·       Five distinguished people representing different fields, including author Ruskin Bond and former chief minister ND Tiwari, have been selected for the "Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman" this year. Making the announcement on the occasion of the state's 21st Formation Day, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami congratulated all the recipients of the award.

·       Others to be conferred the award are noted environmentalist Anil Joshi, famous folk singer Narendra Singh Negi and mountaineer Bachendri Pal. Dhami said the award was being given to Tiwari in recognition of his contribution to the development of the state.

·       The National Investigation Agency has requested the Canadian government to declare Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) as a terrorist entity stating that many influential people associated with the outfit are working from Canada .

·       The SFJ was banned by India under UAPA for its involvement in “promoting secession and violent extremism” in Punjab.

·       Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, has joined the UNESCO's network of creative cities, the world body announced, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailing the inclusion as a "fitting recognition" for the vibrant cultural ethos of the old city.

·       It has been designated as a creative city of craft and folk arts.

·       Worldwide, 49 new cities have joined the UNESCO's Creative Cities Network (UCCN) following their designation by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, in recognition of their commitment to placing culture and creativity at the heart of their development and to sharing knowledge and good practices .

·       Srinagar joins Chennai and Varanasi - UNESCO Cities of music; Jaipur - UNESCO city of crafts and folk arts; Mumbai - UNESCO city of film and Hyderabad - UNESCO City of gastronomy.

·       The network now numbers 295 cities reaching 90 countries that invest in culture and creativity - crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts, and music - to advance sustainable urban development .

·       Newly-designated creative cities such as Bohicon, Doha and Jakarta will join forces with existing member cities including Brazzaville, Dubai, Mexico City and Montréal to develop innovative urban policies and solutions that place people and sustainability at the centre of the development process, echoing the urban solutions launched by the UNESCO Cities Platform on the occasion of the World Cities Day 2021

·       The erstwhile unified state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh in 2019.

·       Maharashtra has bagged the Inspiring Regional Leadership award for its climate action efforts at the Leadership Awards by the Under2 Coalition of the international non-profit Climate Group on the sidelines of the COP26 summit in Scotland.

·       Aaditya Thackeray, the state's environment minister, collected the award at Stirling Castle in Scotland , where he highlighted Maharashtra's policies and campaigns that prioritise sustainable development.

·       The Under2 Coalition is among the largest global network of states and regions committed to climate action, with the inaugural awards held to coincide with the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow.

·       While British Columbia, Canada, was awarded for Creative Climate Solutions, Québec, Canada, won in the Climate Partnerships category.

·      The state government claims to have succeeded in creating a culture of climate action in Maharashtra, which has borne expenses worth USD 2 billion due to climate-related disasters during the past year.

·       Two Manipur MLAs joined the Bharatiya Janata Party , with the party expressing confidence that it will win the upcoming assembly polls in the state with victory in two-third seats.

·       Rajkumar Imo Singh, who comes from a notable political family in the state associated with the Congress, and Yamthong Haokip, a Congress MLA, joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and the party's in-charge for Manipur Sambit Patra.

·       Singh was also elected on a Congress ticket but was expelled from the party for his alleged anti-party activities.

·      The BJP had come to power in the state for the first time in 2017.

·       Nepal Army chief Gen. Prabhu Ram Sharma on Nov 9  embarked on a four-day visit to India to step up defence ties between the two neighbouring nations.

·       During his visit to New Delhi on the invitation of his Indian counterpart Gen.Manoj Mukund Naravane, Gen.

·       Sharma will be conferred with the title of honorary 'General of Indian Army' .

·       Sunita Sharma, the chairperson of the Nepali Army Wives Association and the Army chief's wife, is also accompanying him to India 

·       China has delivered its largest and most advanced warship to Pakistan as it seeks to beef up the navy of its all-weather ally in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, where it has increased its own naval presence in recent years.

·       Designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC), the frigate was delivered to the Pakistan Navy in a commissioning ceremony in Shanghai . The Type 054A/P frigate was named the PNS Tughril .

·       Besides the advanced naval ships, China also partners with the Pakistan Air Force to build JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft.

·       Besides building its first military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa in the Indian Ocean, China has acquired Pakistan's Gwadar port in the Arabian Sea which connects with China's Xinjiang province by land in the USD 60 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

·       China is also developing Sri Lanka's Hambantota port after it acquired it on 99 years' lease.

·       The Pakistan Navy has contracted the construction of four Type 054A/P frigates from China since 2017.

·       A century-old Hindu temple, which was vandalised and set on fire by an irate mob of radical Islamists in northwest Pakistan last year, has been opened to devotees by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed who had ordered authorities to reconstruct it .

·       In December last year, century-old Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj temple in Teri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Karak district was vandalised and demolished by a mob led by some local clerics belonging to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).

·       Chief Justice Ahmed at the time ordered authorities to reconstruct the temple and instructed them to recover the money for the restoration work from the attackers whose act had caused "international embarrassment" to Pakistan.

·       Hindus form the biggest minority community in Pakistan.

·       According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus live in the country.

·      The majority of Pakistan's Hindu population is settled in Sindh province where they share culture, traditions and language with Muslim residents.