SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES IN CURRENT AFFAIRS TAMIL AND ENGLISH PDF

JUNE 2020

Name of the Summit	Organized/Led by	Venue	Aim/Theme
Pan-India Real Team Market (RTM) in Electricity	Union Minister of State (IC)Power and New and Renewable Energy and Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship	Video conferencing	To uplift the position of the Indian electricity market in the era of few electricity markets in the world which are having RTM.
Virtual Global Vaccine Summit 2020	United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson	Virtual meeting	To contribute 15 million US dollars to Gavi. Gavi is an International Vaccine Alliance which co-ordinates vaccinations across the world.
India and Australia Virtual Bilateral Summit	PM of India Narendra Modi and PM of Australia Scott Morrison	Video conferencing	The two leaders discussed a range of issues including trade, defence, education as well as the COVID-19 crisis.
95th Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Annual Plenary Session 2020	PM Narendra Modi	Video conferencing	To develop a self-reliant economy by strengthening the determination of country.
32nd Virtual EAG Plenary Meeting	Russian Federation by EAG Chairman Mr Yury Chikhachin	Virtual meeting	To co-ordinate the provision of technical assistance for the Republic of Tajikistan, which included interim findings was also presented by the concerned officials.
India’s First Virtual Healthcare and Hygiene Expo 2020	Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)	Virtual meeting	To give importance and to boost Healthcare and Hygiene sector and create awareness about Healthcare and Hygiene in people.
Aatma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan	Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi	Video conferencing	To the migrant workers who have returned to their native places in Uttar Pradesh during the lockdown situation and have lost their jobs amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
Defence Conclave 2020 Gujarat	Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Gujarat and Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM)	Video conferencing	To strengthen the ‘Make in India’ initiative and thus increases defence manufacturing.
G20 Extraordinary Virtual Education Minister’s Meet	Union Minister of Human Resource and Development	Virtual meeting	To provided a brief review of the actions taken by India to boost education during this pandemic period.
49th Governing Council Meeting of NPC	Union Minister of Commerce and Industry	Video conferencing	To develop skilled labours in various sectors including logistics, agriculture, technology etc.

MAY 2020

Name of the Summit	Organized/Led by	Venue	Aim/Theme
Virtual summit of the Non-Aligned movement	Presidency of Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	To enhance the coordination of the member states to fight against COVID-19 pandemic
Online coronavirus global response International pledging conference	European Union	Virtual meeting	To raise funds in initial funding in global cooperation
Virtual meeting of foreign ministers of Shanghai Cooperation organization	Shanghai cooperation organization	Virtual meeting	To discuss the cooperation to fight against COVID-19 Pandemic
2nd G-20 virtual trade and investment ministers meeting	Saudi Presidency	Virtual meeting	To focus on immediate actions to ease the distress being faced by people globally due to COVID-19 Pandemic
73rd World Health Assembly (WHA)	WHA	Virtual meeting	To discuss global vaccine plan, polio eradication and tropical diseases and COVID-19 Pandemic
Webinar on “Revitalising museum and cultural spaces”	Ministry of culture, GOI		To celebrate International Museum day on18th May 2020
Meeting of the Heads of Tax Authorities of the BRICS Centre	Federal tax services of Russia	Video conferencing	To discuss the potential areas of cooperation in the matter of tax
Bamboo Conclave 2020	Union Ministry of Agriculture and Stakeholders	Video conferencing	To emerge as an economic power with the support of its Bamboo resources.
Tribal Livelihoods and Safety Conference	Union Minister of Tribal Affairs	Video conferencing	To boost the minor forest produce with value addition and marketing with the help of Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs).
Indo-Bangladesh	Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)	Virtual meeting	The vital role ofNorth Eastern region in order to boost the trade between the two countries.
32nd Commonwealth Health Ministers' Meeting	Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare	Video conferencing	Theme: "Delivering a co-ordinated Commonwealth COVID-19 response."
MSME’s E-Conclave ‘SIDM MSME Conclave 2020’	SIDM (Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers), CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) and Department of Defence Production	Video conferencing	Theme: ‘Business Continuity for MSME in Defence and Aerospace Sector’.
Army Commanders Conference 2020	Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane	New Delhi	The issue of border with China in Ladakh is also likely to be discussed in the conference.
22nd Meeting of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC)	Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman	Video conferencing	Economic reforms made in the country to combat the lockdown situation arisen due to pandemic COVID-19.
Digital Summit on Exports	Confederation of Indian Industry	Video conferencing	They discussed fall and rise in various import and export products specifically in the month of March, April and May.

