DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

By admin: Dec. 6, 2022

51st Maitiri Diwas’ marking recognition of Bangladesh by India celebrated in Dhaka

Tags: place in news Important Days International News

The 51st  anniversary of ‘Maitri Diwas’ marking the recognition of Bangladesh by the Government of India in 1971  was celebrated in the Bangladeshi capital  Dhaka on 6th December 2022 The event was organized by the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi Minister for Liberation War Affairs of A.K.M Mozammel Haque was the Chief Guest on the occasion. 

 Indian High Commissioner Pranya Verma said that the decision to observe December 6 as ‘Maitri Diwas’ was taken  by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the state visit of Prime Minister Modi to Bangladesh in March 2021.

However, Bangladesh which was known as East Pakistan was liberated on 16 December when the Pakistani forces led by Lt.Gen Niazi surrendered to a combined force of the Indian Army led by Lt. General Jagjit Singh Arora and Mukti Bahini  (Bangladeshi freedom fighters). As many as 93,000 Pakistani troops laid down their arms on 16-17 December 1971 in Bangladesh. It was the largest surrender in war after the Second World War.

Shafali Verma to lead India’s in the inaugural ICC women’s U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup

Tags: Sports Person in news

Eighteen-year-old opening batter Shafali Verma will lead India at the inaugural ICC (International Cricket Council)  Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup, to be played in South Africa from January 14 next year.

She will be one of two senior India players at the event apart from wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh. The coach of the team is Nooshin Al Khadeer.

The U19 T20 World Cup will take place in the South African cities of  Benoni and Potchefstroom between 14 and 29 January 2023.

Sixteen teams have been divided into four groups. India are in Group D of the Under-19 World Cup along with South Africa, UAE and Scotland. 

The final will be played in Potchefstroom on 29 January 2023.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar appointed batting coach of Indian women cricket team by BCCI

Tags: Sports Person in news

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 5 December 2022 announced the appointment of Hrishikesh Kanitkar as the Batting Coach of the Senior Women’s cricket team. Kanitkar will take charge of the team from the upcoming five-match T20I series against Australia starting 9th December in Mumbai.

The Indian national women cricket team has been without a head coach for the past two months since the completion of the tenure of Romesh Powar.

Romesh Powar has since joined the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru as a spin bowling coach.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar was the head coach of the under -19 men’s cricket team which won the world cup held in West Indies in 2022.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)

It is the governing body of men’s and women’s cricket in India. It selects the Indian team for International tours and for International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cup tournaments.

The BCCI is an autonomous, private organisation and does not fall under the purview of the National Sports Federation of India. 

It was set up in 1928.

Grant Govan was the first President of the BCCI.

Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra  

President: Roger Binny 

The “Diwali Stamp-Power of One” awarded to four veteran diplomats and a US lawmaker at the United Nations

Tags: Awards

Four veteran diplomats and a US lawmaker have been honoured with this year's annual 'Diwali- Power of One' award at the United Nations (UN) Headquarter at New York, US on 5 December for their efforts in working towards a peaceful and secure world. 

The award, which is also known as the  ‘Oscars of Diplomacy', is presented to former  top diplomats of the United Nations or a member state  for their  effort to help form a more perfect, peaceful and secure world for all."  

The award was established by Diwali Foundation USA. The Diwali foundation USA was founded in 2017 to promote a peaceful and consensus based process to achieve societal goods. 

Award Winner 2022

Former Permanent Representative of Georgia to the UN Kaha Imnadze,

Former Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations Keisha McGuire,

Former Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the UN Georgi Velikov Panayotov,

Former Permanent Representative of Benin to the UN Jean-Claude do Rego,

Former Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives Eliot Lance Engel.

Speaking on the occasion, the President of the 77th session of the General Assembly Csaba Korosi of Hungary said that Diwali marks the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, “much like we intend to achieve here at the United Nations.”   

Noted economist, former Union minister Yoginder Alagh passes away

Tags: Person in news

Noted economist and former Union minister Yoginder K Alagh passed away at his home in Ahmedabad on 6 December 2022 after prolonged illness. He was 83 years old.

