Amid rampant illegal fishing, Navy monitors more than 200 Chinese vessels in Indian Ocean

• Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing continues to rise beyond India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
• Chinese fishing vessels, fishing vessels from European Union countries and other countries from outside the region were observed to be fishing in the Indian Ocean.
• Chinese deep sea trawlers have been a matter of concern for countries in the region, including India, as they are operating far from the Chinese coast and impacting local marine ecology.
• Most of the illegal activity is found in the Northern Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
• IUU fishing depletes fish stocks, destroys marine habitats, puts fishermen at disadvantage and impacts coastal communities, especially in developing countries.

Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC):

• The presence of extra-regional distant water fishing fleets has been monitored by Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC).
• The Quad, comprising India, Australia, Japan and U.S., in May 2022 announced a major regional regional effort under the ambit of Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA).
• It aims to provide a more accurate maritime picture of “near-real-time” activities in the region.
• It is expected to catalyse joint efforts of India and other Quad partners towards addressing IUU in Indo-Pacific region.
• All vessel movements on the high seas are monitored by the Indian Navy’s IMAC in Gurugram and the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) which is co-located with it.
• IFC-IOR has been collaborating with other regional monitoring centres across the globe to enhance maritime safety and security, including efforts to monitor IUU.

Regional fisheries management organisations:

• As per United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), coastal nations are responsible for addressing IUU fishing issues within their respective EEZ.
• There are regional fisheries management organisations such as the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement operating under the mandate of UNCLOS as regulatory bodies to monitor IUU fishing on the high seas.

Global Regulations:

• There are two main regulations globally on IUU fishing:
  • the Cape Town Agreement and
  • the Agreement on Ports State Measures.
• So far, India is not a signatory of either agreement.
• Fishing vessels across the world are supposed to have vehicle management systems installed which not only identify their position, but also requires them to record the volume and location of their catch, helping to tackle the issue of IUU fishing.
  • For instance, the European Union has made it mandatory to provide this information for all fish imports.
• In India, while larger vessels, over 20 metres in length, have such Automatic Identification Systems installed, similar efforts for sub-20 metre vessels have been delayed.

RIL awarded project to make India''s first multimodal logistics park

• To set up the country’s first MMLP, the Centre and Tamil Nadu government have come together to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which is amongst National Highways Logistics Management, Rail Vikas Nigam, Chennai Port Authority and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation.
• The estimated project cost is ₹1,424 crore and the total concession period is 45 years.
• The project would likely be monitored by the highest levels of the government, as it falls under the high-priority list of projects inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the Centre''s project monitoring system.
• These parks will also facilitate intermodal transportation – roads, railways, and inland waterways, with the aim of strengthening and diversifying the logistics system.
• MMPLs will play a crucial role in reducing logistics costs.
• India’s logistics cost as a percentage of GDP is very high at 16 per cent, while in developed countries such as the US and Europe, it is around 8 per cent.
• China’s logistics costs are 10 per cent.
• The government wants to bring down the logistics cost to 10 per cent of GDP.
• Under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP), launched in October 2021, the Road Ministry is developing 35 MMLPs, of which 15 MMLPs are being prioritised in the next three years.

Retail inflation cools to 6.77% in October from 7.41% in September

• This is the tenth month in a row that inflation has been over the 6% upper tolerance threshold mandated for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• The last time consumer price inflation was below the 7% mark was in July, at 6.71%.
• Rural consumers continued to face 7% inflation in October, slightly lower than the 7.6% in September, while urban India consumers’ price rise eased to 6.5% from 7.3% in the previous month.
• Inflation measured by the Consumer Food Price Index moderated from 8.6% in September to 7% in October, but rural households faced 7.3% inflation while the same rate was 6.5% for their urban counterparts.
• The Union Finance Ministry attributed the significant decline in retail inflation in October mainly to a decrease in food price inflation, driven significantly by “the decline in prices of vegetables, fruits, pulses and oils & fats.
• Cereals inflation remained sticky, rising from 11.53% in September to 12.1% in October, with rural India facing nearly 12.7% inflation. Similarly, vegetables inflation dropped sharply to 7.8% from 18.05% in September, with urban and rural consumers seeing prices rise 6.6% and 8.45%, respectively.
• The Consumer Price Index is a comprehensive measure used for estimation of price changes in a basket of goods and services representative of consumption expenditure in an economy.
• It is one of the most important statistics for an economy and is generally based on the weighted average of the prices of commodities and gives an idea of the cost of living.
• The percentage change in this index over a period of time gives the amount of inflation over that specific period, i.e. the increase in prices of a representative basket of goods consumed.
• At the national level, there are four Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers. These are:
  • CPI for Industrial Workers (IW) - Base Year 2016
  • CPI for Agricultural Labourers (AL) and CPI for Rural Labourers (RL) - Base Year 1986-87
  • CPI (Rural/Urban/combined) - Base Year 2012
• While the first three are compiled and released by the Labour Bureau in the Ministry of Labour, the fourth one is released by the NSO in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announces National Sports Awards 2022

