Gujarat has emerged as the “Most Film Friendly State” in the country at 63rd National Film Awards in New Delhi. Gujarat tourism was conferred with the national award for “Most Film Friendly State”. Notably, Gujarat has become the first state ever to have received such an award, which is specially conceived to promote film tourism in States. The award was received by Jayesh Radadia, Minister of State for Tourism, Government of Gujarat, from the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee

On 26th November 2018, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio launched the state Tourist Police at Police Headquarter in Kohima. The chief minister also released the Tourist Police Handbook and launched Nagaland Police FIR Mobile App. Rio also flagged off the tourist police vehicle and inaugurated the integrated control room. Nagaland becomes the second state in the North East to introduce Tourist Police. Tourist Police will be deployed during Hornbill Festival of Nagaland, which starts from 1st December to give safety and security of tourists.

The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) of India and its enforcement officer RS Sharath has won the Asia Environment Enforcement Awards under the organization and individual categories respectively for their outstanding contributions in combating the trans-boundary environmental crimes. This is the 2nd time in a row the awards are being given by UN Environment to India. The WCCB is a statutory multi-disciplinary body established by the Government of India (GoI) under the Environment Ministry to combat organized wildlife crime in the country. The body is mandated to collect and collate intelligence related to organized wildlife crime activities and to disseminate it to the state and other enforcement agencies for immediate action and establish a centralized wildlife crime data bank among many others. The Bureau has its headquarter in New Delhi.

The International Space Station (ISS) turned 20 years old on November 20, 2018. The project was kicked by Russian space agency Roscosmos when it launched its Zarya module from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on November 20, 1998.

On November 20, 2018, the Gujarat government launched Rs 351 Crore project for the conservation of the Asiatic lions for next five years, after the Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) outbreak,that claimed 23 Asiatic lions lives in their only dwelling Gir National park in Saurashtra.The project also includes an emergency ambulance van akin to the 108 emergency service.It also includes a ‘state of the art’ veterinary hospital to be built at Rs 50 crore in Sasan Gir region.Additionally, a special veterinary cadre of 120 personnel will be created for the conservation of lions. Also, special breeding centres would be created for near-extinct bird species like the Great Indian Bustard and vultures.It was also decided to set up five Safari Parks. They are:A lion safari will come up at Gandhinagar,A Tiger Safari at Kevadia near the Statue of Unity and 2 leopard safari parks will be set up in Mandvi in Surat district and Dangs in South Gujarat.

The researchers at IIT-Hyderabad have developed a smartphone-based system to detect adulteration in milk. The detector system can measure the level of acidity in milk using an indicator paper. The sensor-chip based method measures pH, which is an indicator of the acidity and the colour of the paper indicates different pH levels. The IIT team, led by Prof. Shiv Govind Singh, used a process called “electrospinning” to produce paper-like material made of nanosized nylon fibre, loaded with a combination of three dyes. The paper is “halochromic” which changes colour in response to changes in acidity. They have also developed a prototype smartphone-based algorithm, in which, the colours of the sensor strips after dipping in milk are captured using the camera of the phone and the data is transformed into pH (acidity) ranges. On being tested, the above method is found to be 99.71% accurate to detect adulteration in milk.

Gujarat government on November 20, 2018 launched a Rs 351-crore project for the conservation of the Gir lions. The project is launched in the backdrop of the Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) outbreak that claimed 23 Asiatic lions lives in their only dwelling Gir National park in Saurashtra. This intensive project will also include an emergency ambulance van akin to the 108 emergency services.

• Russia, Iran and Turkey will hold the next round of talks on Syria’s conflict on November 28-29 in Astana, Kazakhstan.
• The meeting will be the 11th in the Astana peace process, which was set up in early 2017 by Russia and Iran.
• The Astana process was launched after Russia’s military intervention in Syria.