APRIL 2020

Name of Summit	Organized/Led By	Venue	Aim/Theme
G-20 Extraordinary Agriculture Ministers Meet	Saudi Arabia	Video Conferencing	The meet was held to talk on the ways and means of ensuring continuity of food supply value chain including the livelihood of farmers.
5th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of the New Development Bank	-	Video Conferencing	Annual meeting in which major issue was the impact of COVID-19
2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting	Saudi Arabia	Video Conferencing	To discuss the global economic outlook during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
1st virtual 11th session of Petersberg Climate Dialogue 2020	Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Mr. Prakash Javadekar	Video Conferencing	To discuss ways and means to meet the challenge of reinvigorating economies and societies after COVID-19
BRICS FMs’ virtual meet	-	Video Conferencing	To accelerate the joint vaccine production and to combat the virus. In addition to this, to overcome the financial, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic.
Virtual interactive session with Health Ministers of member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO)	-	Video Conferencing	To discuss steps being taken to fight against coronavirus
SAARC health ministers meet	Pakistan	Video Conferencing	To promote regional cooperation in order to fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
101st Development Committee Meeting of IMF	-	Video Conferencing	To discuss the response on COVID-19 and the COVID-19 Debt Initiative.
Special ASEAN Summit	Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of Vietnam	Video Conferencing	To discuss steps for containing and preventing the spread of COVID-19 and to support people in the countries hit by the pandemic.
National Conference on Kharif crops 2020	Narendra Singh Tomar	Video Conferencing	To talk on the issues & steps that should be taken on the preparedness for Kharif cultivation due to the lockdown situation.
G20 extraordinary energy ministers virtual meeting 2020	Saudi Arabia	Video Conferencing	To discuss steps that should be taken for stable energy markets during COVID-19.
Indian High Commission (UK) hosts virtual meet for businesses	Association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry	Video Conferencing	They addressed the concerns and challenges which have created a greater impact, especially on the economy due to Coronavirus.

 

MARCH 2020

Name of the summit/conference	Organized/Led by	Venue	Aim/Theme
India Pharma 2020 and India Medical Device conference 2020	Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and fertilizers in association with Federation of Indian chamber of commerce and industries (FICCI)	Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat	To encourage innovation which will help to reduce the cost of quality healthcare to people
Pragyan conclave 2020	Centre for land welfare studies	New Delhi	To focus on the changing characteristics of land warfare and its effects on the military
International Conference on Nanoscience and technology	Department of Science and technology	Kolkata	To provide a platform for young researchers from India and abroad
5th National conference on the economics of competition law	Competition Commission of India	New Delhi	To focus on economic issues in competition enforcement and competition issues in digital marketing
Workshop on International Women’s Day	Department of Personnel and training	New Delhi	For creating reforms related to women
4th International diabetes summit 2020	Chellaram diabetes institute	Pune	To highlight different ways of diabetes management
64th session of the commission on the status of women (CSW64)	United Nations	New York, United States	To fight against human trafficking and other forms of exploitation
Indo-Thai workshop on steller variability and star formation	Aryabhatta research institute of observational sciences (ARIES)	Nainital, Uttarakhand	To strengthen Indo-Thai collaboration on astronomy and astrophysics
Wings India 2020	Ministry of civil aviation and Airports Authority of India (AAI) in collaboration with FICCI	Hyderabad, India	To focus on civil aviation industries
Virtual G20 Leaders summit	--	--	To focus on COVID19 pandemic and its implications on human and economy

