Daily Current Capsules
09th November 2022

 

National Legal Service Day - 9th November

What's the NEWS

 

• National Legal Services Day is observed every year on 9th November to commemorate the commencement of Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 which came into force on 9th November, 1995.
• On National Legal Services Day, legal awareness camps are held by State Legal Services Authorities across the country to apprise people about the availability of free legal aid.

 

National Legal Services Day

• The Supreme Court of India established National Legal Services Day in 1995.
• Their mission was to aid the less fortunate members of society by offering free legal assistance and support.
• The Legal Services Authorities Act was passed, and the Supreme Court sought to honour that achievement.
• The Legal Services Authorities Act, of 1987 was enacted on October 11, 1987. It came into effect on November 9, 1995.
• The purpose of celebrating Legal Service Day is to educate the public about the various sections of the Legal Services Authorities Act.
• It also serves as a reminder of the petitioners' rights.

Institutions that provide 'Free Legal Services' in India

• National Legal Services Authority (NALSA): It was constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. The Chief Justice of India is the Patron-in-Chief.
• State Legal Services Authority: It is headed by the Chief Justice of the State High Court who is its Patron-in-Chief.
• District Legal Services Authority: The District Judge of the District is its ex-officio Chairman.
• Taluka/Sub-Divisional Legal Services Committee: It is headed by a senior Civil Judge.
• High Court: High Court Legal Services Committee
• Supreme Court: Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.

 

Who is eligible for availing free legal services?

• Women and children
• Members of SC/ST
• Industrial workmen
• Victims of mass disaster, violence, flood, drought, earthquake, industrial disaster.
• Disabled persons
• Persons in custody
• Those persons who have annual income of less than the amount prescribed by the respective State Government, if the case is before any court other than the Supreme Court, and less than Rs. 5 Lakhs, if the case is before the Supreme Court.
• Victims of Trafficking in Human beings or begar.

 

 

Indian Trade Service (ITS)

What's the NEWS

• The first ever conference of Indian Trade Service Officers "Manthan 1.0" was held at Kevadia, Gujarat.
• The conference was conducted for brainstorming on future Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), and to formulate sector wise and state wise export strategy to boost exports from India.
• Indian Trade Service officers have recently been divided among 10 sector specific groups that focus on specific sectors of the industry, including goods, projects, and services.
• The teams are working to develop sector specific strategy in collaboration with experts, industrialists and export promotion councils.

 

Know! the working of ITS

• The role is to facilitate creation of enabling environment and infrastructure for accelerated growth of India's trade in goods and services.
• It was created as a specialized cadre to handle India's international trade & commerce
• External trade negotiations and trade agreements at multilateral, regional and bilateral levels are negotiated by the Department.
• ITS service was started in 1977.
• Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) handles the Indian Trade Service (ITS).

 

First ever Joint Society Meeting of Autonomous Institutes

 

What's the NEWS

• Union Minister of Science & Technology convened the first ever Joint Society Meeting of Autonomous Institutes (IITM, INCOIS, NCESS, NCPOR, NIOT) of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)

Five autonomous bodies under MoES

1. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM)
2. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)
3. National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS)
4. National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR)
5. National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT)

 

 

• They have been merged into a single Society of MoES.
• The move is in directive to avoid duplication and working in silos and to aim for greater integration to achieve the maximum output.

 

Initiatives by the Ministry of Earth Sciences

• Marine Surveillance - Space applications are also being deployed to share the valuable inputs with the Security Agencies.
• Oceansat - will be launched on 26th of November, 2022
• Installation of a NASA-ISRO Radar System - at an advanced stage.
• Global Navigation Satellite System, GNSS
• Ocean scientific community, under the Deep Ocean Mission's SAMUDRAYAAN program of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)

 

MATSYA 6000

• Design and Development of Manned Submersible - MATSYA 6000
• The deep-water human submersible MATSYA6000 is designed and developed indigenously by National Institute of Ocean Technology, an autonomous institute under MoES.
• The battery-powered submersible MATSYA 6000 shall have the capability to carry three persons upto 6000 m water depth and perform scientific exploration with a normal endurance period of 12h and emergency support for 96 hours.
• Manned submersible have the advantages of carrying scientists to deep sea areas for research on life in extreme environments by biological sampling, habitat analysis and in situ experiments for ocean mineral exploration.

 

Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC).

 

 

What's the NEWS

• India joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) at the 27th Summit of the Conference of Parties (COP27) at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.
• UAE, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Spain and Sri Lanka are the other MAC supporters.

Know! about Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC)

• Spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in partnership with Indonesia, MAC was launched at the COP27 Summit in Egypt to scale up and accelerate the conservation and restoration of the mangrove forests.
• The alliance will raise awareness about the role of mangroves as a "nature-based solution to climate change".
• The alliance will be amplified at the G20 Summit that will be held between November 15 and 16 in Bali under the presidency of Indonesia.
• The MAC seeks to scale up, accelerate conservation, restoration and growing plantation efforts of mangrove ecosystems for the benefit of communities globally, and recognize the importance of these ecosystems for climate change mitigation and adaptation,

 

Know! about mangrove forests

 

• A mangrove is a shrub or a small tree that grows along the coastlines and has roots in salty sediments, often underwater.
• They also grow in swamps. Mangrove forests can survive extreme weather conditions and require low oxygen levels to survive.
• The mangroves cannot survive freezing temperatures and thus are found mainly in tropical and subtropical latitudes.
• Sundarbans in West Bengal in India is the largest mangrove forest in the world.
• UNESCO celebrates July 26 as the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem to raise awareness about mangrove ecosystems and to promote their conservation.

Benefits of Mangroves

• Mangrove forests can store ten times more carbon per hectare than terrestrial forests. Also, they can store carbon up to 400 per cent faster than land-based tropical rainforests.
• When the mangroves are cut, the carbon stored in these plants gets released into the air. So, preserving them to keep the carbon emissions levels low is necessary.
• Once the plants die, they take the stored carbon into the soil. This is called "Blue Carbon".
• Mangrove forests act as natural barriers against rising tides and storms.
• They also provide breeding grounds for marine biodiversity and 80% of global fish populations depend on healthy mangrove ecosystems.

Presence of Mangroves in India

• India contributes to nearly half of the total mangrove cover in South Asia.
• Mangroves cover in the country is 4,992 square km, which is 0.15 per cent of the country's total geographical area. Since 2019, the cover has risen by only 17 sq km.
• West Bengal has the highest percentage of mangrove cover in India, mainly because it has Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. It is followed by Gujarat and Andaman, and Nicobar islands.
• Other states that have mangrove cover are Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Kerala.

 

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