The early trends in the by-polls to the three Lok Sabha seats and 29 Assembly constituencies have been encouraging for the Congress in the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka where the party has been better placed than the BJP.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress swept the four seats in West Bengal, while the BJP and allies have gained ground in the northeast.

·       In the three Lok Sabha seats, the trends show that the BJP is leading in Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh), Shiv Sena in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Congress in Mandi (Himachal Pradesh).

·       The Congress has, however, faired well where it was in direct contest with the BJP. In Bihar too, Congress has not been the first choice despite the party contesting all alone. The main contest is between the RJD and the JDU.

·       In Rajasthan, the Congress is leading Vallabhnagar and Dhariyawad. Preeti Gajendra Singh Shaktawat, widow of late Congress MLA Gajendra Singh Shaktawat from Vallabhnagar, is leading with 29,248 votes, followed by RLP candidate Udailal Dangi with 29,170 votes.

·       BJP candidate Himmat Singh Jhala is at the third position with 13,477 votes.

·       In Karnataka, the Congress has taken the lead in Hanagal, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's home district, while the ruling BJP has registered a thumping victory in the Sindagi Assembly seat.

·       In Haryana, the BJP has suffered a major setback as Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Abhay Chautala is leading by more than 2,000 votes over BJP-JJP candidate Gobind Kanda and Congress' Pawan Beniwal in the counting for the Ellenabad seat.

·       Meanwhile in Telangana, the BJP has maintained its lead over the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the by-election to the Huzurabad Assembly seat. Eatala Rajender of the BJP is leading by 3,270 votes against his nearest rival G. Srinivas Yadav of the TRS at the end of the eighth round of counting.

·       The candidates of the ruling National People's Party (NPP) and ally United Democratic Party (UDP) are leading in the Mawryngkneng, Rajabala, and Mawphlang Assembly seats in Meghalaya.

·       The  American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck, considered the father of cognitive therapy -- an approach developed in the 1960s that revolutionized the field of psychotherapy -- died at age 100.

·       Contrary to the psychoanalysis developed by Sigmund Freud -- which emphasized the role of the subconscious and encouraged patients to delve into their memories -- cognitive therapy is concerned with the present.

·       The reappointment of RBI governor Shaktikanta Das by three years—which would make him the second-longest serving governor in the regulator’s history if he were to complete the term— has drawn mixed responses.

·       Ever since Das assumed office in December 2018, the RBI has reduced policy rates by 250 basis points.

·       His two predecessors—Raghuram Rajan and Urjit Patel—were believed to be a little too conservative (for the government’s liking) when it came to cutting interest rates.

·       The Monetary Policy Committee led by Das has also kept the liquidity tap on for quite some time, making the system flush with enough money that had driven the unexpected ‘bull run’ in Indian stock markets, as well as kept the start-up ecosystem vibrant with funding coming from every nook and cranny.

·       Of course, one cannot cast aspersions on Das for his policies that promoted easy liquidity since it was a worldwide phenomenon.

·       But his biggest contribution was helping the Central government cope with severe fiscal distress when the RBI made a record payout of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in 2019-20 and Rs 99,000 crore payout in the current financial year. Even in the pandemic year of 2020-21, the RBI paid a dividend of Rs 57,000 crore. Das, unlike his predecessors, adopted a non-adversarial attitude towards the executive, something that comes easy to a seasoned bureaucrat like him. He concurred with the government on an easy monetary policy and managed to bring peace to the relationship between the central bank and the Centre.

• England skipper Eoin Morgan has surpassed India's Mahendra  Singh Dhoni and Afghanistan's Asghar Afghan in registering the most number of wins by a captain in men's T20 Internationals during his side's win against Sri Lanka in UAE .
• England beat Sri Lanka by 26 runs to virtually seal a semifinal spot in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
• Morgan now has 43 wins from 68 T20I matches he led England, while  Dhoni -- who retired last year -- had won 42 matches out of 72 he played as India skipper.
• Afghan, who retired from all formats on Sunday after the match against Namibia in the ongoing T20 World Cup, had captained Afghanistan to 42 wins out of 52 games.

