International Organisations
13^th BRICS Summit

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about 13th BRICS summit + about BRICS) + Mains ( GS II International organisations)
What's the NEWS

• The 13^th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit under the chairmanship of India will take place on 9th September virtually.
• Leaders of all 5 BRICS member countries including PM Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will take part in the meet.
• The theme for the Summit is ‘BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus'.

India had outlined four priority areas for its Chairship.

1. Reform of the Multilateral System
2. Counter Terrorism
3. Using Digital and Technological Tools for achieving SDGs and
4. Enhancing People to People exchanges.

• The Indian Chairship of BRICS this year coincides with the fifteenth anniversary of BRICS, as reflected in the theme for the Summit.
• This is the third time that India will be hosting the BRICS Summit after 2012 and 2016.
• The 2020 BRICS summit was also virtual amid the covid pandemic under the chairmanship of Russia.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO

• September will also see another major summit, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO heads of state summit on September 16-17 in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe.
• Tajikistan is chair of the grouping which has 8 member states--Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and 4 central Asian countries -Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan.

Know! the Evolution of BRICS

• The leaders of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries met for the first time in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the margins of G8 Outreach Summit in July 2006.
• After a series of high level meetings, the 1st BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on 16 June 2009.
• BRIC group was renamed as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) after South Africa was accepted as a full member at the BRIC Foreign Ministers' meeting in New York in September 2010. Accordingly, South Africa attended the 3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya, China on 14 April 2011.
• BRICS is an important grouping bringing together the major emerging economies from the world, comprising 41% of the world population*, having 24% of the world GDP* and over 16% share in the world trade*.
• It developed a common perspective on a wide range of global and regional issues; established the New Development Bank (NDB); created a financial stability net in the form of Contingency Reserve Arrangement; and is on the verge of setting up a Vaccine Research and Development Virtual Center.

New Development Bank (NDB)

• The New Development Bank (NDB), one of the multilateral development institutions created by the BRICS has been working successfully and is headquartered in Shanghai, China.
• It was discussed in the 2012 Summit (4th BRICS Summit - New Delhi) and established in 2015.
• The major idea behind NDB was to mobilize funds and resources which the sustainable development and infrastructure projects demanded.
• NDB not only proved helpful for BRICS countries but also helped other emerging economies and developing countries.
• All the BRICS Member countries hold an equal stake in the bank and the NDB works on their consultative mechanism.

Brasilia Declaration

• The Brasilia Declaration was signed by the BRICS members at the 11th BRICS Summit in Brasilia.
• This declaration reaffirms the members' commitment to upholding the UN Charter's purposes and principles, advocating multilateralism, and finding a political settlement to serious issues.

Fortaleza Declaration (2014)

• Signed by the BRICS members in the 6th summit
• Fortaleza Declaration stressed that the NDB will strengthen cooperation among BRICS

Economy
India Post Payments Bank

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) + Mains ( GS III financial inclusion)
What's the NEWS

• India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) under Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications and LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL),announced a strategic partnership for providing home loan products to over 4.5 crore customers of IPPB.

Know! about India Post Payments Bank

• India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India.
• It is governed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• IPPB was launched by the Prime Minister on September 1, 2018.
• The fundamental mandate of India Post Payments Bank is to remove barriers for the unbanked & underbanked and reach the last mile leveraging the Postal network comprising 155,000 Post Offices (135,000 in rural areas) and 300,000 Postal employees.
• IPPB's reach and its operating model is built on the key pillars of India Stack - enabling Paperless, Cashless and Presence-less banking in a simple and secure manner at the customers' doorstep, through a CBS-integrated smartphone and biometric device.
• IPPB primarily focus on serving social sector beneficiaries, migrant labourers, un-organised sector, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Panchayats, low-income households, in rural areas and the unbanked and under-banked segments in both the rural and urban areas.

Functions of IPPB

• t will accept deposits, offer remittance services, mobile banking and third-party fund transfers.

