NATIONAL NEWS

Center Launches AbKoiBahanaNahi Campaign to End Violence Against Women

The government of India launched a nationwide “#AbKoiBahanaNahi” and “Nayi Chetna 3.0 “campaign on 25 November 2024 in New Delhi on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The campaign, which will run until 10 December 2024, which is Human Rights Day, will focus on raising awareness against gender-based violence and the need to end it.

The #AbKoiBahanaNahi” campaign was inaugurated by Annpurna Devi, Union Minister of Women and Child Development.

Women leaders from Self Help Groups across the country and service providers for redressal for survivors of violence against women and girls were also present during the launch of the campaigns.

The United Nations launched the UNITE to End Violence against Women initiative in 2008 to support the civil society-led 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign around the world.

The campaign starts on 25 November and ends on Human Rights Day on 10 December.

The UN Women has chosen “Every 10 Minutes, a woman is killed. #NoExcuse. UNiTE to End Violence against Women” as the theme of the campaign for 2024.”

Assam to Hold Business Summit In February 2025

Assam will host a two-day business summit, Advantage Assam 2.0 – the Global Infrastructure and Investors’ Summit, in February 2025, aimed at attracting investment and developing the state's infrastructure.

The summit will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 24, 2025, and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be invited for the valedictory session.

The summit will focus on attracting investment in infrastructure, with sessions dedicated to road connectivity, railway networks, civil aviation, agriculture, industrial parks, and the hydrocarbon sector.

Delegations will visit Singapore, Japan, the US, UK, and Dubai to promote the summit and invite participation.

Theme-oriented roadshows will be held in six cities: Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad.

The summit will feature a Jhumur dance performance involving 7,500 participants to showcase Assam's cultural heritage, particularly the tea tribes.

A delegation will also visit Bhutan to explore water resources for irrigation and drinking water in Assam.

 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

PSLV to Launch Two Satellites as Part of Proba-3 Mission

PSLV will launch the Proba-3 mission on December 4, 2024 to deploy two satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA).

Proba-3 is the first mission in the world where two satellites will fly in a parallel formation for long durations.

The satellite pair is designed to study the solar corona, the outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere.

The mission will use a coronagraph (on one satellite) and an occulter (on the other) to block light from the Sun's bright layers, allowing detailed observation of the corona.

The satellites will maintain a distance of about 150 meters from each other for six hours per day.

A laser from one satellite will be reflected onto the other satellite's reflector to maintain a relative position.

Initially, the satellites will be launched into a highly elliptical orbit of 600 x 60,530 km.

After launch, they will enter a tandem orbit for formation flying.

The satellites will demonstrate Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre, where they will autonomously avoid collisions and maintain formation without ground control support.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

COP29 Summit Concludes with $300 Billion Agreement

COP29 climate talks concluded in Azerbaijan with a deal offering $300 billion for climate finance by 2035.

This amount is seen as insufficient by developing countries and activists, who had sought $600 billion.

The $300 billion commitment will be sourced from public finance, bilateral, and multilateral agreements, with a larger portion coming from private finance.

The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) was adopted, aiming for at least $1.3 trillion in climate finance annually by 2035, primarily from private finance, with contributions from developing nations and multilateral development banks (MDBs).

Article 6 negotiations on carbon markets were concluded, though experts raised concerns over its effectiveness and transparency.

The rules under Article 6.2 were criticised for being "loose and opaque," potentially favouring free-market approaches.

Article 6.4 rules on carbon removals raised concerns about insufficient guarantees on permanence.

The enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender was adopted, establishing a 10-year plan to integrate gender and age-disaggregated data and develop a gender action plan (GAP) leading up to COP30.

The deal was viewed as a setback in the fight against climate change, particularly due to insufficient financial commitments.

 

BANKING

ICICI Prudential Life Introduces 'Increasing Income' Option in Annuity Plan

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance launched the industry’s first "Increasing Income" feature in its regular pay annuity product, ICICI Pru Guaranteed Pension Plan Flexi.

The Increasing Income feature provides a 5% annual increase in the annuity pay-out, helping retirees combat inflation and maintain their standard of living.

This feature ensures that retirees receive a guaranteed income stream that increases annually, preserving their purchasing power over time.

The feature helps retirees counter the impact of inflation on fixed incomes, allowing them to maintain their standard of living despite rising costs.

The ICICI Pru Guaranteed Pension Plan Flexi with the Increasing Income feature provides retirees both financial security and flexibility, with affordable long-term contributions to build a retirement corpus.

ICICI Prudential Life views the current high-interest rate environment as a favourable opportunity for customers to lock in annuity rates and secure a guaranteed income for life.

 

DEFENCE

2025 Indian Army Day to be Held in Pune, Maharashtra

Pune, Maharashtra, will host the Indian Army’s ceremonial annual 2025 Army Day on 15 January 2025.

This was announced during the launch of the parade's promotional video, which features Bollywood stars R. Madhavan and Rakul Preet Singh, at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

Army Day marks an important transition in the Indian Army, where the command was formally vested in an Indian.

The government has decided to rotate the annual Army Day parade among the Indian Army's six operational commands.

First time in 2023, the Army Day Parade was held outside New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Karnataka.

In 2024, it was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

 

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

President of Uruguay

A teacher of history, folk dancer and former mayor, the 57-year-old Yamandu Orsi has been elected as the new President of Uruguay. In the Presidential run-off election held on 24 November 2024, Yamandu Orsi secured 49.8 per cent of the votes, compared to Alvaro Delgado of the centre-right National Party, who secured 45.9 per cent votes.

Yamandu Orsi will succeed the current President, Luis Lacalle Pou, in March 2025.

The Uruguayan President is elected for a term of five years and is not eligible for immediate reelection.

An Election was held on 27 October 2024 to elect a new President Of Uruguay. Yamandu Orsi, the candidate for the left-wing Broad Front coalition, secured 44 percent of the votes, while Alvaro Delgado of the ruling National Party secured 27 percent of the votes.

Since none of the candidates was able to secure 50 per cent of the votes, a run-off election was held on 24 November 2024

The top two candidates, Yamandu Orsi and Alvaro Delgado, were eligible to participate in the run-off poll.

In the run-off election, Yamandu Orsi was declared elected as the winner as he secured more votes than his rival, Alvaro Delgado.

 

SPORTS

Men’s Hockey Junior Asia Cup Title

Indian men’s junior hockey team coached by legendary former Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will defend its title at the 11th Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup at Muscat Oman.

India are the defending champions having won the 2023 edition played at Salalah, Oman,by defeating Pakistan 2-1 in the final.

The 11th Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup organised by Asian Hockey Federation and hosted by Oman Hockey Association at Muscat from 27-November - 4 December 2024.

Players below 21 years are eligible to participate in the tournament.

Defender Amir Ali will captain the 20-member Indian hockey team with Rohit as vice-captain.

Amir Ali was part of the Indian Men’s Hockey team which won the 8th Men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2024 played in China.

The 11th Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup is also a qualifying event for the 2025 FIH World Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup to be held in India

The top six teams will automatically qualify for the FIH World Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup.

 

IMPORTANT DAYS

Constitution Day

Constitution Day 2024 is observed on the 26th of November 2024.

On November 26, 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India formally adopted the Constitution of India.

It came into force on January 26, 1950.

Constitution Day aims to bring awareness about the importance of the Constitution and Dr. B R Ambedkar.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee, is considered to be the chief architect of the Constitution of India.

He is also called the Father of the Indian Constitution.

The Constitution of India was drafted by the members of the Constituent Assembly.