* India will assume the chairmanship of the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) on 1 January 2023, for a period of one year.

* Wassenaar Arrangement is a multilateral technology control agreement. 

* The primary goal of the organisation is to restrict access to sensitive technologies for terrorist outfits.

* The Wassenaar Arrangement came into being in 1996 and has 42 members. 

* India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) in 2017 and became its 42nd member.

Source : Mint

The Institute conducted the election of President and Vice-President of the Institute on Nov 28, 2022 at New Delhi.

Institute of Cost Accountants(CMA) Vijender Sharma has been elected as the President and Institute of Cost Accountants(CMA) Rakesh Bhalla has been elected as the Vice-President of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India for the year 2022-23.  

 

CMA Vijender Sharma is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India and a Law Graduate. He is a leading Practising Cost Accountant since 1998 and Insolvency Professional since Jan’ 2017. His dynamism is embedded with rich experience of over 22 years in diversified areas of Financial, Cost and Management Accounting, Internal Audit, Management Consultancy, Forensic Audit, Insolvency and Liquidation, etc. He was elected as a member of Council of the Institute for the term 2015-19 and re-elected for the term 2019-23. He has served as the Vice President of Institute (2021-22), Chairman of Professional Development Committee (2020-21 & 2021-22), Chairman of International Affairs Committee (2020-21) and Chairman of NIRC (2012-13 & 2014-15). 

 

CMA Rakesh Bhalla is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India and a Commerce Graduate. He has rich experience of corporate world and currently he is the Chief Financial Officer of SML ISUZU Ltd. He has expertise in Direct and Indirect Taxation and written many articles which have been beneficial for the taxation experts. He has been elected as a member of Council of the Institute for the term 2019-23. He has served as the Chairman of Direct Taxation (2021-22) and Chairman of NIRC (2010-11 & 2013-14)..

Source : Tax Guru

Shri Sanjay Kumar took charge as Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy 1st Dec 2022 in Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.

 

Pursuant to assuming charge, Shri Kumar held a meeting with the senior officials of the Ministry in which he reviewed the functioning of the department, autonomous bodies and various schemes relating to school education. 

 

Discussions were held on implementation of National Education Policy 2020, capacity building of teachers, infrastructure in schools, and the upcoming Prime Minister’s interaction programme ‘Pariksha Pe Pariksha’.

 

Shri Kumar said that he looks forward to contributing towards providing quality, accessible and affordable education to every student of the country..

Source : PIB

The Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) on Friday(2nd Dec 2022) said that the Government of India had appointed Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar, Professor Emeritus at CMI, as the part-time chairperson of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) of India for a period of three years.

 

* Mr. Karandikar will take up this role as an additional responsibility while continuing as Professor Emeritus at CMI.

* He joined CMI as a visiting professor in 2010, and officiated as the Director of CMI from January 2011 to April 2021.

 

* NSC is an autonomous body formed in June 2005 under the recommendation of the Dr. C Rangarajan commission.

* The objective of its constitution was to reduce the problems faced by statistical agencies in the country with respect to the collection of data, and strengthen public trust in the numbers released by the Government of India.

 

* The chairperson of the Commission enjoys the status of a Minister of State, Government of India..

Source : The Hindu

Indian Naval Ships, Shivalik and Kamorta which are forward deployed in the South China Sea are in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh city.

 

* The ships will be undertaking numerous professional interactions with the Vietnamese Navy during the visit.

 

* The visit is part of the bilateral defence cooperation activities to further enhance the robust ties between the two navies and to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Vietnam.

* Earlier this year(2022), two Indian Naval Ships - Sahyadri and Kadmatt -  had also visited Ho Chi Minh City.

Source : AIR

India’s biggest Yoga Centre has been constructed in village Mantalai in the Chenani Tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur.

 

The village, which is located on the Himalayas in the sal forests’ lap, the village, which has a peripheral view of both the plains as well as hills, which will serve the International Yoga Centre at the banks of the Tawi river.

 

This river, also known as Suryaputri, originates from the Kailash Kund glacier. It is believed that the river’s presence relieves the person from life’s maladies and Chenani town gives positivity, besides releasing energy that heals.

