HCS Exam 2020 Current Affairs: Conferences & Summit

HCS Last One Year Topic Wise Current Affairs: Conferences & Summit

Haryana Civil Services Exam

CURRENT AFFAIRS YEARLY 2020

Last one-year Current Affairs For HCS Exam: Conferences & Summit

1. India will host the G-20 summit in 2023; a year later than what was decided earlier.

• India was earlier slated to host the summit in 2022 as per the Osaka declaration of the G20.
• The G20 Riyadh Summit Leaders Declare that the next meetings will be in Italy in 2021, in Indonesia in 2022, in India in 2023, and in Brazil in 2024.
• The order of the rotating presidency is decided among member states on the basis of consultations and mutual convenience."
• India looks forward to taking forward the G20 agenda in 2023 after the Italian and Indonesian presidencies.

2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has co-chaired the India-ASEAN summit along with the Vietnamese Prime Minister Ngyuyen Xuan Phuc.

• During the summit, India and ASEAN have adopted the “ASEAN-India Plan of Action (2021-2025)”. 
• The summit will review the status of the ASEAN-India strategic partnership and take stock of progress made in key areas such as connectivity, maritime cooperation, trade and commerce, education, and capacity building.

3. India has chaired the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states on November 30, 2020.

• India has got the opportunity to host the meeting for the first time since joining the SCO in 2017.
• The upcoming meeting of heads of govt is an important event under the SCO framework this year.
• Economic cooperation will remain the focus area during the upcoming 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of Govt (HOG)
• SCO has eight members – India, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan
• SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov 

4. India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives held the fourth national security advisor trilateral meeting.

• The countries discussed maritime security cooperation. It was hosted by Sri Lanka. India was represented by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval
• India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka agreed to enhance intelligence-sharing to tackle common threats such as terrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering as the three countries revived their maritime security cooperation dialogue after a gap of six years. The last meeting was held in New Delhi in 2014.
• Indian NSA Ajit Doval, Maldives’ defense minister Mariya Didi and Sri Lanka’s defense secretary Kamal Gunaratne attended the meeting. 
• It was decided that the working groups at the level of deputy NSAs will meet twice a year to bolster cooperation at the operational level.

5. 35th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific

• The 35th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC 35) was held in virtual format due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. 
• The Conference was held under the Chair of the Host Country, Bhutan. 
• The Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Parshottam Rupala represented India in the conference. 
• The conference focused on regional priorities and issues such as COVID 19, the state of agriculture, natural resources management, food security, and nutrition.
• Bangladesh will host the 36th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific the in 2022

6. The fourth edition of the Global Ayurveda Summit, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) held virtually with the theme ‘Ayurveda For Immunity’. 

• The summit was inaugurated by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.
• The objective of the summit is to showcase Ayurveda and herbal medicine to the world as a solution named ‘Health as One’ and ‘Immunity through Ayurveda’.
• The Global Ayurveda Summit 2020 will have an 8-day International Conference, 30-day International Exhibition, and Focused Business to Business Meetings.

7. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will host a global climate summit on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.

• The National Government will be invited with their ambitious and high-quality climate plans.
• This summit is organized after an announcement that China would peak greenhouse emissions in 2030 and attempt to go carbon neutral by 2060.

8. India host- Quad meet

• India will soon be hosting the Quad meet involving Australia, Japan and the United States and the 2+2 dialogue with the United States. 
• The information regarding the diplomatic engagements was shared by the Ministry of External Affairs at the regular weekly briefing on September 3, 2020. 
• The Quad or quadrilateral security dialogue is a grouping of four democracies - India, Australia, Japan and the United States. 

9. Mekong Ganga Cooperation

• The 12th Mekong Ganga Cooperation Senior Officials’ Meeting held through video conference reviewed the progress made since the  MGC Ministerial Meeting held in Bangkok in August last year.
• The MGC is an initiative for cooperation in the areas of tourism, culture, education, transport and communication among the 6 member countries, which include 5 ASEAN countries namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, and India.
• The sectors which came under review include tourism, culture, education science and technology, traditional medicine and health, agriculture and allied sectors, water resources management, transportation and communication, and small and medium enterprises.

10. Indo-Pacific Business Forum

• The third annual Indo-Pacific Business Forum will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam capital between October 28, 2020, and October 29, 2020. 
• The forum is to be sponsored by the US-ASEAN Business Council, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, US Chamber of Commerce, and Government of Vietnam.
• The forum aims to provide a free and open Indo-Pacific region with countries that are independent, prosperous, and strong. 
• During the forum, the business leaders will discuss infrastructure, energy, market connectivity, digital economy, health.