Daily Current Affairs, 23rd November 2018

1) Sushma Swaraj Co-Chairs 9th Meeting of India-Lao PDR Joint Commission

•External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the 9th Meeting of India-Lao PDR Joint Commission on Bilateral Co-operation with her counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith in Vientiane, Capital of Laos. 

•The two sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations covering areas of Defence, Agriculture, Trade and Investment, Science and IT, Energy and Mining among others. The Minister also called on the Prime Minister of Lao PDR Thongloun Sisoulith.

2) 7th International Tourism Mart Inaugurated in Agartala

•The Governor of Tripura Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki inaugurated the ‘7th International Tourism Mart for the North-East States in the presence of Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism K.J Alphons and the Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb in Agartala, Tripura.

•The Ministry of Tourism has organized the mart in association with the Department of Tourism, Government of Tripura and the North Eastern States. The International Tourism Marts are organized every tear in the North Eastern States on rotation basis. The earlier editions of this mart had been held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok and Imphal.

3) PM Modi Laid Foundation Stones of City Gas Distribution Projects

•Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the Foundation Stones of City Gas Distribution (CGD) Projects in 65 Geographical Areas (GAs) in 129 Districts under the 9th CGD Bidding Round recently awarded by Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), remotely from Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

•The CGD would ensure availability of convenient, environment-friendly and cheaper natural gas for almost half of the country’s population spread across 26 States and Union Territories upto 9th round.

4) India gets UN Environment Award For Combating Transboundary Environmental Crime

•United Nation Environment has awarded Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB),Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India with Asia Environment Enforcement Awards, 2018 for excellent work done by the Bureau in combating transboundary environmental crime. WCCB has been conferred this award in the Innovation category.

•The awards are given to outstanding individuals and/or government organizations/teams that demonstrate excellence and leadership in the enforcement of national laws to combat transboundary environmental crime in one of the eligibility criteria areas:collaboration; impact; innovation; integrity and gender leadership.

5) India-UAE Strategic Conclave To Be Held in Abu Dhabi

•The second edition of the India-UAE Strategic Conclave will be held in the capital city of Abu Dhabi on 27th of November. The day-long conclave will initiate a dialogue to widen the scope of bilateral investments. Indian Ambassador to the UAE, Navdeep Suri will inaugurate the conclave. It is being organized by the Economic Times, India.

•Key business leaders and senior government officials will come together to lay the blueprint for greater economic cooperation between the two countries and explore the economic gains through boosting the status of both countries as major trade hubs and key gateways to regional and international markets.

6) IIMC Innovation Park, ICC Signs MoU To Promote Startups

•IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and Indian Chamber of Commerce(ICC) has signed an MoU for energising the startup ecosystem in East and Northeast India. IIMC Innovation Park CEO Subhrangshu Sanyal stated that the MoU will bring incubator and industry together in a more formal way.

•ICC is currently working on a new program that aims to offer all key services under a single roof at a very low cost for startups beginning from initial advisory, market linkage, fundraising and legal service.

7) Ezetap’s Abhijit Bose Appointed WhatsApp India Head

•Facebook Inc.-owned messaging service WhatsApp on it has appointed Abhijit Bose as head of WhatsApp India, the local entity that is expected to begin operations next year amid calls to check the spread of fake messages.

•Bose, who was the co-founder and chief executive officer of enterprise payments solutions firm Ezetap, will be based in Gurugram, and join the messaging app in 2019. The move marks the first step by WhatsApp towards meeting the union government’s demand to curb the spread of fake news on the platform.

8) Tanzania’s Joyce Msuya Appointed Acting Executive Director of UNEP

•Tanzanian national Joyce Msuya was appointed as acting Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) following the resignation of the executive director Erik Solheim.

•Solheim had quit in wake of internal audit report accused of rule-breaking UNEP. The report has accused him of gobbling up $500,000 in unnecessary and budgeted travel expenses in just 22 months.

9) Amitabh Bachchan Receives Sayaji Ratna Award

•Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan was awarded the third Sayaji Ratna Award, established in the memory of erstwhile Baroda ruler Sayajirao Gaekwad III. Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy and noted industrialist Ratan Tata have been given the award earlier.

•The Baroda Management Association had, in 2013, instituted the award to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the ruler, known for undertaking major social reform measures during his rule in the early twentieth century.