National
Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train “Shri Ramayan Yatra”
⇒ Indian Railways operated “Shri Ramayana Yatra” by Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourists train to promote Pilgrimage Tourism. Branded as Bharat Gaurav Tourist Trains, IRCTC is operating these special comfort category tourist trains to promote theme-based tourism.
Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DONER, Shri G Kishan Reddy along with Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train from Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station on 21 June 2023.
Key Points:
- Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train started its first Shri Ramayana Yatra from 21st June for 18 days.
- For the first time, it connected India and Nepal with a tourist train.
- The first trip of the train operated on the Ramayana Circuit also covered the religious destination of JANAKPUR (in Nepal) for the first time in addition to other popular destinations such as Ayodhya, Nandigram, Sitamarhui, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, Pancvati (Nasik), Hampi, Rameshwaram and Bhadrachalam.
Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2022
⇒ Union Minister (FAHD) Shri Parshottam Rupala unveiled the department’s annual publication, the ‘Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2022’ on 15th March 2023.
The Minister congratulated Animal Husbandry Statistics Division for coming out with this publication. He said the book has become a tradition and important source of information in the field of Livestock.
Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2022:
The publication gives an overview of Animal Husbandry sector briefly in terms of important livestock statistics on livestock population, livestock production and other information like animal diseases, infrastructure etc.
- It is the primary source of data on production estimates of four Major Livestock Products (MLPs) like Milk, Egg, Meat and Wool for the year 2021-22 and other technical aspects of Integrated Sample Survey (ISS).
- In addition to the production estimates, it also contains data of secondary information like livestock population as per latest 20th Livestock Census, import and export data of livestock and livestock products, incidence of livestock disease, infrastructure and economic contribution of livestock sector.
- The information contained in this publication will be useful for all stakeholders for planning and policy making purposes as well as for research and academician across the globe.
Major Highlights of Basic Animal Husbandry statistics 2022:
Milk:
- Total milk production in the country during 2021-22 is 221.06 million tonnes.
- In the current year 2021-22, the milk production has registered an annual growth rate of 5.29%.
- Top five major milk producing States are Rajasthan (15.05%), Uttar Pradesh (14.93%), Madhya Pradesh (8.06%), Gujarat (7.56%) and Andhra Pradesh (6.97%).
Egg:
- In 2021-22, the total egg production in the country is 129.60 billion nos which has increased by 6.19% as compared to previous year.
- Total five major egg producing States are Andhra Pradesh (20.41%), Tamil Nadu (16.08%), Telangana (12.86%), West Bengal (8.84%) and Karnataka (6.38%).
Meat:
- The total meat production in the country is 9.29 million tonnes for the year 2021-22 with an annual growth rate of 5.62%.
- The total five major meat producing States are Maharashtra (12.25%), Uttar Pradesh (12.14%), West Bengal (11.63%), Andhra Pradesh (11.04%), and Telangana (10.82%).
Wool:
- The total wool production in the country during 2021-22 is 33.13 thousand tonnes which has decline by 10.30% as compared to previous year.
- The top five major wool producing States are Rajasthan (45.91%), Jammu and Kashmir (23.19%), Gujarat (6.12%), Maharashtra (4.78%) and Himachal Pradesh (4.33%).
Other Key Points:
- The per-capita availability of milk is 444 gram/day during 2021-22 increased by 17 gram/day over previous year.
- In 2021-22, the per-capita availability of egg is 95 nos/annuam increased by 5 nos/annuam over previous year.
- The per-capita availability of meat is 6.82 kg/annuam during 2021-22 increased by 0.30 kg/annuam over previous year.
- During 2014-15 and 2020-21, the value addition of sector grew at a compound annual growth rate of 7.93%.
- In 2020-21, the share of Livestock at constant prices in Agriculture Sector and total GVA was 30.13% and 4.9% respectively.
International
International conference on “Shared Buddhist Heritage”
⇒ The two-day international conference of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on “Shared Buddhist Heritage” was inaugurated at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on 14 March 2023, with focus on India’s civilizational connect with the SCO nations.
An international conference on “Shared Buddhist Heritage” was held on 14-15 March 2023 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
Organized by:
The two-day programme was organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of External Affairs and the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC-as a grantee body of the Ministry of Culture).
Aim:
The aim of the Conference was to re-establish trans-cultural links, seek out commonalities, between Buddhist art of Central Asia, art styles, archaeological sites and antiquity in various museums’ collections of the SCO countries.
Key Points:
» India has assumed the leadership of SCO for a period of one year from September 17, 2022 to September 2023. The SCO countries comprise of Member States, Observer States and Dialogue Partners, including China, Russia and Mongolia.
» The event, a first of its kind, under India’s leadership of SCO brought together Central Asian, East Asian, South Asian and Arab countries on a common platform to discuss ‘Shared Buddhist Heritage’.
» Several scholars – delegates from SCO presented research papers on the topic including from Dunhuang Research Academy, China; State Museum of the History of Religion, International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University, Myanmar, among others.
- A number of Indian scholars of Buddhism also participated in the event.
The Conference was a unique meeting of the minds, where countries from different geographical regions but with a common thread connecting them based on a shared civilization legacy, strengthened by Buddhist missionaries, discussed various themes for two days. Ways to continue the age-old bond into the future were outlined. Buddhist missionaries have played a major role in integrating various cultures, communities and regions in the entire Indian subcontinent and Asia.
18th India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC)
⇒ The 18th India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) was held on 11 March 2023 in New Delhi.
India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) was established in 1989 to enable interaction at a government and business level on a range of trade and investment related issues.
India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, and Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator the Hon Don Farrell, met on 11 March 2023 to discuss next steps for further enhancing the bilateral economic relationship.
Co-chaired by:
The meeting was co-chaired by Hon CIM Shri Piyush Goyal and Hon Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell.
Discussion:
- Ministers discussed implementation of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), negotiations for the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and further developing two-way investment.
- Ministers also discussed engagement in the G20, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Highlights:
- Ministers highlighted the importance of a smooth and timely clean energy transition as both countries work towards achieving their respective net zero goals.
- Ministers look forward to concluding CECA as soon as possible, are pleased with the progress resolving various bilateral technical market access issues and look forward to continuing engagement. Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will create new employment opportunities, raise living standards and improve the general welfare in both countries.
- Minister Farrell reiterated Australia’s strong support for India’s G20 Presidency. Ministers agreed that the G20 needs to help the world navigate a pathway back to strong, sustainable and inclusive growth, including accelerating progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Ministers agreed that Australia and India share high ambition for the IPEF, as evidenced at the special round of IPEF negotiations in New Delhi, and would continue to work together though IPEF on areas of mutual interest, including the clean economy and resilient supply chains.
- Ministers reaffirmed the importance of the multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core. They agreed to build on the success of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva and reaffirmed their commitment towards improving WTO functions and having a fully functioning dispute settlement system by 2024. They agreed to work towards a productive engagement in the run up to the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Abu Dhabi in 2024.
- India-Australia bilateral trade exceeded US$31 billion last financial year. Both agreed that given the trade complementarities between the two countries, there is considerable potential for significantly enhancing bilateral trade within the next 5 years.