Summits & Meetings - Current Affairs for March, 2017

The third meeting of the G20 Framework Working Group concluded on 29 March 2017 in Varanasi, UP.

The meet saw discussions on the current global economic conjecture as well as deliberations on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter the challenges.

The focus of the meeting was to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of the G20 and formulation of a framework for country specific inclusive growth policies.

In the two-day meeting, officials from more than 30 countries discussed the growth strategy to raise the world GDP by 2 per cent till 2018.

Since the inception of the Framework Working Group in 2009, this is the fourth occasion India is hosting this meeting.

The meeting was co-hosted by the Union Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

G20 group is helping India to enhance the production from the manufacturing capacity to INR 2 lakh crore under the Make In India initiative.

G20: Know More

• The G20 (or G-20 or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for 20 governments.
• It also covers central bank governors from 20 major economies.
• It was founded in 1999 with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues.
• It is concerned with the promotion of international financial stability.

The 23^rd edition of Conference of the Auditors General of Commonwealth Countries and British Overseas Territories was held in India in New Delhi.

The theme of the conference was “fostering partnership for capacity development in public audit.”

The conference was attended by 52 commonwealth countries and 9 British overseas territories.

This marks the first time the prestigious conference was held by the CAG in India. The last edition of the conference was held in Malta in 2014.

The Conference will also have two sub-themes on Leveraging Technology in Public Audit and Environment Audit.

The Conference will be attended by 52 Commonwealth Countries and nine British Overseas Territories. Among the guests there will be 24 heads of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI).

The Conference logo contains 52 leaves in green and orange which represent the 52 SAIs of the Commonwealth countries – each with its unique characteristics and traits.

The leaves and the Wi-Fi icon in the logo also remind us of the key role that the SAIs could play to the preservation of environment through environment audits and enhancing the effectiveness of public audit by leveraging technology.

CAG of India: Know More

• The CAG of India has its own International Training Centres at Noida and Jaipur where auditors from all over the world are trained in specialized aspects of Public Auditing like Information Technology and Environment Audits.
• While some of the participating countries feature in most developed countries of the world, there are several which belong to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
• The auditing organizations in these countries come together every three years to discuss the major challenges before them.
• Current CAG: Shri Shashi Kant Sharma

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the ‘World Conference on Environment’ organized by the National Green Tribunal in New Delhi today (March 25, 2017).

Recent studies and systematic reviews indicate that environmental factors are responsible for an estimated 24% of the global burden of disease in terms of healthy life years lost and 23 % of all deaths.

Children are the worst sufferers of the adverse impact of environmental diseases. 24% of all deaths under the age of 15 are due to diarrhoea, malaria and respiratory diseases – all of which are environment related.

19% of the deaths caused by Cancer worldwide are attributed to carcinogens that unmindful industrialization produces.

The President complimented the National Green Tribunal – India’s premier environment watch dog for facilitating this forum for wide ranging discussions on environmental issues of universal concern.

National Green Tribunal: Know More

• The National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010.
• It was framed under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection.
• It also works for conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment.
• NGT mandates on giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
• It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.

Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment inaugurated a “National Conference on Down Syndrome.

The Conference was organized by The National Trust for the welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities under M/o SJ&E in collaboration with Muskaan, a registered organisation of the National Trust.

Down Syndrome is a chromosomal condition associated with intellectual and learning disabilities.

Delayed development and behavioural problems are often reported in children with Down Syndrome.

Persons with Down Syndrome have 47 chromosomes as compared to 46 in majority of people.

This one Extra chromosome causes its own impact and slows down learning process. It impacts neurological functioning causing impairment of intellectual functions e.g. analytical thinking, complex abstractions and judgement.

People with Down Syndrome can and do lead full and rewarding lives and contribute as valued and equal members of their communities.

