Tag: World Organisations – Pacts and Summits

World Organisations – Pacts and Summits 15th BRICS Summit  15th BRICS Summit was held under South Africa’s chairship, in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The outcome of the summit - Johannesburg Declaration. Bilateral Meetings: Apart from the main BRICS events, PM Modi meetings with leaders from  China (Xi Jinping)  Senegal Mozambique Ethiopia Iran India invited the participant countries to join bodies such as: International Solar Alliance  One Sun, One World, One Grid Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure One Earth, One Health Big Cat Alliance Global Centre for Traditional Medicine BRICS Expansion: It was decided to expand BRICS by adding six new countries.  Iran United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia Argentina Egypt Ethiopia About BRICS Formation - September 2006 1st BRIC summit 16 June 2009 (Yekaterinburg) Headquarters – Shanghai  Members - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (joined in 2010) Current Chair of BRICS - South Africa (President Cyril Ramaphosa) New Development Bank – 2015 (Fortaleza declaration) Sports and Games Chess World Cup 2023 The 2023 FIDE World Cup held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Norwegian Grand Master (GM) Magnus Carlsen won the FIDE World Cup for the first time. Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandha secures Runner-up. Note Praggnanandha has secured a ticket to the 2024 Candidates Tournament that will take place in Toronto, Canada in 2024. Awards & Honours 69th National Film Awards  The winners of the 69th National Film Awards were announced at the National Media Center in New Delhi.  Feature and non-feature films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, were eligible for National Film Awards 2021. List of winners at the 69th National Film Awards: Best Feature Film: Rocketry Best Director: Nikhil Mahajan, Godavari Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: RRR Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration:…

World Organisations – Pacts and Summits BRICS’s New University Ranking System  BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting was held in Mpumalanga province of South Africa.  It was decided to launch an independent university ranking system in the meeting.  About BRICS  Formation - 2006  1st BRIC summit - 2009  Members - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa  Headquarters – Shanghai.

National diary of events Deakin university. The first foreign university in India The first foreign university in India is located in Gujarat. Deakin University in Australia is setting up its branch campus for the first time in Gift, Gujarat. Deakin University has been given permission to set up an educational campus in Gujarat Gift City. World Organisations – Pacts and Summits Foreign Ministers of Quad countries take aim at Russia, China The Quad Foreign Ministers meeting hosted by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi, was met with sharp responses from both Russia and China, who called the Quad grouping disruptive and "exclusionary".  India joined other Quad members in calling for a "just and lasting peace in Ukraine", and respect for a rules-based order in the South and East China Seas, in the first such statement by the grouping that is seen to criticise both Russia and China. The meeting was attended by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japanese Foreign. Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. QUAD Grouping of 4 democracies India Australia US Japan Established in – 2017 Aim To ensure and support a “free open and prosperous” Indo Pacific region.

World Organisations – Pacts and Summits India to assume Chairmanship of Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) India will assume the chairmanship of the Wassenaar arrangement on January 1, 2023. Wassenaar Arrangement is a multilateral export control regime (MECR) that works to promote transparency and responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies through regular exchanges of information among its members. WA was established in 1996. It is a voluntary export control regime consisting of 42 members. India joined WA in 2017 as its 42nd participating state. Note Multilateral Export Control Regimes MECR are voluntary and non-binding agreements. It prevents proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) which includes nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological or other weapons. Other regimes under MECR includes Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG), 1975: Prevents nuclear proliferation by implementing guidelines for nuclear and nuclear-related exports. India is not a member of NSG Australia Group, 1985  Ensures that exports do not contribute to development of chemical or biological weapons. 43 members including India and EU. Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), 1987 Prevent proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of delivering WMD. It is not legally-binding treaty. 35 members including India. China is not a member of MTCR. Sports and Games Vijay Hazare Trophy Saurashtra beat Maharashtra by 5 wickets in the final to win the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Player of the tournament - Ruturaj Gaikwad.

World Organisations – Pacts and Summits India Announced its long-term Low Emission Development Strategy at COP 27  At the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) in Sharm el ­Sheikh, India announced its LT­LEDS (Long Term Low Emission Development Strategy) which is premised on expanding its nuclear power capacity by at least three­fold in the next decade, apart from becoming an international hub for producing green hydrogen and increasing the proportion of ethanol in petrol. These steps were consonant with India’s “five decade journey” to net zero, or being carbon neutral by 2070 which was the commitment made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 26th COP in Glasgow. While 195 member countries, signatories to the UN climate agreements, were obliged to submit the long term  document by 2022, only 57 countries have done so. India is the latest addition.  The LT­LEDS (Long Term ­Low Emission Development Strategy) has been prepared in the framework of India’s right to an equitable and fair share of the global carbon budget. India “aspires” to maximise the use of electric vehicles, with ethanol blending to reach 20% by 2025 (it is currently 10%) with a “strong shift” to public transport for passenger and freight traffic.  India will also focus on improving energy efficiency by the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, the National Hydrogen Mission, increasing electrification, enhancing material efficiency, and recycling and ways to reduce emissions. India’s forest and tree cover is a net carbon sink absorbing 15% of carbon dioxide emissions in 2016, and the country is on track to fulfilling its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) commitment of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of additional carbon sequestration in forest and tree cover by 2030. Awards and Honour  National Sports Awards 2022 The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports Awards…

World Organisations – Pacts and Summits India Hosts 2nd BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministerial Meeting India hosted the 2nd Agriculture Ministerial-level meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in New Delhi. The Action Plan for Strengthening BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation (2023–2027) was adopted at the 2nd BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministerial Meeting. About BIMSTEC  Formation - 1997 (Bangkok Declaration) Members (7) - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. BIMSTEC Secretariat is situated in Dhaka, Bangladesh 19th ASEAN-India Summit in Cambodia The Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar led the Indian delegation, including the External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, at the 19th ASEAN-India Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. At the summit, ASEAN and India adopted a joint statement announcing the elevation of the existing Strategic Partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.  Both sides reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, stability, maritime safety and security, freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific region. The Joint Statement also reiterated the commitment to enhance India-ASEAN cooperation in various areas such as maritime activities, counter-terrorism, transnational crimes, cyber security, digital economy, regional connectivity, smart agriculture, environment, science & technology, tourism, among other areas.  The Joint Statement also proposes expediting the review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to make it more user-friendly, simple, and trade-facilitative. Awards and Honour  Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan Awarded UK's Royal Order Of Merit India-born Nobel laureate Professor Venki Ramakrishnan has been awarded the prestigious Order of Merit by Britain's King Charles III in recognition of his distinguished service to science. The 70-year-old UK-based molecular biologist is among six appointments made to the historic order by the late Queen Elizabeth II before her death in September and the first to be appointed by Charles. The Order of Merit is an exclusive mark of…

World Organisations – Pacts and Summits COP27: India insists on higher global climate finance target by 2024 The 27th session of the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27), with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambition to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change is being held in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.  India has stressed at the ongoing UN climate summit COP27, developing countries require substantive enhancement in climate finance from the floor of $100 billion per year to meet their ambitious goals and rich countries need to lead the mobilisation of resources. At COP 27 the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) was launched with India as a partner. The Mangrove Alliance aims to facilitate India’s goal to increase its carbon sink.  Under the Alliance, India will collaborate with Sri Lanka, Indonesia and other countries to preserve and restore the mangrove forests in the region. Background  At the COP­ 15 held in Copenhagen in 2009, developed countries had committed to jointly mobilise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries tackle the effects of climate change. However, rich countries failed to deliver the finance.  Developing countries, including India, are pushing rich countries to agree to a new global climate finance target — also known as the new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG).