• Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri virtually launched the Transport 4 All Challenge Stage-2 and Citizen Perception Survey 2022.
• The Transport 4 All Challenge is an initiative aims at enhancing the mobility experience of citizens.
• The Challenge focuses on digital innovation and invites cities, citizens, and innovators to join hands to develop contextual digital solutions to improve public transport to better serve the mobility needs of all citizens.
• The Stage-2 is opened to Startups for developing solutions to Transport problems in 46 participating cities.
• The Citizen Perception Survey is launched under Ease of Living Index-2022 for 264 cities to capture citizens feedback about their city.
• It is an initiative to undertake a transparent and comprehensive assessment of cities based on cross-city outcomes across major sectors. This survey will continue till 23rd of next month.

• Centre has allowed International Trade Settlements in Indian Rupees for Export Promotion Schemes under the Foreign Trade Policy.
• According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry the decision was taken to facilitate and ease international trade transactions in Indian Rupees.
• The Ministry said, suitable amendments have been made in the Foreign Trade Policy(FTP) and Handbook of Procedures to allow International Trade Settlement in Indian Rupees including, invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports and imports in Indian Rupees.
• It said that the changes have been introduced for grant of exports benefits , incentives, fulfilment of export obligation under FTP for export realisations in Indian Rupees as per the RBI guidelines.
• The Ministry informed, that given the rise in interest in internationalisation of Indian Rupee, the  Policy amendments have been undertaken to facilitate and to bring ease in international trade transactions in Indian Rupees.

• Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman approves the final Sovereign Green Bonds framework of India. This approval will further strengthen India’s commitment towards its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) targets, adopted under the Paris Agreement, and help in attracting global and domestic investments in eligible green projects. The proceeds generated from issuance of such bonds will be deployed in Public Sector projects which help in reducing carbon intensity of the economy.
• The Framework comes close on the footsteps of India’s commitments under “Panchamrit” as elucidated by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, at COP26 at Glasgow in November, 2021. The approval is fulfillment of the announcement in the Union Budget FY 2022-23 by the Union Finance Minister that Sovereign Green Bonds will be issued for mobilising resources for green projects.
• Green bonds are financial instruments that generate proceeds for investment in environmentally sustainable and climate-suitable projects. By virtue of their indication towards environmental sustainability, green bonds command a relatively lower cost of capital vis-à-vis regular bonds and necessitates credibility and commitments associated with the process of raising bonds.
• In the above context, India’s first Sovereign Green Bonds framework was formulated and as per the provisions of the framework, Green Finance Working Committee (GFWC) was constituted to validate key decisions on issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds.
• Further, CICERO, an independent and globally renowned Norway-based Second Party Opinion (SPO) provider, was appointed to evaluate India’s green bonds framework and certify alignment of the framework with ICMA’s Green Bond Principles and international best practices. After due deliberation and consideration, CICERO has rated India’s Green Bonds Framework as ‘Medium Green’ with a “Good” governance score.

• The Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat released the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report for the entire country for the year 2022.
• The assessment was carried out jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and States/UTs, which can be used for taking suitable interventions by various stake-holders.

As per the 2022 assessment report,

• Assessment indicates increase in ground water recharge
• Analysis indicates improvement in ground water conditions in 909 assessment units in the country compared with 2017 assessment data
• Total annual ground water recharge for entire country is 437.60 billion cubic meters (BCM)
• Annual ground water extraction for the entire country is 239.16 BCM
• Out of total 7089 assessment units, 1006 units categorized as ‘Over-exploited’
• Such joint exercises between CGWB & States/UTs were carried out earlier in 1980, 1995, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2020
• A detailed analysis of the information collected from the assessment indicates increase in ground water recharge which may mainly be attributed to increase in recharge from canal seepage, return flow of irrigation water and recharges from water bodies/tanks & water conservation structures.
• Further, analysis indicates improvement in ground water conditions in 909 assessment units in the country when compared with 2017 assessment data.
• In addition, overall decrease in number of over-exploited units and decrease in stage of groundwater extraction level have also been observed.

