Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana conferred upon Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi the highest national award of Guyana, "The Order of Excellence”, for his 'visionary statesmanship, for championing the rights of developing countries on the global stage, for exceptional service to the global community and,
for his commitment to strengthening India-Guyana relations.’
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is only the fourth foreign leader to be conferred with the highest National award of Guyana.
First Vice President & Prime Minister- Mark Phillips.
President- Irfaan Ali
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has taken several decisive steps to tackle the ongoing issue of spam calls and SMS, reporting significant progress in reducing complaints and enhancing message traceability.
In a move to clamp down on unauthorised promotional calls, TRAI issued directives on 13th August 2024 mandating stringent actions against violators.
Penalties include disconnection of telecom resources, blacklisting for up to two years, and bans on new resource allocations during this period.
To improve the traceability of promotional messages, TRAI implemented a new directive on 20th August 2024, requiring that all message trails from senders to recipients be trackable by 1st November 2024.
While technical solutions have been introduced by Access Providers, an extension until 30th November 2024 has been granted to allow for upgrades and chain declarations by Principal Entities (PEs) and Registered Telemarketers (RTMs).
Moreover, the TRAI stated in a release that awareness initiatives have been launched to educate stakeholders on these measures.
Webinars have organised in partnership with major telecom operators, such as Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, involving over 1,800 participants from government bodies, financial regulators, and other sectors. Another webinar, scheduled for 25th November 2024 in collaboration with Tata Teleservices, will involve representatives from organisations including Nasscom and FACE.
These efforts have led to the registration of over 13,000 Principal Entities with Access Providers, with further registrations progressing rapidly. Access Providers have issued warning notices to PEs and RTMs yet to comply with the new requirements, advising them to declare their message chains promptly. Any non-compliant messages will be rejected.
Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh, together with Swedish Minister for Climate and Environment, Ms. Romina Pourmokhtari, co-chaired the Annual Summit of the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT), held on the sidelines of COP29 to the UN Climate Change Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The LeadIT Summit brings together the country and company members to discuss low-carbon industrial transition. The objective is to support plans that align heavy industry with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. The summit spotlighted the critical role of transforming sectors such as steel and cement.
World Fisheries Day, observed every November 21st, is a global event that underscores the critical importance of sustainable fisheries and the need to protect aquatic ecosystems and the livelihoods of fishing communities.
The Day originated in 1997 when the "World Forum of Fish Harvesters & Fish Workers" convened in New Delhi.
In India, World Fisheries Day takes on special significance, given the country's vital role in global fisheries and aquaculture. As the 3rd largest fish producer, 2nd largest aquaculture nation in the world after China and the largest producer of shrimp, India contributes significantly to both domestic food security and the global seafood market.
Theme- India’s Blue Transformation: Strengthening Small-Scale and Sustainable Fisheries.
Chief Minister of Goa Dr.Pramod Sawant launched ‘WAVES’ the OTT platform of the national public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati at the opening ceremony of 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
‘WAVES’ makes its entry as a large aggregator OTT with Inclusive India stories embracing Indian culture with an international outlook, in 12+ Languages.
Hindi, English, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Punjabi, Assamese. It will be spread across 10+ Genres of Infotainment. It will provide Video on demand, free-to-play gaming, Radio streaming, Live TV streaming, 65 live Channels, several App in App integrations for video and gaming content, and online shopping through ONDC.
WAVES has opened its portal to student graduation films of film and media colleges like FTII, Annapurna, and AAFT.
WAVES will also launch a Cyber Security awareness campaign with Daily Video messages in partnership with CDAC, MeitY. This campaign is backed by programmes such as Cyber Crime ki Duniya (a fictionalized series) and Cyber Alert (by DD News features).
Researchers have identified a new microbe responsible for a peculiar disease that has been affecting the sesame fields of Midnapore in West Bengal.
Sesame, the Queen of Oil, is a primordial oilseed crop since the remnants of sesame seeds were discovered at Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Sesame oil is excellent from a medicinal point of view.
It contains antioxidants, and it is perfect for heart patients. Unfortunately, we do not use it frequently as the principal edible oil. The Indian sesame varieties need improvement so that their benefits can be harnessed.
The microbe is a cell wall lacking Mollicutes bacteria, called Candidatus Phytoplasma.
The transmission of these pathogens takes place primarily through phloem feeder insects (leafhoppers, plant-hoppers, psyllids, and dodders), which are known to infect many commercially valuable crops like Catharanthus, tobacco, maize, and grapevine. The manifestations of the disease are disfigurement and virescence of the floral parts, giving a leafy appearance.
The Ministry of Science and Technology on launched India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) data bank that is aimed at propelling innovation and boosting the country’s national security.
The initiative will provide researchers, startups, and developers access to high-quality, diverse datasets essential for creating scalable and inclusive AI solutions.
It was launched by Minister of Science and Technology Minister (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh at the 7th Edition of the ASSOCHAM AI Leadership Meet 2024.
The event, themed “AI for India: Advancing India’s AI Development – Innovation, Ethics, and Governance”, showcased India’s strategic roadmap for harnessing the transformative potential of AI.
The AI Data Bank will enhance “national security through real-time analytics of satellite, drone, and IoT data”, the Minister said.
