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National – Across the India:
1. The first meeting of National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) was held in New Delhi.
It was held to discuss ways for developing roadmap for implementation of WTOs trade facilitation agreement.
2. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have jointly topped the Ease of Doing Business Reforms Ranking 2015-16.
Top 10 states: Andhra Pradesh (Score 98.78%), Telangana (98.78%), Gujarat (98.21%), Chhattisgarh (97.32%), Madhya Pradesh (97.01%), Haryana (96.95%), Jharkhand (96.57%), Rajasthan (96.43%), Uttarakhand (96.13%) and Maharashtra (92.86).
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3. Odisha government has launched Madhubabu Aain Sahayata Sibir’ (MASS) scheme.
It was to provide legal assistance to deprived sections of the society at the grassroots level.
4. Kerala has become the third Open Defecation Free state in the country after Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) (Gramin).
The announcement in this regard was made by the Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer in New Delhi on the occasion foundation day of Kerala (1 November).
5. India is invited by Russia for developing next-generation nuclear reactors and to participate in its fast-reactor research project.
With these types of reactors, it is possible to solve the major ecological problem of reprocessing and deactivation of accumulated radioactive waste, at same time provide much-needed energy.
6. Narendra Modi visited Raipur in Chhattisgarh for the inauguration of the Jungle Safari in the city.
7. The finance ministry has financed first installment of special assistance of INR 1,093.34 crore for Jammu and Kashmir.
This amount is financed to repair and permanent restoration of damaged public buildings in J&K.
8. Maharashtra has been ranked first state in the country in 2016 Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index.
The first-ever index based on initiatives taken by the states in implementing farm sector reforms was issued by the NITI Aayog.
9. Maharashtra has become the first state in the country to have a cyber-police station in each district to take on cyber criminals.
In this regard, state government is converting 42 state-of-the-art cybercrime labs into cyber police stations simultaneously.
10. Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has inaugurated the International Conference on Decarbonization of Indian Railways – Mission Electrification in New Delhi on November 3, 2016.
It was organized by Institution of Railways Electrical Engineer (IREE) in partnership with ASSOCHAM India.
11. PM Narendra Modi has launched “Saur Sujala Yojana” in Chhattisgarh which will provide solar powered irrigation pumps to farmers.
It is mainly aimed to give priority to those areas where electricity has not reached, so that farmers can utilize them in irrigation and agriculture.
12. The International Forum on Adopting an ICT Perspective to Education and Learning recently started in New Delhi.
13. An Inter-Ministerial Committee of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in the first week of November 2016 asked for one-day ban on a leading Hindi News Channel, NDTV India from 12.01 A.M. of 9 November to 12.01 A.M. of 10 November 2016.
The channel is facing the possibility of a complete blackout for 24 hours for revealing strategically-sensitive information during its coverage of the anti-terror operations at the Pathankot airbase in January 2016.
14. 11-day International Space Science School held in Sangli District in Western Maharashtra.
This school is part of a series of schools conducted jointly by the Canada-based Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP) and the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI).
15. President Pranab Mukherjee approved the 2% hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees.
This move could benefit 50.68 lakh employees and 54.24 lakh pensioners.
16. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, will be hosting the Seventh Session of the Conference of Parties (COP7).
It will be held from 7 November to 12 November 2016, at India Exposition Mart, Greater Noida, District Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Uttar Pradesh.
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International – Across the Globe:
1. India has been ranked 133rd out of 183 countries in the 2016 Global Youth Development Index (YDI) compiled by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Top 10 countries in 2016 YDI: Germany (1), Denmark (2), Australia (3), Switzerland (4), UK (5), Netherlands (6), Austria (7), Luxembourg (8), Portugal (9) and Japan (10)
2. The Paris Agreement to combat climate change officially entered into force after 55 parties to the convention accounting for at least 55% of total GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions ratified it.
India was 62nd country to ratify it on 2nd October 2016.
3. The tenth edition of Indo-Nepal joint military exercise Surya Kiran commenced at Army Battle School, Saljhandi in Nepal.
