| Welcome to The Morning Filter, your guide to the busy news day ahead. We hope you are staying safe. Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today:
1. PM Modi to attend virtual summit of BRICS on Tuesday Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a virtual summit of the influential grouping BRICS on November 17 which will focus on cooperation in counter-terrorism, trade, health, energy and ways to offset impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to attend the 12th summit of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping.
2. Second phase of Malabar naval exercise to commence on Tuesday Aircraft carriers of India and the U.S. will take part in Phase-II of Exercise Malabar 2020, also consisting of Australia and Japan, scheduled to take place from November 17 to 20 in the Northern Arabian Sea, the Navy said on Monday.
3. Colleges in Karnataka gear up to resume classes  Higher educational institutions in Karnataka have geared up to resume regular classes following government directions to reopen degree, engineering and diploma colleges from November 17 after being closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown. While the primary and secondary education department is yet to take a call whether to open the schools and pre- university colleges, the higher education department has decided to open colleges from Tuesday.
4. 15th Finance Commission to submit report to Prime Minister
The 15th Finance Commission on November 16 submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi its report on the ratio in which tax is to be divided between the Centre and States over the next five years. The report titled ‘Finance Commission in COVID Times’ would be submitted to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on November 17.
5. Snowfall in Kedarnath leads to deferment of Yogi’s programme in Badrinath Heavy snowfall in Kedarnath on Monday left Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Uttarakhand counterpart Trivendra Singh Rawat stranded at the Himalayan temple for hours, leading to the deferment of their visit to Badrinath. After heavy snowfall delayed their departure from Kedarnath, the two Chief Ministers reached Gauchar by a helicopter from where they will go to Badrinath on Tuesday, DGP (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar said.
6. 50 lakh signatures received in anti-farm laws drive: Maharashtra Congress The drive of the Maharashtra Congress seeking scrapping of three new farm laws introduced by the Union government has received over 50 lakh signatures, its State unit chief Balasaheb Thorat said on Monday. The signatures will be handed over to the party’s Maharashtra in charge H.K. Patil on November 17, a statement said.
7. Arraigned as accused following ‘refusal to name political targets of ED’s choice’: Sivasankar  Suspended IAS officer M. Sivasankar, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate probing the money trail in the gold smuggling case, has alleged he was arraigned as an accused as he refused to name a few political targets of the ED’s choice. The court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Tuesday in the bail plea of Sivasankar, the former principal secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister.
8. Rajasthan to observe one-day mourning on demise of Minister Bhanwar Lal Meghwal Rajasthan Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Master Bhanwar Lal Meghwal died in a hospital in Gurgaon on November 16 after a prolonged illness. He was 72. The State government declared a one-day State mourning on Tuesday following the demise of the Cabinet Minister.
9. Japan PM to hold talks with his Australian counterpart 
Japan has been setting up strategic defence partnerships with Asia-Pacific nations such as Australia, as well as Europe. Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is to hold talks with visiting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on November 17 to discuss stepping up bilateral defence cooperation and other regional issues at a time of the U.S. leadership transition.
10. Two U.S. states announce new virus restrictions as cases hit 11 million Michigan has joined Washington and several other states in announcing renewed efforts to combat the coronavirus as more than 11 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported in the United States — with the most recent million coming in less than a week — and as many Americans prepare to observe a Thanksgiving holiday marked by the pandemic. Starting November 17, gyms and some entertainment centres in Washington will be required to close their indoor services. By Wednesday, restaurants and bars will again be limited to outdoor dining and to-go service.
11. Coronavirus | Latest numbers and developments
The number of positive coronavirus cases reported from India now stands at 88,74,384 at the time of publishing this newsletter. The death toll from the disease stands at 1,30,575.
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