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• On 5th November 2018, World Tsunami Awareness Day was observed all over the world.
In 2015, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared November 5 as World Tsunami Awareness Day.

• This date was chosen in honour of the Japanese story of “Inamura-no-hi”, which means the “burning of the rice sheaves”. In 1854, during an earthquake, a farmer set fire to his entire harvest to warn villagers about Tsunami.


• This day aims to create awareness about tsunami and share innovative approaches to risk reduction.


• World Tsunami Awareness Day 2018 aligns with the International Day for Disaster Reduction and the “Sendai Seven Campaign”. It will focus on Target “C” of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction which aims to reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

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• On November 5, 2018, Ministry of AYUSH observed the 3rd Ayurveda Day.


• The theme of 2018 Ayurveda Day was: “Ayurveda for Public health”.


• It is annually celebrated on the eve of on Dhanawantari Jayanti (Dhanteras).


• On November 4, 2018, the Ministry, on this occasion to celebrate Ayurveda Day, organized a “National Seminar on Entrepreneurship and Business Development in Ayurveda” at Dr. Ambedkar International centre, Janapth, New Delhi.


• It was organized in association with NITI Aayog on 4th & 5th November 2018.


• The objective of the event was to encourage entrepreneurs and Ayurveda stakeholders towards businesses opportunities in the sector.


• Nearly 800 participants from across the country are expected to participate in the main function of 3rd Ayurveda day.


• Ministry of AYUSH also conferred “National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Award” to eminent personalities in the Ayurveda world.


• The award comprises of Citation, Trophy (Dhanwantari Statue) and Cash reward of Rupees five lakh.

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• On November 5, 2018, India and Sharjah decided to boost economic ties at The ‘Sharjah-India Business Roundtable’, that was held in Sharjah, UAE.


• It was organized by Sharjah FDI Office, Invest in Sharjah.


• It was held on the sidelines of the Indian-UAE Partnership Summit that was held in October 30-31, 2018 in Dubai.


• The conference focused on addressing the investment opportunities spanning across emerging sectors such as technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and renewable energy, in a bid to expand the number of businesses in Sharjah.


• Sudesh K. Aggarwal, chairman of the Indian Business and Professional Council in Sharjah senior representatives from the Business Leaders Forum, and more than 100 Indian investors participated in the roundtable.

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• On 5th November 2018, South Korea and the United States resumed their battalion-level marine exercises “Korea Marine Exercise Program (KMEP)”, in Pohang, South Korea.


• KMEP was suspended in May 2018 for 6 months in the middle of peace efforts with North Korea by South Korea and United States.


• US and South Korea were supposed to conduct 19 rounds of training as part of the exercise in fiscal 2018 (from October 2017 to September 2018). So far only 11 rounds have been performed.


• 500 troops from the South Korean Marine Corps and the US III Marine Expeditionary Force are participating.

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• On November 5, 2018, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) partnered up with HCL Foundation and German development agency GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) to organize “Bal Ganga Mela” at HCL’s Noida campus.


• To encourage students to become ambassadors of change.


• NMCG signed an MoU with the HCL Foundation To work on tributaries of Ganga, – Hindon and Yamuna and Increase forest cover in parts of UP and Uttarakhand.

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• On November 4, 2018, the Bihar cabinet, chaired by CM Nitish Kumar, approved redevelopment of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) into world’s largest 5462-bed hospital. It also took 33 more decisions in the cabinet.


• The estimated cost for the project is: Rs. 5540.07 crore.


• Established in 1925, the hospital would be redeveloped by Bihar Medical Services & Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (BMSICL) and would be redeveloped in three phases in seven years.


• It would be world’s largest hospital having 5462 bed, as against the present 1754 bed, with 36 super speciality departments against the present eight super speciality department.


• Also, the number of MBBS seats would be increased to 250 against the existing 150.


• Additionally, it would be a “green building” which will have its connectivity with “Loknayak Ganga Path”.


• Presently, the world’s largest hospital currently is in Belgrade with 3500 bed.

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• Manipur government has declared a war on drugs. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced that the state government and the security forces have initiated projects to eliminate Drug addiction and take strict action against drug dealers.


• Fast track courts have been set up to try the offenders. Manipur is close to the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia, which is heavily affected by drug trafficking.


• Manipur government along with the Army and Assam Rifles is eliminating poppy cultivation. Poppy cultivators are rehabilitated with lemongrass cultivation.

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• On November 5, 2018, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under Union Minister Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal approved the strategy for Operationalisation of Operation Greens.


• The strategy consists of Short term Price Stabilisation Measures, Long Term Integrated value chain development projects.


• The Short term Price Stabilisation measures would be implemented by the Nodal agency NAFED and MoFPI will provide 50% of the subsidy for transport and storage of TOP (Tomato, Onion, Potato).


• According to this, grants-in-aid at the rate of 50% of the eligible project would be given to maximum Rs. 50 crores per project. And the aid would be increased to 70% for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO).

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• On October 30, 2018, ICICI Bank announced partnership with ‘Amazon Pay’ to launch a co-branded credit card, ‘Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card’.


• This co-branded card is available on Visa platform.


• This move is expected to help significantly expand the credit card customer base for the bank.


• This will make online shopping more affordable and provide the best value to Amazon Pay customers.

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• On November 5, 2018, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) ruled against anti-dumping duty on the imports of a synthetic fluoropolymer, a key ingredient in non-stick coating for pans and other cookware, from India and China.


• PTFE has a variety of end-use applications including gaskets, seals, linings, packing materials, tubing, pipe liners, and pipe coatings due to its chemical inertness, heat resistance, electrical insulation properties and functionality over a wide temperature range (-40C to 260C).

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• On November 5, 2018, HSBC India and ING Bank Brussels finished executing a blockchain enabled, live trade finance transaction jointly with Reliance Industries and Tricon Energy.


