1. Earthquake in Morocco

Current Context: At least 2,122 people were killed and 2,421 others injured after the strongest earthquake in a century hit Morocco on 8th September, 2023. 

About

• As per the United Nations, at least 300,000 people in the North African country have been affected by the quake.
• The US Geological Survey (USGS) said that the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, while Morocco’s National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network measured it at 7 on the Richter scale.
• This is the deadliest earthquake to hit Morocco since 1960, when a quake hit town of Agadir and killed around 12,000 people damaging the whole city which has been rebuilt since then.
• Morocco quake also damaged a historical mosque, Tinmel Mosque, in the High Atlas Mountains which was built by a medieval dynasty which conquered North Africa and Spain.

About Morocco

• Morocco is located in the northwest corner of Africa and is bordered by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Algeria and Western Sahara are the land borders to the south and east.
• It is the only African country with coastal exposure to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
• Capital: Rabat
• Official languages: Arabic, Berber dialects, French
• Currency: Moroccan Dirham
• Major River: Draa

2. UN Black Sea Grain Initiative

Current Context: On the sidelines of G-20 Summit, Turkey and UN officials are looking to reinstate the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative. 

About UN Black Sea Grain Initiative:

• The Black Sea Grain Initiative is an agreement among four parties namely, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and United Nations.
• This agreement came into being in July 2022 along with an accord between Russia and UN on the export of grain and fertilizer from the country.

Current scenario:

• In July 2023, Russia withdrew itself from the initiative citing the reason that the promises made during the proposal have not been met and it is still facing problems due to sanctions by the West. 
• Russia is facing trouble in exporting its own agricultural products and fertilizers. 
• The barriers associated with payment platforms, shipping, logistics, insurance are affecting the Russian exports. 

Significance of BSGI:

• More than 32 million metric tons of foodstuffs (especially grains) from Ukraine to the entire world.
• Almost 8 million tons of cargo containing life-saving food exports have been departed from Ukraine ports.
• More than 2 million mt of food grains have been exported directly to nations from Horn of Africa, Yemen, Afghanistan and Sahel region.

3. India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor

Current Context: Recently, in the G-20 Summit 2023, USA announced plans to build a rail and port connectivity mechanism, called “India-Middle East-Europe Economic Transport Corridor”. 

About the corridor:

• This corridor will comprise an Eastern Corridor joining India to the Gulf region as well as a Northern Corridor linking the Gulf region to Europe. 
• This rail and shipping corridor is part of “Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment” (PGII), which is a collaborative initiative by G7 nations aimed to fund the infrastructure projects in developing countries.
• Along with USA, 7 other parties namely India, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, France, the UAE, Italy, and Germany, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish this corridor.
• The corridor is supposed to fasten the trade between India and Europe by 40 percent. 

Key Takeaways from the G-20 Summit 2023

Adoption of the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration: 

• On the very first day of the summit, PM Modi announced the adoption of New Delhi Declaration, focusing on the idea of Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), the intent of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, and bringing the global attention towards problems like poverty and inequality, pandemics, climate change and their disproportionate impacts on the women and children. 
• The declaration further promoted the idea of strong, balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth and accelerating the progress on Sustainable development goals etc. 
• The G-20 grouping saw a remarkable development with the inclusion of 55-membered African Union as a permanent member. 

Announcement of Global Biofuel Alliance:

• Brazil, India, and the United States, as leading biofuel producers and consumers, will work together during the next few months towards the development of a Global Biofuels Alliance along with other interested countries. 
• This Alliance will be aimed at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, including in the transportation sector.
• The Alliance shall work in collaboration with and complement the relevant existing regional and international agencies as well as initiatives in the bioenergy, bioeconomy, and energy transition fields more broadly, including the Clean Energy Ministerial Biofuture Platform, the Mission Innovation Bioenergy initiatives, and the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP).

India-Middle East-Europe Economic Transport Corridor

• USA, from the stage of G-20 announced plans to build a rail and port connectivity mechanism all the way South Asia to West Asia and eventually to Europe. This transport corridor is recognized as “India-Middle East-Europe Economic Transport Corridor”. 

Incremental progress on Climate Change

• The G20 leaders agreed to increase world's renewable energy capacity by three times by the year 2030 and acknowledged the need to continue phase-down of coal.
• Further, a consensus was made to contribute around 4 trillion USD per year to pay for a green energy transition. 
• A “softer language” on Russia-Ukraine Crisis was provided by India to describe the Ukraine conflict. The countries agreed on the fact that no nation cannot grab any territory by force and highlighted the sufferings of the people of Ukraine, however, there was no direct criticism of Russia for the war. 

4. UK Makes Biggest Pledge For Climate Fund: 2 Billion Dollars

Current Context: Recently, the UK government made an announcement about their USD $2billion (£1.62 billion) contribution pledge for the second replenishment of Global Climate Fund (GCF-2). 

About:

• The announcement was made on 9 September 2023 by the British PM at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.
• Global Climate Fund is recognized as world’s largest climate fund. It was established in 2010 within the UNFCCC (UN framework convention for Climate Change). 
• The fund currently values around USD 12.8 billion, with more than USD 48 billion worth of approved projects. 
• GCF seeks to support the developing countries so that they could meet their climate change targets related to emission reduction and increasing renewable energy capacity.
• The headquarters of GCF is located in Incheon, South Korea.

5. African Union

Current Context: Recently, in the G-20 summit 2023, the African Union has been accepted as a permanent member of G-20. 

About African Union:

• African Union is recognized as a continental union comprising of 55 member nations from African continent. 
• The African Union was originated on September 9, 1999 in Sirte, Libya through the Sirte Declaration. 
• The member nations of the African Union represent around 1.4 billion people form the continent, thereby contributing to almost 17 percent of world’s population. 
• Collectively, the nations of the African Union have a GDP of almost 3 trillion dollars, thereby making it an effective and efficient trade block in the world.  

Some of the key objectives of African Union are mentioned hereunder. 

• To achieve a greater unity and solidarity among African nations and their people. 
• To defend the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of its member countries. 
• To promote the political and socio-economic integration of the continent. 
• To promote and defend the African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its people. 
• To encourage international cooperation.