the most authoritative rankings of the world's supercomputers. It is compiled on the basis of the machines' performance on the Linpack benchmark by experts from U.S. and Germany.
133. The Telangana government has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Indian unit of Microsoft Corporation for digital Telangana programme. Under the MOU, Microsoft India will work with the state government to support the development of cloud and mobile-based solutions and support the use of machine learning and advanced visualization to help solve challenges in the fields of education, agriculture and healthcare.
134. The 2016 Great Indian Film and Literature Festival (GIFLIF) will be held at DLF Cyber Hub in Gurugram, Haryana from December 2 to showcase the vernacular spirit of Indian film and literature. The 3-day-festival will include panel discussions on an array of themes ranging from filmmaking, digital media, advertising, to publishing, literature, script writing and film screenings, besides a play and a music concert.
135. Dr.Sonam Wangchuk, the famous educationist and social scientist from Ladakh, has been awarded the prestigious 2016 Rolex Awards for Enterprise at Los Angelis for remedying water scarcity in Western Himalayas by building artificial glaciers- Ice Stupas to store water for irrigation purpose and afforestation of desert land. The Rolex Award funds will support his Ice-stupas project and promote ice stupas as a climate-change adaptation and desert-greening technique.
136. The National Institute of Sowa Rigpa will be established at Leh in Jammu & Kashmir, which is approved by Government of India (GoI). The Tibetan Medicine system is known as Sowa Rigpa (Amchi). The System of Sowa Rigpa is practiced in many parts of India viz. Ladakh, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Mon Tawang and West Kameng regions of Arunachal Pradesh, etc. The medicine has been recognized by Government of India (GoI) by amending the Indian Medicine Central Council (IMCC) Act, 2010.
137. Recently, the Ministry of AYUSH has decided to set up a central regulatory structure for AYUSH drugs as a part of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) to enforce the provisions for Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathic drugs in coordination with the State regulatory authorities. The CDSCO is the national regulatory body for Indian pharmaceuticals and medical devices and is headquarters is located at New Delhi.
138. The book "A Season of Ghosts" has been authored by Ruskin Bond. It is an entertaining book, which have interesting short stories about the mists and mellow magic of Bond's beloved mountains.
139. The 2016 Global Citizen India festival has started at MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai, Maharashtra that will bring together popular culture and public policy in one of the largest gatherings for a social cause. Global Citizen India is a social action platform for a generation that wants to solve the world's biggest challenges. The festival will conclude a two-month long campaign in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It will mark the beginning of a 15-year-long journey to activate and mobilize young Indians to ensure India leads the fight against extreme poverty.
140. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been awarded 2016 Digital Innovator of the Year by GE Digital in the Ecosystem Excellence award category at GE's Minds + Machines event in San Francisco, California. The award recognizes TCS' innovation and excellence in developing the TCS Digital Store, an expanding suite of ready-to-use digital solutions that deliver superior customer experience, real time data analytics and organizational agility across multiple industry segments.
141. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna – Gramin (PMAY-G), in Agra, Uttar Pradesh to provide affordable houses to all those Indians living below the poverty line by the year 2022. Under the scheme, Rs. 1, 50,000 will be given for each house which will be equipped with many facilities like kitchen and toilet. Beside this, the prime minister has also distributed allotment letters to 50 beneficiaries of the scheme, which aims to provide about 3 crore new housing units countrywide.
142. Kenyan Rio Olympic marathon champion, Eliud Kipchoge has won the the 9th edition of men's Airtel Delhi Half Marathon(ADHM) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium while Ethiopia's Worknesh Degefa clinched the women's title. Over 34 thousand participants from across the world participated in the marathon. Both the men's and women's elite winners won $27,000 for their victories.
143. SP Balasubrahmaniam, the legendary singer, has been honored with the 2016 Centenary Indian Film Personality of the year award at the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2016 at Panaji in Goa for his distinguished services to the film industry. In the 2016 IFFI, South Korea will be the focus country and its' movies will be showcased and well-known film personalities will also attend the festival. In it, the 2016 the Lifetime Achievement Award has been awarded to Im Kwon Taek, the internationally acclaimed South Korean film director and writer.
144. Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, the young man who refused to desert his friends during the July 1 terror attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, has been conferred the 2016 Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice posthumously at a ceremony in Mumbai by NGO Harmony Foundation. This is the first time the award has been conferred posthumously.
