Current Affairs - International Organizations

India has signed the Host Country Agreement (HCA) for the establishment of an Area Office & Innovation Centre of ITU in New Delhi on 3rd March 2022.

• The agreement was signed in a virtual ceremony during the World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly-20 (WTSA-20) being held in Geneva, Switzerland.

• India has been elected as the external auditor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a prestigious institution that promotes peaceful use of nuclear energy, for a period of six years from 2022 to 2027 after beating Germany and the United Kingdom among other counties.
• India's Comptroller and Auditor General GC Murmu was selected as the external auditor of IAEA.

On 16th September 2021, the G-33 Virtual Informal Ministerial Meeting was organized by Indonesia to discuss the Agricultural Priority Issues of G33 and the Way Forward for the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC-12) scheduled to be held from 30th November to 3rd December 2021.

• The Informal Ministerial Meeting was chaired by the Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Muhammad Lutfi.
• Director General of WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala delivered the Keynote Remarks.
• Out of a total of 47 G-33 Members, representatives from 21 Member countries, including India, took the floor to make brief intervention.

• On 28^th June, 2020, the World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved USD 500 million Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program (STARS) to improve quality and governance of school education in six Indian states.

• Recently, USA threatened to cut US funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO), saying the international group had “missed the call” on the coronavirus pandemic.

The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), launched in December, 2018, started working in India linking all the coastal radar chains of the countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

• Recently, the Indian Prime Minister attended the 5^th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held between 4 -6 September in Vladivostok, Russia.

• On 16^th July, 2019, Palau signed the International Solar Alliance (ISA)Framework Agreement, becoming the 76th country to sign the ISA Framework Agreement.