1. Amit Dasgupta honoured with a member of the Order of Australia Award
Tags: Awards Person in news
Amit Dasgupta on 3 November 2022 was appointed as an Honorary Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to the Australia-India bilateral relationship by the Australian government. Amit Dasgupta is a former Indian diplomat, author and educator.
Order of Australia is an award and when it is conferred on a person the Australian government says that they have made the person its member.
Amit Dasgupta was the Consul-General of India to Australia from 2009 to 2012. Dasgupta was instrumental in establishing the Australia-India Youth Dialogue. Now in its second decade, the Dialogue is a permanent fixture of the bilateral relationship and fosters connections between Australian and Indian young people.
The Order of Australia
It was established in 1975 by Queen Elizabeth II ,Queen of Australia to honour Australians and others who have demonstrated outstanding service or exceptional achievement.
Within the Order of Australia award there are four categories of award. Rank wise(Highest to lowest) they are as follows ;
Companion of the Order of Australia; for eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or to humanity at large
Officer of the Order of Australia; for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large
Member of the Order of Australia; for service in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular group
Medal of the Order of Australia; is awarded for service worthy of particular recognition.
Commonwealth of Australia
Head of State: British Monarch, King Charles III
Prime Minister: Anthony Albanese
Currency: Australian Dollar
Capital: Canberra
2. India’s Praggnanandhaa and Nandhidhaa wins the Asian Continental Chess championship
Tags: Sports Person in news
Top seeded Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and P V Nandhidhaa won the titles in the Open and women’s sections respectively in the Asian Continental Chess championship held in New Delhi.
The Asian Continental Chess Championship was held in New Delhi from 26 October to 3 November 2022.
R Praggnanandhaa remained unbeaten in the tournament and has also qualified for the FIDE World Chess cup to be held in 2023.
The international chess governing body FIDE has not yet announced the date and place of the World Chess Cup 2023.
3. Benjamin Netanyahu comes back to power in Israel
Tags: Person in news International News
Benjamin Netanyahu is going to become the Prime Minister of Israel once again. Netanyahu's party, the Likud Party, won 64 of the 120 seats in the final round of counting held on November 1.
Important facts
Elections have been held in Israel for the fifth time in the last three years, after which a party has returned to power with an absolute majority.
Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party won 32 seats, his right-wing religious and nationalist bloc won a total of 64 seats in the 120 seat parliament, or Knesset.
Lapid’s Yesh Atid party won 24 seats.
Benjamin Netanyahu, 73, is the longest-serving prime minister, having been elected five times over the course of 15 years.
After the counting, his rival and Prime Minister Yair Lapid conceded defeat.
About Israel
Prime Minister - Benjamin Netanyahu
Capital - Jerusalem
President - Isaac Herzog
Currency - Israeli shekel
Official Languages - Hebrew; Arabic
4. Bhutan Army Chief Lt Gen Batoo Tshering meets Indian Army chief General Pande during his visit to India
Tags: Defence Person in news
The visiting Bhutanese Army Chief officially known as Chief Operations Officer, Royal Bhutan Army Lt Gen Batoo Tshering met his Indian counterpart, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande. He also met the defence secretary Giridhar Aramane in New Delhi.
Lt Gen Batoo Tshering was on an official visit to India from 28 October to 02 November 2022.Eralier in the month of July this year the Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande visited Bhutan.
India Bhutan Special military Relationship
India and Bhutan share a special relationship and it is governed by the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation of 1949 signed between the two countries and updated during the visit to India of Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck in February 2007.
Under the treaty India is responsible for Bhutanese security.
For this purpose India has stationed its Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan to provide training to Bhutanese security forces.
Regular India-Bhutan security and border management meetings take place between the two countries to discuss a number of key issues, including threat perceptions, security and border management issues.
Kingdom of Bhutan
King of Bhutan: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Prime Minister: Lotay Tshering
Capital: Thimphu
Currency: ngultrum
Bhutan is known as "Druk Yul," or "Land of the Thunder Dragon".
5. SEWA founder and Gandhian Elaben Bhatt passes away
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Elaben Bhatt, 89, noted Gandhian, leading women’s empowerment activist, and founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) died on 2 November, 2022 in Ahmedabad.
Important facts
She has been honoured with Padma Bhushan, Ramon Magsaysay Award, Indira Gandhi Peace Prize along with many other national and international awards.
She has been recognized globally as a women leader.
She founded many institutions and carried out pioneering work in organising the informal sector for self-employment and empowerment of women not only in India but across South Asia.
She was the Chairperson of Sabarmati Ashram and recently resigned as the Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi-founded Gujarat Vidhyapith.
In 2007, she became part of a group of world leaders called the Elders, founded by Nelson Mandela to promote human rights and peace around the world.
She was also a member of the Rajya Sabha and the Planning Commission of India in the 1980s.
She also served as an advisor to the World Bank and addressed the United Nations General Assembly.
She founded SEWA in 1972, one of the largest cooperatives working for women, with over two million members from around 18 states and neighbouring countries.
Elaben was born on September 7, 1933 in Ahmedabad in a family that was involved in social work.
6. CRPF for the first time appoints Women officer to the post of Inspector General
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For the first time, India’s largest paramilitary force Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has promoted two women officers to the rank of Inspector General .An IG is the head of a sector in CRPF.
