• Wildlife biologist  Ullas Karanth,Director, Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bengaluru, was awarded the George Schaller Lifetime Award in Wildlife Conservation Science for his contribution to the field of conservation.
• NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)has launched its 1st all-electric experimental aircraft named the X-57 “Maxwell”.
• The Jammu and Kashmir government has set up a 10-member committee to declare Srinagar’s famous Dal Lake and its surrounding areas as an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ), following concerns over its shrinking size. Note: Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir: Girish Chandra Murmu.
• Public Service Broadcasting Day was celebrated on 12^th November.
• Dhruv Prajapati,a research scholar from the Gujarat Ecological Education & Research (GEER) Foundation, has discovered two new spider species in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. One spider species was named after Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar as “Marengo Sachin Tendulkar”while the other was named as “Indomarengo chavarapater” after Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara.
• The Supreme Court ruled that the office of Chief Justice comes under the transparency law, the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
• Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is undertaking a mass cleanliness-cum-awareness drive in 50 identified beaches under the programme called ‘Swachh- Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan’, from 11 -17 November 2019. Note: Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change: Prakash Javadekar.
• The economic research team from the State Bank of India (SBI)has revised India’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP)to 5% from its earlier estimate of 1% for the Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20).
• India will host the 19th council of heads of government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation 2020. The SCO is a China-led eight-member economic and security bloc in which India and Pakistan were admitted as full members in 2017.
• November 13 is celebrated as the World Kindness Day. The Theme of 2019 for this World Kindness Day 2019 is empathy, encouraging people across the globe to better understand “the pains of others” and touch their lives “positively”.
• World Pneumonia Day was observed on November 12. The theme for the year 2019 is “Healthy lungs for all”.
• Sri Lanka has become the first South Asian nation to bring match-fixing cases to the category of crime as its parliament passed a bill related to ‘Prevention of Offences Related to Sports’.
• Prakash Javadekar took charge as the Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. Javadekar also holds information & broadcasting, and environment, forest and climate change portfolios.
• The World Diabetes Day (WDD)was observed globally on 14 November. The theme for diabetes awareness month and World Diabetes Day 2019 “Family and Diabetes”.
• Children’s Day is celebrated on 14^th November every year to mark the birth anniversary of our first Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Andhra Pradesh government has launched the ‘Nadu-Nedu’ The programme aims to introduce English medium from classes 1 to 6 in state-run schools.
• Bangladesh has topped the business bribery risk in South Asia according to the Trace Bribery Matrix.
• The India-U.S.tri-services amphibious exercise “Tiger Triumph”began in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
• The 2019 World Kabaddi Cup will take place from December 1 to 9 and will be organised by the Punjab government in Punjab.
• Renowned mathematician Vashishtha Narayan Singh passed away.
• Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will be the chief guest at Republic Day 2020 celebrations.
• India will contribute USD 13.5 million for various operational activities of development across the UN agencies for the year 2020.
• The Critically acclaimed movie “Bhonsle”has won prestigious awards at the Asian Film Festival Barcelona. The film has bagged two awards in the ‘Best Screenplay’ and ‘Best Director’ categories at the festival. The film is directed by Devashish Makhija. Bhonsle revolves around a police constable played by Manoj Bajpayee, who tries to help in the struggles of migrants and their battles with the local politicians.
• The Tobacco Board of India, Guntur, has been awarded the Golden Leaf Award at Tab Expo 2019 event in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) has been launched in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. NISHTHA is aimed at improving learning outcomes at Elementary level through integrated Teacher Trainings.
• The United Nations observed “International Day for Tolerance”on 16th November.
• India celebrated “National Press Day”on 16th November.
• Sri Lanka’s former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has won the Presidential election. He is the brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Note: Prime Minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe.
• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has inaugurated North India’s first sugar mill which will produce ethanol direct from  The mill was inaugurated in Pipraich area of Gorakhpur. Note: Governor of Uttar Pradesh: Anandiben Patel.
