ASSOCHAM organized Seventh Global Insurance Summit

Seventh Global Insurance Summit was held at Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh on 8 January
2014. The summit was organised by National Council on Insurance of Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
The focus of the summit was on the need for simplifying the insurance process and to provide
financial security for the masses in India.
At the summit IRDA advocated for a single policy covering all basic need of insurance which
would be more effective to increase insurance penetration in India.
Cost effective ways of distributing insurance covers would be key to success in increasing
insurance coverage among low income groups. Issuance of epolicies through insurance
repositories would reduce policy issuance costs significantly.

3rd Nuclear Security Summit 2014

Place: The Hague
Date: 24-25 March 2014
The Third Nuclear Security Summit was held in The Hague, Netherlands from 24 to 25 March
2014. The summit was attended by 58 World leaders.
The third NSS synergizes previous two summits without their backdrops.
At the Summit, the leaders agreed to build a robust Nuclear Security Structure. Besides, the
summit also saw the agreement on Strengthening Initiative wherein 35 countries agreed to
incorporate the guidelines of IAEA into their national legislation to assess the security of nuclear
materials.
About Nuclear Security Summit The goal of the Summit is to address the threat of nuclear
terrorism by enhancing international cooperation to prevent the illicit acquisition of nuclear
material by nonstate actors such as terrorist groups and smugglers.
The first NSS was held in Washington DC in 2010 and the second NSS was held in Seoul in
2012. The United States will host the next Summit in 2016.

6th International Nuclear Energy Forum ATOMEXPO2014

Nuclear Energy Forum
Place: Moscow
Date: from 9 to 11 June 2014
6th International Nuclear Energy Forum ATOMEXPO2014 was held from 9 to 11 June 2014 in
Moscow. The ATOMEXPO2014 forum saw signing of international agreements and
memorandums by the nuclear sector companies. 3544 delegates from 600 organisations,
including 283 foreign companies representatives participated in the Forum.
Apart from this, in the framework of the forum, the heads of Russian and international nuclear
industry companies also discussed conditions for further nuclear industry development and
nuclear energy competitiveness.
42 foreign states represented at the forum and some of them were Argentina, Vietnam, India,
Malaysia, Turkey, Finland, Republic of South Africa and others.
About ATOMEXPO
ATOMEXPO International Forum is a major exhibition and business platform for conducting
meetings and negotiations between the worldwide leaders of the nuclear power industry. Purpose
of the Forum is to provide an opportunity to leaders of nuclear power industry and nuclear power
engineering to publicly define the place and role of nuclear generation in the 21st century.
The first ATOMEXPO was held in 2009 and is an initiative of Russias State Nuclear Energy
Corporation Rosatom.

G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial

The G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial meet was held at Melbourne, Australia on 10
September 2014 to 11 September 2014.
The meet was called to put forward recommendations to G20 Leaders. During the meet,
discussions were held on how to increase job growth across the G20 to help address
disadvantage, improve productivity and drive growth.
They also reflected on the high cost to business and national economies caused by poor
workplace health and safety.
Female labour force participation rates and high youth unemployment are two key issues faced
by G20 economies, and both topics were a focus on the agenda for the ministerial meeting.
At the completion of the meeting, the ministers released a Declaration outlining their
commitments to address the labour, employment and social challenges faced, nationally and
globally.

6th BRICS Summit 2014

Place: held in Fortaleza, Brazil
Place: form 15 July to 16 July 2014
6th BRICS Summit theme Inclusive Growth: Sustainable Development
One of the most important decisions taken during the 6th BRICS Summit was the creation of 100
billion dollar New Development Bank with equal contribution from all the BRICS countries.
Besides, the Summit also saw the creation of 100 billion dollar Contingency Reserve
Arrangement (CRA) fund for the BRICS nation.
Three agreements were signed between the two countries and they were
MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Environment
Agreement on Space
MoU on Cooperation in the Establishment of a consultation mechanism on mobility and
consular issues
5Ts: Trade, Tourism, Technology, Tradition and Talent to redefine existing paradigms
To establish Sub national Level exchanges between States, Cities and other local bodies
Nurturing Innovation, by establishing a BRICS Young Scientists Forum so as to explore
developing innovative mechanisms of Youth engagement
Setting up of BRICS language schools offering language training in each of our languages
Establishing, Massive Open Online Courses, for making quality education, accessible to all
The 7th Summit will be held in 2015 in Russian city of Ufa.

