Mary Kom enter semi-finals of Women’s World Boxing Championships
MC Marry Kom, Lovlina Borgohain, Sonia Chahal and Simranjit Kaur enter the semifinals and assure India of four medals on day 6 of the Women’s World Championships in New Delhi. In the quarterfinals, Mary Kom defeated China’s Wu Yu 5-0 and Lovlina beat Kaye Scott of Australia 5-0. Sonia defeated Colombia’s Yeni Castenada 4-1 and Simranjit won against Ireland’s Amy Sara Broadhurst 3-1.
The domestic LPG price touched Rs.1,000 in Karnataka
The price of non-subsidised domestic LPG (14.2-kg cylinder) has increased around Rs.1,000 mark in most parts of Karnataka. Besides the base price, with taxes and duties, LPG retail price at a particular city is determined by the distance from the bottling plant. LPG requirements in Bidar are catered to by the Belagavi bottling plant. Karnataka has 11 such plants across the State established by three public sector oil marketing companies. Some of the places where the prices of the cylinder increased has been mentioned below: Sl.No. Place Current Price of 14.2-kg cylinder Price during the month of April 1 Bidar ₹1,015.5 ₹721 2 Bengaluru ₹941 ₹654 3 Mangaluru ₹921 ₹630 4 Hubballi ₹962 ₹671 5 Belagavi ₹956 ₹666
Environment Ministry approved to induce artificial rain via cloud seeding to clear smog in Delhi
The Environment Ministry approved a project led by scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to induce artificial rain via cloud seeding in Delhi. The objective is to clear smog in Delhi. The success of the project depends on the presence of a minimum quantity of rain-bearing clouds over Delhi. In the project, an aircraft has been planned to fly into the clouds and inject silver iodide, which will lead to the formation of ice crystals that will make the clouds denser, cause them to condense into rain and settle atmospheric dust enough to clear the sky. Researchers at IIT-Kanpur will use an aircraft of the National Remote Sensing Agency, an ISRO-affiliated body for the exercise. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) will provide forecasts on the likelihood of conducive clouds. Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) on 20 November was in the very poor category.
Dr Jitendra Singh releases book Radio Kashmir in Times of Peace & War written by Dr Rajesh Bhat
The book published by Stellar Publishers. The book explains the role played by Radio Kashmir in serving the people of Kashmir and strengthening democratic institutions in Kashmir, since the inception of Radio Kashmir in 1947. Dr Rajesh Bhat serves in the Policy Division of Directorate General, All India Radio, New Delhi.
UNESCO along with World Jewish congress launched Holocaust education website
The U.N. culture and education agency has teamed up with the World Jewish Congress and launched “Facts about the Holocaust ” site at the cultural agency’s Paris headquarters. The “Fact about the Holocaust” site is a website to counter Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. The site features a trove of historical information about the Holocaust, including testimonies and it is linked to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Online Holocaust Encyclopedia. This move is to combat the increased hate and disinformation online on Jewish issues. It came five months after the organization launched the UN’s first educational guidelines on fighting anti-Semitism. The pro-Jewish initiatives inside UNESCO came as Israel was preparing its withdrawal from the agency amid accusations that it fosters anti-Jewish bias. Anti-semitism: Anti-semitism is hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an anti-semite. Anti-semitism is generally considered to be a form of racism.
Indo Japan Business Councils Business Festival Held In Pune
The Indo-Japan Business Council (IJBC), hosted KONNICHI WA PUNE – a first of its kind business festival in Pune. The festival was aimed to boost investment, promote businesses and cultural exchange between India and Japan.
Malaria cases declined by 24% in India: WHO report
The World Health Organisation (WHO) in a report stated that India is the only country to have recorded a substantial decline in malaria cases in 2017 out of the 11 highest burden countries worldwide. India accounted for 4 percent of global malaria cases in 2017. As reflected in this year’s World malaria report, India registered a 24 percent reduction in cases over 2016, largely due to substantial declines of the disease in the highly malarious state of Odisha, home to approximately 40 percent of all malaria cases in the country.
NASA picked ancient Martian river delta for Mars 2020 rover landing
NASA has picked Jezero Crater, an ancient river delta, as the landing site for its Mars 2020 rover. The Mars 2020 mission is to hunt for evidence of past life on the earth’s neighboring planet. Even though the Red Planet is now cold and dry, the landing site was filled with a 500-meter deep lake that opened to a network of rivers some 3.5 to 3.9 billion years ago. Mars 2020 has been designed to land inside the crater and collect samples that will eventually be returned to Earth for further analysis, perhaps by the later 2020s. The Mars 2020 will look at rocks on a finer scale to see what biosignatures are preserved.
China unveils the world’s first underground hotel
Shanghai unveiled the world’s first underground hotel, the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland, buried 90 metres deep in an old quarry. Built in the Sheshan Mountain Range, on the hem of Shangai, the ritzy hotel costs $287.9 million. The property was built by British firm Atkins, also behind the Burj Al Arab in Dubai and skyscraper Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City.
Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen in Fortune Business Person of the Year 2018 list
The list ranks 20 business executives delivering on the bottom line and beyond. Fifty-six-year-old Shantanu Narayen ranks 12th on the list. The list is topped by Tricia Griffith, CEO of insurance company Progressive.
Indo-US joint military exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’ commenced in Jaipur
Army’s Indo-US Joint Special Forces Exercise 2018 commenced on November 19 at Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR), Bikaner and will conclude on December 2. The American Special Forces will carry out 12 days rigorous joint training in semi desert and rural terrain with an aim to enhance the inter-operability of the two armed forces and further the military to military co-operation.
Jio partnered with KDDI for international roaming on VoLTE
Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. partnered with KDDI Corporation launched Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE)-based inbound international roaming between India and Japan. This service makes the international roamers and the Japanese travelers in India to enjoy HD voice and LTE high-speed data. Japan-based KDDI Corporation is the first international service provider to avail Jio’s service which provides international travelers access to high-speed data and voice services on Jio’s network.
Twenty Seventh BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change held in New Delhi
The meeting was chaired by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India. Ministers welcomed the 184 ratifications, till date, of the Paris Agreement adopted under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). He listed their priorities under the Paris Agreement Work Programme to ensure implementation of the global climate deal after 2020.
India and World Bank Sign $310 million Loan Agreement For Jharkhand
The Government of India, the Government of Jharkhand and the World Bank signed in New Delhi a $310 million Loan Agreement for Jharkhand Power System Improvement Project to provide reliable, quality, and affordable 24×7 electricity to the citizens of Jharkhand. The Jharkhand Power System Improvement Project will help build new power transmission infrastructure, as well as put in place systems to improve the technical efficiency and commercial performance of the state power sector utilities.
Global education monitoring report 2019 released by UNESCO
The report shows that the number of migrant and refugee school-age children around the world today has grown by 26% since 2000 and could fill half a million classrooms. The literacy levels in rural households of India dip with seasonal migration. About 80% of seasonal migrant children in seven cities lacked access to education near work sites.
UN General Assembly adopts 1st resolution on sexual harassment
The Third Committee of the UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution on sexual harassment, the first of its kind at the world body. The resolution urges countries to address the discrimination faced by women that makes them vulnerable to exploitation, violence and abuse. It also urges states to ensure the promotion and protection of the human rights of all women and their sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights.
Technical snag hits the first reactor of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project
The first reactor of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), which resumed power generation only on 17th November stopped operations due to a technical snag in the turbine section. The reactor resumed its function after being idle for about 108 days. KKNPP has not given the details on the nature of the snag that paralyzed power generation within just 48 hours. Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNP): ♦ Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is the single largest nuclear power station in India
India slips 2 places on ‘Global Talent Ranking’; Switzerland on top
India has slipped two places to rank 53rd on a global annual talent ranking released by IMD Business School Switzerland. While Switzerland has topped the global ranking for the fifth year in a row, it is followed by Denmark, Norway, Austria and the Netherlands in the top-five. Within Asia, Singapore has topped the charts with a global 13th place on the list that ranks 63 countries in developing, attracting and retaining talent. Among BRICS nations, Brazil is ranked 58th, South African 50th and Russia 46th.
Bosch appliances arm to invest Euro 100 mn in different sectors over the next 4 years
Bosch Home Appliances plans to invest €100 million over the next four years into different sectors such as personalized solutions, brand building, strengthening its technology centre, and setting up a robust refrigerator factory in India. Bosch is developing solutions based on the blockchain, sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), and other futuristic technologies. In India, Bosch’s AI solutions and transformation centre is located in Bangalore which is one of the global innovation centres. This center drives through Bosch’s “3S” strategy, that is, it uses sensors, software, and services.
India, Russia sign $500-mn deal to build 2 warships in Goa
The Goa Shipyard Limited and Russia’s Rosoboronexport signed the agreement for the Grigorovich-class ‘Project 11356’ frigates with technology transfer from Russia. The construction of the warships will begin in 2020 and the first one will be delivered in 2026, while second one will be ready by 2027. India inked an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with Russia for the four frigates in 2016. The Indian Navy currently operates six such stealth frigates — three Talwar class and three Teg class — bought from Russia and inducted between 2003 and 2013.
Maldives to rejoin the Commonwealth after 2 years
The new president of the Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has decided that the country will rejoin the Commonwealth group of former British colonies after a two-year absence. Maldives left the Commonwealth during former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration in October 2016, amid mounting pressure over corruption and deteriorating human rights.
Chennai Airport awarded for 100% Grievance Redressal
The Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Commerce & Industry, Suresh Prabhu, and Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha launched the upgraded version of AirSewa 2.0 web portal and mobile app in New Delhi. The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched AirSewa web portal and mobile app in November 2016 to address Air passengers’ issues.
