INDIAN OCEAN RIM ASSOCIATION (IORA)

What's the NEWS

• A Seminar on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, under the aegis of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), was conducted by the Indian Navy at Goa on 02 November 2022.

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing

• As the third largest ocean, the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is a lifeline for nearly 35% of global population.
• Sustainable fishing is seriously compromised by IUU fishing activities and are therefore a major cause of concern for the littorals of IOR.
• This was accordingly identified as an area of greater collaboration by the IORA Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security (WGMSS), established in September 2018.
• The WGMSS is presently chaired by Sri Lanka, and is advancing the IORA Action Plan 2017-21, adopted by IORA Member States.

• The Seminar was conducted by the Indian Navy on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, under the guidance of the Ministry of External Affairs and duly supported by the Department of Fisheries, functioning under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and other agencies of the Govt of India.
• Representatives from 14 out of 23 IORA Member States (Bangladesh, Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Tanzania and Thailand) attended the Seminar.

• The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is a dynamic inter-governmental organisation aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean region through its 23 Member States and 10 Dialogue Partners.
• Established in 1997, this year marks the 25th Anniversary of IORA.
• India, as a founding member of IORA, remains committed to IORA's agenda of promoting cooperation in the region to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indian Ocean Region.
• All sovereign States of the Indian Ocean Rim are eligible for membership of the Association.
• To become members, States must adhere to the principles and objectives enshrined in the Charter of the Association.

Member States

Ganga Utsav 2022

What's the NEWS

• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti is organizing Ganga Utsav- The River Festival 2022 on 4th November, 2022 at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi in two sessions.
• One of the main objectives of Ganga Utsav 2022 is to celebrate our rivers and spread awareness on the significance of river rejuvenation across river basins in India.

• The River Festival is being developed as a model for River Festivals with the aim to connect people to the rivers and inculcate its importance.
• The River Festival 2022 is to celebrate all the rivers of India (Nadi Utsav).
• NMCG has been celebrating Ganga Utsav since 2017 every year on 4th November, the day on which river Ganga was declared the National River of India in the year 2008.

• Ganga Utsav 2022 will also have Arth Ganga as its focus area as it aims to establish people-river connect through the "bridge of economics"
• It will be an excellent platform to communicate the importance of rivers vis-a-vis the employment generational initiatives taken up under Arth Ganga model, which includes Natural Farming, Ghat Pe Haat, Jalaj, Training of Ganga Sewaks, Ganga Artis etc.
• The six important verticals of Arth Ganga are Zero Budget Natural Farming, Monetization and Reuse of Sludge & Wastewater, Livelihood Generation, Public Participation, Cultural Heritage & Tourism and Institutional Building.

CRISPR gene-editing possible in temperature sensitive organisms, plants & crop varieties

What's the NEWS

• The CRISPR gene-editing technology that received the Nobel Prize in 2020 has witnessed a new height.
• Indian scientists have demonstrated for the first time that the associated Cas9 enzyme, which acts as molecular scissors to cut DNA at a location specified by a guide RNA, can bind to and cut the target DNA at very low temperatures.
• This work has shown the highly efficient functioning of this platform at temperatures as low as 4oC, making it possible to edit genes in temperature sensitive organisms, plants, or crop varieties.

• CRISPR are short DNA sequences found in the genome of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria, which are reminders of previous bacteriophage (viruses) attacks that the bacteria successfully defended against.
• Cas9 enzyme (part of bacteria's defence mechanism) uses these flags to precisely target and cut any foreign DNA, thus protecting the bacteria from future attacks by similar bacteriophages.
• The unprecedented precision of targeting the DNA sequences and then efficiently cutting them is the basis for CRISPR-Cas9 technology, which has been recently demonstrated in editing genes in cells and organisms.

• This technology has been successfully used for many purposes, including basic studies of gene function, agriculture, and medicine to increase our knowledge of disease processes and their potential future therapies. So far, most binding trials were typically performed at 37 °C.

Performance Grading Index (PGI)

What's the NEWS

• The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education released the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States/UTs for 2020-21

• It is a unique index for evidence based comprehensive analysis of school education system across State/UTs.
• DoSE&L devised PGI for States/UTs to provide insights and data driven mechanism on the performance and achievements of on the success of school education across all States/UTs.
• The prime objective of PGI is to promote evidence-based policy making and highlight course correction to ensure quality education for all.
• DoSE&L has released PGI report for the year 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.
• The present report is for the year 2020-21.

• The PGI structure comprises of 1000 points across 70 indicators grouped into 2 categories viz., Outcomes, Governance Management (GM).
• These categories are further divided into 5 domains, viz., Learning Outcomes (LO), Access (A), Infrastructure& Facilities (IF), Equity (E) & Governance Process (GP).
• PGI 2020-21 classified the States/UTs into ten grades viz., highest achievable Grade is Level 1, which is for State/UT scoring more than 950 points out of total of 1000 points.
• The lowest grade is Level 10 which is for score below 551.
• A total of 7 States and UTs, Viz., Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh have attained Level II (score 901-950) in 2020-21
• Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants to highest achieved level of any State so far.
• The newly formed UT viz., Ladakh has made significant improvement in PGI from Level 8 to Level 4 in 2020-21 ( highest ever improvement in a single year.)

• The ultimate aim of PGI is to propel States & UTs towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions that will bring about the much-desired optimal education outcomes covering all dimensions.
• The PGI is expected to help States and UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritize areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level.
• PGI Scores and grades achieved by States/UTs in 2020-21 bear a testimony to the efficacy of the PGI system.
• The indicator-wise PGI score shows the areas where a State needs to improve.
• The PGI will reflect the relative performance of all the States/UTs in a uniform scale which encourages them to perform better and to adopt best practice followed by performers.

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