Summits & Meetings - Current Affairs for August, 2017

Over 100 delegates from 10 ASEAN countries - Brunei, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam - will participate in the India-ASEAN Youth Summit to be held in Bhopal from August 14-19.

A statement from the India Foundation said the think tank in collaboration with the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of youth affairs and sports will organise the first- of-its-kind event.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, her deputy V K Singh, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Vijay Goel, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be among the key speakers at the event.

The exercise will mark the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership in the ongoing year and also the commemorative years theme of "Shared Values, Common Destiny".

It aptly reflects the close cultural and civilisational links that India and South East Asia have enjoyed over two millennia.

More engagement with the region has come with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Act East Policy", it said.

PM Modi at the 12th ASEAN-India Summit and the 9th East Asia Summit held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in November, 2014, had formally enunciated the Act East Policy.

Apart from the 100 delegates from ASEAN countries, the summit will also have participation of 75 youth leaders from India.

The statement said participants will represent some of the largest institutions in their countries, including leaders from ruling as well as opposition parties, think tanks, media and universities.

The 7th Meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers was held in Shanghai from 1-2 August.

A six-member delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Ambassador J.S. Deepak, participated in the meetings.

Mr. Zhong Shan, Minister of Commerce from China, presided over the meetings.

The other delegations were represented by Mr. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry (South Africa), Mr. Marcelo Maia Tavares de Araujo, Secretary of Commerce and Services of Ministry of Industry (Brazil) and Mr Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development (Russia).

A collective courtesy call on Vice Premier Wang Yang was also organized for the BRICS Trade Ministers.

Separately, a bilateral meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister (CIM) and Chinese Commerce Minister was also held.

• The Ministers adopted the following documents at the conclusion of the meeting:
• 7th BRICS Trade Ministers’ Joint Statement
• BRICS Trade in Services Cooperation Roadmap
• BRICS E-Commerce Cooperation Initiative
• BRICS IPR Cooperation Guidelines
• Framework on strengthening the Economic and Technical Cooperation of BRICS Countries
• Terms of Reference (ToR) of BRICS Model E-Port Network
• Outlines for BRICS Investment Facilitation

The Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated the National Conference for Young SPs of States/UTs and Commandants of CAPFs on Aug 1, 2017.

The two-day Conference is being organised by Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D), Ministry of Home Affairs.
The young officers must be aware of the transformation taking place in India.

The schemes and initiatives of the Government are framed in such a manner that citizens are empowered to lead a better quality of life.

The Ministry highlighted about ’Digital India’ programme and said that the aim of the programme is to bridge the digital divide and the focus is more towards poor sections of society.

The digital empowerment is not sufficient, unless there is digital inclusion.

Technology should be affordable, inclusive and development oriented, he added.

Using social media and training of officers in cyber security must be given utmost priority.

During the conference, the Minister also released a book titled ‘National Police Research Repository’.

This is for the first time that such a conference is being held.

For effective policing, the police and CAPFs must make good use of two partners, citizens and technology.

From DG level to beat constables, the concept of taking community along, is being followed.

On behalf of Central Government, DG, BPR&D said that MHA is doing its best to increase the technological inputs in the training programmes.

There were also three presentations were given to showcase the use of best practices in policing by using technology.

The conference included sessions on topics like Technology for Police, Operations and Technology and Police-Media Interface.