1. PM Modi inaugurates Purvanchal Expressway.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 341-km long Purvanchal Express in Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh.
• The expressway links state capital Lucknow with Ghazipur and has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 22,500 crore.
• PM Modi landed on the Purvanchal Expressway airstrip in a military transport aircraft.
• The key feature of the Expressway is the 3.2 km long airstrip to enable landing and take-off of Indian Air Force fighter planes in case of emergency.
• This expressway is set to give a boost to the economic development of the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh especially the districts of Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.

2. Three-day ‘Rashtra Raksha Samparpan Parv’ to be held in Jhansi.

• 3-day Rashtra Raksha Samparpan Parv will be held in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.
• 19th of November is the Birth Anniversary of Rani Lakshmi Bai, the epitome of bravery and courage and a great National icon of Rashtra Raksha and India’s Independence struggle.
• As a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, Rashtra Raksha Samparpan Parv will be organized from November 17 to November 19, 2021.
• This event is being organized by the defence ministry in association with the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
• On November 19, the programme will witness the participation from Defence Minister, Minister of State for Defence, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister of UP, Yogi Adityanath.

3. Piyush Goyal launched India’s 1st Digital Food Museum in Tamil Nadu.

• Union Minister, Piyush Goyal virtually launched India’s first Digital Food Museum in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. It is a 1,860-sqft museum co-developed by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museums, Bengaluru (Karnataka) with an estimated outlay of Rs 1.1 crore.
• The museum is the first one-of-its-kind effort to depict India’s food story from the beginning to India becoming the largest food gain exporter in the country.
• This museum showcases the Indian food evolution from nomadic hunter-gatherers into settled agriculture producers. The measures of the government will make the country top the list of largest agricultural exporters in the world.
• The museum will showcase the history of people from being foragers to producers, the story of the first harvest, the rise of villages and the preparation of demand days. The museum will display the grains of India and explain the food culture in different parts of the world.

4. India’s first fisheries business incubator launched in Gurugram.

• The first-of-its-kind, dedicated fisheries business incubator has been inaugurated in Gurugram of Haryana to nurture fisheries start-ups under real market-led conditions.
• The incubator is known as LINAC- NCDC Fisheries Business Incubation Centre (LlFlC). It was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Parshottam Rupala.
• The center has been established at a cost of Rs. 3.23 crore under the central flagship Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
• The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) is the implementing agency for the LIFIC.
• The first batch of ten incubators from four states (Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra) have already been identified.

5. Centre to roll back 3 farm laws.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that his government will repeal the three contentious agricultural laws and requested protesting farmers to go back to their fields and homes.
• The announcement came on the Gurupurab/Prakash Utsav festival, when Sikhism founder Guru Nanak’s birthday is celebrated in the country.
• Last year, in September, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent for the three bills passed by the Parliament.
• Since the three farm bills have already been passed into law, the government will have to formally bring three new bills to repeal them and get them passed in both Houses.

The three contentious bills are:

• The Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020,
• The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and
• The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill.

6. India re-elected to UNESCO Executive Board for 2021-25 term.

• India has been re-elected to the Executive Board of UNESCO for the term 2021-25. India received 164 votes to get re-elected to a four-year term of office. Apart from India, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Cook Islands and China have also been elected in Group IV Asian and Pacific States category.
• UNESCO Executive Board consists of 58 member-states each with a four-year term of office.
• The executive board of the UN’s cultural and educational organization is one of three constitutional organs of the UN agency. The other two are the General Conference and the Secretariat.
• The General Conference elects members of the executive board. The executive board consists of 58 member-states, each with a four-year term. It examines the programme of work for the organization and corresponding budget estimates submitted to it by the director-general, according to the Unesco website.
• The board represents exercises the power delegated to it by the General Conference and deals with the questions with which it is entrusted.

