• President Ram Nath Kovind on Nov 2 has  said that the India is fully committed to the timely completion of an oil refinery project in Mongolia as it will greatly increase its "spiritual" neighbour's energy security.

• Welcoming a parliamentary delegation from Mongolia to India, he said the two countries share civilisational, historical, spiritual and cultural ties.

• He was happy to note that Mongolia has decided to join the International Solar Alliance

• The delegation led by Gombojav Zadanshatar, chairman of the State Great Hural of Mongolia.

• Kovind said that Buddhism is a special connect between India and Mongolia.

• He noted that India's national mission for manuscripts has undertaken the printing of Mongolian Kanjur manuscripts.

• The president also noted that India is extending assistance for digitisation of Buddhist manuscripts at the Gandan Monastery.

• Lok Sabha on Nov 2  passed a bill to regulate and supervise assisted reproductive technology clinics.

• Passed by a voice vote, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020, seeks for the regulation and supervision of assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics and assisted reproductive technology banks, prevention of misuse, and safe and ethical practice of assisted reproductive technology services.

• Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also moved various amendments to the Assisted Reproductive (Regulation) Bill based on recommendations made by a parliamentary committee.

• Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee chief Manjinder Singh Sirsa joined the BJP ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab.

• Sirsa has been a prominent face of the Akali Dal in the national capital and was a strong supporter of the farmers' protests against the three contentious farm laws.

• Parliament recently passed a bill to annul the three laws in what has been seen as the BJP's effort to placate the protesting farmers, a large number of whom are Sikhs from Punjab.

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed a new treasury and finance minister on Nov 3  after Lutfi Elvan stepped down from the post as the currency has been tumbling to record lows.

• Erdogan named Nureddin Nebati, who was deputy minister, to the post. It said Elvan asked to be “pardoned from the job” and that his request was accepted.

• His resignation comes as the Turkish lira has been plummeting to successive all-time lows over concerns about the government's economic policy, following a series of cuts in borrowing costs despite soaring inflation. The Turkish currency has lost about 40% of its value since the start of the year.

• The president has dismissed three central bank governors since 2019 over differences on interest rates.

• Elvan himself had replaced Erdogan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, who resigned last year.

·   ·       Jacqueline Avant, a Los Angeles philanthropist and the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant, was fatally shot at their home in Beverly Hills, California, early  on Nov 2 .

·       Jacqueline Avant was a longtime local philanthropist who led organizations that helped low-income neighborhoods including Watts and South Los Angeles, and was on the board of directors of the International Student Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

·       The Avants' daughter, Nicole Avant, is a film producer and former US ambassador to the Bahamas and is married to Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.

·      Grammy-winning executive Clarence Avant is known as the "Godfather of Black Music" and was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The 90-year-old was also a concert promoter and manager who mentored and helped the careers of artists including Bill Withers, Little Willie John, L.A. Reid, Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

• The European Union said on Nov 3  that it has fined four major banks a combined $390 million for colluding in a foreign exchange spot trading cartel that allowed them to beat inherent risks in currency deals.

• HSBC received the biggest fine of almost $200 million, while Credit Suisse, RBS and Barclays received smaller penalties. UBS was spared a fine because it revealed the cartel, according to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.

• The commission said in a statement that several foreign exchange spot traders "exchanged sensitive information and trading plans, and occasionally coordinated their trading strategies through an online professional chatroom called Sterling Lads."

Because it revealed the cartel, UBS escaped a fine of $106 million, while Barclays, RBS and HSBC received reductions for cooperating with the EU probe.

• Cambodia’s long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen on Nov 3  has  explicitly declared his support to have his eldest son, army commander Hun Manet, succeed him as the nation’s leader.

• The 44-year-old Hun Manet, a West Point graduate, has the rank of lieutenant general and holds several important military posts. Besides being army chief, he is deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, a deputy commander of his father’s elite bodyguard unit and chief of the country’s counterterrorism force.

• Hun Sen, who has held power for 36 years, has often mentioned Hun Manet as his potential successor after 2028, when he plans to step down. Two of his other sons had also been considered possible successors.

• In 2017, Cambodia’s only credible opposition group, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was ordered dissolved by the country’s high court. The action was widely seen as a political move to ensure than Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party faced no serious challenge in the 2018 general election. Hun Sen’s party ended up sweeping all the seats in the National Assembly.

• Austria's former chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said on Nov 3  that he is quitting politics, two months after stepping down as leader amid corruption allegations.

• Kurz said the recent birth of his first child had motivated him to take the step.

• Kurz resigned as chancellor in October after Austrian prosecutors announced that he was one of the targets of an investigation into suspected bribery and breach of trust. Kurz’s junior coalition partners, the Greens, had demanded his replacement.

• He was succeeded as chancellor by Alexander Schallenberg, the former foreign minister.