Types of saving account:

1. Regular Account - Safal
2. Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) - Sugam and BSBDA Small - Saral

• The maximum limit on deposits for current and savings account is Rs 1 lakh.
• The bank offers a 4 per cent interest rate on savings account.
• They can issue debit cards and ATM cards, but they cannot issue credit cards and cannot loan money.
• It will provide social security payments like MNREGA wages, direct benefit transfer and give access to third-party services insurance, mutual funds.
• IPPB account holders will be issued a QR Code based biometric card with a unique QR code.

Know! about Payment Bank

• Payments banks were part of the Reserve Bank of India's strategy of offering differentiated banking licences.
• A committee headed by Dr. Nachiket Mor recommended setting up of 'Payments Bank' to cater to the lower income groups and small businesses.
• A payments bank is a differentiated bank, offering a limited range of products.
• It can accept demand deposits only that is savings and current accounts, not time deposits( Fixed Deposit)
• Payment banks are restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs. 100,000(Rupees one lakh only) per individual customer.
• Payment Banks cannot accept Non-Resident Indian (NRI) deposits.The Payment Banks cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial services activities.

Governance
National Test House

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about India National Test House (NTH) + Mains ( GS II Government policies and interventions + Governance - transparency and accountability)
What's the NEWS

• The National Test House (NTH) will set up facilities for testing nanoparticles (used in electronic devices) toys, helmets and air conditioners in the current fiscal.

Know! about NTH

• The National Test House (NTH), a 109-year-old government quality assurance laboratory that provides material testing facilities for the industry, consumers and government agencies in all domains of engineering.
• NTH has 6 laboratories that are serving the country on quality assurance for industrial and economic growth.
• The Government Test House (Today known as National Test House) was created in the year 1912 at Alipore in South Calcutta, and has contributed immensely to scientific theory, discoveries and practical product development.
• The NTH serves consumers, Industries (Heavy,Small scale),Central & State Governments, Public Sector Undertakings, Manufacturing & Construction agencies across Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Non Destructive Test (NDT), Rubber-Paper- Plastic & textile (RPPT) domains of testing.

NTH Future Plans

• The NTH is expanding its testing services for packaged drinking water, e- vehicle battery testing services, and LED lamps testing services and testing of solar panels, supporting a large number of Government of India programmes.
• It is supporting the MSME industry and sellers on GEM portal to provide quality, inspected material to the procuring agencies, be it a small item like a pen or a scientific item like a transformer.
• NTH Customers - government agencies, Private agencies and individuals.
• Not only manufacturers but consumers also get the products tested at NTH
• NTH plans to develop a Nano material testing laboratory which will help in assessment of the risks associated with consumer products containing nano material, especially in cosmetics, electronic consumer items and digital appliances used in homes.

Know! more about National Test House (NTH)

• It is a subordinate office under the administrative control of Department of Consumer Affairs
• It is a premier Scientific Institution of the Country, established way back in 1912 at Alipore in Kolkata, under the then Railway Board and since then it has grown into a laboratory of national importance in the field of testing, quality evaluation and ensure the quality of almost all sorts of industrial and consumer products except drugs, arms and ammunition by issuing test certificate in accordance with the national / international or customer standard and specification.
• It plays a pivotal role in the development of indigenous industries and serves as a vital link between industrial research and manufacture of finished products under rigid quality control.
• National Test House has its Headquarters at Kolkata and has a network of 6 regional offices at Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Jaipur and Guwahati.
• In all these branches testing and evaluation facilities of finished products/raw materials of all the branches of engineering disciplines are available under one roof.

Bilateral Relations
Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS)

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about logistics agreement + about RELOS + LEMOA +COMCASA +BECA) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• A bilateral logistics agreement, Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS) will be finalized by the Government of India with Russia while the agreement with the U.K. is in the final stages of conclusion.

