Prelims Factoids/Bilateral Relations/GSII
LAMITIYE - 2022

What's the NEWS

• The 9^th Joint Military Exercise LAMITIYE-2022 between the Indian Army and Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) is being conducted at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA), Seychelles from 22 March to 31 March 22.
• The Indian Army contingent comprising troops from the 2/3 GORKHA RIFLES group (PIRKANTHI Battalion) arrived at Seychelles

Know! more about Exercise LAMITIYE-2022

• It is a biennial training event which is being conducted in Seychelles since 2001.
• Notably, in the series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various countries;
• It is aimed at sharing experiences gained during various operations against hostile forces in Semi-Urban environment and enhance capability to undertake joint operations
• The objective of the joint training exercise is to build and promote bilateral military relations in addition to exchanging skills, experiences and good practices between both the armies.

Parliament Proceedings
Education/GSII
NAV BHARAT LITERACY PROGRAMME

What's the NEWS

• The Union of India has approved a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, namely, "New India Literacy Programme (NILP)" with the aim to support the States and Union Territories in promoting literacy among non-literates in the age group of 15 and above, across the country covering 5 crore non-literates during the implementation period from 2022-23 to 2026-27.
• The scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of Rs.1037.90 crore including Central share of Rs.700.00 crore and State share of Rs.337.90 crore.
• The scheme has five components namely, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, Critical Life Skills, Vocational Skills Development, Basic Education and Continuing Education.

The salient features of the NILP are

• involvement of school students, pre-service students of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), school teachers, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, NYKS, NSS, NCC volunteers,
• school to be unit for implementation of the scheme
• use of ICT and online implementation of the scheme through ‘Online Teaching Learning and Assessment System' (OTLAS)
• material and resources through digital modes, viz, TV, radio, cell phone-based free/open-source Apps/portals, etc.
• Assessment tests to be conducted in schools by State/UTs and evaluation of learners by NIOS/SIOS; assessment on demand through OTLAS and generation of e-certificates,
• Sample achievement survey
• Online MIS.

Prelims Factoids
Navroz

What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister has greeted the people on the occasion of Navroz.

Know! all about Nowruz

• Nowruz is the Persian-language term for the day of the Iranian New Year also known as the Persian New Year.
• It begins on the spring equinox and marks the beginning of Farvardin, the first month of the Solar Hijri calendar (an Iranian calendar used officially in Iran and Afghanistan).
• The day is celebrated worldwide by various ethnolinguistic groups and falls on or around the date of 21 March on the Gregorian calendar.
• The day of Nowruz has its origins in the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism and is thus rooted in the traditions of the Iranian peoples
• It has been celebrated by diverse communities for over 3,000 years in Western Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, the Balkans, and South Asia.
• As the spring equinox, Nowruz marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
• The moment at which the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year, and families traditionally gather together to observe the rituals.
• Nowruz has been celebrated since the reform of the Iranian calendar in the 11th century CE to mark the new year
• The United Nations officially recognized the "International Day of Nowruz" with the adoption of Resolution 64/253 by the United Nations General Assembly in February 2010.

Parliament Proceedings
Education/GSII
Nipun Bharat Scheme

What's the NEWS

• The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India has launched the National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy called National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) on 5thJuly 2021 under the aegis of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of SamagraShiksha.

Know! all about the mission and its recent updates

• The mission aims to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary classes and to ensure that all children attain grade level competencies in reading, writing and numeracy.
• The Mission lays down priorities and actionable agendas for States/UTs to achieve the goal of proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by grade 3.
• Detailed guidelines have been developed for implementation of the NIPUN Bharat Mission which includes the Lakshya or Targets for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy starting from the Balvatika upto age group 9.
• A National Achievement Survey across the country has been conducted on 12thNovember 2021 for Grade 3, 5, 8 and 10 students of State Government schools, Government Aided schools, Private Unaided recognized schools and Central Government schools for assessing the competencies attained by the students vis-à-vis learning outcomes.

Bilateral Relations/GSII
14^th India-Japan annual summit.

What's the NEWS

• Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in India for his first visit to the country as the head of government.
• This year also marks the 70^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
• The previous India-Japan annual summit took place in Tokyo in October 2018
• The annual summit between Prime Minister Modi and his then Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe was cancelled in December 2019 in Guwahati in the wake of massive protests rocking the Assam capital over the amended citizenship law.
• The summit could not be held in 2020 as well as in 2021 primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summit Highlights

• India and Japan set an investment target of "five trillion yen" ($42 billion) in the next five years, the leaders announced after a meeting in New Delhi for the 14th annual summit, where several agreements were signed.
• The two sides also exchanged six agreements on cybersecurity, economic partnerships, waste-water management, urban development, a clean energy partnership and an agreement on promoting bamboo-based products from the northeast region.
• The "2+2" meeting of Foreign and Defence Ministers in the next few months is due to take forward agreements on the strategic partnership and PM Modi is expected to visit Tokyo in May or June, where he will also attend the Quad summit with the U.S. President and Australian Prime Minister.

