Current Affairs 25th November 2020| Current Affairs News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

Martyrdom Day of Guru Tegh Bahadur being observed

• Martyrdom Day of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of Sikhs, is being observed across the country on 24th November .
• It was on this in 1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur sacrificed his life to protect religion, human values, ideals and principles.
• The martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur is remembered as Shaheedi Divas every year.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women- 25 November

• The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, a multi-year effort aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls, will focus on amplifying the call for global action to bridge funding gaps, ensure essential services for survivors of violence during the COVID-19 crisis, focus on prevention, and collection of data that can improve life-saving services for women and girls.
• This year’s theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”.

National Pharmacy Week 2020

• The 59th National Pharmacy Week (NPW) was celebrated throughout the country from November 16-22, 2020. The theme of the NPW 2020 is “Pharmacists: Frontline Health Professionals”.
• The Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) organises NPW during the third week of November every year. The main aim to this week is to make all stakeholders aware of the presence of pharmacists in the society and to know the role played by registered pharmacists with respect to medicines, their usage, handling and dispensing.

About Indian Pharmaceutical Association:

• President: T.V. Narayana.
• The Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) founded in 1939.

AAI observes Aviation Safety Awareness Week 2020

• Airports Authority of India (AAI) is observing the Aviation Safety Awareness Week 2020 from 23 November to 27 November 2020. The week-long celebration is being observed at all airports and ANS locations managed by AAI across India.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation aims to achieve long term objective of Zero fatality by the year 2030 as envisaged by ICAO in its Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP-2020-22) through better managed safety systems of stakeholders.
• Minister of State (IC) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri.

Airports Authority of India

• Headquarters: New Delhi.
• Founded: 1 April 1995.
• Chairman: Arvind Singh.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

Agriculture Minister unveils ‘Sahakar Pragya’ to impart training to primary cooperative societies in rural areas

• Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar unveiled Sahakar Pragya. The 45 new training modules of Sahakar Pragya of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will impart training to primary cooperative societies in rural areas of the country along with Lakshmanrao Inamdar National Cooperative Research and Development Academy.
• On this occasion, Mr. Tomar called upon the cooperative sector to play a role in making the village-poor-farmers Atma Nirbhar. He stated, India boasts a huge network of over 8.50 lakh cooperative societies with about 290 million members and around 94 per cent of the farmers are member of at least one cooperative society.
• The Agriculture Minister stated, NCDC has emerged as a financial powerhouse of giving the client cooperatives a wide range of products and services. So far, it has advanced loans to the tunes of 1.58 lakh crore rupees to cooperative societies of various categories across the country. He stated, Sahakar Pragya is the latest in the series of farmer focused steps by NCDC.

About National Cooperative Development Corporation:

• Headquarters: New Delhi, India
• Sundeep Kumar Nayak, Managing Director

About Minister of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare:

• Narendra Singh Tomar, (Cabinet Minister)
• Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh
• Parsottambhai Rupala, (Minister of State)

Govt approves 7 proposals of Food Processing Projects worth over Rs 234 cr

• The government has approved seven proposals of Food Processing Projects worth over 234 crore rupees. It also includes  grants-in-aid of 87 crores rupees in Meghalaya, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
• Minister of Food Processing Industries Narendra Singh Tomar virtually chaired Inter-Ministerial Approval Committee meeting.  Proposals received under the Scheme for Creation of Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Cluster of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana were considered. Ministry of Food Processing Industries in a statement stated that these projects will leverage private investment of 173.81 crores rupees and are expected to generate employment for 7750 persons.
• The scheme for Creation of Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Cluster was approved in 2017 under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana to incentivize the setting up of agro processing clusters in the country.  This scheme aims at development of modern infrastructure to encourage entrepreneurs to set up food processing units based on cluster approach.

About Ministry of Food Processing Industries:        

• Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Food Processing Industries
• Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh
• Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries

Tenth edition of National Science Film Festival kicks off in virtual mode

• Tenth edition of prestigious science film festival got off in a virtual mode. VigyanPrasar, an autonomous agency under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has been organizing the four-day long festival as a part of its science popularization endeavour. It offers a unique platform to showcase the science films made by professionals, amateur and student filmmakers under various themes.
• A total of 115 shortlisted films selected by the ten-member jury will be screened during the festival. These include films in Hindi, English, Urdu, Malayalam, Kashmiri, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and Tamil languages.

