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- Amidst furore and violence caused by his MPs in Parliament, Mahinda Rajapaksa on 16Nov. lost a trust vote for the third time this week.
- The no-confidence motions were taken up in the wake of Rajapaksa's controversial appointment as Prime Minister, replacing Ranil Wickremesinghe who was abruptly sacked by President Maithripala Sirisena three weeks ago.
- Former strongman Rajapaksa has however refused to accept the outcome of the first two motions on his appointment and his address to Parliament after failing to prove a majority in the House.
- President Sirisena, who has now realigned with Rajapksa, did not endorse the earlier votes, but had promised to accept 16Nov's vote. He is yet to acknowledge it or state his decision on future course, in the absence of a PM or cabinet.
- Sri Lanka has been facing political crisis since President Sirisena appointed Rajapaksa as new Prime minister replacing Ranil Wickremsinghe last month.
- He followed it with prorogation of Parliament and finally with dissolution. However, the Supreme Court stayed the dissolution making way for Parliament to be convened.
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- In Nepal, Sixth Ministerial Consultation of Colombo Process has been concluded with adoption of 27-point Kathmandu Declaration.
- The member states agreed to focus on health of migrant workers, implementation of migration-related elements of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promotion of equality for women migrant workers and consular support for migrant workers.
- The theme of consultation, which was concluded in Kathmandu last evening, was "Safe, Regular and Managed Migration: A Win-Win for All".
- The representatives from all 12 member states-Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam attended the consultation.
- The Colombo Process is a regionalconsultative process on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour for countries of origins in Asia. It was established in 2003.
- Thebasic objective of Colombo Process is to provide a forum for Asian labour-sending countries to share experiences, consult on issues faced by overseas workers, optimize development benefits from organized overseas employment and enhance dialogue with countries of destination.
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- In Nepal, three educational institutions built with the Indian assistance of 126.60 million Nepali rupees were inaugurated in Kaski district on 17 Nov.
- Nepal's Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari inaugurated Shree Saraswati Tika Higher Secondary School, Lekhnath in Pokhra on 17th Nov. morning.
- The School has been providing quality education to around 1100 students. Later, Deputy Chief of Mission, Indian Embassy, Dr. Ajay Kumar inaugurated Shree Laxmi Adarsha Multiple Campus, Lekhnath and Shree Gupteshwor Mahadev Multiple Campus, Pokhara.
- Shree Laxmi Adarsha Multiple Campus is affiliated to Tribhuvan University (TU). It offers four years' full-time undergraduate degree in Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) programmeand plus two (10+2) courses in Management, Education & Humanities.
- The Campus has over 450 students and around 85% of them are girls. The Gupteshwar Mahadev Multiple Campus is a non-profit academic institution and affiliated with Tribhuvan University.
- The campus has more than 400 students of which 80% are girls. It offering B.Ed, BBS and MBS programmes. The newly built infrastructure (Conference Hall, Computer Lab and Library etc.)
- As part of Development Partnership Programme, the Government of India is providing assistance to institutions of all levels, starting from primary schools to universities in Nepal.
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- Alyque Padamsee, widely called the Brand Father of Indian advertising, died in Mumbai on 17th Nov. He was 90. He was ailing for quite some time.
- During his active years in ad industry, he remained the brain behind several iconic and memorable Indian ad campaigns. Padamsee was also best known for his role as Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1982 historcial drama "Gandhi".
- For his contributions to the creative field, he was honored with Padma Shri in 2000 and was named Advertising Man of the Century by The Advertising Club in Mumbai.
- President Ram Nath Kovind has expressed deep condolences over the demise of Alyque Padamsee. In a tweet message, the President expressed his condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
- In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed condolences over the demise of Alyque Padamsee.
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- Ibrahim Mohamed Solih took over as president of the Maldives on Saturday following a fierce political discord caused by the autocratic rule of outgoing leader Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
- Thousands of people cheered Solih, from the Maldivian Democratic Party, at a swearing-in ceremony in a soccer stadium chosen to accommodate a large number of his supporters. Chief Justice Abdulla Didi administered the oath of office to the 54-year-old Solih.
- The Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago known for its luxury resorts, became a multiparty democracy in 2008.
- Since getting elected in 2013, Yameen had cracked down on political dissent, jailing rivals and Supreme Court justices. But he suffered an unexpected defeat at the hands of Solih in September’s presidential election.
- Neighboring India has been concerned by a growing Chinese influence under Yameen, who signed a series of infrastructure projects with Beijing.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the top foreign dignitary to attend 17th Nov’s ceremony. Modi is trying to reset bilateral ties that suffered during Yameen’s rule.
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- A total of 36,629 tonnes of vegetables procured from farmers were sold for ₹115.28 crore through the 75 farm fresh shops in the State, said Minister for Cooperatives, Sellur K. Raju.