7. PM Modi visits Mahoba and Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the Nation various developmental projects in Mahoba and the Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh.
• At Mahoba, Prime Minister inaugurated multiple projects with a cumulative cost of more than Rs. 3250 Crore, related to alleviating the issue of water shortage in the region.
• These projects include Arjun Sahayak Project, Ratauli Weir Project, Bhaoni Dam Project and Majhgaon–Chilli Sprinkler Project.
• In Jhansi, Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of 600 MW Ultramega Solar Power Park at Garautha, constructed at a cost of over Rs 3000 crore.
• He also inaugurated Atal Ekta Park in Jhansi, named after former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• The park has been built at a cost of over Rs 11 crore across an area of about 40,000 square meters.

1. Arunachal’s approved “Kaiser-i-Hind” as state butterfly.

• State Cabinet of Arunachal Pradesh, headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, approved “Kaiser-i-Hind” as the state butterfly. Kaiser-i-Hind is scientifically known as Teinopalpus imperials. In literal terms, it means Emperor of India.
• The butterfly is having a wingspan of 90-120 mm. It is found across six States along Eastern Himalayas at elevations from 6,000-10,000 feet in a well-wooded terrain.
• The Kaiser-i-Hind is protected under Schedule II of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Despite that, they are hunted for the supply to butterfly collectors. International Union for Conservation of Nature has red-listed the Kaiser-i-Hind.

2. India’s 1st grass conservatory inaugurated in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand.

• India’s first ‘grass conservatory’ or ‘germplasm conservation center’ spread over an area of 2 acres was inaugurated at Ranikhet in Almora district of Uttarakhand.
• This conservatory is funded under the Central Government’s CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) scheme and is developed by the research wing of the Uttarakhand Forest Department.
• To create awareness about the importance of grass species, promote their conservation, and facilitate research in the field.

3. Arunachal Pradesh Govt adopted ‘Pakke Declaration’ on climate change.

• The government of Arunachal Pradesh approved the ‘Pakke Tiger Reserve 2047 Declaration on Climate Change Resilient and Responsive Arunachal Pradesh’, which aims to promote “climate-resilient development” in the state.
• The announcement is the first of its kind by any state government in the country. For the first time, the State’s Cabinet meeting was conducted outside the capital Itanagar, at Pakke Tiger Reserve, where the ‘Pakke Declaration’ was adopted.
• The ‘Pakke Declaration’ focuses on a multi-sectoral approach to low-emission and climate-resilient development based on five broad themes, or Panch Dharas.

4. PM Modi launched ‘Ration Aapke Gram’ scheme & ‘Sickle Cell Mission’ in MP.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a series of Tribal Welfare programs on his visit to Madhya Pradesh.
• PM Modi launched a welfare scheme named ‘Ration Aapke Gram’ scheme & ‘Sickle Cell Mission’ of Madhya Pradesh. He also laid the foundation stone for the construction of 50 new Eklavya Model Residential Schools across India.
• The Indian Government decided to celebrate 15th November as the ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ or ‘Tribal Gaurav Diwas’, every year starting from 2021.
• Modi referred to his long association with the tribal society. He was all praised for the richness of their spiritual and cultural life and said that every cultural aspect of tribal including songs and dances carries a life lesson and they have so much to teach.

5. Telangana’s Pochampally selected is one of the best tourism villages.

• Pochampally village in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district of Telangana, known for its famous hand-woven Ikat saris, was selected as one of the best tourism villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
• The award will be given at the 24th session of the UNWTO general assembly on December 2, in Madrid.
• The best tourism villages by the UNWTO pilot initiative aims to award those villages which are outstanding examples of rural destinations and showcase good practices in line with its specified evaluation areas.
• It also aims to support villages to enhance their rural tourism potential through training and access to opportunities for improvement.

6. Uttar Pradesh’s first Anti-Air Pollution Tower inaugurated in Noida.

• The Union Minister of Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey has inaugurated the first air pollution control tower of the state of Uttar Pradesh in Noida. The Air Pollution Control Tower (APCT) prototype has been developed by state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel).
• The indigenously developed APCT is set up between the DND flyway and the slip road to Noida Expressway. The tower will help to mitigate the rising air pollution problem in the city.
• The tower will clean the polluted air around it and release purified air. Equipped with intake and exhaust fans, the tower will initially run with the help of electricity. The authority, however, plans to run the tower with the help of solar energy later.

1. Total corpus of PIDF reaches Rs 614 crore.

• The total corpus of Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) of RBI has reached Rs 614 crore.
• The PIDF scheme was launched by RBI in January 2021, to subsidize deployment of payment acceptance infrastructure (PoS) in Tier-3 to Tier-6 centers with a special focus on the North-Eastern States of the country.
• At that time it was decided that, RBI will make an initial contribution of Rs. 250 crores to the PIDF covering half the fund and the remaining contribution will be from card-issuing banks and card networks operating in the country.

2. RBI introduces Internal Ombudsman mechanism for select NBFCs.

• The Reserve Bank of India has announced to introduce the Internal Ombudsman mechanism for the following two types of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
• These two types of NBFCs are Deposit-taking NBFCs (NBFCs-D) with 10 or more branches and Non-Deposit taking NBFCs (NBFCs-ND) with asset size of Rs.5,000 crore and above having public customer interface.
• Consequently, these two categories of NBFCs will have to appoint Internal Ombudsman (IO). The internal Ombudsman will be responsible for handling the public grievance at the entity level before the grievance is escalated to Ombudsman at RBI.
• RBI has given a timeline of six months to the NBFCs for the appointment of the Internal Ombudsman.

1. Mahela Jayawardena, Shaun Pollock, Janette Brittin inducted into the ICC Hall Of Fame.

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced cricket legends Mahela Jayawardena (Sri Lanka), Shaun Pollock (SA), and Janette Brittin (England) were inducted into the hall of fame.
• The ICC Hall of Fame recognizes the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket’s long and illustrious history. 106 players have been inducted since its launch in 2009.
• Jayawardene, who retired as one of Sri Lanka’s greatest ever players, was a key member of the team that won the T20 World Cup in 2014 and reached the four other major ICC finals.
• Pollock, on the other hand, was one of the finest all-rounders South Africa has ever produced. He was the first player to achieve the double of 3,000 runs and 300 wickets in both Test and ODI cricket.
• Brittin, who died in 2017, was a mainstay of the England Test team for 19 years, helping pave the way for women’s cricket from 1979 to 1998. She was the oldest woman to score a Test hundred (at 39 years and 38 days vs Australia in 1998) and the second-oldest to score an ODI hundred (at 38 years and 161 days vs Pakistan in 1997).

2. ICC announces host nations of next 10 men’s tournaments.

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the 14 host countries of the ICC men’s white-ball events from 2024-2031.
• India is set to host the 2029 Champions Trophy and co-host the 2026 ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup with Sri Lanka and the 2031 ICC Men’s 50-over World Cup with Bangladesh.
• The hosts were selected through a competitive bidding process overseen by an ICC Hosting Sub-Committee chaired by Martin Snedden along with Sourav Ganguly, President of Board of Control for Cricket in India and Ricky Skerritt, President of Cricket West Indies.

3. Spain’s Garbine Muguruza wins 2021 WTA Finals.

• In tennis, Garbine Muguruza of Spain beat Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, 6-3, 7-5 in the final to claim her first WTA Final title. Muguruza is also the first Spaniard to win the WTA Finals.
• Muguruza battled back from a breakdown in the second set, winning the last four games of the match to seal her 10th career title. In doubles, Czech’s Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková defeated Hsieh Su-wei (Chinese Taipei) and Elise Mertens (Belgium) 6–3, 6–4.

4. Alexander Zverev won Vienna Tennis Open 2021.

• Alexander “Sascha” Zverev, a German professional tennis player, won the fifth ATP title of the season (2021) and 18th overall at the Vienna Open 2021 or Erste Bank Open 2021 defeating Frances Tiafoe of the United States of America (USA). At present, Alexander Zverev is ranked 3rd in the ATP World Ranking.
• Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia have won the doubles competition at Erste Bank Open 2021 defeating Joe Salisbury of the United Kingdom (UK) and Rajeev Ram of the USA.

