1. Union Minister Hardeep Puri attends the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference
Tags: Person in news International News
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri attended the Opening Ceremony of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC-2022) on 31 October 2022 at Abu Dhabi. United Arab Emirates.
Hosted by ADNOC(Abu Dhabi National Oil Company), ADIPEC is one the world's leading events of the energy industry and aims to provide insights on the latest trends affecting an evolving global energy system including the global economy, energy supply as well as next generation of energy solutions.
Mr Singh who was on a day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) held bilateral discussion with his counterparts from UAE, Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, and Dr. Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, Minister of Industry & Advanced Technology, MD & Group CEO, ADNOC, to strengthen energy cooperation within the overall framework of India-UAE Strategic Partnership.
The Minister also inaugurated the India Pavilion, set up jointly by Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
India- UAE Trade Relations
- UAE is an important trade partner of India with which India has a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to promote free trade in goods and services.
- UAE is the third largest trading partner of India after China and the United States.
- UAE is the second largest export market for India after the United States.
- UAE was the second largest source of imports for India after China. The US is the third largest source of imports.
- India ranks as the UAE’s number one trading partner for non-oil exports, accounting for nearly 14 percent of the UAE’s total non-oil exports globally.
United Arab Emirate (UAE)
- It is a federation of seven Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Khaimah, Ajmain, Fujairah, Umm -Al-Quwain. It is an Arabian country.
- Abu Dhabi is the largest of the emirates and is the centre of UAE oil business.
- It is situated in the West Asia /Middle East region of the world in the Arabian Peninsula.
- UAE in its present form came into existence in 1971.
Capital of UAE: Abu Dhabi
Currency: Emirati Dirham
President of UAE: Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He is the king of Abu Dhabi.
2. Income Tax Department launches HARIT Aaykar initiative on the occasion of the National Unity Day
Tags: National Economy/Finance
The Income Tax Department on the occasion of the National Unity Day has launched the HARIT Aaykar initiative to increase greenery and create micro forests. National Unity day is observed in India on 31 October to commemorate the birthday of the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Independent India Sardar Vallabah Bhai Patel.
Under the HARIT (Hariyali Achievement Resolution by Income Tax) initiative, the Department resolves to increase the green cover by planting trees and creating micro-forests in and around the Income Tax Department's buildings and other public areas.
Income Tax in India
Income tax is a direct tax which is imposed on the income of an Individual or Corporates.
It was first imposed in India on 24 July 1860.The first income tax was imposed in India in 1860 by Sir James Wilson.
Income Tax day is observed every year on 24 July .
When the Income Tax Act 1922 was introduced it laid a proper framework for the direct tax administration in the country. After Independence the Income Tax act 1961 consolidated and replaced the 1922 Act.
Applicability
It is applicable all over India. Sikkim was brought under the Income Tax act 1961 in 1989 and Jammu and Kashmir was brought under the act in 2019.
Tax administration Structure in India
In 1924, the Central Board of Revenue was constituted as a statutory body with functional responsibilities for administering the Income Tax Act.
In 1963, the Central Board of Revenue was bifurcated, and a separate Board for Direct Taxes known as Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) was constituted under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963.
Who can levy Income Tax in India?
Income tax is levied by the central government on the income of a person or a company as specified by the Income Tax act.
However Income tax on agricultural income is levied by the respective state government.
3. Brazilian Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wins 3rd term as the President of Brazil
Tags: Person in news International News
The leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Worker Party won his third term as the President of Brazil after narrowly defeating the incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election. Declaring the result on 30 October 2022 the Supreme Electoral Court of Brazil, declared Lula as the next President. Lula secured 50.9% of votes against 49.1% for Bolsonaro and he received more than 60 million votes, the most in Brazilian history.
The 77-year-old Lula's will take oath of his office on 1 January 2023 for another 4 year term.
