9th ‘India Region Conference’ of the Common Wealth Parliamentary Association was held in which of the following cities ?

Correct — option (2), Udaipur.

The 9th India Region Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) was held in Udaipur. The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly's conference page gives the dates as 21–23 August 2023, names the Assembly as the organiser and says the CPA Rajasthan Branch would host it.

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar addressed the valedictory session on 22 August 2023. The Government's release of that speech places the conference 'in Udaipur, Rajasthan', and he calls the venue the City of Lakes.

Among those his speech greets are Rajasthan's Governor Kalraj Mishra, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi and CPA Chairperson Ian Liddell-Grainger.

The idea to remember: 9th CPA India Region Conference: Udaipur, August 2023, organised by the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Kota — Both the Assembly's conference page and the Vice-President's speech place the conference in Udaipur, not Kota.

  Kota's link is only through a guest: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who attended in Udaipur, was the Lok Sabha member for Kota on the exam date.

• (3)
  Jodhpur — The conference met in Udaipur, as the Assembly's page and the Vice-President's speech both record. Nothing in either source connects it with Jodhpur.

  Jodhpur is the principal seat of the Rajasthan High Court, the judicial counterpart to the Legislative Assembly in Jaipur.

• (4)
  Jaipur — Jaipur is the seat of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, which organised this conference, but the conference itself was held in Udaipur.

  Jaipur hosted a different meeting of legislators in 2023: the 83rd All India Presiding Officers' Conference, which the Vice-President inaugurated there on 11 January 2023.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association links the legislatures of Commonwealth countries. It began in 1911 as the Empire Parliamentary Association, took its present name in 1948, and has its headquarters in London.

The CPA is organised into regions, and India is one of them. The India Region brings together Parliament and the state legislatures, with its secretariat in New Delhi.

The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly's conference page named the CPA Rajasthan Branch as host of the 9th India Region Conference in 2023.

Key facts

• The 9th CPA India Region Conference was held in Udaipur; the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly's page gives the dates as 21–23 August 2023.
• The Assembly's conference page names the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly as organiser and the CPA Rajasthan Branch as host.
• Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar addressed its valedictory session in Udaipur on 22 August 2023.
• The CPA began in 1911 as the Empire Parliamentary Association, was renamed in 1948, and is headquartered in London.
• The 83rd All India Presiding Officers' Conference was inaugurated in Jaipur on 11 January 2023 by the Vice-President.

Common traps

• Choosing the host Assembly's city: the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly sits in Jaipur, but it held the 9th CPA India Region Conference in Udaipur.
• Mixing up these two 2023 conferences: the 83rd All India Presiding Officers' Conference met in Jaipur in January; the CPA India Region Conference met in Udaipur in August.
• Linking an event to a guest's home city: Om Birla, member for Kota, attended the conference, which did not make Kota the venue.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2013 here once that paper is published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In which city was the 83rd All India Presiding Officers' Conference, inaugurated by the Vice-President on 11 January 2023, held?

  • (a)Udaipur
  • (b)Jaipur
  • (c)New Delhi
  • (d)Jodhpur
  Answer(2) — The Government's release of 11 January 2023 reports the Vice-President inaugurating the 83rd All India Presiding Officers' Conference in Jaipur. Option (1) hosted the 9th CPA India Region Conference in August 2023; options (3) and (4) were not the venue.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Who addressed the valedictory session of the 9th CPA India Region Conference at Udaipur on 22 August 2023?

  • (a)President Droupadi Murmu
  • (b)Prime Minister Narendra Modi
  • (c)Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar
  • (d)Governor Kalraj Mishra
  Answer(3) — The Government released the text of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar's address at the valedictory session on 22 August 2023. Option (4) was present and is greeted in that speech, but did not give that address; neither option (1) nor option (2) gave it.