1. UBS projects India’s GDP growth forecast at 9.5% for FY22.

• The Swiss brokerage firm, UBS Securities has revised India’s real GDP growth projection for 2021-22 to 9.5 per cent from 8.5 per cent estimated earlier.
• The upward revision has been attributed to faster-than-expected recovery, rising consumer confidence and the resultant spending spike.

UBS Securities has made the following GDP growth rate projections for India for various years:

• For 2021-22 (FY22)= 9.5%
• For 2022-23 (FY23)= 7.7%
• For 2023-24 (FY24)= 6.0%

1. India launches 41st Scientific Expedition to Antarctica.

• India successfully launched the 41st Scientific Expedition to Antarctica on November 15, 2021. The first batch of its contingents comprising of 23 scientists and support staff has reached the Indian Antarctic station Maitri.
• Four more batches will be landing in Antarctica by mid-January 2022. The Indian Antarctic program began in 1981 and has completed 40 scientific expeditions.
• The team of 48 members at the 41st expedition is being led by Dr Shailendra Saini, Scientist National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research (Voyage Leader).

2. WPI in October at five-month high of 12.54%.

• Ministry of Commerce & Industry released its data on Wholesale Price Index (WPI).
• As per Ministry’s data, provisional Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation have been accelerated to a five-month high to 12.54% in October 2021 as against 66% recorded in September.
• This rise was attributed to an increase in fuel and manufacturing prices. The report notes that, benchmark inflation print has remained in double digits for seven consecutive months.

3. Centre approves new Rajya Sainik Board for Ladakh.

• The Centre has approved a new Rajya Sainik Board (RSB) for Ladakh. The Board will be an effective link between the Centre and the Ladakh Administration.
• Rajya Sainik Board will play an advisory role on the matters relating to the ex-servicemen, war widows, widows and non-combatants, including serving soldiers and their dependents.
• Zila Sainik welfare offices of Leh and Kargil will function under the newly constituted Rajya Sainik Board.
• The Board provide access to the welfare schemes under the Raksha Mantri Ex-servicemen Welfare Fund and welfare and resettlement of ex-servicemen.
• Approximately Sixty thousand retired and serving army personnel would get benefit from the establishment of the Rajya Sainik Board in Ladakh.
• Ladakh Scouts Regiment Center will avail maximum benefit from the welfare schemes extended through the Rajya Sainik Board.

4. BRO received Guinness World Record for world’s highest motorable road.

• The Border Roads Organization has received the Guinness World Record for constructing & blacktopping the world highest motorable road passing through the 19,024 feet 0.73 inches (5798.251m) high Umlingla Pass in the Union Territory of Ladakh.
• The 52-kilometre long Chisumle to Demchok tarmac road was developed under Project HIMANK (93RCC/753 BRTF) of BRO. Lieutenant General Rajeev Chaudhry, Director General Border Roads, received the Guinness World Records certificate.

1. VVS Laxman will take charge as next National Cricket Academy (NCA) head.

• Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President, Sourav Ganguly has confirmed, that former India batter VVS Laxman will be the next head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
• Laxman will take over from his former batting colleague Rahul Dravid, who was recently appointed as chief coach of the Indian team following the end of Ravi Shastri’s tenure.

2. UN Secretary-General appointed Shombi Sharp as UN Resident Coordinator in India.

• The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has appointed Shombi Sharp of the United States (US), a sustainable development expert, as the UN Resident Coordinator in India.
• He will lead the UN team in India, and work towards India’s Covid-19 response plans to recover better for the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to this, he served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Armenia.

3. Sourav Ganguly appointed Chairman of ICC Men’s Cricket Committee.

• The President of BCCI, Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the Chairman of the ICC Men’s Cricket Committee, during the ICC Board Meeting. Ganguly will replace Anil Kumble who assumed the charge in 2012.
• Kumble stepped down having served a maximum of three separate three-year terms. The Board also approved that first-class status and list A classification will be applied to women’s cricket to align with the men’s game and applied retrospectively.
• Going forward the ICC Women’s Committee will be known as the ICC Women’s Cricket Committee and will assume all decision making the responsibility for women’s cricket reporting directly to the CEC. Johnny Grave, CEO of Cricket West Indies has been appointed to the ICC Women’s Cricket Committee.

