Summits & Meetings - Current Affairs for April, 2017

Ten nations from across the world came together on 24 April 2017 to form a group with the aim of protecting ancient heritage from extremism like that of the Islamic State, which led to the destruction of Syria’s ancient city, Palmyra.

The forum was launched in Athens, the capital city of Greece, by ministers and ambassadors from all the ten nations.

The list includes India, Greece, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Bolivia, Peru, Italy, China and Mexico, all of which are home to some of the world’s greatest archaeological sites.

The group would mainly run joint projects to promote dialogue and culture in the face of fanaticism and terrorism.

The project will be headed by the Greek government along with China.

Extremists from the Islamic State groups gained control over the ancient heritage monumental ruins of Palmyra in May 2015.

The occupation of the city was followed by destruction of many of its monuments.

Though Syrian and Russian forces reclaimed the city from the extremist group in March 2016, they lost it again in December 2016

Other UNESCO recognised sites that suffered destruction at the hands of terrorists include Bamiyan in Afghanistan where the Taliban blew up the Buddha statues and the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali where extremists destroyed mausoleums and shrines.

The 10-nation group is due to meet again in 2018 in Bolivia.

The Justice Malviya Committee, constituted to prepare draft Ganga Act, submitted its report to the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation on 12 April 2017.

The Chairman of the committee is Justice Girdhar Malviya (Retd), who is linked with Ganga conservation movement.

The committee recognized the enormous challenges being faced to maintain the wholesomeness of National River Ganga that was perpetuated due to over stressed water demand from agricultural, domestic and industrial sectors.

About the Act

The draft Ganga Act addresses the critical issues pertaining to National River Gaga on its Cleanliness (Nirmalta) and uninterrupted e-flow (Aviralta) and provides corresponding provisions thereof.

It introduces certain stricter provision to increase accountability and responsibility for use of resources made available by National River Ganga.

The option and provision made in suggestive bills available with National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) were also considered and discussed by the committee.

About the Committee: Know More

• The Committee was constituted in July 2016 by the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
• The members of the committee are V.K.Bhasin, Ex-Secretary of Legislative Department, A.K. Gosain, IIT Delhi and Nayan Sharma, IIT Roorkee.
• The Member Secretary of the Committee is Sundeep, Director, National Mission for Clean Ganga.

President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated an All India Seminar on “Economic Reforms With Reference to Electoral Issues” organised by the Confederation of the Indian Bar on April 8, 2017, in New Delhi.

Timely reforms are necessary which not only would give justice to the people but also to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Hence it is necessary to undertake a dispassionate analysis of the way in which our electoral process is functioning with a view to address the shortcomings in the system.

Coalition politics was also discussed.

Constitution (Forty Second Amendment) Act 1976 imposed a freeze on the population figure for readjustment at the 1971 census and has been extended by the Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act 2001 till 2026.

As a result the House of the People today represents the population figure of 1971 census whereas our population has increased manifold in the recent decades

This gives rise to an anomalous situation wherein today, India has over 800 million voters and 543 Lok Sabha Constituencies represent 1.28 billion people.

The seminar focused on electoral reforms in this context.

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit 2017 on April 7, 2017 in New Delhi.

The slogan of the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit is, ‘Unite for a Healthy Mind’.

Of the mental health disorders, depression is probably the most common.

Depression affects people of all ages from all walks of life and in all countries.

As per the National Mental Health Survey 2015-16 conducted by NIMHANS, 5.2% of the Indian adult population suffers from depression in some form or the other.

There is a severe shortage of mental health professionals in India and this service gap can be bridged effectively by telemedicine.

The World Health Day Summit has begun in the right direction by launching the eCAP & SOL’s Telepsychiatry application for the rural and urban population in need of mental health consultation.

NIMCARE: Know More

• NIM CARE is a non-profit organisation founded in the year 2009.
• It is a registered Charitable Trust under the Government of Tamil Nadu.
• Founded by a doctor
• Aims to make cutting-edge research in the field of health available to others

Thirty-nine Commonwealth member countries deliberates on some of the grave issues affecting climate and green cover at the nineteenth Commonwealth Forestry Conference to be held at Forest Research Institute (FRI) here from April 3 onwards.

The conference was last held in India almost 50 years ago, in 1968, in New Delhi.

Some 700 participants, including experts, scientists, forest officials and NGOs from India and member countries, made 470 presentations on climate change, forest fire, community participation and ways to improve forest productivity and green cover during the course of the five-day long event.

The theme of the conference was “Forests for Prosperity and Posterity”. This is in consonance with Aichi targets of the UN Convention on Conservation of Biological Diversity (UNC-CBD) and Sustainable Development Goals.

Increasing global temperature, depleting forest cover and climate change are crucial factors. Efforts were made to improve forest cover and productivity, modern technologies and possibilities of collaboration for information exchange.

The event is being held in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, along with Commonwealth Forestry Association (CFA), the United Kingdom.

There will be 21 technical sessions focusing on socio-economic perspective of forests; resource assessment and monitoring; economic valuation; and forest conservation and development.

The impact of climate change, adaptation and mitigation; biodiversity conservation and management; bio-prospecting and value addition of forest produce will also be studied.

Part of the conference are deliberations on forest products diversification; tree outside forests, urban forestry and landscape management, and policy interventions.

A global forestry conclave at the conference deliberated on the role of forestry in implementing international agreements among Commonwealth members.

CFA: Know More

• The CFA is a partner in a new initiative, The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy.
• In this initiative, Commonwealth citizens are leading the world in efforts to protect the forest – forest that their communities and the planet as a whole depend on.
• The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy shows that, irrespective of geography, economy, culture or tenure, solutions exist to the threats facing these critical ecosystems.
• Chairperson: John Innes

Myanmar became the 7th member of South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program of Asian Development Bank (ADB).

It was officially made member at the SASEC Finance Ministers’ meeting held in New Delhi.

Myanmar’s membership in SASEC will offer host of opportunities for realizing synergies from economic cooperation in the subregion.

Road corridors in Myanmar can provide key gateway between South Asia and Southeast Asia, while its ports can provide alternate routes and gateways to the landlocked northeastern region of India.

It has the potential to unleash significant economic potential and bring better livelihoods to millions in the region after developing multimodal connectivity between India’s northeastern region, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

Transport linkages between South and Southeast Asia will also become more attractive to businesses once ongoing and planned motor vehicle agreements are finalized and implemented.

SASEC and Myanmar: Know More

• Myanmar was having observer status of SASEC since 2013.
• Since 2014, it was participating in annual SASEC Nodal Officials’ meetings as an observer.
• It was invited by the participating countries of SASEC countries to become a full member in 2015.
• SASEC program is a project-based partnership to promote regional prosperity by improving cross-border connectivity, boosting trade among member countries and strengthening regional economic cooperation.
• It was established in 2001 in response to the request of the four countries of South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal – from ADB to assist in facilitating economic cooperation among them.
• ADB is the secretariat and lead financier of the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation program.
• Till now, it has supported 46 projects worth $9.17 billion in transport, trade facilitation, energy and information and communications technology (ICT).
• Its seven members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka.