30 January 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

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January 30th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Bodo Agreement
2. Budget session of Parliament
3. Martyrs’ Day
4. Election Commission of India
5. SAMPRITI-IX
6. Novel Coronavirus
7. Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO (INCCU)
8. TERI’s World Sustainable Development Summit 2020

1. Bodo Agreement

Context:

Prime Minister terms the Bodo Agreement as a historic chapter for peace and development in Assam.

Details:

For more on the Bodo Agreement, check CNA dated Jan 28, 2020.

2. Budget session of Parliament

Context:

Prime Minister says Government open for discussion on all issues in the forthcoming Budget Session of Parliament.

Details:

• The budget session of Parliament begins on 31^st January 2020. For more on the Union Budget 2020, click on the linked article.

Also read: Sessions of Parliament – Indian Polity Notes

3. Martyrs’ Day

Context:

Prime Minister pays tributes to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on Martyrs’ Day.

Details:

• Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30^th January 1948. Read more about the assassination of Gandhi here.
• This day is celebrated as ‘Martyrs’ Day’ in India.

4. Election Commission of India

Context:

The Election Commission of India (ECI) bans two political leaders from campaigning for the general election to the Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi.

Details:

• The ECI has banned the two leaders from campaigning because it is of the view that they have made undesirable and objectionable statements and thus violated the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct and Representation of the People Act 1951.
• The Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India to regulate the conduct of political parties and their candidates in the run-up to elections and is aimed at ensuring free and fair elections.

For more on the Model Code of Conduct, check CNA dated March 11, 2019.

5. SAMPRITI-IX

Context:

A joint military training exercise will be conducted between India and Bangladesh at Umroi, Meghalaya in February 2020.

Details:

• Exercise SAMPRITI is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and Bangladesh and will be the ninth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries.
• The exercise was first held in Assam in 2011.
• During the exercise, a Command Post Exercise (CPX) and a Field Training Exercise (FTX) will be conducted.
• For both the CPX and FTX, a scenario where both nations are working together in a Counter-Terrorism environment will be simulated under the UN Charter.
• A joint tactical exercise will be conducted wherein the battle drills of both the armies will be practiced.

6. Novel Coronavirus

Context:

Cabinet Secretary holds high level review on Novel Coronavirus.

Details:

• New steps taken to curb the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus in India:
  • All those who have come from China after 15^th January, 2020 shall be tested as there is an incubation period for the virus.
  • The Cabinet Secretary has stressed upon the need for 14 days’ home isolation for all those who have returned from China.
  • It is also advised that a trip to China should be avoided.
  • It was also decided to augment the lab facilities. (12 more labs will start functioning.)
  • Discharge portal for patients has been prepared by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) which is being disseminated.
  • It was decided to put up check-posts in relevant tourist locations for better surveillance.
  • Gram Panchayats are being organised to make people more aware of the symptoms, precautions and measures taken by the State Governments regarding the prevention and management for the Coronavirus in villages bordering Nepal.
  • States have also been advised to open control rooms, appoint a nodal officer and popularize the control room number.
  • Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material is to be prepared in local language by the concerned States.
• Screening is being done in airports.
• One case of the Novel Coronavirus has been detected in India, in a female student who had returned from Wuhan University, China to her home in Kerala.

7. Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO (INCCU)

Context:

Union HRD Minister chairs a meeting of the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO in New Delhi.

About the INCCU:

• The INCCU is a governmental body formed by the Government of India which functions under the Department of Secondary and Higher Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
• The objective of the Commission is to advise the Government in matters relating to the UNESCO.

Background:

• India has been a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a specialized agency of the United Nations since its inception in 1946.
• The Constitution of the UNESCO mandates each member to form a national commission to function as agencies of liaison between the national government and UNESCO.
• Accordingly, an interim Indian National Commission for Co-operation with UNESCO was set up in 1949 by the Government of India, Ministry of Education.
• A permanent Commission was established in 1951.

