National
2nd International Symposium on Health Technology Assessment 2023
⇒ The Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar addressed at the 2nd International Symposium on Health Technology Assessment (ISHTA), 2023 on 10 March 2023 in New Delhi.
- The Vice President highlighted that “Facilities that had rarely been found within India until a few decades ago are now available in the country at the divisional level and are of the highest quality”.
- The Vice President lauded ISHTA’s objective of ensuring ‘Availability, Affordability and Accessibility’ of quality healthcare to all.
Theme:
The theme of the symposium was “Affordability, Availability and Accessibility of Healthcare Technologies through Evidence generated by Health Technologies Assessments (HTA), for Universal Health Coverage”.
Organized by:
ISHTA-2023 was organised by the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centre for Global Development.
Key Points:
- ISHTA-2023 brought various HTA stakeholders such as academia, researchers, policy makers, industry, etc to a common forum to share their views on the significance of HTA for accessibility, availability, and affordability of health technologies as a step towards Universal Health Coverage. The symposium was attended by about 250 participants.
- The symposium also hosted a first-ever HTA Market Place that showcased the prominent HTA recommendations that have been implemented by the State and the Central Government.
Three Centers of Excellence for Horticultural Crops approved under MIDH
⇒ Under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Centers of Excellence (CoEs) are being established in various States through Bilateral Cooperation or Research Institutes.
These CoEs serve as demonstration and training centres for latest technologies in the field of horticulture. These CoEs also serve as source of planting material for fruits and vegetable seedlings for protected cultivation and used for transfer of technology and knowhow in diverse areas, viz., Post-Harvest management, Irrigation and Fertigation, Plant protection, Introduction of New Varieties, Pollination etc.
Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has approved 49 CoEs till now, out of which following 3 CoEs have been approved on 09 March 2023:
- CoE for Kamlam (Dragon Fruit) by Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru, Karnataka at Experimental station, Hirehalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
- CoE for Mango and Vegetables under Indo-Israel Action Plan at Panikoili, Jajpur District, Odisha.
- CoE for Vegetables and Flowers under Indo-Israel Action Plan at Govt. Agricultural Farm, Codar, Khandepar, Ponda, South Goa, Goa.
MoD signs contract for six Dornier-228 aircraft from HAL
⇒ Ministry of Defence, on March 10, 2023, signed a contract for procurement of six Dornier-228 aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of Rs 667 crore.
Key Points:
- The aircraft was used by IAF for Route Transport Role and communication duties. Subsequently, it has also been used for training of transport pilots of the IAF.
- The present lot of six aircraft will be procured with an upgraded fuel-efficient engine coupled with a five bladed composite propeller.
- The aircraft is ideally suited for short haul operations from semi-prepared/short runways of the North East and island chains of India.
- The addition of the six aircraft will further bolster the operational capability of the IAF in the remote areas.
International
5th ASEAN-India Business Summit 2023
⇒ The 5th ASEAN-India Business Summit 2023 was held on 6 March 2023 in Kuala Lumpur.
The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar addressed the 5th ASEAN-India Business Summit 2023 on 06 March.
- He said India’s rapid digitalisation across sectors holds great potential for its partnership with ASEAN countries. Digital technologies have been key drivers of economic development in the ASEAN region, especially in sectors such as e-commerce, online media and financial services. Indian IT companies have played an integral part in the digital transformation journey of Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.
Theme:
The theme of the 5th ASEAN-India Business Summit 2023 was “Strengthening and Moving Forward ASEAN-India Economic Relations for a Strategic Business Partnership”.
Key Points:
- It was held as part of the ASEAN-India Year of Friendship to commemorate more than three-decade long engagement between India and the 10-member bloc in Kuala Lumpur.
- The inaugural session of the India-ASEAN Business Summit was held in 2019. The objective of the conference was to enhance the trade trajectory between India and ASEAN nations to new highs.
3rd G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group Meeting and G20 Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meeting
⇒ The 3rd G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group Meeting and G20 Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meeting under India’s Presidency were held in Kolkata from August 9 – 12, 2023.
The G20 Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meeting was held on 12 August 2023, following the 3rd and final meeting of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) held from August 9 – 11, 2023.
- Over 154 delegates from G20 Members, 10 invitee countries, and various international organizations attended the meeting.
Minister of State (I/C) for the Ministry of Science and Technology, Minister of State for the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh chaired the meeting.
- This was the second-ever ministerial meeting of the G20 ACWG and the first in-person ACWG Ministerial Meeting.
- The deliberations at the level of Ministers imparted a further political impetus to combating corruption as ACWG plays a crucial role in leading international efforts to combat corruption.
The ministerial Meeting was a culmination of the three ACWG Meetings held –
- 1st ACWG Meeting (Gurugram – March 01-03, 2023)
- 2nd ACWG Meeting (Rishikesh, Uttarakhand– May 25-27, 2023)
- 3rd ACWG Meeting, (Kolkata, West Bengal – August 9 – 11, 2023)
Priorities of the Working Group:
- International cooperation for strengthening fight against corruption
- Integrity and effectiveness of public bodies and authorities responsible for preventing corruption
- Role of Audit Institutions in Anti-corruption
- Leveraging Information and Communications Technology to combat Corruption in the Public Sector
- Gender and Corruption
Through the deliberations in these three meetings, India was able to forge a consensus at G20 to advance international anti-corruption agenda by finalizing three outcome documents (High-Level Principles) on important and sensitive issues.
» Building on the work done in these three meetings of ACWG, on August 12, 2023, the Ministerial meeting commenced with an inaugural session which was addressed by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi via video message.
» The Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meeting came to a conclusion with Ministers’ reaffirming their commitment to strengthen collective actions towards countering corruption.
- A Chair’s Summary and Outcome Document along with the documents on Enhancing the Role of Auditing in Tackling Corruption and Accountability Report on Mutual Legal Assistance were released.
The G20 Anti-Corruption Ministerial meeting in Kolkata also released High-Level Principles on:
» Strengthening Law Enforcement-related International Cooperation and Information Sharing for Combatting Corruption: This is a 6-point plan to enhance inter-agency cooperation and international cooperation through information sharing amongst law enforcement agencies and countries. It will ensure timely and effective action against corruption offenses, prosecution of offenders, and recovery of proceeds of crimes.
» Promoting Integrity and Effectiveness of Public Bodies and Authorities Responsible for Preventing and Combatting Corruption: This will provide a guiding framework for strengthening the independence, transparency, and accountability of anticorruption institutions. It will help in addressing the root cause of corruption including institutional weakness and lack of accountability.
» Strengthening Asset Recovery Mechanisms for Combatting Corruption: These are a set of guiding principles to support the establishment of a robust and effective framework for the expeditious recovery of proceeds of crime. These principles will deter economic offenders who seek refuge in foreign jurisdictions.
Important Day
54th Raising Day of CSIF
⇒ The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) celebrated its 54th ‘Raising Day’ on 10 March 2023.
About CSIF Raising Day:
- March 10 is annually observed as the Raising Day, when the CISF, one of six paramilitary forces in the country, was set up in 1969, under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
- The force was brought under the armed forces via a different act in the year 1989. It was established under the CISF Act with an earlier strength of 3,129.
- CISF is tasked with providing security to vital government and industrial buildings.