Source: Cick Here

• World Vegan Day is an annual event celebrated by vegans around the world every 1 November.


• It is an annual event that commemorates the benefits of veganism for humans, animals, and the natural environment. Established in the year 1994, World Vegan Day is celebrated through exhibitions, seminars, public debates, workshops etc.


• This day is said to be a chance for individuals to advocate the lifestyle, share ideas and sensitise their friends its value and benefits.

Source: Cick Here

• Cabinet approved Agreement between India and Morocco on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters


• Cabinet approved 2 MoUs between India and the Russian Federation cooperation in transport education and in the field of railways.


• Cabinet approved MoU between India and Korea for strengthening cooperation in the field of Tourism.


• On November 1, 2018, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved renaming of Jharsuguda Airport, Odisha as“Veer Surendra Sai Airport, Jharsuguda”.


• On November 1, 2018, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved moving a Resolution for amendment in the first Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA)

Source: Cick Here

• On November 1, 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved a Safe City project for Lucknow at a total cost of Rs.194.44 crore.


• The project would be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with Centre and State sharing the funding in 60:40 ratio, under the Nirbhaya Fund Scheme.


• This is a part of MHA’s plans to implement Safe City projects in 8 selected cities, under Nirbhaya Fund. These cities are Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.


• The projects are to be implemented in consultation with Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology, respective Municipal & Police Commissioners of the cities and civil society organizations.


• For Lucknow, The Safe city proposal will be implemented by Uttar Pradesh Police.

Source: Cick Here

• Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism, K. J. Alphons along with senior officials attended the 109th session of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Executive Council in Manama, Bahrain from 30th October to 1st November 2018.


• The UNWTO Executive Council discussed various topics related to the development of global Tourism sector.
  
• K. J. Alphons chaired the ‘Programme and Budget Committee’ meeting of UNWTO. He announced that for the first time, UNWTO had a surplus budget and most of the arrears due have been paid.


• India will be the chair of Programme and Budget Committee of UNWTO Executive Council till 2021.


• He also met the Secretary-General of UNWTO, Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili. They discussed about involving UNWTO in developing tourism and establishing Global Public Private Partnerships.


• The next UNWTO Executive Council will be held in Bahrain.

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• On October 31, 2018, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways mandated that all new public service vehicles except auto rickshaws and e-Rickshaws, registered on and after 1st January 2019 to be equipped with Vehicle Location Tracking ( VLT ) with emergency buttons.


• To ensure safety of passengers especially women.


• In case of older public service vehicles –those registered upto 31st December,2018, the respective State/ UT Governments will notify the date by which these vehicles have to install Vehicle Location Tracking Device and Panic Buttons.


• Command and Control Centres will be setup by the State or VLT manufacturers or any other agency authorised by the State Government.


• These will act as interface to state emergency response centre, the transport department or Regional Transport Offices, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.


• They will also provide feed to the VAHAN data base or the relevant data base of the State with regard to the over speeding, device health status.


• The details of each VLT device will be uploaded on the VAHAN database by the VLT device manufacturer.


• Every year, VLT device manufacturers will get their devices tested after first certification from the testing agencies referred to in rule 126 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.


• Furthermore, the State or Union Territories will publish Internet Protocol address (IP address) and Short Message Service Gateway (SMS gateway) details of their respective emergency response system where VLT devices will send the emergency alerts on press of emergency button.

Source: Cick Here

• On October 31, 2018, the first ever India-US Dialogue on Intellectual Property was held in New Delhi.


• To deepen bilateral strategic cooperation on IP policy.


• The dialogue was launched by US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) and FICCI in partnership with the US-India Business Council.


• It was decided to be convened annually, alternating between New Delhi and Washington, DC.


• The main topics of discussion were patent filing, regulatory landscape, copyright and infringement, technology transfer, and enforcement.


• It would help identify solutions, and also share technical knowledge and expertise.

