Daily Current Affairs- 18 November

Author : Palak Khanna

Updated On : November 18, 2022

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Today's Current Affairs -18th November 2022

NATIONAL

Uttar Pradesh adds most number of new companies post Covid

  • UP has added the most number of new companies after Maharashtra since the outbreak of Covid-19, beating industrial hubs such as Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, data combined by the corporate affairs ministry (MCA) show.
  • Uttar Pradesh is the third ranked state in terms of number of active companies behind Maharashtra and Delhi. Uttar Pradesh is home to 1.08 lakh active companies as of September end while Maharashtra and Delhi have 3 lakh and 2.2 lakh active companies respectively.
  • Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are at fourth and fifth with 1.04 lakh and 99,038 active companies respectively.
  • In the post-pandemic phase, UP has overtaken Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Uttar Pradesh added 30,000 companies in the past three years, which helped it emerge the third state in terms of number of active companies behind only Maharashtra and Delhi. Maharashtra on the other hand added 60,000 new companies in the past three years and continues to be on the top. Maharashtra’s dominance comes largely from the fact that its capital, Mumbai is the financial capital of India and serves as a hub for several mid-size and big companies.

Government of India has decided to abolish the National Anti-profiteering Authority

  • National Anti-profiteering Authority(NAA) is the anti-profiteering watchdog of GST and it is all set to be subsumed into the Competition Commission of India (CCI)
  • NAA’s investigation arm will continue to function in some form under CCI. The official said that the move will reduce the multiplicity of regulators as CCI can handle cases independently. The plan is to transfer cases to CCI after NAA’s term ends.
  • NAA’s role is to make sure that the benefit of tax rate reduction reaches the consumer immediately. This has been the role of NAA primarily because the GST council has been rejigging the rates in the last five years. NAA has little to do when rates go up.
  • Authorities are still receiving several complaints about the early years of GST, saying that the benefit of the input tax credit has not been fully passed on to consumers. Sectors like eateries, cinemas, real estate, fast-moving consumer goods, etc., have faced NAA’s scrutiny the most. In many cases, the regulator ordered the business to return the allegedly overcharged amounts to the consumer.
  • The National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) was established under section 171 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The NAA was set up to monitor and to oversee whether the reduction or benefit of input tax credit is reaching the recipient by way of appropriate reduction in prices.

 SPORTS

Achanta Sharath Kamal becomes first Indian to be elected in ITTF's Athletes' Commission

  • Star Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal has become the first player from India to get elected in the Athletes’ Commission of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The online elections took place between 7 to 13 November 2022. 10 athletes were elected for the ITTF Athletes’ Commission for a four-year term from 2022 to 2026. Eight athletes were elected from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, North America, and Oceania region and two were highest-voted para-athletes.
  • Amongst all elected players Sharath Kamal got the second highest votes after 2012 table tennis World Cup silver medallist Elizabeta Samara of Romania. Sharath Kamal was also recently elected as the member of the Athletes’ Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Sharath has already been selected for Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sports recognition this year. He also received the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 2019.

 OBITURY

Gulam Abbas Moontasir, a legend of Indian basketball, dies aged 80

  • The former India basketball captain and Arjuna awardee, Gulam Abbas Moontasir, passed away in Mumbai. He was born in Mumbai in 1942. He started playing in Nagpada by the American missionaries, later he started getting inclined towards basketball. From Nagpada Basketball Association to the International stage, he has always been an aggressive player with a unique physical style on the court.
  • His basketball debut came in 1960 in an exhibition game against Australia. He captained the national team in the 1969 and 1975 Asian Basketball Championships in Bangkok. He was part of the Indian team at the 1970 Asian Games, which finished sixth after topping a group that also contained China, Thailand and Malaysia. In the same year, Muntasir was selected in the Asian All-Star team and received the Arjuna Award, the first basketball player to receive this honour. He was suspended for three years due to constant bickering with referees and officials in the country. He was also among the country’s sports icons who shot for the 1987 film ‘Freedom Run’ to promote national integration.

 APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

IFS Officer Bandaru Wilsonbabu Appointed as Ambassador of India to the Union of Comoros

  • Bandaru Wilsonbabu, presently the Indian ambassador to the Republic of Madagascar has been concurrently accredited as the next ambassador to the Union of Comoros, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.
  • An Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer from the 2004 batch, Wilsonbabu earlier served as the joint secretary in the Eurasia division. Ties between India and Comoros have grown manifold during the past three years.

 IMPORTANT DAYS

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022

  • World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) runs from 18 to 24 November every year. It’s an international initiative to increase awareness of the growing problem of resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines. The purpose of the week is to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance, encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policymakers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.
  • This year, the theme of WAAW is “Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance Together.” World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign that is celebrated annually to improve awareness and understanding of AMR and encourage best practices among the public, One Health stakeholders and policymakers, who all play a critical role in reducing the further emergence and spread of AMR.

 Naturopathy Day: 18th November 2022

  • National Naturopathy Day is observed in India every year on November 18th, to promote positive mental and physical health through drug-free therapy. National Naturopathy Day was established on November 18th 2018 by the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), Government of India. On November 18th 1945, Mahatma Gandhi became the Chairman of the All India Nature Cure Foundation Trust and signed the agreement aimed at making the benefits of Nature Cure available to all classes of people, therefore, this day was chosen to be observed as National Naturopathy Day.
  • Central Council for Research in yoga and naturopathy is organizing the 5th Naturopathy day at World peace dome MIT Art, Design and Technology University campus, Pune. On this Occasion an International Conference on Yoga and Naturopathy is being organized by CCRYN. This conference will see renowned speakers in the field of naturopathy and from “World Naturopathic Federation”. The Theme for this year’s event is “Naturopathy: an Integrative medicine”. In this conference we will learn about developments in the field of naturopathy from eminent researchers and practitioners in relation to education, research, integrative medicine, public health in addition to exploring newer avenues and areas in naturopathy.

 Indian Army Celebrates 242nd Corps of Engineers Day

  • Indian Army is celebrating the 242nd Corps of Engineers Day on 18th November. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande have conveyed their best wishes to all ranks of the Corps of Engineers on the occasion. On the occasion of Corps day, Engineer-in-Chief and Senior Colonel Commandant of the Corps of Engineers Lt Gen Harpal Singh has called upon the Corps to put in bigger efforts to be prepared for the future challenges and rededicate towards being a reliable, versatile and omnipresent arm of the Army.
  • The Corps of Engineers provides combat engineering support, develops infrastructure for armed forces and other defence organisations and maintains connectivity along our vast borders besides providing succour to populace during natural disasters. These tasks are executed through four pillars of the Corps – Combat Engineers, Military Engineer Service, Border Road Organisation and Military Survey.
  • The Corps of Engineers has three groups, i.e. Madras Sappers, Bengal Sappers and Bombay Sappers which were amalgamated into the Corps on 18 Nov 1932. Since its inception, history is replete with colossal exemplary contributions of the Corps of Engineers both in war and peace.

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

SBI gets Euro 150 mn loan from German KfW for solar projects

  • State Bank of India has signed a 150 million euro (Rs 1,240 crore) loan agreement with the German development bank KfW for funding solar projects.
  • The long-term loan, under the Indo-German solar partnership, will facilitate new and upcoming capacities in the solar sector and further contribute to the country’s goals announced during the COP26.
  • In 2015, New Delhi and Berlin had signed a memorandum of understanding to foster solar energy through technical as well as financial cooperation. Through this agreement, Germany had expressed its willingness to provide the concessional loans to India in the range of 1 billion euros through KfW.
  • The successful closure of the phase-1 under the solar partnership- promotion of solar/PV between SBI and KfW, paves the way for the current phase-2 in our partnership with this German lender, Ashwini Tewari, a managing director at SBI said. With this facility, he added, the bank has taken another step towards sustainable financing arrangements for meeting the nation’s renewable capacity goals and upholding environmental and social standards.

Wipro to set up European Works Council for employees

  • IT company Wipro has reached an agreement with employee representatives on setting up a European Works Council, the company said. The creation of Wipro’s EWC is the first to be established by an Indian headquartered company.
  • Senior vice president & CHRO, Wipro Europe stated: “Setting up the EWC strengthens the already successful cooperation with employee representations in many European countries. Wipro aims to provide the best employee experience and create an inclusive environment that welcomes everyone and nurtures an overall sense of belonging. The EWC will help us in getting even better as we assimilate employee perspectives on a consistent basis. It also demonstrates that Wipro is applying and adopting European employment standards as a responsible global employer.“
  • Wipro’s EWC is the first to be established by an Indian headquartered company, and builds upon a number of years of successful, constructive working with Works Councils at local and national level across several European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Finland. The creation of an EWC follows a request by employees under an EU directive establishing the opportunity in companies with more than 1,000 employees across multiple European locations. Wipro’s EWC agreement was successfully negotiated with employee representatives from 13 different countries.

Daily Current Affairs- 18 November

Author : Palak Khanna

November 18, 2022

SHARE

Today's Current Affairs -18th November 2022

NATIONAL

Uttar Pradesh adds most number of new companies post Covid

  • UP has added the most number of new companies after Maharashtra since the outbreak of Covid-19, beating industrial hubs such as Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, data combined by the corporate affairs ministry (MCA) show.
  • Uttar Pradesh is the third ranked state in terms of number of active companies behind Maharashtra and Delhi. Uttar Pradesh is home to 1.08 lakh active companies as of September end while Maharashtra and Delhi have 3 lakh and 2.2 lakh active companies respectively.
  • Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are at fourth and fifth with 1.04 lakh and 99,038 active companies respectively.
  • In the post-pandemic phase, UP has overtaken Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Uttar Pradesh added 30,000 companies in the past three years, which helped it emerge the third state in terms of number of active companies behind only Maharashtra and Delhi. Maharashtra on the other hand added 60,000 new companies in the past three years and continues to be on the top. Maharashtra’s dominance comes largely from the fact that its capital, Mumbai is the financial capital of India and serves as a hub for several mid-size and big companies.

Government of India has decided to abolish the National Anti-profiteering Authority

  • National Anti-profiteering Authority(NAA) is the anti-profiteering watchdog of GST and it is all set to be subsumed into the Competition Commission of India (CCI)
  • NAA’s investigation arm will continue to function in some form under CCI. The official said that the move will reduce the multiplicity of regulators as CCI can handle cases independently. The plan is to transfer cases to CCI after NAA’s term ends.
  • NAA’s role is to make sure that the benefit of tax rate reduction reaches the consumer immediately. This has been the role of NAA primarily because the GST council has been rejigging the rates in the last five years. NAA has little to do when rates go up.
  • Authorities are still receiving several complaints about the early years of GST, saying that the benefit of the input tax credit has not been fully passed on to consumers. Sectors like eateries, cinemas, real estate, fast-moving consumer goods, etc., have faced NAA’s scrutiny the most. In many cases, the regulator ordered the business to return the allegedly overcharged amounts to the consumer.
  • The National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) was established under section 171 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The NAA was set up to monitor and to oversee whether the reduction or benefit of input tax credit is reaching the recipient by way of appropriate reduction in prices.

 SPORTS

Achanta Sharath Kamal becomes first Indian to be elected in ITTF's Athletes' Commission

  • Star Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal has become the first player from India to get elected in the Athletes’ Commission of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The online elections took place between 7 to 13 November 2022. 10 athletes were elected for the ITTF Athletes’ Commission for a four-year term from 2022 to 2026. Eight athletes were elected from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, North America, and Oceania region and two were highest-voted para-athletes.
  • Amongst all elected players Sharath Kamal got the second highest votes after 2012 table tennis World Cup silver medallist Elizabeta Samara of Romania. Sharath Kamal was also recently elected as the member of the Athletes’ Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Sharath has already been selected for Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sports recognition this year. He also received the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 2019.

 OBITURY

Gulam Abbas Moontasir, a legend of Indian basketball, dies aged 80

  • The former India basketball captain and Arjuna awardee, Gulam Abbas Moontasir, passed away in Mumbai. He was born in Mumbai in 1942. He started playing in Nagpada by the American missionaries, later he started getting inclined towards basketball. From Nagpada Basketball Association to the International stage, he has always been an aggressive player with a unique physical style on the court.
  • His basketball debut came in 1960 in an exhibition game against Australia. He captained the national team in the 1969 and 1975 Asian Basketball Championships in Bangkok. He was part of the Indian team at the 1970 Asian Games, which finished sixth after topping a group that also contained China, Thailand and Malaysia. In the same year, Muntasir was selected in the Asian All-Star team and received the Arjuna Award, the first basketball player to receive this honour. He was suspended for three years due to constant bickering with referees and officials in the country. He was also among the country’s sports icons who shot for the 1987 film ‘Freedom Run’ to promote national integration.

 APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

IFS Officer Bandaru Wilsonbabu Appointed as Ambassador of India to the Union of Comoros

  • Bandaru Wilsonbabu, presently the Indian ambassador to the Republic of Madagascar has been concurrently accredited as the next ambassador to the Union of Comoros, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.
  • An Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer from the 2004 batch, Wilsonbabu earlier served as the joint secretary in the Eurasia division. Ties between India and Comoros have grown manifold during the past three years.

 IMPORTANT DAYS

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022

  • World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) runs from 18 to 24 November every year. It’s an international initiative to increase awareness of the growing problem of resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines. The purpose of the week is to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance, encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policymakers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.
  • This year, the theme of WAAW is “Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance Together.” World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign that is celebrated annually to improve awareness and understanding of AMR and encourage best practices among the public, One Health stakeholders and policymakers, who all play a critical role in reducing the further emergence and spread of AMR.

 Naturopathy Day: 18th November 2022

  • National Naturopathy Day is observed in India every year on November 18th, to promote positive mental and physical health through drug-free therapy. National Naturopathy Day was established on November 18th 2018 by the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), Government of India. On November 18th 1945, Mahatma Gandhi became the Chairman of the All India Nature Cure Foundation Trust and signed the agreement aimed at making the benefits of Nature Cure available to all classes of people, therefore, this day was chosen to be observed as National Naturopathy Day.
  • Central Council for Research in yoga and naturopathy is organizing the 5th Naturopathy day at World peace dome MIT Art, Design and Technology University campus, Pune. On this Occasion an International Conference on Yoga and Naturopathy is being organized by CCRYN. This conference will see renowned speakers in the field of naturopathy and from “World Naturopathic Federation”. The Theme for this year’s event is “Naturopathy: an Integrative medicine”. In this conference we will learn about developments in the field of naturopathy from eminent researchers and practitioners in relation to education, research, integrative medicine, public health in addition to exploring newer avenues and areas in naturopathy.

 Indian Army Celebrates 242nd Corps of Engineers Day

  • Indian Army is celebrating the 242nd Corps of Engineers Day on 18th November. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande have conveyed their best wishes to all ranks of the Corps of Engineers on the occasion. On the occasion of Corps day, Engineer-in-Chief and Senior Colonel Commandant of the Corps of Engineers Lt Gen Harpal Singh has called upon the Corps to put in bigger efforts to be prepared for the future challenges and rededicate towards being a reliable, versatile and omnipresent arm of the Army.
  • The Corps of Engineers provides combat engineering support, develops infrastructure for armed forces and other defence organisations and maintains connectivity along our vast borders besides providing succour to populace during natural disasters. These tasks are executed through four pillars of the Corps – Combat Engineers, Military Engineer Service, Border Road Organisation and Military Survey.
  • The Corps of Engineers has three groups, i.e. Madras Sappers, Bengal Sappers and Bombay Sappers which were amalgamated into the Corps on 18 Nov 1932. Since its inception, history is replete with colossal exemplary contributions of the Corps of Engineers both in war and peace.

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

SBI gets Euro 150 mn loan from German KfW for solar projects

  • State Bank of India has signed a 150 million euro (Rs 1,240 crore) loan agreement with the German development bank KfW for funding solar projects.
  • The long-term loan, under the Indo-German solar partnership, will facilitate new and upcoming capacities in the solar sector and further contribute to the country’s goals announced during the COP26.
  • In 2015, New Delhi and Berlin had signed a memorandum of understanding to foster solar energy through technical as well as financial cooperation. Through this agreement, Germany had expressed its willingness to provide the concessional loans to India in the range of 1 billion euros through KfW.
  • The successful closure of the phase-1 under the solar partnership- promotion of solar/PV between SBI and KfW, paves the way for the current phase-2 in our partnership with this German lender, Ashwini Tewari, a managing director at SBI said. With this facility, he added, the bank has taken another step towards sustainable financing arrangements for meeting the nation’s renewable capacity goals and upholding environmental and social standards.

Wipro to set up European Works Council for employees

  • IT company Wipro has reached an agreement with employee representatives on setting up a European Works Council, the company said. The creation of Wipro’s EWC is the first to be established by an Indian headquartered company.
  • Senior vice president & CHRO, Wipro Europe stated: “Setting up the EWC strengthens the already successful cooperation with employee representations in many European countries. Wipro aims to provide the best employee experience and create an inclusive environment that welcomes everyone and nurtures an overall sense of belonging. The EWC will help us in getting even better as we assimilate employee perspectives on a consistent basis. It also demonstrates that Wipro is applying and adopting European employment standards as a responsible global employer.“
  • Wipro’s EWC is the first to be established by an Indian headquartered company, and builds upon a number of years of successful, constructive working with Works Councils at local and national level across several European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Finland. The creation of an EWC follows a request by employees under an EU directive establishing the opportunity in companies with more than 1,000 employees across multiple European locations. Wipro’s EWC agreement was successfully negotiated with employee representatives from 13 different countries.

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