Daily Current Capsules - 9^th May 2019

International Organisations
India re-elected as Observer to ‘Arctic Council'
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about arctic council ) + Mains ( GS II important international organisations + GS III environment conservation)

What's the NEWS

• India re-elected as Observer to the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum. The decision was taken during the 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting at Rovaniemi, Finland.
• The Council also appointed the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as a new Observer.

• India successfully got the Observer status in 2013 during the Kiruna Ministerial meeting held in Sweden.
• India has its Arctic research station ‘Himadri' in Svalbard, Norway since 2008. Located at the International Arctic Research base, the research station was set up by India's National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• The station works on the mass balance of glaciers, studies the effect of the global warming on the water bodies, and observes the formation of clouds and precipitation.

• The Arctic Council is the leading intergovernmental forum that "promotes cooperation and interaction among the Arctic States, Arctic indigenous communities and inhabitants of Arctic region on issues pertaining to sustainable development and environmental protection".
• The Members of the Arctic Council are - the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden.

• The Arctic Council also consists of Observers. This position is open to all non-Arctic states, inter-governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, global and regional organisations. The Observers engage at the level of Working Groups in the Council.
• So far, 13 Non-arctic States have been accredited as Observers to the Council.

• France Japan Poland Singapore United Kingdom Germany The Netherlands India Spain Italy China Korea Switzerland

• The Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council has launched a rating tool ‘GRIHA for Existing Day Schools' to evaluate the environmental performance of existing schools across India.

• GRIHA for Existing Day Schools will work as an integrated tool to evaluate performance and provide solutions for enhanced energy and water efficiencies, increased thermal and visual comfort, and decreased operational and maintenance costs.
• The rating system is also aimed at familiarizing the students with the concepts of sustainability by involving them, under the guidance of their teachers, on evaluating the environmental impact of schools on the environment.
• The rating system will also provide the students and teachers with an opportunity to establish contact with nature and with each other using the approach of co-creation and understanding.

• The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) distributed more than one lakh bee-boxes among farmers and unemployed youths across India in less than two years under its ‘Honey Mission' initiative.
• This is the first time such mass scale distribution of honey bee boxes has taken place in country.

• It was launched in August 2017 in line with PM Narendra Modi's call for ‘Sweet Revolution' (revolution in production of honey to increase its production)

• Practical training about examination of honeybee colonies.
• Acquaintance with apicultural equipments.
• Identification and management of bee enemies and diseases.
• Honey extraction and wax purification.
• KVIC would provide loans for setting up processing units, packaging units and labelling units for honey.

• Earlier on 21 May 2018 on occasion of World Honey Bee Day, KVIC distributed 1,000 bee-boxes among 100 Mishing tribe in Kaziranga forest area in Assam and created a new world record of distributing maximum number of bee boxes in a single day.

• It is a statutory body formed under ‘Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956' by Government of India.
• It is an apex organisation under Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
• It is nodal implementation agency of Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) at national level.
• PMEGP is a major credit-linked subsidy programme being implemented by MSME Ministry since 2008-09 and will Continue till 2019-20. It aims to generate employment in India's rural and urban areas.

• The Home Ministry has decided to discard its ‘Black List' of Indian-origin people.
• The list mostly comprised the names of people belonging to the Sikh Community, who have taken asylum abroad under the plea of alleged persecution in India.
• As per officials from the Home Ministry, all those presently in the blacklist will be given regular visa as well as Overseas Citizen of India cards.

• The Black List was maintained by Indian missions and posts abroad.
• The Indian-origin people who took asylum abroad under the plea of alleged persecution in India are included in the list.
• Those who are in the Black list are denied visa services by Indian missions and posts.
• With the decision to do away with the list, such asylum seekers along with their family will be granted visa and consular services at par with foreigners of the country in which they are living.
• The asylum seekers, who are mostly Sikhs, can also obtain Overseas Citizen of India cards if they have held normal Indian visas for at least two years.

• The Home Ministry has asked the state governments and Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs) to grant permits to foreigners to visit protected and restricted areas in the country.
• With the order, the state governments and FRROs can now grant such permits even for non-tourism purposes and even in areas not open for tourism purposes.
• Few areas in the northeastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and a few islands in the Andamans have been declared as protected and restricted areas.
• Foreign tourists are required to take special permission to visit such places.