25th November, 2021 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
Cabinet approves continuation of umbrella scheme 'O-SMART'

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for the continuation of the umbrella scheme, Ocean Services, Modelling, Application, Resources and Technology, O-SMART of Ministry of Earth Sciences for implementation during the period from 2021-26 at an overall cost of 2 thousand 177 crore rupees.
The scheme encompasses seven sub-schemes namely Ocean Technology, Ocean Modelling and Advisory Services (OMAS), Ocean Observation Network (OON), Ocean Non-Living Resources, Marine Living Resources and Ecology (MLRE), Coastal Research and Operation and Maintenance of Research Vessels.
These sub-schemes are being implemented by autonomous and attached institutes of the Ministry like National Institute of Ocean Technology NIOT Chennai, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services INCOIS Hyderabad, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research NCPOR Goa, Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology CMLRE Kochi and National Centre for Coastal Research NCCR Chennai as well as involving other national institutes. A fleet of oceanographic and coastal research vessels of the Ministry provide required research support for scheme.
The research and technology development pertaining to oceans in India was initiated by Department of Ocean Development, which was set up in 1981 which later merged to Ministry of Earth Sciences and continuing since then. The O-SMART scheme encompassing oceanographic research activities is being implemented with the objectives for providing forecast and services based on the continuous observation of the oceans, development of technologies and exploratory surveys for sustainable harnessing of the both living and non-living oceanic resources and promotion of front-ranking research in ocean sciences.
OSMART being a multidisciplinary continuing scheme, the ongoing extensive research and technology development activities would augment capacity building of the nation in the oceanographic field at the international level. The present decade has been declared as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development by the United Nations and continuation of the scheme would strengthen India's stand in the global oceanographic research and technology development.
This continuation of the scheme would contribute significantly towards national policy on blue economy for effective and efficient use of the vast ocean resources in a Sustainable way. In the next five years (2021-26) this scheme would provide further comprehensive coverage through strengthening the ongoing activities towards delivering cutting edge technology applicable for marine domain, forecast and warning services to various coastal stake holders, understanding biodiversity towards conservation strategy for marine living organisms and understanding coastal processes.

Cabinet approves Continuation of umbrella scheme ACROSS to next Finance Commission Cycle (2021-2026)

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for continuation of the umbrella scheme Atmosphere and Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems and Services ACROSS along with its eight sub-schemes to the next finance cycle of five years 2021-2026 at an estimated cost of 2 thousand 135 crore rupees. The scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences through its units namely India Meteorological Department, National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services.
ACROSS scheme pertains to the atmospheric science programs of Ministry of Earth Sciences and addresses different aspects of weather and climate services. Each of these aspects is incorporated as eight sub-schemes under the umbrella scheme ACROSS and is implemented in an integrated manner through the four institutes.
The eight sub-schemes under the ACROSS scheme are multi-disciplinary in nature and will be implemented in an integrated manner through India Meteorological Department, National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services to cover all the aspects of the weather and climate.

Government approves continuation of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme for next 5-years

Union Cabinet has approved continuation of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme for next five years. The cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi accorded its approval for stipendiary support of three thousand 54 crore rupees to apprentices who undergo apprenticeship training under National Apprenticeship Training Scheme for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26. Approximately nine lakhs apprentices will be trained by industry and commercial organisations.
The scheme is a well-established scheme of Government of India which has demonstrated to enhance the employability of students who have successfully completed the apprenticeship training. The apprentices who have completed graduate and diploma programme in Engineering, Humanities, Science and Commerce will be given stipend of nine thousand and eight thousand rupees per month respectively.
The Government has approved an expenditure of more than three thousand crore rupees during the next five years which is about 4.5 times the expenditure made during the previous five years. This increased expenditure on apprenticeship is in line with the thrust which National Education Policy 2020 has given to apprenticeship.

PoshanAbhiyan should be implemented in mission mode: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that PoshanAbhiyan should be implemented in mission mode in each state with a whole of government approach. While reviewing the PoshanAbhiyaan during the 39th PRAGATI Interaction today, Mr Modi talked about participation of Self-Help Groups SHGs and other local organizations in promoting awareness about children’s health and nutrition at the grass-root level, which will help in improving the reach and uptake of the Abhiyaan.
In the meeting, nine agenda items were taken for review including eight projects.
Among the projects, three projects were from the Ministry of Railways, two projects each were from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Power and one project was from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. These eight projects, having a cumulative cost of about 20 thousand crore rupees are concerning seven states, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and West Bengal. Prime Minister stressed upon timely completion of projects to avoid cost overruns.
Up to the 38 editions of PRAGATI meetings, 303 projects having a total cost of 14.64 lakh crore rupees have been reviewed. PRAGATI is the ICT based multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation and it involves the Centre and the State governments.

Indian Navy to commission indigenously built Scorpene-class submarine INS Vela in Mumbai

The commissioning ceremony of the indigenously built Scorpene-class submarine Vela will be held at Mumbai’s Naval Dockyard today. A day before the ceremony, Commanding Officer of INS Vela, Captain Anish Mathew said that it is a proud moment. He added that INS Vela has an indigenous set of batteries and an advanced communication suite of indigenous make, taking the concept of 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat' further.
It may be recalled that Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited has entered into a contract for construction and transfer of technology for six Scorpene-class submarines with French collaborator - Naval Group.
INS Vela is the fourth in that series, following Kalvari, Khanderi and Karanj. This fourth warship is expected to further boost Indian capability to defend and secure its strategic sea lanes.

INTERNATIONAL

India, ADB sign 300 million dollar loan to strengthen & improve primary health care in urban areas of 13 states

India and the Asian Development Bank have signed 300 million dollar loan to strengthen and improve access to comprehensive primary health care in urban areas of 13 states. These states are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal.
Finance Ministry said, this will benefit over 256 million urban dwellers including 51 million from the slum areas.
The agreement was signed between Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs Rajat Kumar Mishra and Country Director of Asian Development Bank’s India Resident Mission Takeo Konishi.
The programme supports the key health initiatives - Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres and Pradhan MantriAyushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission by expanding availability and access to quality primary health care services particularly for vulnerable populations in urban areas.

EAM S Jaishankar to attend 20th meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government

The 20th Meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government will be held today in Nur-Sultan in virtual format under the Chairmanship of Kazakhstan. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar will represent India in the meeting.
The SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting is held annually and focuses on the trade and economic agenda of the Organization and to approve its annual budget. The Meeting will be attended by the Heads of Government of the SCO Member States, Observer States, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure RATS, Turkmenistan and other invited guests.
India is actively engaged in various SCO activities and dialogue mechanisms in the region as well as other multilateral cooperation within the SCO framework.

UN adopts resolution for Bangladesh graduation from LDC Category

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday adopted the resolution for the graduation of Bangladesh from the LDC Category.
The resolution also included Nepal and the Lao Democratic Republic for the graduation from the LDC category. The resolution provides the three countries a five year preparatory period leading to graduation on an exceptional basis.
During the discussion on the resolution, the Bangladesh representative to the UN emphasised that graduation is not a punishment but a reward. Highlighting the potential impact of loss of support measures for graduating countries, she called for an incentive-based structure with monitoring that is responsive to crises.
Earlier, in February the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP) had recommended the graduation of Bangladesh from the category of LDC as it fulfilled the eligibility criteria in terms of per capita income, human assets and economic and environmental vulnerability for the second consecutive time since 2018.
A country must achieve at least two of the three criteria at two consecutive triennial reviews to be considered for graduation. A country needs to have a per capita GDP of over USD 1230 dollars for LDC graduation. Bangladesh qualified with a per capita GDP of USD 2064. On the Human Assets Index Bangladesh’s score stands at 75.4 against the requirement of 66. Bangladesh has a score of 27 on the Economic and Environmental Index which is required to be below 32 for the LDC graduation.
Bangladesh will get time upto 2026 to prepare for the transition to the status of a developing country. Usually countries are given three years for transition but this year due to the Corona pandemic, Bangladesh has been given five years for the process.

US blacklists 27 foreign entities including 12 from China over national security concerns & foreign policy interests

United States has blacklisted 27 foreign entities, including 12 from China, over national security concerns and foreign policy interests of US. Apart from the 12 Chinese entities, the list contains entities from Pakistan, Russia, Singapore and Japan.
Global trade and commerce should support peace, prosperity, and good-paying jobs, not national security risks.
The move will help prevent the diversion of US technologies to China and Russia's military advancement and activities of non-proliferation concern like Pakistan's unsafeguarded nuclear activities or ballistic missile program.

Sweden's parliament approves Magdalena Andersson as first female Prime Minister

Magdalena Andersson has been approved by Sweden's parliament as the country's first ever female prime minister, after replacing Stefan Lofven as leader of the centre-left Social Democrats. Sweden is the country never to have elected a woman as national leader before. Ms.Andersson, who's currently finance minister, did not win Wednesday's vote. However, she was elected because under Swedish law she only needed a majority of MPs not to vote against her.
A hundred years after Swedish women were given the vote, the 54-year-old Social Democrat leader was given a standing ovation by sections of the parliament, or Riksdag. Her election at the head of a minority government followed an 11th-hour deal with the opposition Left party, in exchange for higher pensions for many Swedes. She also secured the support of coalition partner the Greens as well as the Centre party.
Of the 349 members of the Riksdag, 174 voted against her. But on top of the 117 MPs who backed Ms Andersson, a further 57 abstained, giving her victory by a single vote.
A former junior swimming champion from the university city of Uppsala, she began her political career in 1996 as political adviser to then-Prime Minister Goran Persson. She has spent the past seven years as finance minister.

Sudanese PM announces review of all appointments made during his detention

The Sudanese prime minister has announced a review of all appointments that were made during his detention following last month's coup.
AbdallaHamdok who was reinstated to his post on Sunday also ordered an end to the dismissals of officials. The prime minister is still without a government after being reinstalled in a controversial deal with General Burhan.
When the country's military chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, carried out the coup he dissolved all the country's institutions and sacked many officials including the heads of state media, public companies and banks. Many Sudanese have demanded an end to military interference in the running of the country and want civilians in charge.

President Joe Biden invites 110 countries including India to virtual democracy summit

President Joe Biden has invited around 110 countries to a virtual summit on democracy in December, including major Western allies including India. The US has invited Iraq and Pakistan also, according to a list posted on the State Department website on Tuesday.
China, the United States' principal rival, is not invited, while Taiwan and Turkey, missing from the list of participants.
Among the countries of the Middle East, only Israel and Iraq will take place in the online conference, scheduled for December 9-10. Traditional Arab allies of the US -- Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, are not invited.
Biden invited Brazil even though Jair Bolsonarohas been criticized as having an authoritarian bent and was a firm supporter of Donald Trump.
In Europe, Poland was invited to the summit despite persistent tension with the European Union over its human rights record. Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was not invited.
In Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Nigeria and Niger are among the countries on the list.
In announcing the summit back in August, the White House said the meeting would galvanize commitments and initiatives across three principal themes: defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.