Karnataka Government signed Agreement with Tata Technology to upgrade 150 Government ITIS

• The Government of Karnataka entered into an agreement with Tata Technologies to upgrade and modernize 150 Government ITI (Industrial Training Institute) at a cost of INR 4,636.50 Crores to create increased employment opportunities to youth of the state.
• Each ITI will be upgraded at the cost of INR 30 Crore and duration of agreement is ten years and nine months.
• Tata Technologies will strengthen training, counselling and placement cells to train, guide and create employment opportunities.
• Laboratories would be upgraded by setting up new machinery and technology.

NSDC launched "Project Future Ready" to Impart Career Skills to 1 lakh students

• The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in partnership with American India Foundation, Dell Technologies and University of Mumbai has launched "Project Future Ready" to equip students with career skills. The project will cover over 1 lakh students in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, of which 60 per cent are females.
• On completion of the program, the students will receive a certification from NSDC and University of Mumbai. The partnership will certifying 200 college faculties by the University of Mumbai's Garware Institute of Career Education and Development (GICED) as multi-skilled career mentors.
• Then, each of these trained faculties will engage 500 aspiring youth by conducting workshops on career guidance in colleges affiliated with the University of Mumbai.
• Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry(FICCI) Ladies Organization (FLO), the women's wing of FICCI and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the 3C initiative of FLO to empower women with employability through skill training and to promote women entrepreneurship

Kottoor Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Kerala → Will become World's Largest Care & Cure Centre

• Kottoor Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala is being upgraded to International standard and is set to become the world's largest care and cure center for elephants. The upgradation of the center is a part of the special program of the government of Kerala for the protection and conservation of elephants.
• The project is implemented at a cost of Rs 108 crore funded from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board.
• Around Rs 71.9 crores was spent on the first phase of the center which will be commissioned in February 2021.
• The center at 176 hectares of forest land will accommodate around 50 elephants including the 16 existing elephants.
• The project includes the construction of reservoirs and check dams at Neyyar Dam and a special facility for elephant calves.

About Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB)

• Chairman - Pinarayi Vijayan (Chief Minister of Kerala)
• CEO & Member Secretary - Dr K.M. Abraham
• HQ - Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

AAI signed MoU with NVVN, subsidiary of NTPC to set up Solar Power Plants in Airports

• Airport Authority of India(AAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) Limited, a subsidiary of NTPC Limited, to set up solar power plants at the Airports
• under AAI and to promote the adoption of electrical vehicles at AAI Airports. The MoU was signed by General Manager (Engineering) of AAI and K. S. Bandyopadhyay, Chief General Manager(CGM) of NVVN in the presence of Arvind Singh, Chairman of AAI and Gurdeep Singh Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC limited.
• In the identified AAl airports, required land and rooftop space to set up solar power plants will be provided to NVVN at free of cost.

India conducted Tri-Service Combat Exercise "Bull Strike" at Teressa Island

• Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) conducted a three-day Tri-Service Combat Exercise code named "Bull Strike" at Teressa Island in Nicobar Group of Islands.
• The exercise saw participation from three services components of ANC, elements of Indian Army's Parachute Brigade, MARCOS (Marine Commando Force) and Special Forces

Joint coastal security exercise, "Sagar Kavach" held at Paradip Coast, Odisha

• A two-day joint coastal security annual exercise "Sagar Kavach" was held at Paradip Coast, Odisha.
• It was carried out by the State Governments of Odisha and West Bengal. More than 10 such departments, including the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard, the Odisha Police, the local fishermen, the forest department, and the port marine department, have joined the joint exercise.

About West Bengal

• Capital - Kolkata,
• CM - Mamata Banerjee, Governor - Jagdeep Dhankar

About Odisha

• Capital - Bhubaneswar, CM- Naveen Patnaik, Governor - Ganeshi Lal

Virtual India CEO forum on Climate Change Chaired by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar

• The India CEO Forum on Climate Change was held virtually which was chaired by Union Minister Prakash Keshav Javadekar, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
• The participating industries will also submit an annual report to the environment ministry providing qualitative and quantitative information on the contribution of the private sector.
• India signed a Paris Agreement in 2016 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• As part of its, India announced Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) which has three quantitative climate change goals
• Reduction in the emissions intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 level.
• Achieving about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030.
• Creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030
• India also aims to achieve 100 GW (Gigawatt) Solar Power and 175 GW renewable energy by 2022 and production of 450GW of renewable energy by 2030.

