Current Affairs Question - 30 April 2020

Explanation :

• Petersberg Climate Dialogue has been hosted by Germany since 2010.
• The Climate Dialogue was originally an initiative of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
• It is hosted by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety.
• The Dialogue was co-chaired by Germany and the United Kingdom, the incoming Presidency of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Aim

• To provide a forum for informal high-level political discussions, focusing both on international climate negotiations and the advancement of climate action.

Recent Meeting

• The eleventh and first ever virtual Petersberg Climate Dialogue was held on April 28^th 2020.
• India, along with 30 countries, deliberated over ways and means to tackle the challenge of reinvigorating economies and societies after COVID-19, while enhancing collective resilience and catalysing climate action while also supporting in particular those most vulnerable.

Explanation :

• On April 26^th, 2020, the premier multilateral air combat training Exercise Pitch Black 2020 scheduled from July 27 to August 14, 2020, was cancelled by Australia due to the current and anticipated impacts of the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19.
• The next edition is scheduled in 2022.
• In the last edition of Pitch Black in 2018, the Indian Air Force (IAF) had for the first-time deployed fighter aircraft for the exercise.

About Pitch Black

• Exercise Pitch Black is the Royal Australian Air Force’s biennial capstone International Engagement activity with forces participating from a wide range of regional, coalition and allied nations developing and enhancing military relationships at all levels.
• It is an international enhancement activity with forces participating from a wide range of regional, coalition and allied nations developing and enhancing military relationships at all levels.

It aims to provide a unique opportunity for an exchange of knowledge and experience with Offensive Counter Air (OCA) and Defensive Counter Air (DCA) combat practice in a simulated war environment.