07th-09th November, 2026

1. Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Releases Rs. 250 Commemorative Coin Honouring Muthuswami Dikshitar
2. NITI Aayog and GIZ GmbH Sign Implementation Agreement Under NDC-TIA II for Road Freight Decarbonisation
3. CSIR–DAKSHIN Sign LoA to Strengthen Global South Cooperation
4. UNESCO Inscribes Rajatarangini, Mahabharata and Arthashastra in Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Register
5. Quad Naval Exercise MALABAR 2026 Begins in Japan; INS Sahyadri Participates
6. India and Kazakhstan Sign Extradition Treaty to Strengthen Cooperation Against International Crime
7. Earth Captures Temporary Mini-Moon 2026 QQ8 Until December 2026
8. Men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2026: Indian Hockey Team Defeats Japan to Win Record Sixth Title and Complete a Hat-Trick
9. National Cancer Awareness Day 2026 – November 7
10. 138th Birth Anniversary of C. V. Raman – November 7, 2026
11. Supreme Court Declares National Book Trust a ‘State’ Under Article 12 of the Constitution
12. Blackbucks to Return to Gomarda Wildlife Sanctuary in Chhattisgarh After Five Decades
13. Karnataka Declares Malabar Tree Toad as Its State Amphibian
14. Uttarakhand Police Receives President’s Colour, Becomes 16th State Police Force to Earn the Honour
15. Mohammed Shami Retires from Test Cricket After 64 Matches and 229 Wickets
16. Asteroid 2026 QQ8 Becomes Earth’s Temporary Mini-Moon
17. Filipino Engineer Wins 2026 James Dyson Global Sustainability Award
18. India and Myanmar Launch First Tri-Services HADR Exercise ‘RAHAT MITRA’ in Chennai
19. Can a Partitioned Presidency Save COP31? Turkiye and Australia’s High-Stakes Gamble

National News

Nirmala Sitharaman Released ₹250 Coin Honouring Dikshitar

• What: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released a ₹250 commemorative coin at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, to mark the 250th birth anniversary of Carnatic music maestro Muthuswami Dikshitar.
• Tell me more:
  • Issued by: Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  • Organised under: Centre of Excellence for Indian Knowledge Systems at IIT-BHU
  • Supported by: Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme
  • BSE MD: Sundararaman Ramamurthy
  • Price: Its face value is ₹250, but the government mint sells it to collectors at ₹6,985.
  • Commemorative coins are minted in limited quantities using precious metals and are mainly collected as memorabilia, not used for regular transactions.
• Knowledge Nuggets:
  • Muthuswami Dikshitar: He is one of the Trinity of Carnatic music, along with Tyagaraja and Syama Sastri. He composed about 450–500 works, mostly in Sanskrit.
  • Founder of BHU: Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
  • BHU Vice-Chancellor (Current): Prof Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi
  • IIT-BHU Director (Current): Prof Amit Patra

Three Indian Manuscripts Inscribed on UNESCO’s MOWCAP Register

• What: Manuscripts of the Mahabharata, Kautilya’s Arthashastra and Kalhana’s Rajatarangini were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register at the 11th Session of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) in Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Tell me more:

• India’s total in the regional register: With these three, India now has six inscriptions. The earlier three are the illustrated Ramcharitmanas manuscripts of Tulsidas’ work, a rare 15th-century Panchatantra manuscript, and the Sahrdayaloka-Locana, a text on Indian poetics.
• Nodal Agency: Nodal Agency: The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), India’s nodal institution for the programme since 2014, prepared the nominations for all three works.
• Knowledge Nuggets:
  • UNESCO Memory of the World Programme: UNESCO launched it in 1992 to protect documentary heritage from loss and decay. It works through international, regional and national registers, and the Asia-Pacific Regional Register is run through MOWCAP.
  • Other Indian documentary heritage recognised internationally earlier: Rigveda, Saiva manuscripts, Tamil medical texts, Kalachakra Tantra commentaries and the works of Abhinavagupta

India and Kazakhstan Signed Extradition Treaty

• What: India and Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s biggest state, signed an extradition treaty to fight cross-border international crime and terror.
• Tell me more:
  • Extradition treaty sets a legal framework for handing over persons wanted by either country, either to face criminal charges or to serve a court sentence.

