What's the NEWS

• The yearlong nationwide activities on Constitution Day are being launched to mark the 70^th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution by the Constituent Assembly, beginning November 26, 2019.

Know! more about it

• The day 26^th November is celebrated every year as Constitution Day (also known as ‘Samvidhan Divas').
• These activities aim to reiterate and reorient the citizens towards the values and principles expressed in the Indian Constitution and encouraging all Indians to play their rightful role in strengthening the Indian Democracy.

• The aim is to publicize the glorious and rich composite culture and diversity of our nation. Further, it aims to create awareness of Fundamental Duties as enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

Know! more about Constitution Day

• (National Law Day), also known as Samvidhan Divas, is celebrated in India on 26 November every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India. On 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, and it came into effect on 26 January 1950.
• The Government of India declared 26 November as Constitution Day on 19 November 2015 by a gazette notification.
• The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi made the declaration on 11 October 2015 while laying the foundation stone of the B. R. Ambedkar's Statue of Equality memorial in Mumbai.
• Previously this day was celebrated as Law Day.26 November was chosen to spread the importance of the constitution and to spread thoughts and ideas of Ambedkar.

Bilateral Relations
A Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT)

Relevance IN - Prelims (Know! about PIWTT and Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route.)
Know! more about PIWTT

• A Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) exists between India and Bangladesh since 1972.
• Under this protocol, Inland Vessels of one country can pay on the designated Waterways routes of another country.
• There are specified inland water routes and equal number of Ports of call in each country for Exim trade through the Inland Water Transport (IWT).
• The said protocol is valid up to 05th June, 2020 with a provision of automatic renewal after 5 years.
• The North eastern States are connected with the mainland through Inland waterways of Brahmaputra (NW-2) and Barak (NW-16) with Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hoogly river system (NW-1) via Sunderbans (NW-97) through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route.
• For strengthening round the year navigation on Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India and Bangladesh on 8thApril, 2017 for fairway development of Sirajganj-Daikhowa stretch of Jamuna river and Ashuganj-Zakiganj stretch of Kushiyara river in Bangladesh.
• The estimated cost of the project is Rs 305.84 crore on a cost sharing ratio of 80:20 between India and Bangladesh.
• Under the MoU Agreement and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Bangladesh has allowed use of its Chattogram and Mongla Ports for transit movement of our goods through waterways, rail, road or multi-modal transport in its territory.
• There are eight routes provided under the Agreement which would enable access of North East region (NER) via Bangladesh.

Social Issues
National Child Labour Project
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about NCLP) + Mains ( GS II welfare scheme for vulnerable sections of the population by centre and states and the performance of these schemes)

Know! about NCLP

• The National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme is a Central Sector Scheme.
• Under this Scheme the District Project Societies (DPS) are set up at the district level under the Chairmanship of the Collector/District Magistrate for overseeing the implementation of the project.
• Under this Scheme, the children in the age group of 9-14 years are withdrawn from work and put into NCLP Special Training Centres, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, mid-day meal, stipend, health care etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system.
• The children in the age group of 5-8 years are directly linked to the formal education system through a close coordination with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Further, to ensure the effective enforcement of the provisions of the Child Labour Act and smooth implementation of NCLP Scheme, a dedicated online portal named PENCiL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) is developed in order to make the NCLP successful through better monitoring and implementation ensuring the timely disposal of work with transparency.
• Under this Scheme, funds are provided directly to the District Project Societies who in turn engage and allocate the funds to NGOs/Voluntary Agencies/Civil Societies Organisation etc. for running of Special Training Centres. The Grant-in-Aid released during 2018-19 under the NCLP Scheme, State-wise is given at Annexure-I.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Protection of Endangered Species

Know! some Prelims Pointers about the endangered species and steps taken by the government to protect them

• Census of tiger and elephant is undertaken at the national level once every four and five years respectively.
• As per the report of the latest census carried out by the state and central government, the population of endangered species especially lions, rhinos, tigers, and elephants has increased in country.
• Recovery programme for saving of critically endangered species and habitats of the Centrally sponsored scheme ‘Development of Wildlife Habitats'.
• Presently 21 critically endangered species have been identified under this programme.
• The Ministry has formulated the 3^rd ‘National Wildlife Action Plan' for a period of 2017 to 2031 to save wild animals in the country.
• The Plan focuses landscape approach in conservation of all wildlife irrespective of where they occur.
• It also gives special emphasis to recovery of threatened species of wildlife while conserving their habitats which includes terrestrial, inland aquatic, coastal and marine ecosystems.

The measures taken by the Government to control illegal killing and poaching of wild animals are:

i. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 provides for punishment for violation of its provisions. The Act also provides for forfeiture of any equipment, vehicle or weapon that is used for committing wildlife offence(s).
ii. Law enforcement authorities in the States maintain strict vigil against poaching of wild animals.
iii. Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has been set up to gather intelligence about poaching and unlawful trade in wild animals and animal articles and to achieve inter-state and trans-boundary coordination in enforcement of wildlife laws.
iv. The State/Union Territory Governments have been requested to strengthen the field formations and intensify patrolling in and around Protected Areas.
v. Protected Areas, viz., National Parks, Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves covering important wildlife habitats have been created all over the country under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to conserve wild animals and their habitats.
vi. Financial assistance is provided to the State/Union Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats', ‘Project Tiger' and ‘Project Elephant', for providing better protection to wildlife and improvement of habitat.

Defence
Naval Exercise off the East Coast

Know! about Naval Exercise MILAN 2020

• Naval Exercise MILAN 2020 is scheduled to be held at Vishakhapatnam in March, 2020 in which 41 countries have been invited.

The list of countries has been given are as under:

• The Government pursues cooperation initiatives with friendly foreign countries including in Indian Ocean Region through structured interactions like Staff Talks, Empowered Steering Group etc.
• The areas of cooperation include Capacity Building, Marine Domain Awareness, Training, Hydrography, Technical Assistance, Operational Exercise etc.

Know! about other defence exercises
Roar of the Sea

• The Indian Navy Guided Missile Stealth Frigate INS Trikand and Patrol Aircraft P8-I recently participated in the inaugural edition of the bilateral maritime exercise, ‘Roar of the Sea‘, between the Indian Navy and Qatari Emiri Naval Forces in Doha.

Tiger Triumph

• The maiden India-US joint tri-services Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise ‘Tiger Triumph' concluded last week. The exercise aimed at developing interoperability for conducting HADR operations.

Exercise Shakti-2019

• India recently completed a joint military training Exercise Shakti-2019 with the French Army in Rajasthan, which included newly inducted HAL Rudra helicopters, the weaponised version of the Advanced Light Helicopter ‘Dhruv' manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Dustlik-2019

• The Indian Armed Forces were also in Uzbekistan for the first Indo-Uzbekistan joint military exercise Dustlik-2019, where training was focused on counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations in the urban scenario as well as sharing of expertise on skills at arms.

1st Indo-Qatari joint Naval Exercise Za'ir-Al-Bahr (Roar of the Sea) begins in Doha

• Named Za'ir-Al-Bahr (Roar of the sea), the five-day exercise is being carried out to strengthen co-operation and enhance interoperability between the two navies.
• The exercise will include a three-day ‘harbour phase' and two-day ‘sea phase'.
  
  

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