145. India has been elected as the Vice Chair for 2018 and Chair for 2019 of Kimberley Process Certificate Scheme (KPCS). The announcement was made at the recently held KP Plenary Meeting 2016 at Dubai. India is founder member of Kimberley Scheme of United Nations for import/export of rough diamonds to ensure that conflict diamonds are not traded. The Chair oversees the implementation of the program, the operations of the working groups and committees, and general administration. The Chair rotates annually. The current chair of KPCS is the nation that held the position of vice chair the previous year.
146. China has launched the world's longest super-secure quantum communication line to safely transmit sensitive information. The new 712 km quantum communication line links Hefei, capital of Anhui province, to Shanghai, the country's financial hub. It is part of a 2,000-km quantum communication line connecting Beijing and Shanghai.
147. Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu has won the 2016 women's singles China Open Badminton Super Series Premier by defeating Sun Yu of China in the final by 21–11, 17–21, 21–11 in Fuzhou, China and won the prize money of $700,000.
148. The World Toilet Day (WTD) is observed every year on November 19 to motivate and mobilize people on issues of sanitation. The 2016 theme is "Toilets and jobs" to focus on how sanitation, or the lack of it, can impact people's livelihoods.
149. The well-known flautist Pt Hari Prasad Chourasia has been conferred the 2016 Sumitra Charat Ram Award for lifetime achievement in the field of Indian classical music by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung at Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi. The award is given to individuals who have excelled in the field of Indian classical dance and music or other disciplines of the Indian art and culture, including theatre during the last 15 years and who had a significant impact in promoting a particular art form.
150. The United Nations'(UN) Universal Children's Day is observed every year on November 20 to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide and improving children's welfare. The 2016 theme is "Stop Violence Against Children".
151. India has recently become an associate member of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. The agreement was signed by Dr. Sekhar Basu, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary and CERN Director General Dr. Fabiola Gianotti in Mumbai, Maharashtra. With this membership, India will enhance participation of young scientists and engineers in various CERN projects and bring back knowledge for deployment in the domestic programmes. It will also open opportunities for Indian industries to participate directly in the CERN project. The headquarters of the CERN is located at Geneva, Switzerland.
152. Gaganjeet Singh Bhullar, an Indian professional golfer, has won the $300,000 BANK BRI-JCB Indonesia Open for the 2nd time in his career after closing with a four-under-par 68 at Pantai Indah Kapuk in Jakarta. With this win, Bhullar has become the 5th player after Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, Frank Nobilo of New Zealand, Frankie Minoza of the Philippines and Lu His-chuen of Chinese Taipei to win the event twice.
153. The world's first Bollywood theme park has opened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The theme park will have 16 cinematic rides, six themed restaurants and a choice of 30 live shows that are inspired by contemporary and classic blockbusters, including the "Dabangg" action movies and the epic historical drama "Mughal-E-Azam". The vibrant cultutal-rich park boasts cinemas, a theatre, rides, simulators and 4D shows of popular Hindi movies.
154. Dr. Denton A. Cooley (96), the famous heart surgeon who performed world's first artificial heart transplant, has recently passed away in Texas, United States. Cooley was the founder of Texas Heart Institute and pioneered many techniques that are still used in cardiovascular surgery.
155. Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar has been honoured with the Dr Nagendra Singh International Peace Award for his efforts in ensuring world peace at a function at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.The award has been instituted in the memory of Dr.Nagendra Singh, the first Indian judge at International Court of Justice, Hague.
156. India's longest Agra-Lucknow Expressway has recently inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at Bangarmau in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh. It is a 302 kms 6-lane controlled-access highway, which will be expandable to 8-lanes in future. The Greenfield expressway is expected to reduce the travel time between two cities to three and half hours. It will further reduce the journey time between Lucknow and Delhi by almost half to 5-6 hours.
157. India has been ranked 20th out of 58 nations on the 2017 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), as per latest publication issued by Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe. The top three positions are left vacant and France is at 4th position followed by Sweden, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta and Portugal. The CCPI is an instrument designed to increase transparency in international climate politics and aims to put political and social pressure on those countries which have, up until now, failed to take ambitious action on climate protection.
158. Akshaya Mukul, the senior journalist, has been awarded the 2016 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for his book "Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India". The book gives us details how a small regional press like Gita Press and Kalyan magazine and a determined individual ideologue can influence the mind-set of a nation, reconstruct a religion and seed the politics of separatism that flowers nearly a century later.
