Vital Statistics on India based on Civil Registration System 2018

• According to Annual Report on 'Vital Statistics on India based on Civil Registration System 2018', Arunachal Pradesh recorded the Highest Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) in the country with 1,084 females born per thousand males.

• The report was released by the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

States with High SRB:

• Arunachal Pradesh- 1,084
• Nagaland 965
• Mizoram 964

States with Low SRB

• Manipur- 757
• Lakshadweep- 839
• Daman & Diu- 877

The level of registration of births has increased to 89.3% in 2018 from 81.3% in 2009.

• 13 states/Union Territory (UTS) namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Telangana Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Chandigarh Delhi and Puducherry recorded 100% registration of births in 2018.

• Out of the total registered births, the share of male and female are 52.0% and 47.9% respectively.

• According to 2011 Census conducted by Government of India the sex ratio of India was 940, which is on the lower side. Biologically normal sex ratio at birth is 1, 050 males to 1, 000 females or 950 females to 1,000 males.

About Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India:

• Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs
• Registrar General & Census Commissioner - Vivek Joshi
• Headquarters - New Delhi

L&T delivers India's first launch hardware for Gaganyaan Mission to ISRO

• Larsen & Toubro (L&T) delivered First Hardware - a Booster Segment - 'S-200 for Gaganyaan Launch Vehicle to ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) in a virtual flag-off ceremony. S-200 is world's third largest solid propellant rocket booster.

• ISRO's Gaganyaan mission aims to send a three-member crew to space for a period of 5-7 days by 2022 when India completes 75 years of Independence.

• GSLV Mk III Launcher will be the launch vehicle for the mission.

• The programme is set for launch in August, 2022.

About Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO):

• Chairman - Dr. K. Sivan
• Headquarters - Bengaluru, Karnataka

About Larsen & Toubro (L&T):

• Chairman - Anil Manibhai Naik
• Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director - S. N. Subrahmanyan
• Headquarters - Mumbai, Maharashtra

INTERPOL-WC's Operation Thunder 2020 Concluded

• The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted Operation Thunder in 103 countries against environmental crimes. It resulted in large seizures of protected forestry and wildlife specimen and triggered arrests and investigations worldwide, including India.

• During the Operation, India Customs along with INTERPOL and WCO intercepted an 18-tonne shipment of red sandalwood destined for the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

• It should be noted that Operation Thunder 2020 is the fourth in a series of "Thunder" operations carried out annually since 2017.

About International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL):

• Secretary General- Jurgen Stock
• Headquarter- Lyon, France
• Member Countries, 194

About World Customs Organization (WCO):

• Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya
• Headquarter-Brussels, Belgium
• Member Countries-183

AICTE's Lilavati Award 2020

• Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Union Minister of Education virtually launched the Lilavati Award 2020, an initiative by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to promote women empowerment in India.

• The Theme of the Lilavati Award 2020 is "women empowerment".

• The Lilavati award is presented to multiple categories
• Women Health
• Self Defence
• Sanitation & Hygiene
• Literacy
• Women Entrepreneurship Legal Awareness

• In each sub-category, the top three winners will be awarded with certificates and cash awards. The first prize winner will get Rs 1 lakh, the second winner will get Rs 75,000 and the third winner will get Rs 50,000.

About All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE):

• Chairman- Prof. Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe
• Headquarters- New Delhi

Indian Railways Assigns RailTel to implement Hospital Management

• Information System

• Indian Railways(IR) assigned RailTel Corporation of India Limited (RailTel) to implement the Hospital Management Information System (HMIS), an integrated clinical information system in its 125 health facilities and 650 polyclinics across India.

• About RailTel Corporation of India Limited (RailTel);

• Headquarter- New Delhi, India Chairman & Managing Director- Puneet Chawla

12th BRICS Summit 2020

• The 12th BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) Summit 2020 held virtually. The summit was hosted by Vladimir Putin, President of Russia on the theme "Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth where India was represented by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.

• The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Saint Petersburg, Russia from July 21 to 23, 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19 outbreak.

