1. UK court approves India's request for extradition of Sanjay Bhandari
Tags: Person in news International News
A magisterial court in the United Kingdom has approved the request for extradition of middleman Sanjay Bhandari to India in connection with charges of money laundering and tax evasion on November 7, 2022.
Important facts
Indian authorities had made two requests for the extradition of 60-year-old Bhandari. The first request was related to money laundering, while the second was related to tax evasion.
District Judge Michael Snow heard the case earlier this year at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.
He said in his decision that there was no stay on Bhandari's extradition and decided to refer the matter to British Home Minister Suella Braverman, who is authorised to order extradition based on a court decision.
The court passed order on the basis of the assurance of the Government of India that Bhandari would be kept in a separate cell in Tihar Jail in New Delhi along with the concerned health facilities during the trial.
Bhandari is accused of concealing foreign assets, using old documents, profiting from assets not declared to the Indian tax authorities and falsely informing the authorities that he does not have any assets.
What is Extradition?
Extradition is the formal process of surrendering a person from one state to another.
The purpose of this process is the prosecution or punishment for offences committed by a person within the jurisdiction of the requesting country.
The extradition of a fugitive criminal to India is regulated under the Indian Extradition Act, 1962.
The Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) Division, Ministry of External Affairs is the central/nodal authority to administer the Extradition Act.
Extradition process can be initiated in case of under-investigation, under-trial and convicted criminals.
2. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar to lead India at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in Cambodia
Tags: Summits Person in news
According to the Ministry of External Affairs press release issued on 7 November 2022 the Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar will visit Cambodia from the 11t-13th of November 2022 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and the 17th East Asia Summit. The Vice President will be accompanied by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.
During his three day official visit, the Vice President will attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in Phnom Penh on 12th November 2022.
He will also participate in the 17th East Asia Summit on 13th November 2022.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations and is being celebrated as the ASEAN-India Friendship Year.
He will also have bilateral engagements with the Cambodian leadership and leaders from other countries.
India -ASEAN meeting
As per the Look East foreign policy of the Narasimha Rao government in 90s, the government of India focussed on increasing trade and investment with East Asia with special focus on ASEAN.
Evolution of India -ASEAN relationship
India was initially made a sectoral partner by ASEAN in 1992. With the increasing depth in the relationships the status was changed to a Dialogue Partner in 1996.
In 2022 the relationship was further upgraded to Summit level
And finally in 2012 it was elevated to Strategic partnership.
Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)
It was set up in 1967 as a group of South-East Asian nations.
At present there are 10 members in the group. They are
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The headquarters of ASEAN: Jakarta, Indonesia.
East Asia Summit
The East Asia Summit is a regional forum set up by ASEAN (Association of SouthEast Asian Nations) with Regional powers of the Asia-Pacific region including United States and Russia to further cooperation on strategic and economic cooperation in the region.
The EAS has 18 member countries. It includes all the 10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US.
Whichever ASEAN country is the chairman of ASEAN hosts the EAS related meeting in its country. Currently Cambodia is the chairman of ASEAN.
3. Indian Foreign minister S.Jaishankar visits Moscow to strengthen bilateral relations with Russia
Tags: International Relations Person in news
The Indian External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar arrived in the Russian capital Moscow on 7 November 2022. He is on a 2 day (7 and 8 November) official visit to Russia. During his visit he will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Importance of the visit
India and Russia share a very strong political, strategic and defence relationship. Russia is a major supplier of defence equipment to India.
Also India and Russia hold an annual bilateral summit meeting between the Russian President and the Indian Prime minister.
The 21st India- Russia summit meeting was held in New Delhi on December 2021. Vladimir Putin came to India to attend this meeting.
The next 22nd Annual India- Russia Summit meeting will be held in Russia in 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia to participate in the summit meeting.
The visit of the External Affairs Minister is seen as preparing the ground for the forthcoming Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Russia.
Russian Federation
It is the world’s largest country area wise.
It lies in both Asia and Europe but is considered as a European country.
