Current Affairs – February, 2019

India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative

India and Norway signed a letter of Intent for establishing the India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative. The letter of intent was signed by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India together with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative

During the visit of the Norwegian Prime Minister’s visit to India in January, India and Norway had agreed to work more closely on oceans by signing a MoU and establishing the India-Norway Ocean Dialogue.

Both the governments had agreed to share experiences and competence, and collaborate on efforts to develop clean and healthy oceans, sustainable use of ocean resources and growth in the blue economy.

The India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative is the first Joint initiative and it takes forward the commitments made under the MoU. The Joint initiative aims to combat marine pollution, which is one of the fastest growing environmental concerns.

The India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative will support local governments in implementing sustainable waste management practices, develop systems for collecting and analyzing information about sources and scope of marine pollution and improve private sector investment.

The initiative will also support beach clean-up efforts, awareness-raising campaigns and pilot project using plastic waste as fuel substitution for coal in cement production and developing frameworks for deposit schemes.

GeM and CCI Sign MoU

Government e Marketplace (GeM) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enable a fair and competitive environment in the e-Marketplace.

Combating Anti-competitive practices

Both CCI and GeM attach significant importance to the advanced analytical tools and processes for identification of malpractices like cartelization. Hence to pool their knowledge of the public procurement domain for detection of Anti-competitive practices GeM and CCI have signed a MoU.

Government e Marketplace (GeM)

GeM is a state-of-the-art national public procurement platform of Ministry of Commerce and Industries. GeM facilitates online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organisations / PSUs.

GeM provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users, achieve the best value for their money.

GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement and has used technology to remove entry barriers for bonafide sellers and has created a vibrant e-marketplace with a wide range of goods and services.

Competition Commission of India (CCI)

Competition Commission of India is a statutory body of the Government of India, responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002 throughout the country and to prevent activities that have an adverse effect on competition. CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.