• Importantly, Vladimir Putin announced the approval of the Moscow Declaration, the BRICS Anti-Terrorism Strategy and the BRICS updated strategy for the economic partnership until 2025.

• Two pillars of this year's summit are the economy and counterterrorism.

• it will be hosting the 13th BRICS Summit in 2021.

2021 World's Best Cities Ranking

• In accordance with the annual report and ranking of best cities around the world titled "2021 World's Best Cities by Resonance Consultancy Ltd, London, United Kingdom (UK) is at top spot for the 6th consecutive year. It was followed by New York, United States (US) and Paris (France) at 2nd and 3rd rank respectively. Notably only one Indian city, Delhi, is listed in the ranking at 62 which was ranked 81st in previous year ranking.

• The report has ranked 100 cities around the world with a population of more than 10 lakh. The ranking was based on the 25 ranking factors grouped into six core categories.

• Notably, for the first time, the cities were also ranked on new criteria such as unemployment, the rate of COVID-19 infections (as of July) and income disparity.

About Resonance Consultancy Ltd:

• Resonance Consultancy Ltd. is a Vancouver, Canada based company which has specialties in destination development, branding, marketing, design, tourism, data, and travel reports.

• It identifies cities that are most desirable for locals, visitors, and business people alike, rather than simply looking at livability or tourism appeal.

• President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Chris Fair

4 Indian Cities among 36 Global Cities selected by WEF to pioneer roadmap for Smart Cities

• 4 Indian Cities namely Bengaluru, Faridabad, Indore and Hyderabad feature among the 36 global cities selected by World Economic Forum (WEF) for pioneering a new global policy roadmap for smart cities. They will be developed by G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance.

• The 36 cities have been selected from 22 Countries & 6 Continents.

• The 36 "Pioneer Cities" will adopt 5 policies - Privacy Protection, Better Broadband Coverage,

• Accountability for Cyber Security, Increased Openness of City Data, and better Accessibility to Digital City Services for Disabled and Elderly people.

• More than 750 leaders from Government, Business and Civil Society from 90 countries are participating in the Summit.

About World Economic Forum (WEF):

• Founder & Executive Chairman - Klaus Schwab
• Headquarters - Geneva, Switzerland

India, Kazakhstan hold 7th round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) Virtually

• India and Kazakhstan held their 7th round of Foreign Office Consultations through video-conference. The Indian side was led by Vikas Swarup, Secretary (West), and Kazakh side was led by Shakhrat Nuryshev, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan

• The two sides signed a MoU on "Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects in Kazakhstan".

• FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) and Chamber of International Commerce of Kazakhstan have set up a Joint Business Council (JBC) to promote trade, economic and investment cooperation between two countries.

PM Modi Virtually Addressed the 3rd Annual Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2020

• The 3rd Annual Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2020 was held virtually where India was represented by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.

• Inaugural Forum was held in Singapore, and the second annual Forum was hosted in Beijing, China. It aims to build a community of leaders to engage in real conversations leading to actionable solutions about the critical challenges facing by the world.

• Chairperson- Henry A. Kissinger

RBI placed LVB under 1-month moratorium & announced Draft Scheme to amalgamate LVB with DBIL

• The Reserve Bank of India proposed a draft scheme of amalgamation of Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd. (LVB) with DBS Bank India Ltd. (DBIL). This decision has been taken after the Central Government has imposed a one-month moratorium on LVB that temporarily capped withdrawals at Rs 25,000. The moratorium will be effective upto December 16, 2020

• LVB was imposed with 1 month moratorium under under Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

• Apart from the above decision, RBI also superseded LVB's board in order to protect the depositors' interest due to deterioration in the bank's financial position. In this regard, the apex bank appointed Thothala Narayanaswamy (T.N.) Manoharan, a former Non Executive Chairman of Canara Bank, as Administrator of LVB.
• The proposal of amalgamation of LVB with DBIL is taken as the latter is well capitalized and can infuse an additional capital of Rs 2,500 crore to support credit growth of the merged entity

About DBS Bank India Ltd. (DBIL):

• Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Piyush Gupta Registered Office- New Delhi

About Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB):

• Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer -Subramanian Sundar
• Tagline - The Changing Face Of Prosperity
• Head Quarter - Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Indian Cricketer Sudeep Tyagi announces retirement from all forms of Cricket

• Indian Fast Bowler Sudeep Tyagi announced retirement from all forms of Cricket.

• Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Tyagi represented India in 4 One-Day Internationals (ODI) & 1 Twenty20 International Scalping Three wickets in the ODI format.

• He represented his state Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy and played for Chennai Super Kings & Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

• The Right-arm pacer made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in December 2009, and played his last game for India against South Africa in 2010.

MOYAS Introduced an Incentivisation Structure

• The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports(MoYAS), Government of India introduced an incentivisation structure to fund 500 private academies, through the Khelo India Scheme over the next four years starting 2020-21. Under the scheme, SAI(Sports Authority of India) and NSFS(National Sports Federations) will work together.

• To encourage all academies, particularly the private academies to continue to improve the level of infrastructure, resources and sports science support, thus athletes can get best in class training.

• The 14 priority disciplines identified for excellence in the 2028 Olympics are eligible to receive the support in the first phase

Senior Rajasthan Minister Bhanwar Lal Meghwal passed Away at 72

• Bhanwar Lal Meghwal, Rajasthan's Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment and the leader of Indian National Congress of Rajasthan passed away at the age of 72 in a private hospital in Gurugram, Haryana due to prolonged illness.

• He was elected as the member of the Rajasthan's legislative assembly from the Sujangarh constituency in Churu district for 5 times

World Toilet Day 2020 - November 19

• United Nations(UN)'s World Toilet Day is annually celebrated across the globe on 19th November to celebrate Toilets and to raise awareness about the 4.2 billion people across the globe who are living without any access to safely managed sanitation. The First UN's World Toilet Day was observed on 19th November 2013.

• The theme of the 2020 World Toilet Day is "Sustainable sanitation and climate change".

• The World Toilet Day is about the action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal(SDG) 6 - Water and Sanitation for all by 2030.

• The World Toilet Day was first established by the World Toilet Organisation in 2001.

About United Nations Water:

• Chairman- Gilbert F. Houngbo
• Secretary- Madhushree Chatterjee
• Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland

Women's Entrepreneurship Day 2020 – November 19

• The Women's Entrepreneurship Day(WED) is annually observed across the globe on 19th November to celebrate, empower and support the Women Entrepreneurs in business across the globe. The day highlights the achievements of Women Entrepreneurs and focuses on the challenges they face. The WED was first observed in 2013.

• The day is organised by the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WEDO) or #ChooseWomen founded by Wendy Diamond, recipient of Ellis Island Medal of Honour.

• To create awareness about the 250 million Women and girls living in poverty, who deserve the opportunities in life.

• About Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization(WEDO) or #ChooseWomen:

• Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization(WEDO) or #ChooseWomen is a non-governmental, nonprofit organisation founded by Wendy Diamond in 2013.

• ChooseWomen is a directory of women led businesses across the globe

• Founder & CEO- Wendy Diamond

• Headquarters-New York, United States

International Men's Day 2020 – November 19

• International Men's Day is annually celebrated across the globe on 19th November to create awareness about the difficulties that men face on a global scale. The day is observed to celebrate the men who make a positive impact on society and influence their gender as a role model. The International Men's day is supported by more than 80 countries and international organisations.

• The theme of the international Men's Day 2020 is "Better Health for Men and Boys".

• Thomas Oaster, the director of the Missouri Center for Men's Studies initiated the International Men's day in the early 1990's.

• Initially the organisations from the United States, Australia and Malta celebrated the International Men's day in the month of February

• Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, a doctor from Trinidad and Tobago relaunched the International Men's Day in 1999. He chose the date 19th November to honour the birth anniversary of his Father.