FICCI's FLO signs MoU with IESC of IIM Shillong to mentor women entrepreneurs

• FLO (FICCI Ladies Organization), the women's wing of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Incubation and Enterprise Support Centre(IESC) of Indian Institute of Management(IIM), Shillong to mentor women's entrepreneurs.

• IESC chairperson Sanjeeb Kakoty and FLO national president Jahnabi Phookan signed the deal for their respective organisations.

• Through this MoU, FLO aims to create an independent Entrepreneurial ecosystem to empower women, make themselves self-sufficient and to transform women into Job Creators.

NSDL Payments Bank Partnered with HDFC ERGO General Insurance

• NSDL Payments Bank Limited, digital-first payments bank entered into partnership with HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited to offer a customised, affordable and whole range of general insurance products to its customers through NSDL Jiffy, mobile banking application.

About HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited:

• Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)-Ritesh Kumar, Chairman- Deepak S. Parekh
• Headquarters, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Muthoot Finance in Partnership with BAGIC Launched "Muthoot Gold Shield" to Insure Gold Jewellery

• Gold loan Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) Muthoot Finance in collaboration with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance (BAGIC) has launched "Muthoot Gold Shield" to provide insurance to its customers on gold jewellery.

• This scheme is backed by the Group Affinity All Risk policy of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

Govt of Karnataka issued notification to rename Haveri Railway station as Mahadevappa Mailara Railway Station

• The Government of Karnataka issued a notification to rename the Haveri Railway station as Mahadevappa Mailara Railway Station, after Mahadevappa Mailara, a freedom fighter from Haveri district, Karnataka.

• Mahadevappa Mailara was born in 1911 in Motebennur village of Haveri district who was popularly known as "Karnataka's Bhagat Singh" for his revolutionary acts against British Rule in Karnataka.

• He was the only representative from Mysore state in the Dandi March of Mahatma Gandhi.

India can Attract $120-160 billion FDI annually by 2025

• In accordance with the report titled "FDI in India: Now, Next and Beyond" by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Ernst & Young Global Limited (EY), India may attract foreign direct investment (FDI) of $120-160 billion per year by 2025. This is on the condition to increase the FDI to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio between 3-4% from less than 2% now.

• India's GDP grew 6.8% in the past 10 years with FDI to GDP at 1.8%.

• The investors ranked India third in terms of attractiveness and 80% of them have planned for investment in India in the next two to three years. Out of them 25% investments are worth over $500 million.

• States-wise Maharashtra remains the most attractive destination (28%), followed by Karnataka (19%), Delhi(16%) and Gujarat (10%). These four alone received 75% of the FDI between October 2019 and June 2020.

48th International Emmy Awards 2020

• The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the 48th International Emmy® Awards 2020 during a live ceremony hosted by actor Richard Kind in New York City, USA. Netflix's India Original series "Delhi Crime' written and directed by Richie Mehta won the award under the drama series' category. Delhi Crime wins the 1st Emmy for a program from India.

• The 48th International Emmy® Awards were streamed live online for the first time on lemmys.tv due to COVID-19 pandemic.

• The International Academy presented 1 Special Award and 12 Emmys across 11 categories, due to a tie in the Non English Language U.S. Primetime category.

About 'Delhi Crime':

• It is based on the 2012 gangrape-murder Nirbhaya case.

• The series starred Shefali Shah as the DCP, and Rasika Duggal, Rajesh Railang and Adil Hussain in prominent roles.

• Richie Mehta also was the executive producer of the series. It was produced by Golden Karavan, a global production company

• Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York won the 2020 International Emmy Founders Award for his exceptional use of television for Public service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 13-year-old Billy Barratt who won the award is the youngest actor ever nominated and won in the Best Performance By An Actor category.

International Emmy Awards:

• It recognizes the excellence in television produced outside the United States and US Primetime programs produced in languages other than English in 20 categories (including Non-English Language U.S. Primetime Program).

4th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies

• The 4th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies organised by Interpol (also known as International Criminal Police Organization), Europol (European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation) & Basel Institute on Governance (Switzerland) took place virtually.

• Around 2, 000 representatives from 132 countries attended the Virtual Conference. Interpol hosted the 4th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies conference. Basel Institute on Governance will host the 5th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies in 2021.

• The Conference was launched in 2016 by Interpol, Europol & Basel Institute on Governance.

