1. Monika Batra become the first Indian women to win a medal at the Asian Cup Table Tennis
Tags: place in news Sports Person in news
Manika Batra became the first Indian women player to win a medal at the Asian cup Table Tennis tournament. She defeated world No. 6 Hina Hayata of Japan in the women’s singles bronze medal match in Bangkok, Thailand on 19 November 2022.
She became the 2nd Indian player to win a medal at the Asia Cup Table Tennis. Before her, Chetan Baboor won silver in 1997 and bronze in 2000.
The other Indian player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, India’s top-ranked men’s singles player and India’s national champion Sharath Kamal were knocked out in the opening round of men’s singles.
The three-day competition (17-19 November) was organised by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) at the Huamark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Asia Cup Table tennis is an annual tournament which has been organized since 1983. The 2020 and 2021 editions were not held because of Covid-19.
2. President appoints Arun Goel as the member of the Election Commission of India
Tags: Person in news
President Droupadi Murmu on 19 November appointed retired IAS officer Arun Goel as the Election Commissioner with effect from the date he assumes the office.
A Punjab cadre officer of the 1985 batch, Goel will join Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey in the poll panel.
Terms of Office
- The Election commission members hold office for six years or up to 65 years of age, whichever is earlier.
- Once he joins his new responsibility, Goel would become the Chief Election Commissioner in February 2025.
- Goel will demit office in December 2027 on attaining the age of 65 years.
Election Commission of India
- The Election Commission of India was constituted by the Government of India on 25 January 1950 under article 324 of the constitution. 25 January is also observed as National Voters Day in India
- The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, Legislative Councils in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
Members of the Election Commission of India
- The Election Commission of India can be single member or Multi member.
- Article 324 gives the President power to appoint members to the Election Commission as he desires.
- Initially the Election Commission was a single member body with the Chief Election Commissioner post, but on 16 October 1989 President appointed two new members to the body making it a multi member body for the first time.
- However the President again issued an order on 1 January 1990 to make it a single member body.
- It was again made a multi member body on 1 October 1993 as the President appointed 2 new members.
- Since then the Election Commission of India has been a three member commission.
Other things to Remember
- The first Chief Election Commissioner of India was Sukumar Sen.
- The first woman Chief Election Commissioner of India was V.S. Rama Devi. She was the 9th Chief Election Commissioner of India and was appointed in 1990.
- The current and the 25th Chief Election Commissioner of India is Rajiv Kumar.
3. Vice President Dhankhar to attend FIFA men's world cup 2022 opening ceremony in Qatar
Tags: place in news Sports Person in news
According to a release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar will represent India at the inauguration of the 22nd Men’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar on 20 November 2022. Vice President Dhankhar will be visiting Qatar on November 20-21 at the invitation of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar.
The 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor will host the opening ceremony on 20 November 2022 just before the first match between host Qatar and Ecuador.
According to the MEA, besides attending the inaugural ceremony of the football World Cup, the vice president will also interact with members of the Indian community during his visit.
India Qatar Relations
- India and Qatar enjoy close and friendly relations with multifaceted partnerships extending to areas of trade, energy, security, defence, health, culture, and education, among others.
- In the last financial year, bilateral trade crossed USD 15 billion.
- Qatar plays an important partner in India’s energy security and India participates in Qatar’s food security.
- Next year, both countries will be celebrating 50 years of the establishment of full diplomatic relations.
- People-to-people ties form an important element of the bilateral relationships with over 840,000 Indians in Qatar.
FIFA men’s World Cup 2022
- The 22nd FIFA men’s world cup will be held in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022.
- It is the first time that an Arab country will host the tournament.
- It is the second world cup to be held in Asia after the 2002 World cup which was jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea.
- A total of 32 teams will participate in the world cup.
- La'eeb is the official mascot of the Cup. It is inspired by the keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men.
- The name of the football to be used during the world cup is Al Rihla. Al Rihla means “Journey” in Arabic.
- It has been made by the German multinational company Adidas.
- It is the 14th successive time that a ball made by Adidas will be used in the FIFA world cup.
- Al-Rihla is the first FIFA World cup ball to be made exclusively with water based inks and glues.
FIFA WORLD CUP
- It is an international men’s senior football championship organised by FIFA and it is held every four years. No world cup was held in 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War.
