The Daily Brief – 7th November 2019

The first ever BIMSTEC Ports’ Conclave, to be held on 7^th November & 8^th November, 2019 at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, has been inaugurated by the Minister of State (I/C) for Shipping, Mansukh Mandaviya. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organization involving a group of countries in the South Asia and South East Asia namely, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

India, on 4^th November, 2019, pulled out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal as it did not receive any credible assurance on market access and non-tariff barriers. The RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its six FTA partners (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand).

Kolkata students, at the 5^th India International Science Festival (IISF), achieved a Guinness World Record for the largest astrophysics lesson (45 minutes) and assembly of spectroscopes. Organized by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, the session was dedicated to Meghnad Saha and Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. The first IISF was held in New Delhi in 2015.

As per the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR’s) CREAMS (Consortium for Research on Agro-ecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space) Laboratory data on 4^th November, 2019, there has been a reduction of 12.01% in the incidents of Stubble Burning as compared to the same period in 2018. The States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab recorded a reduction of 48.2%, 11.7% and 8.7% respectively this year till date. Total 31,402 burning events were detected in the three states between 1^st October, 2019 and 3^rd November, 2019.

Rising Himachal Global Investors’ Meet 2019, to showcase investment opportunities and policy & regulatory environment in eight focus sectors to boost manufacturing and employment generation in the Himalayan State, is going to be organised by the Himachal Pradesh Government at Dharamshala on 7^th November & 8^th November, 2019. Minister of Commerce and Industry and Railways Piyush Goyal will also attend the event.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will co-chair the 19^thIndia-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M & MTC) in Moscow during his visit to Russia from 5^th to 7^th November, 2019. He will also inaugurate the India-Russia Defence Industry Cooperation Conference, along with Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov. He will also discuss the Agreement on Reciprocal Logistics Support (ARLS) with Defence Minister of Russian Federation General Sergei Shoigu. The India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) was set up in 2000.

Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik inaugurated the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) Igniter Complex at the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) in Pune on 5^th November, 2019. The HEMRL is a premier laboratory of the DRDO and primarily engages in developing rocket and gun propellants, pyrotechnic devices, high explosive systems and synthesis of high energy molecules. In December 2015, a high-level committee that investigated a fire accident at the igniter complex had suggested this new complex.

The Asian Development Bank has agreed to provide a $451 million loan to strengthen power connectivity between the southern and northern parts of the Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) in Tamil Nadu. The total cost of the project is $653.5 million, of which the government will provide $202.5 million. The ADB has been assisting in developing the CKIC, which covers 23 of the state’s 32 districts and 70 per cent of the state population.