Expert panel recommends 5 technologies for drinking water, sanitation

• A high-level multi-disciplinary technical panel in the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation has recommended five technologies, three for safe drinking water and two for sanitation, an official statement stated.
• According to the Jal Shakti Ministry, the committee focussed on application of science and technology for providing field-level solutions.
• The technologies include Grundfos AQpure, a solar energy based water treatment plant based on ultra-filtration, Janajal Water on Wheel, an Internet of Things (IoT) based electric vehicle to deliver safe water to households and Presto Online Chlorinator, a non-electric online chlorinator for disinfection of water for removal of bacterial contamination.
• The other two are Johkasou technology, an inbuilt packaged black (sewage) and grey water (kitchen and bath water) treatment system having advanced anaerobic-aerobic configuration that can be installed underground, while FBTec is a site assembled decentralised sewage treatment system using fixed filter media.
• The panel was headed by K VijayRaghavan, the principal scientific adviser to the government, members from NITI Aayog, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Bio-Technology, CSIR, DRDO, NEERI, IIT, National Institute of Ocean Technology, states.

About Ministry of Jal Shakti:                            

• Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Cabinet Minister
• Constituency: Jodhpur
• Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State

ESIC extends ABVKY scheme up to June 2021

• ESI Corporation (ESIC) has announced the extension of the “Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana” (ABVKY) by another one year up to June 30, 2021 and relaxed the eligibility conditions for the period between March 24, 2020 and December 31, 2020.
• The Corporation had earlier introduced (on a pilot basis) a new cash benefit under ABVKY – effective from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2020, to provide cash compensation to insured persons rendered jobless. This has been extended up to end-June next year.
• The original eligibility conditions of the ABVKY scheme would, however, hold good for those rendered unemployed on or before March 23, 2020 and on or after January 1, 2021.

About Employees’ State Insurance Corporation:

• ESIC is a Statutory and an Autonomous Body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
• Founded: 24 February 1952
• Headquarters: New Delhi, India

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

India  announces launch of Phase-IV of High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan

• India has announced the launch of Phase-IV of the High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan. It envisages more than 100 projects worth  80 million dollars that India would undertake in Afghanistan. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar stated this during the  2020 Afghanistan Conference organized in Geneva through video- conference. The two day conference began and was co-hosted by the United Nations, the Government of Afghanistan, and the Government of Finland.
• Dr Jaishankar also announced that India had just concluded with Afghanistan an agreement for the construction of the Shatoot dam, which would provide safe drinking water to two million residents of Kabul city. He stated, India had earlier built the 202-kilometer Phul-e-Khumri transmission line that provided electricity to Kabul city.

About Afghanistan

• Capital: Kabul
• President: Ashraf Ghani
• Currency: Afghan afghani

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

NSDL Payments Bank, HDFC ERGO Join Hands To Offer Customised Insurance Solutions To Customers

• HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company has tied up with NSDL Payments Bank Limited to offer a range of general insurance products to the bank’s customers, a company statement stated. NSDL Payments Bank Limited is a subsidiary of National Securities Depository Ltd.
• The partnership aims to bring together the deep distribution network of NSDL Payments Bank and the strong innovation pipeline of HDFC ERGO to contribute towards financial inclusion in the country, the statement stated.
• Insurance penetration continues to be low in India, but the current pandemic has accelerated its need, especially of health insurance.
• Also, customers will reap the benefits of sophisticated digital capabilities offered by NSDL Payments Bank and HDFC ERGO through self-service and assisted channels, thereby creating a one-stop-shop for all banking and financial services.

About HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company:

• CEO: Ritesh Kumar
• Headquarters: Mumbai

Home Ministry relaxes FCRA account norms for NGOs

• The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has relaxed the norms for the NGOs mandated to maintain FCRA account under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) with the State Bank of India.
• The MHA stated in its 5-page order that the FCRA account holder shall have complete freedom to transfer the foreign contribution received in their SBI FCRA Account to another FCRA Account.
• The order further stated that the main SBI branch in New Delhi will not levy any charge or fees for such transfers. The bank will also be required to inform the FCRA account holder immediately about each such transfer through an email and SMS.

Key Highlights 

• The Home Ministry has set March 31, 2021 as the deadline for the NGOs registered to open an account at the specified branch of SBI.
• The MHA order also stated that no inward remittance will be allowed in any account other than the FCRA account opened in SBI main branch in New Delhi from the date of opening the FCRA account or from March 31, 2021 whichever is earlier.
• The Ministry has, however, allowed the NGOs to maintain their existing FCRA Accounts for keeping or utilization purposes.

About Ministry of Home Affairs:

• Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs
• Constituency: Gujarat

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

HP govt launches ‘Him Suraksha Abhiyan’ to sensitize people about Covid-19 pandemic

• In Himachal Pradesh, the state government launched ‘Him Suraksha Abhiyan’ to sensitize the people regarding Covid-19 pandemic and also to collect information regarding symptoms of diseases like TB, Leprosy, sugar and blood pressure by door to door campaign throughout the State. This campaign is being launched and will continue till coming 27th December, across the State.
• While launching the program in Shimla, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur stated that not only symptomatic patients with probable Covid-19 would be detected under this campaign but patients with other ailments would also be listed through the campaign. He urged the people of the State to provide wholehearted support to the health workers by providing them accurate information about their diseases and health parameters.
• Under this Abhiyan about 8000 teams comprising of Health, Ayurveda, Women and Child Development, Panchayati Raj Departments, District Administration and NGOs would be involved in this campaign. It would ensure door to door data collection of health parameters of the people.

About Himachal Pradesh:

• Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya
• Capitals: Shimla (Summer), Dharamshala (Winter)
• Chief minister: Jai Ram Thakur

Goa CM Pramod Sawant launches WhatsApp helpline for women in distress

• Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant launched a Whatsapp helpline for women in distress in the state here at Police Headquarters, Panaji.
• He also insisted to circulate the helpline number to women at a larger scale through media, social media, railways stations, airport and other concerned government institutions so that helpline facility reaches women who are looking for help. Women helpline aims to provide all-time security and comfort for the womenfolk and achieve zero crime against women in the state.
• As an additional measure of safety for women in distress, an exclusive Whatsapp helpline number 7875756177 is launched. This dedicated WhatsApp number will be functional round the clock at the State Police Control Room, Panaji to redress grievances of women in distress.

About Goa:

• Capital: Panaji (Panjim)
• GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari
• Chief Minister: Pramod Sawant

First cow hospital of Northeast inaugurated in Assam’s Dibrugarh

• A cow shelter in Assam’s Dibrugarh inaugurated Northeast’s first-ever cow hospital, on the occasion of Gopashtami.
• The hospital, Surbhi Aarogyashala, is set up by Shree Gopal Gaushala at a cost of Rs 17 lakh. The hospital will provide services in 30 km radius. There are 368 cows in the shelter.

About Assam:

• Capital: Dispur
• Chief minister: Sarbananda Sonowal
• Governor: Jagdish Mukhi

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPS AND PORTALS

Govt blocks access to 43 mobile apps

• Government blocked access to 43 mobile apps. This action was taken based on the inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity, defence, security of state and public order.
• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued the order for blocking the access of these apps by users in India based on the comprehensive reports received from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center.
• Earlier on 29th June Government had blocked access to 59 mobile apps and on 2nd September, 118 more apps were banned under section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

About Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology:

• Ravi Shankar Prasad, Cabinet Minister
• Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre, Minister of State

Abhayam’ app for safety of women passengers launched in A.P.

• Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched ‘Abhayam’ mobile phone application which helps women and children travelling in taxis and auto-rickshaws, to raise alarm in case of any emergency.
• To start with, 1,000 auto-rickshaws equipped with Internet-of -Things (IoT)-enabled GPS devices will be rolled out in Visakhapatnam city. Five thousand vehicles will be brought on to the platform by February 1, 50,000 by July 1 and 1,00,000 by November 2021.
• Launching the app, Mr. Reddy stated the Government accorded top priority to the safety of women and children and that Andhra Pradesh was the first State to bring out a legislation (Disha Bill) for security of women.
• Disha police stations were set up and steps were taken for establishing special courts and posting dedicated public prosecutors to ensure speedy disposal of cases of attacks on women.

About Andhra Pradesh:

• Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
• Chief minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy
• Capital(s): Visakhapatnam (executive), Amaravati (legislative),Kurnool (judicial)

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

OneWeb emerges from bankruptcy, announces new mgmt with Sunil Mittal as Exec Chairman

• OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications firm, also announced new management with telecom czar Sunil Mittal at the helm as Executive Chairman.
• The UK government and Bharti Global are the new owners of OneWeb. Bharti Global — an overseas arm of Bharti — operates out of London and has investments in telecom, technology, hospitality, transportation and energy.
• OneWeb also announced the second half of December 2020 for its ”Return-to-Flight”, with a 36-satellite payload scheduled for launch by Arianespace from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
• Launches will continue throughout 2021 and 2022 and OneWeb is on track to begin commercial connectivity services to the UK and the Arctic region in late 2021 and will expand to delivering global services in 2022, the company stated.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve gets global award for doubling tiger population

• The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) and the Uttar Pradesh Forest department have bagged the first-ever international award, TX2, for doubling the number of tigers in four years against a target of 10 years. PTR was the first to receive the award among 13 tiger range countries.
• It achieved this goal in just four years from 2014, when it had 25 tigers which went up to 65 in 2018.
• The award was virtually presented to the principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) of the state, Sunil Pandey, by UNDP’s (United Nations Development Program) head of ecosystems and biodiversity, Mindori Paxton.
• Pandey stated the global target of doubling the tiger population was set in 2010 by the partners in TX2 award — UNDP, Global Tiger Forum, International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Wide Fund for Nature, Conservation Assured/Tiger Standards and the Lion’s Share.

About Tiger reserves in Uttar Pradesh:

• Amangarh Tiger Reserve
• Dudhwa Tiger Reserve
• Pilibhit Tiger Reserve

ISRO Chairman K Sivan receives Doctor of Science Honorary Doctorate

• Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala presented Doctor of Science honorary doctorate upon ISRO Chairman K Sivan. The Visvesvaraya Technological University has conferred the doctorate to him.
• The Governor highly praised the role of ISRO in defining our Space programme and the social role that it has played in the country.

About ISRO:

• Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
• Chairman: Kailasavadivoo Sivan

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

PM Modi to inaugurate RE-INVEST 2020 on Nov 26

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the virtual third Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo (RE-Invest 2020). The three days summit is organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• The theme for RE-Invest 2020 is Innovations for Sustainable Energy Transition. It will feature a 3-day conference on renewables and future energy choices, and an exhibition of manufacturers, developers, investors and innovators.
• It is expected to be attended by over 75 international Ministerial delegations, over 1000 global industry leaders, and 50,000 delegates.
• It aims to accelerate the worldwide effort to scale up development and deployment of renewable energy and connect the global investment community with Indian energy stakeholders.

About Ministry of New and Renewable Energy:

• Raj Kumar Singh: Minister of State (Independent Charge)
• Constituency: Arrah

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHORS

Shashi Tharoor’s latest book “The Battle of Belonging” launched by Prabha Khaitan Foundation

• Shashi Tharoor’s latest book “The Battle of Belonging” was formally launched at the Prabha Khaitan Foundation’s signature event Kitab .This book is the culmination of a lifetime’s thoughts, readings and arguments on issues of nationalism and patriotism which are not just theoretical or academic but intensely personal too.
• India’s own anti-colonial nationalism converted itself into a ‘civic nationalism’ encoded in a democratic Constitution and then the conflict over contemporary attempts to convert that into a religious-cultural nationalism. That is the battle of belonging to India and having India belong to you. Those are the principal themes in the book.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING

Elon Musk Overtakes Bill Gates to Grab World’s Second-Richest Ranking

• Tesla co-founder Elon Musk is now the world’s second richest person after he leapfrogged Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people.
• The 49-year-old entrepreneur, who is also the co-founder of space exploration firm SpaceX, saw his net worth rise by $7.2 billion to $128 billion as Tesla shares surged days after the news that the electric car company will be admitted to the S&P 500 index in December.
• Musk’s net worth has risen by $100.3 billion in 2020, marking the largest increase among those on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. In January, Musk ranked 35th.
• The only person ahead of Musk now is Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who took the top spot from Gates in 2017 and has stayed there since.
• The move forces Gates down into third place, marking only the second time in the index’s eight-year history that he hasn’t been ranked in the top two. However, Gates’s net worth of $127.7 billion would be considerably higher if it weren’t for his philanthropic endeavors. Since 2006, he has given over $27 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE

India test-fires land-attack version of BrahMos missile

• India test-fired a land-attack version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,. “The target of the missile was on another island there. “The supersonic cruise missile was testfired at 10 AM and it successfully hit its target. The test was conducted by the Indian Army which has many regiments of the DRDO-developed Missile system. The strike range of BrahMos missile has now been enhanced to over 400 km,” it added quoting sources.
• The BrahMos is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile which can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile, as well as the fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation. BrahMos-II, a hypersonic version of the missile, is also currently under development.
• BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and was established on February 12, 1998. Its name is a combination of India’s Brahmaputra and Russia’s Moskva rivers.

About DRDO:

• Founded: 1958
• Headquarters: DRDO Bhavan, New Delhi
• Chairman: G Satheesh Kumar Reddy

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

23 Medicinal Plants Of Karnataka On IUCN’s Endangered List

• Around 23 rare medicinal plants in various forests of Karnataka are on the verge of extinction and listed as ‘endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• The Karnataka Biodiversity Board and National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) conducted study has revealed that medicinal plants like sandalwood, wild clove, red sanders, wild Jamun, wild cinnamon and other species endemic to the Western Ghats have turned endangered on the IUCN list.
• The study spanning for five years by forest officials, botanists and field experts helped document more than 4,800 flowering plant species in various circles of the forests. Out of these, 60 rare species are medicinally prominent, including the 23 endangered species.
• Highlighting the importance of these species, a detailed report was released by the State Biodiversity Board in Bengaluru. The board with the help of the state forest department is chalking out plans to safeguard the endangered species based on the findings of the report.

About International Union for Conservation of Nature:

• Headquarters: Gland, Switzerland
• CEO: Grethel Aguilar

IIT Guwahati Develops Space Optical Communication Using Light Beams

• A research team led by the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) has developed a free-space optical communication system for information transfer. In free-space communication, an IIT Guwahati statement says, data in the form of voice, text or image is transmitted using light wirelessly rather than through optical fibres and it represents the next generation of communications technology.
• The research team has demonstrated the distortion-free transmission of text messages and images over a distance of one kilometre even in the presence of turbulence during stormy weather. The communication system can be used for high speed and secured communication between two individuals located either inside a building or outside.

Deep Depression over South West Bay of Bengal intensifies into cyclonic storm ‘Nivar’

• The Deep Depression over the South West Bay of Bengal has intensified into the Cyclonic Storm “Nivar,” on 24 November 2020. The cyclone is currently located 410 km east-southeast of Puducherry and 450 km southeast of Chennai.
• As per the India Meteorological Department, Cyclone Nivar is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 24-hours. The storm shall cross Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mamallapuram around Puducherry on November 25 evening.
• The impact of the Cyclone shall be faced by the governments of Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
• Maximum hazard will be caused to Tamil Nadu, which has been placed under ‘red’ (take action) alert. The NDRF has formed 30 teams to launch rescue and relief operations in these states in view of the cyclone ‘Nivar.’

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

Actor Ashish Roy passes away due to kidney failure

• Popular TV actor Ashiesh Roy passed away at his Mumbai residence due to kidney ailment . He was 55. Ashiesh had worked in several shows, including Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi, and others.
• Ashiesh was a popular dubbing artiste as well and has given voice to Hindi version of The Dark Knight (Health Ledger’s Joker character), Superman Returns, Man of Steel and many others.