Ravi Shankar Prasad Launched UMANG International App for 9 Countries during Online Conference

• Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), Ministry of Communications launched the International version of UMANG App termed, 'UMANG International App to during the Online conference to celebrate 3 years of UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-Age Governance) and it's more than 2000 services milestone.

• 'UMANG International App is extended for 9 countries United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK),Canada, Australia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. The occasion saw the launch of UMANG's international version by Ravi Shankar Prasad in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

• To mark the three years of UMANG, the minister also launched an e-Book "3 Saal Umang Bemisaal #3 YearsofUMANG" which presents major milestones of UMANG and its services available for different segments of society.

About UMANG:

• Launched on November 23, 2017 by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi with 163 services it reached nearly 643 services as on March 2020; and now it grown to provide 2039 services (373 from 88 Central departments, 487 from 101 departments of 27 States and 1,179 services for utility bill payments).

• Developed by the MeitY and National e-Governance Division, it is all-in-one single, unified, secure, multi channel, multi-lingual, multi-service mobile application providing access to high impact services of various Central Government and State Governments Departments.

Airtel buys 5.2% stake in Avaada Energy's

• Bharti Airtel Limited, an Indian multinational telecommunications services company has picked up a 5.2% stake in Avaada MHBuldhana Private Limited, a solar power firm for INR 4.55 Crore.

• Avada Energy Pvt Ltd is developing a captive solar power plant in Maharashtra and will become operational by March 2021.

RBI Becomes World's 1st Central Bank to Reach 1 million Followers on Twitter

• The number of followers of the Reserve Bank of India(RBI)has increased from 9.66 lakh to one million or 10 lakh on Twitter. With this, the central bank of India is now the first-ever such bank in the world to reach these many followers in the micro-blogging site. The US Federal Reserve has about 6.67 lakh Twitter followers and the Frankfurt-headquartered European Central Bank (ECB), the second most powerful monetary authority in the world, has about 5.91 lakh followers. Currently, the RBI handle is followed by over 1 million people.

China Successfully Launched its 1st spacecraft to Collect Samples from Moon

• China National Space Administration (CNSA) has successfully launched the 8.2 tonne lunar probe namely "Chang'e-5" through Long March-5, China's largest carrier rocket. Its task is to bring 2kgs of sample soil and rock of moon to earth in a mission of around 23 days.

• Notably it is the world's first moon-sample mission in 44 years i.e. since 1976. Only two other countries, the United States (US) and the former Soviet Union, have brought samples back from the moon.

• The landing site of Chang'e-5 will be near Mons Rumker, a volcanic mound in the Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) located in the northwest region of the moon. It is on the near side of the moon. While the orbiter-returner orbits about 200 km above the lunar surface.

• The mission is named, Chang'e-5' after the ancient Chinese goddess of the moon.

• The NASA has chosen 'India Sat', an indigenous experimental satellite developed by 3 students from Tamil Nadu namely, M. Adnaan of Thanthonrimalai, M. Kesavan of Nagampalli and V Arun of Thennilai for launch in suborbital space in June next on NASA's sounding rocket 7.

"Varunastra' - Heavyweight Torpedo at BDL, Visakhapatnam Unit

• Satheesh Reddy flagged off the first "Varunastra', heavy weight torpedo to be delivered to the Indian Navy during a ceremony held at Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Visakhapatnam Unit, Andhra Pradesh.

• The Varunastra has been designed and developed by Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam

• BDL had signed a contract worth Rs 1,187 crore to manufacture the weapon

• Varunastra' - is an Indian advanced heavyweight anti-submarine Torpedo and is capable of being launched from both Ships and Submarines.

• Satheesh Reddy laid the foundation stone for the establishing an state-of-the-art Central Store at BDL, Visakhapatnam Unit.

Gautam Choubey Translates 'Phoolsunghi', a Bhojpuri Novel Written by Pandey Kapil; first Bhojpuri novel Translated to English

• Gautam Choubey has translated 'Phoolsunghi', a Bhojpuri Novel written by Pandey Kapil. It is the first ever translation of a Bhojpuri novel into English. The book is published under Penguin's Hamish Hamilton.

• It is an historical novel set in Bihar, that narrates the tale of an unfulfilled love between Mahendra Mishra, one of the most popular yet enigmatic Bhojpuri poets, and the tawaif Dhelabai.

