The 15th meeting of the Governing Council of South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) is going to be organised in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
India’s Environment Minister will represent the country in this meeting.
SACEP is an inter-governmental organization, established in 1982 by the governments of South Asia.
The objective is to promote and support protection, management and enhancement of the environment in the region
The member countries are Afghanistan , Bangladesh , Bhutan , India , Maldives , Nepal , Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
It also acts as the Secretariat for the South Asian Seas Programme, which comes under the purview of UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme.
The 14th meeting of the SACEP Governing Council was held in March last year in Colombo.
India has signed a MoU with SACEP for cooperation on the response to Oil and Chemical Pollution in the South Asian Seas Region.
G20 Summit
The 6th Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit of G 20 Countries was recently held in Tokyo, Japan.
India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla took part in the meeting highlighting the impact of terrorism on society and its significant effects on economy.
The G20 is an international forum that brings together the world's 20 leading industrialised and emerging economies.
The group accounts for 85% of world GDP and two-thirds of its population.
Much of the important business takes place on the sidelines and in informal meetings.
The annual G-20 summit for 2019 was recently held in Osaka, Japan.
The Osaka Declaration of G-20 leaders summed up the key outcomes of the meet.
The declaration welcomed the UNSC Resolution 2462, which calls upon countries to prevent and counter the financing of terrorism, especially in its new forms.
New Frog Species
Brown Blotched Bengal Tree Frog under the genus Polypedateswas recently discovered in the State of West Bengal.
It is unique since it is not discovered from deep jungles but from residential areas.
The name is derived from a series of six to nine dark brown blotches that extend laterally from behind the frog’s eye to the vent.
Its body colour is yellowish-brown to greenish-brown.
Aadi Mahotsav
It is a 15-day National Tribal Festival organised in New Delhi.
The theme of the festival is a celebration of the spirit of tribal culture, craft, cuisine and commerce.
It is organised by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED).
The objective of TRIFED is socio-economic development of tribal people by undertaking marketing development of the tribal products.
It serves the interest of Tribal people by ensuring better remunerative price for their Minor Forest Produce and tribal art and handicraft products.
Vigyan Samagam
It is India’s first-ever global Mega-Science exhibition.
It is inaugurated in the Science city of Kolkata.
Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Science and Technology, National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), Ministry of Culture have joined hands to organise this event.
It will highlight India’s contribution to the world’s S&T and innovation, and researches in the areas of high energy physics, nuclear physics, astronomy and astrophysics, nuclear energy etc.
It will showcase discovery of the Higgs particle, gravitational waves from merger of neutron stars and black holes, crucial questions related to the origin of the Universe and its evolution through its various stages.
ICEDASH and ATITHI
These two initiatives were launched by the Ministry of Finance.
It is for improved monitoring and pace of Customs clearance of imported goods.
It facilitates arriving international passengers by electronic filing of Customs baggage and currency declarations.
It is developed by Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs in collaboration with National Informatics Centre (NIC).
With ICEDASH, Indian Customs helps the businesses compare clearance times across ports and plan their logistics accordingly.
With ATITHI, it uses mobile app for international travelers to file the Customs declaration in advance.
