Today's Current Affairs -22nd November 2022

INTERNATIONAL

Kazakh President Tokayev wins re-election with 81.3% of vote

• Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has secured a second term in a snap election, winning 81.3 percent of the vote. The Central Asian nation’s Central Election Commission made the announcement citing preliminary data.
• Tokayev had been widely expected to extend his rule over the oil-rich nation by seven more years with a strong mandate to continue his increasingly independent foreign policy, as the former Soviet republic navigates the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
• Tokayev faced no real opposition candidates in a nation where critics are sidelined and all five of his competitors were virtually unknown.
• Tokayev won his first election in 2019 with the backing of his predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, but the two fell out this year amid violent unrest in the nation of 20 million. Present vote consolidated his power as an independent leader.
• In less than a year, Tokayev suppressed the worst anti-government demonstrations in his country’s history, neutralised his all-powerful predecessor, and stood up to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

New Zealand Supreme Court rules voting age of 18 is discriminatory

• New Zealand’s voting age has been ruled discriminatory by the country’s highest court. The case was brought by advocacy group make it 16 in 2020, in a bid to lower the voting age from 18 to 16.
• The Supreme Court found the current voting age of 18 was inconsistent with the country’s Bill of Rights, which gives people a right to be free from age discrimination when they turn 16.
• The group argues there is no reason to stop 16 year olds voting when they can drive, work full-time and pay tax.
• Political parties in New Zealand have mixed views on the subject.The Green Party wants immediate action to lower the voting age to 16, but the largest opposition party, the National party, does not support the shift.
• “Obviously, we’ve got to draw a line somewhere,” National party leader Christopher Luxon said. “We’re comfortable with the line being 18. Lots of different countries have different places where the line’s drawn and from our point of view, 18 is just fine.”

India takes over as Council Chair of Global Partnership on AI (GPAI)

• India will take over the chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence for 2022-23 at a meeting of the body in Tokyo, the Ministry of Electronics and IT said. This development comes on the heels of assuming the Presidency of the G20, a league of the world’s largest economies.
• In the election to the Council Chair, India had received more than a two-thirds majority of first-preference votes while Canada and the United States of America ranked in the next two best places in the tally – so they were elected to the two additional government seats on the Steering Committee, the ministry said in a statement.
• GPAI is an international initiative to support responsible and human-centric development and the use of Artificial Intelligence. GPAI is a congregation of 25 member countries, including the US, UK, European Union, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, and Singapore. India joined the GPAI in 2020 as a founding member.

 NATIONAL

Karnataka Tops List Of States With Grid Interactive Renewable Power Capacity, Says RBI Report

• Karnataka came at the top position while comparing the total installed capacity of grid-interactive renewable power of all the states of the country. The state had a total installed capacity of 15,463 megawatts (mw), according to an RBI publication.
• Tamilnadu with 15,225 mw, came at the second; Gujarat, with 13,153 mw, was at third position while Maharashtra, with 10,267 mw, was at the fourth, according to Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2021-22, which was the seventh edition of its statistical publication, released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Through this publication, the Reserve Bank has been disseminating wide-ranging data on the regional economies of India.
• Maharashtra was followed by Rajasthan (10,205 mw), Andhra Pradesh (8,969 mw), Madhya Pradesh (5,206 mw), Telangana (4,378 mw), Uttar Pradesh (3,879 mw), Punjab (1,617 mw) and Himachal Pradesh (988 mw) and Uttarakhand (713 mw) in that order.
• According to the RBI statement, renewable power includes power from various sources namely bio-power, solar power, small hydro power, waste to energy and wind power.

Rajasthan: Indian Army conducts integrated fire power exercise 'Shatrunash' in Thar desert

• South Western Command of the Indian Army conducted Integrated Fire Power Exercise, “SHATRUNASH’’ at MFFR in Thar desert of Rajasthan. The exercise witnessed use of multi farious firing platforms in an integrated manner involving both ground & aerial manoeuvres. Various actions included ion of troops, offensive ground actions involving comprehensive coordination incorporating contemporary technologies in a multi domain environment. Real time communication and sharing of common operating picture amongst various participants to overcome emerging threats were practised & skills were honed.
• Lieutenant General A S Bhinder, General Officer Commanding In Chief, Sapta Shakti Command appreciated the participation & synergy amongst various combat & combat support arms. He also commended exploitation of capability of indigenous platforms inducted as part of the ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ or ‘Make in India’ initiative. Furthermore, the General Officer Commanding In Chief reiterated the need to constantly explore new fighting methodology and enhancement of own capability to fight future wars.

