27th November, 2013

• The Supreme Court has formed a 10-member sexual harassment committee on the lines of Vishakha judgement. Announcing the decision at a function organised in Supreme Court, CJI P Sathasivam informed that the Committee will comprise of seven women members including Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, who will head the panel. The Supreme Court Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC) as it will be called have two external members as nominee of CJI, namely G Mohan Gopal and Bharti Ali.

• Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed the former Railway Board chairman, Vivek Sahai, as his adviser.

• Rural connectively in Rajasthan is likely to get better with the World Bank recently approving a $160 million credit for the Rajasthan Road Sector Modernization Project to support the government of Rajasthan improve rural connectivity, enhance road safety and strengthen the road sector management capacity of the state.

• Archaeologists have unearthed the earliest ever ‘Buddhist shrine’ at Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal, which suggests the sage, may have lived in the 6th century BC, two centuries earlier than thought. 

• Monica Gill, a 24-year-old clinical affairs associate, has won the Miss India USA 2013 crown.

• A top Indian-American executive, Neeraj Sahai, at Citigroup has been appointed president of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, the world's largest ratings firm.

          26th November, 2013

• In Haryana, biomass project of 9.9 MW has been set up in Mahendragarh district with a total cost of Rs.60 crore and a similar project of 9.5 MW in Bhiwani district is at its final stage of completion.
• BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is among Time magazine's shortlisted candidates for its 'Person of the Year' title and has emerged as an early favourite among the readers in an online poll.

• As part of its annual mission to ensure the safe mid-sea sojourn of breeding Olive Ridley sea turtles in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary area of Odisha, the Coast Guard has launched ‘Operation Oliver’. 
• India has donated 2,500 metric tonnes of wheat worth USD 2 million as food assistance to the troubled Gulf state of Yemen.

• Pakistan has inducted the first fleet of indigenously developed Strategic Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), named Burraq and Shahpar UAV Systems, into the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force.

• The United Nations has declared 2014 as the international year of family farming so as to support the farmers achieve food security and eradicate global poverty.
• Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, the newly-crowned World chess champion, received a cheque for Rs. 9.9 crore from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Ms. J. Jayalalithaa. 

          25th November, 2013

• Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah has been appointed as the new chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India.

• After 'Phailin', 'Helen', Andhra braces up for cyclone 'Lehar' After being hit by cyclones 'Phailin' and 'Helen', Andhra Pradesh is likely to be at the receiving end of another cyclone, 'Lehar', by November 28, 2013. 'Lehar' lay centered, about 230 km east-southeast of Port Blair over the Andaman Sea and is expected to cross Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• The US and Pakistan have agreed to enhance cooperation in areas of mutual strategic interest, including counter-terrorism and maritime security, as part of their commitment to strong defense ties. 

• Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel wrapped up the Formula One season by winning the Brazilian Grand Prix and becoming the first driver to take nine successive victories in a single year. The sport's youngest quadruple world champion, still only 26 years old, also matched fellow-German Michael Schumacher's 2004 record of 13 wins in a season. 

          
         24th November, 2013

• Indian director Shubhashish Bhutiani’s short film “Kush” has been selected by the Academy in the shortlist of 10 live-action shorts that will advance in the Oscar race.

• The Hindu’s Jharkhand correspondent, Anumeha Yadav, has won the Press Institute of India- International Committee of the Red Cross award for the best Indian print media article on humanitarian issues.

• It was a historic day for the judiciary as for the first time 35,10,390 cases pending in various courts were decided on one day in the National Lok Adalat held in the Supreme Court, all High Courts, and district and taluk courts across the country on Nov. 23, 2013. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) organised the Lok Adalat.

• Drug majors Pfizer and Wyeth, said they would merge their India operations in a share-swap and operate under a single brand, a move that would give the combined entity increased therapeutic presence and a de-risked business profile.

 

• Yuki Bhambri clinched the doubles wild card with Michael Venus of New Zealand.

 

• Serena Williams has been named WTA Player-of-the-Year for the second year running and the fifth time overall.

          23rd November, 2013

• Senior scientist C.N.R. Rao, who was recently awarded the Bharat Ratna, has now been elected Honorary Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Prof. Rao is the first Indian scientist to be elected to the academy.

• Maryam Nawaz Sharif has been appointed Chairperson of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme and will act as the focal person with the responsibility to coordinate and supervise its implementation. 

• A jury has added $290 million more to the damages Samsung Electronics owes Apple for copying vital iPhone and iPad features, bringing the total amount the South Korean technology titan is on the hook for to $930 million. 

 

• Di Wu wins Australian Open wild card.

          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.