1. 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.
2. 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.
3. India’s basketball legend Abbas Moontasir dead
Tags: Sports Person in news
Former India basketball captain and Arjuna awardee Ghulam Abbas Muntasir passed away on November 16, 2022 in Mumbai after prolonged illness. He was 80.
Important facts
He was born in Mumbai in 1942. He started playing in Nagpada by the American missionaries, later he started getting inclined towards basketball.
His basketball debut came in 1960 in an exhibition game against Australia.
He captained the national team in the 1969 and 1975 Asian Basketball Championships in Bangkok.
He was part of the Indian team at the 1970 Asian Games, which finished sixth after topping a group that also contained China, Thailand and Malaysia.
In the same year, Muntasir was selected in the Asian All-Star team and received the Arjuna Award, the first basketball player to receive this honour.
He was suspended for three years due to constant bickering with referees and officials in the country.
He was also among the country's sports icons who shot for the 1987 film 'Freedom Run' to promote national integration.
4. First Global Media Congress held in Abu Dhabi;Apurva Chandra represents India
Tags: place in news Summits Person in news
The three day (15-17 November) first World media Congress opened on 15 November 2022 at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The conference-cum-exhibition Congress is organised by ADNEC Group in partnership with Emirates News Agency (WAM).
Theme of the World Media Congress: Shaping the Future of the Media Industry
Over 10,000 delegates and media-related companies are participating in the launch edition of the Global Media Congress.
India was represented by the Secretary, Ministry of Information Broadcasting Apurva Chandra. Addressing the Global Media Congress Apurva Chandra said that India is a country with a traditional media comprising 897 television channels, of which over 350 were news channels, and over 80 thousand newspapers coming out in various languages.
United Arab Emirate (UAE)
It is a federation of seven Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Khaimah, Ajmain, Fujairah, and 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 Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is the king of Abu Dhabi and the supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
5. WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose steps down
Tags: Person in news
WhatsApp India chief Abhijit Bose and Meta's public policy chief Rajeev Agarwal resigned from their posts on November 16, 2022.
Important facts
Bose was previously the co-founder of payments firm Ezetap before joining WhatApp as its India head.
Bose was appointed in 2018 as the first country head for WhatsApp in any country.
Shivnath Thukral, Director of WhatsApp Public Policy in India, has now been made Director, Public Policy for all Meta brands in India.
In the past, tech giant Meta had laid off 11,000 of its employees, citing cost efficiency cuts behind it.
Ajit Mohan, the head of Meta in India, resigned from his post earlier this month. He was appointed as the President of Asia-Pacific at Snap.
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging platform in India, which is owned by Facebook since February, 2014.
Head of WhatsApp - Will Cathcart
6. Vivek Joshi appointed on the SBI Board as Government of India nominee
Tags: Economy/Finance Person in news
The Union Ministry of Finance has nominated Vivek Joshi as a Director to the Board of State Bank of India (SBI) on 15 November 2022. He will take the place of Sanjay Malhotra as the government nominee.
Board of Directors of State Bank of India
The State Bank of India Board of Directors consists of 13 members including the Chairman.
4 Directors are the career officers of the SBI and they are designated as Managing directors. They are C.S. Setty, Swaminathan Janakiraman, Ashwini Kumar Tewari and Alok Kumar Choudhary.
4 directors are elected by the shareholders and 4 directors are nominated by the Government of India.
The Government nominated directors are : Sanjeev Maheshwari, Prafulla P Chhajed, Anil Kumar Sharma and Vivek Johri.
State Bank of India
- It is the largest commercial bank in India and is owned by the Government of India.
- It has over 22,000 branches, 71,968 Banking Correspondents outlets.
- It has 229 offices/branches in 31 foreign countries. Amongst all the Indian banks, SBI has the largest number of branches/offices outside India.
Chairman of SBI: Dinesh Kumar Khara
Headquarters: Mumbai
Tagline: The banker to every Indian
7. Government has extended the term of DGCI V G Somani again by three months
Tags: Science and Technology Person in news
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has again extended the term of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr V G Somani by another three months. The extension will come into effect from 15 November 2022.
He was earlier given an extension in August this year for three months. His extended term was to expire on 15 November 2022.
Dr Venugopal Girdharilal Somani played a key role in the approval of covid-19 vaccine, approval of lifesaving drugs and ensuring its quality in combating the covid-19 pandemic.
About DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India)
The Drugs Controller General of India is the head of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, CDSCO is responsible for approval of Drugs, Conduct of Clinical Trials, laying down the standards for Drugs, control over the quality of imported Drugs in the country
Drugs Controller General of India: Venugopal Girdharilal Somani
Headquarters: New Delhi
8. Telugu film superstar Krishna Garu passes away
Tags: Person in news
Veteran actor Ghattamaneni Krishna, famous as Krishna Garu and known in the Telugu film industry as ‘superstar, died on 15 November 2022 in Hyderabad. He was 80 years old.
He was the father of the Telugu film superstar Mahesh Babu. He starred in over 350 movies during his long career in the film industry. His first film was Thene Manasulu released in 1965. In 2009, he received the Padma Bhushan.
9. Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal inaugurates international travelling Exhibition “Vaccines Injecting Hope”
Tags: Festivals place in news Science and Technology Person in news
Union Minister of State for Culture & Parliamentary Affairs Ajun Ram Meghwal inaugurated an international travelling exhibition “Vaccines Injecting Hope” at the National Science Center, New Delhi on 15 November 2022.
The exhibition “Vaccines Injecting Hope” has been organised by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) and Science Museum Group, London.
The exhibition tells the story of the global effort to develop covid vaccine started on 15 November 2022 and will tour five cities of Delhi, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata till September 2025 and is expected to reach out to more than 2 million people.