- Speaking at the 65th All India Cooperative Week Celebrations here on Friday, Mr. Raju said that 3,24,194 self help groups for women were given ₹4,347.22 crore loans.
- Besides, 99,950 entrepreneurs were given ₹397.65 crore loan and 71,486 working women were given loans to the tune of ₹392.23 crore.
- The 282 Amma Pharmacies and other pharmacies run by the Department of Cooperation have sold ₹725.86 crore drugs with 20% discount.
- Besides, 32,902 fair price shops were supplying free rice for two crore families.Additional 2,362 ration shops have been opened, the Minister said.
- The Cooperative Societies in the State were functioning in such a manner that common man can become their members and also become their presidents, he added.
- Minister for Dairy Development, K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji, said that the Department of Cooperation has given loans to the tune of ₹11 crore in the district.
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- The 0.7 m GROWTH-India telescope at the Indian Astronomical Observatory located in Hanle, Ladakh, has made its first science observation which is a follow-up study of a nova explosion
- Novae are explosive events involving violent eruptions on the surface of white dwarf stars, leading to temporary increase in brightness of the star.
- Unlike a supernova, the star does not go on to die but returns to its earlier state after the explosion.
- A report on this published in The Astronomer’s Telegram notes the magnitude of the nova explosion first identified by Darnley et al as it varies, during November 8 to November 10.
- First science observation -The GROWTH-India telescope was commissioned six months ago soon after which it saw first light, on the night of June 12.
- The celestial object was first noticed by a different group which saw the nova explosion. “We then pointed our telescope in that direction and measured the brightness. We found that it was fading at the rate expected for such events.
- This is a small step in astronomy but a big leap for us, because it is the first scientific result obtained by this telescope,” said Varun Bhalerao a faculty member at IIT Bombay and a Principal Investigator of the project along with Professor Anupama.
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- On 17th Nov. evening, the government’s department of personnel and training (DoPT) issued notification of appointments for Secretary Revenue, Youth Affairs, Coal and Tourism.
- The central government on Saturday appointed UIDAI CEO ABP Pandey as new Secretary Revenue in place of Hasmukh Adhia, who is set to superannuate end of this month.
- The Modi administration removed Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash from the Delhi government and appointed him as Additional Secretary, Ministry of Telecommunications. Mr. Prakash was involved in a long spat with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and others in an alleged assault case.
- On 17 Nov. evening, the government’s department of personnel and training (DoPT) issued notification of appointments for Secretary Revenue, Youth Affairs, Coal and Tourism.
- In a crucial appointment, ABP Pandey, CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), an agency of the Government of India responsible for implementing the AADHAAR scheme, has been appointed as new Secretary of Revenue and he will continue to hold additional charge of CEO of UIDAI and also Chairman of GST Network.
- Mr. Pandey will replace Gujarat cadre IAS officer Hasmukh Adhia, a key aide and most trusted bureaucrat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Adhia, a 1981 batch IAS Officer from Gujarat cadre, is also designated as Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance.
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- Disney is celebrating Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday on 18 Nov.
- The iconic character started life as the star of 'Steamboat Willie', a short cartoon released in 1928.
- Conceived by illustrator and entrepreneur Walt Disney, Mickey is the enduring symbol of the multi billion dollar brand.
- Over the last 90 years, numerous Disney theme parks have popped up world wide and the mouse is a world famous character, appearing on clothing, homewares and even food.
- Mickey Mouse has starred or had cameos in hundreds of movies, video games and television shows, most notably 'Fantasia' and 'Get a Horse'.
- 'Mickey's 90th Spectacular' celebrated his birthday in a two-hour television event this month. He was joined by stars including Kristen Bell and John Stamos, who were there to commemorate the life and times of the world's most famous mouse.
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- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 16 Nov. signed three loan agreements with the government to provide debt of USD 574 million for on-lending, electricity transmission and water supply infrastructure projects.
- ADB and the government signed three separate loan agreements for USD 300 million, USD 169 million and USD 105 million.
- As part of the loan agreements, ADB will provide USD 300 million to support lending by India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL).
- "ADB funding is expected to fund at least 13 sub-projects through IIFCL, involving roads and renewable power generation, under the last tranche," ADB Country Director for India Resident Mission Kenichi Yokoyama said in the release.
- The project will enhance availability of long-term finance for PPP projects, improve operations capacity of IIFCL and expand the portfolio of infrastructure financing instruments available to IIFCL, said Finance Ministry Additional Secretary Sameer Kumar Khare, who signed the agreement on behalf of the government.
- "The loan is expected to compliment government's infrastructure building efforts," Khare said.
- ADB said that this loan of USD 300 million is expected to help catalyze the financial closing of USD 2.4 billion investments.
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