Important Facts For Prelims (8th May 2019)

• 08 May 2019

Elections at International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)

• Jagjit Pavadia is re-elected at INCB for another five-year term.
  • She has been a member of the International Narcotics Control Board since 2015, and second vice-president and chair of the standing committee on estimates since 2015 and 2017 respectively.
• The INCB is an independent, quasi-judicial expert body established in 1968 as a monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug control conventions.
  
  • It has 13 members, each elected for a period of five years. Once they have been elected, INCB members serve impartially in their personal capacity, independently of Governments.
• Importance: India’s another victory at the United Nations including the most celebrated re-election of Dalveer Bhandari to the International Court of Justice in 2017. It shows testimony to India’s growing clout globally.
• The next big election where India is fielding a candidate is for the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

B2B Tech Start-ups Treble in 5 Years

A study jointly done by NetApp and Zinnov has found that in India Business-to-Business (B2B) technology start-ups have more than trebled from 900 to over 3,200 in the last five years.

Key Highlights

• The growth was driven by the spurt in the need for digital transformation of enterprises, financial institutions, hospitals, government and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), among others.
• 70% of the B2B start-ups are in the area of enterprise technology, financial technology and health technology.
• Within the B2B technology segment, ‘advanced tech start-ups’ have grown at a higher pace when compared to the entire technology start-up segment.
  
  • Advanced B2B tech start-ups typically deal in 3D printing, blockchain and robotic process automation.
• Bengaluru is the top city for B2B technology start-ups followed by Delhi NCR and Mumbai, with the three cities accounting for about 60% of all B2B technology start-ups.
• The study found that corporate incubators and accelerators are emerging as the backbone of start-up technology.

Business-to-Business (B2B)

• B2B is the exchange of product, service or information between two companies.
• Business conducted between private sector firms and Governments is referred as Business-to-Government or B2G.
• While B2C, or Business-to-Consumer, is the type of commerce transaction in which companies sell products or services to consumers.

Kalasa-Banduri Project

• Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd. (KNNL), is executing the Kalasa-Banduri project worth nearly ₹850 crore.
• The project aims to provide water to Belagavi and Dharwad districts of Karnataka.
• It involves the construction of dams and canals across Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river to divert 7.56 TMC of water to the Malaprabha river (a tributary of Krishna river), which supplies the drinking water needs of the said 3 districts, i.e., Dharwad, Belagavi and Gadag.
• The project was in a legal battle between Karnataka and Goa government over sharing of water of Mahadayi river.
• Nearly 4 sq.km of forestland of Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (eco-sensitive zone) is expected to be submerged by the three dams to be constructed across the Haltara, Kalasa and Banduri streams of Mahadayi river.

Two Indian UN Personnels Honoured for Sacrifice

• An Indian police officer Jitender Kumar deployed to the UN mission in Congo and Shikha Garg, a UN development programme consultant, attached with India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, are among 115 UN peacekeepers and staff honoured by the UN for their sacrifice in the line of duty.
• The lives of 115 colleagues who lost their lives between the beginning of last year and the end of March, serving the United Nations, were honoured at the annual Memorial Service for Fallen Staff, in New York.
• United Nations Peacekeeping helps countries torn by conflict create the conditions for lasting peace. It is comprised of civilian, police and military personnel.