• ·       The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on  Nov 1 announced a bold pledge that India will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070 and asserted that it is the only country that is delivering in "letter and spirit" the commitments on tackling climate change under the Paris Agreement.
• ·       Addressing the world leaders at the ‘High-Level Segment for Heads of States and Government' at the UN COP26 underway at Glasgow, Prime Minister Modi said India is working hard in fighting climate change and it will show results.
• ·       Modi also said that India is putting climate change at centre of its policies and stressed on the need to include climate adaptation policies in school syllabus to make the next generation aware of the issues.
• ·       Presenting the country's national statement at the Summit, Modi listed out five commitments of India to combat climate change with a bold announcement that it will achieve the target of net zero emissions by the year 2070.
• ·       He also raised the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of achieving 450 giga watt non-fossil energy capacity to 500 giga watt.
• ·       "India will increase its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 giga watt by 2030; India will fulfil 50 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030. Between now and 2030, India will reduce its total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes and by 2030; India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45 per cent and India will achieve the target of net zero by 2070," the prime minister said.
• ·       "These five elixirs will be an unprecedented contribution by India towards climate action," he added.
• ·       Modi also called for lifestyle changes which can go a long way in tackling climate change and urged to make 'Lifestyle for Environment' a global mission.
• ·       Prime Minister Modi reiterated that developed nations must fulfil the promised USD 1 trillion as climate finance, saying this should be tracked the same way as climate mitigation.
• ·       Sharing his sentiment about the conference on climate change in Paris in 2015, Modi said that it was not India but 1.25 billion Indians who were making promises to themselves.
• ·       The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change.
• ·       It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, in December 2015.
• ·       Elaborating on India's track record, the prime minister said that in terms of installed renewable energy capacity, India is ranked 4th in the world and in the last seven years, India has increased its non-fossil fuel energy by 25 per cent which now represents 40 per cent of its energy mix.
• ·       India, the world's third-biggest emitter with 1.96 tons per capita carbon emission, below China and USA which account for 8.4 tonnes and 18.6 tonnes emissions respectively.

• ·       The green guarantee financing will support clean and resilient infrastructure in sectors such as clean energy, transport and urban development.
• ·       The UK will provide an "India Green Guarantee" to the World Bank, to unlock an additional 750 million pounds for green projects across India, it was announced at the COP26 summit in Glasgow on November 1, 2021.
• ·       The green guarantee financing will support clean and resilient infrastructure in sectors such as clean energy, transport and urban development.
• ·       Further, in an aid-backed Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), the UK has committed more than 210 million pounds in new investment at the UN climate summit to back transformational green projects in developing countries, including electric vehicles (EVs) in India.
• ·       The UK's PIDG financing will go to schemes including electric vehicle manufacturing in India, green bonds in Vietnam and solar power in Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Nepal and Chad - projects which are expected to mobilise more than 470 million pounds in additional private sector finance.

• ·       The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on  Nov 2  launched the Initiative for the Resilient Island States (IRIS) for developing infrastructure of small island nations, saying it gives a new hope, a new confidence and satisfaction of doing something for the most vulnerable countries.
• ·       Prime Minister Modi was joined by his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the second day of the COP26 climate summit.
• ·       The launch event was also attended by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrisson and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
• ·       Stating that the Small Island Developing States or SIDS face the biggest threat from climate change, Modi said India's space agency ISRO will build a special data window for them to provide them timely information about cyclones, coral-reef monitoring, coast-line monitoring etc. through satellite.
• ·       The launch, which forms part of the India-UK Coalition for Disaster Resilient infrastructure (CDRI), marks the start of day two of the World Leaders' Summit.
• ·       The initiative is a part of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient infrastructure that would focus on building capacity, having pilot projects, especially in small island developing states.

• The Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced two new schemes on the 66th Foundation Day of Madhya Pradesh, which was celebrated as Madhya Pradesh Utsav with the guiding theme of Atmanirbhar MP on Nov 1.

• The two new schemes, included Kusum Yojana, under which cooperation will be provided to the local bodies for setting up 2 MW solar power plants and arrangements will be made by the government to purchase electricity produced by them. The other scheme Mukyamantri Udyam Kranti Yojana will be very helpful in providing self-employment to the youth. Under the scheme, loans ranging from Rs One Lakh to 50 lakh will be given to the youth for setting up enterprises, which will be guaranteed by the government. Under it, a three percent interest subsidy will also be given.