Indian To Join Phase II Multilateral Maritime Exercise Malabar

India is set to join the second Phase of the Multilateral Maritime Exercise with Japan, Australia and the United States.

Highlights:

The Quadrilateral exercise

begins on 12 October in the Bay Of Bengal and ends on 15 October.

The exercise will build

synergic coordination between the nations and enhance interoperability.

The Exercise focuses on advanced surface and anti-submarine warfare exercises, seamanship evolutions, and weapon firings.

What started as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992, Malabar comprises a series of exercises with increasing scope and complexity over the years.

Coal Crisis in India

The thermal Plants in India face a shortage of coal stocks which might lead to a power crisis.

Highlights

There are 135 thermal power plants used to generate power using coal. One hundred six of them have a minimal to a critical number of stocks which might last for 6 to 7 days.

Three in Punjab, Thirteen in Mumbai and four in Kerala are shut down due to coal shortage.
The Coal

Ministry and Union Power Minister have assured that low inventory doesnt mean power generation would stop because coal stock is continuously replenished.

PM Gati Shakthi’ Masterplan Launched By PM

Prime Minister Modi On 13 October will launch the ‘Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakthi’ Masterplan.

Highlights:

Gati Shakti scheme was announced by PM Modi on Independence Day, 2021.

This Masterplan will bring together 16 Ministries and seven core sectors on a single platform to Combine project planning across stakeholder ministries for avoiding duplication, plug gaps and facilitate clearances at the

right time.

Gati Shakti Platform

Gati Shakti platform was launched to provide data immediately. It will provide for greater coordination between ministries.

India-Croatia to research In Traditional Medicine Systems

India and Croatia signed an MoU to research and developed Indian traditional medicine systems and promote Ayurveda in Europe.

Highlights:

The Croatian government is aiming to package Ayurveda and from India, alongside its tourism.

One of the goals of MoU is to connect European members for a more extensive offer of Health and tourism products.

The Ministry of Ayush has signed an agreement with the Croatia Heal

Ministry for educational collaboration within the Indian traditional medicine system to implement the plan.

MoU was signed between the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and Croatias Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster.

Under the agreement, both the countries would commence academic activities in Ayurveda in correlation with the identified institutions.

Right To Clean Environment Recognized By UN

In a Unanimous vote, United Nations Human Rights Council declared a clean, healthy & sustainable Environment as a universal right On 8 October.

Highlights:

The right would be first recognized 70 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly.

The Right was first started in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration.

The resolution was followed by a campaign led by 13000 civil Society organizations & indigenous peoples groups, 90,000 children, private sector stakeholders and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions.

UN resolution

This resolution highlights the

Rights to life, and security of human rights defenders working in environmental matters. They are referred to as environmental human rights defenders.

The resolution also called on nations to expand their facilities to improve the environment.

The right was passed by 43-0. Four member states, i.e. India, China, Japan and Russia, were refused.

Sub Mission on National Food Security Mission

The Government of India is creating awareness among farmers for Nutri (Millets) under the Sub Mission on National Food Security Mission (NFSM) through demonstration and training. Nutri Cereals includes ragi, sorghum, bajra and small millets.

Nutri Cereals (Millets) is one of the significant components of the National Food Security Mission.

National Food Security Mission was launched in 2007. It is a centrally sponsored Scheme.

The main objective is to increase the annual manufacturing of rice, wheat and pulses.

The mission was launched to extend the manufacturing of rice, wheat and pulses by place Growth and enhancing productivity, restoring Soil fertility and productivity, developing EMPLOYMENT opportunities, and improving farm level economy.

Sub-components of the NFSM are NFSM-Rice; NFSM-Wheat; NFSM-Pulses; NFSM-Coarse Cereals; NFSM-NFSM-Nutri-Cereals; NFSM-Commercial Crops.

Allocations under theNational Child Labour Project(NCLP), a labour and employment ministry scheme, meant to rescue and rehabilitate child labourers, has declined by less than half in the last two years, the governments response to a question by BJPs Rajya Sabha MP,Syed Zafar Islam, has shown.

While the ministry acknowledged that child labour has not been eradicated, and that it runs the NCLP scheme to rescue and rehabilitate children under the age of 14 by linking them to the

Education system and skilling them, its submissions shows that fund allocations towards the scheme dropped from Rs 90 crore in 2018-19 to just over Rs 41 crore in 2020-21.
The ministry said that even the conviction rate under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, as per NCRB data of 2019, remains dismal. In 2019, of the 770 cases registered, 684 cases were charge sheeted and only 88 accused were convicted.

The highest number of cases was registered inTelangana. In 314 cases, only 32 accused were convicted. Karnataka, Assam and Gujarat were next in line with 83, 68 and

64 cases respectively. While charge sheets were issued in 58 cases in Karnataka, 63 cases in Gujarat and 37 in Assam, the number of convictions was zero in Assam, eight inKarnatakaand four in Gujarat.

In response to a separate question, the government said 645 children were orphaned between April and June 28 this year due to the Covid-19. The highest number of 158 orphaned children was in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 119, according to government data.