NOV 18th 2015-Current Affairs

>>India and China on Monday decided to deepen bilateral defence ties and maintain peace and tranquillity at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) besides strengthening cooperation against terror, including at the international level. 

The decisions came after the meeting between a visiting 26 -member delegation led by General Fan Changlong, Vice-Chairman of China's powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Indian side, which was headed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, at South Block here. This is the highest-level Chinese defence delegation to visit India in recent years.

Both Parrikar and Gen. Fan condemned the recent terror strike in Paris and agreed to strengthen cooperation to together fight the menace of terrorism, including at the international level. Parrikar also offered to share India's expertise in fighting terrorism by way of joint exercises, among other initiatives. "The visit signifies the enhanced defence exchanges between India and China. During the meeting with Defence Minister, the two sides agreed to implement the consensus reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping to ensure peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas,".

>>India and Bangladesh signed a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on passenger and cruise vessel movement during secretary-level talks in New Delhi.

"A draft MoU on passenger and cruise services on coastal and protocol route was initialed by the respective secretaries of the two countries as a token of agreement which will be formalized after approval of the respective Governments," says a government release. The Indian delegation was led by Rajive Kumar, secretary, ministry of shipping, and Bangladesh delegation was led by Shafique Alam Mehdi, secretary, ministry of shipping.

During the meeting the Bangladesh side informed that a highly competitive charge of 192.22 Taka (Bangladesh's currency) per metric tonne for the trans-shipment operations at Ashuganj for movement of goods to and from north-eastern part of India has been approved by the Bangladesh. The Indian side agreed for the implementation of the same with an option for a review of these rates if considered necessary in future.

On issue of payment of bank guarantee, Bangladesh has decided to do away with the practice of insistence upon bank guarantee on each consignment of transit cargo. The move would reduce the transportation cost and encourage cargo movement in this route.

>>Prithvi Raj Singh, Managing Trustee of Jal Bhagirathi Foundation, an NGO working in western Rajasthan has been elected as a Governor of the World Water Council in an election held at Marseille in France, during its General Assembly Council attended by delegates from 160 countries on November 13-14.

This is the first time that an organisation from the Indian Sub-continent has been elected to this premier global body of water organizations. The board of governors will serve three year mandate until 2018 and will support Chairman Benedito Braga to implement strategy focused on water security, adaptation and sustainability.

The World Water Council works closely with the United Nations, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank and the World Economic Forum (WEF) on global hydro-diplomacy. It also organises the largest water event in the World with more than 40,000 participants from across the world.

Jal Bhagirathi Foundation established in 2002 provides enabling environment in which communities can access adequate drinking water for human and animals by leveraging traditional knowledge and appropriate technology.

>>Delhi is gearing up for a feast of qawwali with singers from across the world set to arrive here for an event that claims to be the first International Qawwali Festival. 

Qawwali singers from India and Pakistan presented soulful renditions of sufi music at India Islamic Centre here recently providing a glimpse of the festival titled "Taali Ho," which aims to reinforce a notion that music is not restricted to any borders.

The festival is scheduled to be held from February 12-14 here next year. 

>>India and Bangladesh agreed to share information on militants as home secretaries of the two neighbours concluded their talks here reviewing internal security and other cross-border issues.

“India assured of Bangladesh to providing information immediately if they get any information on militancy. We can eliminate terrorism and insurgency through bilateral understanding and intelligence sharing,” Bangladeshi home secretary Mozammel Haque Khan said here after talks with his Indian counterpart Rajiv Mehrishi.

Khan said the issue of Bangladeshi nationals being detained by Indian border forces was a major issue of the talks while “both the countries have agreed to reduce such incidents to zero figure”.

>>Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju, has been designated as the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Champion for the Asia Region by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). 

The honour was conferred here today by Ms. Margarete Wahlstrom, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, during the inaugural session of the Asia Leaders Meeting towards Implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR in Asia. 

Lauding Shri Kiren Rijiju upon being conferred as the Asia Champion for DRR, Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh said that the constant efforts of Shri Kiren Rijiju in the field of Disaster Management have resulted into recognition of India as DRR regional Champion by the United Nations. 

 >>Justice T.S. Thakur appointed as 43rd Chief Justice of India on 18th November 2015. Earlier, he was served in Karnataka, Delhi and Punjab and Haryana High Courts.

>>Russia successfully on 17 November 2015 launched the first satellite for its newest early warning system, named EKS or Integrated Space System. 

The satellite was officially named Kosmos 2510 (Tundra 11L).This new-generation satellite is designed to restore Moscow’s capability to detect, track and identify worldwide missile launches from space.Key highlights of the Tundra 11L satellite.

• RKK Energia, a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components, built the Tundra spacecraft.

• The satellite will be operated by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces.

• It was delivered into a highly elliptical geosynchronous orbit, called a Tundra orbit.

• It features two deployable solar arrays.

• It will detect missiles launched from the sea as well as from the U.S. territory.

What is EKS?

• EKS (Integrated Space System) is a replacement for the US-KMO and US-K satellites of the Oko programme.

• These satellites identify ballistic missile launches from outer space and complement early warning radars such as the Voronezh.

• There are six Tundra satellites planned to be launched until 2020.

• The next Tundra mission is scheduled for 2016.