Relevance IN - Prelims (about World cities summit and its objective)
What's the NEWS

• The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been invited by the Singapore government to the World Cities Summit - 2020 (WCS) to be held from 5 to 9 July this year.

• The WCS is an exclusive platform held biennially in Singapore and brings together government leaders and industry experts from around the world to address pressing challenges, share practical solutions and forge valuable partnerships between cities.
• The theme of WCS - 2020 is ''Livable and Sustainable Cities: Adapting to a Disrupted World'' in which there will be discussions about how cities can cope with climate change, social shifts and technological disruptions with confidence.
• The WCS is being organised alongside the Singapore International Water Week and the CleanEnviro Summit as part of the Singapore Sustainability Week.
• The previous event in 2018 was attended by 44 ministers, 133 mayors and city leaders from all over the world.
• In addition, 1100 companies and over 24,000 participants from all over the world participated in the event and business deals worth $26 billion were announced.

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the extradition treaty and its objective) + Mains (GS II Bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet has approved the signing and ratifying of the Extradition Treaty between the Republic of India and the Kingdom of Belgium.

KNOW! the Salient Features

• Each Party agrees to extradite to the other any person found in its territory, who is accused or convicted of an extraditable offence in the territory of the other Party.
• The Treaty would provide a legal framework for seeking extradition of terrorists, economic offenders, and other criminals from and to Belgium.
• After ratification, the Treaty will enter into force from the date of exchange of instruments of ratification between India and Belgium.

Background

• The new Extradition Treaty will replace the pre-Independence Extradition Treaty between Great Britain and Belgium of 1901 that was made applicable to India through the exchange of Letters in 1958 and is currently in force between the Republic of India and the Kingdom of Belgium.
• Due to the present procedural requirements and the fact that only limited number of offences are listed under the pre-Independence Treaty, the same has become obsolete in today's context.

Government Policies
SIDBI to start Swavalamban Express on Jun 5 for budding entrepreneurs

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Swavalamban express + about SIDBI)
What's the NEWS

• The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will start Swavalamban Express on June 5 this year for budding entrepreneurs.

Know! about The Swavalamban Express

• The Swavalamban Express will start from June 5 and will travel to 11 enterprising cities starting from Lucknow and thereafter to Jammu, Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and finally to Varanasi in a span of 15 days covering 7,000 km
• The participating budding and aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups will receive over 20 workshops and interactions which shall help to boost their growth in their entrepreneurial journey.
• The Swavalamban Express train is a part of umbrella mission Swavalamban which aims to induce entrepreneurship culture amongst youth.
• As part of the mission, youths will board the train with an idea, and after series of experiential learning will get down with ready business plan. Each enterprising city shall carry theme on enterprise setting up.
• Swavalamban Express is aimed towards enhancing the knowledge of participants about financial and non-financial aspects of enterprise running.
• This will be done through experts and mentors boarding the train in between, interaction with role models, brain storming and group discussions. SIDBI expects 500 youths to be a part of this journey

Know! about Small industrial Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

• It is a development financial institution in India. Its purpose is to provide refinance facilities and short term lending to industries, and serves as the principal financial institution in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.
• SIDBI also coordinates the functions of institutions engaged in similar activities. It was established on April 2, 1990, through an Act of Parliament. It is headquartered in Lucknow. SIDBI operates under the Department of Financial Services, Government of India.

Defence
India, France conduct joint patrols from Reunion Island
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the joint patrol between the two countries and its objective + about Reunion island)
What's the NEWS

• The Indian Navy conducted a joint patrol with the French Navy from the Reunion Island.

Know! more about the patrol

• The patrol was conducted by a P-8I aircraft with French Navy personnel onboard
• The surveillance was done in Southern Indian Ocean off Mauritius
• This joint patrols from the Reunion Island, signals New Delhi's intent to engage with friendly foreign partners in expanding its footprint in the Indian Ocean, focusing on the stretch between the East African coastline and the Malacca straits.
• India has so far carried out Coordinated Patrols (CORPAT) only with maritime neighbours and had rejected a similar offer by the US.

Know! about India-France relations

• France is also the first country to deploy a Liaison Officer at the Indian Navy's Information Fusion Centre (IFC-IOR) as part of efforts to improve Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).
• The Indian navy is currently inducting French Scorpene conventional submarines, being built in India under technology transfer, and the Indian Air Force will soon get the first batch of its 36 Rafale fighter jets.
• Currently, under the ‘Neighbourhood First' policy and broader maritime cooperation, the Indian Navy undertakes joint EEZ surveillance with Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius and CORPATs with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia.

Know! about Reunion island

• Réunion is an overseas department and region of the French Republic and an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and 175 km southwest of Mauritius.

Disaster Management
SAARC Disaster Management Centre launches website for information related to COVID- 19

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about SAARC disaster management centre and its objective) + Mains ( GS III disaster management)
What's the NEWS

• The SAARC Disaster Management Centre has launched a website for information related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

Know! more about it

• The website shows the number of coronavirus cases in the member states while updating the numbers regularly. The website is www.covid19-sdmc.org.
• Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed it during the recent video conference with leaders and representatives of the member states.
• The website shows that at least 960 coronavirus cases have been reported in the SAARC region. It says that at least five people have lost their lives in India, three in Pakistan, while two died in Bangladesh due to COVID-19.

SAARC Disaster Management Centre

• The South Asia Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) has been set up under the premise of Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM), Gujarat in November, 2016.
• Eight member countries, i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are required to be served by the SDMC (IU).
• The centre will provide policy advice, technical support on system development, capacity building services and training for holistic management of disaster risk in the SAARC region.
• The centre will facilitate exchange of information and expertise for effective and efficient management of disaster risk.
  
  

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