Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 3rd November 2021

COP26 Climate Conference:

The UK will host the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference from October 31 to November 12.

• This year marks the 26th Conference of Parties (thus the name COP26) and will be held in the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow.
• COP comes under the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC) which was formed in 1994.
• The UNFCCC was established to work towards “stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.”
• COP members have been meeting every year since 1995 (COP1 was held in 1995 in Berlin).
• It laid out a list of responsibilities for the member states which included:
  • Formulating measures to mitigate climate change.
  • Cooperating in preparing for adaptation to the impact of climate change.
  • Promoting education, training and public awareness related to climate change.
• According to the UNFCCC, COP26 will work towards four goals:
  • Secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach.
  • Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats.
  • Mobilise finance: To deliver on our first two goals, developed countries must make good on their promise to mobilise at least $100bn in climate finance per year by 2020.
  • ‘Finalise the Paris Rulebook’: Leaders will work together to frame a list of detailed rules that will help fulfil the Paris Agreement.

About UNFCCC:

• The UNFCCC was adopted in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, which marked the beginning of the international community’s first concerted effort to confront the problem of climate change.
• Known also as the Rio Convention, the UNFCCC established a framework for action to stabilise concentrations of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere.
• The UNFCCC entered into force in 1994, and nearly all of the world’s nations have now signed on.
• It is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. It is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

Bhasha Sangam Initiative:

The Ministry of Education launched various initiatives under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) to commemorate Rashtriya Ekta Diwas.

• The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat was announced by the Prime Minister in 2015 on the occasion of the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• The Rashtriya Ekta Diwas is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Shri Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
  Key Points
• Bhasha Sangam is an initiative of the Ministry of Education under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, to teach basic sentences of everyday usage in 22 Indian languages (Eighth Schedule languages).
• It is developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
• The idea is that people should acquire basic conversational skills in an Indian language other than their mother tongue.
• It is available on DIKSHA, ePathshala and through 22 booklets.
• Other initiatives launched include Bhasha Sangam Mobile App and the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) Quiz App.

Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat:

• It was launched in 2015 to promote engagement amongst the people of different States/UTs so as to enhance mutual understanding and bonding between people of diverse cultures, thereby securing stronger unity and integrity of India.
• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education.
• Every State and UT in the country would be paired with another State/UT for a time period, during which they would carry out a structured engagement with one another in the spheres of language, literature, cuisine, festivals, cultural events, tourism etc.

Ganga Utsav 2021-The River Festival:

The 5th edition of Ganga Utsav-The River Festival 2021 has begun which celebrates the glory of the National river Ganga.

• Ganga was declared as the National River of India on 4th November 2008.
• The event will also comprise, launch of the Ganga Tarang Portal, curtain raiser on Ganga Knowledge Portal and many more.
• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) celebrates the festival every year to strengthen the Public – River Connection.
• NMCG is the implementation wing of National Ganga Council, set up in 2016, which replaced the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NRGBA).
• The NMCG has been registered in the Guinness Book of World Records on the first day of Ganga Utsav 2021 for the highest number of photos of handwritten notes that were uploaded on Facebook in an hour.
• The Utsav celebrates the mystical and cultural river Ganga through storytelling, folklore, dialogues with eminent personalities, quizzes, displaying traditional artforms, dance and music performances by renowned artists, photo galleries and exhibitions and much more.
• It highlights the significance of Jan Bhagidari (People’s Participation) in the revival of Ganga, with a focus on encouraging stakeholder engagement and public participation towards the rejuvenation of river Ganga.

18th India-ASEAN Summit:

India participated in the 18th India-ASEAN Summit at the invitation of Brunei, the current Chair of ASEAN.

• The Year 2022 has been highlighted as India-ASEAN Friendship by the leaders.
• India-ASEAN Summit is held every year and provides an opportunity for India and Asean to engage at the highest level.

ASEAN in Act East Policy:

• The centrality of ASEAN in India’s Act East Policy and in India’s Vision for the wider Indo-Pacific Vision has been underlined.
• Welcomed the adoption of the India-ASEAN Joint Statement on cooperation for peace, stability and prosperity in the region, building upon the synergies between the ASEAN Outlook for the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).
• Recently, India also addressed the 16th East Asia Summit, where it reaffirmed India’s focus on a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and the principle of Asean Centrality in the region.

India-ASEAN Connectivity:

• Exchanged views on enhancing India-ASEAN connectivity in broadest terms including physical, digital and people to people.
• India announced its support for establishing the ASEAN Cultural Heritage List to further strengthen India-ASEAN cultural connectivity.
• Trade and Investment: The importance of diversification and resilience of supply chains for post-Covid economic recovery and in this regard, the need to revamp the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has been underlined.
• Rule-Based Order: Regional and international issues of common interest and concern, including South China Sea and terrorism.
• The importance of promoting a rules-based order in the region including through upholding adherence to international law, especially the UNCLOS.
• Covid-19: Highlighted India’s efforts in the fight against the pandemic in the region and also reiterated support for ASEAN’s initiatives in this regard. India has contributed medical supplies worth USD 200,000 to ASEAN’s humanitarian initiative for Myanmar and USD 1 million for ASEAN’s Covid-19 Response Fund.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN):

• It is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation.
• It was established in August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the founding fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Its chairmanship rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of Member States.
• ASEAN countries have a total population of 650 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 2.8 trillion.
• It is India’s 4th largest trading partner with about USD 86.9 billion in trade.
• ASEAN brings together ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – into one organisation.

PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP):

The Centre has constituted a 20-member Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS), which will be a monitoring mechanism for the development and implementation of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP).

• The Cabinet Secretary will be its Chairperson.
• The Members of this Empowered Group include Chairman, Railway Board, Secretaries of Road, Transport and Highways, Civil Aviation; Petroleum and Natural Gas, Power; Telecommunications; Coal, Mines, Chemicals and Fertilizers and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The terms of reference of Empowered Group of Secretaries is to review and monitor implementation of the Plan to ascertain the logistics efficiency and adopt framework and norms for undertaking any amendments in the Plan.
• It will also coordinate for any changes in the projects already included in the Plan, within the prescribed framework and norms and to set out a procedure and a definitive time frame for synchronisation of various activities for construction of roads, rail.
• Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that the Logistics Division will act as Secretariat to the Empowered Group of Secretaries for its Terms of Reference.