Context: Recently, the 56th ITEC day was observed online by the High Commission of India in Dhaka.
Key Points

• According to a press release issued by the High Commission of India in Dhaka , over 4000 young Bangladeshi professionals have benefitted from various ITEC programmes since 2007. These training programmes provide an opportunity to share best practises which benefit both the countries.
• In the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic, in the current year, several specialised e-ITEC courses on COVID-19 management strategies were organised for health-care Professionals and Administrators from Bangladesh.
• An exclusive e-ITEC Bangla course for COVID-19  was organized by AIIMS Bhubaneswar in which over 150 trainees participated from all over Bangladesh. Another online training for Provincial and District level administrative heads on ‘Good Governance Practices in a Pandemic’ was organized by the National Center for Good Governance, Mussoorie. 
• All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur organised an e-ITEC course for Healthcare professionals in which more than 90 health care professionals from Bangladesh participated. 

About ITEC Program

• It was launched in 1964 by the Ministry of External Affairs and is fully funded by the Government of India.
• The Programme is essentially bilateral in nature. However, in recent years, ITEC resources have also been used for cooperation programmes conceived in regional and inter-regional context such as Economic Commission for Africa, Commonwealth Secretariat, UNIDO and Group of 77.
• More than 10 thousand training slots are offered every year to more than 160 partner countries for training courses in various areas like Accounts, Audit, Management, SME, Rural Development, Parliamentary Affairs etc.
• Division of Development Partnership Administration (DPA) in the Ministry of External Affairs is the nodal division for handling all capacity building programmes. 

It has the following components

• Training (civilian and defence) in India of nominees from ITEC partner countries
• Projects and project-related activities such as feasibility studies and consultancy services
• Deputation of Indian experts abroad;
• Study Tours
• Gifts/Donations of equipment at the request of ITEC partner countries
• Aid for Disaster Relief.