Current Affairs 23rd & 24th November 2018

NATIONAL

The Governor of Tripura Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki inaugurated the ‘7th International Tourism Mart for the North-East States in the presence of Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism K.J Alphons and the Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb in Agartala, Tripura.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the Foundation Stones of City Gas Distribution (CGD) Projects in 65 Geographical Areas (GAs) in 129 Districts under the 9th CGD Bidding Round recently awarded by Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), remotely from Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has signed an MoU for energising the startup ecosystem in East and Northeast India.

INTERNATIONAL

The second edition of the India-UAE Strategic Conclave will be held in the capital city of Abu Dhabi on 27th of November. The day-long conclave will initiate a dialogue to widen the scope of bilateral investments.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the 9th Meeting of India-Lao PDR Joint Commission on Bilateral Co-operation with her counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith in Vientiane, Capital of Laos.

APPOINTMENTS

Facebook Inc.-owned messaging service WhatsApp on it has appointed Abhijit Bose as head of WhatsApp India, the local entity that is expected to begin operations next year amid calls to check the spread of fake messages.
Tanzanian national Joyce Msuya was appointed as acting Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) following the resignation of the executive director Erik Solheim.

AWARDS

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan was awarded the third Sayaji Ratna Award, established in the memory of erstwhile Baroda ruler Sayajirao Gaekwad III. Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy and noted industrialist Ratan Tata have been given the award earlier.
JNU’s Hispanic Studies professor Shyama Prasad Ganguly has won Mexico’s highest civilian honor “Orden Mexicana del Águila Azteca” (Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle) accorded to foreign nationals.
United Nation Environment has awarded Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB),Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India with Asia Environment Enforcement Awards, 2018 for excellent work done by the Bureau in combating transboundary environmental crime.
Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, has won Forbes India Leadership Awards 2018, Lifetime Achievement. Wipro is India’s fourth-biggest software services company by revenue and Ajim Premji is the second richest Indian.