11 February 2016 Current Affairs
Abhinav Bhushan appointed as South Asia regional director at international arbitration court
Indian lawyer Abhinav Bhushan has been appointed the regional director for South Asia in the International Court of Arbitration, which is under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The first Indian to be appointed as deputy counsel of the ICC earlier, Bhushan “will be based in its Asia offices in Singapore and will take on part of the role of the outgoing regional director, Sylvia Tee”. Bhushan’s appointment also follows the creation of an Indian Arbitration Group of the ICC, established as part of ICC India.Singh, a Member of Singapore Parliament from 1988-2006, is appointed to the leadership of one of 13 policy commissions under the ICC, which forges international rules, mechanisms and standards used across the globe. It brings together more than 300 members from 40 countries, representing multi-national companies, law firms, trade associations, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
India Launches National Framework For Malaria Elimination
“JP Nadda, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030 in New Delhi on 11 February 2016, which outlines India’s strategy for elimination of the disease by 2030. The objectives of the NFMEare to: 1) eliminate malaria from all low (Category 1) and moderate (Category 2) endemic states/UTs (26) by 2022.
2) reduce incidence of malaria to less than 1 case per 1000 population in all States/UTs and the districts and malaria elimination in 31 states/UTs by 2024.
3) interrupt indigenous transmission of malaria in all States/ UTs (Category 3) by 2027.
4) prevent re-establishment of local transmission of malaria in areas where it has been eliminated and to maintain malaria-free status of the country by 2030. The milestones and targets are set for 2016, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2027 and 2030 by when the entire country has sustained zero indigenous cases and deaths due to malaria for 3 years and initiated the processes for certification of malaria elimination status to the country.
The NFME 2016-2030 also defines key strategic approaches such as programme phasing considering the varying malaria endemicity in the country; classification of States/UTs based on API as primary criterion (Category 0: Prevention of re- introduction phase; Category 1: Elimination phase; Category 2: Pre-elimination phase; Category 3: Intensified control phase); district as the unit of planning and implementation; focus on high endemic areas; and special strategy for P. vivax elimination. An enabled environment and necessary resources would remain critical to realize the objectives in the pathway to malaria elimination. “
Uttar Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 2015 came into effect
The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Land Revenue Act, 2015 came into effect from 11 February 2016. The new code that unifies many Acts replaced at least 39 old land revenue acts. The new revenue act also replaced the pre and post British era British era Land Revenue Act of 1901 and Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act 1950. The Act will enable Dalits of the state to sell their land to non-Dalits without approval of the administration. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on 6 February 2016 launched this new revenue code booklet at a programme in Lucknow.
India, UAE sign nine agreements
India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 11 February 2016 signed nine agreements covering cooperation in the fields of currency swap, culture, investments in the infrastructure sector, renewable energy, space research, insurance supervision, cyber security, skill development and commercial information sharing.Sheikh Mohamed’s is the second highest level visit to India from the Gulf region after the visit of the emir of Qatar in March 2015. The UAE is the third largest trading partner of India after the US and China and also the sixth largest source of India’s crude oil imports.