Italy signs framework agreement on International Solar Alliance with India - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Italy signs framework agreement on International Solar Alliance with India.

Italy on Wednesday signed the framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) with India, informed Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

"The Italian Republic signed the framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) today after the amendments to the framework agreement of the ISA entered into force on 8 January 2021, opening its membership to all member states of the UN," Srivastava tweeted.

The signed copies of the agreement were received by Additional Secretary (ER), as the representative of MEA which is the depositary of the ISA framework agreement.

"The framework agreement was signed by the Ambassador of the Italian Republic, Vincenzo De Luca. The signed copies of the agreement were received by Additional Secretary (ER), as the representative of MEA which is the depositary of ISA Framework Agreement," Srivastava wrote in a tweet.

Earlier in the day, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla met Italian Ambassador Vincenzo De Luca and welcomed the country's accession to the International Solar Alliance.

ISA is an alliance of over 120 countries initiated by India, most of them being sunshine countries which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

Shringla also discussed Italy's G20 Presidency and 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative under which India is using its vaccine production and delivery capacity to export doses to fight the crisis created by COVID-19.

Italy at present holds the presidency of G20. (yahoonews.in)

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Italy signs framework agreement on International Solar Alliance with India.

International tourism arrivals hit record high in 2017, India leads growth in South Asia: UN report - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

International tourism arrivals hit record high in 2017, India leads growth in South Asia: UN report.

Europe and Africa led the regions with increases in arrivals, with growth of eight per cent and nine per cent, respectively.

The number of people travelling abroad hit record levels in 2017 with a total of 1,323 million international tourist arrivals recorded in destinations around the world, with India leading the growth in the South Asian region, according to data from the UN’s tourism organisation.
The latest edition of its Tourism Highlights shows international arrivals reached 1.323 million last year. The figure represents an 84 million increase over 2016, and a new record, with the sector also recording “uninterrupted growth” in arrivals for eight consecutive years.
Europe and Africa led the regions with increases in arrivals, with growth of eight per cent and nine per cent, respectively.
The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO, a specialized agency of the United Nations, added that tourism is the world’s third largest export category, earning USD 1.3 trillion in receipts in 2017: an increase of five per cent.
Meanwhile, total exports from international tourism stood at USD 1.6 trillion, or an average of USD 4 billion a day: that is, seven per cent of the world’s exports.
“These strong 2017 results were driven by sustained travel demand for destinations across all world regions, including a firm recovery by those that have suffered from security challenges in recent years,” The UNWTO said in a press release.
The report said positive results in South Asia were largely driven by the strong performance of India, the “subregion’s largest destination, which benefited from increasing demand from western source markets and simpler visa procedures.”
In India, international tourists arrivals grew from 14.57 million in 2016 to 15.54 million in 2017. International tourism receipts for India grew from 22.42 billion dollars in 2016 to 27.36 billion dollars last year.
For South Asia as a whole, international tourists arrivals grew from 25.17 million in 2016 to 26.57 million in 2017. International tourism receipts for South Asia grew from 33.28 billion dollars in 2016 to 39.52 billion dollars last year.
It said that international tourist arrivals grew 6.8% in 2017, the highest increase since the 2009 global economic crisis and well above UNWTO’s long-term forecast of 3.8% per year for the period 2010 to 2020. Results were driven by sustained travel demand for destinations across all world regions, including a firm recovery of those suffering from security challenges in recent years.
Growth was fuelled by the global economic upswing, resulting in strong outbound demand from virtually all source markets.
“The recovery of outbound demand from Brazil and the Russian Federation after a few years of decline and the ongoing rise of India, also contributed to inbound growth in many destinations,” the UN agency said.
Seven of the 10 top tourism destinations are also leaders worldwide in both international tourist arrivals and international tourism receipts: China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Strong outbound demand from virtually all source markets, including rebounds from major emerging economies Brazil and the Russian Federation, benefited both advanced and emerging destinations,” the agency said.(Source: The Indian Express)


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International tourism arrivals hit record high in 2017, India leads growth in South Asia: UN report

International team of scientists including 18 Indian scientists decode complex wheat genome - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

International team of scientists including 18 Indian scientists decode complex wheat genome.

In a major scientific breakthrough, a team of international researchers, including 18 from India decoded the wheat genome, considered insurmountable so far. The information generated will help to identify genes controlling complex agronomic traits such as yield, grain quality, resistance to diseases and pests, as well as tolerance to drought, heat, water logging and salinity.

Reacting to the breakthrough, Science & Technology Minister Dr Harsh said, “cracking of the bread wheat genome will go a long way in developing climate-resilient wheat and help tide over possible impact of climate change on farm output.” The minister congratulated the Indian team involved in the research and said, it proves our scientists are capable of matching the best in the world in any discipline.
In an article published in ‘Science’, the authors said, the DNA sequence has been ordered and it represents the highest quality genome sequence generated to date for the bread wheat. The reference genome covers 94% (14.5 Gb) of the entire wheat genome. The bread wheat has a complex hexaploid genome which is 40 times larger than that of the rice genome and 5 times larger than the human genome.
The research article– authored by more than 200 scientists from 73 research institutions in 20 countries. A team of 18 Indian scientists co-authoring this paper, led by Dr. Kuldeep Singh at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Ludhiana, Professor J. P. Khurana at the University of Delhi South Campus, and Professor Nagendra Singh at ICAR-National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi, contributed to the decoding of Chromosome 2A of the wheat genome. This project was financially supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
The availability of high quality reference genome would accelerate the breeding of climate-resilient wheat varieties to feed the ever-increasing world population and help address global food security in the decades to come. (Source: PIB)


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International team of scientists including 18 Indian scientists decode complex wheat genome.

Declare Upcoming Year As 'International Year Of Millets', Agriculture Ministry To UN Body FAO - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Declare Upcoming Year As 'International Year Of Millets', Agriculture Ministry To UN Body FAO.

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has written to UN's body FAO to declare upcoming year as 'International Year of Millets' to boost global production of this nutritious cereal.

Singh has written a letter to Jose Graziano da Silva, Director-General, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an official statement said.
"To garner wider global attention and action, India has mooted a proposal to FAO for declaration of an upcoming year as International Year of Millets," he said in the letter.
India is celebrating 2018 as the National Year of Millets. The government is promoting cultivation by amending cropping pattern of areas which are especially susceptible to climate change.
The minimum support price (MSP) of millets has been increased by more than 50 per cent of cost of production.
"It is an important component of our efforts to achieve the national commitment of doubling farmers’ income by 2022," he wrote.
Singh had earlier written to Secretary General of the UN in November 2017 in this regard.
The minister has requested the inclusion of this proposal in the agenda of the 26th session of the Committee on Agriculture (COAG) meeting, scheduled during October 1-5, 2018 in Rome.
Singh said this proposal has received support of the member countries when placed in the Bureau meeting of the committee on agriculture held on July 5, 2018.
"It is highly desirable that global efforts are stepped up to bring these nutria-cereals back to the food basket of a wide range of consumers, rural and urban as well as rich and poor, for boosting their production as well," he added.


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Declare Upcoming Year As 'International Year Of Millets', Agriculture Ministry To UN Body FAO.

International Tiger Day being celebrated today - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

International Tiger Day being celebrated today.

International Tiger Day is being celebrated today. Global Tiger Day is celebrated every year on 29 July to raise awareness about tiger conservation. In Madhya Pradesh, State Tiger Foundation Society of Forest Department is organizing wall painting competition in 6 cities to raise awareness and support for tiger conservation.

AIR correspondent reports that students and general public will take part in the contest to be held in Raisen, Sehore, Betul, Chhindwada, Panna and Satna towns.
"Madhya Pradesh had 257 big cats in 2010. The number went up to 308 in the last tiger count in the country held in 2014. India’s track record with tiger populations has been encouraging. India is home to 70 percent of tigers in the world.
In 2006, there were 1 thousand 4 hundred 11 tigers which increased to 1 thousand 7 hundred 6 in 2010 and 2 thousand2 hundred 26 in 2014.
The total number of wild tigers has risen to 3 thousand 8 hundred 90 in 2016 according to World Wildlife Fund and Global Tiger Forum. The number is expected to increase in the new tiger counting, which started in January 2018 (Source: News on Air)


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International Tiger Day being celebrated today.

Myanmar joins International Solar Alliance - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Myanmar joins International Solar Alliance.

Myanmar on Thursday joined the India-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA), becoming the 68th member of the grouping that is aiming at optimum utilisation of solar energy.

Myanmar Minister for International Cooperation Kyaw Tin handed over the ISA Framework Agreement to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during a bilateral meeting here on the margins of this year's Delhi Dialogue, the premier annual track 1.5 event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc.
"Myanmar became the 68th signatory to the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted following the meeting.
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande at the Paris climate summit in 2015, the ISA was conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs and provide a platform to collaborate on dealing with the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach.
It is open to all 121 prospective member countries falling between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Kumar also said that the two sides also exchanged views on cementing bilateral cooperation.
India is a key development aid partner for Myanmar and is implementing a number of infrastructure projects in that country.
These include the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project connecting Mizoram with Sittwe port in Myanmar, the Trilateral Highway Project connecting India with Myanmar and Thailand and the Rhi-Tiddim road.
India is also offering economic and humanitarian aid to its eastern neighbour's Rakhine State in the wake of the Rohingya refugee crisis. (Source: The Business Standard)


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Myanmar joins International Solar Alliance.

World’s first International Centre for Humanitarian Forensics launched in Gujarat - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

World’s first International Centre for Humanitarian Forensics launched in Gujarat.

The world’s first International Centre for Humanitarian Forensics was launched at Gandhinagar in Gujarat today. It is a joint venture of the Regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in India, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives and also Gujarat Forensic Science University.
Inaugurating the Centre, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) in the Gujarat government, MS Dagur said, the state has always taken a lead in implementing innovative ideas. He said, the establishment of the Centre is again another move in this direction.
The launch of the Centre was followed by an International Symposium on Humanitarian Forensics. Over the next two days, international experts will participate in the symposium and discuss issues in the area of humanitarian forensics. Speakers from India, Ireland, Germany and Sri Lanka will speak at the symposium.


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World’s first International Centre for Humanitarian Forensics launched in Gujarat.

First International conference on Water, Environment held in Kathmandu - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

First International conference on Water, Environment held in Kathmandu.

An international conference on ‘Water, Environment and Climate Change: Knowledge Sharing and Partnership’ will start in Kathmandu from Tuesday.

The three-day event is being organised by the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, Govt of Nepal in association with the Society of Public Health Engineers Nepal (Sophen) and Nepal Engineers Association.
The basic objective of the conference is to bring together professionals, academicians,researchers,entrepreneurs, government and non government institutions to discuss and deliberate on challenges,opportunities and strategies related to water and environmental issues.
It will also provide an opportunity to various stake holders to discuss critical issues concerning environment and sustainable water resources management.
According to the organizers, more than 100 international participants from 20 different countries, including India, will attend the conference.


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First International conference on Water, Environment held in Kathmandu.