What's the NEWS

• Thousands of Sanskrit lovers from 17 countries are attending Sanskrit Bharati Vishwa Sammelan, the three-day mega event that began on Saturday in New Delhi.

Know! more about it

• Sanskrit Bharati Vishwa Sammelan is a three-day mega event for discussing ideas, theories and research findings in the ancient Sanskrit language
• Thousands of delegates and Sanskrit lovers from across the world are participating in this first-of-its-kind global conference.
• It was organised by Samskrita Bharati, a non-profit organisation (NGO) working for the continuing protection, development, propagation and revival of Sanskrit language.
• Sanskrit lovers from 21 countries are participating in this mega event and around one crore people have learnt this language in India and one crore people across the world are learning it.

Infrastructure Development
Inaugural Conclave on "National Capital Region -2041" held in Delhi

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the inaugural conclave + about NCRPB) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs chaired the inaugural conclave on "National Capital Region -2041" organized by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB)
• The theme of the conclave was "Planning for Tomorrow's Greatest Capital Region". The Conclave had participation from all NCR participating States

Know! what's the need of this planning

• The Regional Plan - 2041 should be a citizen-centric plan, with liveability as the hallmark, to ensure ease of living. He further said that only plans with crucial factors like economic ability and sustainability can succeed.
• If anything has the potential to mitigate poverty it is our cities, the Secretary stressed that the regional planning exercise presented a unique opportunity to realise these words.
• It was an interesting and challenging exercise and called for rigorous work from all stakeholders for an all-inclusive plan engaging all possible resources and tools at their disposal.
• Regional Plan would have a serious impact on the entire region as it would drive and decide the magnitude/ direction in which the development will take place in the region
• Currently the Regional Plan with the horizon year 2021 was in-force and a Regional Plan with next horizon year 2041 was required to be prepared now.
• This conclave was first among many such consultations planned wherein more advanced stage of deliberations will take place.

Five technical sessions on various themes namely

• Imagining the Future
• Priorities of the States
• Land Use, Allocation & Control
• Harmonized Development and
• Financial Structuring

Evolution of Concept of National Capital Region

• Delhi has been experiencing phenomenal growth of population since 1951 recording decennial growth rate of 52.44%, 52.91%, 52.98%, 51.45% and 47.03% during 1951-61, 1961-71, 1971-81 and 1991-01 decades respectively.
• One of the main causes for this spurt in the growth of population is migration into the city not only from the adjacent states but also from others such as Bihar.
• The growth of population of Delhi has contributed to increasing congestion and shortages of civic amenities.
• It has been felt that as Delhi grows, its problems of land, housing, transportation and management of essential infrastructure like water supply and sewerage would become more acute.

It was with this concern that the need for planning Delhi in the regional context was felt:

• 1956 Interim General Plan suggested that 'serious consideration should be given for a planned decentralization to outer areas & even outside the Delhi region'.
• 1961 High Powered Board set up under Union Minister for Home Affairs
• 1962 Master Plan for Delhi emphasized Planning of Delhi in regional context
• 1973 High Powered Board reconstituted under Union Minister for Works & Housing
• 1985 Enactment of the National Capital Region Planning Board Act by the Union Parliament, with the concurrence of the participating States of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh,NCR Planning Board was constituted.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Swachh - Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Swachh - Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan)
What's the NEWS

• To strive to make our beaches clean and create awareness amongst citizens about the importance of coastal ecosystems, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) are undertaking a mass cleanliness-cum-awareness drive in 50 identified beaches under the "Swachh - Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan", from 11^th -17^th November, 2019.

Know! more about Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan

• The identified beaches are in 10 coastal States/Union Territories (UTs)
• The cleaning drives in all beaches are being undertaken, involving school/college students of Eco-clubs, district administration, institutions, volunteers, local communities and other stakeholders.
• State Nodal Agencies for the Eco-clubs will be facilitating the week long intensive cleanliness drive in all 10 States/UTs.
• Nodal teachers from the Eco-clubs will be present at the sites during the entire cleanliness drive.
• MoEF&CC officials have also been deputed to monitor the implementation of the drive.
• The collected waste will be processed as per extant Waste Management Rules, 2016.
• Environment Education Division of the Ministry and Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) under the aegis of this Ministry will be responsible for the overall coordination for the drive in 50 beaches.
• The Ministry has also decided that on completion of the drive, best three beaches will be suitably awarded along with a Certificate of Appreciation for all the participating Eco-clubs.