It also aligns with the country’s goal to utilise AI for predictive analytics in disaster management and cyber security.
the Indian Women’s Hockey Team defended their Women’s Asian Championships Trophy title as they recorded a 1-0 win over China. The game is at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Bihar.
This is India’s third Women’s Asian Championships Trophy and that too consecutively.
With their three and historic win, India now level South Africa with most titles in the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy titles. On the other hand, the Indian men’s hockey team has also scripted a similar kind of title defence in the Men’s Asian Champions Trophy when they beat China.
Notably, Indian women had defeated Japan 2-0 in the semi-final while China made it to the final summit by defeating Malaysia 3-1.
Deepika Sehrawat took home the top-scorer and Player of the Tournament award as she scored her 11th goal in the game.
The Bihar Government announced a cash award of INR 10 Lakh for each player and Harendra and INR 5 Lakh for other staff, whereas Hockey India announced a cash prize of INR 3 Lakh for each player and INR 1.5 Lakh for each support staff member.
India's Nandan Kumar Jha has been elected as the president of the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA), a global body for the governance and promotion of mind sports.
The announcement on Jha's election was made during IMSA's annual general assembly in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The IMSA, which has over 200 member countries, works with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other affiliate global sports federations to integrate mind sports into mainstream global sports.
India remained in the top 10 on a list of 63 countries assessed for efforts to combat climate change, despite dropping two spots compared to an year ago, thanks to its low per-capita emissions and rapid deployment of renewables, a report said.
The 63 countries, along with the European Union, assessed in the CCPI are responsible for 90 per cent of global emissions.
The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI 2025) -- published by think tanks Germanwatch, New Climate Institute, and Climate Action Network International -- tracks the progress of the world's largest emitters in terms of emissions, renewables, and climate policy.
India ranks 10th in this year's CCPI, remaining among the highest performers.
The CCPI report, however, noted that significant changes in India's climate policy are unlikely. The growth-oriented approach to climate action is expected to continue or intensify, driven by rising energy demand from industry and the growing population.
The report leaves the first three places empty, as no country performed well enough across all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating.
Under the Patent Acquisition and Collaborative Research (PACE) programme, the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) signed two separate Tripartite Agreements.
The agreements were signed with M/s Devashish Polymers Private Ltd (DPPL), Mumbai, and M/s GPS Renewables Pvt Ltd, Bangalore & Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune.
While the first one aims to develop compounded elastomers and evaluate their performance for diverse applications under this project, the second one seeks to scale up and conduct pilot trials for enhanced microbial methane production from agricultural residues using anaerobic fungi.
The PACE programme by the DSIR fosters collaborative research between Indian industries and R&D organizations, academic institutions, or universities. It emphasises innovative work and supports the development of new technologies focused on the commercialisation of products and processes addressing unmet industrial needs.
Proposals targeting specific industrial sectors with practical applications are encouraged in this program. Projects demonstrating proof-of-concept with an aim to address significant unmet industrial needs are supported under this programme. It supports projects with a duration of 1 to 3 years.
By celebrating World Philosophy Day each year, on the third Thursday of November, UNESCO underlines the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual.
This year it comes on 21 November 2024.
Philosophy is an inspiring discipline, an everyday practice that can transform societies. By enabling to discover the diversity of the intellectual currents in the world, philosophy stimulates intercultural dialogue. By awakening minds to the exercise of thinking and the reasoned confrontation of opinions, philosophy helps to build a more tolerant, more respectful society.
In recognition of the increasing impact television has on decision-making by bringing world attention to conflicts and threats to peace and security and its potential role in sharpening the focus on other major issues, including economic and social issues, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 November as World Television Day (through resolution 51/205 of 17 Dec. 1996).
Television continues to be the single largest source of video consumption. Though screen sizes have changed, and people create, post, stream and consume content on different platforms, the number of households with television sets around the world continues to rise.
Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, a step aimed at modernizing data collection and planning in a country long impacted by conflict and political divisions.
The act of counting the population is also contentious. The census is expected to have profound implications for Iraq’s resource distribution, budget allocations, and development planning.
The last nationwide census in Iraq was held in 1987. Another one held in 1997 excluded the Kurdish region.
The new census “charts a developmental map for the future and sends a message of stability,” Planning Minister Mohammed Tamim said in a televised address.
The census will be the first to employ advanced technologies for gathering and analyzing data, providing a comprehensive picture of Iraq’s demographic, social, and economic landscape, offiials say. Some 120,000 census workers will survey households across the country, covering approximately 160 housing units each over two days.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said it has signed an Implementation Agreement (IA) with Australian Space Agency (ASA) for further strengthening of cooperation in space activities between the two countries.
The IA enables cooperation between both space agencies on crew and crew module recovery for Gaganyaan missions, the country's first crewed spaceflight program.
The IA was signed by D K Singh, Director, Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) on ISRO's side at Bengaluru and Jarrod Powell, General Manager, Space Capability Branch, on ASA's side at Canberra on November 20.
India and Australia are enduring strategic partners and both space agencies are working closely and are committed to explore current and future collaboration activities.
The IA enables the Australian authorities to work with Indian authorities to ensure support for search and rescue of crew and recovery of crew module as part of a contingency plan for ascent phase that aborts near Australian waters.
