1. India organises International Conference on “Citizen-centric energy transition: Empowering citizens with Mission LiFE (Lifestyles for Environment) at the COP27 in Egypt
Tags: place in news Summits
The Indian government organised an International Conference on “Citizen-centric energy transition: Empowering citizens with Mission LiFE (Lifestyles for Environment)” on 8 November 2022 at the India Pavilion at the ongoing Conference of Parties (COP-27) at Sharm-El-Sheikh in Egypt.
The International conference was organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Ministry of Power, Government of India, in partnership with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
The COP 27 conference is being organized by the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with Egypt being the host country in Sharm-El-Sheikh from 6 -18 November 2022.
The Conference held discussion on ways to accelerate the deployment of energy efficient and low carbon technologies as well as market investment to facilitate and strengthen the global energy transition.
2. Indian Air Force chief and French Air Force chief participates in the Garuda VII exercise
Tags: place in news Defence
The Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, and Chief of the Air Staff of French Air and Space Force (FASF) General Stéphane Mille flew aircraft in the ongoing Garuda VII exercise being held at Jodhpur on 8 November 2022.
The 7th 'Garuda VIl' exercise is being held from 26 October to 12 November 2022 at Air Force Station Jodhpur.
Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari flew the French made Rafale fighter plane while General Stéphane Mille flew the Indian Su-30MKI fighter.
For the first time the indigenous LCA Tejas and Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Prachand is participating in an international military exercise.
Apart from the LCA and LCH, the IAF contingent consists of Su-30 MKI, Rafale and Jaguar fighter aircraft, as well as Mi-17 helicopters. The IAF contingent also includes Combat Enabling Assets like Flight Refuelling Aircraft, AWACS, AEW&C and Garud Special Forces.
Four French Air Force Rafale fighters and one A-330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft are participating in the exercise.
3. NIA to host 3rd ‘no Money for Terror ‘ministerial Conference in November 2022
Tags: place in news Economy/Finance Summits
India will host a 2 day “No Money for Terrorism” ministerial conference on 18 and 19 November 2022 in New Delhi. The conference will be hosted by India’s premier anti-terrorism agency, National Investigation Agency (NIA).Ministers, diplomats, and counterterrorism experts from the Egmont Group member states are likely to attend this third conference
The first meeting of this kind took place in Paris, France, in 2018, and the second one took place in Melbourne, Australia, in 2019. India was to host the third conference but it was postponed due to covid-19 pandemic.
Egmont Group
The Egmont group is an association of more than 150 countries. It consists of member countries' Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The main aim of the Egmont group is to strengthen information-sharing mechanisms among its members to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and associated predicate crimes.
What is Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)?
Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) serve as national centres for the receipt and analysis of suspicious transaction reports and relevant money laundering information, and terrorist financing. FIUs are also responsible for sharing such information amongst the law enforcement agencies of the country.
In India the FIU comes under the Income tax department under the Union ministry of Finance.
This will be the second major international conference on terrorism to be hosted by India. For the first time the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee meeting was held outside New York was held in India on 28 and 29 October 2022.
4. World's first Vedic clock to be installed in Ujjain
Tags: place in news State News
Madhya Pradesh education minister Mohan Yadav laid the foundation stone of the world’s first Vedic Clock at the 300-year-old Jiwaji Observatory in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. The Jiwaji observatory was constructed by Maharaja Sawai Raja Jaisingh of Jaipur in 1719.
The clock to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 1.62 crore aims to make people familiar with the Vedic time calculation.
Vedic Clock
Elaborating on the Vedic clock the minister said that the Vedic clock will be based on Vedic calculation of the time, in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into Muhurats. The Vedic clock will be synced with the position of the Sun.
He said that there will be a dedicated mobile application for the readings of the Vedic Clock, and citizens will be able to use it on their smartphones, computers, televisions, and other devices.
