NATIONAL AFFAIRS

1. Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy Launches 3rd Round of PLI Scheme for Speciality Steel

Union Minister for Steel, H.D. Kumaraswamy, officially launched the third iteration of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI 1.2) Scheme for Speciality Steel to augment domestic manufacturing capabilities of advanced, high-value steel products.

• Financial Architecture: The updated scheme features incentive rates ranging from 4% to 15%, scaled according to specific product categories and the level of localized value addition achieved.
• Operational Structure: Extending for a five-year block starting from FY26, fiscal disbursals are programmed to commence in FY27. It spans 22 product sub-categories grouped under five primary industrial clusters.
• Updated Benchmark Pricing: Reflecting evolving input costs and macro-market trends, the baseline year for pricing metrics has been updated to FY25 (shifting from the earlier benchmark of FY20). Eligible domestic entities can submit digital applications via the dedicated MECON portal within a 30-day window.

2. India’s First Silicon Carbide (SiC) Semiconductor Manufacturing Plant Set for Odisha

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi inaugurated the country’s premier end-to-end Silicon Carbide (SiC) Semiconductor facility at Info Valley in Bhubaneswar. This project represents a milestone in India's target for high-power electronics self-reliance.

• Financial Outlay & Synergy: Backed by an investment of ₹2,067 crore, the project is implemented by SiCSem Private Limited (a subsidiary of Archean Chemical Industries Limited) in technical collaboration with UK's Clas-SiC Wafer Fab Limited. The Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha (IDCO) has cleared 23 acres of land for the complex.
• Strategic Clearances: The commercial plant has secured apex approvals under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) steered by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• Production Volume & Use Cases: Targeted to achieve full commercial operations by FY28 (2027–28), the facility is designed for an annual manufacturing capacity of 60,000 SiC wafers alongside 96 million integrated packaged units. These specialized power semiconductors will serve industries including Electric Vehicles (EVs), missile and defense tech, smart grids, telecommunications, and quantum data centers.

3. President Droupadi Murmu Addresses Uttarakhand Assembly’s Silver Jubilee Session

President Droupadi Murmu addressed a special commemorative session of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly in Dehradun, marking the Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary) of the state’s formation.

• Historical Timeline: Transformed into India’s 27th state on November 9, 2000, Uttarakhand was carved out from the mountainous northwestern zones of Uttar Pradesh to cater to its distinct cultural identity and demographic needs.
• Socio-Economic Benchmarks: During her address, the President commended the state's progress over the past quarter-century, noting its improved Human Development Index (HDI), higher literacy rates, and sharp drops in maternal and infant mortality.
• Raj Bhavan Centenary: As part of her official state visit, the President also graced the 125th anniversary celebrations of the historic Raj Bhavan complex located in Nainital.

4. Fortnight-Long 'Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh Pakhwada 2025' Observed Nationwide

To celebrate the cultural heritage and historical contributions of India's tribal communities, the Government of India observed the Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh Pakhwada 2025 from November 1 to 15, 2025.

• 150th Birth Anniversary: The nationwide fortnight-long celebrations served as a prelude to the 150th birth anniversary of legendary tribal freedom fighter Bhagwan Birsa Munda on November 15, designated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas.
• Administrative Oversight: The events were coordinated by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) under the guidance of Union Minister Jual Oram.
• Grassroots Outreach: Ground actions included specialized welfare surveys for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), health camps, and youth clubs in Jammu & Kashmir, specialized career counseling forums in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and heritage rallies in Andhra Pradesh, alongside academic competitions across Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Odisha.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

1. India and Denmark Establish 'Indo-Danish Business Council' in Copenhagen

Marking the historic milestone of 75 years of formal diplomatic ties, India and Denmark jointly launched the Indo-Danish Business Council (IDBC) during a bilateral forum held in Copenhagen.

• Core Core Focus: The council will serve as a structured platform to accelerate technology transfers, venture capital deployment, and industrial integration across key green sectors: Deep Tech, Renewable Energy, Life Sciences, Fintech, and Healthcare.
• Leadership Profiles: The newly formed council will be headed by Chairperson Freddy Svane (former Danish Ambassador to India), supported by Co-Chairs Sudhir Mishra (Founder, Trust Legal) and Rajat Pandey (Copenhagen-based VC expert). Subhrangshu Kumar Neogi will mentor the council’s domestic execution inside India.

2. G20 Inequality Report: Wealth of India’s Top 1% Soars by 62% Since 2000

The G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality, operating under South Africa’s G20 Presidency, published its inaugural global report on systemic economic disparities.