The exhibition has sections on ‘The Arrival of New Virus’, ‘Designing a New Vaccine’, ‘Trials, Results and Approvals’, ‘Scaling Up and Mass Production’, ‘Vaccine Rollout’, ‘Living with COVID’.
Novel Coronavirus or Covid-19
The novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan,China in December 2019 and was later declared a Public health emergency of International concern by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020 and a Pandemic on 11 March 2020.
The first case of the virus in India was confirmed in Kerala on 30 January 2020.
Bharat Biotech, Indian Council of Medical Research and National institute of Virology, Pune developed an indigenous corona vaccine called Covaxin.
The Covid vaccination in India was started on 16 January 2021.
National Council of Science Museums (NCSM)
It is an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Culture. It is a premier body in the field of science communication.
It popularizes Science and Technology through a network of science centers, Mobile Science Exhibitions (MSE) units that visit rural schools and organise various activities for public and students in particular.
Headquarters: Kolkata, West Bengal
10. Table Tennis player Sharath Kamal Achanta chosen for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022
Tags: Sports Awards Person in news
The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports awards 2022 on 14 November 2022.Table Tennis player Sharath Kamal Achanta has been selected for the country’s highest sports award Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. 25 Sports persons will receive Arjuna Awards.
The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 30th November, 2022.
National Sports Awards 2022
Major Dhyan Chand Award 2022
Sharath Kamal Achanta, Table Tennis Player
Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2022:
- Seema Punia (Athletics),
- Eldhose Paul (Athletics),
- Avinash Mukund Sable (Athletics),
- Lakshya Sen (Badminton),
- HS Prannoy (Badminton),
- Amit (Boxing),
- Nikhat Zareen (Boxing),
- Bhakti Pradip Kulkarni (Chess),
- R Praggnanandhaa (Chess),
- Deep Grace Ekka (Hockey),
- Shushila Devi (Judo),
- Sakshi Kumari (Kabaddi),
- Nayan Moni Saikia (Lawn Bowl),
- Sagar Kailas Ovhalkar (Mallakhamb),
- Elavenil Valarivan (Shooting),
- Omprakash Mitharval (Shooting),
- Sreeja Akula (Table Tennis),
- Vikas Thakur (Weightlifting),
- Anshu (Wrestling),
- Sarita (Wrestling),
- Parveen (Wushu),
- Manasi Girishchandra Joshi (Para Badminton),
- Tarun Dhillon (Para Badminton),
- Swapnil Sanjay Patil (Para Swimming),
- Jerlin Anika J (Deaf Badminton).
Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2022
Regular Category:
- Jiwanjot Singh Teja (Archery),
- Mohammad Ali Qamar (Boxing),
- Suma Siddharth Shirur (Para Shooting),
- Sujeet Maan (Wrestling).
Lifetime Category:
- Dinesh Jawahar Lad (Cricket),
- Bimal Prafulla Ghosh (Football),
- Raj Singh (Wrestling).
Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement in Sports and Games 2022:
- Ashwini Akkunji C (Athletics),
- Dharamvir Singh (Hockey),
- B C Suresh (Kabaddi),
- Nir Bahadur Gurung (Para Athletics).
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2022:
- Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent category: TransStadia Enterprises Private Limited,
- Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility category: Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology,
- Sports for Development category: Ladakh Ski & Snowboard Association.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2022:
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Indian Sports Award
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
- It is the highest sporting award for a sports person in India. The Khel Ratna is awarded for outstanding performances in sports for over a period of four years.
- It was earlier called as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and its name was changed to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2021.
- The award was started in 1991 -92 and the first sportsperson to be awarded was the legendary Chess player Vishwanathan Anand.
- Pistol shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won the first-ever individual gold medal for India at the Olympics at Beijing 2008, is the youngest sportsperson to win the Khel Ratna. He was 18 years old when he got the award.
- Karnam Malleswari was the first Indian woman to receive the Khel Ratna in 1994-95.
Arjuna Award
It was instituted in 1961. It is given to sportspersons for consistent good performance over a period of four years.
Hockey player Anna Lumsden was the first woman to win the Arjuna Award. She was conferred the prize in 1961.
Dronacharya Award for Coaches
- It is officially called the Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, for coaches who help athletes achieve excellence over a period of four years.
- The Dronacharya Award was first given in 1985, and the first Dronacharya Award winner was wrestling Coach Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat.
- The first woman to win the Dronacharya award was athletics coach Renu Kohli in 2002.
Dronacharya Lifetime award
- It was instituted in 2011.
- It is given to coaches who have helped sportspersons achieve excellence over a period of 20 years or more.
- The first recipient(s) of the Dronacharya (Lifetime) Award were athletics coach Kuntal Roy and hockey coach Rajinder Singh in 2011.
Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement
It was instituted in 2002. It is given to a sports person for good performance and contribution towards the promotion of sports in an individual capacity.
The first recipients of the Major Dhyan Chand Award were Olympian boxer Shahuraj Birajdar, Indian men’s hockey team player Ashok Diwan and Aparna Ghosh, an accomplished player and coach with the Indian women’s basketball team.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy
- It is the oldest National Sports Awards in India which was instituted in 1956–1957.
- The award is given to the University for Top Performance in inter-university tournaments over the last one year.
- Bombay University was the first winner of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy.
- Guru Nanak Dev University from Amritsar, Punjab has won it a record 23 times.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar
It was instituted in 2009 .It is awarded to organisations or corporates (both private and public) and individuals for playing a role in the area of sports promotion and development over the last three years.
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award
It was set up in 1994 in the memory of Tenzing Norgay. He is an Indian of Nepali origin who along with a New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary scaled Mount Everest on 29 May 1953.
The award is given in adventure sports like mountaineering, skydiving, and open water swimming.