Its emphasis will be on counter-terrorism in mountainous terrain.
4. For the first time, An Introductory Brief History of Mizo Tribes” has released by the Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla Hindi language.
It is an Introductory Brief History of Mizo Tribes.
5. India- Bangladesh “SAMPRITI” joint military exercise will begin from 5th Nov.
It will be conducted at Tangail, Dhaka, Bangladesh from 5th to 18th November 2016.
Sports:
1. Lewis Hamilton has won Mexican Grand Prix by beating German world champion Nico Roseberg.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel came in third position.
2. India has won Men’s Asian Champions Trophy.
India beat arch-rivals Pakistan 3-2 in the final in Malaysia.
3. Pratul Joshi has won the men’s singles championship of the Bahrain International Challenge badminton tournament.
It was his maiden international title.
4. The World Cup scorer winner, Miroslav Klose has announced his retirement from football.
He scored 71 goals in 137 internationals.
He will now join the national side’s coaching team.
5. The annual Forbes Fab 40 list includes Mahendra Singh Dhoni as most valued Indian athlete in India for 2016.\
Dhoni is ranked fifth with a brand value of $20 million in 2014, slightly down from $21 million last year.
The list has been topped by American basketball player LeBron James.
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Awards & Recognition:
1. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave away the Ramnath Goenka Awards.
The Award is given for excellence in journalism.
List of the Awardees: – Click Here….
2. Veteran Bollywood actress and Rajya Sabha MP Rekha will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming Dubai International Film Festival.
She will be honored for her 40-year career contribution and participation in more than 180 films.
3. The Renowned South Korean director Kwon Taek Im will be awarded Lifetime Achievement Award at the 47th International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa.
4. Uppma Virdi has received award for the Businesswoman of the Year at the India Australia Business Community Awards.
The ceremony was held in Sydney.
Mergers & Acquisitions:
1. Google has tied-up with Archaeological Survey of India for virtual tour of monuments.
Some of the major monuments are Taj Mahal, Victoria Memorial and the ruins of Hampi.
2. Pune-based Zensar Technologies acquired Foolproof Limited and three of its subsidiaries for an undisclosed sum to build its digital portfolio.
Foolproof will operate under its own brand name, and will continue to be managed by founders Peter Ballard and Tom Wood.
Appointments & Resignations:
1. Senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sushil Chandra took over as chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) today.
He succeeded Rani Singh Nair.
Prior to this appointment, he was working in the board as Member (Investigation).
2. Spain’s acting Prime Minister Mr. Mariano Rajoy was re-elected after winning a parliamentary vote.
3. Twitter’s India head Rishi Jaitly has dropped the post.
He was the vice-president for Asia Pacific, which includes India, West Asia and North Africa for Twitter.
4. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak has been chosen as the Brand Ambassador of Sulabh International for “Swachh Rail Mission”.
Sulabh International has been assigned to clean some important railway stations across the country as part of the mission.
5. Sanvi Arora has been appointed as the new Ambassador of India to the Republic of Lebanon.
Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia.
6. Parminder Singh has resigned as Managing Director of Southeast Asia, India, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region of Twitter.
7. Ranveer Singh will be the Indian ambassador for Switzerland Tourism.
He will promote Switzerland’s tourism campaign for 2017 – Nature wants you back!
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Economics & Banking GK:
1. The Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitely along with the GST Council Members has finalized 4-level GST rate structure with a multiple-slab rate, including the cess for the new indirect tax regime.
Thus, GST will be levied at multiple rates ranging from 0% to 28%.
2. The new law to prohibit benami transactions will come into effect from 1st November, 2016.
The existing Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act will be renamed as the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act (PBPT Act).
3. Union Government has decided to launch a clean energy equity fund of 2 billion US dollar.
Private and public companies will be able to dip into an initial amount of more than $1 billion starting next fiscal year.
4. The World Bank has ranked Andhra Pradesh as the best state in the country in implementation of energy efficiency and conservation programmes.
