The Daily Brief – 13th November 2019

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar represented India at the 8^th session of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in Rome, Italy. Popularly known as the International Seed Treaty, it was signed in 2001 and came into force on 29^th June, 2004. Since 2006, it has its own governing body under the aegis of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), which met for the first time in Madrid in June 2006.

Sri Lanka has become the first South Asian nation to criminalize offences related to match-fixing after the Parliament passed all the three readings of the “Prevention of Offences Related to Sports” Bill on 11^th November, 2019. As per it, offences related to corruption in sports will carry a prison term of up to 10 years and various fines.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Secretary General Vladimir Norov announced that the 19^th Council of Heads of Government of the SCO in 2020 will be hosted by India. It is the first high level meeting of the eight-member grouping to be organised by New Delhi after India’s admission into the grouping in 2017. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter entered into force on 19^th September, 2003. Members of the SCO are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

President Ram Nath Kovind on 12^th November, 2019 approved the imposition of President’s rule in Maharashtra under Article 356(1) after the state governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari made a recommendation to that effect, citing his unsuccessful efforts in forming government in the state. The newly-elected Maharashtra assembly will be kept under suspended animation for now, and can be revived and the President’s rule will be lifted when some party would be in a position to offer a stable government.

The Public Service Broadcasting Day is observed across India on 12^th November every year to commemorate the first and last visit of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi to the studio of the All India Radio, Delhi in 1947 to address the displaced people from Pakistan, who were temporarily settled in Kurukshetra, Haryana after the partition of the Indian subcontinent. The day was declared as the Jan Prasaran Diwas (Public Service Broadcasting Day) in 2000, after it was conceptualised by Suhas Borker, the Convenor of Jan Prasar.

The 550^th birth anniversary of the first Sikh guru and founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev is being celebrated on 12^th November as Prakash Parv. Guru Nanak Dev was a philosopher, social reformer, thinker and poet. President Ram Nath Kovind will take part in the festivities at Sultanpur Lodhi in the Kapurthala district of Punjab where Guru Nanak had spent more than 15 years and had attained enlightenment.

Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi has been sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court on 11^th November, 2019. He was administered the oath of office by the Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit. He was working as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court. Sahi will succeed Vijaya Tahilramani who had resigned as the chief justice after the Supreme Court collegium declined her request for a reconsideration of her transfer to Meghalaya. After her resignation, Justice V Kothari was designated as the acting chief justice.

The Brown to Green Report 2019 is the world’s most comprehensive review of G20 climate action, which provides concise and comparable information on G20 countrries’ mitigation action, finance and adaptation. It is developed by experts from 14 research organizations and NGOs ad covers 80 indicators. The G20 countries are responsible for around 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 85% of the global GDP. In the G20 countries, around 70% of climate impacts could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5°C instead of 3°C. Australia was the worst performing country in terms of climate response.