Alagh was an emeritus professor at the Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research Ahmedabad.

Y K Alagh was born in Chakwal in present-day Pakistan in 1939 and studied at the University of Rajasthan. He had a doctorate degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

He was also a former vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. He was Union minister of state for Planning and Programme Implementation, Science and Technology and Power during 1996-98. He was also a member of the Planning Commission.

India will resume e-Visa facility for UK citizens after 2 years

Tags: National International News

The Indian High commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) Vikram K Doraiswami has announced on 5 December 2022 that India will shortly resume the e-Visa facility for UK citizens travelling to India.

The e visa facility was suspended in March 2020 due to the outbreak of covid.

What is E-Visa?

According to the Ministry of External Affairs the e-Visa is granted to a foreigner whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, attending a short term yoga programme, medical treatment including treatment under Indian systems of medicine and business purpose and no other purpose/ activity.

Earlier in August, UK Immigration Statistics said that Indian nationals were issued the largest number of UK study, work and visitor visas. India has now overtaken China as the largest nationality being issued sponsored study visas in the UK.

United Kingdom 

It is an empire consisting of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain consists of England, Wales and Scotland.

Head of State: King Charles III

Prime Minister: Rishi Sunak

Currency: Pound Sterling 

Capital: London

IMD issue warning of formation of Cyclone Mandous over Bay of Bengal

Tags: Environment National

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a new tropical cyclone is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal and is going to impact Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh on 6-8 December 2022.  The cyclonic storm has been named 'Cyclone Mandous' which means a treasure box in the Arabic language. The name of the cyclone has been given by the United Arab Emirates.

According to the IMD a low pressure area that has formed over the south Andaman Sea is likely to concentrate into a depression over Southeast Bay of Bengal.

The coastal areas are going to receive heavy rainfall due to the formation of the cyclonic storm.

'Cyclone Mandous' will be the third tropical storm to rise in Bay of Bengal this year after 'Cyclone Sitrang' which hit the Bangladesh coast in the month of October. The name Sitrang was given by Thailand.

The first cyclonic storm of the season was Asani which formed in the Bay of Bengal in May month. The Asani name was given by Sri Lanka to the cyclonic storm.

What is a Cyclone? 

A cyclone is a large system of winds that circulates about a centre of low atmospheric pressure in a counter clockwise direction north of the Equator and in a clockwise direction to the south.

Cyclonic winds move across nearly all regions of the Earth except the equatorial belt and are generally associated with heavy rain or snow.

Google launches anti-misinformation campaign in India

Tags: National

Social media giant Google's subsidiary Jigsaw is launching a new anti-misinformation project in India. The project aims to prevent the misleading information that has been blamed for inciting violence and deaths. Like other countries, misinformation spreads rapidly across India, mostly through social media, creating political and religious tensions.

The government of India has repeatedly called upon the social media giants like YouTube, Google, Meta (Facebook) and Twitter to take steps to counter the spread of fake news.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has repeatedly invoked "extraordinary powers" to block Google owned YouTube channels, and some Twitter and Facebook accounts, used to spread harmful misinformation.

Google's initiative will use "prebunking" videos. Prebunking videos are designed to counter false claims before they become widespread .It will be used on YouTube platforms and other social media sites.

Jigsaw in collaboration with a German NGO Alfred Landecker Foundation and philanthropic investment firm Omidya Network India, and a number of smaller regional partners has produced five videos in three different languages. 

Initially the videos will be in Bengali, Hindi and Marathi.

Google 

Google   is an American multinational company formed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998.  In 2015, Google was reorganized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Company.

It is an American multinational technology company that focuses on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing etc.

Chief Executive Officer:  Sundar Pichai

Hyderabad gets India’s first real-time Gold ATM

Tags: Economy/Finance National News

Hyderabad-based Goldsika Pvt Ltd has installed a Gold ATM, which is claimed to be the country's first real-time gold dispensing machine.

Important facts

• This is India’s first and the world’s first real-time Gold ATM.

• Each ATM has a capacity of holding upto 5kgs of gold which is worth around Rs.2-3 crores. 

