National
• Akodara village in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat has earned the coveted tag of becoming India’s first digital village in India.
• The Union Government has decided to constitute a sub-committee of Chief Ministers of five states in the wake of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes.
• India hosted the golden jubilee (50th anniversary) celebrations of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in New Delhi.
• The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare launched e-pashuhaat portal to connect farmers and breeders of bovine animals.
• The Supreme Court has banned the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR in an attempt to keep the rising pollution level of the capital and its surrounding areas under check.
• Rajasthan Government has decided to start Annapurna Rasoi Programme to provide quality meal at cheap and affordable price to people belonging to the weaker section and labourers.
• Indian Navy’s seventh landing craft utility (LCU) L-57 was launched by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• Indian Railways will soon introduce Tri-Netra (terrain imaging for diesel drivers infrared, enhanced optical and radar assisted) system on its trains to reduce train accidents.
• The 51st Annual Conference of Directors-General of Police of States was held at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad, Telangana.
• India hosted the 13th edition of the World Robot Olympiad on the sidelines of trade fair in New Delhi.
• India has been ranked 138th in the 2016 ICT Development Index out of a total of 175 countries. In 2015, India ranked 135th position.
• The potential hydro power projects in the Himalayan region face increased flood risks from the formation of new lakes and the expansion of existing ones due to melting glaciers.
• The fifth International Tourism Mart has held in Imphal, Manipur. It will be held between 23&ndash 25 November 2016.
• Andhra Pradesh Government has launched the ‘Smart Water Distribution Monitoring’ web interface.
• The upgraded Jaguar DARIN III twin-seat aircraft has received Initial Operation Clearance (IOC).
• The Union Defence Ministry is planning to relook at defence blacklist guidelines for dealing with global defence firms engaged in corruption in arms deals.
• António Costa (54), the Indian origin Prime Minister of Portugal will be the chief guest at the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention.
• The indigenously built nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile was successfully test-fired from a test range off Odisha coast, as part of a user trial by India Army.
• India’s longest expressway connecting Agra and Lucknow was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at Bangarmau in Unnao district of UP.
• The twin trial of surface-to-surface nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile was successfully conducted by the India Army from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha During the test, two Prithvi-II missiles in salvo mode were successfully test-fired in quick succession from mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR).
• The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea filed by Tamil Nadu to review a 2014 apex court judgment banning Jallikattu.
• The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs for the first time had inaugurated Hunar Haat (Skill Haat) at India International Trade Fair (2016) at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
• The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for the first time has deployed a team of women commandos in anti-Naxal operations in Jharkhand.
• India’s indigenously developed long-endurance combat-capable drone, Rustom-II (TAPAS 201) successfully completed its maiden-flight.
• India and Israel have inked two agreements in the field of water resources management and agriculture.
• The sixth edition of India-China Joint Training Exercise “Hand in Hand 2016” has started in Pune, Maharashtra.
• The Union Government has said that the “termination” clause in the recently signed historic civil nuclear deal with Japan will be not binding on India.
• The 36th edition of India International Trade Fair (IITF) has held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. It was held from 14th to 18th November 2016. The fair was inaugurated by the President Pranab Mukherjee.
• A high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) has approved imposing a heavy fine and ban on celebrities who endorse products making unrealistic and dodgy claims.
• Union Government has unveiled a slew of measures in an attempt to strengthen cyber security in India.
• The High Level Meeting of Interior Ministers of Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to Counter Drug Trafficking was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It had adopted Colombo declaration.
• The tenth edition of India-Nepal Joint Military Training exercise was conducted at Army Battle School (NABS), Saljhandi in Nepal from 31 October to 13 November 2016.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the International Conference and Exhibition on Sugarcane Value Chain &ndash Vision 2025 Sugar in Pune, Maharashtra.
• The Supreme Court has scrapped Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act, 2004 which unilaterally allows Punjab to stop sharing Ravi, Beas waters with other States.
• India and Japan have signed a bilateral Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement on 11 November, 2016.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) was selected as the host the 2018 International Competition Network (ICN) in New Delhi in March&ndashApril 2018.
• The first International Agrobiodiversity Congress (IAC) held in New Delhi has adopted New Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity Management.
• The Union Cabinet has approved India-Japan Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for advancement of academic research in the field of Earth Sciences.
