1.The US ended production of the penny Wednesday, abandoning the 1-cent coins that were embedded in American culture for more than 230 years but became nearly worthless.

2.In a bid to promote sustainable use and conservation of India’s endemic biological resources, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) released Rs 29.40 lakh to the Forest department under the Access and Benefi t Sharing (ABS) mechanism for conservation and protection of Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus).

3.The state government is set to observe “Zero Fatality Fortnight” from November 16-30 in the State. The 15-day campaign comes on the heels of recently observed “Zero Accident Day.”

4.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has begun a probe into the multi-crore sub inspector (SI) recruitment scam.

5.The board examinations for Class X will begin February 17 and those for Class XII February 12, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).

6.Expressing concern over the deteriorating state of higher education in Odisha due to severe faculty shortages, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has sought a report from the Higher Education secretary on vacant teaching posts across state universities and colleges.

7.A senior clerk of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) Division in Bhawanipatna of Kalahandi district was caught red-handed by vigilance sleuths Thursday while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs20,000 from a retired employee.

8.With a cold wave sweeping Odisha, mercury levels plummeted sharply across the state with Semiliguda in Koraput district being the coldest place in the coastal state at 7.1 degrees Celsius, IMD said.

9.Chhattisgarh has achieved a remarkable milestone by exporting 12,000 metric tons of copper concentrate, the country’s largest-ever consignment of the mineral, to China.

10.At the Investor Connect event held in Ahmedabad, Chhattisgarh received investment proposals worth nearly Rs 33,000 crore, paving the way for more than 10,532 new employment opportunities across multiple sectors.

11.Approximately 4,000 metric tonnes of fresh waste are dumped at Bhalswa daily. Both new and old waste must be processed scientifically to prevent further pollution  said  Ashish Sood, Delhi Urban Development Minister . 

12.Over 2,000 Indian Sikh pilgrims, who were in Pakistan for a 10-day visit to attend events related to the 556th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, left for India Thursday under high security.

13.More than fi ve crore enumeration forms were distributed to electors in a single day as part of Special Intensive Revision of voters' list being held in nine states and three Union territories, according to data shared by Election Commission Thursday.

14.OpenAI has announced the rollout of GPT-5.1 that the company promises is more conversational and warmer by default.

15.Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, has achieved ‘Single Use Plastic Free Unit’ certifi cation for its Alumina Refi nery in Lanjigarh, Odisha, by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) under the provisions of the CII Plastics-use Protocol.