1. SBI signed agreement with Jamshedpur Football Club to promote football.

• The State Bank of India has signed a strategic agreement with Jamshedpur Football Club, a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, to promote and support football in India. This is the first of its kind of agreement by SBI in the game of football.
• Through this agreement, the SBI will become one of the principal sponsors of the JFC, thereby having the SBI logo on Jersey.
• The JRD Tata Sports Complex was set up in Jharkhand by Tata Steels, to conduct ISL (Indian Super League) and promote the sport of Football in India.
• The two brands will also actively engage with fans via the first team and also during the broadcast of the Indian Super League (ISL). The interaction with fans will continue on the digital platforms of SBI and JFC as well.

2. SIDBI and Google tied-up to Support MSMEs.

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has entered into a collaboration with Google India Pvt Ltd (GIPL) for piloting a social impact lending programme with financial assistance up to Rs 1 crore at subsidized interest rates.
• The one-of-a-kind programme by SIDBI is launched as a crisis response related to Covid-19 to reinvigorate the MSME sector in India.
• The collaboration brings a corpus of $15 million (about Rs. 110 crores) to micro-enterprises as a crisis response related to Covid-19 for reinvigoration.
• MSMEs having turnover up to 5 crores will get the loan ranging between 25 lakh to 1 crore which is being implemented by SIDBI.
• Loans will be disbursed by SIDBI. The programme is completely paperless from onboarding to the disbursal stage.
• A business owned by Women and businesses engaged in the production of Covid-19 combating equipment will be prioritized, with suitable interest rate concession.

1. India, Singapore and Thailand Trilateral Maritime Exercise SITMEX–21 begins.

• The 3rd edition of the Trilateral Maritime Exercise named SITMEX–21 is being held from 15 to 16 Nov 21 in the Andaman Sea. The Navies of the India, Singapore and Thailand will participate in the event.
• Indian Naval Ship (INS) Karmuk is participating in the 3rd edition from India. It is an indigenously built Missile Corvette.
• The event is being hosted by Royal Thai Navy (RTN) in the Andaman Sea with an aim to enhance the cooperation between the participating navies towards augmenting the overall maritime security in the region.

2. PM Modi hands over Light Combat Helicopters to IAF chief.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has handed over the indigenously built light combat helicopters (LCH), developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, to the Indian Air Force chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari.
• The Light Combat Helicopters which incorporate advanced technologies and stealth features for effective combat roles are expected to boost India’s ability to remain self-reliant.
• The LCH is the only attack helicopter that can land and take off at an altitude of 5,000 m with a considerable load of weapons and fuel.
• The Prime Minister will also hand over ‘Made in India’ drones to the Indian Army which would be using them for different requirements all across the country.
• For the Navy, PM Modi would hand over the DRDO designed Advanced Electronic Warfare suite for naval ships including that for Indian Aircraft Carrier Vikrant.

1. Padma Vibhushan awardee historian and author Babasaheb Purandare passes away.

• The eminent historian, orator and noted author from Maharashtra, Balwant Moreshwar Purandare has passed away. He was 99. The author was popularly known as Babasaheb Purandare.
• Purandare wrote extensively about Maratha warrior king Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He had earned the moniker ‘Shiv Shahir’ which literally means Shivaji’s bard. He was felicitated with India’s second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, on 25 January 2019.

2. Noted Indian author Mannu Bhandari passes away.

• Renowned author Mannu Bhandari has passed away. She was 90. She was born in Bhanpura city of Madhya Pradesh in 1931 and grew up in Rajasthan’s Ajmer.
• Her father Sukhsampat Rai was a freedom fighter, who worked on English to Hindi and English to Marathi dictionaries. Bhandari was also one of the key members of the Nayi Kahani movement of Hindi literature.

3. World Famous Legendary Author Wilbur Smith Passes Away.

• Internationally acclaimed Zambia-born South African author, Wilbur Smith has passed away. He was 88. The global bestselling author has authored 49 novels and sold over 140 million copies worldwide in more than 30 languages.
• He rose to fame in 1964 with his debut novel “When the Lion Feeds” which turned in the movie with 15 sequels. Smith published his autobiography “On Leopard Rock” in 2018.