• The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
• India’s first eco-friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG)-driven bus was launched in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• The 9th Annual Meeting of International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH) was inaugurated in New Delhi.
• Indian archaeologists are planning to use Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology to survey the archaeological evidence, flora and fauna in the ancient Rajgir hills in Bihar.
• 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 Uttarakhand High Court has banned near glaciers in Uttarakhand and directed the state government to preserve the rapidly melting glaciers, a source of major rivers.
• India and the United Kingdom have signed two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) to boost relations between the two nations. These MoUs were signed during the official three days state visit of UK Prime Minister Theresa May to India.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first International Agro-biodiversity Congress in New Delhi. The 4-day Congress (from November 6 to 9, 2016) will be attended by 900 delegates from 60 countries to discuss conservation of genetic resources.
• The 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) started in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
• The sunrise state Andhra Pradesh has been ranked number one in the World Bank’s Energy Efficiency Implementation Readiness.
• The Union Government has announced that the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 which envisages supply of subsidised foodgrains has been implemented across the country.
• Maharashtra has become the first state in the country to have a cyber-police station in each district to take on cyber criminals. In this regard, state government is converting 42 state-of-the-art cybercrime labs into cyber police stations simultaneously.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 2016 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) in New Delhi.
• The Union Government is developing a National Data Registry (NDR) to compile and serve metadata of different agencies and re-engineer the feature data sets for improving their use.
• Kerala has become the third Open Defecation Free state in the country after Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) (Gramin).
• India has been ranked 133rd out of 183 countries in the 2016 Global Youth Development Index (YDI) compiled by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
• The International Forum on adopting ICT Perspective to Education and Learning has begun in New Delhi. It was held from 31th October to 4th November 2016.
• The first meeting of National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) was held in New Delhi to discuss ways for developing roadmap for implementation of WTOs trade facilitation agreement.
Yojana and Policy
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana (PMAY-G), flagship housing for all scheme in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
• President Pranab Mukherjee launched the National Student Startup Policy (NSSP) to promote technology-driven student start-ups.
• China has successfully launched experimental X-ray pulsar navigation satellite XPNAV-1. It is the world’s first pulsar navigation satellite or spacecraft.
• The 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum’s Leaders Summit was held in Lima, Peru from November 19 to 20, 2016.
• The Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched of Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana (PMYY) to scale up an ecosystem of entrepreneurship for youngsters.
• The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched Healthy India Initiative magazine and No More Tension mobile App.
• The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has launched Smart India Hackathon 2017. It is the world’s largest digital national building initiative.
• Chhattisgarh Government has launched Lakshya Bhagirathi campaign to complete the irrigation projects that could not be completed.
• The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched ‘Startup Mentorship Circle’, a unique platform to help in connecting start-ups with the global marketplace.
• The Union Government launched Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) to provide free health check-ups to pregnant women at government health centres and hospitals.
• The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has inked MoU with Common Services Centre (CSC), a SPV of Ministry of Information Technology for enabling online submission of applications under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Saur Sujala Yojana that would provide solar powered irrigation pumps to farmers at a subsidized price.
• Odisha government has launched Madhubabu Aain Sahayata Sibir’ (MASS) scheme to provide legal assistance to deprived sections of the society at the grassroots level.
International
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dropped the term ‘counterfeit’ and retained ‘falsified’ to describe medicines of inferior quality.
• India has been elected as the vice chair for 2018 and chair for 2019 of the Kimberly Process Certificate Scheme (KPCS).
• India was placed at the 20th rank among the 58 countries on the 2017 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).
• Russia has officially withdrawn from International Criminal Court (ICC) after President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order in this regard.
• Over 20 countries, including India, Brazil and France have signed the framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• Pakistan conducted Raad ul Barq (Strike of Thunder) military exercise in a strategically located area in Punjab province, bordering India.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the operational activities of the revamped strategic Gwadar port in the south-western Balochistan Province.
• The seventh edition of India-Bangladesh joint military exercise SAMPRITI-2016 has commenced to practise counter-terrorism and disaster-management operations.
• Latvia has become the first country in the Baltic Sea area to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to link up with China’s One Belt and One Road (OBOR) Initiative.
• The Paris Agreement to combat climate change officially entered into force after 55 parties to the convention accounting for at least 55% of total GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions ratified it.
