DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: NOVEMBER 22, 2018

NATIONAL

Himachal Pradesh cabinet gave an approval to Sashakt Mahila Yojna that aims to empower rural women. The scheme also envisages to link rural women with sustainable livelihood opportunities and improve their skills.
The main aim is to empower rural women by providing them an interface for organization and socio-economic development.

INTERNATIONAL

India and Australia signed five agreements to boost investments and enhance cooperation during President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to the country and he had also unveiled the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Parramatta in Sydney.
Kovind, the first Indian head of state to visit the country, held talks with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Sydney to step up bilateral strategic ties.
The agreements were signed in the field of disability sector, education, trade-investment, scientific cooperation, agriculture and on higher education focussing on PhD by both the nations.

XII-ISMM World Congress on Mountain Medicine Held in Kathmandu:

The 12th world congress of the International Society for Mountain Medicine (ISMM) will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal. “Mountain Medicine in the Heart of the Himalayas” will be the theme of 4 day congress.
For the first time, the congress will be held in Kathmandu, hosted by an active group of young physicians gathered in the Mountain Medicine Society of Nepal. The program includes many aspects of mountain medicine, from science through to expedition medicine.
The biennial event mainly focuses on science and research aspects of high altitude medicine. It will also include practical workshops related to trekking, expedition medicine and clinical education.

The UK India Business Council Ease of Doing Business Report highlighted that UK businesses’ perceptions of corruption as a barrier to operating in India has halved since 2015.
Based on an in-depth survey of businesses with a combined turnover of USD 122 billion, the report found only 25% of UK businesses saw corruption as a major barrier in 2018, as opposed to 51% in 2015.
UK has been the largest G20 investor in India since 2000, investing £17.5 billion and creating 371,000 new jobs, representing 10% of all FDI-related jobs in that period.
Another key finding was that a remarkable 46% of UK Businesses responding had plans to expand their investments in India in the next 12 months. Moreover 25% of those responding intend to direct this new investment eastwards – seeking new opportunities in states such as West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur.

An exhibition of construction equipment and technology-ConMac 2018 will be organised by The Embassy of India in Nepal and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Bhaktapur near Kathmandu.The exhibition aims to further enhance high level engagements between construction industry of the two countries.
With more than 200,000 sq ft of display area, the exhibition is poised to be Nepal’s largest exhibition of construction equipment.
Nepal’s Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth will inaugurate the event. Ambassador of India to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri will be the Guest of Honour.

India and Russia signed a USD 500 million deal for construction of two warships in Goa for the Indian Navy under the technology transfer model,sending a clear signal of continuing with high-level defence collaborations notwithstanding the US warnings of sanctions.
The agreement for the project was signed between defence PSU Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) and Russia’s state-run defence major Rosoboronexport under the government-to-government framework for defence cooperation.
Under the deal, Russia will provide design, technology and some materials to GSL for construction of the ships in India.

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has signed an agreement with the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) for developing a roadmap of modernisation of its air traffic services.
The pact, which include air traffic management (ATM) and communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS).
The collaboration is aimed to improve airspace utilisation and to advance the safety and effectiveness of the National Airspace System (NAS).

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sworn in for his second term at a ceremony held in the capital city of Suva.
Bainimarama, 64, who is also the country’s foreign minister, led his FijiFirst party won the country’s last general elections in 2014.

Interpol elected a South Korea’s ’s Kim Jong-yang as the organisation’s president edging out a veteran of Russia’s security services Alexander Prokopchuk, who was strongly opposed by the US, Britain and other European nations.
Kim had already been serving as acting president and has now been officially elected to complete the term of Meng, which is due to end in 2020.

The Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation that works on environment and sustainable development related issues bagged the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2018.
The award was announced by an international jury headed by former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.Instituted by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, the award carries a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh and a citation.

The Manipal Academy of Higher Education won silver in the International Green Apple Award for evironmental best practice 2018.
The award was received by Derrick I Joshua, assistant direct director, environment sustainability, MAHE at a ceremony at at a ceremony at the Houses of Parliament, London

Emmy-Nominated British actress Millie Bobby Brown Tuesday named the newest United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador to mark World’s Children Day.
The age of 14 years makes Ms. Brown the UNICEF’s youngest person ever to take on the role.
The British star of the Netflix series, ‘Stranger Things’ will use her global platform to help spotlight children’s rights and issues affecting youth, including lack of education, safe learning spaces, and the impacts of violence, bullying and poverty.

Wasim Jaffer – Veteran batsman achieved a feat that no other player has done before. In a Round 3, Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match between Vidarbha and Baroda, Wasim Jaffer (11,056*) became the first player to reach the 11,000 run-mark in Ranji Trophy at Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium, Nagpur, Maharashtra.
The second best in the list is Amol Muzumdar with 9,202 runs under his belt.

ICC team up with Google:

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced a partnership with Google .
It aims to offer fans a great viewing experience of the semi-finals and final of the ICC Women’s World T20 2018 in the West Indies.
This partnership includes enabling the casting of video content from the ICC mobile app on cast-enabled devices, like Chromecast and Google Home Hub.