• Out of 412 candidates in the fray for the upcoming assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, 24 are women and 388 are men.
• A total of 55,92,828 voters of the state will elect their representatives among these candidates, for which a total of 7,881 polling stations have been set up.
• Of the total voters, 28,54,945 are male electors, 27,37,845 female, and 38 third gender voters.
• So far, 1,93,106 new voters in the age group of 18-19 years have been added. There were 1,21,409 voters above 80 years, while 56,501 were in the persons with disability (PwD) category.
• According to the officials of the state election department, BJP and Congress are contesting on all the 68 assembly constituencies, while AAP on 67 assembly constituencies.
• Similarly, BSP is contesting on 53 assembly constituencies, Rashtriya Devbhoomi Party on 29 assembly constituencies, CPM on 11 assembly constituencies, Himachal Jan Kranti Party on six assembly constituencies, Hindu Samaj Party and Swabhiman Party on three assembly constituencies each, and Himachal Janata Party, Bhartiya Veer Dal, Sainik Samaj Party, Rashtriya Lok Niti Party and Communist Party of India on one constituency each. The number of independent candidates is 99.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will gift several unique art and handicraft items from Himachal Pradesh to various world leaders during the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia.
• This would give a boost to the spread of Himachal Pradesh’s art and culture globally, they said.
• The prime minister will gift items such as Chamba ‘rumals’, Kangra miniature paintings, Kinnauri shawl, Kullu shawl and Kanal brass set to various world leaders, officials said.
• The art and culture of Himachal Pradesh would travel far and wide to various countries, they said.
• The G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU).
• The G20 summit is taking place on November 15 and 16 in Bali and Prime Minister Modi is set to be among the top leaders attending it.
• The G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation representing around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

• The world’s largest scientific organisation in tropical medicine, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, has awarded the prestigious 2022 Bailey K Ashford Medal and 2022 Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (FASTMH) award to an Indian physician-scientist.
• Dr Subash Babu, Scientific Director of the ICER-India programme at the ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, was given the award on October 30 at the annual ASTMH meeting held in Seattle, the US.
• The medal is awarded annually to one or more mid-career investigators for distinguished work in tropical medicine, a press statement issued by ICER, India, said.
• In the 82-year history of the award, it has never been given before to an Indian scientist or for work done at an Indian institution.
• In addition to the Bailey K Ashford award, Dr Babu was also awarded with FASTMH for “committed work” in tropical medicine since 1995.

• India’s first privately developed rocket – Vikram-S — is set for a launch in a sub-orbital mission with three payloads between November 12 and 16, Hyderabad-based space startup Skyroot Aerospace.
• The maiden mission of Skyroot Aerospace, named ‘Prarambh’ (the beginning), will carry two Indian and one foreign customer payloads and is set for launch from Indian Space Research Organisation’s launchpad at Sriharikota.
• “A launch window between November 12 and 16 has been notified by authorities, the final date being confirmed based on weather conditions,” Skyroot Aerospace CEO and co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana said.
• There is two Indian and one foreign payloads.
• Spacekidz, a Chennai-based aerospace startup, will fly ‘Fun-Sat’, a 2.5 kg payload developed by students from India, the US, Singapore and Indonesia on the sub-orbital flight on board Vikram-S.
• “We want the children to learn about conducting experiments in space. It is a simple payload developed by grandparents with their grandchildren,” Srimathy Kesan, CEO of Spacekidz.
• ISRO Chairman S Somanath unveiled the mission patch for the Skyroot Aerospace launch.
• With this mission, Skyroot is set to become the first private space company in India to launch a rocket into space, heralding a new era for the space sector which was opened up in 2020 to facilitate private sector participation.
• “The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle which would carry three customer payloads and help test and validate the majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of space launch vehicles,” Naga Bharath Daka, Chief Operating Officer of Skyroot Aerospace, said in a statement.
• Chandana said Skyroot could build and get the Vikram-S rocket mission-ready in such a short time only because of the invaluable support from ISRO and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre).
• Skyroot’s launch vehicles are named ‘Vikram’ as a tribute to the founder of the Indian space programme and renowned scientist Vikram Sarabhai.
• Based in Hyderabad, Skyroot was the first startup to sign a memorandum of understanding with ISRO for launching its rockets.
• It aims to disrupt entry barriers to cost-efficient satellite launch services and space-flight by advancing its mission to make spaceflights affordable, reliable and regular for all.

• AdaniConneX, a joint venture between Adani Enterprises and EdgeConneX, announced the opening of ‘Chennai 1’ hyperscale data centre campus located at SIPCOT IT Park in Chennai, India.
• In Phase 1, the campus offers 17 MW (IT Load) that will scale up to 33 MW (IT Load) at full capacity. The ‘Chennai 1’ campus hosts Tamil Nadu’s first pre-certified IGBC Platinum Rated data centre.
• The facility will also be powered with up to 100 per cent Renewable Energy, offering enterprises and hyperscale customers sustainable energy choices. As one of the most advanced co-location campuses in the region, ‘Chennai 1’ is designed to offer robust physical protection to IT Infrastructure with seven layers of security system and commitment to provide 99.999 per cent availability. India is one of the fastest-growing data centre markets in the world.
• India’s current data centre capacity is around 600 MW and is expected to grow to around 1300 MW by 2024. To address the growing need for reliable IT infrastructure, AdaniConneX is investing capital into the joint venture over the next decade with a mission to build over a 1 GW Green Data Centre platform.
• AdaniConneX is also building hyperscale campuses in all the big cities of India, including Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Noida, Pune, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vizag, and many more.
• AdaniConneX is also developing distributed Edge Data Centres and Far Edge facilities in Tier 2 and 3 markets, relying heavily on renewable energy sources to help bring cloud, content, and data closer to customers.
• Supported by the team from EdgeConneX and their more than a decade of experience in building a global platform of data centres for some of the world’s largest and most demanding tech and cloud firms, AdaniConneX is rapidly executing on its plan to deliver hyperlocal to hyperscale data centre capacity throughout India.

• The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 put the entire world on a halt. It’s no secret that employment hit the rock bottom, GDP growth went crashing, thereby, translating to India’s worst economical performance since its independence.
• Well, it was also a time when corporate workers, who suffered financially, due to losing their jobs, started their own ventures.
• India jumping from 471 recognised startups in 2016 to 72,993 in 2022 is a testimony to the fact that Indians, coming from all walks of life, are leaping at the opportunity to become an entrepreneur.
• While it’s a common sight in Tier 1 cities where people are transitioning towards adopting entrepreneurship as a career option, the government has lately been vocal that the next wave of entrepreneurship will come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India.
• Rags to riches stories are often fascinating. And making them possible, at one of the humblest geographies in Eastern UP, is the Jagriti Enterprise Centre – a non-profit organisation working as an incubator to help boost entrepreneurship in the Deoria region.
• At present, over 35 enterprises are benefiting from JEC’s on-ground efforts, which has helped establish a host of renowned entrepreneurs in the region from scratch. Further, in a city where employment opportunities are scarce, over 2,000 individuals have been employed by enterprises dealing in different domains such as handicrafts, agro-processing, and pharma.
• For instance, Pooja Shahi, who started a small-scale handicraft venture in 2008, is now employing over 400 women from her village as her products were included in the state government’s ODOP (One District One Product) programme, which has also helped her scale her production capacity from 50 pieces a day to 500 at present.
• Similarly, RC Kushwaha, the founder of a sanitary pads firm in the remote area, has not only generated employment for over 900 local women, but has also worked towards spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene in 900 nearby villages, meanwhile establishing an enterprise, accelerated by JEC.
• Shashank Mani Tripathi, Founder, JEC said, “Starting from Deoria, we want to further expand to other Tier 2, Tier 3 cities in India and ensure that we promote entrepreneurship in these cities and help them contribute to the country’s economy. We aim to generate over 10,000 local jobs in this area in a 5-year period and create a district ecosystem that can be replicated in other Tier 2 and Tier 3 districts”.