1. US President Joe Biden to host ASEAN summit
Tags: Summits International News
US President Joe Biden will host leaders and top officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Washington DC.
Washington has focused on the Russo-Ukraine war as well as battling Chinese influence in the Indo Pacific.
The ASEAN "special summit" was postponed from late March just days before Biden's first visit to Asia as president.
ASEAN member state Myanmar, whose government was toppled on 1 February last year, will not participate in the summit.
The US wanted an 'apolitical' representative from Myanmar to attend the meeting.
ASEAN's 'five-point Consensus' to end the turmoil in Myanmar has not progressed since its release in April last year.
About ASEAN
Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN is an international organisation formed in Bangkok,Thailand in 1967.
It promotes economic development, peace, security, social progress and cultural development in the Southeast Asian region.
ASEAN Secretariat – Indonesia, Jakarta.
General Secretary of ASEAN - Lim Jock Hoi, Brunei
Official Languages - Burmese, Filipino, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, Thai and Vietnamese
Working Language - English
ASEAN Summit is the supreme policy making body of ASEAN.
ASEAN is third largest market in the world
It is the sixth largest economy in the world, third in Asia.
ASEAN has Free-trade agreements (FTAs) with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
ASEAN Member Countries
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Brunei
Vietnam
Laos
Myanmar
Cambodia
2. Gotabaya appoints Ranil as Sri Lanka Prime Minister
Tags: Person in news International News
Ranil Wickremesinghe, a veteran opposition MP, was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the sixth time in an effort to end the current political crisis in the country.
Gotabaya's elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as prime minister on May 9.
Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) was wiped out in the 2020 general elections, with Rajapaksa winning a two-thirds majority.
Wickremesinghe is currently the only MP from his party.
Reason of crisis in Sri Lanka
Mahendra Rajapaksa announced huge tax cuts in his manifesto in the 2019 election, leading to a huge drop in revenue.
Sri Lanka is primarily a tourism-based economy. The Easter bombings in 2019 resulted in a sharp drop in tourist arrivals, which was further exacerbated by the COVID crisis.
Huge infrastructural debt.
Misguided policies of the authoritative regime
Due to Covid, there was a further decline in the export of tea, rubber and the tourism sector came to a standstill.
Remittances also dropped significantly
3. Country's first "Amrit Sarovar" to be inaugurated by Union Minister for Minority Affairs
Tags: National News
The country's first "Amrit Sarovar" will be inaugurated by Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Uttar Pradesh Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh on May 13, 2022 at Patwai, Rampur (UP).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for making at least 75 ponds in every district in the 75th year of India's independence, calling them 'Amrit Sarovar'.
The pond will not only help in protecting the environment and conserving water but will also be an attraction for the people.
Along with various amusements, boating will also be available in this pond.
4. GAIL to set up one of India’s largest PEM based Green Hydrogen project
Tags: National News
In line with the National Hydrogen Mission, GAIL (India) Limited will set up the largest Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyser in India.
The project will be set up at GAIL's Vijaypur Complex in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh and will be based on renewable energy.
The project is designed to produce approximately 4.3 metric tons of hydrogen per day (approximately 10 MW capacity) with an purity of about 99.999%.
It is scheduled to be commissioned by November 2023.
In January 2022 , GAIL had commenced India’s first-of-its-kind project of mixing Hydrogen into Natural Gas systems.
Hydrogen blended Natural Gas is being supplied by GAIL’s Joint Venture (JV) company with HPCL- Avantika Gas Limited (AGL).
5. Skill India International Centre to be set up at Varanasi
Tags: Latest National News
NSDC International (NSDCI) and the Indian unit of DP World, Hindustan Ports Private Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a Skill India International Centre at Varanasi to skill Indian youth for pursuing overseas employment opportunities in logistics, port operations.
The Skill India International Centre in Varanasi will provide skills as per international standards and will prepare candidates for global markets.
Skill India International Centres aims to provide high quality training to Indian youth.
The centres would host training facilities, providing skills as per the demand of international employers in countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Canada, Australia and other countries.
It will also have a wide network of partner organisations and foreign recruiters to facilitate the supply of skilled and certified workforce to other countries.
These partnering organisations will work with NSDCI for aggregating demand from overseas markets.
About NSDC International Limited (NSDCI)
This is a subsidiary of National Skill Development Corporation that is driving Skill India International Mission of making India the Skill Capital of the World.
Its vision is to transform India into a preferred partner country for sourcing skilled and certified workforce across the globe.
It provides global job opportunities for NRIs and global career mobility for NRIs.
About DP World
Hindustan Ports Pvt Ltd is part of DP World, a leading provider of smart end-to-end supply chain logistics to enable business flow across the globe.
Its comprehensive range of products and services covers every link of the integrated supply chain.