He also said “the application will also have information on Vedic Hindu Panchang, planetary positions, Muhurats, astrological calculation, and predictions, etc.
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
5. India to participate in the World Travel Market 2022 London to boost tourism in India
Tags: place in news Economy/Finance Summits
The Union Ministry of Tourism will represent India at the World Travel Market (WTM) 2022 being organized in London, England from 7th to 9th November 2022 to boost international tourism in India. The World Travel Market is one of the largest international travel exhibitions.
With the opening of the tourism sector by the government of India, the government wants to showcase it as a safe international tourist destination.
The Indian delegation is being led by Arvind Singh, Secretary (Tourism), Government of India
Theme of the World Travel Market 2022: The Future of Travel Starts Now’
According to the government of India, before the Covid pandemic, the contribution of the tourism sector to the Indian economy was 5.19%.
According to the government of India in 2021, foreign exchange earnings from tourism were US $ 8.797 billion.
6. Kotian, Sarfaraz stars in the Mumbai first Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Tags: place in news Sports
A power packed performance from Sarfraz Khan and Tanush Kotian propelled Mumbai cricket team to its maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Mumbai team beat Himachal Pradesh by 3 wickets in the final played at the Eden Garden Stadium, Kolkata on 5 November 2022. Sarfaraz scored an unbeaten 36 off 31 balls, while Kotian claimed three wickets as Mumbai lifted the trophy at the Eden Gardens.
The Mumbai team led by Ajinkaya Rahane won the toss and invited Himachal to bat first. The Himachal team made 143 for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
The Mumbai team achieved the target with a score of 146 for the loss of 7 wickets and won the match by 3 wickets.
Tanush Kotia was declared as the player of the match.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
The Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy is organized by the BCCI (Board for Control of Cricket in India). It is a premier domestic T20 cricket tournament which was launched in 2006-07 season.
Initially it was named as T20 Inter- State Championship but it was renamed later as Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy.
Tamil Nadu has won it maximum 3 times.
7. G-7 Foreign ministers meet held in the historic town of Muenster , Germany
Tags: place in news Summits International News
The Group of 7 (G7) Foreign Minister’s meeting was held at the German town of Muenster on 4th and 5th November 2022. The historic Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648 in the city, which not only ended the 30 years’ war in Europe but also laid the foundation of the modern nation - state system.
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, hosted the foreign ministers of, United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy and Canada. Germany is currently the President of the G-7 group.
Germany invited Ghana, Kenya and the African Union to join the G7 meeting for discussions on climate change, infrastructure, democracy and addressing conflict and humanitarian crises.
At the end of the meeting the foreign ministers agreed to provide aid to Ukraine so that it can deal with the harsh winter climate. Around 30% of Ukraine’s electricity grid has been destroyed due to the Russian Invasion of the country since 24 February 2022.
They also urged China to abstain from issuing “threats, coercion, intimidation, or the use of force," in the Taiwan straits. The United States considers China as a serious rival and wants the G7 countries to take a tough stand against China’s policy on Taiwan and its trade policy.
Interestingly the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was on a one day visit to China to meet the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the day the G-7 foreign minister’s meeting started in Germany. He is the first G7 leader to visit China since the covid-19 pandemic.
G-7 or Group of Seven countries
The G7 (Group of Seven) is an organisation of the world's seven largest advanced economies, which dominate global trade and the international financial system.
- They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- Russia joined in 1998, creating the G8, but was excluded in 2014 for its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.
- It has no permanent secretariat.
- The 2021 summit meeting was held in England
- The 2022 summit meeting was held in Germany.
- The 2023 summit will be held in Japan .
8. “Aibawk cluster” in Mizoram becomes the first cluster to be completed under the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission
Tags: place in news Government Schemes
According to the Government of India, Aibawk cluster in the Aizawl district of Mizoram has become the first cluster to be completed under the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM).
SPMRM was launched by the Government of India with a vision to provide amenities to rural areas which are perceived to be urban and have the potential to stimulate local economic development.
300 clusters has been selected under the mission for well-planned and holistic development.
Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM)
The Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) scheme was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kurubhat, in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh on February 21, 2016. The mission is of five years duration.
The mission follows a cluster based approach for rural development instead of focusing on a single village unit.
Aim of the Scheme
The Aim of the Mission are:
- Bridging the rural-urban divide in the economic, technological and those related to facilities and services.
- Stimulating local economic development with emphasis on reduction of poverty and unemployment in rural areas.
- Spreading development in the region.
- Attracting investment in rural areas.
What is a Rurban Cluster?
A ‘Rurban cluster’ is a cluster of geographically contiguous villages with a population of about 25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and with a population of 5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas.
Under the Mission, presently, out of 300 selected clusters spread across the country, 109 are tribal clusters and 191 non-tribal clusters.
Nodal ministry for the SPMRM scheme
The Union Ministry of Rural Development is the nodal ministry for the implementation of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission.
Who identify the Rurban Clusters?
The Union Rural Development Ministry proposes a suggestive list of sub districts to the State. The State Governments then select the clusters following a set of indicated principles included in the Framework for Implementation of the scheme.
Funding pattern of the scheme
Various rural development schemes of the Central and the State government are converged in the clusters. The funding meant for those schemes are spent into the cluster.
The SPMRM also provides an additional funding support of upto 30 percent of the project cost per cluster as Critical Gap Funding (CGF) as Central Share to enable development of such Rurban clusters.
Union Minister for Rural Development: Giriraj Singh
9. Indian Men’s’ team wins maiden Asian Squash Team Championship Title
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The Indian men’s squash team led by Saurav Ghosal won its first ever title at the 21st Asian Squash Team Championships 2022. The Indian team had earlier lost in the final three times but they finally won the title in their fourth final appearance.
The 21st Asian Squash Team Championships was organized by the Asian Squash Federation at Cheongju, South Korea from 31st October to 4 November 2022.
In the final held on 4 November 2022, the Indian men’s team defeated Kuwait 2-0. The Hong Kong and Malaysian teams jointly shared the third position.
Women’s Team Championship
The women's title was won by Hong Kong which defeated Malaysia in the final. The Indian and South Korean team shared the third spot.
Asian Squash Federation
It is the governing body of Squash in Asia. It was founded in 1980 at a meeting in Karachi, Pakistan.
Member countries: 24
Headquarters: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
President: David Y Y Mui (Hong Kong)
10. Union Environment minister Bhupendra Yadav to lead Indian delegation at the COP27 meeting in Egypt
Tags: Environment place in news Summits
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav will be leading the Indian delegation to attend the 27th Session of Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27) scheduled to be held at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from 6-18 November, 2022. The last , COP 26 was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom from 31 October to 13 November 2021.
The COP 27 conference is being organized by the Bonn, Germany based United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with Egypt being the host country.
Agenda of the conference
The COP 27 will focus on delivering action on a number of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency like;
- urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
- building resilience and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change, and
- delivering on the commitments to finance climate action in developing countries.
The theme of the COP 27 is Delivering for People and Planet.
What is Conference of Parties (COP)?
- The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the 'Earth Summit', was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3-14 June 1992. The conference focused on the impact of human socio-economic activities on the environment. The countries assembled here agreed to work together to deal with issues of sustainable development and climate change .
- The Rio Earth summit agreed to create the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where the member countries can discuss issues related to global warming and climate change and take steps to deal with these problems .
- It entered into force on 21 March 1994, and has been ratified by 197 countries and territories .
- The countries which has ratified the UNFCCC are called as Parties
- Every year they meet to discuss climate change related issues . These meetings are called Conference of Parties(COP) .
- The first COP was held in 1995 in Berlin, Germany .
- The next COP 27 will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh ,Egypt in 2022.