159. Ram Naresh Yadav (89), the Veteran Congress leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, has recently passed away in Lucknow. He was very popular among common and poor people as he was easily accessible to all of them. He completed his term as Madhya Pradesh governor on September 8, 2016 as his last stint of public service.
160. The book "The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of The House of Travancore" has been authored by Manu S. Pillai. Through the novel, the author traces the rise and fall of Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi (1895 -1985), regent queen of the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore.
161. Pankaj Patel has been elected as the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2017. He will succeed Harshavardhan Neotia during the Ficci AGM to be held on December 2016 in New Delhi. Patel is the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Cadila Healthcare Ltd.
162. The Palampur Assembly Constituency has become the India's first e-assembly constituency at Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh. Now, the resident of constituency would not only know about the development works going on by one click on computer but they would also send their requirement about funds for different schemes in their respective areas online. This system would be introduced in other 67 constituencies of the state in next 6 months.
163. The 2nd edition of the Windmill Festival, touted as India's first International Children's festival, will be held at Reliance Jio Garden in Mumbai on January 14 and 15, 2017. The 2-day festival will be jointly organised by Event Capital and Tribe Asia and will cater kids below 12 years. It will include a day care centre; play areas, centre for robotics, centre for art, workshops, music and sports arena and much more, all categorised to suit the needs of different age groups of children.
164. The Irish author William Trevor (88), one of the greatest short story writers, has recently passed away at Somerset in England. His mournful, sometimes darkly funny short stories and novels about the small struggles of unremarkable people placed him in the company of masters like V. S. Pritchett, W. Somerset Maugham and Chekhov.
165. Legendary Carnatic musician M.Balamuralikrishna (86) has recently passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He penned about 300 kirtanas and many Universities decorated him with honorary doctorates. Balamuralikrishna caught the nation's attention in Doordarshan's iconic music video "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" in which he sang the Tamil lyrics in the song first telecast on Independence Day in 1988. He was also a recipient of Filmfare awards and National Film Awards for best music direction and playback singing.
166. Dr. Viveki Rai (92), the renowned Hindi and Bhojpuri litterateur, has recently passed in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He wrote about 50-books of stories, essays and novels. His novel "Sonamati" recognized as one of his best literary work. Rai's creative works mainly depict rural life of India. His first story was Pakistani published in 1945 in the then popular newspaper Aaj.
167. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand has been conferred the first 'World Sanskrit Award' for her contribution towards promotion of the language by the Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi. The award is instituted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and is presented to eminent Sanskrit scholars to recognise their outstanding contribution to the study/teaching/research in Sanskrit language and literature. Sirindhorn is an educator and scholar of Sanskrit and Pali.
168. Prof. MGK Menon (88), an acclaimed physicist and ex- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief, has recently passed away in Karnataka. He played a prominent role in the development of science and technology in India over the last five decades. He was also a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London.
169. Indian journalist Malini Subramaniam has been conferred with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)'s 2016 International Press Freedom at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Subramaniam has won the award for reporting on human rights violations by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, despite facing threats and censure from authorities. She won the award along with El Salvador's Oscar Martinez and Turkey's Can Dundar. Jailed Egyptian photographer Abou Zeid, known as Shawkan, was given an award in absentia.
170. The Indian-origin Portugal Prime Minister, Antonio Costa will be the chief guest at the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention to be held from January 7 to 9, 2017 in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Apart from this, Michael Ashwin Satyandre Adhin, vice-president of the Republic of Suriname, will be the special guest at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held on January 7, 2017 in Bengaluru.
171. The Andhra Pradesh government has recently launched the "Smart Water Distribution Monitoring" web interface through which people can check the status of drinking water in the water tanks nearby. The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system helps in reduction of water wastage as well as ensure seamless supply to the households. The monitoring portal is a part of ourvmc.org from where it can be accessed.
172. Airtel Payments Bank Limited (or Airtel Bank), a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited has launched India's first payment bank with 7.25% interest on savings accounts as a pilot basis of its banking services in Rajasthan.Airtel Bank's services can be accessed by Airtel customers on their mobile phones through the Airtel Money app, through USSD by dialing *400#; or via a simple IVR by dialing 400. Both the USSD & IVR options are available in Hindi and English language and work on simple feature phones as well. The non-Airtel customers can access Airtel Bank's services by dialing 8800688006.
