SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

(Useful for UPSC Civil Services Mains)

OPEC Meet

The 160th Meeting of the Conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) convened in Vienna, Austria, on 14 December 2011, under the Chairmanship of its President, HE Eng Rostam Ghasemi, Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Conference reviewed recent oil market devel-opments, as presented by the Secretary General, in particular supply/ demand projections, as well as the outlook for 2012. The Conference noted, further, that, although world oil demand is forecast to increase slightly during the year 2012, this rise is expected to be partially offset by a projected increase in non-OPEC supply. The Conference decided that its next Ordinary Meeting will convene in Vienna, Austria, on 14 June 2012.

International Conference on climate change, Sustainable agriculture and Public leaderhsip

A two-day International Conference on Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture and Public Leadership was held in New Delhi. The main objective of this conference was to bring scientists, teachers, researchers, economists, managers and policy makers from around the w orld on a single platform to discuss various aspects of climate change, sustainable agriculture and public leadership and develop a consensus containing a set of valuable recommendations, as a way forward for addressing the issues related to the future climate scenario, Indian agriculture and food security.

First Interpol Global Programme on Anti-Corruption and Asset Recovery

The first Global Programme on Anti-Corruption and Asset licovery for Investigators and Prosecutors (13-18 February,-2012) hosted by the CBI, was at-tended by 39 police officers, Birvestigators and prosecutors from various INTERPOL member countries from across the world, including Australia, Afghanistan, China, Hongkong, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, jfcrcenesia, Fiji, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Philippines and facia

The main purpose of the Global Programme was to enhance knowledge and skills of investigators and prosecutors in nc icing assets of mass corruption, and making effective use rf 1 egal assistance in international and trans-border investigations. Of India Dr. Manmohan Singh, UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, and former Governor of California Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Regional Anti-Corruption Conference for Asia and the Pacific

The ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific, and the Government of India, have organised this conference to help governments, businesses and citizens in Asia-Pacitic find holistic approaches to the corruption problem. On 28-29 September 2011, the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific and the Government of India co-hosted the 7th Regional Anti-Corruption Conference for Asia and the Pacific. 

First APEC Forest Ministry Meet

Forest Ministers from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum’s 21 member economies met for the first time in Beijing on Sept. 6-8, 2011. China’s President Hu Jintao opened the event in the Great Hall of the People signalling high level support for cooperation on forestry in the Asia-Pacific economic region.

East Asia Summit, Bali

The sixth East Asia Summit was held on 19th November member, 2011 in conjunction with the 19th ASEAN summit, where two new members, the United States and Russia, joined for the first time in the 16-nation grouping. In October 2010, ASEAN leader agreed at the end of the 17th ASEAN Summit to invite the US and Russia to join the EAS in 2011, which increased the number of ASEAN dialogue partners to eight. The East Asia Summit (EAS) is originally an annual gathering of 10-member ASEAN and six other East Asia countries, including Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

10th Basic Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change

The 10th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in New Delhi on February 13-14,2012. Inline with ‘BASIC-Plus’ approach, besides the BASIC’S Enviromnent Ministers, Qatar (as incoming President of COP-18), Swaziland (as Chair of Africa Group of negotiators and as a member of LDCs) and Singapore (as member of AoSIS) were also participated in the meeting as observers. Algeria (as Chair of G-77 & China) was also invited.

Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2012

The 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) with the focus on the theme “Protecting the Global Commons: 20 years post Rio”. DSDS 2012 is the first important meeting of global leaders preceding the June 2012, Rio+20 Summit.

EU Summit

The European Council opened its doors again to the political elite the 14th crisis summit in 21 months. A meeting of the bloc’s leaders is first, followed by a gathering of the heads of the 17 euro zone countries. In this summit held in Brussels, Euro zone leaders had reached a three pronged agreement - private banks holding of Greek debt accepted a loss of 50 per cent, approved a mechanism to boost the euro zone’s main bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), to about It Euros and recapitalization of European banks.

Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries

The Fourth United Nations Conference on the least Developed Nations was held in Turkey from May 7-13. The 10-year Programme of Action adopted at the close of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Development Countries gave new momentum to global efforts to improve the lot of the world’s most vulnerable, impoverished nations, Cyan Chandra Acharya, (Nepal), Chair of the Group of Least Developed Countries said. With vigorous partnership, it can help half of the LDCs (least developed countries) meet the criteria of graduation by 2020, a mutual compact between LDCs and development partners, aimed overall at erasing poverty, overcoming structural challenges, and promoting equitable, rapid, sustainable development in those countries. There are 48 nations on the United Nations-identified list of least developed countries. Building on the 2001 Brussels Programme of Action which, among other things, introduced good governance principles the new plan focused on increasing the productive capacities of least developed countries in such areas as infrastructure, energy, science, technology and innovation, agriculture and trade, while promoting human and social development.

G-20 Agriculture Ministers Meet

G-20 Agriculture Ministers Meet held on 22nd and 23rd June at Paris. The meeting was convened by the French Presidency, the current chair of G-20 countries in response to the growing concern about the food price volatility, particularly in the context of very high food prices in recent times and an assessment that the prices were likely to remain high.

5th Conference of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians

The Fifth Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians which was inaugurated the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi on 9-came to a close on 11 July, 2011. The Conference deliberated on two themes, namely r^olidating Democracy: Strengthening Trust between : anient and the People” and “Sustainable Development SAARC Countries: The Way Forward” in six sessions :ning over two days.

There was consensus on a host of issues in the Conference jod it was an educative experience for the Speakers and parliamentarians from all the SAARC countries to come together and exchange views on topical subjects of common concern for the South Asian region. Smt. Meira Kumar stressed that it was the onerous responsibility of Parliaments and parliamentarians to strengthen the roots of democracy in the region. She further emphasized that parliamentarians must work together to strengthen democratic values of protection of indi-vidual rights, Rule of Law, justice and to meet the aspirations of the people.

Smt. Meira Kumar expressed satisfaction over the Speakers’ Council amending the Charter of the Association to include at least one woman member in every Delegation to enable them to meet in the Forum of Women Parliamentarians of the Association on the sidelines of the Conference of the Association. Speakers and parliamentarians deliberated and came closer to work out the feasibility of setting up a permanent Secretariat of the Association.

58th World Statistics Congress

58th World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) was held in Dublin from the 21st to the 26th August 2011. The ISI has held biennial Congresses since 1853 and recent sessions have attracted over 2,500 delegates. Participants include academics, government and private sector statisticians and related experts from various institutes. The biennial meeting of the ISI is probably unique in bringing together statisticians from across the disciplinary spectrum - official statistics; business, financial, environmental and industrial statistics; surveying and sampling computational & mathematical statistics; probability and stochastic modeling and statistical education. Moreover, it brings together statisticians from both developing and developed nations to share experiences, expertise and challenges. The Scientific Programme of the 58th Congress .offered delegates innovative and stimulating topics with well-balanced presentations. The theme of the; Congress was ‘Sta-tistical Issues retating to Water and Water Quality’.

G-8 Summit

The G8 Summit 2011 was held in Deauville, France on May 26 and 27. On the agenda was security, development, climate, nuclear energy and the Arab Spring. This was 37th G8 Summit. The summit is a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult eco-nomic decisions. The G-8 has become a forum for political and strategic discussions, and as a caucus within the G-20. The summit brings together the world’s seven richest nations and Russia and discussions were topped by issues like the nuclear meltdown in Japan, the pursuit of hostilities in Libya, the Arab revolutions in Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia and elsewhere. The G8 is comprised of the eight main industrialised countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

15th World Sanskrit Conference

The 15th World Sanskrit Conference organized by Ministry of Human Resource Development and the International Association of Sanskrit Studies (IASS) in New Delhi.

During the six-day event scholars and delegates from around 32 countries deliberated on a diverse range of topics like poetry, drama and aesthetics, scientific literature, Buddhist studies, Jain studies, Sanskrit and regional languages and literatures, and Vedas.

World Economic Forum

The Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (25- 29 January) held in Davos. The Annual Meeting provided participants with strategic insights from each of the four thematic clusters- growth and employment models leadership and innovation models, sustainability and resource models and social and technological modela- with the development of a Risk Response Network among its defining legacies. The theme and vision of the summit was “The great transformation: shaping new models”.