Functions of the INCCU:

• To promote understanding of the objects and purposes of UNESCO among the people of the Republic of India;
• To serve as a liaison agency between the Government of India and the institutions concerned with the working for the advancement of education, science and culture;
• To cooperate with the Government departments and with services, organizations and institutions concerned with questions within UNESCO’s competence;
• To encourage participation of national, governmental and non-governmental institutions and various individuals in the formulations and execution of UNESCO’s programmes so as to secure for UNESCO all the intellectual, scientific, artistic or administrative assistance that it may require;
• To collaborate with the National Commissions of Asia and the Pacific and with UNESCO’s Regional Offices and centres in fostering regional, sub-regional and bilateral cooperation in education, the sciences, culture and information, particularly through the joint formulation and execution of programmes;
• To disseminate information on the objectives, programme and activities of UNESCO and endeavour to arouse public interest in them; and
• To advise the Government of India on matters relating to UNESCO.

Members of the Commission:

• The Minister for Human Resource Development is the President of the Commission.
• The Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Higher Education is the Secretary-General of the Commission.

India and UNESCO:

• India is among the founding members of UNESCO and has been playing a very active role in promoting UNESCO’s ideals and objectives.
• UNESCO’s Executive Board examines the programme of work for the Organization and corresponding budget estimates submitted to it by the Director-General.
  • It consists of 58 Member States, each with a four-year term of office.
  • India was one of the six elected Vice-Chairpersons for 2012-2013.
  • India was re-elected as a Member of the Executive Board for 2014-17 in the election held in the 37^th General Conference in November 2013.
• India has established an office of Permanent Delegation at UNESCO, Paris.
• Since 2013, India’s contribution is 0.666 percent of the total budget of UNESCO.

8. TERI’s World Sustainable Development Summit 2020

Context:

The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan delivered the keynote address at the TERI’s World Sustainable Development Summit 2020 on ‘Energy Future Road Map’.

Highlights of the address:

• India will continue to lead the Global Sustainable Energy Agenda.
• India will remain cognizant of the need to root economic development firmly to achieve the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals and commitments made at COP 21.
• The Minister commented that India is now the third-largest energy consumer after the US and China.
• With the energy demand increased to 882 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2017, the per capita consumption of energy is still 30% of the global average.
• The country’s energy consumption is projected to grow at 4.2 percent per annum up to 2035.
• India’s share of the total global primary energy demand is set to roughly double to about 11 percent by 2040, driven by strong economic development.
• Despite the country’s system-wide energy transition measures, crude oil would continue to play a critical role at this stage of development in meeting the country’s energy requirements.
• The Government has set out a road map for reducing India’s crude oil imports by 10% by 2022.
• He said that the country is working towards transformation to a gas-based economy, tapping into indigenously produced biofuels, apart from adopting renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, to achieve the much-needed carbon reductions.
• The Minister also noted that the decarbonisation of the energy sector is picking up momentum in India.
• He also stated that the government is working to improve energy efficiency and productivity, demand substitution, improving refinery processes and promotion of bio and alternate fuels.
• India is enhancing collaboration with countries such as Brazil and the US, to improve blending technologies in the transport sector.
• To reduce vehicular pollution, BS VI quality fuel, equivalent to Euro 6 standard, will be supplied in the entire country from 1 April 2020.
• Given the abundance of biomass in the country, the use of Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) will be promoted in a big way in automotive, industrial and commercial uses in the coming years.

About TERI’s World Sustainable Development Summit 2020:

• The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is the annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
• Started in 2001, the Summit has become a focal point for leaders and stakeholders across the world to bridge thought and action for sustainable development.
• The Summit series has emerged as the premier international event on sustainability which focusses on the global future, but with an eye on the actions in the developing world which could bend our common future.
• The WSDS has continued the legacy of the erstwhile Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) which was initiated in 2001 with the aim of making ‘sustainable development’ a globally shared goal.
• WSDS 2020 Theme: “Towards 2030: Making the Decade Count”

About The Energy and Resources Institute – TERI:

• TERI is a leading think tank dedicated to conducting research for the sustainable development of India and the Global South.
• TERI was established in 1974 as an information centre on energy issues. However, over the following decades, it made a mark as a research institute, whose policy and technology solutions transformed people’s lives and the environment.
• It is located in New Delhi.

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