• The ATM machine dispenses coins ranging from 0.5 grams to 100 grams. 

• There are 8 available options, including 0.5 grams, 1 gram, 2 grams, 5 grams, 10 grams, 20 grams, 50 grams and 100 grams. 

• People can come here and get the coins directly instead of going to jewellery shops.

• These coins are 24-carat gold and 999 certified. The customers will get their investment returns at a live price without any wastage. 

• The important feature of the ATM is prices are updated live.

About India's first gold ATM in Hyderabad

• Gold ATM has a diverse set of uses, is easy to use, is available 24x7, and allows you to buy gold within your budget.

• Gold ATMs allow customers easier access so that everyone can use their debit card for credit card for making transactions.

• Through these Gold ATMs, buyers can instantaneously purchase actual gold using any credit or debit card. 

• It work like every other ATM. 

Anurag Thakur inaugurates Virtual Drone E-learning platform at Agni College of Technology

Tags: Science and Technology

Information and Broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur on 6 December inaugurated the Virtual Drone E learning platform at Agni College of Technology at Chengalpet near Chennai. 

Important facts

• He also flagged off the first-of-its-kind drone yatra.

• Drone technology is essential for defence, agriculture, horticulture, cinema and could substitute for many areas.

• At least one lakh drone pilots will be made under the make in India scheme in two years  time by the Garuda Aerospace Technology in Chengalpet District.

• India is making significant progress in developing cutting edge in drone technology. 

• Drone technology can be used to stop illegal mining and can create a massive impact on agriculture.

About Drone Yatra

• Garuda Aerospace’s drone yatra, ‘Operation 777’, inaugurated for agricultural uses is set to cover 777 districts to ease agricultural work across the country.

• The Drone Yatra will help farmers understand more about the technology and give them a better perspective on how to grow crops.

• Drones are truly revolutionary for the agriculture ecosystem and Garuda Aerospace is continuously moving forward to help farmers with effective agriculture techniques with the help of drones.

• Garuda Aerospace will be manufacturing more than 1 lakh drones in the next 2 years.

• Kisan Drones currently being developed by Garuda are fitted with sensors, cameras, and sprayers that help in increasing food crop productivity, reduce crop loss, reduce farmer exposure to harmful chemicals. 

Adani Green becomes the largest wind-solar hybrid power producer in the world

Tags: place in news Economy/Finance

With the commissioning of its third 450 MW wind-solar hybrid power plant at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, Adani Green Energy limited (AGEL) has become the world’s largest wind-solar hybrid power company.  AGEL now has a total operational generation capacity of 7.17 GW.

With this hybrid plant, the company now has the largest operational hybrid power generation capacity of 1,440 MW. Hybrid systems combine two or more modes of electricity generation together. A wind-solar hybrid power plant is used for harnessing both sunlight and wind energy to generate electricity.

Earlier, in May 2022, AGEL had operationalized India’s first hybrid power plant of 390 MW at Jaisalmer. This was followed by the commissioning, in September 2022, of the world’s largest co-located hybrid power plant of 600 MW at the same place. Both these hybrid energy generation assets are located in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

The company has entered into Power Purchase Agreements with the Government of India’s owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). Under the agreement the power generated at the plant will be bought by SECI at Rs 2.69 Kwh for the next 25 years.

Adani Green Energy limited 

Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) is one of the largest renewable energy companies in India.

It is part of the Gautam Adani owned Adani group /

It was set up in 2015 and its Headquarters is at Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Chairman: Gautam Adani 

CEO & MD: Vneet Jain 

World Bank increases India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.9% for 2022-23

Tags: Reports Economy/Finance

The World Bank has forecasted 6.9% growth rate for the Indian economy in 2022-23, saying the economy was showing higher resilience to global shocks. In October, it had cut India's GDP growth forecast to 6.5 percent from 7.5 percent earlier. 

In its India Development Update released on 6 December 2022, the World Bank said the revision was due to higher resilience of the Indian economy to global shocks and better-than-expected second quarter numbers.

India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 8.7 percent in the previous 2021-22 financial year. 

In the second quarter of 2022-23 (July-September) fiscal year it grew by 6.3%.