Source: Cick Here

• Emerging Trends in Aviation Engineering and Logistics (AVIAMAT – 2018) held in New Delhi On November 1, 2018, a two day seminar on ‘Emerging Trends in Aviation Engineering and Logistics’ (AVIAMAT-2018) concluded at Air Force Auditorium, Subroto Park, in New Delhi.


• It was organized by the Indian Air Force and Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa delivered the key note address.


• The focus of the seminar was usable emerging and futuristic innovative aviation technologies.


• It saw participation of aviation experts from three services, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) and start ups from the private sector.

Source: Cick Here

• On October 31, 2018, the Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh approved release of 2nd installment of Central Share of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) in advance for the year 2018-19, to help the State in providing relief measures to the affected people.


• The amount approved was Rs. 229.05 crore.


• The first installment for the same amount was released to Andhra Pradesh in June 2018.


• This is a part of the release for the effect of cyclone TITLI that landed in Andhra Pradesh on October 11, 2018.


• As par report by IMCT(Inter-Ministerial Central Team), further assistance will be provided from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

Source: Cick Here

• On October 31, 2018, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched an Early warning dissemination system (EWDS). It has been developed as a part of the Central and state government project with the assistance of World Bank.


• To provide early and timely information on natural calamities to the people of the state.


• It is a part of the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project and covers 6 coastal districts namely– Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri and Ganjam. It has a State emergency centre in Bhubaneswar.


• Under this, a total of 122 towers were installed in the coastal districts along the 480-km long coastline , approximately at a distance of 1.5 km.


• It has a satellite based mobile data voice terminals, digital mobile radio, universal communication interface and mass messaging system to provide timely warning via alert messages on mobile phones.

Source: Cick Here

• On November 1, 2018, Fitch ratings affirmed IDBI Bank’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at ‘BB+’ and its viability rating (VR) at ‘ccc’.


• The IDR ratings reflects expectation of a moderate probability of extraordinary state support given the bank’s market position, systemic importance and linkages to the state.


• The agency also expects the bank’s core capital buffers to improve by FY19.


• It also removed the lender’s VR from ‘rating watch evolving’.


• This reflects better visibility of IDBI Bank from its stake sale to LIC.


• In August 2018, IDBI received Rs 2,100 crore as part of the stake sale and intents to receive another Rs 20,000 crore of fresh equity by March 2019.

Source: Cick Here

• On October 31, 2018, according to the World Bank Group’s Doing Business 2019 report, India has shot up by 23 spots to reach the 77th position among 190 nations in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking.


• India is now recognized as among top ten improves for the 2nd consecutive year and has ranked first among South Asian countries compared to 6th rank in 2014.


• In 2017, India progressed 30 positions to reach the top 100.


• From 2014 to 2018, India moved from the 142nd place in the index to the 77th spot.


• According to the report, India has improved on six of the 10 parameters on starting and doing business in a country. This include: ease of starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.


• It also improved its doing business score to 67.23, from last year’s 60.76.


• India and neighbouring China are among the top 10 improvers this year.

Source: Cick Here

• On October 31, 2018, Policybazaar.com partnered with Accrivis Network Pvt. Ltd., a data integration platform provider, to implement blockchain solutions for secure purchase of insurance.


• It would simplify the process of selling and buying insurance in a secured manner and will also help address consumer queries and complaints in a time-bound manner.


• The technology will make the data indisputable and time-stamped for reliability, which will result in highly secure, more efficient and transparent exchange of information using a single network.


• The tie-up will enable Policybazaar.com to explore multiple use-cases of blockchain technology.

Source: Cick Here

• On 30th October 2018, India and 6 other members of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) pulled out of Saudi Arabia led-South West Asian Football Federation (SWAFF) with immediate effect.


• Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are the other SAFF countries that removed ties with South West Asian Football Federation (SWAFF) during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


• Former SAFF President Adel Ezzat was made president of SWAFF. He later decided to contest against Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa for position of AFC President in the April 2019 elections.


• Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa is the current President of AFC. India and 6 other SAFF members have pulled out of SWAFF in support of AFC President Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa.

