22nd November, 2013

• Squadron leader Shalija Dhami will become the first woman from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to qualify as a Flying Instructor from the Flying Instructors' School in Chennai. 

• US National Book Award in fiction was awarded to author James McBride. McBride's "The Good Lord Bird" is about the journey of a young slave in the 1850s.

• US President Barack Obama has appointed Indian-American, Gargee Ghosh, as member of the President's Global Development Council.

• China has completed the construction of the world's highest photovoltaic power station, Ngari Photovoltaic (PV) Power Station, in Tibet, close to the Indian border.

• A 4.4-billion-year-old ‘black beauty’ rock discovered in the Sahara Desert may be the oldest Martian meteorite ever found.
• Cadila Pharmaceuticals has launched a new lung cancer drug, Mycidac-C. The drug is priced at Rs.40,000 for a 10-course injection, much cheaper than the drugs manufactured and sold in the market by multinational companies at present. 

• India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman to score 5000 runs in one-day internationals. Kohli achieved the feat in just 120 matches and 114 innings. He has so far amassed 5005 runs, which included 17 centuries and 27 fifties in his short career. In terms of innings, Kohli has equalled the record of Sir Viv Richards of West Indies, who also achieved the feat in 114 innings way back in 1987 but it was Viv's 126th match. 

           21st November, 2013

• The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal would intensify into a cyclonic storm and cross the coast between Chennai and Ongole, the India Meteorological Department said. Cyclone "Helen" would cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast near Kavali.

• Child sex ratio at its lowest ever of 914 girls for every 1,000 boys.
• India and Vietnam have reached an understanding on enhancement of bilateral ties in the areas of defence, energy and investments.

• Tributes were paid to the British biochemist Frederick Sanger, the “father of genomics” and the only person to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry twice, following his death at the age of 95.

• Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai was handed the European Union (EU)’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize in recognition of her crusade for the right of all children, girls and boys, to an education.

• Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu will be the chief coach of the Indian boxing team till the 2016 Rio Olympics.

• Barcelona's Argentine star striker Lionel Messi received his third Golden Shoe award as the top league scorer in Europe for his 46 goals in the 2012-2013 seasons.

          20th November, 2013

• The Supreme Court gave a big relief to political parties by allowing Jailed persons to contest polls.

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has inaugurated the first women commercial bank of the country, the Bharatiya Mahila Bank in Mumbai. 

• The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust has announced that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be honoured with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2013 for her exemplary leadership in Europe and the world during the financial crisis and her stewardship of German economic growth. 

• Gorakhpur based artist Raj Kumar Verma has produced a rare book which is only 0.64 mm in size. Claiming it to be the world's smallest book, Verma is going to apply to the Limca and Guinness book of World Record to list his work.

• India's first private international airport to be built in Aranmula in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district has been given all clearances, the final from the ministry of environment and forests.

• Indian-American Kshama Sawant has been elected to the prestigious Seattle City Council, making her the first socialist to be voted to an elected office.

• US President Barack Obama has nominated popular Indian-American actor and former White House staffer Kal Penn for a key administration post of member of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

• “Selfie” is the 2013 word of the year, Oxford Dictionaries announced. “Selfie” is defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website”. 
• Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL), has announced the sale of its Singapore-based bourse SMX for $150 million (Rs.931 crore) to Atlanta-headquartered IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). 
  
  
   
• Top Indian industrialist Ratan Tata has returned as a board member of East West Centre, a prominent American think tank. Tata, 75, is returning to the board and has worked with the organisation several times between 1993 and 2004.

          19th November, 2013

• The Army has successfully test-fired an advanced version of the 290-km BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which destroyed a “hardened target” in the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan.

• Writer Krishna Koladra Kulkarni of Bijapur, has been chosen by the Karnataka government for the Kanakashri award for 2013.
• Expanding their time-tested strategic ties, India and Russia have decided to hold the first ever joint air exercise next year besides joint naval exercise in Sea of Japan. 

• Iran unveiled an aircraft that it says is the biggest drone, Fotros, yet to be developed in the Islamic Republic, capable of staying aloft for up to 30 hours.

• Indian workers are among the most satisfied with their jobs globally, and nearly one in five Indians like their jobs so much that they would even work for free.
• Rafael Nadal was confirmed as the world number one at the end of the 2013 season, following the Czech Republic's 3-2 win over Serbia in the Davis Cup final.

           18th November, 2013

• American defence major Boeing has delivered the second P-8I aircraft to India that is likely to boost the Indian Navy's long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

• Yesteryears actress Waheeda Rehman will be honoured with the first Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on November 20.

• The oldest Nobel Prize for literature winner, Doris Lessing, died in London. Doris - the author of ‘The Golden Notebook’ and ‘The Grass is Singing’ among more than 50 other novels ranging from political to science fiction-- was aged 94.