Supreme Court Held National Book Trust Is a ‘State’

• What: The Supreme Court (SC) held that the National Book Trust (NBT) is a “State” under Article 12 of the Constitution because the government has deep and pervasive control over it.
• Tell me more:
  • Article 12: It defines “State” only for fundamental rights. It includes government-controlled bodies like NBT, so people can go to the High Courts and the SC to enforce their fundamental rights against them.
  • National Book Trust (NBT):
    • The Government of India set it up through resolutions in 1957 and 1962 to promote good literature and make books available at moderate prices.
    • The government deeply controls its creation, chairman, finances and audit, that’s why it is given the status of a “State” (for the purpose of Fundamental Rights).
    • Now, people can now approach the High Courts and the SC to enforce their fundamental rights against NBT.

State News

Chhattisgarh Reintroducing Blackbucks in Gomarda Wildlife Sanctuary

• What: Chhattisgarh will translocate 50 blackbucks from Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary to Gomarda Wildlife Sanctuary, which will bring blackbucks back to Gomarda after more than five decades.
• Tell me more:
  • Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra): It belongs to the family Bovidae and is native to the Indian subcontinent. India has about 90% of its population, and it lives mainly in open grasslands and scrublands.

• Knowledge Nuggets:
  • Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022: It reduced the number of schedules from six to four.
  • Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH): This Centrally Sponsored Umbrella Scheme gives central assistance to states for wildlife conservation, including blackbuck conservation.
  • Gomarda Wildlife Sanctuary: The Laat and Manai rivers flow through its core area.
  • Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary: It lies in the north-eastern corner of Raipur district in Chhattisgarh. The Balmedhi, Jonk and Mahanadi rivers run along it.

Karnataka Declared Malabar Tree Toad State Amphibian

• What: Karnataka became the first state in India to officially declare a state amphibian, after its Forest, Ecology and Environment Department named the Malabar Tree Toad (Malenadina Mara Gantikappe) for it.
• Tell me more:
  • Kerala announced the Purple Frog, locally called Mahabali or pig-nosed frog, as its state amphibian but has not officially declared it.
  • The Malabar Tree Toad lives only in the Western Ghats and is the only toad species in the world that can climb trees. It indicates the health of Karnataka’s evergreen forests.
• Knowledge Nuggets:

International News

Asteroid 2026 QQ8 Became Earth’s Temporary Mini-Moon

• What: A small asteroid named 2026 QQ8 was captured by Earth’s gravity and is orbiting Earth as a temporary mini-moon, as reported by the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Minor Planet Center.
• Tell me more:
  • Discovered by: Hungarian astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky
  • Size: About 1–2 metres wide
  • Stay: It entered Earth’s Hill sphere in April 2026 and is expected to stay until December, then escape around the end of 2026 or early January 2027 and continue orbiting the Sun.
• Knowledge Nuggets:
  • Hill sphere: It is the region around a planet where its gravity controls a passing object’s motion more than the Sun’s pull.

• International Astronomical Union (IAU): It is the international authority for naming celestial bodies and the features on them. UN recognised IAU in 1982.
  • Founded: 1919
  • HQ: Paris, France
  • General Assembly: Held every three years

UNFCCC COP31 in Antalya, Turkiye

• What: The 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) began in Antalya, Turkiye. For the first time, two countries, Turkiye and Australia, share its leadership.
• Tell me more:
  • Split presidency: Countries agreed this arrangement at COP30 in Belém because Turkiye and Australia both wanted to host COP31. Both belong to the same regional group, and the treaty has no way to settle a tie between two bidders.

• Australia’s COP31 President of Negotiations: Chris Bowen
• Turkiye’s four pillars for green industrialisation:
  • Raise electricity’s share of global final energy consumption to 35% by 2035.
  • Increase the circular material use rate to 15% and halve the projected growth of municipal waste.
  • Cut energy intensity in buildings by 25% by 2035.
  • Use responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) to speed up clean technology deployment.
• Finance goals: Australia must build consensus on a new global finance goal and on at least tripling adaptation funding by 2035.
• Next host (COP32): Ethiopia
• Knowledge Nuggets:
  • UN Secretary-General: António Guterres. COP31 is his last COP as UN Secretary-General.

Defence News

MALABAR 2026 Naval Exercise in Japan

• What: India’s indigenous Guided Missile Stealth Frigate INS Sahyadri, a Shivalik-class ship of the Eastern Fleet, joined the multilateral naval exercise MALABAR 2026 with the navies of the United States, Japan and Australia in waters south of Japan’s Kanto region.
• Tell me more:
  • Edition: MALABAR is in its 30th year, and this is the sixth edition with all four countries taking part.
  • Origin: It began in 1992 as a bilateral naval exercise between India and the US, and later grew into a quadrilateral exercise of India, the US, Japan and Australia.
  • Arrival: INS Sahyadri arrived at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, where the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) welcomed it.

