Daily Current Affairs, 13th November 2018

1) 7th RCEP Inter-Sessional Ministerial Meeting Concludes in Singapore

•The Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, led the Indian delegation to the 7th RCEP Inter-Sessional Ministerial Meeting in Singapore.

•The Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore Mr. Chan Chun Sing was the Chair of the meeting as Singapore is currently the Chair of ASEAN this year. The Ministerial Meeting was held in preparation for the 2nd RCEP Leaders Summit

2) 17th AEC Council Meeting Held in Singapore

•The 17th ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Council Meeting was held in Singapore as part of the 33rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summit Meetings.  The blueprint seeks sustained and long-term growth for the ASEAN region.

•The meeting was attended by the ASEAN Economic Ministers and AEC Ministers. They signed the ASEAN Agreement on e-Commerce, Concluded the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA) and Finalised the Fourth Protocol to Amend the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA). 

3) PM Modi Inaugurates Projects Worth Over Rs 2,400 crore in Varanasi

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation several projects including two National Highways and an Inland Waterways Terminal on River Ganga at Varanasiin Uttar Pradesh. The total cost of these projects is 2413 crore rupees. The Prime Minister also received the country’s first container cargo transported on inland waterways from Kolkata.

•Mr Modi inaugurated an Inland Multi-Modal Terminal Port constructed at the cost of 207 crore rupees on river Ganga at Ramnagar in Varanasi. This is the first of the four Multi-Modal Terminals being constructed on National Waterways-I on River Ganga as part of the World Bank-aided Jal Marg Vikas project of the Inland Waterways Authority of India.

4) Power Minister inaugurates INSPIRE 2018 In New Delhi

•Mr R K Singh, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy inaugurated the International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency (INSPIRE 2018) in New Delhi. This is the second edition of INSPIRE and is being organised by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and the World Bank. The three-day symposium will focus on enhancing grid management, e-Mobility, financial instruments and technologies for energy efficiency in India.

5) Morocco & India Agree To Assist in Legal & Commercial Matters

•Morroco & India signed an agreement to further mutual legal assistance in Civil & Commercial Courts. Union Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & IT, Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad and his Moroccan Counterpart Mr Mohammed Auajjar, Minister of Justice were present on the occasion.

•The agreement will enhance co-operation in the service of summons, judicial documents, letters of request and the execution of judgments decrees and arbitral awards.

6) India and Morocco Sign Agreement On Mutual Legal Assistance

•India and Morocco have signed an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. The agreement will strengthen bilateral cooperation and enhance effectiveness and provide a broad legal framework for prevention, investigation, and prosecution of crimes. It was signed by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and Morocco Minister of Justice, Mohamed Aujjar in New Delhi. 

7) Indian-Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’ Begins

•The inaugural edition of Indian Navy -Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’ began at Surabaya, Indonesia. The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Rana of the Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam under the Eastern Naval Command arrived at the port of Surabaya to participate in the exercise.

8) ISPRL Signs MoU With ADNOC To Explore Storage of Crude Oil

•Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Abu Dhabi with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to explore the possibility of storing ADNOC crude oil at ISPRL’s underground oil storage facility at Padur in Karnataka, which has a 2.5 million tonne capacity.

•The MoU was signed by Abdulla Salem Al Dhaheri, Director of Marketing, Sales and Trading at ADNOC and Mr. HPS Ahuja CEO & MD ISPRL on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

9) Dr Debabhuson Borah Gets Munin Barkotoki Literary Award

•The prestigious Munin Barkotoki Literary Award 2018 in Assam has been given to young writer-critic Dr Debabhuson Borah for his book on literary criticism titled ‘Nirbochon’.

•The Munin Barkotoki Memorial Trust announced the annual Award instituted to encourage young and promising writers in Assamese. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 50,000 along with a citation and a plaque.

10) Satyarup Siddhanta Became 1st Indian To Climb Mt Giluwe

•Indian mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta became the first Indian to climb Mt Giluwe, the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea. Satyarup reached the summit of the mountain which is at an elevation of 4,367 metres. Satya now has scaled 5 of the 7 volcanic summits.

11) Lewis Hamilton Won Brazilian Grand Prix

•Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) won the Brazilian Grand Prix after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen lost the lead in a collision with backmarker Esteban Ocon (Force India). The incident dropped the Dutchman back to second place and although he came back at Hamilton, he could not quite catch him. Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari secured the third-place.