Annie Abraham has been appointed as the IG of Rapid Action Force (RAF), while Seema Dhundia has been posted as IG of the Bihar Sector. Both the officers were inducted in CRPF in 1987.
Both the officers have also commanded an all-women Indian police contingent at the United Nations. They have also been decorated with the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service, Police Medal for Meritorious Service and the 'Ati Utkrisht Sewa Padak' during their service.
The Rapid Action Force (RAF) is a specialised anti-riot force of the CRPF. It is deployed to assist state police forces for heavy crowd management and also during VIP visits.
The Bihar Sector of CRPF commands about four battalions that are deployed for anti-Naxal operations and other law and order duties, apart from some RAF units and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) units that specialises in jungle warfare.
CRPF is the largest Central Armed Police Force under the Union Home Ministry. It was set up in 1939 as Crown Representative Police.
The CRPF was the first Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to induct women in combat in 1986. It has six such battalions at present with women constables filling more than 6,000 posts.
Director General of CRPF: Sujoy Lal Thaosen
7. Sanjeev Chopra assumes charge as Secretary, Dept of Food and Public Distribution
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Sanjeev Chopra has assumed charge as the Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution with effect from 31 October 2022. He is a 1990 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre.
Important facts
Sanjeev Chopra completed his B Com Honours and MBA from FMS, Delhi University. Later, he completed his LLB from Utkal University Bhubaneswar and MSc from the London School of Economics & Political Science.
He started his career as Sub Collector in Baripada (Odisha).
He served as District Collector and District Magistrate in Koraput, Odisha from 1995 to 1997.
He served as Director/Deputy Secretary in the Department of Technical Education and Training during 1999-2000.
He served as the Managing Director of State Co-operative Banks during 2000-2004.
He has also served as Secretary in departments like Industry, General Administration, Agriculture and Home.
He has been awarded the National e-Governance Award by the Government of India for Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering for Digital Transformation in the year 2020 and 2021.
8. Independent India’s first voter Shyam Saran Negi exercise his franchise in Himachal Poll
Tags: Person in news State News
106 years old Shyam Saran Negi of Himachal Pradesh exercised his right to franchise and voted for the 34th time in his life on 2 November 2022.
Shyam Saran Negi who is the first voter of the Independent India voted in the 14th Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha elections through postal ballot at his home in Kalpa, Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.
Born in July 1917, Shyam Saran Negi voted for the first time in 1951 in general elections of India and has voted for sixteen times in Lok Sabha Elections.
He is also a state election icon since 2014.
A teacher by profession, the centenarian has voted in every election since 1951 and has never missed an opportunity to vote.
The election to constitute the 14th Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha will be held on 12 November 2022.
The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly has 68 seats.
Postal Ballot
As the name suggests special ballot papers are issued to designated persons by the Election commission of India and the voters have to send the ballot paper back to the returning officer before the counting of the vote’s starts in the constituency.
.According to the Election Commission of India following Persons are entitled to vote by post:
- Special voter’s .It includes Persons with Disability, senior citizens above the age of 80 years and covid-19 positive patient,
- Service voters (Armed Forces personnel, paramilitary personnel)
- Voters on election duty and;
- Voters who are in jail and held under the preventive detention provision of law.
The colour of the postal ballot is Pink.
9. Jamshed J Irani, 'steel man of India’, dies at 86
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Jamshed J Irani, known as the steel man of India, died in Jamshedpur on 31 October. He was 86.
Important facts
Irani is survived by his wife Daisy Irani and their three children, Zubin, Nilofar and Tanaaz.
He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Government of India in 2008 for his services in the field of metallurgy.
Born on 2 June 1936 in Nagpur to Jiji Irani and Khorsed Irani, Dr. Irani completed BSc from Science College, Nagpur in 1956 and MSc in Geology from Nagpur University in 1958.
He then went to the University of Sheffield in the UK, where he earned a Masters in Metallurgy in 1960 and a PhD in Metallurgy in 1963.
He began his professional career with the British Iron and Steel Research Association in Sheffield in 1963.
Irani retired from the board of Tata Steel in June 2011, leaving behind a legacy of 43 years and has brought the company international reputation in various fields.
Jamshed J Irani joined the Board of Tata Steel and also served as non-executive director from 2001 for a decade.
He also served as a director of several Tata Group companies which include Tata Motors and Tata Teleservices.
He also served as the National President of the Confederation of Indian Industry in 1992–93.
He was honoured with several awards including Padma Bhushan in 2007 for his contribution to the industry.
10. Giridhar Aramane assumes the office of Defence Secretary
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Giridhar Aramane, a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, assumed the office of Defence Secretary on 1 November, 2022.
Important facts
In his 32 years of experience in the IAS, Armane has held several important positions in the Central Government as well as in the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
He will take over the top post after Ajay Kumar retires at the end of October.
Prior to his current assignment, Armane was Secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
He was Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat.
Apart from the Cabinet Secretariat, he looked after the Exploration Division in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and was the Executive Director in charge of Inspection in the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
In the Andhra Pradesh Government, He had served as Principal Secretary in Urban Development Department, Managing Director of State Finance Corporation and Secretary (Finance Department).
Armane has done B Tech in Civil Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad and M Tech from IIT, Madras.
He has also done MA (Economics) from Kakatiya University, Warangal.