173. Captain Radhika Menon from India has been honoured with the 2016 International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Award for her exceptional bravery in the dramatic rescue of 7 fishermen from a sinking fishing boat in tumultuous Bay of Bengal waters in 2015 at IMO Headquarters in London. With this, she has become the first woman in the world to be awarded by the IMO. Menon is also the India's first female Merchant Navy Captain. The annual award was established by IMO to provide international recognition for those who, at the risk of losing their own life and perform acts of exceptional bravery.
174. The 13th edition of World Robot Olympiad (WRO) will be held in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The theme for the competition is "Rap the Scrap", where students would showcase solutions to reduce, manage and recycle waste using robotics technology. Over 2,000 participants from 55 countries are taking part in the international championship. The WRO is an annual robotics competition for students where participants will be presenting ideas on problem solving through the use of robots. The competition is being organized jointly by the India STEM Foundation and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) under the Ministry of Culture.
175. The book "How to Steal a Ghost@Manipal" has been authored by Shweta Taneja. It's a novel about paranormal adventure, full of romance, jealousy, folklore, gadgets and ghosts.
176. India has recently signed bank information sharing deal with Switzerland for the implementation of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) between the two countries. With this joint declaration, India will automatically receive all financial information about its residents, including bank accounts and balances, dividends and interest income and sales proceeds used to calculate capital gains tax, from September 2019. The AEOI seeks to bring the era of banking secrecy to an end; eventually all financial information will be shared between governments. Switzerland is a signatory to the AEOI agreement under the aegis of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
177. Yudhvir Singh Malik, an 1983-batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as the new Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). He succeeded Raghav Chandra, who has been shifted to National Commission for Scheduled Tribes as secretary. Earlier, Malik was the special secretary in National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
178. "Allama", a film directed by T.S. Nagabharana, has been nominated as Indian entry for the International Council for Film, Television and Audio-visual Communication (ICFT) UNESCO Gandhi Medal. ICFT Paris in collaboration with UNESCO will award the film that best reflects the Gandhi ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence, a prestigious Gandhi Medal and Certificate. "Allama" is a film about 12th century metaphysician, a son of a temple dancer who embarks on a quest for knowledge and answers to his four core sentiments, yearning, and obsession – Maddales, failures and self-realization.
179. The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik has recently given information regarding Prof. H.R. Nagendra committee on Yoga Education in Universities in the Rajya Sabha. The 12-member committee has prescribed the curriculum for the following five courses: Bachelors of Science (yoga), Masters of Science(Yoga), Doctor of Philosophy(Yoga), Post Graduate Diploma In Yoga and Post Graduate in Yoga Therapy. The committee has also prescribed the details of courses to be run and qualification of yoga faculty in its report.
180. The 5th edition of International Tourism Mart-2016 has started at Sanjenthong in Imphal, Manipur from November 23rd – 25th, 2016. The Union Ministry of Tourism has organized the annual event in association with the North Eastern States and West Bengal. The purpose of the event is to highlight the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets.
181. The Rajasthan government will start the Annapurna rasoi programme to provide quality meal at cheap price to people belonging to the weaker section and labourers. Under the programme, labourers, rickshaw pullers, auto drivers, students, working women, elders and other weaker section will be provided breakfast at Rs 5 per plate and lunch/dinner at Rs 8 per plate.
182. Indian Railways will soon introduce an advanced system "Tri-Netra" on its trains which will help to reduce train accidents by keeping a record of the track maintenance and will also provide better visibility during foggy days. Tri-Netra stands for "Terrain imaging for diesel drivers infra-red, enhance optical & radar assisted system". The system provides a locomotive pilot a clear view of up to 1km on a straight track, even during inclement weather. This helps in maintaining high speed in poor visibility and avoids delay in arrivals. Tri-Netra system is made up of a high-resolution optical video camera, high-sensitivity infrared video camera and a radar-based terrain mapping system.
183. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has been ranked as the top institution in India by QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017. This is the 2nd consecutive year that the India's oldest technology school has spotted in the list of top 100 universities. The top 3 universities ranked globally are Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tsinghua University. Three hundred universities from across the world had participated in the exercise.
184. K. Subaash, the Tamil writer-director, has recently passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was best known for penning superstar Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chennai Express. Beside this, he also worked on Bollywood movies such as Sunday, Entertainment and Housefull 3.