- The first world cup was held in 1930 and the 21st world cup was held in Russia.
- The 2026 Men’s world cup will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
- The current champion is France.
- Brazil is the most successful team in the world having won it 5 times. Italy and Germany have won it 4 times each.
Headquarter of FIFA: Zurich, Switzerland
FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association)
4. Nirmala Sitharaman urges AIIB to scale up its investment in renewable energy in India
Tags: Economy/Finance Person in news
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a meeting with the visiting Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) President Jin Liqun asked the AIIB to scale up investment in renewable energy and smart technologies and also to set up a regional office in India.
The AIIB President Jin Liqun is currently on a visit to India.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
- It is a multilateral development bank which was set up in 2016 with 57 countries as its founding members. India is a founding member of AIIB.
- In 2020 the Bank has 103 member countries representing approximately 79 percent of the global population and 65 percent of global GDP.
- The United States and Japan are not the members of the bank .
Shareholders of the Bank
- The bank has an authorized capital of $100 billion.
- China is the majority shareholder of the bank with 29.9% share and India is the second largest shareholder of the bank with 7.74% stake .
Area of Operation
- Its area of operation is in Asia and it provides loans to build Infrastructure of tomorrow -green infrastructure with sustainability, innovation and connectivity at its core.
- It Provides loans to both government as well as private companies.
- AIIB has given maximum loans to India
- It will set up its first overseas office in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
- Urjit Patel of India is one of the five Vice-President of AIIB.
Current President of the Bank: Jin Liqun of China.
Headquarters: Beijing, China
5. Carlos Alcaraz of Spain to end 2022 as the youngest ever world No. 1 ATP Player
Tags: Sports Person in news
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain has become the youngest person to be ranked No.1 on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professional ) ranking since the .ATP started the ranking system in 1973 He will be 19 years, 214 days on December 5, the 2022 year-end ranking date. He has broken the record held by Lleyton Hewitt of Australia who was 20 years, 275 days of age in 2001.
Carlos Alcaraz started the 2022 year as the 32nd ranked player on ATP ranking. This year he became the second youngest male player to win the US open Grand Slam title after Pete Sampras.
He becomes the first player outside of the Big Four of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal to top the final rankings since Andy Roddick in 2003.
Association of Tennis Professional (ATP)
It was set up in 1972 as a body of the Men’s professional Tennis players. .
It conducts various tournaments for professional men’s tennis players worldwide.
It organises three types of tournaments or tours based on their importance.
The top ranked events are included in the ATP tour. The second ranked events are organised as the ATP Challenger Tour and its third ranked tournament are called the ITF Men’s Tennis tour.
It Introduced the ranking system for players in 1973 and the first no.1 ranked player was Ilie Nastase of Romania.
In 2021 the no.1 ranked player was Serbian Novak Djokovic.
The Headquarters of ATP is in London, United Kingdom.
CEO of ATP: Massimo Calvelli
6. Government extends the term of Enforcement Directorate Director Sanjay Mishra by one year
Tags: Economy/Finance Person in news
The Appointment Committee of the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 November 2022 has approved the extension of the tenure of the Director of Enforcement Directorate Sanjay Kumar Mishra by one year.
The order issued by the Union Ministry of Personnel on 17 November 2022 said that the 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer has been given the extension till November 18, 2023.
Sanjay Kumar Mishra was appointed director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a period of two years by an order on November 19, 2018.
Later, by an order of November 13, 2020, the appointment letter was modified retrospectively by the Central government and his term of two years was replaced by three years.
Last year the government of India promulgated an ordinance under which the tenure of the directors of the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) can be extended by up to three years after the mandated term of two years.
After this ordinance Sanjay Mishra was given a further one year extension in 2021.
Enforcement Directorate
It was set up in 1956 under the Union Finance Ministry. It enforces the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2022, the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act 2018 and the civil sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999.
Headquarters: New Delhi
7. President Murmu appoints DR CV Bose as the 22nd Governor of West Bengal
Tags: Person in news State News
The President of India Droupadi Murmu has appointed Dr CV Ananda Bose as the 22nd Governor of West Bengal on 17 November 2022. The post fell vacant after the previous governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected as the 14th Vice President of India.
The Governor of Manipur La Ganesan Iyer was given the additional charge of West Bengal on 18 July 2022 by the President.
