India-Australia Circular Economy (I-ACE) Hackathon, 2021

In News

Recently, India Australia Circular Economy (I-ACE) Hackathon 2021 has been jointly organised by the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

About

• The concept of I-ACE joint Hackathon originated in the virtual bilateral summit between the Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Australia in June 2020.
• The Hackathon  is an effort to strengthen bi-lateral innovations in Circular Economy
• It provides participants with the chance to learn from industry experts, engage with like-minded individuals and create new ideas.
• It will enable the students and startups/MSMEs of both the nations in fostering innovative solutions for the development of a circular economy across the food system value chain with the aim of increasing the long-term health and resilience of the planet.
• Themes
  • Innovation in packaging reducing packaging waste
  • Innovation in food supply chains avoiding waste
  • Creating opportunities for plastics waste reduction
  • Recycling critical energy metals and e-waste

India and Australia Relations

• Diplomatic
  • India and Australia established diplomatic relations in the pre-Independence period, with the establishment of India Trade Office in Sydney in 1941.
  • The end of the Cold War and simultaneously India’s decision to launch major economic reforms in 1991 provided the first positive move towards the development of closer ties between the two nations.

• Strategic
  • Australia looks at India as an important partner in promoting regional security and stability. This led to upgradation of the bilateral relationship to a ‘Strategic Partnership’, including a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation in 2009.
  • Bilateral mechanisms include high-level visits, Annual Meetings of Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue, Joint Trade & Commerce Ministerial Commission, India-Australia ‘2+2’ Foreign Secretaries and Defence Secretaries Dialogue, Defence Policy Talks, Australia-India Education Council, Defence Services Staff Talks.

• Bilateral Trade
  • India is the 5th largest trade partner of Australia with trade in goods and services at A$ 29 billion representing 3.6% share of the total Australian trade in 2017-18, with export at A$ 8 billion and import at A$ 21 billion.
  • India’s main exports to Australia are, Refined Petroleum, medicaments, Railway vehicles including hover-trains, Pearls & Gems, Jewellery, made up textile articles, while our major imports are Coal, copper ores & concentrate, Gold, vegetables, wool & other animal hair, fruits and nuts, lentils and education-related services.
• Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement
  • It was signed between the two countries in September 2014 during the visit of the Australian Prime Minister to India.
  •   The Australian Parliament passed the “Civil Nuclear Transfer to India Bill 2016” which ensures that Uranium mining companies in Australia may fulfil contracts to supply Australian uranium to India for civil use.

• Defence
  • During the visit of India’s Prime Minister to Australia in November 2014, both sides decided to extend defence cooperation to cover research, development and industry engagement and agreed to hold regular meetings at the level of the Defence Minister conduct regular maritime exercises and convene regular service-to-service talks
  • The first-ever Bilateral Maritime Exercise, AUSINDEX 15, was conducted in Visakhapatnam (the Bay of Bengal) in September 2015
  • In 2018, the Indian Air Force participated for the first time in the Exercise Pitch Black in Australia.
  • INS Sahyadri participated in Kakadu, the biennial Exercise of the Australian Navy held in 2018, in which 27 nations participated.
  • The 4th edition of AUSTRAHIND (Special Forces of Army Exercise) was held in September 2019.

• Indian Community
  • The Indian community in Australia continues to grow in size and importance, with a population of nearly half seven lakhs.
  • India is now the third-largest source of immigrants to Australia, after the UK and New Zealand and the largest source of skilled professionals for Australia.
  •  India is one of the top sources of skilled immigrants to Australia.
  • There is a  constant flow of students and tourists from India.
  •  The growing significance of the community is reflected in the large-scale celebration of Indian festivals in Australia, especially Deepawali.

Source :PIB