(Current Affairs) India and The World | September: 2013

India & The World

India, the United States

India, the United States and Australia in the third week of May 2013 came together to develop new climate-resilient varieties of rice and wheat, two of the major crops in the world.The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will work in collaboration with the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) and India’s Vibha Agrotech.This collaboration will seek to develop new rice and wheat varieties having greater tolerance to drought and salinity Now, farmers can have more stable production in wake of sudden drought and salt water intrusion. The new technology will be first developed in Australia and India, but it will be made available to developing countries in South Asia and at world level where adverse climate conditions impact cereal yields, so that farmers could have a good harvest, even as climate change creates more unpredictable growing environments. The ambitious program is part of Feed the Future, the US Government’s global hunger and food security initiative.

India and Germany

India and Germany on 6 June 2013 signed an umbrella agreement on financial and technical cooperation in fields of energy, environment and management of natural resources.

This agreement displays the commitment of both nations towards strengthening the long-standing partnership between the two in field of development co-operation.

Earlier, India and Germany had negotiated about 723 million Euros worth projects in 2012 as part of a pact on development cooperation between them. The umbrella agreement was signed by German Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Cord Meier-Klodt and Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs Rajesh Khullar. Germany also made a commitment to support the expansion plans of renewable energy in India with one billion Euros. The Agreement on Financial and Technical Cooperation generally contains priority areas such as energy, environmental issues and management of natural resources.