ECI to host 10th Annual Meeting of Forum of Election Management Bodies of South Asia

Shankar School of Banking January 24 , 2020 322

NATIONAL NEWS

ECI to host 10th Annual Meeting of Forum of Election Management Bodies of South Asia

  • Election Commission of India will host the 10th annual Meeting of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) in New Delhi.
  • Election Commission of India will take over the Chair of the forum for the year 2020. On the occasion, International Conference on the theme ‘Strengthening Institutional Capacity’ is also being organized.
  • ECI will also renew Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation in the field of election management with the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan.
  • The International Conference is being organized with the purpose of sharing the experience of different Election Management Bodies, International Institutions and Experts. The international delegates will also attend the National Voters’ Day Celebrations in New Delhi on 25th of January.
  • The forum was established at the 3rd Conference of Heads of Election Management Bodies of SAARC Countries held at New Delhi in 2012.

16 States and UTs along with 6 central ministries to participate in Republic Day Parade

  • Sixteen states and Union Territories and Six Central Ministries will participate in the Republic Day Parade this year at Rajpath in New Delhi.
  • Start-up India, Jal Jeevan Mission and Financial Inclusion are some of the themes of the tableaux of Ministries and Departments.
  • The Walled City of Jaipur and Gujarat's iconic step-well in Patan and the 550th Anniversary of Sikhism Founder Guru Nanak Dev will be thematically showcased among the host of tableaux in the Republic Day function.

STATE NEWS

India's first e-waste clinic opens in Bhopal

  • The country’s first e-waste clinic is being opened in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. It will enable segregation, processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.
  • The e-waste clinic is jointly setting up by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC).
  • In the absence of a safe disposal mechanism, electronic waste at present is being disposed along with other waste.
  • The e-waste clinic is being started on the basis of a three-month pilot project. If this project is successful, e-waste clinics will be established at other places in the country.
  • That electronic waste will be collected door-to-door or could be deposited directly at the e-waste clinic. The CPCB will provide technical support to the clinic.
  • The most interesting aspect of e-waste clinic is that the clinic has been prepared in junk low floor bus. The bus is decorated with e-waste material from outside and inside.
  • A TV has been also installed in it, in which documentary films on the subject of environmental damage caused by e-waste will be shown.

CONFERENCE

Shri Mansukh Mandaviya participates in the Round-table of UNAIDS

  • The Union Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) and Chemical & Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Mandaviya participated in the High-level roundtable of UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) on the theme Access for all: Leveraging Innovations, Investments and Partnerships for Health at World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.
  • In a one-hour long discussion Shri Mandaviya stated that, “Health needs to be accessible for all and innovative technologies and solutions can play a key role, including in bridging economic inequalities”. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India and Tunisia focus on expanding bilateral economic ties, to work closely in multilateral forums

  • External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Tunisian counterpart Sabri Bachtobji during which the two leaders focused on expanding the bilateral economic cooperation and agreed to work closely in multilateral forums.
  •    Dr Jaishankar arrived in Tunis earlier on the concluding leg of his three-day two-nation trip to Niger and Tunisia.
  • The tour is his first outreach to the African continent after becoming the Foreign Minister last year. Later, Dr Jaishankar met Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi and discussed on expanding exchanges, especially between Parliamentary institutions and civil society, between the two countries.
  • Dr Jaishankar also met President Kais Saied and the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a fair, just and a rule-based global order.

North Korea to attend Munich Security Conference for first time

  • North Korea will send a delegation to the Munich Security Conference for the first time in the 56-year history of the top diplomatic gathering. A MSC Spokesperson confirmed that North Korean vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong would attend next month's event.
  • The announcement comes a month after Pyongyang declared it was abandoning moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. The self-imposed ban on tests had been the centerpiece of two years of nuclear diplomacy between the US and North Korea.

BANKING

ICICI Bank introduces ‘Cardless Cash Withdrawal’ through ATM using ‘iMobile’

  • ICICI Bank announced the launch of a ‘Cardless Cash Withdrawal’ facility from its ATMs. This service enables customers to withdraw cash from over 15,000 ATMs of the bank by simply raising a request on ‘iMobile’, its mobile banking application.
  • It is a simple and convenient way to withdraw cash without using a debit card. The ‘Cardless Cash Withdrawal’ service can be used for self-withdrawal when customers do not wish to carry the debit card. The daily transactions limit as well as per transaction limit is set at Rs. 20,000.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Meet Vyommitra, first Indian ‘woman’ to ride to space

  • “Young woman” named Vyommitra will ride to space in the first test flight of the human space mission, Gaganyaan.
  • ISRO unveiled its first ‘woman’ astronaut to an international gathering. Seated at a desk in a uniform and sporting her name on a custom-made ISRO identity badge, Vyommitra created a sensation as she introduced herself to ISRO Chairman K. Sivan and Principal Scientific Adviser K. VijayRaghavan at the symposium on human space flight.
  • The human functions required for space before real astronauts take off before August 2022. Two trial flights without crew will take place with a humanoid — the first around December 2020 and the second around July 2021.

SPORTS

Shiva Thapa, Sonia Lather, Hussamuddin assure medals at Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament

  • Former world boxing medallists Shiva Thapa (63kg) and Sonia Lather (57kg) assured themselves of medals at the 71st Strandja Memorial Tournament by advancing to the semifinals in Sofia, Bulgaria.
  • Joining them was Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg). He out punched Ireland's Kurt Walker 5-0 to make the medal rounds.
  • Former world silver-winner Lather (57kg) clinched a 3-2 triumph over Ireland's Michaela Walsh in a hard-fought contest to enter the last-four stage. Thapa, a bronze-winner from the 2015 world showpiece, got the better of Ireland's George Bates in his quarterfinal clash.

IMPORTANT DAY

International Day of Education, 24 January 2020

  • International Day of Education 2020 will be celebrated globally around the theme of “Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace”, including two key celebrations at UNESCO HQ in Paris and UN HQ in New York.
  • The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.
  • The 2020 celebration will position education and the learning it enables as humanity’s greatest renewable resource and reaffirm the role of education as a fundamental right and a public good. It will celebrate the many ways learning can empower people, preserve the planet, build shared prosperity and foster peace.

                                                                                                                                                           

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