1) World Pneumonia Day: 12 November
•World Pneumonia Day is observed globally on 12th November every year. The day is celebrated to raise awareness, promote prevention and treatment and produce action to combat the disease. The day was first celebrated in the year 2009.
To end the preventable burden of childhood pneumonia and deaths there is a need to:
•Raise awareness about pneumonia, the leading killer of young children.
•Strengthen, accelerate and sustain interventions to prevent and treat pneumonia.
•Focus on equitable access to, and delivery of comprehensive pneumonia prevention and control programs.
•Design specific strategies to reach the “harder-to-reach” populations to improve their accessibility to available interventions.
•Conduct research to develop innovative strategies to reduce the burden of pneumonia.
2) Public Service Broadcasting Day: 12 November
•Public Service Broadcasting Day is celebrated on 12 November every year. The day is celebrated to commemorate the first and only visit of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, to the studio of All India Radio, Delhi in 1947. On 12 November 1947, Mahatma Gandhi addressed the displaced people (a refugee from Pakistan), who had temporarily settled at Kurukshetra in Haryana after partition.
3) CM Naveen Patnaik launched a mobile app “Secha Samadhan”
•Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched ‘Secha Samadhan’, a bilingual mobile application, to address the irrigation problems faced by farmers without them having to visit the offices concerned. With the launching of the application, farmers need not run to the offices of the Water Resources department and can send their grievances through photographs or videos. The farmers will be informed about the status of their complaints through SMS.
•Besides, immediate steps will be taken to redress the grievances of the farmers. He also launched four other online services to resolve the issue of water distribution for industries, commercial establishments and other institutions.
4) 2nd World Health Expo kicks off in Wuhan
•The second World Health Expo was inaugurated on November 11, in Wuhan, the capital city of Central China’s Hubei Province. This year’s Expo will focus on displaying the most cutting-edge science and technology in the global health industry, and help Wuhan build “city of global health industry”.
•During the Expo, more than a hundred high-end forums including a summit forum, academician forum and the roundtable dialogue on epidemic prevention and normalized control, and the Global University Leaders Forum, will be organized.
5) HDFC Bank launches SmartHub Merchant Solutions 3.0 for SMEs
•HDFC Bank has announced the launch of “SmartHub Merchant Solutions 3.0” for Small and mid-size enterprises. This solution allows merchants and self-employed professionals to instantly open a current account and start accepting payments in-store, online, and on-the-go.
•The Bank plans to reach out to more than 20 million small and medium merchants and professional services like doctors, pharmacies, salons and laundry services across the metro, semi-urban and rural India in the next three years. The merchant solution was launched at a virtual event held in Mumbai by Parag Rao, Country Head – Payments, Consumer Finance, Marketing and Digital Banking at HDFC Bank along with T R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa.
6) M. Venkaiah Naidu presents 2nd National Water Awards
•The Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu has presented the National Water Awards (NWAs) for 2019. This is the second edition of the award. Among the states category, Tamil Nadu bagged the Best State Award, followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
7) Paytm launches “Payout Links” for small businesses
•Paytm has launched “Payout Links” for businesses, enabling them to instantly process payouts to customers, employees and vendors, without collecting their bank details. It is aimed at helping small businesses in sectors like gaming, retail, export, manufacturing and e-commerce.
8) China’s Chen Meng claims ITTF Women’s World Cup title
•The world number one Chen Meng beat Chinese compatriot Sun Yingsha to win her maiden International Table Tennis Federation(ITTF) Women’s World Cup table tennis title in held in Weihai, China. The 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup was the 24th edition of the ITTF-sanctioned event.
