Notes:
The book titled “Notes of a Dream The Authorized Biography of A.R. Rahman” has been authored by Krishna Trilok. It is a magical journey of Oscar-winning musician A.R. Rahman. The book captures Rahman’s extraordinary success story with all the rhythm and melody, the highs and lows, of a terrific soundtrack by the man himself.

Notes:
Indian mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta from Bengal has become the first Indian to climb Mt Giluwe – the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea. He reached the summit of the mountain which is at an elevation of 4,367m on November 11, 2018. With this, Satya has scaled 5 of the 7 volcanic summits. In a few days, he will now set out to summit Mt Wilhelm – the highest mountain of Papua New Guinea. Once successful, Satya will be the first from India to scale these two mountains. In September 2018, Satyarup Siddhanta and Mousumi Khatua created history by climbing Asia’s highest volcanic peak Mount Damavand and became the first Bengalis to do so. Mt Damavand is the highest peak in Iran and also a potentially active volcano.

Notes:
On November 14, the 38th India International Trade Fair (IITF) has started at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi with theme – Rural Enterprises in India. The 14-day annual event will continue till 27th of this month. Afghanistan is the Partner Country, while Nepal will be the Focus Country. Jharkhand is participating as a Partner State in the event. Around 800 participants from States and Government Departments, domestic and International companies are taking part to showcase their product. For the general public, the trade fair will open from 18th to 27th of November. During a public holiday, the price of the ticket will be Rs.120 for adult and Rs. 60 for the child. While during working days, the ticket charges will be Rs. 60 for adult and 40 rupees for the child.

Notes:
India and United Kingdom (UK) have recently signed a pact on India-UK Cancer Research Initiative for affordable approaches to Cancer. It is a British Pounds 10 million (current value of Rs 93 crore) collaborative research programme that will address issues of affordability, prevention and care of cancer by bringing together Indian and UK experts across clinical research. The five year initiative will be funded by India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and UK’s Cancer Research UK (CRUK) programme. DBT and CRUK will invest equally at UK Pounds 5 million each. The initiative will provide an opportunity to tackle the global epidemic of cancer by opening new pathways for international knowledge exchange and research base. The research outcomes of this initiative will aid cancer prevention, control and management in the long term.

Notes:
Late Dr. Martha Farrell has been honoured with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the 6th Indian Social Work Congress in New Delhi. Dr. Farrell is being recognized for her lifelong work towards gender equality, women’s empowerment and prevention of sexual harassment at workplace. She was among 14 people killed in a terrorist attack on a guest house in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 13, 2015. Dr. Farrell had been leading a gender training workshop with the Aga Khan Foundation in Kabul at the time of the attack. Suheil Tandon, Martha’s son along with the team of Martha Farrell Foundation received the award.

Notes:
On November 14, the United Nations Children’s Fund — India (UNICEF-India) has appointed Asian Games gold-medalist sprinter Hima Das as the country’s first ever youth ambassador as part of 2018 World Children’s Day (WCD) celebration. She will work towards supporting various initiatives by UNICEF. In her role as a Youth Ambassador, Hima will work towards raising awareness about the rights and needs of children and help amplify the voices of children and young people as active participants in decision making, thus contributing to their holistic development. Hailing from Nagaon district of Assam, Das clinched a gold in Women’s 4×400 metre relay event and silver in the 400 meters sprint at the 2018 Asian Games.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has set up a tribunal for adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the two Tripura-based militant outfits – National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) – as unlawful associations under the law. The decision has been taken by the Home Ministry exercising the powers conferred under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act . The tribunal will be headed by Delhi High Court Judge Justice Suresh Kait. The rebel outfits, formed in 1990 with the objective of “expulsion of all foreigners who entered the state after 1956”, were first banned in 1997 following riots involving tribals and non-tribals in Tripura’s Khowai subdivision, in which the outfits intervened on behalf of tribals. Tripura shares an 856-km boundary with Bangladesh.

Notes:
In New Delhi, the Government of India (GoI) has signed a $300 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) that provides long-term finance to infrastructure projects. The move is expected to enhance the availability of long-term finance for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects, improve operational capacity of IIFCL, and expand the portfolio of infrastructure financing instruments available to the company. The $300 million ADB loan is expected to help catalyze the financial closing of $2.4 billion in investments. In addition, the attached technical assistance will support IIFCL capacity development and will focus on IIFCL’s financial management and social and environmental safeguards.

Notes:
In Himachal Pradesh, the 26th edition of Central and State Statistical Organizations(COCSSO) Conference was held at Dharamshala with theme “Quality Assurance in Official Statistics” on 15th and 16th November 2018. It was organized by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in collaboration with Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Himachal Pradesh. The COCSSO is an annual conference which provides a platform for the Central and State statisticians to exchange views and discuss common issues relating to statistical activities.

Notes:
William Goldman (87), the Oscar-winning screenwriter and novelist, has passed away in New York on November 16, 2018. He was best known for his works such as ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’, ‘All the President’s Men’ and ‘The Princess Bride’.