Current Affairs - January 18, 2018 Current Affairs

India took part in a two-day meeting of the international military cooperation departments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Beijing, China. An Indian delegation was led by Major General Ajay Seth. The meeting discussed issues of practical cooperation among SCO nations. This is the first meeting attended by India in the field of defense cooperation under the SCO framework. India and Pakistan were admitted in 2017 into the grouping in which China plays an influential role.

Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, AVSM, VSM took charge as Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command. Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh replaces Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh as Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command. Earlier, Vice Admiral AB Singh was the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command. He is a specialist in Navigation and Aircraft Direction. He has commanded IN Ships Veer (Missile Vessel), Vindhyagiri (Frigate), Trishul (Guided Missile Frigate) and Viraat (Aircraft Carrier). He was honoured with VishishtSeva Medal in 2011 and AtiVishishtSeva Medal in 2016.

P.P. Chaudhary, the Union Minister of State for Law and Justice & Corporate Affairs, was conferred the Honorary Fellowship of Institute of Company secretaries of India (ICSI) at the headquarters of the institute at New Delhi on January 18, 2018. Chaudhary has conducted around 11,000 cases, mostly Constitutional Litigations for the last 38 years on matters related to land acquisition, farmers grievances, labour & service, central excise & customs and PILs related to restoration of natural water bodies and dams. The Honorary Fellow Membership is granted to distinguished persons having made significant contribution to the profession of Company Secretaries.

Iranian government lifted restrictions on the use of the Internet, including the messaging app Telegram across the country. In December 2017, protests against unemployment and rising consumer prices erupted in several parts of Iran. At least 22 people were killed and 1000 people were arrested during these protests. Iran imposed restrictions on internet and had shut down social networking platforms such as Instagram and Telegraph, citing the reason that protesters were using it to spread unrest.

The 10th Global Forum for Food & Agriculture (GFFA-2018) has started in Berlin, Germany on January 18, which includes the 10th Berlin Agriculture Ministers' Conference. The theme of 3-day event is "Shaping the future of livestock - sustainably, responsibly, efficiently". The discussions will focus on sustainable and productive animal production among other issues. The GFFA forum is organised by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMEL) in cooperation with GFFA Berlin e.V., the Senate of Berlin and Messe Berlin GmbH. The GFFA is an international conference that focuses on central questions concerning the future of the global agri-food industry. It gives representatives from the worlds of politics, business, science and civil society an opportunity to share ideas and enhance understanding on a selected topic of current agricultural policy. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, is leading the Indian delegation at the GFFA-2018.

Vijay Kumar has been appointed the new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) for three years with effective from January 18, 2018. He succeeded Samir Shah. He has over 25 years of experience in leadership roles in the areas of commodity trading and merchandising along with risk management, logistics and operations. Kumar is an agro-industry veteran who has worked for companies such as National Bulk Handling Corporation, Cargill, Reliance Industries, Arthur Andersen, ITC Ltd, Britannia and Sharp Group. He had worked at NCDEX as Chief Business Officer (CBO) between June 2009 and September 2014.

WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) announced that Goldberg will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class at a ceremony in 6th April 2018, in New Orleans. Goldberg retired from in-ring competition in 2017. He is the first to be listed in the WWE's 2018 Hall of Fame class. He is 51 years old. He made his debut in WWE in 2003. Earlier, he was associated with the World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Maharashtra has become the India's first state to launch Public Cloud Policy, which will allow all government departments to access public cloud. . The step will create business opportunities worth $2 billion while helping the state government departments to shift all their data to clouds. This will accelerate e-governance and open up entire new area for investment by the private entrepreneurs to make available newest technologies for all the departments as government not only is the biggest data creator but also consumer.

Indian captain Virat Kohli has been named the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of the Year 2017. He also bagged the top honour for ODI players in the ICC annual awards at the 2017 ICC annual awards announced in Dubai on January 18, 2018. In the qualification period from September 21, 2016 to the end of 2017, Kohli scored 2,203 Test runs at an average of 77.80, including eight centuries, 1,818 ODI runs, including seven centuries at 82.63, and 299 T20I runs at a strike rate of 153. He has also been named as the captain of both the ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year and ICC Men's Test Team of the Year. This is the second time in succession that an Indian won the overall cricketer of the year award. Off-spinner R Ashwin had claimed the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for year 2016. Australian captain Steve Smith claimed the 2017 Test Player of the Year honour. He had scored 1,875 runs in 16 matches at an average of 78.12, with eight hundreds and five 50s.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh delivered the keynote address at the ministerial plenary session of the International Solar Alliance at Abu Dhabi, UAE. A key development area for ISA Member Countries is solar capacity building. The International Solar Alliance is a treaty-based international inter-governmental alliance of 121 solar resource-rich countries or the sunshine countries lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

The two-day International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) successfully concluded in New Delhi. It had set the stage for taking the dialogue on resilient infrastructure forward at the global level. The Workshop was organized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) jointly with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). MoS (Home) Shri Kiren Rijiju delivered the Valedictory Address. The workshop was inaugurated by the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh.

Sanjay Manjrekar, the former India batsman-turned-commentator, has launched his autobiography 'Imperfect' in Mumbai, Maharashtra on January 17, 2018. The book was released by Dilip Vengsarkar, Manjrekar's first international captain. He has played 37 Test matches. His first Test match was in the Delhi against the West Indies. In 1996, in his early thirties, he finished his career with an average of 37, with four centuries, in Ahmedabad in 1996. He was clear to accept that after the middle-order pressure increased between Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, they came out of their self-imposed exits.