• India-Specific Findings: The findings reveal an intense concentration of wealth in India, with the nation's wealthiest top 1% expanding their absolute wealth share by 62% between the years 2000 and 2023.
• Global Inequality Benchmarks: Led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, the report highlights that 83% of nations now record highly elevated income disparities (with Gini coefficients scaling above 0.4), impacting 90% of the global population.
• The Wealth Gap: Between 2000 and 2024, the top 1% of global earners captured 41% of all newly generated wealth, whereas the entire bottom 50% of the global population captured just 1%. Additionally, global food insecurity has risen, with 2.3 billion people currently facing moderate to severe food insecurity—a rise of 335 million since 2019.

BANKING & FINANCE

1. Scapia and Federal Bank Unveil Family Add-On Credit Cards & Travel Store

Travel fintech startup Scapia, in partnership with Federal Bank, launched a digital Family Add-on Credit Card feature coupled with the Scapia Store, a travel-centric shopping ecosystem.

• Add-On Architecture: Primary cardholders can provision up to three add-on credit lines for immediate family members aged over 18. Each user receives independent app access, separate transaction tracking, and individualized spending caps, while financial liability remains tied to the primary cardholder.
• Digital Onboarding: The card features a 100% digital KYC pipeline requiring automated PAN and video verification, enabling near-instant virtual card activation.
• Integrated Rewards: Cardholders receive zero foreign exchange markup on cross-border transactions and earn Scapia Coins. These are redeemable at the newly launched Scapia Store, which offers curated travel gear and lifestyle products alongside a 20% coin-back incentive structure.

2. State Bank of India Becomes First Bank to Execute Gold Trade on IIBX

The State Bank of India (SBI) created a milestone in India's bullion market reforms by executing its maiden gold transaction as a Special Category Client (SCC) on the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) inside GIFT City, Gujarat.

• Simplified Bullion Procurement: The special institutional status permits scheduled commercial banks to trade directly on the exchange floor without going through separate intermediary trading members. This streamlines wholesale bullion import cycles and deepens price transparency for domestic jewelry exporters and MSME clusters.
• Clearing Milestone: This trade follows SBI's previous structural move where it registered as the first Indian banking entity to become a Trading-cum-Clearing (TCM) Member of the IIBX under the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) regulatory umbrella.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

1. QS Asia University Rankings 2026: IIT Delhi Leads India; University of Hong Kong Tops

Global higher education analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds released the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2026. This 17th regional edition evaluated 1,529 universities across 25 distinct international regions.

• Global Leaders: The University of Hong Kong retained the premier spot with a perfect score of 100, followed closely by mainland China's Peking University (99.9). Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) jointly secured the third position.
• Indian Performance: India leads the regional footprint with 294 ranked universities, placing 7 institutions inside the top 100. IIT Delhi remains the top-ranked Indian institution, though it shifted to the 59th position regionally (down from 44th in 2025).

Key Trend: Chandigarh University emerged as the sole Indian institution inside the country's top 10 to improve its standing, rising from 120th to 109th place.

2. Amul Ranked World’s No. 1 Cooperative in 2025 World Cooperative Monitor

The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), the apex body managing the Amul brand, was ranked the World's No. 1 Cooperative based on its per-capita GDP performance in the 2025 ICA World Cooperative Monitor.

Operational Footprint: Amul’s top position is driven by its USD 7.3 billion annual turnover, an extensive daily milk collection infrastructure handling nearly 35 million liters, and a governance model wholly managed by dairy farmers.

• The Global Evaluation: The report is jointly prepared by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (EURICSE). It ranks global entities using two distinct indices: absolute fiscal turnover and turnover-to-GDP per capita ratio.
• Indian Cooperatives on the Global Stage: Following Amul, the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) secured the second spot globally, supporting over 50 million farmers via an institutional network of 35,000 agricultural cooperatives.

3. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Honoured with World Leader for Peace and Security Award

Spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, was presented with the 2025 World Leader for Peace and Security Award during a ceremony at Harvard University.

• Issuing Authorities: The honor was jointly conferred by the Boston Global Forum (BGF) and the Artificial Intelligence World Society (AIWS) on the 10th anniversary of the award's inception.
• Conflict Resolution: The citation recognizes his ongoing humanitarian interventions and back-channel mediation efforts in resolving complex regional conflicts across Colombia, Iraq, Venezuela, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Kashmir.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

S. Sankarasubramanian Elected as New Chairman of Fertilizer Association of India (FAI)

During the apex board convention of the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI) in New Delhi, S. Sankarasubramanian was elected as the industry body's new Chairman, succeeding Sailesh C. Mehta.

• Professional Background: Sankarasubramanian serves as the Managing Director and CEO of Coromandel International Limited (part of the Murugappa Group) and brings over three decades of corporate expertise across phosphatic and potassic agro-input segments.
• Executive Board Restructuring: Concurrently, Siba Prasad Mohanty (Managing Director of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited) was designated to serve as the sole Co-Chairman of the national fertilizer association.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

1. Google Unveils 'Project Suncatcher' for Space-Based Solar AI Compute Network

Google LLC announced Project Suncatcher, an advanced aerospace moonshot project aimed at deploying decentralized machine learning compute networks directly within Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).