DAILY CA NOV 24th  

• Government has extended the period for submission of Life Certificate by Central Government pensioners till 28th February next year.
• Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated 46 online AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs) to train teachers of higher education institutions.
• India and the European Union held the sixth round of consultations on disarmament and non-proliferation matters in a virtual format.
• To mark the occasion of 3 years of UMANG and 2000 plus services milestone, an online conference was organized under the chairmanship of Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad.
• Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a mobile COVID-19 RT-PCR Lab at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in New Delhi.
• Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy R K Singh has stated, India is going to replace the safeguard duty with the custom duty to protect the local manufacturers of solar equipment.
• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has started collaborating with airlines, shipping lines, and freight operators, among other logistics, to deliver lifesaving coronavirus vaccine as quickly as possible,
• The Asian Development Bank stated it has approved a USD 50 million loan to improve operational efficiencies and resource planning and management in West Bengal.
• Canara Bank, Axis Bank, Indian Bank and South Indian Bank have acquired 67% stake each in financial technology firm, IBBIC, at Rs 10 per equity share for a cash consideration of Rs 5 lakh each.
• Singapore-based neobanking startup StashFin announced to have partnered with Visa with an aim to launch co-branded prepaid cards with credit lines and expand its digital banking footprint in existing and new geographies.
• E-commerce and online payments services provider Infibeam Avenues Limited announced its collaboration with Bank Muscat, Oman’s biggest bank, to offer high-end payment gateway services to merchants in Oman.
• HDFC Bank has launched the ‘Mouth Shut’ campaign across Tamil Nadu to increase awareness about cyber frauds.
• Muthoot Finance has tied up with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance to provide insurance on gold jewellery as part of their new initiative, Muthoot Gold Shield, which is backed and powered by Group Affinity All Risk policy of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
• Odisha Essential Services (Maintenance) Amendment Bill-2020 was passed by the state assembly.The bill seeks to amend the existing Act of 1988 to prohibit strikes by employees of essential services in the state.
• The Uttarakhand forest department dedicated the newly-built Moss Garden to the people, claiming that it is the country’s first such garden, spread over 10 hectares in Kumaon’s Nainital district.
• The National Capital Region Transport Corporation and the Bharat Electronics Limited inked a memorandum of understanding to develop indigenous platform screen doors, which act as a safety barrier between the passengers and tracks, under the self-reliant India scheme.
• Comptroller and Auditor General of India has been elected as the external auditor of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva for a three-year term. Girish Chandra Murmu, the 14th Comptroller and Auditor General of India will assume the charge from Supreme Audit Institution of Switzerland.
• Achyuta Samanta, MP Kandhamal and Founder, KIIT and KISS has been elected unopposed as the President of Volleyball Federation of India (VFI).
• In Nagaland, Kohima Smart City Development Limited, KSCDL has been declared Winner at the ET Government Global Smart Cities Forum 2020 under the category Best Digital Initiative of the Year (Technology) for Kohima City Wifi Phase-I Project.
• Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has been honoured with the 2020 Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar at annual Sangit Kala Kendra Awards.
• Delhi Crime’ has bagged a major win for Indian web series, winning the Best Drama Series award at the 48th International Emmys.This was the first-ever Emmy for an Indian program.
• The 2020 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
• Three cities share the top spot as the world’s most expensive city to live in. Retaining its place at the top of the ranking, Hong Kong is now joined by Paris and Zurich. Both cities have overtaken Singapore and Osaka, which have dropped down to 4th and 5th ranks, respectively.
• China plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon to bring back lunar rocks in the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from Earth’s natural satellite since the 1970s.
• A joint U.S.-European satellite built to monitor global sea levels lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California .
• Researchers at IIT-Madras have developed a solar-powered Unmanned Autonomous Survey Craft for Indian ports and inland waterways to undertake autonomous hydrographic and oceanographic surveys and provide real-time data transmission over long distances.
• Indian Navy has got its ninth Boeing P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, part of the nearly $1 billion deal with the US for four additional planes signed in 2016.
• The 30th edition of India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Royal Thai Navy is being conducted from 18 – 20 November 2020.
• Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi passed away. Born in 1934, Mr. Gogoi served as the Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016.
• Noted Telugu poet, journalist, scriptwriter, and Kendra Sahitya Academy award winner Shaik Khaja Hussain, popularly known as Devi Priya, passed away.