• The letter of credit (LC) was issued by ING Bank on behalf of the importer Tricon Energy (USA) with HSBC India acting as the advisory bank for RIL.


• The end-to-end transaction was executed on R3’s Corda blockchain platform which is a single shared application which brings all the parties in one single platform.


• It is an industry first Blockchain platform that is integrated with Bolero’s electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) platform to issue and manage an electronic Bill of Lading.


• This would reduce the timelines involved in exchange of export documentation from the extant 7 to 10 days to less than a day.


• It also enhances transparency, security and synergy across all the parties and stakeholders involved.
  
• This would act as an alternative to conventional exchanges for paper-based documentation.

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• From 27th October to 4th November 2018, Rolex Paris Masters 2018 was held on the hard surfaces of AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France.


• Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male tennis players held in Paris, France. It is a part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Masters 1000 on the ATP Tour.


• 2018 Paris Masters is the 47th edition of the tournament.

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• On 4th November 2018, world champion Marc Marquez won the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix 2018 at Sepang, Malaysia.


• Honda’s Marc Marquez won the race inspite of starting in seventh position.


• Suzuki’s Alex Rins finished second in the race. Yamaha’s Johann Zarco finished in third spot.

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• From 30th October to 4th November 2018, SaarLorLux Open 2018 badminton tournament, was held in Saarbrücken, Germany.


• 2018 SaarLorLux Open was the 10th Super 100 tournament of the 2018 BWF World Tour.


• The tournament was organized by German Badminton Association and was sanctioned by the BWF (Badminton World Federation).


• Total prize money for the tournament was $75,000.

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• Namrata Biji Ahuja of The Week magazine has been awarded the IPI (International Press Institute) India Award for excellence in journalism 2018.


• Namrata Biji Ahuja is a senior special correspondent with The Week magazine. She has received this award for her exclusive story on Nagaland underground camps.


• The award consisted of a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, a trophy and a citation. The jury was headed by former Attorney-General of India Soli Sorabjee.


• IPI India had instituted the award in 2003. It is awarded annually to honour the best work done by an Indian media organisation or journalist working in print, radio, television and internet mediums.


• Work done in public interest, safeguarding of freedom of the press and other freedoms like human rights are recognized.

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• On 30th October 2018, Dr. Ramdas M Pai, Chancellor and President of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), was awarded ‘Lifetime Achievement Award 2018’ by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), in New Delhi.


• Dr. Ramdas M Pai is also Chairman Emeritus, Manipal Education and Medical Group. He has been awarded for his contributions in the fields of education and healthcare.


• The award was received by Dr. H Vinod Bhat, Vice Chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, from Secretary, Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) as Dr. Ramdas M Pai was unable to attend the function.

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• “Mere Pyaare Prime Minister” was the only Asian film that was screened at the 13th Rome Film Festival held from 18th to 28th October 2018 in Rome.


• On 23 October 2018, the Official Selection of the Rome Film Fest presented 3 productions from 3 different continents.


• From Asia, filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s upcoming film “Mere Pyaare Prime Minister” was screened.


• The film is produced by Bharathi Mehra. The film speaks about the social issue of open defecation.


• The film focuses on four children living in a slum in Mumbai. One of the kids wants to build a toilet for his single mother and makes an appeal to the Prime Minister.

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• On November 5, 2018, Gafur Rakhimov , an Uzbek businessman, was elected president of International Boxing Association (AIBA) , the amateur boxing federation.


• He replaced previous president CK Wu.


• He won 86 out of 134 second-round votes against his only opponent, former boxer Serik Konakbayev.


• He was a former boxer and coach and has been involved in AIBA since 1995.


• In January 2018, he became AIBA Interim President.


• Rahimov was awarded with the Honorary Order of the Olympic Council of Asia in 2003, after being a member of its Council since 1999.


• In 2008, he also won the ANOC Merit Award for his involvement in the Olympic Family.

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• On November 5, 2018, Ms Nina Tshering La, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Congo.


• She is currently the Ambassador of India to the Democratic Republic of Congo.


• She will be provided with residence in Kinshasa.

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• On November 2, 2018, Shri Sanjay Kumar Verma (IFS: 1988) was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Japan.


• He is presently the Additional Secretary at Headquarter of Foreign Affairs Ministry.

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• On November 5, 2018, India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), announced appointment of Rajesh Ram Mishra as its new President.


• The appointment is effective from October 29, 2018.


• IESA is the trade body representing the Indian Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) industry.

Source: Cick Here

• On November 5, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced successful completion of first deterrence patrol of the Indian nuclear submarine INS Arihant.


• INS Arihant, is a 6,000-tonne ship that comes under the direct control of the Nuclear Command Authority headed by PM Modi.


• It has been under development for three decades.


• It will now act as a fully functional underwater ballistic missile delivery platform.


• It now has a maritime strike capability to land- and air-based delivery platforms thus completing India’s nuclear triad.


• All the big five nuclear nations — the US, Russia, France, China and the UK — are already full-fledged nuclear triad powers.


• Thus the success of INS Arihant places India in the league of the few countries that can design, construct and operate Strategic Strike Nuclear Submarines (SSBN).

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• On 4th November 2018, Vice Admiral (retd) Manohar Pralhad Awati, a veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, died due to old age related ailments, at Vinchurni village in Satara district, Maharashtra.


• Manohar Pralhad Awati was 91 years old. He had joined the Royal Indian Navy in 1945.


• He was an expert in signal communication. He had commanded Indian naval ships: “Ranjit”, “Vendurthy”, “Betwa”, “Tir”, “Mysore”, etc.


• He was awarded the Vir Chakra for his service as the commanding officer of “INS Kamorta” during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.