Runoff Election
Under the Brazilian constitution a candidate has to win more than half of the votes polled and if none of the candidates secure the required votes then there is another round of voting called run off polls.
In the runoff polls the top two candidates who secures the maximum votes can contest again for the post.
In the first round of voting held on 2 October 2022 neither Lula nor Bolsonaro got the required votes. Hence the runoff election was conducted on 30 October 2022.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Lula first became the President of Brazil after he won the 2002 election and he was re-elected again in the 2006 election. However he was convicted in a case of corruption in 2017 and was sentenced to 9 and half years to prison. Later he was released from prison after the Federal Supreme Court overturned his conviction.
Pink Tide in Latin America
Lula’s election marks the continuation of the Pink tide in the Latin American politics where the leftist leaders are coming back to power. His victory over far-right president Jair Bolsonaro leaves Brazil joining Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Peru in a growing leftist bloc.
Brazil
It is the fifth largest country in the world area wise after Russia, Canada, China, and the United States.
It covers almost half of the South American Continent.
60% of the Amazon rainforest which is considered the lung of the earth lies in Brazil.
Capital: Brasilia
Currency: Brazilian Real
President: Jair Bolsonaro
4. UGC ask Universities and Colleges to observe 11 December as ‘Bharatiya Bhasha Diwas’
Tags: National
The Higher education sector regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all Universities and colleges in India to observe a Bharatiya Bhasha Divas on 11 December every year to create “language harmony” and develop a conducive environment for learning Indian languages.
This order of the UGC comes after a committee set up by the Union Education ministry to promote the Indian language proposed to observe December 11 as Bharatiya Bhasha Diwas or Bharatiya Bhasha Utsav on the birth anniversary of poet Subramania Bharati.
Subramania Bharati is considered to be a pioneer of modern Tamil poetry who penned songs to kindle patriotism during the Independence movement.
The UGC said that there is a need to create ‘language harmony’, to develop a conducive environment for learning more and more Indian languages apart from mastering one’s own mother tongue. Commonalities in Indian languages have been one of the primary unifying factors of Indians,”
University Grant Commission
University Grant Commission was set up on the recommendation of the University Education Commission, which was set up in 1948 under the Chairmanship of Dr. S Radhakrishnan.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) was formally inaugurated by the late Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Minister of Education, Natural Resources and Scientific Research on 28 December 1953.
The UGC, however, was formally established only in November 1956 as a statutory body of the Government of India through an Act of Parliament.
It comes under the Department of Higher Education, Union Ministry of Education.
Functions
It has mainly two functions
- It is responsible for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education in India.
- It provides fund to the Central Universities and other Universities and Institutions of higher learning
Headquarters and Regional Centers
The headquarters of the UGC is in New Delhi
The six regional centers of UGC are at Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bhopal, Guwahati and Bangalore.
Chairman: Professor M. Jagadesh Kumar.
5. Russia suspends UN backed Black sea grain deal with Ukraine
Tags: Russia-Ukraine International Relations
Russia on 29 October 2022 announced that it was suspending participation in the United Nations and Turkiye brokered black sea grain deal. The Russian move has been condemned by the United States President Joe Biden saying it will increase starvation in the world.
More than 9 million tonnes of corn, wheat, sunflower products, barley, rapeseed and soya have been exported under the deal, signed on 22July 2022.
Why Russian pulled out of the deal
According to the Russian Defence ministry, Ukraine attacked the Russian Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula with 16 drones early on 29 October 2022, and that British navy "specialists" had helped coordinate the "terrorist" attack. It also accused British navy personnel of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month.
It said that Russia is no longer able to guarantee the safety of the civilian ship under the agreement.
Black Sea grain deal
- President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 in an offensive he said was aimed at “demilitarising” and "denazifying" Ukraine. The Russian Naval fleet later blockaded the Black sea port of Ukraine which was a major grain shipment port for Ukraine.
- The blockade halted the shipment of grains from one of the biggest exporters of grains in the world where 5 million tonnes of grains used to be shipped per month.
- This precipitated a sharp increase in food prices across the world, sparking fear of famine in parts of Africa.
- Ukraine, Russia, Turkiye and the United Nation signed an agreement on 22 July 2022 in Istanbul ,Turkiye to unblock Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports.
- When the agreement was signed, the U.N. World Food Programme said some 47 million people had moved into "acute hunger" as the war halted Ukrainian shipments.
- The agreement which is set to expire on 19 November 2022 established a safe corridor for the Ukrainian grain ships and Russia guaranteed the safety of the civilian ship.
6. South Korea declares national mourning after Halloween stampede kills 151 people
Tags: International News
South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a period of national mourning on 30 October 2022 after a Halloween stampede killed 151 people in a packed nightlife area in the South Korean capital city of Seoul.
At least 151 people, mostly teenagers including foreigners from China, Iran, Uzbekistan and Norway have been killed in one of South Korea’s worst disasters and the world's worst stampedes in decades. The local authorities expect the death toll to rise.
It was the first Halloween event in Seoul in three years to be virtually free of COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing. The stampede happened in an alley near a nightclub in the Itaewon district of Seoul which was packed with people .
Halloween festival
Halloween is based on the Celtic festival Samhain, a celebration in ancient Britain and Ireland that marked the end of summer and the beginning of the New Year on 1st November. Halloween is observed every year on 31 October.
It is believed that during Samhain the souls of those who had died that year travelled to the other world and that other souls would return to visit their homes.
People wear costumes to hide themselves from these wandering souls. Another tradition is the carving of demonic faces on pumpkins.
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
It lies in the Korean peninsula in East Asia.
The Korean peninsula was divided into communist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Republic of Korea (South Korea) after the Korean War in 1953.
Capital: Seoul
Currency: South Korean Won
7. Number of TB patients increases worldwide after 20 years: WHO
Tags: Science and Technology International News
According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report “Global Tuberculosis Report 2022” released on 27 October 2022, the incidence of Tuberculosis (TB) patients worldwide has shown an increasing trend reversing a 20 year trend of decline due to covid pandemic.
According to the WHO a total of 16 lakh people died from TB in 2021 which is an increase of 14% as compared to 2019. In 2019 14 lakh people died due to TB while in 2020 it was 15 lakhs.
The WHO says that due to the ongoing war in different parts of the world, the global energy crisis and the food crisis, the situation of TB may worsen in the coming times. “The first priority should be to restore patient access to TB related services so that the detection and treatment of TB cases can be brought back to 2019 levels,” the report says.
Main Highlights of the WHO Report
- TB is the 13th leading cause of death and the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19.
- About 10 million people became ill with TB in 2021, which is 4.5 percent more than in 2020.
- An estimated 66 million lives were saved through TB diagnosis and treatment between 2000 and 2020.
- Globally, TB incidence is falling at about 2% per year and between 2015 and 2020 the cumulative reduction was 11%.
- Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- In 2021, the largest number of new TB cases occurred in the South-East Asian Region, with 46% of new cases, followed by the WHO African Region, with 23% of new cases and the WHO Western Pacific with 18%.
India leads the New TB cases
According to the WHO, in 2020, 87% of new TB cases occurred in the 30 high TB burden countries. Eight countries accounted for more than two thirds of the global total.
Maximum new cases were reported from India and followed by, Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
TB related Deaths
India ranks first among the four countries that have the highest number of TB related deaths. It is followed by Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
The report says that it is possible that TB will once again be the number one cause of death in the world. Last year it was covid -19.
What is TB?
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs. Tuberculosis is curable and preventable.
TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air. A person needs to inhale only a few of these germs to become infected.
India and TB
The government has set a target to eliminate TB from India by 2025.
Every year March 24 is observed as World Tuberculosis Day in the world.
World Health Organisation (WHO)
- The World Health Organisation is a specialised agency of the United Nations which was founded on 7 April, 1948.
- Headquarters of WHO : Geneva, Switzerland
- Members : 194 countries
- Director General of WHO: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia .
8. Elon Musk finally acquires the micro blogging site Twitter
Tags: Economy/Finance International News
South African born American billionaire Elon Musk on 28 October 2022 completed the acquisition of the microblogging site Twitter for $44 billion.
As part of the agreement, the world’s richest man will pay $54.20 per share to common shareholders and will consequently operate the social media giant as a private entity henceforth.
Billionaire and Chief Executive officer (CEO) of Tesla Elon Musk is now the new owner of Twitter and has fired the social media company’s four top executives, including Indian-origin CEO Parag Agrawal and legal executive Vijaya Gadde.
The 51-year-old has promised to transform Twitter by loosening the service's content moderation rules, making its algorithm more transparent and nurturing subscription businesses, as well as laying off employees.
Background to the deal
On 14 April 2022 Twitter revealed in a securities filing that Musk has offered to buy the company outright for about $44 billion.
On July 8, Musk says he will abandon his offer to buy Twitter after the company failed to provide enough information on the number of fake accounts.
Twitter sued Musk on July 12 to force him to complete the deal.
A court in Delaware, United States asked Musk to close the deal by 28 October 2022.
Twitter Company
The microblogging site was founded in 2006 in California, United States by Jack Dorsey, Evans Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass.
The social site provides an online microblogging service that distributes short messages of no more than 280 characters—called tweets.
Headquarters of Twitter: San Francisco, California, United States
9. President of India presents Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President’s Bodyguard
Tags: National News
President Draupadi Murmu presents the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President's Bodyguards (PBG) during a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 27, 2022.
Important facts
The event is special because the President's bodyguards are celebrating 250 years of its founding.
It is being celebrated along with the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' being celebrated across the country.
About President’s Bodyguard
The President's Bodyguard is the oldest regiment of the Indian Army.
It was established in 1773 as the Governor-General's bodyguard (later the Viceroy's bodyguard).
As the personal guard of the President of India, it is the only military unit of the Indian Army which has the privilege of carrying the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner of the President.
In the year 1923, this honor was given to the bodyguards of the President by the then Viceroy Lord Reading on the occasion of completion of 150 years of service of the bodyguards.
After that all the Viceroys presented silver trumpets and trumpet banners to the bodyguards.
On January 27, 1950, the regiment was renamed as President's Bodyguard.
Each President continued the practice of honoring this regiment.
Instead of a coat of arms (the custom in the colonial era), the president's monogram appears on the banner.
The first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad presented his Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President's bodyguards on May 14, 1957.
The President's bodyguards were formed in Banaras (Varanasi) by the then Governor-General Warren Hastings.
Its initial strength was 50 cavalry, later another 50 cavalry were also included in it.
The President's bodyguards consist of selected male soldiers with certain physical characteristics.
10. Tata, Airbus to make C-295 transport aircraft for IAF in Gujarat
Tags: Defence National News
A consortium led by the Tata group and Airbus will manufacture the C-295 transport aircraft in Gujarat, the government said in a statement on 27 October.
Important facts
The total cost of the project is ₹21,935 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the transport aircraft manufacturing project for the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Vadodara, Gujarat on October 30.
As part of the contract, 16 aircraft will be delivered in flyaway condition and 40 will be manufactured in India.
It will manufactured by the Indian Aircraft Contractor, Tata Consortium of Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) led by TASL.
This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company.
The aircraft can also be used for civilian purposes.
The first 16 fly-away aircraft will be received between September 2023 and August 2025.
The first Made in India aircraft is likely to be received by September 2026.
Aircraft capability
C-295MW is a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology.
It will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of IAF.
It has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para dropping of troops and cargo.
Short take-off/land from semi-prepared surfaces is another of its features.
It will strengthen the logistic capabilities of the IAF.