• India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Palestine for setting up of Palestine-India Techo Park at Ramallah in Palestine.
• The 15 Asia-Pacific nations including India of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are concern to give greater market access to Chinese goods without gaining in return.
• The European Union (EU) and Canada have signed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a landmark trade deal.
Business and Economy
• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has set up two high-level advisory committees to gather inputs from experts, including on service providers and corporate liquidation.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced an incremental Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of 100% for fortnight to absorb excess liquidity in the banking system following demonetisation.
• The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation launched AirSewa website and app to track flights, register complaints to offer people a convenient and hassle-free air travel experience.
• The Union Government has imposed safeguard duty on import of certain steel products to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap in-bound shipments.
• The Union Cabinet has approved introduction of the Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016 in the Parliament. The bill is a revamped version of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has liberalised norms for angel investors to invest in early-stage entities.
• The Union Government has allowed National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to disburse Rs 21,000 crore to help cash-starved farmers to sow Rabi crops.
• Airtel Payments Bank Limited or Airtel Bank became the first payments bank in the country to launch live banking services in Rajasthan.
• The Reserve bank of India (RBI) has increased the per month limit of Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) to Rs. 20,000 from Rs. 10,000 and to Rs. 50,000 for merchant bank.
• India became an associate member of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the world’s largest nuclear and particle physics laboratory.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed the opening of Islamic window in conventional banks for gradual introduction of Sharia-compliant or interest-free banking in the country.
• Ministry of Steel is planning to set up Steel Research & Technology Mission of India (SRTMI) to facilitate joint collaborative research projects in the iron and steel sector in India.
• As many as 272 products have been registered as geographical indications since September 2003, according to data of Office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formed Special Task Force to speed up the process of recalibration of automated teller machines (ATM) to dispense the new denomination notes.
• India’s first banking robot named Lakshmi was launched by the Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank (CUB) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued new series of notes for 500 rupees and 2,000 rupees denomination with improved features and newer sizes.
• As per recently released report, India has was ranked second in the global business optimism index during the third quarter (July-September 2016).
• Technology giant Google has tied up with Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) for 360 degree virtual tour of 280-odd monuments across the country.
• India and Venezuela have signed an oil production deals worth about 1.45 billion US dollar to increase oil production.
• The GST Council has finalised 4 tier Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate structure with a multiple-slab rates, including the cess for the new indirect tax regime.
• The Union Government has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of steel wire rods from China to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap in-bound shipments.
• The first titanium project of India has started its test production Ganjam district of Odisha. The project has been established by Saraf Group.
• The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has extended duty drawback facility on all textile products for one year to boost exports.
• Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have jointly topped the Ease of Doing Business Reforms Ranking 2015-16.
• The Union Ministry of Housing has notified the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (General) Rules, 2016, to be applicable to the five Union Territories.
Science and Technology
• The Supreme Court ordered search engines Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing to immediately stop displaying advertisements relating to pre-natal sex determination tests.
• China’s Sumway Taihulight has won the fastest supercomputer title in the recently released 48th edition of Top 500 list of supercomputers.
• According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the year 2016 was the warmest year on record globally.
• The Supermoon was observed after the moon was closest to the Earth at 356,509 km.
• Researchers from Hyderabad have isolated Helicobacter pullorum bacterium in chicken that may be source of transmission of the multidrug resistance pathogen to humans.
• Scientists have detected the presence of water on Psyche, the largest metallic asteroid in our solar system.
• NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has set the Guinness world record for highest altitude fix of a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal.
• World first hydrogen-powered and zero-emission passenger train named as Coradia iLint was unveiled in Germany.
• Scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur have claimed to discover evidence of lost river Chandrabhaga in Odisha.
• Researchers from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Thiruvananthapuram have developed a compound named gelator to scoop out marine oil spills.
• A fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) was sighted in the moderately dense mangrove surrounding of the Gilalakalandi harbour near Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Sports
• Ace Indian Golfrer Gaganjeet Bhullar has won the US $ 300,000 BANK BRI-JCB Indonesia Open for the second time in his career. He won the title after closing with a four-under-par 68.
• International Master Padmini Rout has won the 2016 National Women Premier Chess Championship. With this win, she has scored a hat-trick in the National Women Premier Chess Championship.
• Teen golf sensation Aditi Ashok (18) became the first Indian woman to win a Ladies European Tour title.
