06.01.22 Daily [Assam] APSC Current Affairs

The AFSPA has often been termed as “draconian” by of the north east because of the special powers it grants to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas” and its withdrawal has been demanded by civil Society groups and rights activists. It was imposed in Assam in November 1990 and has been extended every six months since then after a review by the State Government.

The demand for repeal of AFSPA from the north east came to the fore in December last year after 13 civilians were gunned down by the Army in a botched anti-insurgency operation in Nagaland and another person was killed in subsequent violence. The demand was made to the Centre even by the chief ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya.

Commerce Ministry of India is planning to launch Brand India Campaign in order to give momentum to exports of Services as well as products in new markets.

Campaign will be launched in the Light that; Indias outbound shipments is set to cross $400 billion in fiscal year 2021-22.

Brand India Campaign would serve as an umbrella campaign to promote goods and services exported by India.

Campaign would focus on Indian exports in specific sectors like gems & jewellery; textiles; plantation products like tea, coffee & spices; healthcare; Education, engineering and pharma; in the initial phase.

It would focus on quality, technology, heritage, value, and innovation.

The Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India was released by Environment ministry in the 19th meeting of .

Under the action plan, 50 cheetahs will be introduced in India, in the next five years.

Around 12 to 14 cheetahs will be imported from South Africa or Namibia.

Each of the cheetahs will be fitted with a satellite-GPS-very high frequency radio-collar.

International Transportation of the cheetahs will be done by either a commercial airline or by a chartered flight. They will be transported to Kuno Palpur National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh.

Under the plan, Union Government, ministry of environment and Cheetah Task Force will form a formal framework for collaborating with governments of Namibia and/or South Africa.

The Indian government recently declared that 50 percent of the ECRP II has been disbursed.

Highlights:

The declaration was made in response to media reports that only 26.14 percent of the monies had been disbursed.The main goal of the ECRP is to hasten the healthcare system’s readiness.

From July 2021 and March 2022, the ECRP II will be implemented. Rs 23,123 crores has indeed been set aside for phase two.

The central government will contribute Rs 15,000 crores, with the states picking up the balance

The Chinese government intends to introduce the Digital Yuan, Digital Currency to the rest of the world at the 2022 Winter Olympics. It has the same value as paper currency.

China’s digital currency is the Digital Yuan. It was first released in 2014 and it has been operational (at least in test mode) since then.

The Digital Yuan is a fiat currency, not a . The Chinese Central Bank is in charge of it.

The workings of the Digital Yuan are divided into two categories. Expenses and Distribution The Chinese central bank distributes the digital Yuan to Commercial Banks.

Japan and Australia will sign a DEFENCE agreement to boost security and defence cooperation. The signing of the agreement is considered historic. This is to anger China. The agreement is to expand Quad agenda. The agreement will reduce Chinese influence in ASEAN. It will aid in achieving free and open Indo Pacific.

The agreement includes sharing military facilities between the countries, landing rights, securing port access, logistic support, legal regimes, logistic support. This means the advanced F-35s (fighter jet) of Japan can now practice in Australian . The Australian submarines can now operate in Japanese waters. The countries can build special forces together. Both Japan and Australia share a common interest of keeping the US engaged in the Indo Pacific.

The ASEAN countries are important for both Japan and Australia. China is trying to break ASEAN countries away from world countries. China is also trying to weaken their regional cooperation. According to Japan and Australia, the diplomatic efforts like that of the defence agreement will stop China from turning ASEAN into its business clients.

North Korea fired a hypersonic missile on January 5, 2022, that successfully hit a target.

It was North Koreas second such test, as the country pursues new military capabilities because of stalled denuclearisation talks.

The launch by North Korea was the first since October 2021.

It was detected by several militaries in the region.

However, this test drew criticismfrom governments in the United States, Japan and South Korea.

North Korea had first tested a hypersonic missile in September 2021 and joined a race headed by major military powers for deploying the advanced weapons system.