4. Veteran sports commentator and football pundit Novy Kapadia passes away.

• Veteran author, football journalist and sports commentator Novy Kapadia has passed away due to health complications. He was often called as ‘the voice of Indian football’.
• The noted commentator had covered nine FIFA World Cups, as well as Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. As an author, Kapadia had written books like Barefoot To Boots, The Many Lives Of Indian Football among others.

1. International Day for Tolerance: 16 November.

• The United Nations observes “International Day for Tolerance” on 16th November every year. The United Nations is committed to strengthening tolerance by fostering mutual understanding among cultures and peoples.
• In 1994, UNESCO marked the 125th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth paving the way for the proclamation of 16 November as the International Day for Tolerance by the UN. This day pays tribute to the values of the Mahatma of peace, non-violence and equality.

2. National Press Day observed on 16 November.

• National Press Day is observed on 16th November every year to celebrate free and responsible press in India. On this day the Press Council of India started functioning as a moral watchdog to ensure that the press maintains high standards and is not constrained by any influence or threats.
• It also commemorates the day when the Press Council of India started functioning. In 1956, the First Press Commission was planned to form a Press Council to protect freedom of the press in India.
• On 4 July 1966, the Press Council was established in India. It came into effect from 16 November 1966. Therefore, 16 November is celebrated as National Press Day every year.

3. World COPD Day 2021: 17 November.

• World COPD Day is observed on the third Wednesday of November every year to raise awareness about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and improve COPD care throughout the world.
• The World COPD Day 2021 falls on November 17, 2021. The 2021 theme is Healthy Lungs – Never More Important.
• The day is organized by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) in collaboration with health care professionals and COPD patient groups throughout the world.
• The first World COPD Day was held in 2002. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a lung disease that blocks airflow and makes it difficult to breathe.

4. National Epilepsy Day observed on 17 November.

• In India, November 17 is observed every year as National Epilepsy Day by the Epilepsy Foundation, to create awareness about epilepsy. Epilepsy is a chronic disorder of the brain characterized by recurrent ‘seizures’ or ‘fits’. The month of November is observed as ‘National Epilepsy Awareness Month’.
• The National Epilepsy Day is a national level campaign initiated by the Epilepsy Foundation of India to reduce the prevalence of Epilepsy in India.
• The Epilepsy Foundation of India in Mumbai, Maharashtra was established by Dr Nirmal Surya in 2009. Epilepsy Foundation of India is a non-profitable charitable organization to help people with seizures to have a fulfilling life and to change their view about epilepsy in society.

5. 4th Naturopathy Day is celebrated on 18 November.

• The National Naturopathy Day is observed in India on 18 November every year, to promote positive mental and physical health through a drugless system of medicine, called as Naturopathy.
• The day was declared by the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), Government of India, on November 18, 2018.
• It was on this day in 1945, when Mahatma Gandhi became lifetime Chairman of the All India Nature Cure Foundation Trust and signed the deed with the object of making the benefits of Nature Cure available to all classes of people.

6. World Philosophy Day 2021: 18 November.

• World Philosophy Day is celebrated on the Third Thursday of November each year. In 2021, the day falls on 18 November.
• World Philosophy Day 2021 opens the discussion on the different interactions of human beings with their social, cultural, geographical and political environment, with the underlying objective of better understanding the contribution of philosophy in our contemporary societies and the challenges they face, pandemic in particular.
• World Philosophy Day was introduced in 2002 by UNESCO. In 2005 the UNESCO General Conference proclaimed that World Philosophy Day would be celebrated every third Thursday of November.

7. 552nd Guru Nanak Jayanti is observed on 19 November 2021.

• Guru Nanak Jayanti is observed every year as the birth anniversary of the Sikh founder, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
• This year marks the 552nd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, also known as Prakash Utsav or Guru Purab, as it marks an important festival for the Sikh community.
• Guru Nanak is the first of the ten Sikh gurus who is considered as the one who brought enlightenment to the world. He was born in 1469 in a village named Talwandi, which is currently located in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan.

8. National Newborn Week 2021: 15-21 November.

• In India, the National Newborn Week is observed every year from 15 to 21 November. The main purpose of the week is to reinforce the importance of newborn health as a key priority area of the health sector and reduce the infant mortality rate by improving healthcare conditions for babies in the neonatal period.
• The theme of National Newborn Week 2021 is ‘Safety, quality and nurturing care – the birthright of every newborn’.
• In 2014, India became the first country to launch the India Newborn Action Plan (INAP), in alignment with the Global Every Newborn Action Plan towards eliminating preventable deaths of newborns and stillbirths.

9. World Antimicrobial Awareness Week: 18-24 November.

• World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is celebrated every year from 18-24 November.
• The purpose of the week is to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance, encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policymakers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.
• World Antimicrobial Awareness Week Theme 2021 is Spread Awareness, Stop Resistance. The theme calls on One Health stakeholders, policymakers, health care providers, and the general public to be Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness champions.
• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been declared as one of the top 10 global health threats by the World Health Organization (WHO).

10. World Children’s Day is celebrated on 20 November.

• The Universal/World Children’s Day is celebrated on 20 November annually to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.
• November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. 2021 marks the 32nd anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Universal/World Children’s Day 2021 Theme: A Better Future for Every Child.
• World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year. In 1959, UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

1. Smriti Irani authored her first Novel ‘Lal Salaam: A Novel’.

• Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Zubin Irani is set to release her first novel titled “Lal Salaam: A Novel” in November 2021.
• The novel is inspired by the killings of 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel during the Maoist attack in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh in April 2010. This book is a tribute to the people who have given their lifetime service to the nation.

2. Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu released the book ‘Srimadramayanam’.

• Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has released the book ‘Srimadramayanam’ in Hyderabad. It has been written by Sasikiranacharya. It is about the leadership, good governance, and rule of law of Lord Rama.
• He also underlined the need to popularize literary works and poetic works of various Indian languages among the youth.

1. Teenage Indian brothers win Children’s Peace Prize for waste project.

• Two Delhi-based teenage brothers Vihaan (17) and Nav Agarwal (14) have won the 17th annual KidsRights International Children’s Peace Prize for tackling pollution in their home city by recycling household waste.
• The duo received the prestigious award by Indian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi.
• Vihaan and Nav have developed an “One Step Greener” initiative for segregating rubbish and organizing waste pickups for trash from thousands of homes, schools and offices.
• The International Children’s Peace Prize is given annually by the International children’s rights organization KidsRights based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
• It is given to a child who has made a significant contribution to advocating children’s rights and improving the situation of vulnerable children such as orphans, child labourers and children with HIV/AIDS.

2. M Mukundan Bags 2021 JCB Prize for His Book ‘Delhi: A Soliloquy’.

• Author M Mukundan won the 2021 JCB prize for Literature, for his book ‘Delhi: A Soliloquy’. The book, which has originally been written in Malayalam has been translated into English by Fathima EV and Nandakumar K.
• The novel, published by Westland, is a story about Delhi through the eyes of its Malayali youth protagonists.
• Mukundan received the Prize trophy, which is a sculpture by Delhi artist duo Thukral and Tagra entitled ‘Mirror Melting’, and he will receive a prize amount of Rs 25 lakh.
• This is the third translation to have won the JCB award in the last four years. The jury for this award comprised Sara Rai (Chair), Annapurna Garimella, Shahnaz Habib, Prem Panicker, and Amit Varma.

3. Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur confers SAI Institutional Awards.

• Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Anurag Thakur has presented the first-ever SAI Institutional Awards to 246 athletes and coaches in New Delhi.
• A total of 162 athletes and 84 coaches have been conferred awards in the Outstanding Award and Best Award category for their performance in national and international competitions, with cash awards amounting to a total of Rs 85.02 Lakhs during the ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
• The awards have been given for the exceptional performance of the SAI athletes and coaches at national and international competitions from 2016 under the various sports promotion schemes. The inaugural awards have been granted to the deserving candidates for the years of 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.