Know! about logistics agreement

• It is an administrative arrangement based on mutual coordination between the countries concerned for the exchange of fuel and for the use of military facilities.
• These agreements facilitate logistics (strategic implementation or logistics support).
• This allows India to rapidly deliver and repatriate operational material during military operations off its border.
• India has signed a number of logistics agreements with all the Quad countries, France, Singapore and South Korea starting with the 'Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' (LEMOA) with the US in 2016.
• These agreements will Improve India's operational capability to carry and carry material and enhance the Navy's inter-operability in deep seas off the Indian border

Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS)

• RELOS gives India access to Russian facilities in the Arctic region which is seeing increased global activity as new shipping routes open up and India's own investments in the Russian Far East.

Know! about the four foundational agreements

• India has now signed all four foundational agreements with the US, LEMOA in 2016, Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018 and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial cooperation (BECA)in 2020.
• While the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was signed a long time ago, an extension to it, the Industrial Security Annex (ISA), was signed in 2019.
• India now has access to encrypted communication systems from the U.S. under COMCASA and to geospatial information through BECA which cumulatively have been beneficial.
• The agreements with the US and those with Australia and Japan have been especially beneficial as they also operate several common military platforms along with India's increasing share of U.S. origin platforms.

BECA

• BECA will help India get real-time access to American geospatial intelligence that will enhance the accuracy of automated systems and weapons like missiles and armed drones.
• Through the sharing of information on maps and satellite images, it will help India access topographical and aeronautical data, and advanced products that will aid in navigation and targeting.

LEMOA

• LEMOA was the first of the three pacts to be signed in August 2016.
• LEMOA allows the militaries of the US and India to replenish from each other's bases, and access supplies, spare parts and services from each other's land facilities, air bases, and ports, which can then be reimbursed.
• LEMOA is extremely useful for India-US Navy-to-Navy cooperation since the two countries are cooperating closely in the Indo-Pacific.

COMCASA

• COMCASA was signed in September 2018, after the first 2+2 dialogue during Mrs. Swarajs' term as EAM.
• The pact allows the US to provide India with its encrypted communications equipment and systems so that Indian and US military commanders, and the aircraft and ships of the two countries, can communicate through secure networks during times of both peace and war.
• The signing of COMCASA paved the way for the transfer of communication security equipment from the US to India to facilitate "interoperability" between their forces.

Prelims Factoids
Rosh Hashanah

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Rosh Hashanah)
What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister has extended his warmest wishes to the Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, the friendly people of Israel, and the Jewish people around the world on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah.

Know! about Rosh Hashanah

• It is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. It's a very important holiday on the Jewish calendar.
• It is the first of what we call the High Holidays (or High Holy Days), a ten-day period that ends with Yom Kippur-the holiest day of the Jewish year.
• On Rosh Hashanah, Jews from all over the world celebrate God's creation of the world. Rosh Hashanah is two days long, and it usually occurs during the month of September.
• Rosh Hashanah 2021 begins on Monday, September 6, 2021 and ends on the evening of Wednesday, September 8, 2021.
• The exact date of Rosh Hashanah varies every year, since it is based on the Hebrew Calendar, where it begins on the first day of the seventh month.
• Rosh Hashanah is almost always in September or October

Prelims Factoids
Manda Buffalo

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Manda buffalo)
What's the NEWS

• The Manda buffalo found in the plateau of the Eastern Ghats and the Koraput region of Odisha has been recognized by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) as the 19th unique breed of buffalo found in India.

Know! about Manda Buffalo

• Manda parasites are resistant to infection, less prone to diseases and can survive, produce and reproduce on low or zero input systems.
• These buffaloes have ash and gray layer on their skin with copper colored hair.
• Four breeds of cattle - Binjharpuri, Motu, Ghumusri and Khariyar - and two breeds of buffalo - Chilika and Kalahandi - and a sheep breed, Kendrapara, have already received NBAGR recognition.
• Small, strong buffaloes are used for plowing in their native habitat of Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts.
• The average milk yield of these buffaloes is 2 to 2.5 liters of milk at a time with more than 8% fat. However, some of them give up to 4 liters of milk.

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