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Current Affairs Date: 12 July 2022

National

National Women Legislators’ Conference-2022

⇒ The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the National Women Legislators’ Conference-2022 at Thiruvananthapuram on 26 May 2022.

    • The two-day national women legislators conference was hosted by the Kerala Legislative Assembly as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
    • The conference was attended by 120 delegates from different states across the country.
Discussion:

» According to Assembly sources, the two-day conference discussed various topics of contemporary relevance centered on women’s rights, gender equality, ample women’s representation in decision making bodies and so on.

» The conference adopted resolutions, demanded to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill.

    • Kerala higher education minister and CPI(M) leader Dr R Bindu moved a resolution to make 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies a reality.
    • The resolution said that the Bill envisaging 33 per cent reservation for women in the legislature has been pending in the Lower House of Parliament for the last 26 years. The Bill could not be passed due to various objections. Currently, India ranks 148th in the international rankings for women’s representation in the legislature.

» Another resolution adopted in the conference called for a legislation to curb defamatory remarks against women. The resolution moved by A Tamilarasi, a legislator from Tamil Nadu.

About Sessions:
    • Gujarat Assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya, Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and former Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat was the speakers in the session “Constitution and Women’s Rights”.
    • MPs Supriya Sule and Jebi Methar and former MP Subhashini Ali was the panelists in the session which discusses the “Role of Women in India’s Freedom Struggle”.
    • West Bengal minister Shashi Panja, MP Jaya Bachchan, Delhi Assembly deputy speaker Rakhi Birla and Kerala High Court justice Anu Sivaraman was the speakers of the session “Women’s Rights and Legal Gaps”.
    • Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri, Telangana MLC Kavitha Kalvakuntla and National federation of India Women general secretary Annie Raja shared their thoughts in the final day session “Under Representation of Women in Decision Making Bodies.”
    • Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, on May 27, inaugurated the valedictory session.

India’s ‘First Lavender Festival' in Bhaderwah

⇒ Union Minister of State (I/C) Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (I/C) Ministry of Earth Science; MoS of Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated India’s ‘First Lavender Festival’ in Bhaderwah on 26 May 2022.

Inaugurating the Festival’, the Union Minister described Bhaderwah as the birthplace of India’s Purple Revolution.
    • He also said Bhaderwah is the potential destination of Agri-tech StartUps of the country.
    • Today’s Lavender Festival in the valley of Bhaderwah is the best example of development of present progressive government at the centre which should have been celebrated much earlier, Bhaderwah being the best place for lavender cultivation in terms of land and climate.
Key Points:

» Dr. Singh also inaugurated six distillation units under CSIR-IIIM for lavender situated at six different places.

» Three MoUs were also signed between CSIR-IIIM Jammu with Agro Voltic Power, Mussoorie Uttarakhand, Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar Punjab and Fine Fragrance Power Limited, Mumbai.

» CSIR-AROMA Mission, under the Ministry of Science & Technology aims to develop and disseminate the aroma-related science and technology to reach the end user/clients of CSIR: Farmers, industry and society.

    • CSIR-IIIM also installed 50 distillation units — 45 fixed and five mobile — at different locations across J&K under CSIR-Aroma Mission.

» Lavender cultivation has employed about 5,000 farmers and young entrepreneurs in geographically remote areas of J&K. More than 1,000 farming families are cultivating it on more than 200 acres.

» The Lavender Festival in Bhaderwah was attended in large numbers by Scientists, Technologists, Progressive Farmers and Agri- entrepreneurs drawn from different parts of the country including Jammu and Kashmir.

International

Investment Incentive Agreement between the USA & India

⇒ The Government of India and the Government of the United States of America has signed an Investment Incentive Agreement (IIA) on 23 May 2022 at Tokyo, Japan.

Background:
    • This IIA supersedes the Investment Incentive Agreement signed between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America in the year 1997.
    • Significant developments have taken place since the signing of the earlier IIA in 1997 including the creation of a new agency called DFC.
    • DFC is a development finance agency of Government of USA, as a successor agency of the erstwhile Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) after the enactment of a recent legislation of USA, the BUILD Act 2018.
Significance:
    • IIA has been signed, to keep pace with the additional investment support programmes, offered by the DFC, such as debt, equity investment, investment guaranty, investment insurance or reinsurance, feasibility studies for potential projects and grants.
    • The Agreement is the legal requirement for DFC, to continue providing investment support in India.
    • It is expected that signing of IIA would lead to enhanced Investment support provided by DFC in India, which shall further help in India’s development.

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)

⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in an event in Tokyo on 23 May 2022 to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).

» During the launch ceremony, Prime Minister said that announcement of IPEF is a declaration of a collective desire to make the Indo-Pacific region an engine of global economic growth.

    • He expressed India’s commitment towards working with all Indo-Pacific countries for an IPEF which is both inclusive and flexible.
    • He underlined that the foundation of resilient supply chains must be 3T’s – Trust, Transparency and Timeliness.
    • India is keen to collaborate with partner countries under the IPEF and work towards advancing regional economic connectivity, integration and boosting trade and investment within the region.
US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) is an economic initiative launched by United States President Joe Biden.
Member:

The event saw the presence of President of the USA Mr. Joseph R Biden and Prime Minister of Japan Mr. Kishida Fumio.

Also, leaders of other partners countries include Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The IPEF was launched with a total of fourteen participating founding member nations, with the late entry of Fiji.

Significance:
    • The IPEF seeks to strengthen economic partnership amongst participating countries with the objective of enhancing resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
    • Through this initiative, nations aim to contribute to cooperation, stability, prosperity, development, and peace within the region.
The Nations launched collective discussion towards future negotiations on the four pillars. These are:
    1. Trade
    2. Supply Chains
    3. Clean Energy, Decarbonization, and Infrastructure
    4. Tax and Anti-Corruption

Source: PIB & Other News Reports

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