The UAE is set to become the 1st Arab Gulf country to generate electricity from coal. Dubai is starting up the $3.4 billion Hassyan coal plant, with capacity being increased to 2,400 by 2023. Japan’s Jera Co. to supply coal to Acwa Power of Saudi Arabia.
UAE President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Capital: Abu Dhabi
Ladakh got the largest solar power project setup under Make In India initiative at Leh IAF station to provide an energy alternative to fossil fuel. This project, Provision of Solar Photo Voltaic Powerplant 1.5 MW is at a high altitude in the entire Ladakh.
The project worth Rs 122 crore.
A Letter of Understanding (LoU) has been signed between the government of Rajasthan and the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Winner United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) for proposed participation to achieve food and nutritional security goals.
UNWFP HQ: Rome, Italy.
Head: David Beasley.
Environment Ministry approved the construction of the Song Dam worth Rs 1100 crore in Dehradun. This scheme aims to bring 24-hour drinking water and will be a rebirth to river Rispana. The dam is about 148 m high and aims to generate power up to 6 MW.
Dehradun is the capital of Uttarakhand
CM: Trivendra Singh Rawat
India and Vietnam signed an implementation agreement (IA) on hydrography (involving measurement of depth of water, etc.,) during a bilateral meeting. It took place between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Vietnamese counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich.
Vietnam Capital: Hanoi
Currency: Vietnamese dong
The 7th Joint Trade Committee Meeting between India and Myanmar was held through virtual mode. Both sides reviewed various bilateral issues ranging from trade, investment, banking, connectivity, capacity building and up-gradation of border infrastructure.
Meeting Chair: Piyush Goyal& Myanmar Counterpart: Dr Than Myint
Private sector lender YES Bank launched SMS Pay that would enable merchants to accept contactless and remote payments from their customers. This functionality on POS terminals was launched in partnership with Worldline.
Worldline: A French payment and transactional services company.
IBM collaborated with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology to create a robust education and skilling ecosystem through the Common Services Centre Academy. It aims to provide access to employment to 4,000 village-level youth in rural areas.
Common Services Centre (CSC) programme is an initiative of MeitY
Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a book on the life and ideals of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism and first of its ten gurus. The book is penned by a Chandigarh based author Kirpal Singh. Guru Nanak Jayanti is celebrated on November 30, 2020.
Guru Nanak was born in 1469.
India to soon launch an ambitious ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ that envisages exploration of minerals, energy and marine diversity of the underwater world. It is expected to cost over ₹ 4,000 crores. This project will be piloted by MoES, DRDO, CSIR, DBT and ISRO.
India to also procure deep-sea vessels for exploration.
3rd stimulus package of ₹ 900 cr. for the mission COVID Suraksha – Indian COVID-19 vaccine development was announced by the government to accelerate development of 5-6 vaccines. The grant is to be provided to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) for R&D.
Phase I of Suraksha Mission allotted Rs 900 cr for 12 months.
The Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare is observed on November 30 every year. The day honours those who suffered and died in the wake of chemical warfare. It also aims to reaffirm the vision of UN for a world free of chemical weapons.
The day has been observed since 2005.
Union Minister launched National Portal for Transgender People & inaugurated Garima Griha: A Shelter for Transgender Persons. The portal will help a transgender person apply for ID Card digitally. Garima Griha to be run in partnership with Lakshmana Trust.
Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment: Thaawarchand Gehlot.
For 2nd time, South Asia was the most impacted region by terrorism in 2019, recording more deaths than any other region, despite improvements in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, said Global Terrorism Index 2020 report by The Institute for Economic & Peace
Afghanistan (9.592) was reported to be the most impacted nation
State of Tax Justice 2020, a first-of-its-kind annual report by the Tax Justice Network, reveals how much tax each country loses to international corporate tax abuse and private tax evasion. Countries are losing a total of $427 billion in tax each year.
India losing Rs 75,000 crore in taxes per year due to tax abuse
NITI Aayog released a compendium of practices from states & UTs that details information about various initiatives implemented by states, districts & cities in India for containing & managing Covid-19 outbreak. It has been disaggregated under six sections.
CEO of NITI Aayog: Amitabh Kant.
India is hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of Government summit for the 1st time after it gained full membership of the grouping in 2017. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will chair the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads.
First-ever SCO Start-up forum to also be launched this year.
