19 Sep 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)
2. BRICS Tourism Ministers’ Meet
3. Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban (SBM-U)
4. World Wrestling Championships, 2022

1. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)

Syllabus: GS 3, Important International Institutions; Agriculture

Prelims – ITPGRFA, FAO, International Year of Millets

Context – India is hosting the 9th session of the Governing Body of the ITPGRFA, also known as the Plant Treaty or International Seed Treaty.

About ITPGRFA –

• The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted by the Thirty-First Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations on 3 November 2001. It entered into force on 29th June 2004.
• ITPGRFA has 149 contracting parties, including India.

The Treaty aims at –

• Recognizing the enormous contribution of farmers to the diversity of crops that feed the world.
• Establishing a global system to provide farmers, plant breeders and scientists with access to plant genetic materials.
• Ensuring that recipients share benefits they derive from the use of these genetic materials with the countries where they have originated.

9th Session of the Governing Body (GB 9)

• Union Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the GB 9 of the ITPGRFA in New Delhi. The minister said that India is committed to ensuring food and nutritional security for its citizens. 
• The theme of GB 9 is “Celebrating the Guardians of Crop Diversity; Towards an Inclusive Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”.
• Its objective is to highlight the contribution of the world’s small farmers to the effective management of PGRFA (Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture).
• The GB 8 was held in Rome in 2019.
• More than 400 delegates from nearly 150 member countries have come together during the six-day long GB9 to deliberate upon the ITPGRFA which oversees how the member nations exchange and sustainably use the world’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
• Major issues to be discussed –
  • Expanding the number of crops in the multilateral system.
  • Capacity development strategy.
  • Resource mobilisation, funding strategy and the budget.
  • Conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA.
  • Compliance.
  • Cooperation with other bodies & organisations.
  • Multi-year Programme of Work, which includes genome sequence information.
• On the occasion of GB9, India called for global harmony to use every available germplasm resource and also advanced technology to fight global hunger, and ensure food and environmental security.
• Also, during the GB9, FAO side event on IYOM (International Year of Millets), 2023 was held. The session laid out India’s plan for celebrating IYOM 2023 across the world to work towards putting millets on every plate.

2. BRICS Tourism Ministers’ Meet

Syllabus: GS 3, Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting  India’s interests.

Prelims – BRICS

Context – The Tourism Ministers’ Meeting of the BRICS member countries was held virtually. 

Details –

• The Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DONER (Development of North Eastern Region), Shri G. Kishan Reddy represented India and Tourism Ministers of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa participated in the meeting. 
• India had launched the BRICS Alliance for Green Tourism in 2021. It works towards a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive tourism sector.
•  The Tourism Ministry focuses on Cultural Tourism, Adventure Tourism, Rural Tourism, Medical and Wellness tourism and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition) Tourism. 

About BRICS –

• BRICS is a group of the world’s leading emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 
• The BRICS Leaders’ Summit is held annually. 
• The chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.
• The First BRIC Summit took place in 2009, Yekaterinburg (Russia). In 2010, South Africa joined the association making it BRICS.
• The 13th BRICS Summit was hosted by India, 2021 and its 14th Summit, was hosted by China in June 2022.

Read more on BRICS in the linked article.

3. Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U)

Syllabus: GS 3, Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation; GS 2, Govt schemes

Prelims – SBM-U

Context – Swachhata Startup Conclave – a part of SBM-U.

Details –

• The SBM-U is being implemented by MoHUA (Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs). It provides encouragement for start-ups in a bid to adopt locally developed, implementable business models in waste management. 
• Under the ambit of SBM-U, MoHUA had launched a Swachh Startup Challenge (Jan 2022 ) in collaboration with AFD (Agence Francaise de Development) and the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). It aimed to harness the entrepreneurship potential of the waste management sector in India. 
• Four themes were selected for the challenge – Social Inclusion, Zero Dump (Solid Waste Management), Plastic Waste Management and Transparency (Digital Enablement).
• The Swachhta Startup Conclave will facilitate the winners of the challenge (20th September 2022). The conclave will also include discussions on policy initiatives for promoting Startups for Garbage Free Cities, and sharing of success stories by entrepreneurs & founders of unicorns.
• The Swachhata Startup Conclave is being organised as part of the Swachh Amrit Mahotsav being conducted by MoHUA, from 17th September 2022 to 2nd October 2022 when India is celebrating eight years of accomplishments of SBM-Urban, and as a run-up to the first anniversary of SBM Urban 2.0 to be celebrated on 1st October 2022.

4. World Wrestling Championships, 2022

Syllabus: Sports. 

Prelims – World Wrestling Championships, 2022.

Details –

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi congratulated Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia for winning the Bronze medal at World Wrestling Championships.
• Vinesh becomes the 1st Indian woman to win 2 medals on this platform and Bajrang wins his 4th medal.

About World Wrestling Championships –

• The 2022 World Wrestling Championships was the 17th edition of the World Wrestling Championships of combined events held in Belgrade, Serbia. 
• The World Wrestling Championships are the Amateur Wrestling World Championships organised by the organisation, United World Wrestling. The Men’s Greco–Roman Wrestling tournament began in 1904, and the Men’s Freestyle Wrestling tournament began in 1951. The Women’s Freestyle Wrestling tournament was first held in 1987.

Read previous PIB here.

September 19th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here