TODAY NEWS ON November 20, 2024
News Headlines for CAT,CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: The Hindu

National News

• Maharashtra set to vote in a single phase
• PM Modi concludes G-20 Brazil visit, leaves for Guyana
• SpaceX launches giant Starship rocket but passes up catching booster with mechanical arms
• Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit India next year
• Ahead of winter session of Parliament, government to convene all-party meet on Sunday
• G20: PM Modi meets Italian PM Meloni, European counterparts; discusses ways to strengthen ties
• G-20 summit: EAM Jaishankar, Chinese FM Wang discuss resumption of direct flights, journalist permits, tourists and pilgrims
• India, Italy to negotiate defence industrial roadmap
• Delhi air pollution: AQI at 471; Environment Minister says call on odd-even measures to be taken soon
• Punjab sees season’s maximum single day spike in farm fires at 1,251
• Delhi air pollution: CJI Sanjeev Khanna gives lawyers the option to appear online
• Little improvement in air quality: Gopal Rai urges PM Modi to clear way for artificial rain
• I&B Ministry officials’ salaries to stay on hold until completion of iGOT online training programme
• Hyderabad records ‘moderate air quality’ using missing data
• T.M. Krishna can receive Music Academy’s Sangita Kalanidhi & cash prize too but not in M.S. Subbulakshmi’s name: Madras High Court

International News

• G20 Summit: Biden, Trudeau miss traditional photo with world leaders
• Putin signs new Russian nuclear doctrine after Biden’s arms decision for Ukraine
• U.S. recognises Venezuela’s Opposition candidate as President-elect months after the disputed election
• About 182 million children in poor nations lack nurture; pollution, climate change risk factors: Study
• Meta to appeal against CCI’s ₹213 crore penalty
• Roger Federer hails ‘historic’ Rafael Nadal ahead of imminent retirement
• Blind T20 World Cup: Indian cricket team not to travel to Pakistan, government denies permission
• Pakistan bans large gatherings in the capital ahead of a rally by Imran Khan’s party

Headlines in detail

Maharashtra set to vote in a single phase

The Assembly elections in 288 constituencies across Maharashtra and for 38 seats in the final phase in Jharkhand will be held on Wednesday.

PM Modi concludes G-20 Brazil visit, leaves for Guyana

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (November 20, 2024) left for Guyana on the last leg of his three-nation tour after attending the G20 Summit in Brazil, where he met global leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The Prime Minister’s visit to Guyana till November 21 comes at the invitation of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali

SpaceX launches giant Starship rocket but passes up catching booster with mechanical arms

SpaceX launched another Starship rocket but passed up catching the booster with giant mechanical arms. Unlike last month’s success, the booster was directed to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The catch was called off just four minutes into the test flight from Texas for unspecified reasons, and the booster hit the water three minutes later. Not all of the criteria for a booster catch was met and so the flight director did not command the booster to return to the launch site, said SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot. He did not specify what went wrong.

Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit India next year

Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit India next year, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday. The two sides are looking at the possibility of the visit but nothing has been finalised, they said.

Ahead of winter session of Parliament, government to convene all-party meet on Sunday

The government has convened a customary all-party meeting on November 24 ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a post on X on Tuesday that the meet has been convened on November 24 morning “in view of the coming Winter session of Parliament.” The session begins on November 25 and concludes on December 20.

G20: PM Modi meets Italian PM Meloni, European counterparts; discusses ways to strengthen ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met leaders of several countries, including those from Italy, Indonesia, Norway, Portugal, Egypt and South Korea on the sidelines of the G20 Summit and discussed ways to improve and strengthen bilateral ties. Mr. Modi also met International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath and European Union (EU) President Ursula von der Leyen.

G-20 summit: EAM Jaishankar, Chinese FM Wang discuss resumption of direct flights, journalist permits, tourists and pilgrims

A month after the LAC disengagement agreement was announced India and China agreed to discuss the “next steps” in the relationship, including the resumption of direct flights, visas, journalist permissions, river-data sharing and the return of Indian pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar. The announcement was made after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the side-lines of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday (November 18, 2024), their first interaction since India and China agreed to disengage at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on October 21 and a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia.
 

India, Italy to negotiate defence industrial roadmap

India and Italy agreed to negotiate a defence industrial roadmap and agreement for the mutual protection and exchange of classified information, as well as an agreement on cooperation in the maritime and port sectors. This was stated in the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025–29, which outlines their vision for the next five years. “Negotiate a defence industrial roadmap between the two Ministries of Defence and promote a Memorandum of Understanding between the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers and the Italian Industries Federation for Aerospace, Defence and Security,” the joint action plan said.

G20 Summit: Biden, Trudeau miss traditional photo with world leaders

President Joe Biden inadvertently was a missing man in the traditional photo of world leaders at the final Group of 20 summit of his presidency on Monday, a photo-shoot fail that U.S. officials attributed to timing. Instead, Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strolled up after photographers had already taken the official picture, as other world leaders milled about chatting after having smiled and raised linked hands for the photo.

Putin signs new Russian nuclear doctrine after Biden’s arms decision for Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. Mr. Putin’s endorsement of the new nuclear deterrent policy comes on the 1,000th day after he sent troops into Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022. It follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles.