International Organisations
Inaugural session of India-ASEAN Business Summit

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the inaugural session of India - ASEAN business summit) + Mains (GS II international organisations)
What's the NEWS

• The India- ASEAN Business Summit on the theme: "Today, Tomorrow, Together" is being organised to strengthen trade & investment flows with ASEAN Economies.

Know! more about the summit

• The objective of the conference is to enhance the trade trajectory between India and ASEAN nations to new highs.
• Senior government officials from India and the ASEAN Nations are interacting with the Business community of India and ASEAN for the promotion of bi-lateral trade and investments.
• The first day of the Summit is having sessions on Infrastructure and Tourism sectors, IT/ITES, E-Commerce and Fintech and Education & Skill Development, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals and Agriculture & Food processing.
• On the second day of the summit, the B2B meetings will be organised along with session on Focus Vietnam - Growing Trade & Commerce between India & Vietnam.
• More than 60 delegates from 10 ASEAN countries and more than 200 delegates from India are participating in the summit.

Know! about ASEAN

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten countries in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration among its members and other countries in Asia.
• The ASEAN Secretariat is located at Jakarta, Indonesia
• ASEAN was founded on 8 August 1967 with five members: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. It is headquartered in Jakarta.
• Other ASEAN Members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam

India and ASEAN

• India's relationship with ASEAN is a key pillar of our foreign policy and the foundation of our Act East Policy.
• The up-gradation of the relationship into a Strategic Partnership in 2012 was a natural progression to the ground covered since India became a Sectoral Partner of the ASEAN in 1992, Dialogue Partner in 1996 and Summit Level Partner in 2002.
• There are, in total, 30 Dialogue Mechanisms between India and ASEAN, cutting across various sectors.
• India could not become the member of this association due to her geographical location. India is a part of South-Asia while the ASEAN is an organisation of South-East Asian Nations. On July 23, 1996; ASEAN gave advisory status to India.

Know! about EAS (India is a member)

• The East Asia Summit is a unique Leaders-led forum of 18 countries of the Asia-Pacific region formed to further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity.
• It has evolved as a forum for strategic dialogue and cooperation on political, security and economic issues of common regional concern and plays an important role in the regional architecture.
• Established in 2005, EAS allows the principal players in the Asia-Pacific region to discuss issues of common interest and concern, in an open and transparent manner, at the highest level.
• The membership of EAS consists of ten ASEAN Member States (i.e. Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam), Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and the USA. EAS is an initiative of ASEAN and is based on the premise of the centrality of ASEAN.

Farmer's Welfare
International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)
Relevance IN - Prelims (about ITPGRFA + about PPV&FR) Act + Mains (GS III issues relating to farmer's welfare)
What's the NEWS

• The eight session of the Governing Body of International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), commenced at Rome, Italy.
• The Governing Body sessions are biennial and this year it is being held from 11th to 16th November with participation of delegates from 146 countries, international organizations, civil societies, farmers' organizations, FAO officials and UN organizations.

PPV&FR act to protect farmer's interest

• In Indian legislation "Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act" to protect Farmers' Rights and breeder's rights, a farmer is entitled to save, use, sow, resow, exchange, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected under the PPV&FR Act, 2001 except brand name, and our legislation is fully compliant to article 9 of the Treaty.
• Under the provisions of this Act, 138 farmers/farming communities have been awarded with Plant Genome Saviour Awards.
• India has received about 16,620 applications for Plant Variety Protection out of which 10,920 (66%) have been received from farmers alone. Also, the PPV&FR Authority has registered about 3631 plant varieties out of which 1597 (44%) belong to the farmers.

Know! about ITPGRFA

• ITPGRFA also known as Seed Treaty, is a comprehensive international agreement for ensuring food security through the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of the world's plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), as well as the fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from its use. It also recognizes farmers' rights, subject to national laws.
• The Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001 (PPVFR Act) is an Act of the Parliament of India that was enacted to provide for the establishment of an effective system for protection of plant varieties, the rights of farmers and plant breeders, and to encourage the development and cultivation of new varieties of plants. This act received the assent of the President of India on the 30 October 2001.
• The PPV&FR Act, 2001 was enacted to grant intellectual property rights to plant breeders, researchers and farmers who have developed any new or extant plant varieties. The Intellectual Property Right granted under PPV&FR Act, 2001 is a dual right - one is for the variety and the other is for the denomination assigned to it by the breeder.
  
  

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