New Zealand’s Greg Barclay elected new ICC Chairman
* Greg Barclay, an Auckland-based commercial lawyer and director of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) since 2012, has been elected as the new chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 24 November 2020, after a second round of voting.
* He succeeds India’s Shashank Manohar who stepped down in July 2020 and will replace Imran Khwaja, who is currently the interim chairman.

DRDO flags off first ‘Varunastra’ Heavy Weight Torpedo for Indian Navy
* The Defence Research and Development (DRDO) Chairman G Satheesh Reddy flagged off the first Production unit of Heavy Weight Torpedo (HWT), Varunastra on 21 November 2020.
* The Varunastra has been designed and developed by Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL) of DRDO while Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Vishakhapatnam has manufactured the torpedo for the Indian Navy.
* Varunastra is a ship launched, heavyweight, electrically propelled anti-submarine torpedo.

Lt Gen Harpal Singh appointed new Engineer-in-Chief of Indian Army
* Lt Gen Harpal Singh has been appointed as the new Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army. He would take over his new appointment on December 1, 2020.
* He is presently the Director-General of Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
Apart from this, Major Gen Rajeev Chaudhary has been appointed as the new Director-General of the BRO.

HDFC Bank signs MoU with Inventivepreneur Chamber of Commerce & Industries (ICCI) to support SMEs and Start-ups
* The Inventivepreneur Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCI) and HDFC Bank have inked an MoU to support MSMEs/SMEs and Start-ups financially.
* ICCI is the biggest platform operating to support entrepreneurship globally.
* Through this association, ICCI will engage, enroll and support various Startups /SMEs /MSMEs to facilitate financial and other facilities through HDFC Bank.

PM Modi Releases Book on the Life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji
* The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi released a book on the life and ideals of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji on 25 November 2020..
* The book has been penned by Kirpal Singh Ji, who is based in Chandigarh.
Guru Nanak, also referred to as Baba Nanak, was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.

Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Highway projects worth Rs 7477 Cr in Uttar Pradesh
* Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of 16 National Highway projects in Uttar Pradesh on 26 November 2020.
* The construction cost of these infra projects is estimated to be around Rs 7477 crore.
* These highway projects includes a road length of 505 kilometers and will provide better connectivity, convenience to the public as well as lead to economic growth in the state.

India’s GDP Contracts 7.5% in September Quarter
* The National Statistical Office (NSO) has released the estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter (July-September) Q2 of 2020-21. The GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q2 of 2020-21 is estimated at Rs 33.14 lakh crore, as against Rs 35.84 lakh crore in Q2 of 2019-20, showing a contraction of 7.5% as compared to 4.4% growth in Q2 2019-20.

Ayodhya Airport to be renamed as Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram Airport
* Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has cleared the proposal to rename the Ayodhya airport as Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram Airport, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The proposal for the same will be sent to the Ministry of Civil Aviation after it is passed by the state Assembly.
* Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath had announced on the occasion of Deepotsav on Diwali eve in November 2018 that Ayodhya will have both international and domestic terminals and could potentially be one of the largest airports of UP.