 IMPORTANT DAYS

World Fisheries Day 2022: 21^st November

• World Fisheries Day is annually celebrated on 21st November. This day is dedicated to highlighting the critical importance of healthy ocean ecosystems and to ensure sustainable stocks of fisheries in the world. World Fisheries Day also explores finding solutions to the increasingly interconnected problems that the world is facing to follow sustainable models of our ocean ecosystems while safeguarding the interest and growth and development of the fisherfolk community all across the world.
• Fisheries sector play an important role in the socio-economic development of fisherfolk or coastal community in our world. The sector has been recognized as a powerful income and employment generator as it stimulates growth of a number of subsidiary industries, and is a source of cheap and nutritious food besides being a foreign exchange earner. Most importantly, it is the source of livelihood for a large section of economically backward population of our world. Hence it is very important to tackle the challenges faced by this industry for the development of our world and to address these problems only we have World Fisheries Day!

 World Heritage Week commencing from November 19 to 25

• The Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums is celebrating World Heritage week commencing from November 19 to November 25, 2022. The World Heritage Week is observed to promote the conservation of culture and heritage. The week – long celebration aims to create awareness about traditions and culture. The World Heritage Week is celebrated by UNESCO and several other international organisations. In India. The World Heritage Week is celebrated by the Archaeological Survey of India.
• Being a signatory to the World Heritage Convention, India undertakes various initiatives on World Heritage Day (18 April) and World Heritage Week (19-25 November) each year, to celebrate the spirit of the World Heritage Convention. Some of these initiatives include providing free admission at ticketed monuments, publishing books on World Heritage, involving youth and children through painting competitions and heritage walks, among others.
• The Member States of UNESCO adopted the World Heritage Convention in 1972. 191 state parties have ratified this World Heritage Convention including India. World Heritage sites belong to all the people of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located.

 SUMMIT'S & MOU's

India, European Commission sign Intent of Cooperation pact on high-performance computing, quantum tech

• India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), and the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), European Commission signed an “Intent of Cooperation on High Performance Computing (HPC), Weather Extremes & Climate Modeling and Quantum Technologies”.
• The agreement builds on commitments by both sides for deepening technological cooperation on quantum and high-performance computing during the India-EU leaders meeting on May 8. “Moreover, the signing of the agreement assumes significance in the context of the decision to set up EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC)” on April 25, an EU statement said.
• The agreement signed is aimed at facilitating collaboration on high performance computing applications using Indian and European supercomputers in areas such as bio-molecular medicines, Covid-19 therapeutics, mitigating climate change, predicting natural disasters and quantum computing, the statement said.
• MeitY secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma said high performance computing is tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges and the demand for such systems is increasing rapidly in various domains. Under this partnership, India and the EU will leverage expertise from both sides to optimise high performance computing towards developing advanced technology solutions in multiple fields.

 AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Kathak exponent  Dr Uma Sharma felicitated with 'Sumitra Charat Ram Award'

• Kathak exponent Dr. Uma Sharma has received the prestigious ‘Sumitra Charat Ram Award’ for Lifetime Achievement in recognition of her contribution in the field of Indian classical music and dance. She is a renowned classical dancer who has been awarded Padma Shri (1973) and Padma Bhushan (2001) for her unique contribution to the cultural tradition of this country. She received the award from former governor of Jammu and Kashmir Karan Singh and Sarod player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan in a ceremony organized at Kamani Auditorium by Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (SBKK).
• For the last 11 years ‘Sumitra Charat Ram Award’ for Lifetime Achievement has been presented to honour eminent Artists who have made a lasting contribution to the field of Indian Classical Music & Dance.

Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong, winner of the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize 2022

• The UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence, for this 2022 Edition, has been given to Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong from Cameroon, President of the NGOs #Afrogiveness and Positive Youths Africa. The Prize is named after its benefactor, former Indian artist, writer and diplomat Madanjeet Singh (1924-2013) who was also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.
• Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong, with 7-year experience as a journalist, strived to change the perception related to mental illness.
• With training in art therapy and psychology, she founded two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – Afrogiveness Movement and Positive Youths Africa (PYA).
• These two NGOs are peace education initiatives that aim to help traumatized survivors of interfaith and intercultural conflicts in African countries to heal using the universal language of the arts.
• They operate in nine African countries – Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, and Togo.
• Through these NGOs, Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong is promoting tolerance and non-violence by reintegrating survivors from opposing sides of war and conflicts into their host communities.