• Infrastructure Configuration: Developed in collaboration with satellite imagery company Planet Labs PBC, the project will test Trillium-generation Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) built to withstand radiation environments up to 15 krad(Si). The initial proof-of-concept phase will see two prototype satellites launch by early 2027.
• Orbital Logistics: The satellites will operate in a dawn-dusk sun-synchronous orbit, allowing continuous solar panel exposure. This setup generates up to eight times more power than equivalent terrestrial arrays.
• Optical Data Highways: Initial ground testing achieved bidirectional data transfers of 1.6 Terabits per second (Tbps) using Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) free-space optical links. Google plans to build an 81-satellite cluster operating within a 1-kilometer radius to form an interconnected orbital supercomputing grid.

2. OpenAI Launches 'IndQA' Benchmarking Dataset to Upgrade AI Reasoning in Indian Languages

To address cultural gaps in generative AI testing, OpenAI deployed IndQA (Indian Question Answering), a specialized evaluation benchmark designed to measure an AI model's contextual understanding of Indian socio-cultural nuances.

• Multilingual Scope: The dataset covers 12 languages: Hindi, Bengali, Hinglish, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam, Punjabi, and English.
• Curated Data Points: Built with contributions from 261 domain experts, the benchmark contains 2,278 native questions spanning 10 key cultural areas, including Law & Ethics, Food & Cuisine, Architecture, History, and Literature. Each entry includes localized grading criteria, translation layers, and verified expert answers.

OBITUARIES

1. Indian-Origin British Billionaire & Hinduja Group Chairman GP Hinduja Passes Away

The Chairman of the multinational conglomerate Hinduja Group, Gopichand Parmanand Hinduja (popularly known as 'GP'), passed away in London at the age of 85.

• Industrial Legacy: Born in Karachi in 1940, he joined his family's trading firm in Mumbai in 1959. He was instrumental in its expansion into an 11-sector global conglomerate covering automotive, banking, power, real estate, and digital media.
• Historic M&A Operations: He orchestrated landmark international acquisitions for India, including taking over Gulf Oil in 1984 and Ashok Leyland in 1987, which represented one of the earliest major Non-Resident Indian (NRI) investments into the country.
• Rankings and Positions: Following the passing of his elder brother Srichand Hinduja in 2023, he assumed the role of Group Chairman. Under his leadership, the family topped The Sunday Times Rich List 2025 for the fourth consecutive year, with an estimated net worth of GBP 35.3 billion.

2. Former United States Vice President Dick Cheney Passes Away at 84

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney, widely regarded as one of the most influential Vice Presidents in United States history, passed away in Washington, D.C., at the age of 84.

• Executive Profile: Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. His career spanned multiple administrations, including roles as White House Chief of Staff under Gerald Ford and Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush during the 1991 Gulf War.
• The Cheney Doctrine: Following the September 11 attacks, he shaped American foreign and counter-terrorism policy through the "Cheney Doctrine," which advocated for expanded executive authority and pre-emptive military action. This framework played a key role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

STATE NEWS

1. Madhya Pradesh Launches 'PM Shri Air Tourism Service' on 70th State Foundation Day

On Madhya Pradesh’s 70th Foundation Day, Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav inaugurated the Pradhan Mantri Shri Aerial Tourism Helicopter Service at Raja Bhoj Airport in Bhopal.

• National First: With this launch, Madhya Pradesh became the first state in India to run both an Air Ambulance Network and an Intra-State Helicopter Tourism System under a single integrated aviation framework.
• Public-Private Partnership: The service operates on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model alongside private aviation partners Trans Bharat Aviation and Jet Serve Aviation Private Limited.
• Travel Corridors: The helicopter routes connect major environmental, heritage, and religious sites across three key corridors: Indore-Ujjain-Omkareshwar, Bhopal-Madhai-Pachmarhi, and Jabalpur-Bandhavgarh-Kanha.

2. Telangana Establishes Artificial Intelligence Innovation Hub (TAIH) in Hyderabad

The Government of Telangana announced the establishment of the Telangana Artificial Intelligence Innovation Hub (TAIH) in Hyderabad, aiming to place the state among the top 20 global AI centers by 2035.

• Institutional Structure: Unveiled by IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu, TAIH is registered as a non-profit Section 8 company under the Companies Act, 2013. The hub's administration will be overseen by a committee comprising the Special Chief Secretary (IT), the Commissioner of MeeSeva, and the Joint Director of Emerging Technologies.
• Collaborative Ecosystem: The state has partnered with top academic institutions and technology firms to drive research and industrial applications:

• Target Sectors: The innovation hub will focus on deploying AI models across public service delivery, healthcare diagnostics, logistics, transportation networks, and automated e-governance systems.