• Angelina Jolie kicked off the movie award season as she accepted an honorary Oscar for her humanitarian work at the Governors Awards ceremony in Hollywood.

• Malta has been unanimously chosen as the host of the next Commonwealth summit in 2015 after Mauritius pulled out in protest against the decision to hold this year's gathering in Sri Lanka despite an international outcry over alleged rights violations and war crimes.
• World champion Sebastian Vettel won a record eighth successive race when he triumphed in United States Grand Prix.

• The Czech Republic defended the Davis Cup title after Radek Stepanek beat Serbian youngster Dusan Lajovic in the decisive fifth final rubber in straight sets.

         

          17th November, 2013

• Sachin Tendulkar, one of cricket’s greatest heroes, and top scientist C.N.R. Rao were named for the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. 

• The Asan prize for poetry for 2013 was presented to N.K. Desam at a function organised by the AsanMemorial Association in Chennai. The award carries Rs.35,000, a citation, and a memento. 
  
• Abdulla Yameen, half-brother of former autocratic ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, clinched an unexpected victory in the presidential run-off elections by defeating former President Mohamed Nasheed, who had led in two recent aborted polls.

• Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter arrived in Kathmandu to observe the crucial elections that are seen as vital to the Himalayan kingdom’s political stability.

• A Bengali doctor, Dr Apurba Chatterjee, now working in Britain to take care of UK's ageing population, has been honoured with the prestigious "Pride of Reading" award.

• JPMorgan Chase & Co, said it agreed to pay $4.5 billion to settle claims by investors who lost money on mortgage-backed securities before the collapse of the U.S. housing market. 

• Hyderabad will soon house a replica of Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. (BSE), which will act as a back-up bourse and a data recovery site (DRS).

• Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is joining private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC. The firm announced that Mr. Geithner would serve as President and Managing Director of the firm.

• Yuki Bhambri cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Sriram Balaji in the final of the $10,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament in New Delhi.

• Henrik Stenson of Sweden won the Race to Dubai title, confirming him as the European number one golfer for 2013.

          16th November, 2013

• The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) conferred seven environmentalists and wildlife experts in the country with Earth Hero and other distinguished awards in recognition for their contributions in wildlife and forest conservation.

• Spiritual guru Kripalu Maharaj, 91, passed away in Gurgaon following a brain injury.

• Leading NRI industrialist and educationist, Lord Swraj Paul was presented with the 'International Indian of the Decade' award for his outstanding achievements in the fields of industry, education and philanthropy.

• China said it would relax family planning restrictions the first such move in more than six years and abolish the controversial “reeducation through labour” system, as the Communist Party of China (CPC) released a “road map” detailing new measures. Under the new rules, couples can now have two children if one parent is an only child. 
• Myanmar’s President, Thein Sein, has pardoned 69 political prisoners, including two grandsons of a former dictator, as part of a promise to free all such detainees by year-end.

• China's new buzzwords 'tuhao', meaning uncouth rich people, and 'dama', meaning rich middle-aged women could make their way into the Oxford English Dictionary next year.
• NTPC gets nod for Rs 1,750cr tax-free bond.

• Bank One, a leading bank in the island nation of Mauritius off the southern African coast, selected the financial software product Finacle of Infosys for its treasury operations.

          15th November, 2013

• Prominent Hindi writer Hari Krishna Devsare, known for his prolific work in the field of children’s literature,died at the age of 75.

• India second on list of governments requesting Google data.

• The Uttar Pradesh government extended by six months the term of the Vishnu Sahai Commission probing the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining districts. 

• US President Barack Obama has announced his intention to nominate Indian-American Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy as his next surgeon general.

• Turkish Parliament has lifted a ban on women lawmakers wearing trousers in the Assembly, shortly after a major government reform allowed them to don Islamic headscarves. 

• A Japanese man who runs on his arms and legs broke his own Guinness world record for the 100-metre dash. Kenichi Ito finished in 16.87 seconds, saving more than half a second off his 2012 run of 17.47 seconds. 

• An enormous diamond known as “The Pink Star” sold for $83.425 million at an auction, far surpassing its expected price. the sale of the vivid and flawless 59.60-carat pink diamond is the highest price ever paid for a gemstone at an auction. 

• Apollo Hospitals group, has signed an agreement with Common Services Centers (CSC) scheme of the Central Government to provide healthcare services to the rural areas.  

• Entrepreneur Sidharth Birla will be the next president of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(Ficci). He will take over from incumbent Naina Lal Kidwai. 

• Mary Ann Gomes won the International Woman Grandmaster Open chess tournament in Chennai. 

• R Ashwin becomes fastest Indian bowler to take 100 Test wickets.