NITI Aayog & QCI launched NPMPF to Transform Infrastructure Sector in India

• NITI Aayog and Quality Council of India launched the National Program and Project Management Policy Framework (NPMPF) to transform the infrastructure sector in India
• Nitin Gadkari also unveiled the Indian Infrastructure Body of Knowledge (InBok), a book on the practice of program and project management in India.
• NITI AayogAayog, Rockefeller Foundation & Smart Power India Launch Electricity Access & Utility Benchmarking Report
• NITI Aayog, Ministry of Power, Rockefeller Foundation, and Smart Power India launched the "Electricity Access in India- Benchmarking Distribution Utilities" report aiming at capturing insights from both the demand (electricity customers) as well as supply side (electricity distribution utilities).
• The report assessed 25 distribution utilities by organized a primary survey across 10 states, which represented about 65% of the total rural population of India, and with a sample size of more than 25,000.
• A report also created a satisfaction index to assess the overall satisfaction level of customers with utility services. As per this, a total of 66% of those surveyed were satisfied of which 74% are customers in urban areas and 60% in rural areas.
• NITI Aayog & QCI launched NPMPF to Transform Infrastructure Sector in India

About NITI Aayog

• Formed - 15 Jan 2015
• Chairperson - PM of India
• Vice Chairperson - Rajiv Kumar
• CEO - Amitabh Kant

About Smart Power India

• CEO - Jaideep Mukherji
• HQ - Gurugram, Haryana

About The Rockefeller Foundation

• President - Dr. Rajiv J. Shah
• HQ - New York, USA

Indian Army → Software for Infrastructure Management & Secure Application for Internet (SAI)

• Indian army launched a software named 'Infrastructure Management System (IMS)' for automation of functions related to infrastructure development and management for ascertaining availability of land, planning and monitoring of works, and environment conservation.
• Indian Army has developed a simple and secure messaging application named "Secure Application for Internet (SAI)" for providing end to end encryption messaging protocol over the internet. It will be utilized Throughout the Army to facilitate secure messaging within the service.

India Hosted 19th Meeting of SCO Ministers for Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade Activities

• India hosted the 19th Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Ministers of Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade virtually.
• Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri participated in the meeting.
• Union Minister Piyush Goyal also launched the first-ever SCO Startup Forum ahead of SCO Trade Minister Meeting.
• The Startup forum will act as a foundation for multilateral cooperation and engagement among SCO members to develop their startup ecosystems.
• It is a maiden initiative by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• India Hosted 19th Meeting of SCO Ministers for Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade Activities

Union Minister Piyush Goyal Launches First-Ever SCO Startup Forum

• It will identify key areas of cooperation by launching multiple entrepreneurial activities like Startup showcase through dedicated virtual platform, mobilizing capital for startups, sharing of best practices, procuring social innovations, and knowledge exchange workshops.
• Innovations and Startups will be a key focus area of ​​SCO Heads of Government meeting to be held on 30th November 2020, which is going to be hosted by India for the first time.
• India is the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world with 35,000 startups. 25% of which are core technology startups operating in areas of AI, Robotics, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Digital Health, Financial & Education Technology

Justice Bansi Lal Bhat → 3rd Extension as Officiating Chairperson of NCLAT till December 31,2020

• The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has extended the tenure of Justice Bansi Lal Bhat as the officiating Chairperson of National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) till 31st December 2020 or till a regular Chairperson is appointed or until further orders.
• This extension marks the 3rd extension for BL Bhat since his appointment NCLAT's chairperson on 15th March 2020 for three months following the retirement of first chairperson Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya.

About NCLAT

• NCLAT was established under the Companies Act, 2013 for hearing appeals against the orders of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). This is also the appellate tribunal for the appeals against NCLT's Orders under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.
• The NCLT also hears the appeals against the orders of the Competition Commission of India.

3rd IIFFB 2020

• At the 3rd India International Film Festival of Boston (IIFFB) 2020 based in Boston, United States of America (USA) held as a virtual event, the Lifetime Achievement Award 2020 was accorded to Late Actor Om Puri which was received by his wife Nadita Puri .

• Chef Vikas Khanna was honored with "Pride of India" a special award at the 3rd IIFFB 2020.

European Commission + ICSSR → Signed Implementing Arrangement to Enhance Scientific Cooperation

• European Commission and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) signed a new implementing arrangement to enhance scientific cooperation.
• This arrangement will encourage top Indian social scientists who are supported by the ICSSR and want to pursue research collaborations with European researchers, supported by the European Research Council (ERC).

About Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR)

• Chairman - Prof. Bhushan Patwardhan
• HQ - New Delhi

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman → Took part in 10th Round of Ministerial UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue

• 10th Round of Ministerial the United Kingdom (UK) -India Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) was held virtually where India was represented by Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and Ministry of Finance and UK delegation was led by Chancellor of Exchequer, Rishi Sunak.
• Both sides agreed to set up a new fund of funds to be managed by the State Bank of India (SBI) group in order to route U.K.'s future capital investments into India.
• To help combat the pandemic, U.K. and India announced a joint investment of £ 8 million for research to understand and address the factors leading to the severity of the coronavirus.

DBS- Asia's Safest Bank for 12th Consecutive Year: Global Finance's Safest Banks 2020

• Global Finance, New York based trade publication released the list of World's 50 Safest Banks 2020 which named DBS Bank, Singapore as the Safest Bank in Asia for the 12th consecutive year.
• Global Finance has named State Bank of India (SBI) as the Safest Bank in India.

About Global Finance

• Editor in Chief & Chairman - Paolo Panerai Publisher & President - Joseph D. Giarraputo
• HQ - New York, USA

PNB → Tracking & Monitoring Staff Accountability Cases (TMSAC) Portal & 2020 Vigilance Manual

• PNB Tracking & Monitoring Staff Accountability Cases (TMSAC) portal and PNB's 2020 Vigilance Manual, as a part of the Vigilance Awareness Week (VAW) - 27th October 2020 to 2nd November 2020.
• With the launch of TMSAC portal and Vigilance manual PNB aims to stay updated and create awareness on preventive vigilance.
• These will support the employees and benefit the new joiners to understand the bank policies.

About PNB

• MD & CEO - CH S.S. Mallikarjuna Rao
• HQ - New Delhi
• Tagline - The name you can bank upon

ICICI Lombard + FreePaycard → Launched Group Safeguard Insurance

• ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd. In partnership with FreePaycard Retail Pvt. Ltd., an online pre-paid card trading platform launched Group Safeguard Insurance for the members of FreePaycard.
• About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd
• HQ - Mumbai
• MD & CEO - Bhargav Dasgupta
• About FreePaycard Retail Pvt.Ltd
• Hq- Gurgaon, Haryana MD & CEO - Richard Andrew

India gave USD 1 Billion Line of Credit for Development projects in Central Asia

• India has extended USD 1 Billion Line of Credit for Development Projects in Central Asian Countries. The announcement was made by India during the Second Meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue held virtually
• The virtual meeting was chaired by External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar.
• The inaugural meeting of India-Central Asia Dialogue was jointly organized by India and Uzbekistan on 13th January, 2019 in Samarkand (Uzbekistan).

Mesut Yilmaz former PM of Turkey & Veteran Politician passed away at 72

• Former Turkish PM Mesut Yilmaz, a veteran politician who served as the PM for three terms passed away at the age of 72 in a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey.

About Turkey

• Capital - Ankara
• Currency - Turkish lira
• President - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan