Climate Adaptation Summit 2021

• The summit was hosted online by the Netherlands government recently.
• It will have a focus on securing new investments to ensure that millions of smallholder farmers can adapt to the stresses of climate on food production.
• During the event, the Adaptation Action Agenda (AAA) was launched.

Adaptation Action Agenda (AAA)

• It is an instrument to accelerate action on climate adaptation by promoting, guiding, monitoring and sharing experience on climate resilience, and building together.
• It offers an integral framework in which individual actions and coalitions are brought together to reach the ambition of a climate-resilient future by 2030 (as stated in the SDGs).
• Therefore, it is an instrument at the interface of adaptation efforts, ensuring cross-cutting resilience initiatives and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) observed the International Customs Day on 27 January, 2021.
• The theme for this year as given by World Customs Organisation (WCO) is “Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain”.
• The WCO Certificate of Merit was awarded during the event.

World Customs Organization (WCO)

• It was established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC).
• It is an independent intergovernmental organization whose primary mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations worldwide.
• It is the only intergovernmental organization specialized in Customs matters.
• The WCO established its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium in 1952.
• It currently represents 183 Members across the globe at all stages of social and economic development.
• The WCO provides an ideal forum for Customs administrations and their stakeholders to hold in-depth discussions, exchange experiences, and share best practices on a range of international Customs and trade issues.

• Shri Hardeep S Puri, MoS, (I/C), Housing and Urban Affairs recently presided over the Garlanding ceremony of the statue of Bharat Ratna Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant at Pandit Pant Marg, New Delhi.

Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant

• He was the Premier of United Provinces (1937 - 1939).
• He was also the First Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (1946 -1954) and Union Home Minister (1955 - 1961).
• He was a recipient of the highest civilian award for Public Service, the Bharat Ratna in 1957.
• Pandit Pant was born in Almora, Uttarakhand and graduated as BA(LLB) from Muir College, Allahabad University where he was awarded the Lumsden Medal for academic excellence.
• Together with Pandit Badri Durr Pande, he started a weekly paper called ‘Shakti’. 
• Post-Independence, he became the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with leading policy priorities like abolishing the zamindari system, forest conservation, women’s rights, economic stability, and safeguarding the livelihoods of the most vulnerable groups.
• He later on also shouldered the responsibilities as Union Home Minister, focusing on the democratic empowerment of Indian citizens.

• The Framework for Strategic Partnership between the International Energy Agency (IEA) members and the Government of India was signed recently.
• The development comes at a time when international energy markets have been volatile and amid rising tensions between China and India, the world’s second- and third-largest crude oil importers.

Strategic Partnership Framework

• It will strengthen mutual trust and cooperation & enhance global energy security, stability and sustainability.
• This partnership will lead to an extensive exchange of knowledge and would be a stepping stone towards India becoming a full member of the IEA.
• The contents of the Strategic partnership will be jointly decided by IEA members and India.

• India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti, has recently said that the UN Security Council is finding itself unable to act effectively to address issues of international peace and security due to its lack of inclusivity.

Intergovernmental Negotiations framework (IGN)

• It is a group of nation-states working within the United Nations to further reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
• It has been nearly 13 years after the start of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) but it has made no progress.
• India, along with Brazil, Japan and Germany are pressing for urgent reform of the U.N. Security Council and for a permanent seat in the reformed 15-member top organ of the world body.

National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR)

• It is a flagship initiative of Geological Survey of India.
• It aims at integrating the collected data by GSI and the similar organizations to build a repository on the digital medium entailing multiple user access.
• The planned Baseline Geoscience Data Collection campaign would also lead to a huge database, which will be the primary inputs for future exploration programs.
• GSI is in consultation with Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG-N), a national institute under Ministry of Information & Technology for development of NGDR.

Investment Trends Monitor Report

• It issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
• According to the report global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) collapsed in 2020 by 42% to an estimated USD 859 billion from USD 1.5 trillion in 2019.
• India witnessed a 13% year-on-year rise, the highest among key nations, in FDI inflows in 2020, China’s rose by 4%.
• In 2020, schemes like production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for electronics manufacturing, have been notified to attract foreign investments.
• Other Reports Published by UNCTAD are as follows,

1. Trade and Development Report
2. World Investment Report
3. The Least Developed Countries Report
4. Information and Economy Report
5. Technology and Innovation Report
6. Commodities and Development Report.

The Inequality Virus Report

• Recently, Oxfam International has released a report titled ‘The Inequality Virus’.
• The report has found that the Covid pandemic deeply exacerbated existing inequalities in India and around the world.
• The report highlighted that as the pandemic stalled the economy, forcing millions of poor Indians out of jobs, the richest billionaires in India increased their wealth by 35 per cent.
• The report stated that the wealth of Indian billionaires increased by 35 per cent during the lockdown and by 90 per cent since 2009 to $422.9 billion ranking India sixth in the world after US, China, Germany, Russia and France.
• The Oxfam calculations found that the increase in wealth of the top 11 billionaires of India during the pandemic could sustain the NREGS scheme for 10 years or the health ministry for 10 years.

Silo Seismic Survey

• Recently, a central advisory board on archaeology approved the project proposal submitted by CSIR – National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa to study the sediments and determine origin of Ram Setu.
• Broadly, the explorers will apply a number of scientific techniques while attempting to date the Ram Setu, they are as follows
• Side scan SONAR – It will provide bathymetry which is similar to studying topography of a structure on land.
• Soundwaves signals will be sent to the structure which will provide an outline of the physical structure of the Ram Setu.
• Silo seismic survey – Under this technique Mild earthquake-like tremor shocks will be sent at shallow depths close to the structure.
• These energised shockwaves are capable of penetrating into the structure.
• The reflected or refracted signals will be captured by instruments that will provide sub-surface structure.

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

• Under “traditional partnership firm”, every partner is liable, jointly with all the other partners and also severally for all acts of the firm done while he is a partner.
• Under LLP structure, liability of the partner is limited to his agreed contribution.
• Thus, individual partners are shielded from joint liability created by another partner’s wrongful acts or misconduct.
• Recently, the Company Law Committee (CLC) has recommended that 12 offences under the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act 2008 be decriminalised.
• LLPs which are currently not allowed to issue debt securities, now would be allowed to issue Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) to raise funds with the aim of improving ease of doing business for LLP firms.
• Registrar of Companies (ROC) appointed under Section 609 of the Companies Act covering the various States and Union Territories are vested with the primary duty of registering companies and LLPs floated in the respective states and the Union Territories.