The Daily Brief – 6th November 2019

The Union Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), in collaboration with IBM, has launched the “Skills Build platform” on 4^th November, 2019. As a part of the programme, a two-year advanced diploma in IT, networking and cloud computing, co-created and designed by IBM, will be offered at the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) & National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs).

Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) – 2019, a bilateral navy exercise between the US and Bangladesh Navy is being conducted in Chattogram (or Chittagong City) in Bangladesh. It is being conducted annually since 2011 in the Bay of Bengal. Exercise CARAT is a series of annual bilateral military exercises conducted by the United States Pacific Fleet with several member nations of the ASEAN in Southeast Asia.

The 6^th Parliamentary Speakers Summit of G20 countries was held in Tokyo, Japan from 3^rd November to 5^th November, 2019. An Indian parliamentary delegation led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attended the summit. The Group of Twenty (G20), founded in 1999, is a leading forum of the world’s major economies that seeks to develop global policies to address today´s most pressing challenges.

The ATITHI app has been launched by Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, to facilitate hassle-free and faster clearance by customs’ authorities at the airports and enhance the experience of international tourists and other visitors at the airports. ATITHI, which is a mobile app for international travelers to file the Customs declaration in advance, would encourage tourism and business travel to India.

Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Aditya Mishra has been appointed as the chairman of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) for a tenure of five years. Mishra, a 1989 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is presently posted as the ADG, CBCID, Uttar Pradesh Police. LPAI is a statutory body set up by the Land Ports Authority of India Act, 2010 on 1^st March, 2012 under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

ICEDASH, a new IT initiative for improved monitoring and pace of customs’ clearance of imported goods has been launched by Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman. ICEDASH would reduce interface and increase transparency of Customs’ functioning. It has been developed by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

World Tsunami Awareness Day is observed every year on 5^th November across the globe to spread awareness among people across the world in matters related to the dangers of tsunami. In 2019, the day aims to promote Target (d) of the “Sendai Seven Campaign”, which focuses on reducing disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services. In December 2015, the United Nations General Assembly designated 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day. The first World Tsunami Awareness Day was observed across the world on 5 November 2016.

India and Uzbekistan signed three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to enhance cooperation in Military Medicine and Military Education during the three-day visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Uzbekistan. Rajnath Singh held the bilateral consultations with his Uzbekistan counterpart Major General Bakhodir Nizamovich Kurbanov. Both the ministers also presided over the opening of the first-ever India-Uzbekistan Joint Exercise called Dustlik-2019.