• India''s Table Tennis star Achanta Sharath Kamal has been conferred with the Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award for 2022.
• Seema Punia and Lakshya Sen were amongst the Arjuna Award winners for this year.
• Eldhose Paul, Avinash Mukund Sable, and Nikhat Zareen were also conferred with Arjuna Awards.
• The Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games Regular category went to Jiwanjot Singh Teja (Archery), Mohammad Ali Qamar (Boxing), Suma Siddharth Shirur (Para Shooting) and Sujeet Maan (Wrestling).

Awards:

• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: It is the highest sporting honour of India. It was instituted in 1991–92. The recipient(s) is/are honoured for their outstanding performance in the field of sports over a period of four years at international level.
• Dronacharya Awards: It was instituted in 1985 to honour eminent Coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events.
• Arjuna awards: It was instituted in 1961. To be eligible for the Award, a sportsperson should have had not only good performance over the previous four years at the International level but also should have shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
• Dhyan Chand Award: It was instituted in 2002. It is an award for life-time achievements in sports.
• Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award: It is the highest national recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on land, sea and air.
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: It was instituted in 1956-57 to honour the top overall performing university in the Inter-University Tournaments.
• Rashtriya Khel Protsahana Purushkar: It was instituted from 2009 to recognize the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.

Certain mangrove species may disappear from India’s east & west coasts

• According to a study published in the journal Ecological Informatics, certain mangrove species in Chilika and Sundarbans along the east coast and Dwarka and Porbandar along the west coast of India is likely to reduce and shift landward by 2070 due to decline in suitable habitats in response to precipitation and sea level changes.
• Scientists at the BSIP, an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), used Ensemble species distribution model to study the past and current state of two mangrove species and predict their future.
• They found significant reduction and landward shift of mangroves in the future (2070) due to decline in suitable habitats, specifically along the east and west coast of India in response to precipitation and sea level changes in the future.
• In contrast, the maximum range expansion of the mangroves was mapped in the past, which was validated by fossil pollen data.
• The findings would be useful in the implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies in the identified hotspots for conserving the coastal wetlands and reducing the impact of climate change on the coastal vegetation along the Indian coastline.
• The Indian coastline is vulnerable to the impact of climate and sea level changes, and there is not much attempt for the coastal wetland species prediction and management, with limited research carried out for their future habitat mapping.
• To fill this gap, this study tried to project the potential impact of climate change on mangroves as coastal wetland species.
• The study suggests that establishing effective buffer zones in these conserved areas can narrow down the effect of non-conservative areas on the core conservative zone, and adopting preventive measures can turn some areas into highly suitable regions for facilitating the growth of these mangrove species.
• Mangroves support numerous ecosystem services and help reduce coastal ecological risks, yet they are one of the severely endangered ecosystems declining rapidly due to climate change, sea level fluctuations, and human activities.

India''s National Grid Operator ''POSOCO'' Changes Its Name To ''Grid Controller Of India''

• The change in name has been made to reflect the critical role of Grid Operators in ensuring integrity, reliability, economy, resilience and sustainable operation of the Indian Electricity Grid.
• “Grid Controller of India Limited (Grid-India)” operates the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) and five (5) Regional Load Despatch Centres (RLDCs).
• Grid-India is also designated as the nodal agency for major reforms in the power sector such as implementation and operation of Green Energy Open Access Portal, Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Mechanism, transmission pricing, short term open access in transmission, Deviation Settlement Mechanism, Power System Development Fund (PSDF), etc.

