National:
- On 08 November 2020, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ro-Pax terminal at Hazira, and flagged off the Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira, Surat and Ghogha, Bhavnagar in Gujarat. He renamed the Ministry of Shipping as the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
- All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) was organized a webinar on 5th November 2020 in association with Western Sydney University. The webinar was on the theme of “Yoga and Ayurveda Medicine for Mental Wellness”. The webinar was a collaborative activity focused on the opportunities for mental wellness through the strengths of Ayurveda and Yoga.
During the inaugural session, ‘Yoga for Mind-Body Wellness’, an e-book of invited articles prepared by All India Institute of Ayurveda on the occasion of International Yoga Day- 2020 was released.
Memorandum of Understanding:
- India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on November 04, 2020.
Under the MoU, 51 direct-to-home (DTH) education TV channels shall be available as DD co-branded channels to all DD Free Dish viewers.
It comprises Swaymprabha (22 channels) (M/o Education), e-Vidya for classes 1 to 12 (12 channels) of NCERT, Vande Gujarat (Govt. of Gujarat) (16 channels) and DigiShala under M/o Electronics and IT (1 channel).
This is aims to bring quality educational programmes to every household, including those in rural and remote areas.
Defence:
- Enhanced PINAKA rocket, developed by DRDO was successfully flight tested from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha, on 04th November 2020.
It has been designed and developed by Pune based Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) lab, namely Armament Research and Development Establishment, ARDE and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, HEMRL.
Appointment:
- Retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), on 07 November, 2020. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Mr. Sinha as the Chief Information Commissioner, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
He is 62 years old & he will have tenure of about three years as the CIC. Chief Information Commissioner are appointed for a tenure of five years or till they attain the age of 65 years.
Besides Sinha, Journalist Uday Mahurkar, Former Labour Secretary Heera Lal Samariya and Former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General Saroj Punhani was short-listed for the Information Commissioners.
With the induction of all the three Information Commissioner, the strength of Information Commissioner became seven.
Award:
- 2020 JCB Prize for Literature has been announced by JCB chairman Lord Bamford, on November 7, 2020. This is one of the most prestigious literary awards in India.
Malayalam writer S. Hareesh won ‘2020 JCB Prize for Literature’ for his book ‘Moustache’. The Moustache book was translated from Malayalam to English by Jayasree Kalathil.
Science:
- ISRO, India successfully launched its latest earth observation satellite EOS-01 and nine international customer spacecraft from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 7, 2020. EOS-01 is intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.
International Appointment:
- United Nations, Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra was elected to the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). It is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly & consists of 16 members.
The Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, recommended Vidisha Maitra to the Assembly for a three year term beginning January 1, 2021. The Fifth Committee of the General Assembly deals with administrative and budgetary issues. - ‘H.E. John Pombe Magufuli’ was sworn-in as President of Tanzania on November 05, 2020.