National
6th and 7th Set of Export Excellence Awards
⇒ Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Anupriya Patel conferred the ‘Exports Excellence Awards’, to encourage, motivate and recognize the best performing exporters from Western Region, in Mumbai on 25 March 2023.
Organized by:
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) organized the 6th and 7th Set of Export Excellence Awards, for the members who have excelled in export performance of goods and services during the financial years 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively.
Key Points:
- During the ceremony, the Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry conferred 67 awards to the exporters from the region which comprised of MSME, Non-MSME, and Services for their outstanding export performance.
- Banks/Financial Institutions were also awarded for outstanding export finance lending.
- There were multiple categories under which exporters were awarded, so as to ensure that all deserving exporters got sufficient encouragement and motivation. Exporters from all commodity groups are awarded during this award.
Army Chief Presents the prestigious ‘President’s Standards’ or ‘Nishan’ to four Armoured Regiments of the Indian Army
⇒ General Manoj Pande, the Chief of Army Staff presented the prestigious ‘President’s Standards’ or ‘Nishan’ to four Armoured Regiments of the Indian Army, namely 49 Armoured Regiment, 51 Armoured Regiment, 53 Armoured Regiment and 54 Armoured Regiment during an impressive Standards Presentation Parade held at Suratgarh Military Station in Rajasthan on 25 March 2023.
- The event witnessed an immaculate mounted parade by the four Armoured Regiments along with tanks in all grandeur.
- The Armoured Corps is one of the premier combat arms of the Indian Army. Since Independence, the valour, courage and fortitude shown by the Armoured Regiments during the wars have been exceptional.
Shri Bhupender Yadav launches Aravalli Green Wall Project
⇒ Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav launched the Aravalli Green Wall Project at a function organised to celebrate the International Day of Forests at Tikli Village in Haryana on 25 March 2023.
Aravalli Green Wall Project is a major initiative to green the 5 km buffer area around the Aravalli Hill Range in four states.
» At the event, Shri Yadav unveiled the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Land Degradation Through Forestry Interventions and a FAQ on Agro-forestry published by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education.
Aravalli Green Wall Project in Haryana:
- In the initial phase, 75 water bodies will be rejuvenated under the project, starting with five waterbodies each in every district of Aravalli landscape on March 25th.
- The project will cover degraded land in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bhiwani, Mahendergarh and in Rewari districts of Haryana.
- Voluntary organization, Society for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development and NGO, IMGurgaon are being engaged to mobilize people for Shramdaan for revival of water bodies at Bandhwadi and Ghata Bundh respectively.
About Aravalli Green Wall Project:
- The Aravalli Green Wall Project is part of the Union Environment Ministry’s vision to create green corridors across the country to combat land degradation and desertification.
- The project covers states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi – where the Aravalli hills landscape span over 6 million hectares of land.
- The project will involve planting native species of trees and shrubs on scrubland, wasteland and degraded forest land, along with rejuvenating and restoring surface water bodies such as ponds, lakes and streams.
- The project will also focus on agroforestry and pasture development to enhance the livelihoods of local communities.
International
3rd G20 Trade and Investment Working Group Meeting
⇒ After the successful completion of two Trade and Investment Working Group (TIWG) meetings, the 3rd meeting was held in Kevadia.
The 3rd Trade and Investment Working Group Meeting (TIWG) under India’s G20 Presidency was organized in Kevadia, Gujarat from July 10 –12, 2023.
- The three-day meeting was attended by more than 75 delegates from G20 member countries, invitee countries, regional groupings, and international organisations.
- The focus of the meeting was to build consensus on accomplishing action-oriented proposals put forward by the Indian Presidency on global trade and investment-related issues.
The TIWG has five priority issues namely:
- Trade for Growth & Prosperity
- Resilient Trade and GVCs
- Integrating MSMEs in World Trade
- Logistics for Trade
- WTO Reforms
On the first day, a special exhibition showcasing various successful initiatives of the Indian government such as the Gatishskti Master plan, and unified logistics interface platform was inaugurated at Kevadiya.
» A seminar on ‘Trade Infrastructure’ was held Various issues including the need of enhancing logistics and infrastructure, and empowering MSMEs were discussed in the seminar.
» Delegates held discussions on the themes of the ‘Role of Logistics in Expanding Global Value Chains (GVCs) and MSMEs Going Global: Integration with GVCs’.
» The priority issues were extensively discussed among the G20 member/invitee countries during the TIWG meetings. Moreover, presentations outlining each of the subjects and outcomes emanating from them were made by the Knowledge Partners during these meetings.
- Based on the opinions/suggestions expressed by the G20 member/invitee countries in these discussions, Indian Presidency formulated action-oriented concrete proposals on each of the priority issues.
These proposals relate to developing:
- High-Level Principles for the Digitalization of Trade Documents,
- Action Plan to Create Meta Information Interface for MSMEs,
- Generic mapping framework for GVCs,
- G20 Regulatory Dialogue
- Preparing a Compendium on best practices for Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs).
» Against this backdrop, during the third meeting, the Presidency strived for consensusbuilding among the G20 member countries for the eventual adoption of these proposals.
» Accordingly, on July 11-12, technical sessions were conducted during which specific inputs/comments of the G20 member/invitee countries were solicited on the Presidency’s proposals.
- These inputs were suitably incorporated while drafting the Ministerial Communique, which was adopted during the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting held in Jaipur from August 24 – 25, 2023.
» The working agenda was prepared keeping in mind the clarion call given by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi that the G20 outcomes should be action-oriented and address the challenges faced by the Global South.
The outcomes from the 3rd TIWG Meeting would pave the way for building a shared understanding of the challenges being faced in accelerating global trade and investment and developing tools that could leverage existing opportunities to make growth inclusive and transparent.
2nd G20 Trade and Investment Working Group (TIWG) Meeting
The Ships of the 1st Training Squadron (1TS) of the Indian Navy visits Madagascar
⇒ The ships of the First Training Squadron (1TS) of the Indian Navy, INS Tir and ICGS Sarathi visited Port Antsiranana, Madagascar from 20 to 23 March 2023 as part of long-range training deployment.
- The ships were received by Officers from Malagasy Navy and reps from Indian Embassy at Madagascar.
» During the stay at Antsiranana, the ships undertook various training activities with Madagascar Navy which included NBCD, Fire Fighting, Weapon Handling and Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS).
The visit of the ships of 1TS to Antsiranana has further enhanced the bilateral ties and cooperation between the two countries.