It has 11 time zones, the highest in the world.
Russia contains Europe’s longest river, the Volga, and Europe’s largest lake, Ladoga. Russia also is home to the world’s deepest lake, Baikal.
Leo Tolstoy, author of the War and Peace book is considered to be the spiritual guru of Gandhiji was a Russian.
Capital: Moscow. It lies on the bank of the Moskva River.
Currency: Ruble
President: Vladimir Putin
4. Former Indian captain ‘Virat Kohli’ named as the ICC player of the month for October 2022
Tags: Sports Awards Person in news
The International Cricket Council (ICC), on 7 November 2022 announced the winners of the ‘Players of the Month Awards’ for November 2022.
These awards rate the best performances in a particular month from both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket.
Male cricketer of the Month
Former Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli was named as the ICC Player of the Month for October 2022.
He beat Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe's and South Africa's David Miller for the award.
According to the ICC the 33-year-old Kohli batted in only four innings in October but he played out three memorable knocks, including a magical 82* against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.
Other ICC Awards for Virat Kohli
- Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (ICC Cricketer of the Year): 2017, 2018
- ICC ODI Player of the Year: 2012, 2017
- ICC Test Team of the Year: 2017 (captain)
- Padma Shri: 2017
- ICC ODI Team of the Year: 2012, 2014, 2016 (captain), 2017 (captain)
- Sir Garfield Sobers award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade (2010-2020)
- ICC Men’s ODI Player of the Decade (2010- 2020)
Female cricketer of the Year
Pakistan’s all-rounder Nida Dar has been named as the ICC Women's Player of the Month thanks to her sensational form in the Women's Asia Cup 2022.
India's Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma were also nominated for the award alongside Dar.
International Cricket Council (ICC)
It is an international body which governs the men’s and women’s international cricket.
It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 and was later converted into the International Cricket Conference in 1965.
In 1987 it was renamed as the International Cricket Council.
Members: 106 members.
There are two categories of members in ICC.
Full members: There are 12 full member countries which are qualified to play test matches. They are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan.
Ireland and Afghanistan were granted full membership in 2017.
Associate members: There are 94 Associate members. They are not authorized to play test cricket but they do participate in other tournaments of ICC or at the regional level recognised by ICC.
Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Chairman of ICC: Greg Barclay of New Zealand
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICC: Geoff Allardice of Australia
5. ‘Pramod Bhagat’ and Manisha wins gold medal at the BWF Para World Championships 2022
Tags: Sports Person in news
Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat and teenager Manisha Ramadass won gold for India at the BWF Para Badminton World Championship 2022. The BWF Para Badminton World Championship 2022 for badminton players with disabilities was held in Tokyo, Japan from 1-6 November 2022.
Pramod Bhagat who won the gold medal at the 2019 edition of the BWF Para Badminton World Championship, successfully defended his singles title by defeating Nitesh Kumar of India in the SL3 category.
17 year old Manisha Ramadass won her first gold medal at the event by defeating Japanese Mamiko Toyoda in the women's singles SU5 finals.
India ended the championship with 16 medals.
6. Mohammad Tayyab Ikram of Macau elected the new President of FIH
Tags: Sports Person in news
Mohammad Tayyab Ikram of Macau was elected as the new President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on 5 November 2022. He is also at present the Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Hockey Federation.
The 48th Congress of the FIH, which was held virtually on 4th and 5th of November, voted on the 5th November to elect a new President of the FIH. The election was necessitated due to the resignation of the earlier president Narinder Batra on 18 July 2022.
Mohammad Tayyab Ikram defeated Marc Coudron of Belgium to become the new President of FIH.
Term of the new President
The term of the FIH president is 4 years . However the term of the newly elected President Mohammad Tayyab Ikram will be of two years.
The Previous President Narinder Batra had to resign in 2022 after the Delhi High Court judgement against him . His term of FIH was to end in 2024 . Hence the new Resident will be of two years to complete the remaining period of Narinder Batra.
