A three-day international event of ‘Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet (GRAM)’ was conferred at the Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Center (JECC) at Sitapura in Jaipur from 9 to 11 November 2016 to highlight the best global practices and technologies suitable for farmers.

The mineral-rich Chhattisgarh state has become the first state in the country to conduct e-auction of minor mineral.

The 4th Young Scientists Meet (YSM) was conducted on November 11, 2016 in New Delhi. The theme of the event was ‘Convert Challenges into Opportunities’.

The Seventh Session of the Conference of Parties (COP7) ) to WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is being held in India from 7-12 November, 2016, at India Exposition Mart Ltd., Greater Noida, District Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.It is the first time that the occasion is being held in India. The Conference was inaugurated by Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare. On the opening day of the conference, Mozambique became the 181st party to join the Conference of Parties (COP7).

Shri Prakash Javadekar, Union Human Resource Development Minister, inaugurated the world’s largest digital national building initiative “Smart India Hackathon 2017”on November 9, 2016, by handing over a torch to technology students over the country. The ‘Smart India Hackathon 2017’ is a pan-India 36-hour nonstop digital programming competition which will take place in more than 20 centres simultaneously. The HRD minister announced the first set of 250 problem statements that was received from various ministries. The students will be required to solve these problem statements during the Hackathon that will take place in early 2017.

On 8 November 2016, the Uttarakhand High Court ordered all hill stations and glaciers in the state to be declared as eco-sensitive within three months as well as put a ban on any kind of construction within 25 km radius of the glaciers. The High Court comprising of divisional bench Justice Rajeev Sharma and Justice Alok Singh also ordered restriction on the number of people visiting the glaciers besides imposition of a tax on them. All municipal boards and Nagar Panchayats along the Ganges and the Yamuna to set up sewage treatment plants within six months with regular checking of water quality every 24 hours by the Government.

The number of rural households were distributed with free LPG connections under the Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojana (PMUY) has crossed the 1 crore. Under the scheme launched six months ago, each below-poverty-line rural household without LPG is being given an LPG cylinder, a stove and regulator. The NDA government’s flagship programme plans to make 5 crore rural households smoke-free during its term by offering clean cooking gas, at a cost of R.8, 000 crore. Among the states, poll-bound Uttar Pradesh has received the most with 34 lakh connections provided under PMUY.

Maharashtra government on November 8, 2016, signed an agreement with Canada to implement a joint action plan on urban infrastructure development in the State. Introduce companies, solutions and financing from the North American country for urban development and implementation of state-led infrastructure projects. Support Indo-Canadian partnerships including private sector companies, universities and colleges for quick project implementation, promoting economic development and contributing to raising standards of living in the state.

Sri Lankan government has decided to obtain10 diesel engines from RITES India ltd under credit line facility provided by Indian government. Cabinet spokesman Gayantha Karunathilake reported that the engines would be purchased at a cost of 4.25 million US dollars each and would be supplied over the period of next two years. India has been extending concessional line of credit (LoC) to Sri Lanka to support various projects in the infrastructure sector, including railways.

Kumbakonam based City Union Bank has introduced a robot on pilot basis to improve customer service. The robot is named CUB-LAKSHMI. The robot has been introduced in Thyagaraya Nagar branch of Chennai. Lakshmi designed and developed by a French Company, has been programmed to answer about 120 general banking questions/query in English language. However in near future it will be programmed to speak in Tamil and Malayalam languages also. A single robot cost around Rs 7-8 Lakhs and can perform work of 3-4 persons. The bank has a plan to deploy 25 robots by the end of the year 2016, if the trail run succeeds.