On November 19, 2018, Maharashtra government led by CM Devendra Fadnavis passed the Maratha Reservation Bill. As per the bill, Maharashtra will create a new category called SEBC (socially and educationally backward class) in order to give reservation to Marathas. This has been passed for reservation by citing ‘extraordinary circumstance’ as rights of neither OBCs nor Marathas. This move has been recommended by Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission headed by Justice N G Gaikwad (retired).

Tripura will host the 7th edition of International Tourism Mart (ITM-2018) in Agartala from 22nd November to popularise tourist destinations in the northeastern states of the country. The event would be organised with an estimated budget of Rs 2.60 crores, which would be provided by the Ministry of Tourism. In the 3-day long tourism fair, at least 60 tour operators from 18 foreign countries including Bangladesh, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Thailand, South Africa and Russia would attend the fair and engage in dialogue with the state tour operators, attend seminars and visit different tourist spots of the state. Apart from the foreign participants, 70 tour operators would join the tourism mart from the eight NE states. 30 others would participate from other states of the country.

• The annual ‘Global Talent’ rankings were released by IMD Business School in Switzerland on 20 November 2018.
• The rankings are based on three factors: Investment and Development, Appeal, and Readiness.
• India got the 53rd rank.
• Switzerland has topped the global ranking for the fifth year in a row.
• Within Asia, Singapore got the 13th rank.

Dr. Thanjavur Santhanakrishna Kanaka (86), who was Asia’s first & world’s third female neurosurgeon, has passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on November 14, 2018. She served in the Indian Army as a commissioned officer during the 1962-1963 Sino-Indian War. Beside this, she was the first neurosurgeon in India to perform chronic electrode implants in the brain; having performed deep brain stimulation as early as in 1975. Dr. Kanaka, who retired as professor of Neurosurgery in Madras Medical College (MMC) in 1990, was known to have inspired many women to take to the field of neurosurgery in the country. She used her own funds to establish a hospital, named after her parents as Sri Santhanakrishna Padmavathi Health Care and Research Foundation, which offers free healthcare to the needy.

The International Space Station (ISS) celebrated its 20th birthday on November 20, 2018. The project was launched by the Russian space agency Roscosmos on November 20, 1998 when it launched its Zarya module from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

On November 15, 2018, a 2-day South Asian regional conference, co-hosted by NITI Aayog, was held at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi. The theme of the conference was: “Urban Infrastructure: New Approaches to Public & Private Partnerships and Municipal Finance Innovations”. It was inaugurated by CEO, NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant and Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance Subhash Chandra Garg. Concerning the deficit of infra implementation against demand, India alone, until 2040, requires investments estimated of around $4.5 trillion in the infrastructure space.

The Australian Government announced on November 21, 2018 that it would not sign the UN Global Compact for Migration saying that the agreement would undermine its existing immigration policies. According to the nation, its immigration policy already promotes safe, orderly and regular migration.

The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has rolled out its Online Open Learning training platform ‘KOOL’. The platform can be used to train teachers, students and the general public. It is a six week course, which includes many features for learners in the form of animated learning assistants, video tutorials and check lists for practicing the activities. The other features includes creation of word documents, spreadsheet, presentation, image editing, video-audio editing, development of digital resources, Malayalam typing, internet, educational applications. KOOL has been designed in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) model. It is compulsory for teachers to successfully complete 45 hours of computer course in order to clear their probation. Teachers who successfully complete the course would be awarded certificates.

Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the founder of Lodha Group and a lawmaker representing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has become the nation’s richest real estate developer after the company’s sales increased 22 per cent.

• Hookah bars have been permanently banned in Punjab as President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Bill, 2018 to check use of tobacco.
• Punjab is the third state in the country after Gujarat and Maharashtra where hookah bars or lounges were banned through law.
• The Punjab assembly had passed the Bill in March 2018.

• China has added two more satellites to its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).
• The satellites were launched into space on a ‘Long March-3B’ rocket carrier.
• With the successful launch, the basic BDS constellation deployment is complete.
• It will be the fourth global satellite navigation system after the US GPS system, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo.