India, Bangladesh, Japan to hold connectivity meet in Tripura

The Asian Confluence, a think tank from Northeast India, will organize the event in collaboration with Indias Ministry of External Affairs. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam will represent Bangladesh, while Indias deputy foreign minister and the Japanese ambassador to India will also attend

The Asian Confluence, a think tank from Northeast India, will organize the event in collaboration with Indias Ministry of External Affairs. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam will represent Bangladesh, while Indias deputy foreign minister and the Japanese ambassador to India will also attend.

A recent study conducted by the Asian Confluence recommended scaling up multi-modal connectivity between Northeast Indiaand Bangladesh to enhance competitiveness and narrow the development gaps in the region

Brand India Campaign

Commerce Ministry of India is planning to launch Brand India Campaign in order to give momentum to exports of Services as well as products in new markets.

Campaign will be launched in the Light that; Indias outbound shipments is set to cross $400 billion in fiscal year 2021-22.

Brand India Campaign would serve as an umbrella campaign to promote goods and services exported by India.

Campaign would focus on Indian exports in specific sectors like gems & jewellery; textiles; plantation products like tea, coffee & spices; healthcare; Education, engineering and pharma; in the initial phase.

It would focus on quality, technology, heritage, value, and innovation.

Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India

The Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India was released by Environment ministry in the 19th meeting of .

Under the action plan, 50 cheetahs will be introduced in India, in the next five years.

Around 12 to 14 cheetahs will be imported from South Africa or Namibia.

Each of the cheetahs will be fitted with a satellite-GPS-very high frequency radio-collar.

International Transportation of the cheetahs will be done by either a commercial airline or by a chartered flight. They will be transported to Kuno Palpur National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh.

Under the plan, Union Government, ministry of environment and Cheetah Task Force will form a formal framework for collaborating with governments of Namibia and/or South Africa.

ECRP II Funds

The Indian government recently declared that 50 percent of the ECRP II has been disbursed.

Highlights:

The declaration was made in response to media reports that only 26.14 percent of the monies had been disbursed.The main goal of the ECRP is to hasten the healthcare system’s readiness.

From July 2021 and March 2022, the ECRP II will be implemented. Rs 23,123 crores has indeed been set aside for phase two.

The central government will contribute Rs 15,000 crores, with the states picking up the balance

Digital Yuan Wallet

The Chinese government intends to introduce the Digital Yuan, Digital Currency to the rest of the world at the 2022 Winter Olympics. It has the same value as paper currency.

China’s digital currency is the Digital Yuan. It was first released in 2014 and it has been operational (at least in test mode) since then.

The Digital Yuan is a fiat currency, not a . The Chinese Central Bank is in charge of it.

The workings of the Digital Yuan are divided into two categories. Expenses and Distribution The Chinese central bank distributes the digital Yuan to Commercial Banks.

Japan Australia Defence Agreement

Japan and Australia will sign a DEFENCE agreement to boost security and defence cooperation. The signing of the agreement is considered historic. This is to anger China. The agreement is to expand Quad agenda. The agreement will reduce Chinese influence in ASEAN. It will aid in achieving free and open Indo Pacific.

The agreement includes sharing military facilities between the countries, landing rights, securing port access, logistic support, legal regimes, logistic support. This means the advanced F-35s (fighter jet) of Japan can now practice in Australian . The Australian submarines can now operate in Japanese waters. The countries can build special forces together. Both Japan and Australia share a common interest of keeping the US engaged in the Indo Pacific.

The ASEAN countries are important for both Japan and Australia. China is trying to break ASEAN countries away from world countries. China is also trying to weaken their regional cooperation. According to Japan and Australia, the diplomatic efforts like that of the defence agreement will stop China from turning ASEAN into its business clients.

North Korea Hypersonic Missile

North Korea fired a hypersonic missile on January 5, 2022, that successfully hit a target.

It was North Koreas second such test, as the country pursues new military capabilities because of stalled denuclearisation talks.

The launch by North Korea was the first since October 2021.

It was detected by several militaries in the region.

However, this test drew criticismfrom governments in the United States, Japan and South Korea.

North Korea had first tested a hypersonic missile in September 2021 and joined a race headed by major military powers for deploying the advanced weapons system.

Election Commission for reducing cash expenditure limit for candidates from 10,000 to 2,000

The has proposed reducing the amount a candidate contesting polls can pay in cash for campaign-related expenditure from the existing 10,000 to 2,000 to make their transactions more transparent.

As of now, the candidates have to ensure that all payments in excess of 10,000 are made by cheque, draft or bank transfer through a bank account opened exclusively for the purpose of election expenditure.

The Uniform Civil Code

Article 44 contained in part IV of the Constitution says that the state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a throughout the territory of India. While there is no draft or model document yet for the UCC, the framers of the Constitution envisioned that it would be a uniform set of laws that would replace the distinct personal laws of each religion with regard to matters like marriage, divorce, adoption, and inheritance. Part IV of the Constitution outlines the Directive Principles of State Policy, which, while not enforceable or justiciable in a court of law, are fundamental to the countrys Governance.

It has been argued that while India does have uniformity in most criminal and civil matters like the Criminal Procedure Code, Civil Procedure Code, and the Contract Act, States have made over 100 amendments to the CrPC and IPC, as well as several amendments to civil laws.

More sugar export could be allowed after assessing domestic production: Food Ministry

The government, which has allowed export of 6 million tonne of sugar till May 31 of the ongoing 2022-23 season, on Sunday said it could consider allowing more export after periodic assessment of domestic production.

A Food Ministry notification issued on November 5 said export quota of 6 million tonne has been permitted from November 1 to May 31, 2023, with an option for millers to export on their own or through exporters or swap with domestic sale quota.

Mill-wise sugar export quota has been fixed for the current season (October-September) based on Average production of sugar mills in the last three years and average sugar production in the country in the same period.

At the end of 2022-23 season, it is expected that most sugar mills will be able to sell their production either in domestic or international market through exports and will clear the cane dues of farmers in time.

Sugar production stood at record 35.92 million tonne in 2021-22 season. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are the top three sugar producing States in the country.