Science and Technology/GSIII
AquaMAP Water Management and Policy Centre

What's the NEWS

• The Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, inaugurated the new water management and policy centre, AquaMAP, at IIT Madras and launched its website - https://aquamap.iitm.ac.in/

Know! about AquaMAP

• AquaMAP aims at providing solutions for complex and challenging water problems by designing and evolving smart and optimal water management practices and implementing them in the field, at different locations across the country, as a scalable model by leveraging best practices in management and innovative technologies.
• AquaMAP is a national water centre and IIT Madras is collaborating with IIT Dharwad around the broad theme of ‘Data Science for Water Security and Agriculture Sustenance'.

The key activities of AquaMAP include:

1. Field (in villages and towns) implementation of water technologies and management practices
2. Identify grand challenges in water/wastewater management for focused attention
3. Set up of a state-of-the-art Hydro-Informatics Laboratory
4. Water and soil quality analysis
5. Waste management for Clean and Healthy Village
6. Automatic Control of Rural Water Supply Schemes

Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

• In November 1999, Cabinet Secretariat established the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
• The PSA's office aims to provide pragmatic and objective advice to the Prime Minister and cabinet on matters related to science, technology and innovation with a focus on application of science and technology in critical infrastructure, economic and social sectors in partnership with Government departments, institutions and industry

Global/Regional grouping/GSII
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
What's the NEWS

• Japan has still not given up hope that India might reconsider joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) from which it opted out in 2019
• This indicated that India-Japan collaborations in other countries may be impacted if India continues to stay out.
• The RCEP "Rules of Origin" clause could also make it more difficult for products that have an Indian component to be sold easily among the 15-member grouping countries in future.

Know! about RCEP

• The 15-nation RCEP is the world's largest trade deal and includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand and 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and represents about 30% of global GDP and population.
• It came into force on January 1, 2022.
• India was a founding member at the negotiations that began in 2012, but PM Modi announced his government was walking out of the agreement in 2019, after being unable to resolve concerns on dumping from China and allowing Indian services free access in the region.
• Since then, Japan and Australia, two countries that continue to convene the trilateral trade dialogue they started during RCEP negotiations with India, have said that they would welcome India back to the agreement if it decides to re-join, which was accepted by the RCEP grouping as well.

Bilateral Relations/GSII
India - Sri Lanka Relations
What's the NEWS

• India extended a $1 billion credit facility to Sri Lanka to assist the island nation through its worst foreign exchange crisis and enable it to procure food, medicines and essential items.

Know! about the agreement

• An agreement to this effect was signed between the State Bank of India and the government of Sri Lanka, during a visit of the country's Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to New Delhi. "Neighbourhood first.
• In 2022, so far India has extended $1.4 billion support to Sri Lanka, through a $400-million RBI currency swap, deferral of a $0.5 billion loan and another half a billion as a line of credit for the country to sustain its essential fuel imports.

Financial Crisis in Sri Lanks

• Sri Lanka is facing its worst financial crisis, and had declared an emergency in August last in the face of a crippling foreign exchange crunch. The nation is still facing significant fuel and gas shortages, and high inflation in essential goods as well as food items.
• Sri Lanka is due to repay foreign debt totalling nearly $7 billion this year, amid a persisting shortage of dollars to import food, medicines and other essentials. It has already sought China's help to restructure its loans that amount to 10% of its total foreign debt.
• Much of Sri Lanka's external borrowings are though sovereign bonds in the international money market.

Prelims Factoids
Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary
What's the NEWS

• The Environment Ministry's Expert Appraisal Committee has recommended grant of environment clearance for Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.'s expansion project in Tamil Nadu's Madurantakam taluk, around 3.7 km from the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary.

Know! about Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

• Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary is a 74-acre protected area located in the Madurantakam taluk of the Chengalpattu District in the state of Tamil Nadu.
• Vedanthangal is home to migratory birds such as pintail, garganey, grey wagtail, blue-winged teal, common sandpiper and the like.
• Vedanthangal is the oldest water bird sanctuary in the country.

KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving
TEAM CL IAS