1. 5th India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Committee Meet
• The 5th India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Committee Meeting held in New Delhi.
• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Affairs Minister of Bangladesh Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen co-chaired the meeting.
• The last Joint Consultative Committee Meeting between the two countries was held in October 2017.
• It is the first high-level visit from Bangladesh since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina`s victory in the parliamentary elections in December last year.
2. Hindi included as third official court language in Abu Dhabi
• Abu Dhabi has decided to include Hindi as the third official language used in its courts, alongside Arabic and English.
• The move was aimed at providing foreigners better access to justice, without a language barrier.
• An estimated 3.3 million Indian expats live in UAE, and a large number of them are blue collared workers.
• The Indian community in the UAE constitutes 30% of the total population.
3. Australia government loses bill blocking sick asylum seekers
• Australian legislators have passed a landmark bill making it easier for asylum seekers, being held on remote Pacific islands, to get medical treatment in the country.
• This is the first time in decades the government has lost a vote on its own legislation in the lower house as the bill was passed with an opposition amendment.
• The bill is expected to sail through the upper Senate later this week after which it will become a law.
• Prime Minister Scott Morrison had strongly opposed the legislation. He said there is no form of the bill that does not weaken Australia`s border protection.
• Under Australia’s offshore detention policy, asylum seekers arriving by boat are sent to detention centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
• The country has long defended its policy by arguing that it stops deaths at sea and disrupts the trade of people smuggling.
4. Berlin International Film Festival 2019
• Information and Broadcasting Ministry, in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry, is participating at the Berlin International Film Festival, 2019.
• India Pavilion has been set up at Berlinale to showcase Indian cinema at the global platform and facilitate new business opportunities in media and entertainment sector.
• According to an official release, the Indian delegation met with Pascal Diot, Head of Venice Production Bridge, Venice International Film Festival.
• During the meeting, Mr Diot expressed his interest to work with India and International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The delegation also met Ms Hannah Fisher, Senior International Program Consultant, Heartland Film Festival, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
• Ms. Fisher talked about opportunities of future collaboration with IFFI 2019 and discussed scope of working together to showcase India at the Heartland Film Festival.
• The delegation from New Zealand Film Commission expressed their interest to work with India and discussed on taking up progressive developments regarding the India-New Zealand Co-production treaties.
• During the interactions, the Indian delegation explored opportunities regarding co-production with India and collaborations for films with international production houses.