FEBRUARY 2020

Name of the Summit/Conferences	Organized/Led by	Venue	Aim/Theme
INCCU Meet with UNESCO	Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’	New Delhi	To promote, preserve and safeguard cultural heritage and spread respect for all cultures.
World Expo-2020: Dubai		Dubai	To unlock the potential of each visitor while encouraging collaboration and presenting  opportunities for all to make a difference in the future development of humanity.
4th EAS Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation	Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)	Chennai, India	To serve as a platform for free and open dialogue among all the EAS partners on various issues of maritime security.
1st India-Africa Defence Ministers Conclave	Ministry of Defence	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh	India’s readiness to take the defence engagements with the friendly African countries to the next level.
India International Seafood Show (IISS) 2020	Ministry of Commerce and Industry	Kochi, Kerala	Theme: “Blue Revolution- Beyond Production to Value Addition”.
23rd Edition of National Conference on e-Governance	Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievance (DARPG), and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY)	Worli, Mumbai	It focused on encouraging and improving the delivery of public services by promoting the use of digital platforms.
5th Dhaka Art Summit	State Minister for Cultural Affairs of Bangladesh KM Khalid	Bangladesh	To provide a rare opportunity to experience multi-dimensional works of art from all across the world under one roof.
Global Business Summit		New Delhi	Theme: ‘Collaborate to Create: Sustainable Growth in a Fractured World’.
National Water Conference	Chief Minister Kamal Nath	Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh	To finalize the guidelines for the ‘Water Rights Act’ or ‘Right of water Act’ in Madhya Pradesh.
Conference on Combating Drug Trafficking	Narcotics Control Bureau	New Delhi	The platform will provide an opportunity to all the member nations to deliberate on the increased threats posed by drug trafficking.
FATF Meet in Paris		Paris	It focus on global action to curb terror financing and reduce the harm caused to people and society.
3rd High Level Global Conference on Road Safety	Government of Sweden	Stockholm, Sweden	To bring road safety on the global agenda.
National Organic Food Festival	Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and Ministry of Women and Child Development (M/o WCD),	New Delhi	Theme:  “Unleashing India’s Organic Market Potential”.
Sustainable Development Goals Conclave 2020	NITI Aayog	Guwahati, Assam	To take stock of the progress on the SDG and discuss and deliberate on the way forward for the North Eastern region on those issues.
“Central Asia Business Council”	Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)	New Delhi	For the sharing of ideas and the transformation of goodwill into practical outcomes and seeks to form a India-Central Asia Development Group.
5th India-Russia Military Industrial Conference	Department of Defence Production in the Ministry of Defence	Lucknow	To achieve the objectives of Inter-Governmental Agreement under the Make in India initiative.
33rd Edition of the African Union (AU) Summit		Addis Ababa, Ethiopia	Theme: “Silencing the Guns: Creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development“.
‘Engiexpo 2020’	Federation of Small Scale Industries (FSSI)	Vadodara, Gujarat	Over 10,000 industrial products will be showcased in more than 300 stalls.
National Security Guard (NSG)		Manesar, Haryana	To join hands to form a united front against the common enemy i.e. terrorism.
IFAD Governing Council 2020		Rome, Italy	Theme: “Investing in sustainable food systems to end hunger by 2030″.
Bio-Asia Summit 2020	Telangana Government	Hyderabad	Theme: Today for Tomorrow
All India Conference of CAT 2020	Union Minister for Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad	New Delhi	To bring a significant improvement in the disposal of cases despite the shortage of members in the Tribunal.
5th edition of Difficult Dialogues 2020		Panji, Goa	Difficult Dialogues 2020 will focus on the “State of Law”.
Ensemble Methods in Modelling and Data Assimilation (EMMDA)	Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)	Noida, Uttar Pradesh	To have a concrete discussions and deliberations on the present status, future prospects as well as optimum use of Ensemble Prediction System (EPS).
International Judicial Conference	Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi	New Delhi	Theme: "Gender Just World"
National Conference on Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience (CDRR&R) 2020	National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)	New Delhi	To enhance the understanding of the problems and solutions on different facets for coastal disaster risk reduction and resilience.
RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020	Government in partnership with Industry & Academia	New Delhi	It will focus on using AI towards social empowerment, transformation and inclusion and also in other key areas such as agriculture, healthcare, smart mobility and education.