 

As the Tourism Ministry in the Government of India has sanctioned Rs 9,782 crore for this, the International Yoga Centre has been given a modern outlook with swimming pools, business convention centres, helipads, spas, cafeteria and dining halls, cottage-designed eco-lodge huts with solarium, gymnasium auditoriums, battery operated cars, meditation enclaves and a lot more. Notably, 90 per cent of the Centre’s construction has already been completed so far.

 

As many as Rs 52 crore have also been nominated for the infrastructural and other development of the Katra-Vaishno Devi under the scheme of the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD)..

Source : The Print

India has assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of December. It is the second time in its two-year tenure as an elected member of the UN Security Council that India has assumed the Presidency of the Council. India had earlier assumed the Presidency of the UNSC in August 2021.

 

Briefing media in New York, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj said, during India’s December Presidency of the UN Security Council, two high-level signature events will take place on 14th and 15th December on ‘Reformed Multilateralism and Counter-Terrorism and it will be chaired by External Affairs Minister.

She said, a bust of Mahatma Gandhi will be inaugurated at the United Nations during India’s Presidency of the UN Security Council and it will be unveiled by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres..

Source : AIR

Beverage major "Coca-Cola India" on Thursday(1st Dec 2022) said it is partnering with Adani Group subsidiary -- Adani Digital Labs -- to optimise the reach of its brands to consumers across the country.

* As part of this, Coca-Cola India is working with Adani Digital Labs to use the consumer-centric platform for product sampling and develop deep consumer insights, a joint statement said.

 

* Coca-Cola is among the first brands to make its products available on this platform, it added.

 

* Under this, select new products under Coca-Cola India's portfolio, namely 'Fanta Apple Delite' and 'Charged by Thums Up' will be made available for sampling at some of India's top airports.

 

* Adani Digital Labs is the digital arm of Adani Group, which allows brands to interact with large numbers of travellers and target customers with high spending and purchasing power.

 

* The platform is currently live at the seven key airports located in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Mangalore, and Thiruvananthapuram & Adani CNG Stations, and will soon be available in many other categories of locations..

Source : Economic Times

Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath has launched One District One Sport (ODOS) on the lines of One District One Product (ODOP) scheme of the government.

 

 

* Promoting sports culture and keeping the younger generation healthy.

 

* Providing a platform for sportspersons to nurture talents and skills.

 

* Under this scheme, one sport will be identified in each of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

 

* State govt will take necessary steps to find district-wise sport-specific talents.

* Since Deoria, Maharajganj, Azamgarh, Chandauli and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency Kashi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s Gorakhpur in Purvanchal have a golden history in wrestling, the government has made it the ODOS here..

Source : The Print

Odisha Government on Thursday(1st Dec 2022) signed an MoU with BSE -NSE to promote local MSMEs. In order to enable MSMEs to access capital markets.

* The State signed MOUs with BSE Ltd and NSE Ltd for facilitating the listing of MSMEs from Odisha under the aegis of the MOU, BSE and NSE shall provide handholding to MSME to impart training and education required for listing and improving financial credibility.

 

* The MoU was signed at the Make in Odisha Conclave 2022 where a Business Leadership Talk was organised by Finance Department on Emerging Solutions for Financing Industries and Infrastructure.

 

* The session was attended by S S Mundra, Chairman BSE, Ramann, CMD, SIDBI, Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director IIM Sambalpur, Moazzam Mekan from International Finance Corporation, The World Bank, Rachana Bhusari, VP-NSE and PR Jaishankar, MD, IIFCL.

* The session was moderated by Vishal Dev Principal Secretary Finance Department, Government of Odisha.

 

* The session dealt with two sub-themes, one focusing on financing MSME and the other on infrastructure.

 

* During the session, a few progressive and forward-looking initiatives were announced including, the launching of electronic Bank guarantees in collaboration with National EGovernance Services Ltd. (NESL).

 

* MR Mundra citing the benefits of listing in capital markets suggested to the state to prepare a list of 10-15 MSMEs which could aspire for listing and the government can hold seed equity in these through a dedicated corpus till they mature.

 

* Bhusari from NSE assured her support for the listing of state MSMEs on the NSE Emerge platform.

 

* Gulshan Malik, Dy Managing Director from SBI appreciated the projects announced by the State and assured all support for industrial growth. SBI also signed an MOU for financing start-ups and MSMEs of Odisha..

Source : Business Standard