23rd-24th November, 2023

1. Kerala Responsible Tourism (RT) mission has been selected for United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO’s) global list of Case Studies.
2. Kishtwar Saffron from Jammu & Kashmir has received Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
3. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated the AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy in Bhubaneswar.
4. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch has officially launched the Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA) platform at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
5. Competition Commission of India has approved the acquisition of a 27.18% stake in jewellery retailer CaratLane by TATA Group company Titan.
6. Greenway Grameen Infra has secured USD 6.5 million loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB) for clean cookstove initiative.
7. State education achievement survey 2023 PARAKH has been conducted.
8. 14th edition of the Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise “VAJRA PRAHAR 2023” has commenced at the Joint Training Node, Umroi, Meghalaya.
9. Indian Navy and DRDO have tested first indigenously developed Naval Anti-ship Missile from Seaking 42-B helicopter.
10. Tamil writer Perumal Murugan has won the JCB Prize for literature for the novel Fire Bird, which is English translation of his Tamil novel Aalanda Patchi.
11. 4 Indians have featured on BBC 100 Women’s List 2023.
12. World Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease
13. World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence
14. World Toilet Day
15. World Children’s Day
16. Africa Industrialization Day
17. International Cricket Council (ICC) has introduced ‘Stop Clock’ in Men’s One Day International and T20 International cricket to regulate time taken between overs.
18. Novak Djokovic of Serbia has defeated Jannik Sinner from Italy to win seventh Nitto ATP Finals title.
19. Nongthombam Maipak, former Mr India title holder and veteran body builder of Manipur has passed away.
20. National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (NIEPVD), Dehradun has signed MoUs with Nation Book Trust & Daisy Forum of India.
21. Survey of India has partnered with Genesys International to digitally develop India’s mapping landscape.
22. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has signed an MoU with Amazon Seller Services Private Limited (Amazon) for promoting cargo movement using river Ganga (National Waterway 1)
23. Blue Dart has partnered with India Post to provide automated digital parcel lockers.
24. Former cricketer Saurav Ganguli has been named as the Brand Ambassador of West Bengal.
25. Lakshmi Ramakrishna Srinivas has been appointed as the Additional Director of South Indian Bank.
26. Girish Chandra Murmu, Comptroller and Auditor General of India has been elected as the Vice-Chair of UN Panel of Auditors for 2024.
27. Former 110m hurdles world record holder Colin Jackson has been appointed as International Event Ambassador of the eighth edition of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K.
28. Microsoft has appointed Aparna Gupta as Global Delivery Center leader.
29. Padma awardee Dr SS Badrinath, founder of Sankara Nethralaya has passed away.

State News

1. Kerala Responsible Tourism (RT) mission has been selected for United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO’s) global list of Case Studies.
   • What does it mean?
     • The UNWTO has commended Kerala Tourism for successfully upholding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while promoting the travel industry in the state.
     • Kerala has been recognized for its approach in employing local resources and products while promoting Responsible Tourism (RT) destinations.
   • About Inclusion in special dashboard–
     • Kerala Tourism’s RT Mission has earned a place among seven G20 countries in the Special Dashboard of the UNWTO.
     • Maharashtra is the only other Indian state mentioned, specifically for its Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve project.
   • Global Award for Sustainable and Women-Inclusive Initiatives-
     • Kerala RT Mission has recently received the Global Award in the ‘Best for Local Sourcing – Craft and Food’ category.
     • The award which is presented by the Responsible Tourism Partnership and International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT) has acknowledged sustainable and women-inclusive initiatives in the state.

   
   

2. Kishtwar Saffron from Jammu & Kashmir has received Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

3. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated the AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy in Bhubaneswar.
   • More details–
     • A total of 50 talented football players, including 15 from Odisha, in the Under-14 category will be selected for the academy from across the country.
     • The academy will be headed by a FIFA-appointed coach along with various coaches and staff from AIFF and the Odisha government.
       Source: Indian Express

Banking and Economy

1. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch has officially launched the Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA) platform at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
   • Objective of IRRA platform–
     • To provide trading members with a mechanism to swiftly address and recover from technical glitches impacting client service across exchanges.
     • It will work from both the Primary site and the Disaster Recovery site.
   • It is not available for algo trading and institutional clients

2. Competition Commission of India has approved the acquisition of a 27.18% stake in jewellery retailer CaratLane by TATA Group company Titan.
   Source: ET
3. Greenway Grameen Infra has secured USD 6.5 million loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB) for clean cookstove initiative.
   • Objective of fund–
     • To produce and distribute 1 million improved cookstoves to rural households in India’s Madhya Pradesh and Odisha states
     • To offer financial assistance to families for adopting cleaner cooking methods
   • Key benefits of project–
     • Replacing traditional mud chulhas or indoor stoves with these improved stoves can lead to a 65% reduction in fuel consumption and a 70% decrease in smoke generation.
     • The project anticipates a total reduction of 22.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Source: outlook

Reports and Indices

1. State education achievement survey 2023 PARAKH has been conducted.
   • Objective–
     • To understand the baseline performance in the development of the competencies at the end of the foundational, preparatory, and middle stages.
   • Coverage–
     • It covered approximately 80 lakh students from 3 lakh schools at 5917 blocks across the nation.
   • Participation–
     • All States and UTs participated except Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal
   • Assessment methodology–
     • Assessment methodology employed a paper-pen-based approach with OMR technology for data capture and analysis.
   • Key observation–
     • It observed a significant achievement in the assessment of educational competencies among students at the block level in India at grades 3, 6, and 9.

