BIHAR

• Patna air pollution more than five times the daily limit

 

• As per recent assessment by Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB), the major sources of air pollution are vehicle emission (32%), construction work (7%), brick kiln (4%), sand mining (12%), burning of garbage (7%), cooking fire (6%) and heating (10%).

 

• Air quality in Patna can come in the category of “good” or “satisfactory”. “States like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are prone to dust particles as they are situated in the Himalayan terrai region and planes of the Ganga. Around three-fourth of the soil in Bihar is alluvial, which has formed due to formation of the Himalayas. Besides, the location of Patna along the bank of Ganga also leads to formation of alluvial soil. All such factors taken together have made the soil soft and prone to formation of dust.

 

• Small steps like ensuring proper maintenance and pollution check of vehicles, minimal use of vehicles, car pooling and plantation, including kitchen or terrace gardening as well a vermicomposting can help bring down pollution level.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

• 35th ASEAN Summit begins in Bangkok

 

• The 35th ASEAN Summit began in Bangkok.

 

• Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan -O-Cha inaugurated this summit at IMPACT convention complex.

 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend this summit on November 3rd and 4th.

 

• Theme : Advancing Partnership for sustainability

 

• During five days summit East Asia Summit (EAS)  and Regional, Comprehensive Economic Summit ( RCEP)  will be also held.

 

• Apart from leaders of the 10 ASEAN countries head of  Eight dialogue partner countries including India, USA, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia and  New Zealand are also participating in the summit.

 

·       Spain to host COP25 Climate conference

• The Spanish governmentconfirmed that it made its bid to host the COP25 climate summit on the scheduled dates of 2-13 December 2019. The move comes after Chile withdrew its plans to host the summit due to deadly anti-government protests. The COP25 summit is aimed to bring out details of the implementation of the Paris Agreement climate pact.
• The 25th annual Climate Change Conference will feature the25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25)to the UNFCCC and the meetings of the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies.

 

• Eritrea, Saint Kittis & Nevis sign ISA Framework Agreement

 

• Two new countries Eritrea and Saint Kittis and Nevis have signed the International Solar Alliance’s (ISA) Framework Agreement at its second Assembly held in New Delhi.

 

• With this 83 countries have so far signed the ISA framework agreement.

 

• At the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to increase renewable energy capacity to 175 GigaWatt by 2022 and committed for further increasing it to 450 GigaWatt.

 

NATIONAL

·       G C Murmu was sworn in as first Lt Governor of UT JK

• G C Murmuwas sworn in as first Lt Governor of the union territory of J&Kafter the bifurcation of the state into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh. The oath of office to Murmu was administered by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Justice Gita Mittal at Raj Bhawan at the foothills of the Zaberwan range, J&K on 31 October.

 

·       Radha Krishna Mathur appointed as the first Lt. Governor of Ladakh

• Ex-IAS Officer Radha Krishna Mathur took oath as the first Lieutenant Governor of theUnion Territory (UT) of Ladakh. The UT of Ladakh came into being on 30 October after the centre’s decision to end special status to J&K and split it into two union territories.

 

·       Centre to set up Bamboo Technology Parks in JK and Ladakh UTs

 

• Centre has announced that it is to set upBamboo Technology Parkswould be set up in the two new Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. The decision was drawn in a meeting chaired by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) with officials of the Ministry and the North Eastern Council (NEC).

 

• The Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) project will be implemented under NEC. The project to set up three new Bamboo Technology Parks in Jammu, Srinagar and Leh will be in association with the National Bamboo Mission (NBM). 
  Apart from the planned CBTC project in J&K, Centre has already approved a Bamboo Industrial Park to be set up in the Dima Hasao district of Assam.

·       Centre forms panel to suggest measures to mitigate financial stress

• The Central government has formed a panel to suggest measuresto mitigate financial stress in the sector.The move comes after the Supreme Court ordered telecom companies to pay1.42 trillion in past statutory dues.

 

• The Committee of Secretaries (COS)under the Cabinet Secretary will suggest ways to tackle the financial stress in the telecom sector.
  ♦ The terms of reference of the committee are not explicitly mentioned in the Supreme Court ruling of 24 October but to look at the suggestions for deferring of payments for spectrum.