JANUARY 2020

Name of the Summit/Conferences	Organized/Led by	Venue	Aim/Theme
Second National GST Conference	Chairmanship of Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Ministry of Finance.	New Delhi	To build synergy and to share their knowledge and best practices with the intent to bring about uniformity in tax administrations.
Kochi to Host Global Investors Meet	Industries Department of the State Government	Kochi, Kerala	The meet will also see organisers showcasing 70-odd other projects classified as large, medium and small in the  descending order of their capital investment.
World Future Energy Summit		Abu Dhabi	Theme: “Rethinking Global Consumption, Production, and Investment”.
Raisina Dialogue	Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation	New Delhi	A remarkable 40% of the Speakers will be women, emphasising our commitment to gender equality.
Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet	Indian Railways and Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL - a Joint Venture of Ministry of Railways & RITES Ltd.)	New Delhi	To disseminate information about the opportunities available under renewable energy in Indian Railways.
ELECRAMA 2020	Ieema (Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association).	Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh	To connect the world with Indian Electrical industry in respect of technology, new trends and innovation for future energy transition.
50th World Economic Forum	Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal	Davos in Switzerland	Theme: 'Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World'.
2nd Edition of NIC Tech Conclave-2020	National Informatics Centre (NIC)	New Delhi	A platform to the experts from the IT industry to share their expertise on various areas like Cyber Security, Hyperscale Architecture, Design Thinking etc.
10th Annual Meeting FEMBoSA	Election Commission of India	New Delhi	Theme: ‘Strengthening Institutional Capacity’.
India-Brazil Business Forum	Industry body ASSOCHAM, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.	New Delhi	To enhance and revitalize ongoing engagements and foster new areas of cooperation, the leaders adopted the Action Plan to Strengthen the Strategic Partnership between Brazil and India.
3rd Global Potato Conclave	Indian Potato Association	Gandhinagar, Gujarat	An opportunity to bring all stakeholders at one common platform to discuss issues and future plans involving everyone related to the potato sector.
World Sustainable Development Summit 2020	The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)	New Delhi	Theme: “Towards 2030: Making the Decade Count”.
Women Science Congress	Indian Science Congress (ISC)	Bengaluru	To provide a single platform for women working in different arena of science and technology to showcase their achievements and experiences.
National Traders Convention	Confederation of All India Traders	Ramlila Maidan, Delhi	The aim of this convention will be to discuss the role of the trading community in achieving a 5 trillion dollar economy goal.
5th Edition of the Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference (APDRC5)	Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)	Pune, Maharashtra	To promote the interaction of Drosophila researchers in the Asia-Pacific region with their peers in the rest of the world.
27th Edition of South Asian Trade and Travel Exchange Expo (SATTE) 2020	Ministry of Tourism, Government of India	New Delhi	To build new business partnerships and hence was an important place for the promotion of tourism.
5th Edition of “The Pulses Conclave 2020”	India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA)	Lonavala, Maharashtra	Aim at increasing exports, processing efficiencies, protein extraction, value addition and post-harvest management.
3rd Edition of North Zone Conference	Regional Outreach Bureau, Jammu and Kashmir region	Jammu	To strengthen the synergy between the Media Units in order to ensure last-mile delivery, while simultaneously brainstorm the use of new technology in communication.
International Summit on Women in STEM	Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology.	New Delhi	To boost the participation of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields for the development of scientific careers.
National Conclave on Emerging Opportunities in the Natural Gas Sector	Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan	New Delhi	Focused on CBG which is a great initiative that has the potential to generate wealth from waste, provide employment, protect the environment, and give a boost to the economy.
National Consultative Workshop	Ministry for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare	New Delhi	To strengthen agriculture and the rural economy as it will strengthen India to face challenges victoriously.

 

IMPORTANT NOTES-

1.The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 107th edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka from January 3 to 7, 2020.The theme of the five-day event will be ‘Science and technology: rural development’. The congress would also host various programmes like Women Science Congress, Children Science Congress, Science Communicators Meet and Farmer’s Science Congress.

2.The National Traders Convention was recently inaugurated by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi. The three-day event is organised by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and it will highlight the issues faced by the traders.On the second day, The Union Finance Minister participated in the event and addressed the traders. She assured that the Goods and Service Tax (GST) would be further simplified. Recently Government constituted a committee under the Revenue Secretary for rationalising the GST tax structure.

3.MILAN is a multilateral naval exercise, which is scheduled to be held at Vishakhapatnam in March 2020. The event was previously planned at Andaman and Nicobar Islands and then has been changed to Vishakhapatnam as navies from many countries are participating in the event.Nearly 30 international navies have confirmed their participation in the event. The theme of the exercise is “Synergy Across the Seas”. This event would help the navies to have professional discussions and learn the best practices in the naval arena across the world.

4.The World Future Energy Summit recently began in Abu Dhabi. The summit is the largest future energy and sustainability event of the Middle East Region, which is held annually at the National Exhibition Centre of Abu Dhabi.The theme for the 2020 edition of the summit is “Rethinking Global Consumption, Production, and Investment”. The event is to be held for four days and several thousand participants and exhibitors from across the world are expected to take part in it. The Climate Innovations Exchange and the Future Sustainability Summit are also organised along with this event.

5.The 1st edition of Krishi Manthan is being held at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Krishi Manthan is the Asia’s largest “Food-Agri-business-Rural Development” Summit. It is organized by the Food and Agri Business Committee of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. It is a platform for Business, industry, academia, policymakers and other stakeholders to share their knowledge and expertise.It is a 2-day event where more than 1,500 delegates including students, working professionals from Food, Agriculture and allied sectors would be participating.

6.Union Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, MoEFCC, MoI&B, Prakash Javadekar inaugurated ELECRAMA 2020 in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy (IC) R K Singh was also present during the inaugural ceremony.ELECRAMA is organised by the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), once in every two years. It is an exhibition cum conference in the field of Indian electrical industry. The event displays various products and technologies in the field and creates a trade platform between buyers and sellers. It also hosts various seminars for knowledge exchange.

7.The third Global Potato Conclave recently commenced in Gandhinagar, with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address through video-conferencing.Two Global Potato Conferences were organised in 1999 and 2008, one in every 10 years. The conclave for this decade is being organised by the Indian Potato Association (IPA) in association with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Shimla based ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute and International Potato Centre (CIP), Peru. The three-day global event will showcase the achievements in potato research and to set a blueprint for the decade.

8.The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is the annual flagship event organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). This year, the global summit is scheduled to be held at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.The three-day event was inaugurated on January 29, 2020 with the theme, ‘Towards 2030 Goals: Making the Decade Count’. The summit has been organised for 18 years from 2001, to provide a platform for global leaders to discuss climatic issues. This year, the event focusses on the global efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

9.The 15th East Asia Summit conference of the year 2020 is set to be organised by India, in the southern city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The conference will mainly focus on co-operation in maritime security and challenges in maritime domain.During the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Bangkok in November 2019, the Indian Prime Minister announced that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) would organise the next EAS conference, in partnership with the governments of Australia and Indonesia. As announced, the EAS Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation would be held in Chennai from February 6-7, 2020. This is the fourth EAS conference organised by India.

10.The city of Kochi, Kerala hosts the 22nd India International Seafood Show, after a gap of 12 years. The three-day seafood show has been inaugurated by the Governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan on February 7,2020.The event will provide a platform for collaboration of the exporters and importers of the country’s marine products and seafood industry. The theme of the programme is ‘Blue Revolution: Beyond production to value addition’. Marine Product Export Development Authority (MPEDA) organises the event in association with Seafood Exporters’ Association of India.

11.The 13th UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) (COP 13) is scheduled to be hosted by India in 2020, at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The COP-13 (Conference of Parties) is to be held from February 15-22, 2020.It was recently announced that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the summit. The theme of this year’s summit is, ‘Migratory species connect the planet and we welcome them home’.

12.The Government of India (GoI) recently announced a first-of-its kind summit, RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020,’, which is proposed to be held from April 11-12 in New Delhi.RAISE 2020 is India’s first Artificial Intelligence summit to be organized by the Government in partnership with Industry & Academic institutions. The Government also launched the AI-Startup Challenge and the event’s website.