Abhayam App for safety of Women travelling by Auto & Taxis

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Jagan Mohan Reddy virtually launched the 'Abhayam App for the safety of women travelling by Auto & Taxis. The app will help women to raise an alarm in case of any emergency

• This is the First Internet of Things (IoT) based women safety project.

• During the First Phase 1000 auto rickshaws equipped with GPS (Global Positioning System) Internet of Things (IoT) devices have been linked to the Abhayam app in Visakhapatnam.

• The project has been sanctioned by the Central Government under the Nirbhaya Scheme.

• In Case of any emergency during travel, woman passengers can alert the police by pressing the panic

• Police will track the vehicle using GPS and reach them in 10 minutes. In order to facilitate the tracking of the vehicle, the passenger needs to scan the QR Code on the vehicle.

• Passengers not having access to smartphones can use the panic button installed on the vehicle to inform the Command Control Centre. This will stop the vehicle immediately and alert the nearest police station.

• The State Government is aiming to bring 5,000 vehicles into the Abhayam app by February 1, 2021, 50,000 by July, 2021 and 1 Lakh by November, 2021.

• It will also cover the cities of Vijayawada and Tirupathi in the later phase of the project.

'Duare Duare Paschim Banga Sarkar Scheme' & "Karmai Dharma" scheme

• West Bengal (WB) Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced two schemes "Duare Duare Paschim Banga Sarkar Scheme" (West Bengal government at every doorstep) & "Karmai Dharma" (Work is Worship) scheme at a programme held at Sidhu Kanhu Indoor Stadium, Durgapur.

• Mamata Bannerjee also announced 100% scholarship to People in need of it.

• "Duare Duare Paschim Banga Sarkar Scheme" (West Bengal government at every doorstep) - To address the grievances of the people starting from the block level.

• "Karmai Dharma (Work is Worship) - Providing Motorbikes for the youth to enable them to do small scale businesses.

• "Duare Duare Paschim Banga Sarkar Scheme":

• As part of the scheme, the WB Government will establish camps at every block of WB.

• The camps will serve as centres of addressing the grievances of people, the officials will look into the requirements of people and try to fulfill them.

"Karmai Dharma":

• Under the scheme, two lakh youth of the state will receive One Motorbike each for carrying out small businesses,

• The Motorbikes are provided with assistance from cooperative banks.

• The bikes will be equipped with boxes on the back of the bikes for carrying items to be sold.

"Thee" Mobile App For Public To Reach TN Fire & Rescue Services

• Edappadi K Palaniswami, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu launched a mobile application "Thee" to support the general public to reach out the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services.

• To help the people in case of fire accidents, flood, mishaps in deep well, rescue in wildlife, chemical or gas leaks and others.

• Karnataka Cabinet approves the creation of Vijayanagara as its 31st District

• The cabinet of Karnataka has in principle agreed the creation of Vijayanagara district as the 31st District of Karnataka.

• The Vijayanagara district, will be carved from the Ballari district and will include Hampi, the capital of Vijayanagara empire.

5th India International Cherry Blossom Festival 2020 in Shillong Cancelled

• India International Cherry Blossom Festival is the annual event of Meghalaya that attracts a record number of tourists in Shillong. 5th India International Cherry Blossom Festival 2020 has been cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

• Shillonghosts the only Cherry Blossoms festival in India. Meghalaya people celebrate festivals through virtual mode. These flowers can be spotted across Meghalaya during this time of the year. These flowers are expected to continue to bloom till the end of November.

Tarun Gogoi, Former Assam Chief Minister Passed Away

• Tarun Gogoi, the longest serving chief minister of Assam and popular leader of Indian National Congress (INC) passed away at a hospital in Guwahati, Assam. He passed away due to post COVID-19 complications and multiple organ failures.

• Tarun Gogoi served as the Chief minister of Assam for three terms from 2001 to 2016, He has served as the Member of Legislative Assembly from the Titabor Constituency since 2001.

• He also served as the member of Parliament for 6 terms and served as a Union Minister for two terms.

• He represented the Jorhat constituency in the Parliament from 1971 to early 1980's and Kaliabor constituency between 1991 to 1996.