6. Supreme Court stays on sedition law
Tags: Latest National News
The Supreme Court suspended pending criminal trials and court proceedings under Section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code and allowed the British-era law to be reconsidered.
The Supreme Court also restrained the Centre and the states from filing FRs, continuing investigations or taking punitive action under Section 124A.
About Sedition Law
Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code provides for the punishment of sedition.
The IPC was enacted in 1860, under the British Raj.
The then British government in India feared that religious preachers from the Indian subcontinent would wage war against the government.
The need for such a law was felt after the successful suppression of the Wahhabi movement by the British.
This section was used by the British to suppress activists in favour of national independence, including Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi, both of whom were found guilty and imprisoned.
Sedition as a cognizable offence
It was made a cognizable offence for the first time in history in India during the tenure of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1973.
A cognizable offence means arrest without a warrant.
Two High Courts of India found it unconstitutional after independence, as it violates freedom of speech and expression.
7. Govt issues preventive guidelines for schools to combat ill-effects of heat-wave
Tags: National News
The Ministry of Education issued guidelines regarding precautions to be observed by schools to combat the ill-effects of the heatwave.
The ministry said in the guidelines, the school timings may start early and end before noon.
Timings can be from 7.00 a.m. and the number of school hours per day can be reduced.
Sports or other outdoor activities that expose students to direct sunlight can be accommodated appropriately in the morning hours.
School meetings should be held in a covered area or in classrooms with less time.
The school bus or van should not be overcrowded.
Drinking water and a first aid kit should be available in buses and vans.
Students coming to school on foot or bicycle should be advised to keep their head covered.
The school bus or van can be parked in a shady place.
Students should carry their own water bottles, caps and umbrellas and use them when out in the open.
8. Indian Railways introduces separate seats for newly-born children in trains
Tags: National News
Indian Railways' Northern Railway(NR) zone has introduced separate seats for newly-born children in trains.
This berth is also being dubbed as 'baby berth'. This baby berth is for little children.
This facility has been started on a trial basis in Lucknow- New Delhi Mail.
This berth will prove beneficial for women passengers who go out with their children and can take advantage of this by putting the children travelling with them in an extra berth.
The railways will also provide a stopper beside the berth as a safety measure so that the young child does not fall down while sleeping.
The 'baby berth' can be folded as well and as a result of which this seat can be raised and lowered whenever it is required.
No extra charge will be levied for baby berth.
About Northern Railway(NR) zone
It was established in 1952.
Head quarters - New Delhi
Largest zone in terms of Kilometres
Northern Railway comprises 5 Divisions-Ambala, Delhi, Ferozepur, Lucknow and Moradabad.
It extends to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
9. India elected as Chair of the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) for 2022-24
Tags: International News
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India has been unanimously elected as the new Chair of the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) for 2022-2024 at the recently held meeting of the Executive board and General Assembly at Manila, Philippines.
The Election Commission, Manila was the current chairman of the AAEA.
The new members in the Executive Board now include Russia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Taiwan and Philippines.
The Election Commission of India's three-member delegation headed by deputy election commissioner Nitesh Vyas, along with CEO Manipur Rajesh Agrawal and CEO Rajasthan Praveen Gupta, attended the executive board meeting in Manila.
62 officials from 12 AAEA members participated in the 3rd International Virtual Election Visitors Programme (IEVP) hosted by ECI during Assembly Elections in 2022.
About AAEA
The AAEA provides a non-partisan forum in the Asian region for sharing experiences and best practices among election authorities.
It discusses and acts upon ways to promote open and transparent elections.
The objective to do so is to support good governance and democracy.
AAEA is also an Associate Member of the 118 member Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB).
It was established in pursuance of the resolution passed by participants of the Symposium on Asian Elections in the Twenty First Century held from January 26-29, 1997 in Manila, Philippines.
It was established in 1998.
Currently 20 Asian EMBs are members of AAEA.
10. State of the World’s Birds Report
Tags: International News
According to the State of the World's Birds report, populations of 48% of all bird species are declining globally, mainly due to man-made factors such as loss or degradation of habitats, changes in land use, overexploitation and climate change.
The report is published by Manchester Metropolitan University.
It is a study of changes in the biodiversity of birds and describes the risk to birds around the world.
The study draws from BirdLife International’s latest assessment of all birds for the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
Key findings of the study
The study found that 5,245 of the extant bird species worldwide, or about 48%, are in decline or are suspected to be in decline.
4,295 or 39% of the species have stable trends.
About 7% or 778 species have increasing population trends.
The study indicates that 1,481 or 13.5% of species are currently threatened with extinction globally.
More threatened bird species (86.4%) have been found in tropical regions than in temperate latitudes (31.7%).
The main hotspots are tropical Andes, southeast Brazil, eastern Himalayas, eastern Madagascar, and Southeast Asian islands.