13.The 19th edition of World Productivity Congress (WPC) is scheduled to be held on May 6 to May 8, 2020 at Bengaluru, after a gap of 45 years.World Confederation of Productivity Science (WCPS) has been organising this conference since 1969. The Congress was held in India in the year 1974, last time. It will promote the development of productivity science through global presentations, speeches and panel discussions.

14.The Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar recently inaugurated the 11th National Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Conference -2020 in New Delhi.The first KVK was established in 1974 at Puducherry under the administrative control of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore on a pilot basis. At present there are more than 700 KVKs across the country.

15.Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela-2020 is being organised in New Delhi by ICAR-IARI (Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Agricultural Research Institute) from March 1 to 3. The event is being conducted at the ICAR-IARI Mela Grounds, New Delhi.Bharat Bhushan, a 42-year-old farmer from Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district, has been selected for the ‘Innovative Farmer Award’ by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. Innovative farmers are felicitated during the event.

16.A 7-day Exhibition and fair named “EKAM Fest” organized by National Handicapped Finance Development Corporation (NHFDC) under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment recently began in New Delhi.The EKAM Fest is open for public from 2nd March to 9th March, 2020. More than 82 Differently-abled men and women from 17 States/ UTs have showcased their products at the EKAM Fest event. NHFDC has launched several initiatives in the fest including: NHFDC Swavalamban Kendra, Safe Cabs in Delhi and Indore Safe Drinking Water E Carts.

17.The 35th edition of the Food and Hospitality fair AAHAR recently commenced in New Delhi. The five-day fair is being organized by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) in association with the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA), Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries and some top industry consortiums.Over 750 participants from India and abroad will participate in the fair and display a wide range of food products, equipment and hospitality related products.

18.The Department of Pharmaceuticals (Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers) in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organising ‘India Pharma 2020’ & ‘India Medical Device 2020 Conference & Exhibition’ at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat.The theme of the event, which is to be held from March 5th to 7th is: “India Pharma: Meeting Challenges of Affordable and Quality Healthcare and India Medical Device: Promoting Affordable responsible and Quality Medical Device for Universal Health Care”.

19.Union Ministry of Women and Child Development organised a discussion on “The Future of Work: Women in India’s Workforce”, in association with World Bank in New Delhi. Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated the programme along with Dr. Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Country Director India, World Bank.As a part of events to celebrate International Women’s Day 2020, this programme is organised to honour the achievements of women in business, public, private and social organisations.

20.The three-day conference called ‘Conference on Empowering Women Entrepreneurs’ has been organised by the Union Ministry of MSME in collaboration with various industry bodies like FICCI-flo, CII and India SME Forum, in New Delhi.Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the conference and a panel discussion on ‘Creating a conducive business Eco System for Empowering Women Entrepreneurs’. It was participated by more than 300 women entrepreneurs from all parts of the country.

21.‘World Cities Summit’ is a global biennial conference hosted by Singapore. This year, World Cities Summit (WCS) 2020 is scheduled to be held from July 5 to 9.The theme of this year’s summit as announced by the Singapore government is ‘Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Adapting to a Disrupted World’. Leaders from several governments and industry experts discuss on challenges in climate change, social shifts and technological disruptions.

22.The United Nation’s COP 26 climate change summit was scheduled to be held in the city of Glasgow in Scotland in November 2020.Amid the world-wide Coronavirus pandemic, the Climate change summit has been postponed to 2021. The British government announced that the exact date of the rescheduled conference will be decided later. This decision has been taken by the COP Bureau of the UNFCCC along with the UK and Italy.

23.Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan represented India in the recently held G20 Extraordinary Energy Ministers’ virtual Meeting.Saudi Arabia, which currently holds the Presidency of G20 nations, had called for the Energy Ministers’ meeting. It was chaired by Energy Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz. Heads of several international organizations including OPEC, IEA and IEF also attended the meeting. The meeting focused on measures to ensure stable energy markets.