185. The Wangala harvest festival is an annual post-harvest festival of the Garo tribe of Meghalaya i.e. started in November 2016. The festival marks the end of the agricultural year. It is an act of thanksgiving to the sun god of fertility "Misi-A-Gilpa-Saljong-Galapa". During the festival, men play the drums and women perform the Wangala Dance. The festival is also known as "100 Drum Festival", which mainly includes tribal groups offering sacrifices to please their main deity Saljong – the Sun God.
186. India has been ranked 138th out of 175 nations in the 2016 ICT Development Index (IDI), as per new report published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The list is topped by the South Korea, Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland and United Kingdom (UK).The 2016 IDI is the part ITU's flagship annual "Measuring the Information Society Report" that presents a global and regional overview of the latest developments regarding information and communication technologies (ICTs), based on internationally comparable data and agreed methodologies.
187. Mid-fielder Harjeet Singh from Punjab has been named as the captain in the 18-member Indian Men's hockey team in the Junior World Cup to be held in Lucknow from December 8 to 18, 2016. Defender Dipsan Tirkey will shoulder the responsibilities of the vice-captain. Harjeet was also part of the Indian senior men's team that won the silver medal at the FIH Champions Trophy in London 2016 where he replaced ace midfielder Sardar Singh.
188. The Government of India (GoI) has constituted a committee of officers to enable 100 % conversion of Government – Citizen Transactions to the digital platform. The committee, under the leadership of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, will identify and operationalize various digital payment systems appropriate to different sectors of the economy and coordinate efforts to make them accessible and user-friendly. The committee will also identify and access infrastructural and bottlenecks affecting the access and utility of digital payment options.
189. The book "Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition" has been authored by Nisid Hajari, an Indian Author and foreign affairs expert . It's a fast-moving and highly readable account of the violence that accompanied the partition of India in 1947.It takes a fresh look at how Partition created not just a physical boundary, but also a psychological border between these two states.
190. Dileep Padgaonkar, the noted journalist and editor, has recently passed away in Pune, Maharashtra. He was part of a 3-member interlocutor's team that was chosen by the Centre in 2010 to have dialogues with various strata of society in Jammu and Kashmir. Padgaonkar was a long-time editor of the Times of India and was a recipient of the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest civilian distinction, for his services to journalism.
191. The 2016 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed every year on November 25 to raise public awareness of violence against women. The 2016 theme is "Orange the World – raise funds to end violence against women" in which orange colour designated the UNiTE campaign to symbolize a brighter future without violence.
192. The Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee has won the "Best Performance by an Actor" at the 10th edition of Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) for his performance as Professor Siras in "Aligarh" directed by Hansal Mehta. The 10th APSA is recognizing and promoting cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world's fastest growing film region.
193. N V Srinivasan has been elected as the new National President of Trade body Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) for 2016-17.
194. The Constitution Day (or Samvidhan Divas) is celebrated every year in India on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of Constitution of India and spread awareness among youth. On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India and it came into effect on 26 January 1950. On this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra has recently released two books on Constitution "Making of Constitution" and "New Version of Constitution of India".
195. Fidel Castro (90), the revolutionary leader and former President of Cuba, has recently passed away in Havana, Cuba. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party socialist state, industry and business were nationalized and state socialist reforms implemented throughout society.
196. M C Mary Kom, an Olympic bronze-medallist and a 5-time world champion, to be honoured with 'Legends Award' by International Boxing Association (AIBA) on December 20, 2016.
197. The Union Government has launched an AirSewa Portal and Mobile App to offer air travelers a convenient and hassle free experience in New Delhi. Through this app, passengers can check their flight status, flight schedule and register their grievances. The user will be given a unique reference number for each reported grievance and passengers can track its status and response. The website is designed to bring together information about all airports and airlines on a single portal. The nodal officers have been nominated by the Airline and Airport to address the grievances in a time bound manner.
198. Sachin Singh has become the 3rd Indian boxer ever to bag gold at the AIBA Youth World Championships. In the 49 kg weight class, Sachin defeated the Cuban national champion Jorge Grinan in the final by 5-0 at St Peterburg, Russia. With this, India finished the tournament with one gold and a bronze.
199. The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh has recently launched e-pashuhaat portal (www.epashuhaat.gov.in) to connect farmers and breeders of bovine animals. The portal will provide all details at a single platform, including availability of bovine germplasm. The e-pashu haat portal will not only enable the farmers to buy bovine animals but cattle frozen semen and embryo may also be purchased through it.