The Reserve Bank of India expects the Indian economy to grow by 7 % in 2022-23.

Sebi reduces time period for listing of debt securities issued on a private placement basis to three days

Tags: Economy/Finance

Capital markets regulator  Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has  reduced the timeline for listing of debt securities issued on a private placement basis to three days(T+3). Currently, the timeline is four days (T+4) and the latest move would also expedite the availability of securities for trading by the investors. T refers to issue closure date.

The new guidelines would come into effect from January 1, 2023.

Earlier in October SEBI reduced the face value of debt security and non-convertible redeemable preference shares issued on private placement basis to Rs 1 lakh from the current Rs 10 lakh.  It will also be applicable from 1 January 2023.

SEBI Chairperson: Madhabi Puri Buch 

India - France Partnership on Kaziranga Project

Tags: Environment National News

India and France are collaborating under the Kaziranga Project in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.

Important facts

• With France and India technical and financial support, the Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership will facilitate partnership activities for natural parks of the Indo-Pacific region. 

• These activities include biodiversity conservation, wildlife management and engagement with local communities.

About the Kaziranga project

• The Kaziranga project is a part of a larger Assam Project on Forest and Biodiversity Conservation (APFBC) for which the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has committed funding of €80.2 million for a 10-year period, between 2014-2024. 

• The project envisages afforestation of 33,500 hectares of land by 2024 and training of 10,000 community members in alternative livelihoods.

• The AFD program has been most effective in skill development in the area, especially in the forest dwelling communities.

• The Assam government has started a massive reforestation drive with the help of AFD.

About Kaziranga National Park

• It is a national park in the state of Assam, India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is spread over an area of 42,996 hectares.

• Two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhinoceros are found in this sanctuary.

• Kaziranga is home to the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world, and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006.

• It is the largest undivided representative area of Brahmaputra valley floodplain grassland.

• It has been recognized by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area.

India to become 8th largest advertising market in 2023; GroupM

Tags: Reports National Economy/Finance

India is expected to overtake Brazil become the eighth-largest advertising market in 2023, according to GroupM’s global end-of-year forecast.

In 'This Year, Next Year 2022' report, GroupM has ranked India as the ninth-largest advertising market globally. 

It says India's total advertising revenue in 2022 has grown by 15.8% to touch $14.9 billion, led by growth in pure-play digital advertising. In 2023, it is expected to grow by 16.8%

 According to the report, the retail media in India is estimated at $551 million in 2022 and is expected to nearly double by 2027. TV advertising, representing 36% of the advertising market share, is expected to grow 10.8% this year and continue growing double digits, driven by strong growth in both traditional and connected TV.

Top Advertising market in the world 

The United States is the largest advertising market in the world   followed by (2) China, (3) Japan, (4) the United Kingdom, (5) Germany, (6) France, (7) Canada, (8) Brazil and (9th) India.

Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar appointed chairperson of NSCI

Tags: Person in news

Prof Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar, retired professor at Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), has been appointed as part-time chairperson of National Statistical Commission of India (NSCI) for three years.

Important facts

• Prof Karandikar joined CMI as a visiting professor in 2010 and was its director from January 2011 to April 2021.

• He is best known for his three decades of work on probability theory, as well as the applications of mathematics and statistics to the real world.

• He has designed, supervised and analysed nationwide opinion polls for Indian parliamentary elections as well as state legislatures since 1998.

• He was a member of the committee constituted by the Election Commission (EC) of India to advise the EC on the sampling scheme for EVM-VVPAT verification.

National Statistical Commission of India (NSCI)

• It was established in 2005 based on the recommendations of the Rangarajan Commission.

• The commission was established through an executive order and it works under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

• The Rangarajan Commission recommended the establishment of a permanent National Commission on Statistics to serve as a nodal and empowered body for all core statistical activities of the country.

• The Commission consists of a part-time Chairperson, four part-time Members, an ex-officio Member and a secretary.

• Headquarters - New Delhi

NSE Indices launches new Nifty Bharat Bond Index

Tags: INDEX

NSE Indices, a subsidiary of National Stock Exchange, has launched another index under Nifty Bharat Bond Index series on 2nd December.