24.The Chairmanship of the ASEAN group is held annually by the member countries based on the alphabetical order of their English names.In the year 2020, Vietnam holds the Chairmanship of the ASEAN group. The country assuming Chairmanship chairs the ASEAN Summit, the ASEAN Coordinating Council and related summits. Thailand was the Chair of ASEAN for 2019. Recently Vietnam chaired the virtual ASEAN Special Summit and ASEAN+3 Special Summit on Covid-19 response.

25.Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar represented India in the recently held eleventh session of Petersberg Climate Dialogue, along with is counterparts from 30 nations. Prior to this, the Minister also participated in an Indo German bilateral meeting through video conference.This session of the Climate Dialogue is the first virtual Climate Dialogue. The Petersberg Dialogue has been hosted by Germany since 2010 to provide a global forum for informal political discussions on climate negotiations and climate action.

26.An Extraordinary Virtual G20 Digital Economy Ministers meeting was convened recently to discuss the challenges posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.Union Minister Communications and Electronics & IT Ravi Shankar Prasad represented India in the meeting. Digital Ministers of other G20 member also attended the virtual meeting. The G20 Digital Economy Task Force COVID-19 Ministerial Statement was released which ensured global digital measures to tackle the pandemic.

27.The online Contact Group Summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) 2020 was recently held, to discuss the response to the prevalent COVID-19 crisis.Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the online Summit, which was hosted by the current Chairman of NAM, President of Republic of Azerbaijan. The theme of the Contact Group Summit was “United against COVID-19”. The event also commemorated the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.

28.The European Union and its partners co-hosted the Coronavirus Global Response International Pledging Conference to raise funds to kick-start the global fight against Covid-19, especially to manufacture a vaccine.The target set by the European Commission for the initial funding was €7.5 billion (8 billion USD). Several world leaders, individuals and organisations participated in the conference and pledged 8 billion USD together. Canada was the highest contributor with $850 million. U.S. did not attend the conference.

29.Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal participated in the G-20 Virtual Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting through Video-conferencing.The Minister also said in the meeting that India has provided medical supplies to over 120 countries to fight the coronavirus pandemic, out of which 43 countries received them as a grant. He also highlighted that India has been sharing the medical and public health capacity with them via digital technologies.

30.Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal participated in the Digital Summit on Exports organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).During his address through video- conferencing, the Minister said that he expects the decline in exports to narrow to 8-10 per cent in the month of June. In the month of April, 28 out of 30 major product groups have witnessed huge decline in exports up to 99 per cent.

31.Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal participated in the G-20 Virtual Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting through Video-conferencing.The Minister also said in the meeting that India has provided medical supplies to over 120 countries to fight the coronavirus pandemic, out of which 43 countries received them as a grant. He also highlighted that India has been sharing the medical and public health capacity with them via digital technologies.

32.Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal participated in the Digital Summit on Exports organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).During his address through video- conferencing, the Minister said that he expects the decline in exports to narrow to 8-10 per cent in the month of June. In the month of April, 28 out of 30 major product groups have witnessed huge decline in exports up to 99 per cent.

33.Russia, that currently holds the BRICS Presidency, hosted the meeting of the Heads of Tax Authorities of the BRICS countries.Though the meeting was originally scheduled to be held in Moscow, owing to Covid-19 restrictions, it was held through video conferencing. The Finance Secretary of India Ajay Bhushan Pandey represented India at the meeting. Possibilities of exploring areas of cooperation in tax matters and response of tax authorities were discussed.

34.As per the latest announcement from the World Economic Forum (WEF), it will adopt a new twin-summit format for its next annual summit.The flagship annual Davos summit is proposed to be held in January 2021 with a theme of ‘The Great Reset’. The 51st summit is to bring together leaders from across the globe either in person or for virtual dialogues. This year, the 50th WEF Annual Meeting was held from January 21-24, 2020.

35.The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs along with FICCI and two private healthcare institutes organised a webinar titled ‘National Sickle Cell Conclave’, to mark World Sickle Cell Day.Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda addressed the webinar and announced that the government has launched a new portal with registration facility, information about the disease and various government initiatives undertaken. The Ministry has initiated ‘Action Research’ project for helping SCD patients. A report titled ‘Stepping out of the shadows – Combating Sickle Cell Disease in India’ was released.