With an overall score of 42.01, AP has emerged on top followed by Rajasthan with 41.89, Karnataka 39.34 and Maharashtra 39.29 in Energy Efficiency Readiness.
5. ICICI Bank announced a cut in home loan rate by 0.15 per cent for new borrowers.
At the same time, the new rate for salaried class has been reduced to 9.20 per cent, as against 9.35 per cent earlier.
Bills – New & Amendments:
1. The Union Ministry of Housing has notified the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (General) Rules, 2016, to be applicable to the five Union Territories.
These five Union Territories are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Chandigarh.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU):
1. The European Union (EU) and Canada have signed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a landmark trade deal.
It links single European Union market with Canada, world’s 10th largest economy.
It will add around €11.6 billion to the EU economy and around €8.2 billion to Canada’s economy.
2. India and Palestine have signed a MoU for setting up a Palestine-India Techno Park in Ramallah, Palestine.
3. The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has signed MoU with Common Services Centre (CSC), an SPV of Ministry of Information Technology for online submission of applications under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
4. LinkedIn signs MoU with HRD Ministry to Provide Jobs for Netizens in an Easy way.
This is to try trying something new to provide better job opportunities to students.
5. TCS signs MoU with University of New South Wales to pursue technology research collaboration in the areas of common interest such as machine learning, virtual reality, robotics, data analytics, and cloud computing.
IRCTC ties up with MobiKwik for Tatkal bookings.
This MoU will help users at the time of delay of payments while booking tatkal tickets.
Science & Technology:
1. Researchers from IISER Thiruvananthapuram have developed a compound “gelator” to scoop out marine oil spills.
Unlike other alternatives, the gelators, which are in a powder form, can be easily applied over oil-water mixture and do not cause any environmental damage.
2. NHPC has announced commissioned of 50 MW wind power project in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
The project consist of 25 nos wind turbine generators each of 2 MW capacity, which has been successfully synchronised with grid in October 2016.
3. After 20 years of hard work and dedication, NASA has finally completed the construction of the largest-ever space telescope – James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
The telescope is expected to be launched in 2018 after being tested.
4. The first titanium project of India has started its test production in Ganjam district of Odisha.
The project has been established by Saraf Group.
After inception this plant is expected to produce 36,000 tons of titanium slag and 20,000 tons of pig iron per year.
5. Yes Bank launches new mobile banking app “Yes Mobile 2.0”.
The app will allow customers to undertake most transactions on the app including Net Banking registration, thereby eliminating the need to visit the website or a banking branch.
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Important Dates:
1. Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day) observed across India on 31 October to commemorate birth anniversary of Independent India’s first Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel.
2016 Theme was “Integration of India”.
2. The World observed Cities Day globally on 31st October to work together for a planned and sustainable urban life in the wake of rapid growth of population and problems.
2016 Theme was “Inclusive Cities, Shared Development”.
Death:
1. Hindi writer Hridyesh Mehrotra passed away.
He had penned 13 novels, including ‘Safed Ghoda Kala Sawar’, and 26 collections of short stories.
He was recipient of Sahitya Bhushan and Pahal Sanman awards of the UP government.
2. Former Deputy CM Pandit Mangat Ram has passed away.
Sharma was Deputy Chief Minister in the PDP-Congress coalition government formed by then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed after the 2002 assembly elections.
3. The Padma Shri singer and Composer of Sri Lanka Pandit Amaradeva has passed away recently.
The musician has been the recipient of several awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (2001), Padma Shri (2002) and Sri Lankan President’s Award of Kala Keerthi (1986) and Deshamanya Award (1998).
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Important Abbreviations Used in this Article
Abbreviations
Full Form
NCTF
National Committee on Trade Facilitation
MASS
Madhubabu Aain Sahayata Sibir’
IREE
Institution of Railways Electrical Engineer
COP7
Seventh Session of the Conference of Parties
IRS
Senior Indian Revenue Service
CBDT
Central Board of Direct Taxes
MENA
Middle East and North Africa
CSC
Common Services Centre
ASI
Archaeological Survey of India
JWST
James Webb Space Telescope
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