200. The book "Banaras City of Light" has been authored by Diana L. Eck. It is about the spiritual and historical aspects of the city.
201. The book "Swimmer Among the Stars" has been authored by Kanishk Tharoor. The novel is a magnificent collection of short fiction. It transports one into a different world, especially with its minute details, achieving the near-impossible with words.
202. Anand Yadav, the renowned Marathi author and Sahitya akademi awardee, has recently passed away in Pune, Maharashtra. His autobiography 'Zombi' won him Sahitya Akadmi award in 1991. During his illustrious career, Mr Yadav faced a major controversy over his book 'Santsurya Tukaram', wrote on Sant Tukaram, a 17th century saint poet from Maharashtra. He has penned around 40 books which comprise collection of essays, poems, criticism, etc.
203. The 51st edition of Annual Conference of Directors-General of Police (DGPs) of States has been held at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad, Telangana on November 25, 2016 to focus on cross-border terrorism, infiltration and radicalisation of youth. The 3-day conference was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. It was attended by around 100 DGPs of states, Director Generals of Central paramilitary forces and their Inspectors General.
204. The National Milk Day (NMD) is celebrated every year on November 26 to mark the birth anniversary of Dr. Verghese Kurien, the father of India's White Revolution. The 2016 campaign uses the cow as the visual element to highlight the works of Dr. Kurien. Additionally, Amul has also printed 150 million milk pouches with the National Milk Day logo which features Dr. Kurien's picture with the National Milk Day logo on it.
205. India's first underwater festival has been held at the Finkick Adventures SCUBA Diving Center in Pune, Maharashtra on November 27, 2016. The purpose of the festival was to promote awareness about the state of marine life and encourage people to conserve it. The fest organised by Finkick Adventures in which both swimmers and non-swimmers can enjoy a host of games like underwater-chess and hockey.
206. Lt. Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa has been appointed as the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of Pakistan. He will succeed Gen. Raheel Sharif who has formally retired from service.
207. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently launched the 'Indian Police at Your Call' mobile app at a national police conference in Hyderabad organised by the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The app is a GIS Map based interface for the citizens to locate police stations near to their current location so that they can easily reach the police station in case of emergency. The App also promoted the facility to "Tap to Call" any of these police stations and know the route and road distance to reach there.
208. Upma Chawdhry, a 1983-batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed the new director of the prestigious Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie. With this, she has become the first-ever woman director of the Academy. Chawdhry will succeed Rajeev Kapoor.
209. Assam's picturesque hill station Haflong will host the "Judima Festival" on December 18, 2016 on sports and culture. The theme of the festival will be centered on preservation, promotion and nurturing of ethnic culture, music, dance, craft and folk-art of Dimasa tribals living in Dima Hasao district of the state. The 2nd edition of festival is not only a symbolic celebration of the rich Dimasa drink but also to initiate the idea of an alternative means of livelihood to the local brewers.The festival has been named after the Dimasa traditional brew – Judima, which is one of the best brews in the region.
210. India's first digital and cashless village "Akodara" is located at Sabarkantha district in Gujarat. It is situated 90 kms away from Ahmedabad. Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the village was adopted by the ICICI Foundation in 2015 and developed as a digitised village. In it, all transactions are carried out without cash changing hands through sms, net-banking or debit cards.
211. Goa will become the first state in India to go cashless from December 31, 2016. With this, people will be able to buy perishables such as fish, meat, vegetables or anything else at the press of a button on their mobile. There will be no need to carry purse for purchases, as all transactions will be done on the mobile.
212. The book "The Immortals of Meluha" has been authored by Amish Tripathi. The book is based on the belief that perhaps the actions, the deeds and karma are the only deciding factors in transforming an ordinary man to Mahadev – God of Gods.
213. "Magical Piano", a short film by the Toonz Media Group, has won an award at the prestigious UNESCO Salon Youth Video Competition 2016. "Magical Piano" is story about a child who receives a magical piano for his birthday. Using the magic of music, the kid goes own to clean the whole planet and then the whole universe, making it a cleaner and happy place to live. This unique story was written by Mayul Verma, an upper primary student from Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
214. The Argentina Davis Cup team has won the 2016 edition of Davis Cup tennis tournament by defeating Croatia in the final by 3-2 in Zagreb, Croatia. It is their first Davis Cup title. Del Potro and Federico Delbonis are played a remarkable play to win the title. Argentina had lost in the final of the tournament four times earlier while Croatia won the title in 2005.
