• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Kundli-Manesar section of the Western Peripheral Expressway. The Western Peripheral Expressway also known as KMP expressway is expected to divert more than 50 thousand heavy vehicles away from Delhi. The 136-kilometer long six-lane expressway has been built at a cost of over 6400 crore rupees.

• The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE)has rolled out– KOOL, its Online Open Learning training platform. The platform can be used to train teachers, students and the general public.

• The joint military exercise between India and Russia EXERCISE INDRA 2018 on combating insurgency under the aegis of United Nations (UN) was conducted at Babina Military Station in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

• Jalaj Srivastava has been appointed the chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).The IWAI comes under the Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, currently headed by Nitin Gadkari.

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new revenue secretary. Mr Pandey will continue to hold the charge as the CEO of UIDAI and GSTN Chairman until further orders.

• Sunil Mehta,the chairman of a bankers’ panel working on the faster resolution of stressed assets in public sector banks, had announced that an asset management company (AMC) for resolving large bad loans has been formed and will be called as Sashakt India Asset Management.

• Online fashion retailer Myntra will integrate its sister firm Jabong with itself and the integrated firm will continue to be led by Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan. The two will, however, continue to operate as separate brands. Flipkart had acquired Myntra in 2014 and Myntra had acquired Jabong in 2016.

• The World Toilet Day is organized around the world on 19th of November. The theme for WTD 2018 is ‘When Nature Calls’.

• One of India’s greatest sarod masters, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, was presented the ‘Sumitra Charat Ram Award for Lifetime Achievement’at the Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi, for his “immense contribution to the enrichment and promotion of the Indian classical music”.

• TS Kanaka, the continent’s first woman neurosurgeon,passed away after a brief illness. She was the third woman neurosurgeon in the whole world.

• The Government of India, the Government of Jharkhand and the World Bank signed in New Delhi a $310 million Loan Agreement for Jharkhand Power System Improvement Project to provide reliable, quality, and affordable 24×7 electricity to the citizens of Jharkhand.

• India’s first specialized hospital for elephants has been opened by Agra Divisional Commissioner Anil Kumar at Farah block’s Churmura village, Mathura.

• The 49th edition of the International Film Festival of India opened with the gala opening ceremony at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa. While Israel is the focus country, Jharkhand is the focus state this year. Veteran Israeli filmmaker Dan Wolman will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award this year.

• The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinean capital.

• The Maldives cabinet has approved to rejoin the Commonwealth,two years after withdrawing from the 53-nation grouping. The announcement was made by New President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The country left the Commonwealth during former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration in October 2016, amid mounting pressure over corruption and deteriorating human rights.

• Chennai airport was awarded for 100% Grievance Redressal. Suresh Prabhu and Jayant Sinha gave away the champion award to Chennai airport which saw 100% timely closure of grievances in one year.

• Africa Industrialization Day was observed on 20 November. The theme for AID 2018 is “Promoting Regional Value Chains in Africa: A pathway for accelerating Africa’s structural transformation, industrialization and pharmaceutical production”.

• The West Bengal Assembly unanimously passed a Bill to give land rights to enclave dwellers in north Bengal. Bangladesh and India had exchanged a total of 162 enclaves on Aug 1, 2015, ending one of the world’s most-complex border disputes that had lingered for seven decades since Independence.

• Andhra Pradesh has launched a web portal which makes land records available to people with unique identification numbers. The “Bhudaar’’ is an 11-digit unique identification code assigned to each agriculture land holding and rural and urban properties in the state.

• Andhra Pradesh is building a world-class and India’s first ‘Justice City’ within its new capital Amaravati with the vision to provide a state-of-the-art ecosystem built on latest technology for supporting the judicial system in the state. Justice City will provide the necessary infrastructure to provide speedy justice for litigants, easy and better access to justice for the masses and reduce pending cases.

• The Himachal Pradesh government in the cabinet meeting accorded its approval to implement Sashakt Mahila Yojna in the state with a vision to empower rural women by providing them an interface for organization and socio-economic development.

• The 12-day long joint military exercise between India and the United States known as ‘Vajra Prahar’ commenced  in Jaipur.

• The 26th meeting of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM)was held at Versailles (Paris), France. The members have voted for the redefinition of 130 years old “Le grand K – the SI unit of kg” in terms of the fundamental Planck’s constant (h). The new definitions will come into force on 20 May 2019. Likewise, the definition of meter has been changed to link it to the speed of light. There is a change in the definition of time Note: The CGPM is the highest international body of the world for accurate and precise measurements.

• Switzerland has topped the list of the IMD World Talent Ranking 2018 for the fifth year in a row. India ranked 53^rd.

• United Nations Universal Children’s Day was observed on November 20th.

• National Stock Exchange of India (NSE)has launched a mobile application and web-based platform for retail investors to buy government securities. The new app – NSE goBID, was launched by Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi. The platform will allow retail investors to invest in treasury bills (T-Bills) of 91 days, 182 days and 364 days and various government bonds from one year to almost 40 years. Note: NSE Chairperson: Ashok Chawla, Headquarters: Mumbai.

• Young golfer Shubhankar Sharma capped a dream season on the European Tour by becoming the first Indian to win the tour’s ‘Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year’ award.  

• The International Cricket Council (ICC)announced its partnership with Google to offer the fans a great viewing experience of the upcoming semi-finals and final of the ICC Women’s World T20 to be held in West Indies. Note: ICC Chairperson: Shashank Manohar, Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates, CEO:Dave Richardson. 

• India and Russia sealed a USD 500 million deal for construction of two missile frigates in Goa for the Indian Navy. Note: Admiral Sunil Lanba is the present chief of Naval Staff of Indian Navy.

• South Korea’s Kim Jong-yang has been elected as Interpol’s next president. Note: Interpol Headquarters: Lyon, France, Motto: “Connecting police for a safer world”.

• The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF appointed Millie Bobby Brown, the star of hit Netflix series “Stranger Things”, as its youngest ever goodwill ambassador.

• Voreqe Bainimarama has sworn in as Fiji’s Prime Minister for four more years. Note: Fiji Capital: Suva, Currency: Fijian Dollar.

• Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has won this year’s Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, an award conferred by Indira Gandhi Trust each year on the late Prime Minister’s birth anniversary. 

• Veteran first-class cricketer Wasim Jaffer became the first Indian batsman to touch the 11,000-run figure in the Ranji Trophy.

• Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan was awarded the third Sayaji Ratna Award, established in the memory of erstwhile Baroda ruler Sayajirao Gaekwad III.

• JNU’s Hispanic Studies professor Shyama Prasad Ganguly has won Mexico’s highest civilian honor “Orden Mexicana del Águila Azteca” (Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle) accorded to foreign nationals. He is the first Indian Academician to get this award.

• Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, has won Forbes India Leadership Awards 2018, Lifetime Achievement.

• Facebook Inc.-owned messaging service WhatsApp has appointed Abhijit Bose as head of WhatsApp India.

• Popular singer Nahid Afrin of Assam has been appointed as the first ‘Youth Advocate’of the northeastern region by the UNICEF to fight for child rights. Nahid has received the best female playback singer award at the Assam state Film Award 2018.

• Andhra Pradesh has topped the list of states with the highest employability followed by Rajasthan and Haryana, as per the India Skills Report 2019.  

• MC Mary Kom has created history by becoming the first woman to win six boxing world titles by clinching the 48 kg gold at the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi. Mary became the first female boxer to win six gold medals, and only the second pugilist ever (male or female) to achieve the feat after Felix Savon.

• Classical music stalwart Ustad Imrat Khan,who dedicated his life to propagating the Sitar and the surbahar worldwide, has died after a brief illness.

• Vice President M Venkiah Naidu laid the foundation stone of the Dera Baba Nanak Kartarpur Sahib corridor for Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.

• Sameer Verma has won the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships, men’s singles final. However, former champion Saina Nehwal lost to Han Yue of China in women’s singles summit clash and won silver. 

• Australia clinched Women’s World Twenty20 title as they attained an easy win over England in the final of the Women’s World T20 tournament. West Indies hosted the event.

• National Cadets Corps (NCC) day is celebrated every year on the fourth Sunday in the month of November. The motto for the NCC is “Unity and Discipline”.

• National Milk Day is celebrated on November 26 to mark the birth anniversary of India’s most successful dairy entrepreneur Dr. Varghese Kurien, the founder of dairy firm Amul.

• 26 November is celebrated as Indian Constitution Day. On this day in 1949, the constitution was adopted which came into force on January 26, 1950.

• The Centre and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a 200 million dollar loan agreement to finance widening and upgrading of about 230 Kilometers State Highways in Bihar to all-weather standards with road safety features.

• Sunil Arora has been appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner of India. He succeeds Om Prakash Rawat.

• NASA’s InSight spacecraft landed on Mars after nearly 7 months, 458-million-kilometre journey, and a 6.5-minute parachuted descent through the Red Planet’s atmosphere.

• The 19th edition of the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards will be held in Monaco on February 2019. Considered the ‘Oscars of sports’, the Laureus World Sports Awards celebrate global sporting achievements across the calendar year.

• Indian Organ Donation Day was observed on 27 November.

• The Uttarakhand government has decided to rename the Dehradun airport (the Jolly Grant airport), after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

• Odisha is hosting the Hockey World Cup 2018.