Inaugural India–Myanmar Exercise RAHAT MITRA in Chennai

• What: The first bilateral Tri-Services Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise “RAHAT MITRA” between the Defence Forces of India and Myanmar concluded in Chennai.
• Tell me more:
  • Indian assets showcased: INS Sukanya, INS Bitra, INS Adyar, a Chetak helicopter and an IAF ALH

Science and Technology

CSIR Signed Letter of Association with DAKSHIN

• What: The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and DAKSHIN – Global South Centre of Excellence at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) signed a Letter of Association (LoA) to strengthen capacity building, research collaboration and technology partnerships for Global South countries.
• Tell me more:
  • Areas of possible cooperation: Healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, the blue economy and the digital economy, as highlighted by the RIS Director General
  • DAKSHIN: It is the Global South Centre of Excellence at RIS, which promotes knowledge sharing among Global South countries to build affordable, locally relevant solutions and speed up progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Knowledge Nuggets:
  • Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) is a think tank in India that works on developing solutions for developing countries.

Awards

Uttarakhand Police Received President’s Colour in Dehradun

• What: Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented the President’s Colour to the Uttarakhand Police in Dehradun, which made it the 16th police force in India to receive this highest honour.
• Tell me more:
  • Motto of Uttarakhand Police: “Karm Satyam Shauryam”
  • National top rank: Uttarakhand Police topped the CCTNS/ICJS 2.0 Dashboard with a score of 93.46.
  • First state police on Everest: Uttarakhand Police became the first state police force in India to scale Mount Everest.
• Knowledge Nuggets:
  • World Police and Fire Games: Uttarakhand Police has won 37 medals at these Games. Gandhinagar, Gujarat, will host the next edition in 2029.
  • The government aims to make India completely drug-free by 31 December 2029.

Aldrei Ong Won 2026 James Dyson Sustainability Prize

• What: Filipino structural engineer Aldrei Ong won the 2026 James Dyson Award’s Global Sustainability prize for Sentinel, a sensor that detects hidden damage in buildings after earthquakes.
• Tell me more:
  • Prize money: £30,000
  • The James Dyson Award is an international design engineering competition run by the James Dyson Foundation to encourage current and recent university students to create inventions that solve real-world problems.

Important Days

National Cancer Awareness Day 2026 – November 7

Sports

9th Men’s Asian Champions Trophy Hockey 2026 in Punjab

• What: India beat Japan 4-1 in the final of the 9th Hero Hockey Men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2026 in Mohali, Punjab, to win a record sixth title as hosts and defending champions.
• Tell me more:
  • Venues: Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium, Jalandhar (league stage) and Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium, Mohali (semi-finals and final)
  • Most successful team: India, with 5 titles (2011, 2016, 2018, 2023 and 2024); the 2018 title was shared with Pakistan. This win completes a hat-trick of titles for India.
  • India’s captain: Harmanpreet Singh
  • Title sponsor of the Championship: “Hero” refers to Hero MotoCorp, the Indian two-wheeler maker.
  • Teams (6): India, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, China and Bangladesh

Mohammed Shami Retired from Test Cricket

• What: Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami, 36, retired from Test cricket after a 12-year career in which he took 229 wickets in 64 matches. He will continue to play white-ball cricket.
• Tell me more:
  • Shami made his Test debut against the West Indies at Eden Gardens in 2013 and played his last Test in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at Lord’s.

Memorandum of Understanding

NITI Aayog, GIZ Signed NDC-TIA II Agreement

• What: NITI Aayog and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH signed an Implementation Agreement under the Nationally Determined Contribution–Transport Initiative for Asia Phase II (NDC-TIA II) to speed up the decarbonisation of India’s road freight sector.
• Tell me more:
  • NDC-TIA II: It is a regional initiative supported by the German Government’s International Climate Initiative (IKI).
  • Implementing partners: World Resources Institute (WRI) India, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) India and Agora Energiewende

Miscellaneous

Nobel Prize Marked CV Raman’s 138th Birth Anniversary

• What: On the eve of his 138th birth anniversary (7 November), the Nobel Prize shared archival footage of Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata (CV) Raman arriving in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1930 to receive his Nobel Prize in Physics.
• Knowledge Nuggets:
  • Nobel Prize in Physics, 1930: Raman won it for his work on the scattering of light and the discovery of the effect named after him. He was the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field.
  • Raman Effect: It shows that a small part of light changes its wavelength when molecules scatter it. It is the basis of Raman spectroscopy, which identifies substances and their molecular structure.
  • National Science Day: India observes it on February 28 every year to commemorate his discovery of the Raman Effect.
  • Bharat Ratna: Raman received it in 1954.

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