36.The US Chamber of Commerce has recently announced that ‘India Ideas Summit 2020’ is scheduled to be held virtually on July 21-22.The summit is organised by US India Business Council (USIBC). This year is the 45th annual meeting and will focus on geopolitics in the post-COVID world, technology trends and the future of healthcare, among others. Last year, the Summit was organised in Washington. It brings together scholars, diplomats and think tanks for high-level dialogue on key issues related to India.

37.Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani launched a special campaign titled ‘Empowering the Greater 50%’.This campaign is an initiative of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and its division FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO). It seeks to create an ecosystem to support women entrepreneurship and empower as many as 1 lakh women in India over the next three years.

38.Union Minister of State for Shipping (IC) and Chemicals & Fertilisers, Mansukh Mandaviya has recently inaugurated India’s one the largest first Virtual Healthcare & Hygiene EXPO 2020.The Expo has been organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the leading association of business organisations in India. This is the first ever largest virtual exhibition in India. The Chairman of FICCI, the President of FICCI, Tennis star P V Sindhu were also present during the virtual Expo.

39.ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) leaders have met during the recent annual summit held via video conference.ASEAN is a regional association with 10 member countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Brunei, Laos. The Chair of ASEAN in 2020 is Vietnam, which hosted the virtual summit, due to travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

40.The fourth edition of the Ministerial on Climate Action (MoCA) was recently held through video conferencing.India’s Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar represented the country in the meeting. It was co-chaired by European Union, China and Canada to discuss on the implementation of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

41.The fifteenth summit between India and the European Union (EU) is scheduled to be held on July 15, through video conferencing.Prime Minster Narendra Modi is to represent India. The President of European Council, Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen will represent the EU. The summit was supposed to be held in March and Indian Prime Minister was scheduled to visit Brussels, the capital of EU.

42.The 15th summit between the India and the European Union was held recently through a virtual mode. India was represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The EU was represented by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Charles Michel, President of the European Council. The leaders adopted the “India-EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025”, a strategic guide for mutual cooperation, over the next five years.

43.Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the virtual Digital Indo- Italian Business Mission on Food Processing’.The two-day event comprises of digital conferences, trade fair and B2B (Business to Business) meetings, which are being attended by 23 Italian companies. This Digital Sectorial business Mission is expected to promote the bilateral trade between India and Italy.

44.Saudi Arabia holds the Presidency of G-20 of the year 2020. It has chaired the 3rd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting recently.Union Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the meeting through Video Conferencing. The global economic outlook during COVID-19 pandemic crisis and G20’s Finance Track priorities for the year 2020 was discussed.

45.Union Information and Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad represented India in the G20 Digital Ministers’ Meet.The Ministerial meet is hosted by Saudi Arabia, which holds the current Presidency. The Union Minister called for digital platforms to be accountable and sensitive to the concerns of all countries in terms of safety and privacy.

46.India and the European Union are set to renew the Agreement on Scientific cooperation for the next five years, 2020-2025.This was announced at the virtual 15th India-EU Summit, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen led the EU. The mentioned Agreement was initially signed in 2001 and has been renewed two times in 2007 and 2015.

47.The India-Indonesia Defence Ministers’ Dialogue was held in New Delhi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh led the Indian delegation while Indonesia’s Defence Minister General Prabowo Subianto led their delegation.Both the countries affirmed to further expand defence and military ties between the countries in areas including technology sharing. The countries had signed a new defence cooperation agreement in 2018 for a comprehensive strategic partnership.

48.Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently attended the 5th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).A roundtable discussion was conducted on the theme ‘AIIB 2030-Supporting Asia’s Development over the Next Decade’. The bank had earlier provided a financial assistance of about USD 10 billion to combat Covid-19.

49.Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) organised the “National Digital conference on Ease of Doing Business for Atmanirbhar Bharat”.Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated the conference and said that the country is heading towards a complete digital eco-system. He also said that the government is aiming to cover the entire nation through optic fibres in the next two years.

50.Union Environment Minister of India Prakash Javadekar attended the 6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting.The meeting was attended by the Environment Ministers of the five BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa through video conference. It was chaired by the current BRICS President Russia. India will assume the BRICS Presidency in 2021.