Malayalam film Jallikattu is India’s official entry to the best International Feature Film category of the 93rd Academy Awards. The short story novel Moustache on which it is based upon won JCB prize for literature. It was directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery.
It is the 3rd Malayalam film to be chosen for entry to the Oscar
Former Sudanese Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi has died from a coronavirus infection. Al-Mahdi was Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister and was overthrown in 1989 in the military coup that brought former President Omar al-Bashir to power.
Sudan Capital: Khartoum
Currency: Sudanese pound
Sudeep Tyagi, who played for Indian national cricket team in four ODIs and 1 T20 as a fast bowler, announced his retirement from all forms of the game. The UP pacer was also a part of the CSK. He played 42 first-class matches & picked up 109 wickets.
In List A he featured in 23 matches & picked up 31 wickets.
UNDP Accelerator Lab India launched Grassroot Innovation Database (GRID) with the aim to foster inclusive development. The database contains 1,500 simple to complex solutions across agriculture and technology which can be implemented at the community level
Accelerator Labs are UNDP’s new way of working in development
Power Finance Corporation & REC Ltd signed MoU with SJVN Thermal Ltd. for an Extending Term Loan of ₹ 8520.46 Cr for 2x660 MW Buxar Thermal Power Project. It is expected to be commissioned in FY 2023-24 and generate approximately 9828 mn Units of energy.
STPL, wholly-owned subsidiary of SJVN Ltd is executing this.
RXIL initiated a Trade Credit Insurance backed transaction with Tata AIG as insurer & ICICI & YES Bank as financiers. It is the 1st time a TReDS platform tested efficacy of TCI backed transaction improving ability in assigning credit limits to corporates.
RXIL - Receivables Exchange of India Ltd. Is promoted by SIDBI.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank informed the exchanges that RBI advised the bank to fully write down ₹318 crore of its tier-2 bonds before the amalgamation with Singapore-based DBS Bank. A full-write down implies that investors in these bonds will not receive anything.
DBS Bank CEO: Piyush Gupta.
Indo-Japan cooperation won OECD Mutual Agreement Procedure (tax administrations consult to resolve disputes regarding the application of double tax conventions) 2019 Award for highest agreement ratio for a pair of jurisdictions for transfer pricing cases.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – OECD
As a part of deepening cooperation in civil space activities, India and Australia were working together to position temporarily Indian tracking facilities in Australia. These include earth observation and data analytics, robotics, and space life sciences.
This would help India’s human space flight programme, Gaganyaan
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has granted the annual recognition to Archery Association of India as a National Sports Federation (NSF), validating its elections held for new office-bearers earlier this year. AAI's recognition was withdrawn last year
President of AAI: Arjun Munda
HQ: New Delhi
Tamil Nadu was adjudged the best in organ donation in India for the 6th consecutive year. The State had also performed the first bilateral cadaveric hand transplant in the country. The entire process of registration for organ donation has been made online.
The State also plans to launch an air ambulance soon.
BSE signed an MoU with Mission Youth, Govt of J&K to spread financial awareness, support economic development & encourage sustainable livelihood in the UT. Under this, eligible candidates can undergo skill courses in Banking & Financial Markets, etc.,
CEO of Mission Youth: Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah.
The ordinance makes religious conversion a cognisable & non-bailable offence inviting penalties of up to 10 years in prison if found to be effected for marriage, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or other allegedly fraudulent means.
UP CM: Yogi Adityanath.
Governor: Anandiben Patel.
The market capitalisation of HDFC Bank went past Rs 8 lakh crore making it the first domestic lender to achieve the feat. The market valuation rose to Rs 8,05,742 crore on BSE. HDFC Bank is 3rd most valued domestic firm in terms of market capitalisation.
Reliance Industries is India’s most valued firm.
SIDBI signed an MoU with Tamil Nadu to develop the ecosystem for MSMEs in the state. Under this, SIDBI will deploy a Project Management Unit to design training and capacity-building programmes to be taken up by the state government in various areas.
PMUs aims to enhance efficacy & remove of bottlenecks for MSMEs.
CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the Jagananna Thodu scheme under which an amount of ₹905 crore is deposited into bank accounts of 9.05 lakh small traders towards provision of interest-free loan. Through this, about ₹1,000 crore is lent to 10 lakh people
Small& petty vendors& artisans need not pay heavy interest now.
