♦ India was ranked 105th in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2024 with a score of 27.3. GHI score places India in 'serious' hunger category. A total of 127 countries are present in this index. The index is published by Concern Worldwide, an Irish humanitarian organisation, and Welthungerhilfe, a German aid agency.
♦ India's GHI Score is based on the values of four component indicators: 13.7% of the population is undernourished, 35.5% of children under five are stunted with 18.7% of them being wasted, and 2.9 per cent of children die before their fifth birthday, the report notes.
♦ India is among 42 countries that fall within the "serious" category, alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan, with other South Asian neighbours such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka showing better GHI scores to be listed under the “moderate” category.
Posted Date: October 12, 2024International
♦ The first ASEAN-India Track 1 Cyber Policy Dialogue was held in Singapore on 16 October 2024. The Dialogue was co-chaired by Joint Secretary, Cyber Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Amit A. Shukla. The Philippines is India’s country coordinator for ASEAN-India dialogue relations.
♦ During the dialogue, both sides exchanged views on the cyber threat landscape, national cyber policies, threat assessment, and the recent developments in the ICT domain at the United Nations. The dialogue explored cooperation in capacity building and training to identify specific areas of activities.
Posted Date: October 16, 2024♦ India and Colombia signed the Audio-Visual Co-Production Agreement, enabling filmmakers from both countries to collaborate on various aspects of film production on 15 October 2024. The agreement was signed by the Honourable Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Dr. L. Murugan, and His Excellency Mr. Jorge Enrique Rojas Rodriguez, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Colombia to India.
♦ This agreement is expected to benefit producers from both countries in pooling their creative, artistic, technical, financial and marketing resources for the co-production. The agreement will also lead to the exchange of art and culture among the two countries.
♦ Currently, India has co-production treaties with 16 countries, resulting in 29 projects over the last five years. Colombia is the 17th country with which India is signing a Co-Production Agreement.
Posted Date: October 15, 2024♦ The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) hosted its Annual India Leadership Summit 2024 in New Delhi on 14 October 2024. This summit offers a vital platform to strengthen the dynamic strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi. Key priorities will include enhancing supply chains, boosting semiconductor investment, advancing AI and next-gen technologies, bolstering defense ties, promoting clean energy, and expanding bilateral trade. Both democracies remain committed to securing a free and open Indo-Pacific.
♦ The summit follows on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s successful recent visit to the US for the Quad Leaders’ Summit and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Posted Date: October 14, 2024♦ Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla leads the parliamentary delegation to the 149th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva, which will be held from 13 to 17 October 2024. All IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, Committees on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and on Middle East Questions, as well as the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young MPs, will meet on this occasion.
♦ The General Debate will focus on the overall theme Harnessing science, technology and innovation (STI) for a more peaceful and sustainable future and provide a platform for delegates to deliberate, exchange views and galvanize parliamentary action.
♦ The IPU has 180 member parliaments and 15 associate members. Members include parliaments from large countries like China, India, and Indonesia, as well as smaller countries like Cabo Verde, San Marino, and Palau.
Posted Date: October 13, 2024♦ The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that Indian suppliers are the third largest provider of organisation’s health and nutrition support to children globally. From 2016 to 2023, Indian businesses supplied goods and services worth nearly $6 billion to UNICEF for its global work, making it the third-largest supplier in 2023. This contribution includes vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and nutrition supplies that are vital for addressing children's health and nutritional needs worldwide.
About UNICEF
♦ UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, works to protect the rights of every child, everywhere, especially the most disadvantaged children and in the toughest places to reach. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive, and fulfil their potential.
Posted Date: October 12, 2024♦ Prime Minister Marendra Modi attended the 19th East Asia Summit (EAS) on 11 October 2024 in Vientiane, Laos. Modi has stressed that a free, open, inclusive, prosperous and rules-based Indo-Pacific is vital for the peace and progress of the entire region. He said peace, security and stability of the South China Sea is in the interest of the entire Indo-Pacific region.
♦ The Prime Minister emphasized that it is necessary to respect sovereignty, territorial integrity and international laws. He said emphasis must be laid on humanitarian approach, dialogue and diplomacy. He said India will continue to make every possible contribution in this direction.
♦ Modi also met his Thailand counterpart Paetongtarn Shinawatra on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Vientiane. The leaders exchanged views on areas of India-Thailand bilateral relations and ways to forge closer regional cooperation through BIMSTEC.
Posted Date: October 11, 2024♦ United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed former British diplomat Tom Fletcher as the new UN Humanitarian Chief. He replaced Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.
♦ Fletcher is currently the principal of Hertford College, Oxford. He was the British ambassador to Lebanon from 2011-2015 and served as the foreign and development policy adviser to three British prime ministers between 2007-2011.
Posted Date: October 10, 2024♦ World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that the India has eliminated Trachoma as a public health problem becoming the third country in the South-East Asia Region to achieve this milestone. The announcement was made during the WHO South-East Asia Regional Committee meeting in New Delhi, where Saima Wazed, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, presented the certification to Aradhana Patnaik, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 8 October 2024.
♦ Trachoma is a bacterial infection that affects the eyes. It is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia Trachomatis. Trachoma is contagious, spreading through contact with the eyes, eyelids, nose or throat secretions of infected people, if left untreated it causes irreversible blindness.
♦ WHO has termed Trachoma as a neglected tropical disease. WHO estimates suggest that 150 million people worldwide are affected by Trachoma and 6 million of them are blind or at risk of visually disabling complications. Trachoma is found in underprivileged communities living in poor environmental conditions.
♦ The WHO’s SAFE strategy—focusing on surgery, antibiotics, facial hygiene, and environmental cleanliness—was instrumental in India’s efforts to combat infective trachoma. By 2017, India had been declared free of the disease.
Posted Date: October 8, 2024♦ Vera Voronova from Kazakhstan and Ysabel Agustina Calderón Carlos from Peru have been selected for the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversty 2024. They have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to conservation and sustainability.
♦ Vera Voronova is the Executive Director of the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan and she has made significant contributions to restoring ecosystems and recovering endangered species in Central Asia.
♦ Ysabel Agustina Calderón Carlos is the Founder and Chief Executive of Sumak Kawsay, an environmental business in Peru.
♦ The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversty was established in 2010 by the AEON Environmental Foundation. This is given every two years to people who make outstanding contributions to protecting biodiversity at all levels. Each winner receives a cash prize of $100,000 and a commemorative plaque. With this year's winners, the total number of MIDORI Prize recipients has reached 19 individuals from 17 different countries.
Posted Date: October 6, 2024♦ India, Nepal, and Bangladesh have signed a trilateral agreement to export 40 MegaWatts of electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh via India’s power grid. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) signed the agreement in Kathmandu enables Nepal to sell electricity to Bangladesh for the first time. Nepal has only been exporting electricity to India.
♦ As per the agreement, Bangladesh will now import 40 MegaWatts of electricity from Nepal. The Indian side has also been involved in the trade deal, as Nepal’s electricity will be transmitted to Bangladesh through the transmission infrastructure on the Indian territory. For now, Nepal will transmit the energy to India through the 400 KV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur cross-border transmission line before India transmits the equivalent to Bangladesh.
Posted Date: October 4, 2024♦ US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal convened the 6th ministerial-level U.S.-India Commercial Dialogue on 4 October 2024. The dialogue underscored several significant achievements in areas such as semiconductor supply chains, innovation ecosystems, and clean energy.
♦ The two leaders lauded the continuous collaboration under the Semiconductor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which aims to establish resilient and secure semiconductor supply chains.
♦ The 5th ministerial meeting was held in New Delhi in March 2023.
Posted Date: October 4, 2024♦ Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was inagurated the World Green Economy Forum in Dubai on 2 October 2024. The summit is organised by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, DEWA and the World Green Economy Organization under the theme of “Empowering Global Action: Unlocking Opportunities and Advancing Progress.”
♦ The summit was concluded on 3 October 2024.
Posted Date: October 2, 2024♦ Claudia Sheinbaum (62) takes office as Mexico’s first female President on 1 October 2024. She is a climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor. Sheinbaum replaced her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
♦ In 2018 she became the first female mayor of Mexico City, a post she held until 2023, when she stepped down to run for president.
♦ Former Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte took over as the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Brussels on 1 October 2024. He is the 14th Secretary General of NATO. Rutte succeeds Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg, who had led the alliance since 2014.
♦ Rutte served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands for almost 14 years from October 2010 to July 2024.
♦ The 26th edition of Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) 2024 began at the Dubai World Trade Centre on 1 October 2024. It features 16 international pavilions from 14 countries including India. The event was organized by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), continues through October 3rd. WETEX 2024 showcases cutting-edge innovations in renewable energy, water treatment, and environmental technologies.
♦ The robust Indian presence at WETEX reflects the flourishing UAE-India economic relationship, which has gained momentum since the implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in May 2022. Trade volume between the two nations reached an impressive $84.5 billion from April 2022 to March 2023, with projections suggesting it could hit $100 billion by 2027. The UAE has emerged as a significant investor in India, ranking seventh with investments totaling $18 billion in 2023.
