India elected as Vice-Chair at the 12th session of FAO’s Intergovernmental Technical Working Group (ITWG) on Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) for Food and Agriculture (GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Why in news?
- In the recently concluded 12th Session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group (ITWG) on Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) at Rome, India was elected as Vice-Chair and represented Asia & Pacific region.
- Dr B N Tripathi, Deputy Director General (Animal Sciences), ICAR, and the National Coordinator, vice-chaired the Session and also act as Rapporteur.
Key Highlights of12th Session of ITWG:
- In the 12th Session of ITWG, implementation of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources, monitoring of AnGR diversity and preparing 3rd Country Report were reviewed.
- Further agenda points on role of microorganisms relevant to ruminant digestion, role of genetic resources in mitigating and adapting to climate change; access and benefit-sharing for AnGR; digital sequence information and potential implications for the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources were discussed.
What is ITWG?
- The Working Group, established by the FAO’s Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), functions to review technical issues, advise and make recommendations to the Commission and further implement the Commission's programme related to AnGR at global level.
India and Egypt decide to elevate their ties to strategic partnership
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Why in news?
- India and Egypt recently decided to elevate their ties to the level of strategic partnership with Indian Prime Minister and visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi vowing to broadbase the relations in a time-bound manner in areas of defence and security, trade, counter-terror cooperation and culture.
Key Highlights:
- They also discussed the cascading impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on availability of food, energy and fertiliser, and called for a ‘coordinated and concerted’ approach to deal with terrorism, including cross-border terrorist activities.
- Both sides inked five agreements providing for cooperation in areas of culture, information technology, cyber security, matters relating to youths and broadcasting.
- They decided to take the volume of bilateral trade to USD 12 billion in the next five years from around USD seven billion at present.
Elevation of Bilateral ties to the level of strategic partnership:
- The focus would be on expanding cooperation in four key pillars -- political and security, economic engagement, scientific and economic collaboration and wider cultural and people-to-people ties.
- On defence collaboration, the aim is to boost ties in areas of defence training, military exercises, cooperation in the field of equipment and industrial partnership.
- The Egyptian President previously visited India in October 2015 to participate in the third India-Africa Forum Summit which was followed by his state visit in September 2016.
- This is for the first time that the President of Egypt has been invited as the chief guest to India's Republic Day celebrations.
- A contingent from the Egyptian Army will also participate in the Republic Day parade.
Way Forward:
- India is keen to further expand ties with Egypt, a key player in the politics of both the Arab world as well as Africa. It is also seen as a major gateway to markets in Africa and Europe.
UNESCO designates Ukraine's Odesa a World Heritage in Danger site
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
Why in news?
- Recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had designated the historic centre of Odesa, a strategic port city on Ukraine's Black Sea coast, a World Heritage in Danger site.
- The status, awarded by a UNESCO panel meeting in Paris, is designed to help protect Odesa's cultural heritage, which has been under threat since Russia's invasion, and enable access to financial and technical international aid.
Why it is granted status of a ‘Danger site’?
- Earlier UNESCO inscribed the Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba, Marib in Yemen and Rachid Karami International Fair-Tripoli in Lebanon to its list of World Heritage in Danger sites.
- Odesa has been bombed several times by Russia since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
- In July 2022, part of the large glass roof and windows of Odesa's Museum of Fine Arts, inaugurated in 1899, were destroyed.
About Odesa:
- Founded in the final years of the 18th century, near the site of a captured Ottoman fortress, Odesa's location on the shores of the Black Sea allowed it to become one of the most important ports in the Russian empire.
- Its status as a trading hub brought significant wealth and made it one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Eastern Europe.
- The city's most famous historic sites include its Opera House, which became a symbol of resilience when it reopened in June 2022, and the giant stairway to the harbour, immortalised in Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin.
- Although the city suffered significant damage in World War Two, its famed central grid square of low-rise 19th century buildings survived mostly intact.
- Odesa was a key Ukrainian tourist hub before Russia's invasion. War changed all that, as the Black Sea became a battlezone. Sea mines still wash up near the city's shoreline.
