The Daily Brief – 16th December 2019

Around 73 countries have joined the Climate Ambition Alliance (CAA), which is led by Chile at the CAA was launched at the Climate Action Summit, New York in 2019. Both Chile and United Kingdom will work together to mobilize additional actors to join the alliance and also towards COP26 that is to be held in November 2020 at Glasgow, UK. The CAA will focus on Nationally Determined Contributions in order to achieve Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050.

Time Magazine has announced Greta Thunberg (16), a Swedish climate crisis activist, as the Person of the Year. Thunberg was recognized for starting an environmental campaign in August 2018, which became a global movement, initially skipping school and camping out in front of the Swedish Parliament to demand action. Others, who were recognized by the Time Magazine for the year 2019 are: Athlete of the Year – US Women’s Soccer Team, Guardians of the Year – the US Public Servants, Entertainer of the Year – Singer Lizzo and Business Person of the Year – Disney CEO Bob Iger.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Nasscom Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a common 24×7 helpline number and a mobile application ‘Food Donation in India’ to donate food to the needy and prevent food wastage. Initially, the network of 81 such organizations across India, known as Indian Food Sharing Alliance (IFSA), will be a part of the platform.

UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) announced that it will train school teachers and enable them to adopt technology in classrooms in cooperation with Dell India for the ‘Dell Aarambh’ programme. The programme will aid in the Government of India’s step of introducing Artificial Intelligence as a subject in school.

The Union Cabinet gave its approval to authorize the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to set up the Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT), as per the guidelines issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). It was proposed by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

International Universal Health Coverage Day is observed every year on 12^th December across the world to call for strong and equitable health systems that leave no one behind. The day is promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO). The day aims to raise awareness of the need for strong and resilient health systems and universal health coverage with multi-stakeholder partners. The theme for the UHC Day 2019 campaign is ‘Keep the promise.’

Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (IC) Prahlad Singh Patel in New Delhi, launched the Indian Culture web portal “http://www.indian culture.gov.in“, where knowledge and cultural resources of various organizations of the Ministry of Culture are available in the public domain on a single platform. The Indian Culture portal was envisioned by the Union Ministry of Culture and was developed by a team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the signing of the Agreement on Social Security between the Republic of India and the Federative Republic of Brazil on 11^th December, 2019. It aims to protect the interests of Indian professionals and skilled workers working abroad for short durations and enhance the competitiveness of Indian companies. The agreement would promote the inclusiveness and equity for the Indians living in Brazil and vice versa.