2020 ATP Finals

• The 51st Edition (51st edition of Singles, 46th edition of doubles) of 2020 ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) officially known as 2020 Nitto ATP Finals took place at 02 Arena, London, United Kingdom. It is organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)

• ATP Finals is an Annual season-ending event for the 8 highest ranked singles players and double teams on the ATP Tour.

• London has held ATP Finals for the last 12 years, the 2021 tournament is set to be moved to Turin in Italy.

• Daniil Medvedev (Russia) beat Dominic Thiem (Austria) to win the Single's Title of 2020 ATP Finals for the first time.

• Medvedev is the first Russian to win the season-ending title since Nikolay Davydenko in 2009.

• Medvedev became only the 4th player in ATP history to beat World's Top Three Ranked Tennis Players in the same Tournament. He beat Novak Djokovic (World No. 1), Rafael Nadal (World No. 2) & Dominic Thiem (World No. 3).

• Other 3 players who have achieved this feat are Spain's David Nalbandian (Madrid 2007). Serbia's Novak Djokovic (Montreal 2007) and Germany's Boris Becker (Stockholm 1994).

World Fisheries Day 2020 – November 21

• The World Fisheries Day is annually celebrated across the globe on 21st November 2020, to create and spread awareness about the importance of the healthy ocean ecosystem and to ensure the sustainable stock of fisheries in the world

• The Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO) of the United Nations(UN) celebrated World Fisheries Day 2020 on 20th November 2020 instead of 21st November 2020.

• The events include, "Voices from the Sea" a tribute to all the fishermen and workers whose lives were impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The government of India felicitated the fisheries sector awards for the first time on the World Fisheries day 2020.

National Pharmacy Week (NPW) 2020 - November 16 to 22

• The National Pharmacy Week(NPW) is annually celebrated across India on the 3rd week of November to create awareness to the stakeholders about the presence of the pharmacists in the society and to acknowledge the importance of the role of registered pharmacists with respect to medicine, its usage handling and dispensing.

• The Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) organised the 59th National Pharmacy week on the 3rd week of November(from 16th November to 22nd November 2020).

• The theme of the National Pharmacy Week 2020 is "Pharmacists: Frontline Health Professionals".

• As a part of the National Pharmacy Week, an International Pharmacist Webinar on "Pharmaceutical Care", very trending discipline, was organised

Aviation Safety Awareness Week 2020: November 23- 27

• Airports Authority of India (AAI) has commenced Aviation Safety Awareness Week 2020 from 23rd November to 27th November 2020 to raise awareness on Aviation Safety. The week will be celebrated across all airports and ANS(Air Navigation Service) locations managed by AAI across India.

• Arvind Singh, Chairman of AAI virtually inaugurated the celebrations of Aviation Safety Awareness Week.

• Central Idea of Aviation Safety Awareness Week 2020- 'Raise awareness on Aviation Safety'.

• During the virtual inauguration, Maneesh Kumar DDG(Deputy Director General), DGCA(Directorate General of Civil Aviation) highlighted to achieve the long term objective of Zero fatality by 2030, that was envisioned by ICAO(International Civil Aviation Organization) in its Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP-2020-22).

World Heritage Week 2020 – November 19 to 25

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO)'s World Heritage Week is annually observed across the globe from 19th November to 25th November to create awareness among the general public about the importance of rich heritage and to make them strive for the preservation of their heritage.

• To raise awareness about the value and importance of the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage, monuments and archaeological sites. China and Italy have the highest number of world heritage sites with 55 entries on UNESCO's World Heritage site list. India has around 38 entries in UNESCO's World Heritage site list with 30 cultural sites, 7 natural sites and 1 mixed site.

• The Directorate of Archeology organised a central programme at Na Pukhuri, a Heritage Site in Sivasagar

• As a part of the celebration of the World Heritage week 2020, for the first time, The Directorate of Archeology, Assam will award three monumnets mitro awards to two individuals and one organisation.

Winners of the Monuments Mitro:

• Individuals:

• Krishna Kumar Singha of Rajbari in Hojai district.

• Nabin Buragohain of Sivasagar district

• Organisation:

• Ghuguha Dol Unnayan Committee of Dhemaji district.

72nd NCC Raising Day 2020:November 22

• The National Cadet Corps (NCC)'s Raising Day is observed annually on the 4th Sunday of November. This year(2020) falls on November 22 and also marks the 72nd Edition.

• The cadets participated in Swachhta Abhiyan', 'Mega Pollution Pakhwada'.