i. The winter session of Parliament begins with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging all political parties to extend co-operation for smooth conduct and pressing for a “national consensus” on the issue of simultaneous elections in the country.

ii. This year’s Winter Session of the Parliament will end on 5th January 2018 has only 14 proposed settings. As per government data available, 14 sittings is the lowest for any winter session since 1999.

i. The 14th Inclusive Finance India Summit began in New Delhi to build consensus on strategies and a unified vision for achieving universal financial inclusion in India.

ii. The summit offers a platform for a plethora of information to all the thought leaders and industry veterans to debate and discuss the issues and challenges involving the Financial Inclusion in the country.

i. Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar hosted the 4th India-Australia-Japan Trilateral Dialogue with Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia Ms. Frances Adamson and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Mr. Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, in New Delhi.

ii. The three sides highlighted the growing convergence of their respective countries’ interests in the Indo-Pacific region and underscored their shared commitment to peace, democracy, economic growth and a rules-based order in the region.

• Australia Capital- Canberra, Currency- Australian dollar.
• Japan Capital- Tokyo, Currency- Japanese yen.

i. The Eleventh World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC11) took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Conference was chaired by Minister Susana Malcorra of Argentina. Indian Delegation was led by Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu.

1. Three proponent groups announced new initiatives to advance talks at the WTO on the issues of electronic commerce, investment facilitation, and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

2. The European Union contributed EUR 1 million (over CHF 1.2 million) to improve the trading capacity of developing countries and to help them play a more active role in trade negotiations.

3. The United Kingdom government announced at the WTO’s Ministerial Conference with a commitment of £16 million (around US$ 21.3 million) to 51 of the world’s poorest countries.

4. For the first time in the history of the WTO members and observers have endorsed a collective initiative to increase the participation of women in trade.

i. The Union Cabinet cleared the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, or the Triple Talaq bill, which makes the practice a non-bailable offense. The bill proposes a three-year jail term for men who practice instant Triple Talaq.

ii. Under the draft law, triple talaq in any form – spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS, and WhatsApp – would be banned or illegal.

i. The Indian diaspora is the largest in the world, with over 15 million migrants from India living abroad, according to the World Migration Report 2018 published by the International Organisation for Migration, the United Nations migration agency. World’s 3 largest diasporas- India Mexico and Russia.

ii. India also receives the highest amount in remittances ($68.91 billion). The largest migration corridor is from India to UAE, where 3.5 million Indians were residing in 2015.

iii. The United States remained the top destination for migrants in the world in 2015, with 46.6 million migrants moving to the US in that year.