4. KVG Bank bags ASSOCHAM award for Best Digital Financial Services.

• The Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) got the award for the best ‘Digital Financial Services’, in line with India’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, under the ‘Regional Rural Banks’ (RRBs) category by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
• Bank chairman P. Gopikrishna received the award from Reserve Bank of India Regional Director R. Gurumurthy in Bengaluru.
• Around 40 villages in Karnataka are converted into 100% digital villages by the KVGB bank. These efforts are encouraging villagers to use digital mode for transactions. Those villages have round-the-clock access to Internet banking, mobile banking, micro ATMs, AEPS (Aadhar Enabled Payment Systems), IMPS, and UPI.

5. Hema Malini, Prasoon Joshi to be awarded Film Personalities of the Year at IFFI.

• Actor and BJP leader Hema Malini, and lyricist and former CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi will be facilitated with the Indian Film Personality of the Year award at the International Film Festival of India 2021.
• Their contributions to the field of Indian cinema spread over decades and their body of work has enthralled audiences across generations.
• Malini is a two-time Member of Parliament from Mathura, and Joshi was appointed by the government as the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in 2017.
• Joshi has previously written a campaign song for Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the BJP leader was announced the party’s PM candidate ahead of the 2014 general elections.

6. Beryl Thanga receives Manipur State Award for his novel.

• Novelist Beryl Thanga has received the 12th Manipur State Award for Literature 2020 for his book – Ei Amadi Adungeigi Ithat’ (I and the then island).
• Manipur Governor La. Ganesan conferred the award on the 65-year-old writer for his novel published in 2015. The award carries a plaque, citation, Rs. 3 lakh (in cheque) and a shawl.
• The awardee (Beryl Thanga) was selected for the year 2020 by a Board of Eminent persons set up by the Government.
• The Governor said that the Manipuri language is one of the 22 scheduled languages under the Constitution of India. It is regarded as the most advanced of the Tibeto-Burmese languages spoken in India.

7. BWF gives Prakash Padukone lifetime achievement award.

• Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone has been selected for the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021 by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Council.
• The former world no 1 has already been honoured with the Badminton Association of India’s (BAI) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. Padukone is the first-ever Indian to win a medal at World Championships in the 1983 Copenhagen tournament.

1. IQAir Air Quality Index: Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai among world’s top 10 polluted cities.

• According to the data from air quality and pollution city tracking service from IQAir, a Switzerland-based climate group, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai are among the top ten most polluted cities of the world.
• Delhi topped the list with AQI at 556, Kolkata and Mumbai recorded an AQI of 177 and 169, respectively, at 4th and 6th position. The cities with the worst AQI indices also include Lahore, in Pakistan, and Chengdu, in China.

2. 2021 TRACE global Bribery Risk Rankings: India ranked 82nd.

• India has slipped to 82nd position (drop by 5 slots from 2020) with a risk score of 44 in the global list of 2021 TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix (TRACE Matrix) that measures business bribery risks, which was released by TRACE International.
• An anti-bribery standard-setting organization, known as TRACE, measures business bribery risk in 194 countries, territories, and autonomous and semi-autonomous regions.

1. PM Modi to open presiding officers meet in Shimla.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 82nd All India Presiding Officers Conference (AIPOC) in Shimla. The first Conference was held in Shimla in 1921 and the AIPOC is being held in Shimla for the seventh time.
• All India Presiding Officers’ Conference (AIPOC) is celebrating its hundred years in 2021. In this conference, various issues will be discussed such as the responsibility of presiding officers towards the Constitution, the House and the people.

2. PM Modi virtually delivers keynote address at The Sydney Dialogue.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has delivered the keynote address at The Sydney Dialogue, via video conferencing. PM addressed the event on the theme ‘India’s technology evolution and revolution’.
• The Sydney Dialogue has been organized from November 17-19, 2021 by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The event will bring together political, business and government leaders to debate, generate new ideas and work towards common understandings of the opportunities and challenges posed by emerging and critical technologies.
• The Sydney Dialogue is an annual summit of cyber and critical technologies to discuss the fallout of the digital domain on the law and order situation in the world.