UN Climate Change Summit 2014

Place: New York, US
Date: 23 September 2014
UN Climate Change Summit 2014 was held at UN headquarters in New York on 23 September
2014 to put the planet on course towards reversing global warming.
The purpose of the 2014 Climate Summit was to raise political momentum for a meaningful
universal climate agreement in Paris in 2015. Moreover, it aimed to galvanize transformative
action in all countries to reduce emissions and build resilience to the adverse impacts of climate
change.
It is the largest gathering of world leaders on climate change after the Copenhagen conference on
climate change that ended in disarray in 2009.
Contributions announced by the world leaders in the summit
A new coalition of governments, business, finance, multilateral development banks and civil
society leaders announced their intent to mobilise over 200 billion US dollars for financing low
carbon and climate resilient development.
Countries strongly reaffirmed their support for mobilising public and private finance to meet the
100 billion US dollar goal per annum by 2020.
Leaders expressed strong support for the Green Climate Fund and many called for the Funds
initial capitalization at an amount no less than 10 billion US dollars. Six others committed to
allocate contributions by November 2014.
The European Union committed 3 billion US dollars for mitigation efforts in developing
countries between 2014 and 2020.
The International Development Finance Club (IDFC) announced that it is on track to increase
direct green/climate financing to 100 billion US dollars a year for new climate finance activities
by the end of 2015.
Leading commercial banks announced their plans to issue 30 billion US dollars of Green Bonds
by 2015, and announced their intention to increase the amount placed in climate smart
development to 10 times of the current amount by 2020.
A coalition of institutional investors committed to decarburizing 100 billion US dollars by
December 2015.

The insurance industry committed to double its green investments to 84 billion US dollars by the
end of 2015.
Three major pension funds from North America and Europe announced plans to accelerate their
investments in low carbon investments across asset classes up to more than 31 billion US dollars
by 2020.
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
The summit talks are separate from the negotiations held under the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to negotiate 1997 Kyoto Protocol. UNFCCC will culminate with
the Paris conference in December 2015.

Urban Mobility Conference, India

Urban Mobility India Conference concluded on 28 November 2014. The conference was
organised by the Institute of Urban Affairs and Union Ministry of Urban Development. It came
out with a set of recommendations to address the urban mobility issue in India.
The conference ended with the conclusion that efficient public transport is the solution and urged
early intervention to enable the emerging cities to cope up with the problem so as to avoid the
unwieldy experiences of mega and major cities.
Highlights of Conference
The conference recommended the formulation of Comprehensive Mobility Plans for cities with
over one lakh population focusing on introduction of public transport systems at an early stage to
avoid the kind of problems that bigger cities are facing at present.
It recommended that urban development needs to be centred on transport planning through
formulation of Comprehensive Land Use and Mobility Plans.
It recommended the main focus is on mass transit system in combination with last mile
connectivity which needs a holistic planning of Smart City.
Building high quality public transport system based on roads, flyover and elevated roads may
provide short term relief but there will soon be swamped by growing private motorized transport.
It recommended Government to take up a Pilot Project to develop a database for one city using
smart card based technologies, which could then be replicated by others, as a precondition to the
smart cities program.
Merely building a high cost metro or Bus Rapid Transport System (BRT) would not be enough
on its own and recommended integrated multimodal systems ensuring last mole connectivity for
better outcomes.
It recommended that media should be coopted at the stage of conceptualization of new
initiatives for subsequent wider dissemination by noting the role of media in promoting
awareness about sustainable transport.

9th East Asia Summit held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

Place: Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar
Date: 13 November 2014
9th East Asia Summit was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on 13 November 2014. The summit
was held on the sidelines of the 25th ASEAN Summit.
The Summit was chaired by the President of Myanmar, U Thein Sein.
The summit adopted 4 outcome documents namely: (1) East Asia Summit Declaration on
Combating Wildlife Trafficking (2) Statement on EAS Guidelines for Rapid Disaster Response
(3) Joint Statement on Regional Response to the Outbreak of Ebola/Spread of Ebola and (4)
EAS Statement on the Rise of Violence and Brutality Committed by Terrorist/Extremist
Organizations in Iraq and Syria.
The leaders of the forum discussed cooperation in areas of common concern, particularly the
nontraditional security issues such as wildlife trafficking, trafficking in persons, pandemics, and
climate change and disaster management.
On regional and international issues, the leaders exchanged views on Korean Peninsula, the rise
of violence committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the outbreak of Ebola
as well as maritime security especially in the context of the South China Sea.
About East Asia Summit
The East Asia Summit is an annual meeting of national leaders from the East Asian region and
adjoining countries. The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December 2005.
18 member countries participated in the summit. EAS meetings are held after annual ASEAN
leaders meetings.