Important facts

• The name of the new index is Nifty Bharat Bond Index — April 2033. 

• It has been launched under the Nifty Bharat Bond Index Series.

• Bharat Bond Index Series follows a target maturity date structure.

• Each index in the series measures the performance of a portfolio of 'AAA' rated bonds issued by government-owned entities maturing in a specific year.

• In December 2019, NSE Indices launched the first two indices in the Bharat Bond Index with maturities in April 2023 and April 2030, and in July 2020, further two indices with maturities in April 2025 and April 2031 were launched.

• The upcoming Bharat Bond ETF (exchange traded fund) which is sixth in the Bharat Bond ETF series will track the newly launched Nifty BHARAT Bond Index maturing in 2033. 

• The Nifty Bharat Bond Index – April 2033 has a base date of November 30, 2022 and a base value of 1,000. The index will be rebalanced/reconstituted at the end of every calendar quarter.

• It will provide more investment choices to fixed income investors and will help create a structure of various maturities.

HAL and BEL in the top 100 defence companies list of SIPRI

Tags: Reports Defence International News

Two Indian government owned defence companies Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have been included by the Stockholm International Peace  Research Institute((SIPRI) in its list of 100 top defence companies in the world 2021.  In a report released by SIPRI on 5 December 2022 HAL was ranked 42nd with $3.3 billion in arms sales and HAL was ranked at 63^rd  Rank with $1.8 billion sales in 2021. 

HAL is the manufacturer of fighter aircrafts like LCA Tejas, Su-30MKI, helicopters like LCH Prachand etc, and trainer aircrafts for the Indian Air Force. BEL manufactures advanced electronics equipment for the armed forces.

Last year apart from HAL and BEL, Indian Ordnance Factories were included in the top 100 defence companies.

Highlights of SIPRI report 

In 2021, the total arms sales of the world’s Top 100 totalled $592 billion in 2021, marking an increase of 1.9 per cent in their arms sales compared with 2020.

The United States has 40 companies in the top 100 defence companies in the world.

The top 5 companies are all American.

China has 8 companies in the top 100 companies.

Country-wise, in the 2021 list, 

• US companies topped with a share of 51 per cent of the total arms sales, followed by Chinese companies with 18 per cent, 
• UK firms with 6.8 per cent, and 
• French companies with 4.9 per cent share. 

Russian companies garnered only 3 per cent of the global share.

India is the world’s second-biggest importer of weapons after Saudi Arabia and is also the world’s third-biggest spender on defence after the US and China.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. It is funded mainly by the Swedish Government.

It was set up in 1966 

Headquarters: Solana, Sweden 

Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurates integrated ‘Agriculture Investment Portal’

Tags: National News

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the integrated ‘Agriculture Investment Portal’ on 6 December.

Important facts 

• Agriculture Investment Portal will prove to be a milestone in terms of investment in the agriculture sector. 

• It will be a centralised one stop portal for agri-investors to avail benefits of various government schemes implemented by various departments related to agriculture and allied sectors. 

• This portal would prove to be handy for the investors, they would get a lot of help from it.

• The Co-Chairperson of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates held a meeting with the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar in New Delhi. 

• The government believes that if the power of the farmers increases, then as a result, the agriculture sector will improve and production will also increase.

• With the aim to further increase investment in agriculture, the government has allocated a special package of over ₹1.5 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’.

• Work on these provisions has started, including the Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. Once these are implemented, the Indian agriculture sector will be rejuvenated.

18th Joint Working Group meet between India, Bangladesh on security, border management

Tags: International Relations International News

A two-day 18th Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on security and border management between India and Bangladesh started on 5 December in Delhi.

Important facts

• Both sides will discuss strengthening the bilateral mechanism to deal with the menace of terrorism and extremism in all its forms.

• Both sides will also discuss issues to develop mechanisms to further hasten the process of verification of nationality, and status of prisoners lodged in jails of either country.

• The Indian delegation for the JWG meeting is being led by Piyush Goyal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). 

• An Additional Secretary level officer is also heading the group of eight-member Bangladeshi delegation which will discuss the issues of common concern of the two neighbouring countries that share a 4,096 km border.