Govt of Bangladesh signed MoU with BPL & SIl to buy 3 crore Doses of AZD1222 - COVID-19 Vaccine

• Government of Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Beximco Pharmaceutical Limited (BPL), Bangladesh and the Serum Institute of India (SII) for the supply and distribution of 3 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine 'AZD1222' in Bangladesh. The AZD1222 vaccine is at the final stage of development at the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.
• AZD1222 is the COVID-19 vaccine of AstraZeneca formerly known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 is made from a virus - ChAdOx1, a weakened version of the common cold virus (Adenovirus).

About SII

• CMD Cyrus S Poonawalla
• HQ - Pune, Maharashtra

About Bangladesh

• Capital - Dhaka
• PM – Sheikh Hasina
• President – Abdul Hamid
• Currency – Bangladeshi Taka

Axis Bank bought 57,743 shares in CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd for Rs 36.38 crore

• Axis Bank Ltd acquired 57,743 shares in CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd for Rs 36.38 crore. The transaction is for 9.91% equity stake in CSC e-Governance as a strategic investment by the bank. 

About CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd

• It is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), set up by the Ministry of Electronics & Information technology (Meity) under the Companies Act, 1956 to oversee implementation of the CSC(Common Services Centre)scheme.
• HQ - New Delhi, India

About Axis Bank Ltd

• HQ - Mumbai
• MD & CEO - Amitabh Chaudhry
• Tagline - Badhti Ka naam Zindagi

Public Investment Fund to buy 2.04% stake in Reliance Retail for Rs 9,555 crore

• Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) will buy 2.04% equity stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for Rs 9,555 crore.
• This is the largest investment made by any fund so far in RRVL.
• Including PIF's investment RRVL has raised Rs 47,265 crore. The global investors with this investment hold 12.27% combinedly.

Paytm + SBI Card + Visa → To Launch Contactless Co-Branded Credit Cards in 2 Variants

• SBI Card and Payment Services Itd(SBI Cards) partnered with Paytm and Visa to launch contactless co-branded credit cards, India's next generation credit cards. The credit card will be available in two variants, namely, Paytm SBI Card and Paytm SBI Card SELECT.
• This is the 2nd co-branded credit card product from Paytm.
• Paytm's first co-branded credit card called 'Paytm First Card' was launched in collaboration with Citibank.
• Shaktikanta Das chaired 40th SAARCFINANCE Governors' Group meeting
• Shaktikanta Das, Governor of RBI chaired the 40th SAARCFINANCE Governors' Group meeting in a virtual format. He inaugurated the SAARCFINANCE Sync, a closed user group secure communication network.
• The SAARFINANCE Governors meet twice a year concurrently with the IMF(International Monetary Fund) WB(World Bank) Annual and Spring Meetings.
• The current chair of SAARCFINANCE is RBI.
• The group took stock of the macroeconomic situation in the SAARC(South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region.
• The 10th SAARC Summit of the Head of the States of the SAARC Region that was held on Colombo on July 29, 1998 agreed, in principle, to establish SAARCFINANCE, a network of central bank governors and finance secretaries of the SAARC region. The permanent body got formal recognition of SAARC at the 11th SAARC Summit, held in Kathmandu, Nepal in January 2002.

Gyanendro Ningombam became the first President of Hockey India from the NE region replacing Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad

• Gyanendro Ningombam from Manipur was appointed as the President of Hockey India.
• He is the first president of HI from the North East region. He will serve for a term of two years.
• He replaces Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad who was appointed as the Senior Vice President.

About Hockey India (HI)

• HQ New Delhi
• Formed - May 20, 2009

International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict 2020 → November 6

• International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict is annually observed across the globe on 6th November to create and raise awareness on the need to protect the environment during armed conflicts.
• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/56/4 on 5th November 2001, and proclaimed the 6th November of every year as the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict to safeguard nature for the sake of future generation and protect the environment.

About United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 

• Executive Director - Inger Andersen HQ - Nairobi, Kenya

Uttarakhand Day → November 9

• Every year on November 9, the Uttarakhand Day is celebrated.
• It is also called as Uttarakhand Divas or Uttarakhand State Foundation Day.
• In 2020, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Rawat is to inaugurate hot air balloon festival in Mussorie. Apart from the hot air balloon celebrations, the state is also organizing Majestic Uttarakhand photo exhibitions and 'Heal with Wheels'.

About Uttarakhand

• It is known as the "Land of Gods" or "Dev Bhumi". It was named 'Uttaranchal during its foundation. Later, it was renamed to Uttarakhand in 2007.
• Capital - Dehradun. > CM - Trivendra Singh Rawat
• Governor - Baby Rani Maurya