About Dr CV Ananda Bose
Dr CV Ananda Bose is a retired IAS officer. He served as the Secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala and has held the rank of secretary to the government of India, been a Vice chancellor. He is currently the Chairman of the Habitat Alliance, in consultative status with the UN.
A prolific writer and columnist, Dr. Bose has published 32 books in English, Malayalam and Hindi including novels, short stories, poems and essays.
State Governor
Article 153 of the constitution provides for a Governor for each state. However a person can be appointed as Governor for two or more States.
Appointment of the Governor
The President of India appoints the Governor (article 155) of a state .
Qualification to be a Governor
- A person to be eligible for appointment as Governor should be citizen of India
- has completed the age of 35 years
- He shall not be a member of the Legislature or Parliament;
- Shall not hold any office of profit.
Term of the Governor
The constitution also says that the term of the governor shall be of five years but the constitution also says that the Governor holds office at the pleasure of the President. It means that he /she can be dismissed from office whenever the President wants so.
The Governor is the head of the state executive and his role is similar to the President of India. The governor exercises his power on the aid and advice of the State Cabinet headed by the Chief Minister.
Chief Minister of West Bengal : Mamata Banerjee
8. Sharath Kamal becomes the first Indian athlete to be elected to the ITTF Athletes’ Commission
Tags: Sports Person in news
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna 2022 awardee Sharath Kamal has become the first Indian player to be elected in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Athletes’ Commission. The online elections took place between 7 to 13 November 2022
10 athletes were elected for the ITTF Athletes’ Commission for a four-year term from 2022 to 2026.
Eight athletes were elected from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, North America, and Oceania region and two were highest-voted para-athletes.
Amongst all elected players Sharath Kamal got the second highest votes after 2012 table tennis World Cup silver medallist Elizabeta Samara of Romania. Sharath Kamal was also recently elected as the member of the Athletes’ Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)
It is the governing body of Table Tennis in the world which was set up in 1926.
It is responsible for the organization of International Table Tennis tournaments including World Cups.
Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
President of ITTF: Petra Sorling
9. Meta appoints Sandhya Devanathan as its new India head
Tags: Economy/Finance Person in news
The American multinational social media company Meta (formerly Facebook) has appointed Sandhya Devanathan as the Vice President of Meta India on 17 November 2022. She will be responsible for the Indian operations and will take the place of Ajit Mohan who quit the company to join Snap Inc.
Sandhya Devanathan is currently the head of Meta’s gaming vertical for Asia-Pacific. She will take charge as Vice President of Meta India from 1 January 2023.
Her appointment comes two days after Meta India's director of public policy, Rajiv Aggarwal and WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose left the company. Two weeks ago, Meta India's country head Ajit Mohan resigned. Earlier this month, Meta laid off 11,000 people worldwide, including India.
Meta, which is considered to be one of the five Big Tech companies of the United States of America, is the owner of WhatsApp and Instagram. It is also facing a decline in its earnings and is struggling as companies cut advertising budgets in the face of economic uncertainty, changes to Apple's privacy settings hurt its targeted ads, and competition from rivals such as TikTok is eating into its market share.
Founder and CEO of Meta: Mark Zuckerberg.
10. Centre appoints ex-CEA Arvind Virmani as full-time member of NITI Aayog
Tags: Person in news
The government has appointed senior economist and India’s former chief economic advisor Arvind Virmani as a full-time member of NITI Aayog on 16 November.
Important facts
Virmani, the founder-chairman of the non-profit public policy organisation Foundation for Economic Growth and Welfare, has served as the 13th Chief Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance during the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government during 2007–09.
P Chidambaram was the finance minister when Virmani served as the chief economic advisor in the finance ministry for two years from 2007-2009.
He was a member of the Reserve Bank of India's Technical Advisory Committee on Monetary Policy from February 2013 to August 2016.
In 2009, Virmani was appointed Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, and served there until 2012.
During his tenure at the IMF in Washington DC, he represented India (as its ambassador to the IMF), Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
Virmani, a PhD in Economics from Harvard University, USA, has also served as Principal Advisor to the Planning Commission.
NITI Aayog, which is the government’s premier think-tank, is headed by the Prime Minister and presently has three members, V K Saraswat, Ramesh Chand and VK Paul.