• The International Association of Athletics Federations(IAAF) has officially changed its name and will now be known as“World Athletics”.
• Indian paddler Harmeet Desai won men’s singles title at International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Challenge Indonesia Open 2019 Table Tennis tournament held at Batam, Indonesia.
• Laishram Sarita Devi(Manipur) is among the 6 boxers from 5 continents who were elected as members of AIBA Athletes Commission. The election of the Athletes Commission members was organized during AIBA Men and Women World Boxing Championships 2019 in Russia. Boxers from all over the world voted for new members – one per continent, except Europe which has two representatives.
• The United Nations observed “World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims” on 17^th November. This day is observed every year on the third Sunday of November. The theme (motto) of this year was “Life is not a car part”. It was based on Pillar 3 of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety – Safer vehicles.
• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare launched ‘SAANS’ campaign in Gujarat. The aim of SAANS is to reduce child mortality due to pneumonia, which contributes to around 15% of deaths annually of children under the age of five. SAANS is short for ‘Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully’. The government aims to achieve a target of reducing pneumonia deaths among children to less than three per 1000 live births by 2025. Note: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare: Harsh Vardhan.
• International cherry blossom festival 2019 was celebrated in Shillong, Meghalaya.
• The green tea and white tea of Darjeeling have been registered as a geographical indication (GI) products in the country.
• Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde took oath as the 47th Chief Justice of India. President Ram Nath Kovind administered him the oath of office at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Justice Bobde succeeds Justice Ranjan Gogoi,who retired on 17 November.
• World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19th November every year. 2019 Theme: Leaving No One Behind.
• Pakistan became the 1st country in the world to introduce a new Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV. Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) is a one-dose vaccine that will be injected intramuscularly.
• The Election Commission has decided to establish a visiting chair on the inter-disciplinary approach to electoral studies to commemorate former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) TN Seshan’s “special connect with the young and aspiring India”. It will be established in the Centre for Curriculum Development at India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM), New Delhi from 2020-2025. Note: Chief Election Commissioner: Sunil Arora.
• Meghalaya-based insurgent group, Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC)has been banned by the central government for its increased activities of violence and other subversive acts.
• Assam Govt approved Arundhati scheme to provide 1 Tola Gold (11.66 grams) to Brides free of cost. With the aim to reduce child marriage under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act that a girl in India can’t get married before the age of 18, and a boy cant get married before 21 years of age, this scheme can be availed by formal registration of the marriage under the Special Marriage (Assam) Rules, 1954 at the time of marriage. This is only limited to the weaker section of the society whose annual income is below Rs 5 lakh irrespective of caste, creed, religion etc. Note: Assam Governor: Jagdish Mukhi; Capital: Dispur.
• In Jammu, the Directorate of School Education (DSEJ)has launched a special enrollment drive under the banner ‘Aao School Chalein’ for increasing the enrollment in government schools.
• Lieutenant Colonel Jyoti Sharma has been appointed as Indian Army’s first female Judge Advocate General officer to be deployed on a foreign mission. She will serve the government of the East African country of Seychelles as a legal expert & would give her opinion about defence and military act.
• Navies of India and Qatar started a 5-day bilateral maritime exercise “Za’ir-Al-Bahr” in Doha, Qatar. Note: Chief of the Naval Staff: Admiral Karambir Singh.
• The International Institute of Management Development’s (IMD) World Talent Ranking (WTR)report for the year 2019 was released. India was ranked at 59th position. The list was topped by Switzerland.
• The Brazilian football team defeated the football team of Mexico in the finals for 2-1, to win the 18th edition of the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) under 17 World Cup trophy held in Brasilia, Brazil.
• UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund)has released a 28-page booklet called “From uttapam to sprouted dal parantha”. It explains that nutritious food prepared at less than 20 rupees will help in dealing with problems like underweight, obesity and anaemia in children.