15th Indo - Russian Bilateral Annual Summit

Place: New Delhi
Date: 11 December 2014
15th Indo-Russian Bilateral Annual Summit was held in Delhi 11 December 2014. Both the
country released a joint statement in which both the countries agreed on a vision for
strengthening the India-Russia partnership over the next decade.
Highlights of the summit
During the summit, both the countries signed 20 agreements in the fields such as nuclear
energy, oil and gas, health, investment, mining, media and wind power.
Both the countries agreed on the construction of at least 12 new nuclear power units within the
next 20 years, including two new units at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Both also
countries agreed to find a new site to construct a new nuclear plant.
Both the countries agreed to promote bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation,
including the idea of exploring the use of national currencies in settlements.
Both the countries agreed to consult and coordinate in multilateral forums such as G20, East
Asia Summit (EAS), BRICS and RIC. The bilateral program on enhanced cooperation in oil and
gas sphere underlines the serious commitments of the two counties to develop cooperation in
energy area of great promise.
Both the countries envisage broader collaboration between hydrocarbon companies of the two
countries in oil and gas exploration and production as well as in LNG projects and supplies.
India reassured Russia that Russia will remain primary defence partner of India, though both
the countries did not reach a concrete agreement on the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA)
and a multirole transport aircraft (MTA) projects.
Russia expressed that it would look at participating in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor
project and will speed up the negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and the
Eurasian Union.
Russia looks forward to India to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO).
India and Russia supports the evolution of open, balanced and inclusive security architecture in
the Asia Pacific region based on collective efforts, considering legitimate interests of all states of
the region and guided by respect for norms and principles of international law.

18th SAARC Summit

18th South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit
Place: Rastriya Sabha Griha Sanandan Raj in Kathmandu, Nepal
Date: 26 November 2014 to 27 November 2014
18th South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit was held at Rastriya
Sabha Griha Sanandan Raj in Kathmandu, Nepal from 26 November 2014 to 27 November 2014.
The theme of the summit was Deeper Integration for Peace and Prosperity. The summit was
focused on enhancing connectivity between the member states for easier transit transport across
the region.
The Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala hosted the event.
During the summit, the leaders signed an agreement on energy cooperation namely SAARC
Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation, SAARC Regional Railway Agreement and
SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement.

22nd APEC Summit held in Beijing

22nd Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit
Place: Beijing, China
Date: 9 November 2014 -11 November 2014
Theme: The summit was held under the theme of Shaping the Future through Asia Pacific
Partnership.
The summit issued the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting Declaration Beijing Agenda for
an Integrated, Innovative and Interconnected Asia Pacific.
Additional measures are described in Declaration for strengthening the rules based, transparent,
nondiscriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading system as embodied in the World
Trade Organization.
Leaders also issued the Statement on the 25th Anniversary of APEC. The next APEC Summit
will be held in Philippines in 2015.

25th ASEAN Summit held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

25th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit
Place: Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar
Date: 12 November 2014 to 13 November 2014
Summit was held under the theme of Moving forward in Unity to a Peaceful and
Prosperous Community.
The Heads of State/Government of the ASEAN Group gathered to attend the summit. Along with
the member states, the summit was also attended by the Heads of State/Government of China,
Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.
Myanmar chaired the ASEAN summit for the first time. Myanmar has chosen the Kha Yay or
Star Flower as the logo for ASEAN Summit. During the Summit, ASEAN members adopted the
Nay Pyi Taw Declaration for the ASEAN Communitys Post2015 Vision. The leaders adopted
the ASEAN Joint Statement on Climate Change 2014.
Moreover, the summit also adopted a Declaration on Strengthening the ASEAN Secretariat and
Reviewing the ASEAN Organs.
The next 26th ASEAN Summit will be held in Cambodia from 26 March 2015 to 28 March
2015.