Latest News
2nd April 2021
Exercise Shantir Ogroshena
Recently, the Ministry of Defence has announced that the Indian Army will participate in the Exercise Shantir Ogroshena-2021.
Exercise Shantir Ogroshena
- The Exercise Shantir Ogroshena (Front Runner of the Peace) is a multinational military exercise.
- The 2021 edition of Exercise Shantir Ogroshena will be held in Bangladesh to commemorate the birth centenary of Bangladesh ‘Father of the Nation’ Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
- The theme of the exercise is “Robust Peace Keeping Operations”.
- The military observers from USA, UK, Turkey, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore will also be in attendance throughout the exercise.
- The participants of Exercise Shantir Ogroshena -2021 will be the DOGRA Regiment of Indian Army along with contingent of Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army and Bangladesh Army.
- It is an indication of the highest level of trust and confidence between the member nations.
- It is a key confidence building measure (CBM) and an indication of the faith reposed by India on another nation or a group of member nations.
- The military exercises enable militaries to understand each other’s drills and procedures, overcome language barriers, and facilitate familiarisation with equipment capabilities.
- It facilitates understanding and familiarisation with new technologies that other countries may be utilising and enables on-the-job training of each other’s crews.
- A joint exercise with one or more nations serves the purpose of signalling to a third country of the influence India has in the region and a demonstration of India's resolve to further our diplomatic objectives.
- It seeks to invite suggestions from the stakeholders for preparing draft for development of National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) and National Mission for Mentoring Program membership (NMM).
- The NCTE will work in close consultation with individuals/organizations for the preparation of documents on NPST and NMM.
- It envisages the participation of teachers, education professionals, academicians, & other stakeholders in preparing the documents on teacher policy.
- The platform will help in creating a sustainable and positive change in the teacher’s education sector.
- It was set up by Government of India in 1973 as an advisory body to the government at the Center and the State, on matters related to teacher education.
- In 1995, National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) was conferred the status of statutory body in pursuance to the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993.
- It sets up norms and standards for teacher's education right from pre-school teacher education to post graduate level teacher education.
- The main objective of the NCTE is:
- To achieve planned and coordinated development of the teacher education system throughout the country; and
- The regulation and proper maintenance of Norms and Standards in the teacher education system and for matters connected therewith.
- On April 1, 1936, Odisha became a separate province, after a long struggle of over three centuries.
- The formation of Odisha province under the British rule, separated from Bengal and Bihar, marked the beginning of a new journey for the state.
- Odisha was once part of Kalinga ruled by emperor Ashok, and later by Kharavela, remembered as a conqueror and the champion of Jainism, before Mughals invaded and wrested it.
- Odisha Day, also known as Utkala Divas and Utkala Dibasa, is celebrated on April 1 every year in memory of the entire struggle that went into gaining a separate political identity for the state.
- Odisha was initially named ‘Utkala’ as it was a land of majestic art and crafts where some of the finest artisans settled down.
- The land is mentioned in Ramayana and Mahabharata as Kantara which altogether included Kalahandi, Koraput and Bastara.
- It was launched by 22-year-old activist and college student Soma Sara in 2020.
- It aims to eradicate ‘rape culture’, by providing survivors of sexual abuse with a forum where they can anonymously share their experiences of harassment, abuse, misogny and assault.
- It provides survivors with resources to deal with trauma, as well as helpline numbers for them to report the incident.
- The website is not strictly to expose sexual violence in academic settings.
- It became the platform of choice for thousands of pupils when it invited users to post anonymous testimonies.
- Striving for a world where sexual violence cannot exist and victim blaming is not tolerated;
- Ending the stigma and shame that surrounds sexual violence;
- Survivors should feel able to come forward with their stories without judgement knowing that they’re supported and heard;
- Inclusivity is at the forefront of this movement, we are committed to amplifying the voices of all survivors;
- Advocates for constant reflection, striving towards a world where we recognise our shortcomings and commit to positive change; and
- Safeguarding the rights and wellbeing of young people across the globe
- It is a concept that refers to an environment where rape and sexual violence against women is normalised due to pre-existing societal attitudes and beliefs about gender and sexuality.
- It is often justified further by warped depictions of sexual assault and male-female relations in the media and popular culture.
- The platform states the rape culture exists when thoughts, behaviours, & attitudes in a society or environment have the effect of normalising and trivialising sexual violence.
- The behaviours such as misogyny, slut shaming, victim blaming, and sexual harassment create an environment where sexual violence and abuse can exist and thrive.
- It is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
- It came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration and headquartered in Dhaka.
- It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.
- Formally, the economic bloc was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
- The regional group constitutes a bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries.
- The BIMSTEC has also established a platform for intra-regional cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN members.
- The BIMSTEC region is home to around 1.5 billion people which constitute around 22% of the global population with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.7 trillion economy.
- Its objective is to harness shared and accelerated growth through mutual cooperation in different areas of common interests by mitigating the onslaught of globalization.
- The Bay of Bengal has grown in strategic significance within the Indo-Pacific, especially due to the contest between India and China.
- In 2016, India held a joint BRICS-BIMSTEC Summit in Goa for the latter’s regional outreach and after this, the support for BIMSTEC gained further momentum.
- An India-Myanmar-Thailand highway is one of the key projects that figures in a big way in the government’s Act East (earlier Look East) policy.
- The groupings such as BIMSTEC can take forward the concept of regional cooperation in a different manner with the India-Pakistan bickering coming in way of a smooth functioning of the SAARC.
- It has come under scrutiny mainly due to dormancy in initial years and a stalled Free Trade Agreement (FTA) process.
- The lack of involvement of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in BIMSTEC, even as dialogue partners has also been a point of contention.
- India aggressively pushed for the conclusion of a long-pending FTA among BIMSTEC nations but differences between India and Thailand over market access for professionals, duty cuts on traded goods and policy relaxation stalled the process.
- BIMSTEC has been slow on the come-up because unlike bodies like the EU or ASEAN, it is based on consensus-building which takes time.
POSTED ON 02-04-2021 BY ADMIN
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Some Reference Essays
List of previous year essay topics (1997-2019)
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