General Awareness - Quick Facts Summit And Conference
It is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are its members. Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) in 2006. States with observer status include Australia, China, European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea and United States. Pakistan was to host the Summit in 2016, but I
It is a regional political and economic alliance of 6 Gulf States i.e Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. HQ - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Its aim is to achieve ever closer union between the energy rich Gulf countries. Established in 1981 GCC promotes economic, security, cultural and social cooperation between the 6 states. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt have imposed an air, land and sea blockade on Qatar since June 2017. The blockading count
India-Bangladesh Water Resources Secretary-level meeting held under the Joint Rivers Commission framework. Key Takeaways: India and Bangladesh share 54 common rivers. Hence, both the countries agreed to expand cooperation on water resources-related issues. For this, a Joint Technical Working Group will be set up to provide inputs on the cooperation. About Joint Rivers Commission Framework Joint River Commission Framework was constituted under the Indo-Bangla Treaty
The 27-member European Union joins the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) initiative. About Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Initiative: Prime Minister of India launched it in 2019 at the UN Climate Change Summit. It is a multi-stakeholder global partnership of national governments, UN agencies, multilateral development banks, private sector, academic and knowledge institutions. It aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastruc
Turkey withdraws from the Istanbul Convention - to combat violence against women. About Istanbul Convention: Istanbul Convention is also called the Council of Europe Convention. It aims towards preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The convention was adopted in 2011. It came into force in 2014. Once ratified the Convention is legally binding on the country. It is the first legally-binding instrument that creates a comprehensive legal framework a
India, Pakistan, China and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will hold a joint anti-terrorism exercise called “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021”. About Exercise Pabbi-Antiterror-2021: It was announced during the 36th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Purpose is to improve cooperation between the competent authorities of the SCO member states. Further, helping them in identifying and suppr
Union Minister of Telecom has represented India at the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2021. About World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2021: It is one of the world’s largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community. WSIS’s chief aim is to bridge the global digital divide separating rich countries from poor countries. The WSIS aims to achieve this by increasing internet accessibility in the developing world. The
India and Pakistan will hold the 116th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission(PIC) in New Delhi. They will discuss water sharing issues and address each other’s concerns with the Indus Water Treaty. About Permanent Indus Commission(PIC): The Permanent Indus Commission is a bilateral commission of officials from India and Pakistan. It is created to implement and manage the goals of the Indus Water Treaty, 1960. The Commission according to the treaty must meet regularly at leas
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) appreciated India’s progress in reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The Indian Prime Minister(PM) has thanked the UNITAR in return. About United Nations Institute for Training and Research(UNITAR) United Nations Institute for Training and Research(UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations system. It was founded in 1963. UNITAR provides training and learning services to ind
Earth Hour Day was observed all over the world on March 27, 2021. About Earth Hour Earth Hour is a global movement for environmental conservation. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) started it in 2007. It is an annual event, that takes place on the last Saturday of March. Millions of people in over 180 countries and territories participate in it by turning off their lights. It aims to call attention to global warming, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. During
India’s Foreign Minister is attending the 9th ministerial conference of the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. About Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process: It is a regional initiative of Afghanistan and the Republic of Turkey. It was launched in November 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. The process aims to promote economic and political cooperation for Afghanistan peace through dialogue and confidence-building measures (CBMs). The platform comprise
India’s External Affairs Minister recently attended the 17th ministerial meet of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries. About the Ministerial Meet: Sri Lanka Chaired the 17th Ministerial Meeting. Dr. S. Jaishankar reiterated India’s commitment to take BIMSTEC forward. About BIMSTEC: BIMSTEC is a regional organization consisting of members from South Asia and South-East Asia. It was founde
The World Health Organization(WHO), World Organization for Animal Health and United Nations Environment Programme jointly released guidelines to control “Zoonotic Diseases” for governments. Guidelines ask to reduce the risk of transmission of zoonotic pathogens to humans in food production and marketing chains. What are Zoonotic Diseases? Zoonosis is an infectious disease that jumps from a non-human animal to humans. Zoonotic pathogens may be bacterial, viral, or p
Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020) ended with the release of two rhinos. An adult male and a female rhino transported to Assam’s Manas National Park from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. Indian Rhino Vision Plan 2020: Indian Rhino Vision Plan 2020 was launched in 2005. The vision of IRV was: Increase the Rhino Population in Assam from about 2000 to 3000 by 2020. Ensure that one horned rhinos are spread over seven protected areas in the Indian state of Assam by the year 202
The Prime Minister delivered a video address at the Inaugural Session of the Raisina Dialogue. About Raisina Dialogue: Raisina Dialogue is an annual multilateral conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics. The Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation have been jointly organizing it since 2016. The conference discusses cooperation on the most challenging international policy matters. It involves a variety of global policymakers including heads of state, ca
India and the U.S. are being urged to join the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace which now has 75 countries on board. It deals with the new cybersecurity threats faced in the world. About Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace: The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace was announced in 2018 by the French President. It was announced during the Internet Governance Forum held at UNESCO and the Paris Peace Forum. It is a non-binding declaration. It c
The Ministry of Agricultural and Farmers Welfare recently conducted a National Dialogue on UN Food Systems Summit, 2021. About UN Food Systems Summit,2021: The first-ever UN Food Systems Summit is expected to be held in September 2021. The summit will aim to strategize the actions for positive change in Agri-food systems in the world. It will help to realize the vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Summit will focus on levers and pathways to shape food systems
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently launched a Global Diabetes Compact Initiative. About Global Diabetes Compact Initiative: Global Diabetes Compact aims to reduce the risk of diabetes. It will ensure that all people diagnosed with diabetes have access to equitable, comprehensive, affordable, quality treatment and care. This initiative launched at the Global Diabetes Summit. WHO and the government of Canada Co-hosted the summit with the support of the University of Toronto
Recently, United Nations agencies, youth organisations, and WHO have come together to launch the Global Youth Mobilization initiative for local Solutions. About Global Youth Mobilization Initiative: World Health Organization and United Nations Foundation are supporting Global Youth Mobilization Initiative. It is also led by the world’s six largest youth organisations, including The World Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations World Young Women’s Chr
Kazakhstan and India- Defence Minister Bilateral Talks Defence Minister of Kazakhstan visited India recently with a focus on boosting bilateral defence cooperation. Both countries share common interests of actively combating the threat of global terrorism and maintaining peace. The meet will enable greater military to military contact and cooperation between Kazakhstan and India. India – Kazakhstan Relations: Relations between India and Kazakhs
India-Netherlands Virtual Summit Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in a virtual meet discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte. During the Summit, the two leaders exchanged views on further expanding the relationship in trade and economy, water management, agriculture sector, smart cities, science & technology, healthcare and space. The two Prime Ministers also agreed on instituting a ‘Strategic Partnership
Global Minimum Corporate Income Tax The US Treasury Secretary has urged the world’s 20 advanced nations to move in the direction of adopting a global minimum corporate income tax. What is the Global Minimum Corporate Tax Rate? It is a type of corporate tax. Under this, If a company moves some of its operations to another country having low-tax jurisdiction, then the company have to pay the difference between that minimum rate and whatever the firm paid on its overseas earnin
Meeting of Education Ministers of E9 Countries Recently, a consultation meeting of Education Ministers of E9 countries was held on the theme ‘E9 initiative: Scaling up digital learning to accelerate progress towards SDG4’. Major Highlights The United Nations (UN) is spearheading a global initiative on digital learning and skills for all, targeting marginalized children and youth and aiming to close the digital divide and drive rapid chan
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