Current Affairs 11th November 2018

Current Affairs 11th November 2018 - Important Points

• India, Singapore bilateral naval exercise ' SIMBEX 2018' started from - 10th November 2018
• Who has been appointed as Chairperson of  Competition Commission of India ? - Ashok Kumar Gupta 
• Who has been  presented with France’s highest civilian honour ? - Jawahar Lal Sarin
• World leaders mark 100 years since end of First World War on - 11th November 2018

 Current Affairs 11th November 2018 - Details

India, Singapore bilateral naval exercise ' SIMBEX 2018' started from - 10th November 2018

The 25th edition of SIMBEX, “Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise” is started from 10th November and will continue till 21st, 2018 in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The 2018 edition has marked the silver jubilee of SIMBEX. To mark this historical occasion, the navies of both the countries are undertaking exercises over an extended geography.

Important Highlights

• The 2018 edition of the bilateral maritime exercise will going to be the largest edition since 1994 in terms of complexity and scale.
• The initial harbour phase will be holding at Port Blair which is the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands between 10th November to 12th November, which will be followed by sea phase from November 12th-16th in the Andaman Sea.
• The second harbour phase will going to be held from November 16th to 19th at Visakhapatnam – ‘the City of Destiny’.
• The harbour phase would also be including programs such as a silver jubilee commemoration ceremony, various professional and training interactions, 10 Km ‘Friendship Run’ during the Annual Vizag-Navy Marathon, social evening and joint cultural programs to observe the 25th anniversary.
• The final sea phase would be held in the Bay of Bengal between 19th November to 21st November.
• The SIMBEX 2018 will also be witnessing a diverse range of exercises at sea ranging from live weapon drills including multiple missile firings, HWT(Heavy Weight Torpedo)  and medium range gun/ anti submarine rocket firings, advanced Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) exercises, submarine rescue demonstrations, integrated Surface and Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) operations and cross deck helicopter flying among others.

Who has been appointed as Chairperson of  Competition Commission of India ? - Ashok Kumar Gupta 

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi has selected previous IAS officer Ashok Kumar Gupta as Chairperson of Competition Commission of India- CCI. He replaces acting chairperson Sudhir Mital. He will be in the office till October 25th, 2022 or until further orders,
whichever is the earliest. Gupta is earlier IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre.
More about Competition Commission of India

• Competition Commission of India is quasi-judicial statutory organisation formed under The Competition Act, 2002.
• It was recognized in October 2003 and became completely practical in May 2009.
• Section 8(1) of the Act provides Competition Commission of India shall comprise of Chairperson and not less than 2 and not above 6 Members.
• Currently, Chairperson and 4 Members are in post. It has been operational as collegium right from its inception.
• Competition Commission of India goals to eradicate practices that unfavourably affect competition in diverse industries and defend interests of consumers and make sure freedom of trade.
• It pursues to eradicate practices having contrary effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, defend interests of customers and make sure freedom of trade in Indian markets.
• It also provides estimation on competition matters on reference received from statutory authority recognized under any law and undertakes competition advocacy, create public awareness and inform training on competition matters.

Who has been  presented with France’s highest civilian honour ? - Jawahar Lal Sarin

Well-known French scholar Jawahar Lal Sarin was bestowed with France’s highest civilian award Chevalier de la Lgion d’Honneur. He was bestowed with this honour in recognition of his outstanding contribution to enhance Indo-French cultural cooperation and encouraging French language. Jawahar Lal Sarin is President of Alliance franaise de Delhi’s governing organisation. He had learned French for 5
years at the Punjab University, Chandigarh, and far along at the Sorbonne University, Paris.
More about Legion d’Honneur 

• It is the highest civilian award offered by the French government to individual for his outstanding service to France, regardless of the citizenship.
• It was introduced in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.
• The merit for both military and civil merits, is separated into 5 degrees of growing distinction: Chevalier as Knight, Officier as Officer, Commandeur as Commander, Grand officier as Grand Officer, and Grand-croix as Grand Cross. Actors Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan were also bestowed in 2007 and 2014.
• Other Indians who were also bestowed are Amartya Sen, Ravi Shankar, Zubin Mehta, Lata Mangeshkar, JRD Tata and Ratan Tata among others.

World leaders mark 100 years since end of First World War on - 11th November 2018

World leaders assembled in Paris on November 11th, 2018 to head the global commemorations to mark 100 years since the finish of the 1st World War. The event witnessed about 70 leaders gathered consisting United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to spot the centenary of the 1918 Armistice in the French capital.

The memorial service was planned by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which lies at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris.
Key Highlights

• The Paris Peace Forum is a fresh yearly event grounded on an idea that International assistance is important to tackling global challenges and making sure durable peace.
• Projected by French President Emmanuel Macron, the Peace forum is focused at highlighting the reputation of international institutions in serving resolve fights, prevent wars and spread prosperity.
• The forum is a fragment of the ‘fightback’ against nationalism around the world.
• The main goal of the conference is to present that there are lots of forces in the international system including states, NGOs, foundations, intellectuals, firms, who believe that there is a necessity of a world of rules, an open world and a multilateral world.
• The 1st World War witnessed about 70 of the modern-day countries in battle with each other with 6 main colonial powers in the centre counting Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the Ottoman Empire.
• Approximately ten million soldiers are anticipated to have been killed during the war and above double the number wounded.
• Among the civilians, around 5-10 million are projected to have been killed.