National
National Convention on ‘Women as Foundation of Value-based Society’
⇒ The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu inaugurated a National Convention on the theme ‘Women as Foundation of Value-based Society’ at the Om Shanti Retreat Centre of Brahmakumaris at Gurugram on February 9, 2023.
- She also launched an all India awareness campaign ‘Empowering the Family’.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the theme of National Convention ‘Women as Foundation of a Value-based Society’ is very relevant.
- Women have played a very important role in shaping the values and ethics in Indian society. She expressed happiness that the Brahmakumaris organisation has tried to revive Indian values by keeping women at the centre.
- This is the world’s largest spiritual institution run by women and more than 46 thousand sisters of this organisation are carrying forward the tradition of spirituality and Indian culture in about 140 countries.
About Brahma Kumaris:
- The Brahma Kumaris, established in 1936, is a women-led spiritual organisation, spread across 137 countries in 5 continents, with thousands of service centres committed to world renewal through spiritual empowerment of individuals.
- The organisation is designated official representatives to the United Nations, working as NGO in General Consultative Status with the ECOSOC & UNICEF.
PM Modi shared a 'personal account' of a student named Lopoli Melo
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi shared an article titled ‘A Day in the Parliament and PMO’ by Lopoli Melo from Arunachal Pradesh.
Key Points:
- Lopoli Melo, a student of Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), Arunachal Pradesh, was selected to attend the ‘Parakram Diwas 2023’ celebrations in the Lok Sabha secretariat.
- In her article titled ‘A Day in the Parliament and PMO’, she recalled her journey throughout the day.
- Lopoli had represented Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), and the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the higher education institute (HEI) division in the Parliament for the ‘Parakram Diwas’, 2023.
- It is a programme launched by the Parliamentary Research & Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE) of the Lok Sabha secretariat.
- Parakram Diwas is celebrated on January 23 in order to mark the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.
Brand Ambassador for Millets
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has appreciated Lahari Bai, 27-year-old tribal woman from Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori becoming the brand ambassador of millets. She has preserved more than 150 varieties of millet seeds.
Key Points:
- Lahari Bai, a 27-year-old tribal woman from Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori, has emerged as a grassroots brand ambassador for Millets with her ‘Beej Bank’.
- Lahari has been turned a kutchaa house into a ‘Beej Bank’ of Millet crops, which conserves 30-plus rare seeds of different coarse grains.
- She also sows them in her field and distributes them free of cost to farmers for cultivation in her village. She has conserved rare varieties of Millets like Madhia, Salhar, Sabha, Kodo, Kutki, Sanwa, Kuttu, and Cheena.
International
1st G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group Meeting
⇒ The first G20 International Financial Architecture (IFA) Working Group meeting under the chairmanship of India was held on January 30-31, 2023, in Chandigarh, India.
Participation:
Around 100 delegates from G20 Members, Invitee Countries, and International Organizations participated in the two-day meeting.
Inaugural Session:
The meeting was inaugurated by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras.
- Further, discussion on ways to enhance the stability & cohesion of the international financial architecture was carried out.
The meeting was also attended by IFA co-chairs Mr. William Roos (France), Byungsik Jung (South Korea), Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Finance, Smt. Manisha Sinha, RBI Advisor Smt. Mahua Rai were among dignitaries present.
Discussion:
The meeting discussed ways to enhance the stability and cohesion of International Financial Architecture and how to make it fit for addressing the global challenges of the 21st century. The meeting also focused upon exploring ways to provide maximum support to poor and vulnerable countries.
Session Plan:
- Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to address shared global challenges of the 21st century
- IMF’s 16th General Review of Quotas (GRQ)
- The Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN) and fllowing up on IMF’s General Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation
- Managing Global Debt Vulnerabilities
- Strengthening Financial Resilience through sustainable capital flows
Side Event:
On the sidelines of the meeting, on 30 January 2023, an event titled ‘Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs): Opportunities and Challenges’ was held.
- It aimed at sharing country experiences and developing a deeper understanding of the macroprudential implications of CBDCs.
- As CBDCs evolve, G20 provides a platform for meaningful deliberations on scalability, acceptability & interoperability of these digital currencies.
About IFA:
» The International Financial Architecture Working Group is one of the important working groups under the G-20 finance track, which focuses on strengthening the international financial architecture. It also aims to address various challenges faced by vulnerable countries.
International Financial Architecture (IFA) Working Group deals with issues related to:
- International financial architecture such as global financial safety net (GFSN)
- Matters related to development finance
- Managing debt vulnerabilities and enhancing debt transparency
- Capital flow management and promoting local currency bond markets
» The working group is co-chaired by South Korea and France.
9th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable (AMER9)
⇒ India hosted the 9th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable (AMER9) in association with the International Energy Forum (IEF) on 7 February 2023 in Bengaluru.
- The roundtable took place in Bengaluru, alongside India Energy Week, which was held from 6th to 8th February 2023.
Theme:
The theme for this roundtable was “Mapping new pathways for energy security, inclusive growth and energy transitions”.
Key Points:
» AMER9 provided a timely opportunity to deepen ministerial foresight on energy market security and the role of innovation with a view to energize inclusive growth in Asia and the world.
AMER9 was structured in two plenary dialogue sessions:
- Addressing energy security and justice challenges in a turbulent world.
- Asia: Centre of demand and engine of accelerated growth and innovation.
Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India, Hardeep Singh Puri addressed the 9th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable at sidelines of India Energy Week 2023.
Speaking at the 9th Asian Ministerial Energy Round Table at the sidelines of India Energy Week 2023, the Minister said, affordable energy is a vital ingredient to achieve inclusive growth and energy justice.
- The Asian Ministerial Roundtable has always been a meaningful platform for dialogue between producers, consumers & International Organizations to join and debate energy issues which confront the Asian and the global energy sector.
- Speaking about the growth of Asian economy, the Minister said that the world economy has radically changed over the past decade.
- The Asian share of global GDP has risen from 38% to 45% and is likely to exceed 50% by 2030.
- Asian Economy has grown at the average rate of 5½ percent over the preceding two decades and registered growth of 6.5 per cent posted in 2021, while it is expected to moderate to 4.0 percent in 2022 amid an uncertain global environment and rise to 4.3 percent in 2023.
- India has met its commitment of 40% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil energy sources by 2030 November 2021.
- The country’s installed Renewable Energy (RE) capacity by October 2022 stands at 166 Giga Watt while its nuclear energy-based installed electricity capacity stands at 6.78 Giga Watt.
About International Energy Forum (IEF):
- The IEF is the world’s largest international organization of energy ministers from 72 countries and includes both producing and consuming nations. It is truly the global home of energy dialogue.