NATIONAL NEWS

BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministers Meeting

• India hosted the Second Agriculture Ministerial-level meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) at New Delhi on 10 November 2022.

• It was hosted under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar.

• The meeting adopted the Action Plan for Strengthening BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation (2023-2027).

• An MoU was signed between the BIMSTEC Secretariat and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and approval was given to bring the fisheries and livestock sub-sectors under the Agriculture Working Group.

• Agriculture ministers of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the meeting.

International Telemedicine Conference

• The 18th International Telemedicine Conference organised by Telemedicine Society of India (TSI) in association with TSI Kerala will be held in Kochi, Kerala from 10 November to 12 November 2022.
• Telemedicine-2022 is an annual global conference for healthcare professionals, providers, health insurance providers, online pharmacy chains, industrialists, academic scientists, research scholars and scientists.
• The conference is organised in collaboration with government agencies, private organisations and national and international professional societies.
• The conference aims to build a platform involving health regulators, health funding authorities, service providers and international experts.
• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman S Somnath will participate in this conference as the chief guest and deliberate on how the latest technologies in our country will improve telemedicine facilities.
• The conference will be held at Amrita Hospital, Kochi.
• The theme of the event is ‘Strengthening Health Systems Through Sustainable Telemedicine and Digital Health’.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India Joins MAC

• India has joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) at the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

• After joining the alliance, India called for the integration of mangrove conservation with reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) programs for carbon sequestration.

• MAC is an intergovernmental coalition that seeks to accelerate the conservation and restoration of mangrove ecosystems.

• India is among the first five countries to join the MAC, which includes Australia, Japan, Spain and Sri Lanka.

• Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced that studies have shown that mangrove forests can absorb four to five times more carbon emissions than landed tropical forests.

BANKING

Emirates NBD Invests USD 100 Million in India

• United Arab Emirates-based bank Emirates NBD announced an additional USD 100 million investment in India operations and added two more branches in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Gurugram, Haryana

• The lender has invested USD 300 million in the last 5 years of its operations in India in three tranches.

• India and the UAE have had long-standing strategic and economic ties over the years, which have further been catalyzed by the recently executed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
• The bank’s 60-second zero-fee digital funds transfer service to India, Direct Remit, has facilitated 5 million remittances to India worth nearly USD 2 billion in 2022.

SPORTS

ICC Hall of Fame

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has named the most recent luminaries to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.
• Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies, Charlotte Edwards of the England Women’s team, and Abdul Qadir of Pakistan were elected as the 107th, 108th and 109th members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame respectively.
• They were elected following a voting process that included current members of the organization, media representatives, senior executives from the Federation of International Cricketers (FICA) and the ICC.

AWARDS & PRIZES

India Agribusiness Award 2022

• Dr. Sanjeev K Balyan, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying presented the 'India Agribusiness Award 2022' to the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) on 10 November 2022.

• The award was presented at an event organised for the services and support of the fisheries sector.

• The award was given for supporting and playing a significant role in technology upgradation, species diversification in aquaculture, propagation of new and improved fish species, seaweed cultivation, ornamental fishes, training and capacity building on need-based projects.

• Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) is organising 'Agro World 2022'-India International Agribusiness and Technology Fair-2022 from 09 November to 11 November 2022 at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

Bihari Puraskar Award

• Famous litterateurs Madhu Kankaria and Dr. Madhav Hada were awarded the 31st and 32nd Bihari Puraskar for 2021 and 2022 respectively.

• They were awarded in a program organised in Udaipur on 09 November 2022.

• The award was presented to Madhu Kankaria for his novel 'Hum Yahan The' and to Dr. Madhav Hada for his critical work 'Pacharang Chola Pahar Sakhi Re'.

• Indravardhan Trivedi, Vice Chancellor of Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur the chief guest of the program presented two and a half lakh rupees, citation and emblem to the litterateurs.

• Bihari Puraskar is one of the three literary awards instituted by the KK Birla Foundation in 1991.

• It is given every year for an outstanding work published in Hindi or Rajasthani by a Rajasthani writer.

• The awardees are selected by a selection committee headed by Chairman Hemant Shesh.

DEFENCE NEWS

DRDO Launches Testing and Evaluation Facility

• The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has launched the Hull Module of the Submersible Platform for Acoustic Characterization and Evaluation (SPACE) facility at Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) Kochi, Kerala.

• It is a state-of-the-art testing and evaluation facility for sonar systems developed for use by the Indian navy onboard various platforms including ships, submarines and helicopters.

• This new facility has boosted the Government of India’s ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives.

• The SPACE facility is based on the concept, design and requirements projected by NPOL and has been constructed by Larsen and Turbo (L&T) Shipbuilding, Chennai.
• This will be mainly utilized for evaluating sonar systems allowing for quick deployment and easy recovery of scientific packages such as sensors and transducers.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

A Book by Nirmala James

• Nirmala James, a retired schoolteacher has written a new book named ‘Edavalath Kakkat Janaki Ammal: Life and Scientific Contributions,’ a documentary on the life and amazing achievements of Edavalath Kakkat Janaki Ammal India’s first woman botanist.
• The book was produced by Enview Research and Development.
• The book tells the story of Dr. Janaki Ammal, who achieved her professional goals despite gender and caste hurdles.
• She is well-known for her contributions to cytogenetics and plant breeding. Nirmala James has written over 25 books, including children’s books.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Science Day for Peace and Development

• World Science Day for Peace and Development 2022 is observed every year on 10 November.

• The theme for the year 2022 is “Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development”

• The first World Conference on Science was held in 1999 and was coordinated by UNESCO and the International Council for Science.

• The gathering was held in Hungary, where various delegations concurred on the importance of educating the public about science.

• World Science Day for Peace and Development was first observed in 2002.

International Week of Science and Peace

• The International Week of Science and Peace is celebrated every year from 09 November to 14 November 2022.

• This week is an initiative launched by the United Nations (UN) with the hopes of encouraging and promoting peace around the world.

• The International Week of Science and Peace was established in 1986 as part of the International Year of Peace celebrations.

• People inspire and promote peace in their countries during this week, as well as produce breakthrough technology for a better way of life.