Every year 20 to 22 thousand children take birth with Down Syndrome in our country and the need of the hour is to bring them in the mainstream.The highlight of the conference was the presentation of Shri Vinyas, Self Advocate with Down Syndrome and Employee of Lemon Tree Hotel, Delhi about his journey of life.

The daylong conference was attended by more than 300 persons.

A third edition of the International Conference on Alternate Fuels and Raw Materials in the Cement Industry - Towards Realising Swachch Bharat Dream was held in New Delhi.

It was organised by CMA or Cement Manufacturer's Association India.

The 2-day conference worked to facilitate technical, financial and regulatory solutions for increasing alternate fuels and raw materials usage in the cement industry.

CMA: Know More

• Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) is the apex representative body of large cement manufacturers in India.
• It was set up in 1961.
• It is a unique body in as much as it has both the private and public sector cement companies as its members.
• It is a registered body under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860.
• Its registered office is in New Delhi, while the Corporate Office in Noida with Branches in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

The India-Russia Military Industrial Conference was on 17 March 2017 jointly inaugurated by India and Russia in New Delhi.

On the sidelines of the conference, two agreements were signed between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and United Aircraft Corporation and United Engine Corporation of Russia.

The agreements are related to general terms and conditions governing long term supply of spares and rendering technical assistance over five years for the Su-30 MKI aircraft.

The basic objective of the conference is to address issues related to life-cycle support and maintenance of major Russian-origin equipments and platforms such as SU-30 MKI aircraft, Mi-17 Helicopters, MiG-29K aircraft, INS Vikramaditya and T-90 tanks.

Apart from the consultations on various policy issues, break-out sessions on aerospace, naval systems and land systems were also held.

About 150 representatives from Russia participated in the conference, which included over 100 representatives from its defence industry.

Russia: Know More

• Capital: Moscow
• Currency: Russian rouble
• President: Vladimir Putin
• Population: 143.5 million (2013) World Bank
• Prime minister: Dmitry Medvedev

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri R. M Singh has indicated the government is working on a concrete plan to link farmers with the markets.

Addressing the 5^th International Convention on Changing Dynamics of Commodities Market, this will help farmers participation in trading food grains.

Forward trading is an index of predictive pricing and a result of both buyer and seller, can plan their futures trading.

This will assist farmers to plan crop planting and eliminate the role of the middlemen.

Marketing in farm produce is carried out through state government designated 6746 mandis across the nation.

Government is leveraging the APMC mandis and amending marketing laws to facilitate setting up of mandis by the private sector.

e-NAM offers online commodities trading platform to fetch a farmer optimal price for farm produce. Money is also directly credited to his account.

A total of 277 mandis have spread across 12 states and linked on the e-NAM portal. 585 mandis will join the platform by the next year.

India is not only self sufficient in agricultural production but also exports food grains.

Agricultural growth has more than doubled from 2 to 4.4 percent. In the 2017-2018 budget, funding provision for rural, agricultural and allied sectors has risen to 24% or INR 187,223.

The three day International Buddhist Conference was organized by Ministry of Culture and Nava Nalanda Mahavihara Deemed University at Rajgir.

It was inaugurated by His Holiness The Dalai Lama.

There were two highlights of the inaugural session.

One was the release of the reprint of the Pali Tripitaka in Devanagri script by His Holiness the Dalai lama.

The second highlight was the announcement of the opening of the department of the Buddhist science for the first time in Asia.

Rajgir: Know More

• Rajgir is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian state of Bihar.
• The city of Rajgir was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha.
• This is a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire

The Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Economic Cooperation Organization, gathered on the occasion of the thirteenth ECO Summit Meeting, in Islamabad under the theme “Connectivity for Regional Prosperity”.

This was at the invitation of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, on the first day of March 2017, to review the objective conditions and progress in implementation of ECO programmes and projects.

It aimed to exchange views on regional and global issues of common interest to the ECO Region with the aim of consolidating ECO as an organization, bolstering cooperation and building on shared values and mutual interests.