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• On November 23, 2018, 549th Guru Nanak Jayanti or Gurpurab and Kartik Purnima was celebrated all over the country.


• The day marks the birth of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak, who laid the foundation of Sikhism.


• Kartik is the eighth lunar month as per the Hindu calendar and is considered the holiest month among all lunar months.

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• On November 22 to 24th November, 2018, the Embassy of India in Nepal and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized a 3-day exhibition of construction equipment and technology- ConMac 2018 in Bhaktapur near Kathmandu, Nepal.


• It was inaugurated by Nepal’s Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth.


• Ambassador of India to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri will be the Guest of Honour.


• The exhibition aims to further enhance high level engagement between construction industries of the two countries.

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• On November 21, 2018, 4-day 12th biennial World Congress on Mountain Medicine commenced in Kathmandu, Nepal.


• The theme of the congress was “Mountain Medicine in the Heart of the Himalayas”.


• The flagship event of the International Society for Mountain Medicine (ISMM) was held for the first time in Nepal and hosted by Mountain Medicine Society of Nepal (MMSN).

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• On November 21, 2018, on concluding day of 3rd India-Singapore Defence Minister dialogue(DMD) in Visakhapatnam, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman reaffirmed deepening defence ties between India and Singapore.


• The meeting was co-chaired by the Defence ministers of the 2 countries.


• Earlier to attending the DMD, the Singaporean minister attended the final phase of 25th Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise SIMBEX on board INS Shakti.


• The significance of the meeting was the renewal of Bilateral Agreement for Conduct of Joint Army Training as well as exercises for Singapore Armed Forces in India.


• Further cooperation among the countries is anticipated and the disputes would be solved via international laws to promote stability in ASEAN region and tackle terrorism.


• As part of the mutual cooperation, Singapore Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen and Indian Defence Minister Ms Sitaraman have agreed to step up intelligence and information sharing particularly in areas of maritime.


• The 4th Defence Minister’s dialogue was announced to be held in Singapore in 2019.

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• On November 21, 2018, India and Nepal decided to set up a hotline to ensure effective coordination to combat smuggling, improve border management and facilitate trade.


• The decision was made by Chief of India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, D P Dash and Director General, Customs, Nepal, Toyam Raya.


• It was decided at the 2-day-19th annual Indo-Nepal Director General-level talks in Kathmandu which held on November 19-20, 2018.

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• On November 23, 2018, the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) released the agenda to host the 4-day 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Hyderabad on 30 October – 2 November 2019.


• The conference theme will be: “Ending the Emergency: Science, Leadership, Action”.


• It would be held after the first ever United Nations (UN) High-Level Meeting on TB and the third UN High-Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases.

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• On November 23, 2018, as per the 6th edition & 2019 version of India Skills Report, Andhra Pradesh topped the list of states with the highest employability followed by Rajasthan and Haryana.


• The report was launched in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.


• Andhra Pradesh is one of the preferred hiring destinations in India, with the highest employability in India.


• Employability has risen to 47%, with female employability at 46% and male participation at 48%.


• It is high in B.Tech/ B.E. whereas that of MBAs are low.


• Growth can be seen in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities despite absence of IITs and IIMs.

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• On November 20, 2018, the Gujarat government launched Rs 351 Crore project for the conservation of the Asiatic lions for next five years, after the Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) outbreak,that claimed 23 Asiatic lions lives in their only dwelling Gir National park in Saurashtra.


• The project also includes an emergency ambulance van akin to the 108 emergency service.


• It also includes a ‘state of the art’ veterinary hospital to be built at Rs 50 crore in Sasan Gir region.


• Additionally, a special veterinary cadre of 120 personnel will be created for the conservation of lions.

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• On November 22, 2018, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for City Gas Distribution(CGD) in 129 districts of 18 states under the 9th CGD bidding round, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
  
• This would cover over a quarter of India’s population.


• 78 out of the 86 Geographical Area’s put on offer in the 9th round of bidding, were awarded licenses by Downstream regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).


• These were awarded to Adani Gas, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Torrent Gas.


• Out of this, he laid foundation stones for work in 65 Geographical Area’s,in 129 districts.

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• On November 23, 2018,1st offshore wind investment conference held in New Delhi,During which the European Investment Bank (EIB) and State Bank of India (SBI) agreed to cooperate on financing renewable energy and wind energy projects across India.


• This collaboration will be under the dedicated EUR 600 million renewable energy financing programme which supports large-scale solar investment across the country.


• EIB also approved a new line of credit worth USD 100 million to Yes Bank to boost private investment in clean energy projects.

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• On November 23, 2018, as per the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) guidelines and the State Legislature, the Jammu and Kashmir bank was brought under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) act.


• The decision was taken by the State Administrative Council (SAC) chaired by Governor Satya Pal Malik.


• The objective of the decision was to strengthen better corporate governance.


• As per the proposal, hereafter, the J&K Bank Limited will be treated as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU).


• It shall be accountable to the State Legislature like other state PSUs and the Annual Report of the bank shall be placed before the State Legislature through the State Finance Department.


• It is the only state government promoted bank in the country, with the Jammu and Kashmir government currently holding 59.3 per cent of the shares.

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• On November 23, 2018, HDFC ERGO General Insurance set up a remote sensing lab for crop insurance.


• This will help in early detection of information and will be used to alert the farmers.


• The lab will work accurately for assessing the risks of the insurers and will also be able to give early warnings about the losses.


• Furthermore, a specialist in the area of remote sensing are hired to look into the data and assess the information so that predictions can be made.


• This will enable scanning of the area through the use of satellite to get better information of the region.

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• On 21st November 2018, 40 years old Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba announced his retirement after a career of 20 years. He began his career at French side Le Mans in 1998.


• Ivorian Footballer, Didier Drogba had been playing for Phoenix Rising in United States. He had won four Premier League titles in his 20 years career.


• Didier Drogba had made 100 appearances for Ivory Coast. He has also voted African Footballer of the year twice.He also won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2006-07 and 2009-10.

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• On November 23, 2018, the 8th Forbes India Leadership Awards (FILA) was released in Mumbai.


• The award has 9 categories to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders of diverse backgrounds.


• Lifetime Achievement Award: Azim Premji,Chairman, Wipro Limited.


• Best Company—Public Sector award: Energy Efficiency Services Limited.


• Best CEO–MNC: Sanjiv Mehta, HUL.


• Best CEO—Private Sector: Rajeev Jain,Bajaj Finance.


• Entrepreneur of the Year: Vivek Chaand Sehgal of Motherson Sumi.


• Outstanding Start-up Award: R Narayan Founder and CEO, Power2SME.


• GenNext Entrepreneur: Adar Cyrus Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India.


• Entrepreneur with Social Impact: Gayathri Vasudevan, CEO, LabourNet Services India.


• Conscious Capitalist Company of the Year: Narayana Health.


• The Theme of the Award was: “Celebrating Achievers and their remarkable journeys against all odds".

• On November 22, 2018, United Nation Environment awarded Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India with the 3rd Asia Environment Enforcement Awards, 2018 for combating trans boundary environmental crime.


• Decided by a selection panel set up by the UN Environment, this is the second time in a row India is the recipient of the awards are being given by UN Environment.

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• On 22nd November 2018,Honorable Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, distributed the 12th National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI)-Scopus Young Scientist Awards 2018 at a gala ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in the nation’s capital New Delhi.


• This year’s award is a joint collaboration between Elsevier and National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) to celebrate the best and brightest young scientists in India, whose works cut across a broad spectrum of key research disciplines such as the “Make in India”, “Digital India”, “Healthy India” and “Clean India” initiatives.


• Each award winner received a citation and a plaque, along with a cash prize of INR 75,000.

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• On 21st November 2018, State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) has appointed Sidharth Rath as the Managing Director & CEO of SBM Bank (India). Before this he was working with Axis Bank as Group Executive and Head of Corporate, Transaction Banking and International Banking.


• SBM Bank (India) has been recently granted licence by the RBI to carry on business as a scheduled commercial bank under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, with effect from 1st December.


• It claims to be the first foreign bank to have been granted a universal banking licence under RBI’s wholly-owned subsidiary scheme. Currently SBM Bank has a total of four branches across Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ramachandrapuram.

• On 21st November, 2018 the Committee of Administrators (CoA) appointed three-member probe panel cleared Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri of allegations of sexual harassment, dismissing the charges levelled by two women as “mischievous and fabricated” and allowed him to resume duties.


• The probe panel was headed by Justice (retd) Rakesh Sharma while former Delhi Commission of Women chairperson Barkha Singh and lawyer-activist Veena Gowda were its other members.


• Currently the Supreme Court-appointed, Committee of Administrators (CoA) consists of the Chairman Vinod Rai and former Indian women’s team captain Diana Edulji.

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• On 22nd November, 2018, leading tyre maker Apollo Tyres has roped in the cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador for the period of 5 years. This is for the first time that the company has associated itself with a celebrity as the face of its brand.


• Apollo Tyres also sponsors the English Premier League club – Manchester United besides German football club Borussia Monchengladbach. In Indian football leagues, the company is the principal sponsor of Chennaiyin FC of Indian Super League and title sponsor of Minerva Punjab FC of I-League.


• Earlier Sachin Tendulkar was associated with MRF for over two decades which is now endorsed by Indian team Captain Virat Kohli.


• Apart from Apollo Tyres, Tendulkar is also the brand Ambassador for BMW in India.

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• Effective from 3rd December 2018, Former Senior Executive of Indigo, Mr. Sanjay Kumar has been appointed as the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of AirAsia India.


• Last month Sunil Bhaskararan from Tata Group has appointed the Managing Director and CEO.


• Mr. Sanjay Kumar will look after commercial operations and he will be responsible for shaping next phase growth at the Bangalore-headquartered AirAsia India.

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• On 23rd November 2018,Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA have created the first ever ‘Ion Drive’ plane with no moving part by adapting a technology that is previously used in Spacecraft.


• Due to absence of moving parts, the plane will not produce any harmful exhaust. The Maintenance cost will also reduce and the plane will not create any noise.


• Ion Drives work by firing out a stream of charged particles which will propel the vessel forward. Ion drives have been used in spacecraft since 1960s.


• The research will pave the way for the possibility of silent drones in the near future. The research can be the first step towards the revolution of aviation industry.