NATIONAL NEWS

India's First Hydrogen Fuel Cell Catamaran Vessel in Varanasi

• The Cochin Shipyard signed an MoU with the Inland Waterways Authority of India to build the country's first hydrogen fuel cell catamaran ship for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

• The shipyard also signed another MoU for construction of six electric catamaran ships for Uttar Pradesh and two ships for Guwahati.

• The MoU was signed in Varanasi in the presence of Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several other dignitaries.

• The air-conditioned hydrogen fuel cell catamaran vessel will have a seating capacity of 100 passengers.

• It will be deployed in Varanasi after trial in Kochi.
• The air-conditioned electric hybrid vessels were designed for short-distance travel in riverine waters.

'No Money For Terror' Ministerial Conference

• Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India will organize the 3rd Ministerial Conference on 'No Money for Terror' in New Delhi on 18 November and 19 November 2022.
• Representatives from 75 countries and international bodies will attend the two-day conference.
• The objective of this conference is to take forward the discussions on combating terrorist financing held by the international community in the previous two conferences in Paris (2018) and Melbourne (2019).
• It will also discuss technical, legal and regulatory aspects of all aspects of terrorism financing.
• The participating countries will also deliberate on how to effectively implement the standards mandated by the Financial Action Terror Force (FATF) and UN listing on terrorist groups and terrorists.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India Signs MoU with Cambodia

• On November 12 India and Cambodia signed 4 MoUs in areas of health, technology, biodiversity conservation and preservation of ancient buildings.
• Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar holds a bilateral meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the ongoing ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
• The two had extensive discussions on bilateral relations including human resources, mining and development projects.
• Cambodia also stressed on enhancing cooperation on mine clearance to help Cambodia reach the goal of ‘a mine-free Cambodia by 2025’.

11th Member of ASEAN

• The 10 nations group Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed in principle to admit Timor- Leste as its 11th member.

• This was declared by the ASEAN after its summit meeting held in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on 11 November 2022 Timor- Leste applied for membership of the ASEAN in 2011.

• Timor- Leste will be initially granted an observer status at a high-level ASEAN meeting and it will take years before it becomes a full member of the ASEAN group.

BANKING

NPCI Introduces BHIM App

• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) an initiative by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks Association (IBA) has announced the launch of the BHIM App open-source license model.
• In a step ahead towards attaining the goal of ‘Digital Payments for All’
• The NPCI will licence the source code of the BHIM app to regulated entities which do not yet have a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app of their own, to empower them to launch their own UPI app.
• NPCI intends to bridge this gap by extending all the readily available features of UPI to these entities through this BHIM App licensing model which will be an economical and quick-to-market solution for these entities
• BHIM licensing model will empower these entities to offer the benefits of UPI to their customers with a ready UPI application that will help reduce time, effort and costs for the entities.

SPORTS

Kabaddi World Cup 2025

• The West Midlands in England will host the 4th Kabaddi World Cup in the first quarter of 2025.
• This was announced by the World Kabaddi Federation (WKF) on 12 November 2022.
• This will be the first time that the Kabaddi World Cup will be held outside Asia.
• The 2nd Kabaddi World Cup will be held in 2023 and the 3rd is planned in 2024 but the host of 2023 and 2034 world cup is yet to be announced.

IBSA Blind Football Women’s Asian/Oceania Championship 2022

• Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan on 12 November 2022 inaugurated the IBSA Blind Football Women’s Asian/Oceania Championship 2022 at Kochi, Kerala.
• The IBSA Blind Football Women’s Asian/Oceania Championship 2022 is being held at Kochi from 9 November to 20 November 2022.
• The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) was set up in 1981 in Paris, France.
• It is the governing body for the Paralympic sports of goalball, judo and blind football.

ICC T20 Men's World Cup

• The England men’s cricket team won its second ICC T20 men’s cricket world cup by defeating Pakistan in the final played at the Melbourne cricket stadium on 13 November 2022.
• England are the first men's team in history to hold both the 50-over and 20-over World Cups simultaneously.
• It was organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Australia from 16 October to 13 November 2022.
• Player of the World Cup was Sam Curran of England for his 13 wickets in the tournament.

AWARDS & PRIZES

The Responsible Tourism Global Award

• World Travel Mart (WTM) London Kerala’s sustainable and inclusive tourism project STREET has received the Responsible Tourism Global award.
• The state bagged the award for the commendable work it carried out for ‘Conserving Water and Improving Water Security and Supply for Neighbors.
• The award is for the water conservation initiative taken up under the STREET project, which is a first of its kind initiative in the world.
• The STREET (Sustainable, Tangible, Responsible, Experiential, Ethnic Tourism) focuses on theme-based street development approaches at tourism destinations to reduce over concentration of activities at core centers and maximize the local community benefit.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Head Of ICC Finance and Commercial Affairs

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah was elected as the head of the Finance and Commercial Affairs (F&CA) committee of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

• Jay Shah is also currently the President of the Asian Cricket Council.

• He was elected at the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Board meeting held in Melbourne, Australia on 12 November 2022.

• He will succeed Ross McCollum as chair of the committee.

• The Finance and Commercial Affairs (F&CA) committee of the ICC is considered to be the second most powerful body of the ICC after the ICC Board.

‘Friendship Ambassador’ of Switzerland Tourism

• Switzerland Tourism has appointed Olympic Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra as the 'Friendship Ambassador’.

• As Switzerland Tourism's 'Friendship Ambassador', Chopra will share his experiences in the country to showcase it as the ideal destination for the outdoors and the best for hiking, biking, soft and extreme adventure and snow sports.

• Switzerland tourism sees great potential in attracting a variety of visitors.

DEFENCE NEWS

Security Exercise ‘Prasthan’

• The Indian Navy’s Western Command conducted an exercise ‘Prasthan’ on 12 November 2022.

• It is to evaluate organizational effectiveness in protecting offshore assets off Mumbai on an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) platform 150 km into the sea.

• The Prasthan’ is conducted twice a year under the Western Naval Command.

• It aims to assess various measures and protocols conceived to address security threats and other contingencies that may arise in offshore oil production platforms.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Public Service Broadcasting Day

• Public Service Broadcasting Day was observed every year on 12 November 2022.
• The day is celebrated every year to commemorate the only visit of Mahatma Gandhi to All India Radio in Delhi in 1947.
• The Father of the Nation addressed the displaced people who had temporarily settled in Kurukshetra in Haryana after Partition.
• In the year 2001, this day was officially declared as Public Service Broadcasting Day.

World Pneumonia Day

• World Pneumonia Day is observed every year on 12 November.
• The day aims to raise awareness about pneumonia and shed light on its symptoms, prevention and treatment.
• The theme for the year 2022 is "Championing the fight to stop pneumonia."
• World Pneumonia Day was first observed on 12 November 2009 under 'Stop Pneumonia', an initiative of the Global Coalition Against Child Pneumonia.