215. Lt-General A K Bhatt has been appointed as the new Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) and will be in charge of all army operations including on the LoC which has seen heightened tension. Bhatt will succeed Lt-General Ranbir Singh, who has been appointed as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Mathura-based Strike 1 Corps.
216. The 15-time World Billiards and Snooker Champion, Pankaj Advani has recently won bronze medal at the IBSF World Snooker Championship by defeating Andrew Pagett of Wales in the final by 2-7 in Doha. Advani is the only player in the world to compete at the world championship level in both sports and be successful in all the formats of both billiards and snooker.
217. Iranian film "Daughter" has won the prestigious Golden Peacock award at the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The film is a family drama set in southern Iran that brings out inter-generational conflict between a strict father and a young daughter. It has been directed by Reza Mirkarimi. The film also won the best actor male award for Farhad Aslani, who won the Silver Peacock prize and Rs.10 lakh in cash.
218. Naidu The Union Government has decided to constitute a committee with Chief Ministers of five states to suggest measures to normalise the situation in the wake of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes. The committee will be headed by Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu.
219. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has recently constituted two high-level committees to gather inputs on various aspects, including on service providers and corporate liquidation. The 9-member advisory committee on service providers is headed by educationist Mohandas Pai while the panel on corporate insolvency and liquidation is chaired by noted banker Uday Kotak. IBBI seeks to consolidate and amend laws relating to reorganisation as well as insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time-bound manner.
220. India has recently hosted the 50th anniversary of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in New Delhi as part of its commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations and the evolution of its specialized programmes and agencies. India is only one of 8 countries that has been a member of UNCITRAL from its inception, and has recently been re-elected for a term of six years. The purpose of the UNCITRAL is to promote the progressive harmonization and unification of international trade law.
221. India's first and Asia's longest cycle highway has been opened in Uttar Pradesh. The 207-km-long cycle highway runs between Etawah and Agra. It was inaugurated by state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. It is about 7-feet-wide and is separated by a divider from main highway which ensures the safety of cyclists.
222. The book "Migrants, Refugees and the Stateless in South Asia" has been authored by Partha S.Ghosh. The book addresses the concept of migration with the aim of building theory as well as drawing from existing theories to understand South Asian realities. It highlights the less-explored cultural dimensions of migration music, literature, cinema and art thereby extending migration research into the realms of security discourse.
223. Prof. Yu Long Yu of China will be honoured with the 2nd Indian Council for Cultural Relations 'Distinguished Indologist' Award by the President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The award has been instituted by ICCR to recognize eminent Indologists working abroad who have made outstanding contribution to the study and research of India's philosophy, thought, history, art and culture. The award amount is $20, 000.
224. The 7th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) will be held from December 2, 2016 at Science City in Kolkata, West Bengal.The mega event is being organized by the World Ayurveda Foundation with support of Ministry of AYUSH and the State Government of West Bengal. The focus of congress is "Strengthening the Ayurveda Ecosystem".
225. The 7th edition of Heart of Asia (HoA) – Istanbul Ministerial Process will be held in Amritsar, Punjab from December 3, 2016. The prime motive of this conference will be to explore effective ways to combat terrorism, particularly Pakistan-sponsored terrorists.
226. As per recently report by Morgan Stanley, India's GDP growth forecast has been cut from 7.7% to 7.3% in the FY17 as the government's move to cancel old high-value notes is expected to adversely impact the near-term economic activity. Morgan Stanley has also lowered the growth projection for FY 18 (2017-18) to 7.7% from 7.8%. Beside this, India's GDP growth for FY (2018-19) forecast at 7.9%.
227. Ruskin Bond has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 14th edition of Raymond Crossword Book Award on November 29, 2016 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
228. MM Kutty, a 1985 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the new Delhi chief secretary. He replaced K. K. Sharma, who was transferred to the Union HRD Ministry as OSD. Prior to this appointment, he was working as the Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
229. Hashim Mansoor (6) from Jammu and Kashmir has recently won gold in the Asian Karate Championship at the Talkatora stadium in New Delhi. Mansoor represented India in the sub-junior category (below 25 kg) in the championship, which featured participants from 19 other countries. After this win, he has now qualified for the World Championship, to be held in September 2017.
230. Lewis Hamilton, a British Formula One racing driver from England, has won the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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