• This Additional Secretary level meeting is related to the preparation in advance for the Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh.

• The 17th Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh and the meeting of the Joint Working Group between the two countries were held in Dhaka on November 16-17, 2015 to discuss the security and border management-related issues.

• The Indian delegation was led by the then Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and the Bangladesh delegation was led by the then Senior Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Dr Md. Mozammel Haque Khan.

7th edition of Sangam exercise begins in Goa

Tags: Defence

The 7th edition of Exercise Sangam, a joint Naval Special Forces exercise between Indian Navy MARCOs and US Navy SEALs commenced from 1 Dec 22 at Goa. 

Important facts

• Exercise Sangam was first conducted in 1994 and is an important military and diplomatic initiative between the two nations, reflective of the trust and friendship between them.

• The present edition will see personnel from SEAL Team Five based at San Diego, USA and Indian Navy MARCOs from INS Abhimanyu. 

• It aims to exchange ideas and experiences on various aspects of Maritime Special Operations.

• A joint exercise among US SEALs, MARCOs and other participating nations’ Naval Special Forces is held annually as part of Exercise Malabar. 

• The Sangam exercise is a bilateral exercise purely between the US and Indian Special Forces.

• The exercise will be for a duration of three weeks, in which the personnel will be trained in Maritime Interdiction Operations, Direct Action Missions, Combat Free Fall Jumps, Special Heliborne Operations and other skill drills.

What are Indian Navy MARCOs?

• MARCOS was raised in the year of 1985 as the Indian Maritime Special Force (IMSF).

• 2 Years later, MARCOS were renamed as the Marine Commando Force (MCF) with the deadliest motto “The Few The Fearless”.

NSA Doval meet counterparts from Central Asian countries in Delhi

Tags: Summits National News

NSA Ajit Doval welcomes dignitaries to the first India-Central Asia meeting of the National Security Advisers/Secretaries of Security Councils on 6 December in New Delhi. 

Important facts

• This was the first time that the NSAs of the Central Asian countries were in the national capital Delhi for a security meeting amid the humanitarian and security situation arising in Afghanistan.

• Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually hosted the first India-Central Asia Summit on 27 January, which was attended by the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

• During the Summit, Prime Minister Modi and the Central Asian Leaders discussed the next steps in taking India-Central Asia relations to new heights. 

• The leaders had agreed to institutionalise the Summit mechanism by deciding to hold it every two years.

• They also agreed on regular meetings of Foreign Ministers, Trade Ministers, Culture Ministers and Security Council Secretaries to prepare a plan of action for the summits.

• An India-Central Asia Secretariat will be set up in New Delhi to support the new mechanism.

• The leaders discussed far-reaching proposals for cooperation in trade and connectivity, development cooperation, defense and security, cultural and people-to-people contacts.

• These include the Round Table on Energy and Connectivity, the Joint Working Group at Senior Official Level on Afghanistan and the use of Chabahar Port, the display of Buddhist exhibitions in Central Asian countries and joint counter-terrorism exercises.

• They also agreed on annual 100-member youth delegations from Central Asian countries to India and special courses for Central Asian diplomats.

Centre approves formation of Advisory Group for streamlining development of Bamboo sector

Tags: committee

The Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has approved the formation of an Advisory Group for streamlining the development of the Bamboo sector. 

Important facts

• The Union Agriculture Secretary will be the Chairperson and Mission Director of National Bamboo Mission will be the Convener of the Committee. 

• The Advisory Group has a representation of various stakeholders including academicians, researchers, innovators, progressive entrepreneurs, designers, farmer leaders, marketing specialists, and policymakers.

• Inter-ministerial and public-private consultations are envisaged to help improve the developmental framework of the bamboo sector with synergy among all sections related to the bamboo value chain.

National Bamboo Mission

• It was launched during 2018-19 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

• It is being implemented as a sub-scheme of Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).

• The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is the nodal agency for its implementation.

• The mission envisages promoting holistic development of bamboo sector by adopting area based, regionally differentiated strategy and increasing the area under cultivation and marketing of bamboo.