Awards
• Iranian film “Daughter” has won the coveted Golden Peacock award at the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
• Indian journalist Malini Subramaniam was conferred with the 2016 International Press Freedom Award.
• Captain Radhika Menon was awarded with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. With this, she became the first woman in the world to receive the Award.
• The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has won the prestigious 2016 Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance.
• Madhya Pradesh Government has selected renowned theatre personality Prof Raj Bisaria for the prestigious ‘Kalidas Samman’ national award for 2015-16.
• President Pranab Mukherjee presented the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards to the children winning IGNITE competition at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Veteran Bollywood actress and Rajya Sabha MP Rekha was honoured by the upcoming Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
New Appointments
• Lt. Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa was appointed Pakistan’s new army chief (or Chief of Army Staff , COAS). He will succeed Gen. Raheel Sharif who has formally retired from service.
• The Union Government has constituted a new committee to form a strategy to expedite the process of transforming India into a cashless economy. The committee will be headed by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
• Upma Chowdhary was appointed as new Director of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) at Mussoorie.
• The Union Government has appointed Yudhvir Singh Malik as the Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
• US President-elect Donald Trump has named Indian-American Governor of South Carolina State, Nikki Haley (44) for the high-profile post of US ambassador to the United Nations.
• Pankaj Patel was elected as the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2017.
• Meng Hongwei, high-level police official from China has been elected as the new President of International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). With this, he becomes first Chinese citizen to hold the four-year post.
• Real estate mogul-turned politician and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump (70) was elected as 45th President of United States of America (USA).
• Guy Ryder from United Kingdom has been re-elected Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for a second five-year term.
• California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris (51) created history by becoming the first India-American to win the US Senate (upper chamber) seat from the state. She defeated fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez from her own party.
• The Union Government has appointed Praveen Kumar Sharma as the Central Registrar (CR), Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI).
• The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has constituted a four-member team for conservation and management of Loktak Lake in Manipur.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed M Rajeshwar Rao as Executive Director (ED) following voluntary retirement of G Mahalingam.
• The Union Ministry of Railways has appointed Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak (73), the founder of Sulabh International as a Brand Ambassador for Swachh Rail Mission of Indian Railway.
• India born Sarabjit Singh Marwah has become the first Sikh to be appointed to the Canadian Senate (upper house).
• Senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sushil Chandra took over as chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) today. He succeed Rani Singh Nair who retired from service. Chandra is a 1980-batch officer of Indian Revenue Service.
Death
• Eminent Journalist and intellectual Dileep Padgaonkar passed away in Pune, Maharashtra after brief illness. He was 72.
• Russian aircraft designer and co-creator of the MiG-29 fighter jet Ivan Mikoyan passed away. He was 89.
• Cuba’s former president and leader of the Communist revolution Fidel Castro passed away due to old age. He was 90.
• Legendary vocalist, playback singer and composer Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna passed away due to age-related geriatric problems in Chennai. He was 86.
• Acclaimed high energy particle physicist and an institution builder of Indian science Prof. M G K Menon passed away. He was 88.
Special Days
• The National Milk Day (NMD) was observed on 26 November is to mark birth anniversary Dr.Verghese Kurien, father of the White Revolution in India.
• The Samvidhan Diwas or the Constitution Day of India is being observed on 26th November to spread awareness of Indian Constitution.
• The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (IDEVAW) is observed every year across the world on 25 November.
• The International Day for Tolerance is observed globally on 16 November to generate public awareness of the dangers of intolerance.
• The World Pneumonia Day is observed globally every year on November 12 to generate awareness about the ‘pneumonia’ disease.
• The World Science Day for Peace and Development is observed on 10 November 2016 across the world to raise awareness of benefits of science in our daily life.
• The 128th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Bharat Ratna Sir CV Raman was observed on November 7, 2016.
• The First World Tsunami Awareness Day was observed across the world on 5 November 2016 to spread awareness among people across the world about Tsunami.
• Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day) is observed across India on 31 October to commemorate birth anniversary of Independent India’s first Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel.
• The World is observing Cities Day globally on 31st October to work together for a planned and sustainable urban life in the wake of rapid growth of population and problems.
Current Affairs Round Up Bullet Points, October, 2016 Current Affairs Round Up Bullet Points, September, 2016
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