India and World Current Affairs November 2016
India to Host 18th World Congress of Criminology
• The 18th edition of World Congress of Criminology would be held in India in Sonipat (Haryana) from December 15-19, 2016.
•’ The theme of the summit, organised by Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences (JIBS),’ would be “Urbanisation, Globalisation, Development and Crime : Opportunities and Challenges of the XXI Century”.
• The panel discussions will focus on critical issues pertaining to Extremism, Terrorism and Warfare : Mass Violence and its Impact on Society, Victimisation of Vulnerable Populations : Crimes against Women and Children etc.
India and China hold First High-I level Dialogue to Combat Terror
• India and China held their first anti-terrorism dialogue amid growing Indo-Pak tensions following the Uri terror attack on September 27, 2016.
• Both countries reached at ‘important consensus’ on strengthening cooperation in combating the menace and on measures to jointly deal with security threats.
• The two sides exchanged views on the international and regional security situation. They exchanged information on respective policies, systems and legislation to deal with terrorism, and further enhance their understanding on issues of major concerns to both sides.
Union Government Approved Agreement with Samoa
• The Union government approved for signing and ratification of agreement between India and Samoa for the exchange of information with respect to taxes on September 21, 2016.
• The agreement enables the competent authorities of India and Samoa to provide assistance through exchange of information.
• The information received under the agreement shall be treated as confidential and may be disclosed only to persons or authorities  (including courts or administrative bodies) concerned with assessment, collection, enforcement, prosecution or determination of appeals in relation to taxes covered under the agreement.
IWAI Signed Contract with DST, Germany for Designing Special Vessels for NW-1
• The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Ministry of Shipping signed a contract with M/& DST, Germany to design vessels.
• Its objective of providing safe, environment friendly and economical mode of transportation through National Waterway-1 (NW-1).
• The project would eliable commercial navigation of vessels with capacity of 1500-2000 tonnes. Phase-I of the project covers the Haldia-Varanasi stretch.
• The project includes development of fairway, Multi-Modal Terminals at Varanasi, Haldia, and Sahibganj, strengthening of river navigation system, conservancy works, modern River Information System (RIS), Digital Global Positioning System (DGPS), night navigation facilities, modern methods of channel marking, construction of a new state of the art navigational lock at Farakka etc.