Source: Cick Here

• On 1st November 2018, senior Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali announced his retirement from limited overs cricket in order to concentrate on Test cricket.


• He is 33 years old. He has played 53 ODIs (One Day International). He played his last ODI against New Zealand in January 2018.


• In ODIs he had an average of 36.90 and strike-rate of 74.45. He stepped down as captain of the ODI team in 2017.


• He had scored a triple century in Test cricket in the UAE in 2016 and a double hundred in Australia in 2017.

Source: Cick Here

• Qatar will host the 23rd edition of the World Corporate Games between 6 and 9 November 2019.


• This event will be an opportunity for corporations throughout the world to exhibit their competitiveness through sports.


• This is the first time the World Corporate Games will be held in the Middle East. It will be organized by Sports for Life.


• This event takes place every one to two years. The last edition was held in Houston, US in 2017.


• Nearly 8,000 international and local participants will take part. It will be the first time, the World Corporate Games will have eSports and mindsports.


• It features both individual and team competitions for women and men of all ages and abilities. It is an all-inclusive event with paragames for various categories.

Source: Cick Here

• On 31st October 2018, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal distributed ‘Swachhta’ awards on the last day of Swachhta Pakhwada.


• Harsimrat Kaur presented awards for cleanliness to Mega Food Parks and Cold Chain Units for maintaining, promoting and encouraging Swachhta Culture.


• Winners were selected by National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management based on Swachhta Audit conducted on 11 Mega Food Parks and 11 Cold Chain Units.


• A 15-day observance of cleanliness campaign by Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries came to an end with this Swachhta Pakhwada.

Source: Cick Here

• On 1st November 2018, Lieutenant General PC Thimmaya took charge as the 21st General Officer Commander-in-Chief of Shimla-based Army Training Command (ARTRAC) facility.


• He was earlier posted as the Commandant of Army War College in MHOW, Madhya Pradesh.


• He passed out from the Indian Military Academy (IMA) with the Sword of Honour in 1981.


• He has officiated as Military Observer in United Nations Angola Verification Mission. He has received the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM).

Source: Cick Here

• On October 31, 2018, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Shri S. S. Deswal, as Director General, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).


• He took charge from Shri R K Pachnanda, the outgoing DG of ITBP.


• Shri Deswal will also hold the additional charge of the post of DG, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

Source: Cick Here

• On October 31, 2018, Ministry of Defence announced the appointment of Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar as the 12th Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to Chairman, COSC.


• Prior to this, he was Director General (Perspective Planning) at the Integrated HQ, Ministry of Defence.


• On assuming command, he paid homage to the martyrs at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate and accorded the Tri-Services Guard of Honour at the South Block lawns.


• He has 38 years of experience and has commanded an Artillery Regiment during Operation Parakram, an Infantry Brigade at the Line of Control, a Counter Insurgency Force in Jammu and Kashmir.

Source: Cick Here

• On 30th October 2018, Olympic bronze medalist boxer MC Mary Kom was named as the brand ambassador of the 10th edition of AIBA Women’s World Championship, which will be held from November 15-24, 2018, in New Delhi.


• Boxing Federation of India (BFI) also launched the logo and anthem of the 10th AIBA Women’s World Championship.


• The logo depicted “fire and women’s empowerment”. Theme of the anthem was: “Make some noise, scream and shout! We are here to knock you out!!!”.


• Near 300 pugilists from 70 countries across 10 weight categories will take part in the tournament.

Source: Cick Here

• Mahendra Singh Foundation (MSF), a New York based organization, has appointed Aishwarya Sharma as its India brand ambassador for #takethepowerback project.


• Aishwarya Sharma has a blog named Figuramoda where she speaks on various topics through her fashion blog posts. She is a fashion activist.


• The project #takethpowerback aims to provide girls who were affected by violence, Acid Attack and Rape, with a platform to re-define themselves.


• Through this project, MSF will help these women achieve their life’s mission, which they desired to pursue before becoming a victim.