Delhi air pollution: AQI at 471; Environment Minister says call on odd-even measures to be taken soon

A decision on implementing work-from-home measures and the odd-even scheme will be taken soon to tackle the city’s worsening air quality, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said. Mr. Rai said, “People, including children and senior citizens, are struggling to breathe and we deeply regret this situation.” The air quality in the national capital has remained in the “severe plus” category since Sunday, with AQI readings consistently above 450. On the possibility of implementing work-from-home measures, Mr. Rai stated, “We will take a decision on this soon.”

Punjab sees season’s maximum single day spike in farm fires at 1,251

As Punjab’s average air quality index (AQI) continued to hover in ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ category, the State saw a maximum single day spike in farm fires on Monday during the ongoing ‘kharif’ harvesting season.

Delhi air pollution: CJI Sanjeev Khanna gives lawyers the option to appear online

Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday left it to lawyers to either opt for online mode of appearance or appear in person for their cases, following the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)‘ s Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) restrictions in the national capital due to air pollution.

Little improvement in air quality: Gopal Rai urges PM Modi to clear way for artificial rain

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and provide relief from the “medical emergency” by clearing hurdles in inducing artificial rain in the city, even as he slammed the BJP-led Centre for its “carelessness” in responding to the toxic air crisis in north India. However, the BJP’s Delhi unit said the air quality could have improved significantly had Mr. Rai, instead of writing letters about artificial rain, asked Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-ruled Punjab to check stubble burning.

I&B Ministry officials’ salaries to stay on hold until completion of iGOT online training programme

Clearance of salary has been linked to the mandatory completion of Integrated Government Online Training (iGOT) courses, with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issuing an office memorandum on Monday (November 18, 2024) stating that “salary of their officials will be cleared only upon completion of mandatory iGOT courses”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the 2024 National Learning Week (NLW), also known as Karmayogi Saptah, aimed at developing skills of civil servants in India.

Hyderabad records ‘moderate air quality’ using missing data

Between November 12 and 19, there has not been a single day when all the 14 pollution sensors in Hyderabad functioned continuously for 24 hours. The result: the online monitoring map of air quality looks green and healthy in Hyderabad, while the social media is abuzz about the unhealthy air quality of Delhi and other cities. “Sometimes the monitors may malfunction. They are rectified within a day or two. We have an annual maintenance contract for the equipment,” said a Telangana State Pollution Control Board official when asked about the missing data.

U.S. recognises Venezuela’s Opposition candidate as President-elect months after the disputed election

The U.S. government recognised Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González as the “President-elect” of the South American country on Tuesday (November 19, 2024), months after President Nicolas Maduro claimed to have won the July contest. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognized Mr. González in a post on X in which he also demanded “respect for the will” of Venezuelan voters. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden had previously said Mr. González had earned the most votes in the disputed July 28 election but had fallen short of acknowledging him as President-elect.

About 182 million children in poor nations lack nurture; pollution, climate change risk factors: Study

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), three-fourths of those aged three or four years — nearly 182 million children — lack access to adequate nurture, thereby risking healthy development, according to a new series paper, published in The Lancet journal. Child development is also affected by air pollution, climate change, and exposure to chemicals, which are emerging environmental risk factors, said an international team, including researchers from the Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC), New Delhi.

Meta to appeal against CCI’s ₹213 crore penalty

After the Competition Commission imposed a ₹213-crore penalty on Meta in relation to WhatsApp privacy policy, the company said it disagreed with the watchdog’s decision and plans to appeal. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday (November 18, 2024) imposed a penalty of ₹213.14 crore on social media major Meta for unfair business ways with respect to WhatsApp privacy policy update done in 2021.

T.M. Krishna can receive Music Academy’s Sangita Kalanidhi & cash prize too but not in M.S. Subbulakshmi’s name: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on Tuesday cleared the decks for conferment of the prestigious ‘Sangita Kalanidhi’ award by the Music Academy on Carnatic singer T.M. Krishna and also the giving away of another mirror award, instituted by The Hindu in 2005 with a cash prize of ₹1 lakh, to him on January 1, 2025. Justice G. Jayachandran, however, ordered that the mirror award, carrying the cash prize, should not be named after acclaimed classical musician M.S. Subbulakshmi since she had executed a will in 1997 expressing her desire that no trust, foundation, memorial, statue or bust should be instituted in her name or memory.

Roger Federer hails ‘historic’ Rafael Nadal ahead of imminent retirement

Tennis great Roger Federer hailed his former rival Rafael Nadal on Tuesday ahead of the Spaniard’s imminent retirement from tennis at the Davis Cup. “Rafa, I have to say: What an incredible run you’ve had. Including 14 French Opens — historic!” Federer wrote on social media platform X. “You made Spain proud... you made the whole tennis world proud.”

Blind T20 World Cup: Indian cricket team not to travel to Pakistan, government denies permission

The Indian blind cricket team will not compete in the T20 World Cup as the government has denied it permission to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns, the national federation said on Tuesday (November 19, 2024). The Indian team was supposed to cross the Wagah border on Wednesday (November 20, 2024) for the event, scheduled to be held from November 23 to December 3. The Indian blind cricket team had got a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the sports ministry for participation but apparently couldn’t get clearance from the MEA.

Pakistan bans large gatherings in the capital ahead of a rally by Imran Khan’s party

Pakistani authorities banned gatherings of five or more people in the capital ahead of a planned march by the supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The two-month ban announced Tuesday comes before a rally Sunday planned by Khan’s party to pressure the government to release the imprisoned former leader. Officials said the ban is aimed at ensuring peace by stopping any unlawful gathering in the current security environment. The government notice made no mention of any specific security threat, but militant violence has been surging in Pakistan.