FIH
FIH( Fédération Internationale de Hockey) is the governing body of men’s and women’s International hockey.
Headquarters : Lausanne , Switzerland
President :Mohammad Tayyab Ikram
Members: 137 countries
7. Independent India's first voter Shyam Saran Negi dies at the age of 106
Tags: Person in news
Independent India’s first voter Shyam Saran Negi passed away at the age of 106 on 5 November, 2022 morning in Himachal Pradesh.
Important facts
Shyam Saran Negi, exercising his right to vote, had voted for the 34th time in his life on 2 November 2022.
He had cast his vote in the 14th Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election through postal ballot paper at his home in Kalpa, Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.
Born on 1 July 1917, Shyam Saran Negi voted for the first time in India's general elections in 1951 and has voted sixteen times in the Lok Sabha elections.
He worked as a school teacher in Kalpa.
When the first general elections were held in India in 1951 after the end of British rule in 1947, Negi was the first to vote on 25 October.
Shyam Saran Negi also made a special appearance in the Hindi film Sanam Re.
He was also made the brand ambassador by the Election Commission.
Negi had refused to take the Election Commission's 12-D facility that allows voters aged 80 and above to vote from home.
The Election Commission has started the facility of 12-D form for people above 80 years.
Under this scheme, any person above 80 years of age who wants to vote by staying at home can do it and the department will provide the facility of vote from home.
This facility is also available for people with disabilities and COVID-19 patients.
8. Government set up Radhakrishnan committee for strengthening the Assessment & Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions
Tags: committee Person in news
The Government of India has set up a four member high level committee for strengthening the Assessment & Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions under the chairmanship of Dr. K. Radhakrishnan on 4 November 2022.
The Committee will suggest measures to the government to strengthen the Assessment & Accreditation processes for the Higher Educational Institutions and prepare a road map for the National Accreditation Council envisioned in the National Education Policy, 2020.
Members of the committee
The chairperson of the committee is Dr. K. Radhakrishnan who is the Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur & Chairperson, and Standing Committee of IIT Council. The other members are Prof. Mridul Hazarika, Vice-Chancellor, Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya, Assam; Prof. Bharat Bhasker, Professor, IIM, Lucknow and the Joint Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India.
What is the role of accreditation in Higher Educational Institution?
Accreditation plays a vital role in making quality assurance an integral part of the functioning of Higher Educational Institutions.
Accreditation status of any Higher Educational Institution serves as a source of reliable information for the students, employers and the society regarding the quality of education being offered in the Institution.
Union Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship : Dharmendra Pradhan
9. Vice President Dhankhar inaugurates the 15th CII Agro Tech -2022
Tags: place in news Summits Person in news
The Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated the 15th CII Agro Tech -2022 at Chandigarh on 4 November 2022. The CII Agro Tech 2022 has been organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in partnership with Haryana and Punjab government from 4-7 November 2022.
The CII Agro Tech -2022 is India’s premier international initiative exclusively focused on strengthening the Indian Agriculture and Food Processing sector through technology interventions, discussions, and nurturing partnerships.
Theme of the 15th CII Agro Tech -2022: ‘Digital Transformation for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security’.
Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)
It is a business lobby group of top business houses in India.
It was set up in 1895.
It works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India, partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes.
Headquarters: New Delhi
President: Sanjiv Bajaj
10. EESL appoints Vishal Kapoor as CEO
Tags: Person in news
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) on 2 November, 2022 announced the appointment of Vishal Kapoor as its chief executive officer (CEO).
Important facts
Kapoor took charge after completing his tenure as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Power.
As Joint Secretary, he led various government interventions, schemes and reforms in the distribution sector.
He also led cyber security and IT initiatives in the power sector.
He worked with Indian Railways in the design, operation and maintenance of rolling stock of Indian Railways.
He introduced high-capacity car carrying cargo cars in India and exported over a dozen engines to Tanzania and Myanmar.
EESL Group has been at the forefront of India's journey towards sustainability and self-reliance.
Kapoor holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE).