India Submits its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy to UNFCCC

• The focus will be on the rational utilization of national resources with due regard to energy security. The transitions from fossil fuels will be undertaken in a just, smooth, sustainable and all-inclusive manner.
  • The National Hydrogen Mission launched in 2021 aims to make India a green hydrogen hub.
• Increased use of biofuels, especially ethanol blending in petrol, the drive to increase electric vehicle penetration, and the increased use of green hydrogen fuel are expected to drive the low carbon development of the transport sector.
• Smart city initiatives, integrated planning of cities for mainstreaming adaptation and enhancing energy and resource efficiency, effective green building codes and rapid developments in innovative solid and liquid waste management.
• Improving energy efficiency by the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, National Hydrogen Mission, high level of electrification in all relevant processes and activities, enhancing material efficiency and recycling leading to expansion of circular economy, and exploring options for hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel, cement, aluminium and others.
• India is on track to fulfilling its NDC commitment of 5 to 3 billion tonnes of additional carbon sequestration in forest and tree cover by 2030.
• Provision of climate finance by developed countries will play a very significant role and needs to be considerably enhanced.

India’s approach is based on the following four key considerations that underpin its long-term low-carbon development strategy:

• India has contributed little to global warming, its historical contribution to cumulative global GHG emissions being minuscule despite having a share of ~17% of the world’s population.
• India has significant energy needs for development.
• India is committed to pursuing low-carbon strategies for development and is actively pursuing them, as per national circumstances
• India needs to build climate resilience.

The two themes of “climate justice” and “sustainable lifestyles”, alongside the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC), in the light of national circumstances, that India had emphasized at Paris, are at the heart of a low-carbon, low-emissions future.

"In our LiFEtime" Campaign launched by India at COP 27, Sharm El-Sheikh

• National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), jointly launched “In Our LiFEtime” campaign.
• It aims to encourage youth between the ages of 18 to 23 years to become message bearers of sustainable lifestyles.
• This campaign envisions to recognize youth from around the world taking climate action initiatives that resonate with the concept of LiFE.
• The campaign will involve more youth in the conversation about climate change, adaptation and mitigation, and provide them a platform to share their concerns, issues and solutions with the leaders of the world.

THIRD EDITION OF LARGEST NATIONWIDE COASTAL DEFENCE  EXERCISE ‘SEA VIGIL-22’ COMMENCES

• This National Level Coastal Defence Exercise was conceptualised in 2018 to validate various measures that have been instituted towards enhancing maritime security since ‘26/11’.
• The concept of ‘Sea Vigil’ is to activate the Coastal Security apparatus across India and assess the overarching Coastal Defence mechanism.
• The exercise will be undertaken along the entire 7516 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India and will involve all the Coastal States and Union territories along with other maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities.
• The exercise is being conducted by the Indian Navy in coordination with the Coast Guard and other ministries entrusted with the task of maritime activities.
• The exercise is a build up towards the major Theatre Level Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX), which the Indian Navy conducts every two years.
• Sea Vigil and TROPEX together will cover the entire spectrum Maritime Security challenges.

Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas: President Murmu pays homage to Bhagwan Birsa Munda in Khunti, Jharkhand

• Janjatiya Gaurav Divas dedicated to the memory of brave tribal freedom fighters so that coming generations could know about their sacrifices about the country.
• India’s freedom struggle was strengthened by several movements by tribal communities such as Santhals, Tamars, Kols, Bhils, Khasis and Mizos to name a few.
• November 15 is the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda who is revered as Bhagwan by tribal communities across the country.
• Birsa Munda fought bravely against the country against the exploitative system of the British colonial system and spearheaded movement against British oppression giving a call for ‘Ulgulan’ (Revolution).
• The declaration acknowledges the glorious history and cultural heritage of tribal communities.
• The day will be celebrated every year and would recognize the efforts of the tribals for preservation of cultural heritage and promotion of Indian values of valour, hospitality and national pride.