DAILY CA NOV 25th  

• Martyrdom Day of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of Sikhs, is being observed across the country on 24th November .
• International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women- 25 November. This year’s theme is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”.
• The 59th National Pharmacy Week (NPW) was celebrated throughout the country from November 16-22, 2020. The theme of the NPW 2020 is “Pharmacists: Frontline Health Professionals“.
• Airports Authority of India (AAI) is observing the Aviation Safety Awareness Week 2020 from 23 November to 27 November 2020.
• Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar unveiled Sahakar Pragya. The 45 new training modules of Sahakar Pragya of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will impart training to primary cooperative societies in rural areas of the country along with Lakshmanrao Inamdar National Cooperative Research and Development Academy.
• The government has approved seven proposals of Food Processing Projects worth over 234 crore rupees. It also includes grants-in-aid of 60.87 crores rupees in Meghalaya, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
• Tenth edition of prestigious science film festival got off in a virtual mode. VigyanPrasar, an autonomous agency under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has been organizing the four-day long festival as a part of its science popularization endeavour.
• A high-level multi-disciplinary technical panel in the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation has recommended five technologies, three for safe drinking water and two for sanitation. The panel was headed by K VijayRaghavan, the principal scientific adviser to the government.
• ESI Corporation (ESIC) has announced the extension of the “Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana” (ABVKY) by another one year up to June 30, 2021 and relaxed the eligibility conditions for the period between March 24, 2020 and December 31, 2020.
• India has announced the launch of Phase-IV of the High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan. It envisages more than 100 projects worth 80 million dollars that India would undertake in Afghanistan.
• HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company has tied up with NSDL Payments Bank Limited to offer a range of general insurance products to the bank’s customers, a company statement stated. NSDL Payments Bank Limited is a subsidiary of National Securities Depository Ltd.
• The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has relaxed the norms for the NGOs mandated to maintain FCRA account under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) with the State Bank of India.
• In Himachal Pradesh, the state government launched ‘Him Suraksha Abhiyan’ to sensitize the people regarding Covid-19 pandemic and also to collect information regarding symptoms of diseases like TB, Leprosy, sugar and blood pressure by door to door campaign throughout the State.
• Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant launched a Whatsapp helpline for women in distress in the state here at Police Headquarters, Panaji.
• A cow shelter in Assam’s Dibrugarh inaugurated Northeast’s first-ever cow hospital, on the occasion of Gopashtami.
• Government blocked access to 43 mobile apps. This action was taken based on the inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity, defence, security of state and public order.
• Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched ‘Abhayam’ mobile phone application which helps women and children travelling in taxis and auto-rickshaws, to raise alarm in case of any emergency.
• OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications firm, also announced new management with telecom czar Sunil Mittal at the helm as Executive Chairman.
• The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) and the Uttar Pradesh Forest department have bagged the first-ever international award, TX2, for doubling the number of tigers in four years against a target of 10 years. PTR was the first to receive the award among 13 tiger range countries.
• Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala presented Doctor of Science honorary doctorate upon ISRO Chairman K Sivan. The Visvesvaraya Technological University has conferred the doctorate to him.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the virtual third Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo (RE-Invest 2020). The three days summit is organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• Shashi Tharoor’s latest book “The Battle of Belonging” was formally launched at the Prabha Khaitan Foundation’s signature event Kitab .
• Tesla co-founder Elon Musk is now the world’s second richest person after he leapfrogged Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people.
• India test-fired a land-attack version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,. “The target of the missile was on another island there. “
• Around 23 rare medicinal plants in various forests of Karnataka are on the verge of extinction and listed as ‘endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list.
• A research team led by the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) has developed a free-space optical communication system for information transfer.
• The Deep Depression over the South West Bay of Bengal has intensified into the Cyclonic Storm “Nivar,” on 24 November 2020. The cyclone is currently located 410 km east-southeast of Puducherry and 450 km southeast of Chennai.
• Popular TV actor Ashiesh Roy passed away due to kidney ailment . He was 55. Ashiesh had worked in several shows, including Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi, and others.