Gandhi Peace Prize

  • The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2020 has been awarded to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
  • Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation. 
  • The Gandhi Peace Prize 2019 was also conferred this year, another posthumous award, to Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman.
  • This is the first time the Gandhi Peace Prize is being posthumously awarded.

GANDHI PEACE PRIZE

  • Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award instituted by the Government of India since 1995 
  • It was instituted on ocassion of the 125th Birth Anniversary commemoration year of Mahatma Gandhi. 
  • The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or sex. 
  • It recognises individuals who uphold Gandhian social principles.

SELECTION

  • The award recipients are selected by a ‘Jury’ comprising of: 

  1. Prime Minister of India (as the Chairperson) 
  2. The Chief Justice of India 
  3. Leader of the single largest Opposition Party in Lok Sabha (Adhir Chowdhury) 
  4. Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Shri Om Birla), 
  5. Shri Bindeshwar Pathak (Founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organization).

INDIA-BANGLADESH

  • The Bangladesh government issued a statement to acknowledge “with deep gratitude” India’s decision to confer the Gandhi Peace Prize on Mujibur Rahman, “posthumously for the first time”. 
  • Bangladesh is India’s largest trading partner in South Asia.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reach Bangladesh on March 26th for the two-day visit.

INDIA-OMAN

  • Oman joined the International Solar Alliance in 2018. 
  • In October 2020, both India and Oman agreed to ratify the Protocol amending India-Oman Double Taxation Agreement and conclusion of the India-Oman Bilateral Investment Treaty. 
  • There is Prospect of FDIs from Oman, to help boost India’s growth. 

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