Source: PIB

Defence News

1. 14th edition of the Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise “VAJRA PRAHAR 2023” has commenced at the Joint Training Node, Umroi, Meghalaya.
   • Objective–
     • To share best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics.

     
     
   • Participating forces–
     • US contingent– 1st Special Forces Group (SFG) of US Special Forces
     • Indian Army– Special Forces personnel from the Eastern Command

2. Indian Navy and DRDO have tested first indigenously developed Naval Anti-ship Missile from Seaking 42-B helicopter.
   • Missile has the expected range of 500 kilometres.

Source: livemint

Awards

1. Tamil writer Perumal Murugan has won the JCB Prize for literature for the novel Fire Bird, which is English translation of his Tamil novel Aalanda Patchi.
   • More about Fire Bird–
     • The book is translated in English by Janani Kannan
     • Published by– Penguin
     • Award money– ₹ 25 lakh cash prize

2. 4 Indians have featured on BBC 100 Women’s List 2023.
   • List contains 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2023.
   • List of Indians–

Source: EFE

Important Days

1. November 15– World Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; Theme– Breathing is Life – Act Earlier
   Source: gpd
2. November 18– World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence
   Source: UN
3. November 19– World Toilet Day; Theme– Accelerating Change
   • Hummingbird is the symbol of World Toilet Day 2023.
     Source: worldtoiletday
   
   
4. November 20– World Children’s Day; Theme– For Every Child, Every Right
   Source: UNICEF
5. November 20– Africa Industrialization Day; Theme– “Accelerating Africa’s Industrialization Through the Empowerment of African Women In Processing For An Integrated Market.”
   Source: UN

Sports

1. International Cricket Council (ICC) has introduced ‘Stop Clock’ in Men’s One Day International and T20 International cricket to regulate time taken between overs.
   • Details of rule–
     • If the bowling fails to bowl the next over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed, a 5-run penalty will be imposed the third time it happens in an innings.
     • It will be introduced on trial basis from December 2023 to April 2024
       Source: ET
2. Novak Djokovic of Serbia has defeated Jannik Sinner from Italy to win seventh Nitto ATP Finals title.

3. Nongthombam Maipak, former Mr India title holder and veteran body builder of Manipur has passed away.
   Source: HT

Memorandum of Understanding

1. National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (NIEPVD), Dehradun has signed MoUs with Nation Book Trust & Daisy Forum of India.
   • About MoU with Nation Book Trust–
     • It paves the way for the establishment of a Universal Design Centre for Reading in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
     • This centre will showcase the National Book Trust’s extensive collection of publications and learning materials in various accessible formats.

   • Objective–
     • to make reading materials more accessible to individuals with visual disabilities, ensuring equal opportunities for learning and education.

   • About MoU with Daisy Forum India–
     • Objective–
       • To facilitate the provision of an online library containing accessible books and related resources tailored for persons with print disabilities.
       • It seeks to create and disseminate accessible books through SugamyaPustakalaya, an online library designed for persons with print disabilities in India.

     
     

2. Survey of India has partnered with Genesys International to digitally develop India’s mapping landscape.
   • Objective–
     • To create Digital Twins of major cities and towns using advance mapping technology of Genesys

3. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has signed an MoU with Amazon Seller Services Private Limited (Amazon) for promoting cargo movement using river Ganga (National Waterway 1).
   • More about MoU-
     • The partnership seeks to harness the efficiency and sustainability of water transport to optimize logistics, diminish environmental footprints, and promote economic development.
     • First ship with e-commerce cargo will be flagged off from Patna to Kolkata soon.

4. Blue Dart has partnered with India Post to provide automated digital parcel lockers.
   • How it will work?
     • New lockers will provide customers with an alternative delivery method that does away with the need for personal receipts or signing upon package delivery.
     • Recipients can access their packages by entering a designated code and opening the locker.
     • This allows for flexible delivery and collection times.
       Source: Business Standard

Appointments

1. Former cricketer Saurav Ganguli has been named as the Brand Ambassador of West Bengal.
   • Before his appointment Actor Shahrukh Khan has been serving as the brand ambassador of West Bengal since 2012.
     Source: Indian Express

2. Lakshmi Ramakrishna Srinivas has been appointed as the Additional Director of South Indian Bank.
   • Tenure of Appointment– 3 years (from November 20, 2023)

3. Girish Chandra Murmu, Comptroller and Auditor General of India has been elected as the Vice-Chair of UN Panel of Auditors for 2024.
   • About Panel of External Auditors–
     • The panel comprises heads of 12 Supreme Audit Institutions globally.
     • It oversees the external audits of UN Secretariat, Funds and Programmes and Specialised Agencies.
       Source: TOI

4. Former 110m hurdles world record holder Colin Jackson has been appointed as International Event Ambassador of the eighth edition of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K.

5. Microsoft has appointed Aparna Gupta as Global Delivery Center leader.
   Source: Business Standard

Miscellaneous

1. Padma awardee Dr SS Badrinath, founder of Sankara Nethralaya has passed away.
   • He was one of India’s topmost ophthalmologists.
   • Awards won–
     • Padma Shri- 1983
     • Padma Bhushan- 1999
       Source: Hindu Business Line

Start Quiz of 23rd-24th November 2023 on Mobile

Start Quiz of 23rd-24th November 2023 on Desktop