1) India, US agree to deepen cooperation in maritime sector
- Current Affairs India and the United States have agreed to deepen the scope of cooperation in the maritime sector. The American ports have evinced keen interest in comprehensive port-led development, especially the ambitious Sagarmala programme.
- According to the Ministry of shipping, 150 projects under this programme have the potential of mobilizing 50-60 Billion US Dollars of infrastructure investment and another 100 Billion US Dollars of investment for promoting industrial growth.
2) India and WHO tie up for promotion of Yoga, Ayurveda
- The Ministry of AYUSH has signed an agreement with World Health Organisation for promotion of traditional Indian systems of medicine, including Yoga and Ayurveda, globally.
- In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik said as per the agreement, India has assigned activities to WHO for developing technical documents under four categories. The four categories include benchmarks for training in Yoga, Ayurveda, Unani medicine and Panchkarma.
- Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Ajit M Sharan and Assistant Director General, Health Systems and Innovations, WHO, Marie Kieny, had signed the `Project Collaboration Agreement` in Geneva on May 13, 2016.
- The agreement seeks to achieve cooperation in promoting "quality, safety and effectiveness of service provision in traditional and complementary medicine.
- It also aims to support WHO in the development and implementation of `WHO Traditional and Complementary Medicine Strategy: 2014-2023` and will contribute to the global promotion of traditional Indian systems of medicine.
3)India and Bangladesh jointly inaugurated check post
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on 21st July jointly inaugurated the Petrapole Integrated Check Post through video-conferencing, in which West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also participated from Kolkata.
- Petrapole ICP is the second ICP on the India-Bangladesh border after the Agartala ICP at the Agartala (India)-Akhaura (Bangladesh) land border. It will also be the biggest land port in South Asia.
- More than 50 percent of the India-Bangladesh trade passes through Petrapole. Trade worth more than Rs. 15,000 crores takes place through the Petrapole ICP, which is more than all the other Indian Land Ports and Land Customs Stations put together. Approximately 15 lakh people and 150,000 trucks cross Petrapole-Benapole every year.
- The Petrapole ICP will provide better facilities for effective and efficient discharge of functions such as security, immigration, customs, quarantine, etc, while also providing support facilities for smooth cross-border movement of persons, goods and transport.