‘Dosti’: Trilateral coast guard exercise by India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka
India, The Maldives and Sri Lanka are holding the 15th edition of the biennial trilateral coast guard exercise ‘Dosti’, in the Maldives.
Important Points
- Year 2021 marks the 30th year of Dosti Trilateral Coast Guard Exercise.
- The exercise was started on November 20 and will conclude on November 25.
- During the five-day exercise, Indian Coast Guard vessels namely ICGS Apoorva & ICGS Vajra joined Sri Lanka Coast Guard vessel named SLCGS Suraksha.
Dosti
The tri-lateral exercise ‘Dosti’ was organised with the aim to further fortify the friendship, to build cooperation between Coast guards of three countries and to enhance mutual operational capability & exercise interoperability. This exercise is significant for India because Maldives & Sri Lanka are of strategic importance to India & its maritime security interests.
The Dosti Coast Guard Exercise was first launched in 1991. These exercises were bilateral earlier, involving Indian coast guard and Maldives Coast Guards. Sri Lanka joined these exercises in 2012 for the first time. Since then, it has become trilateral exercise.
Significance
The scope of these exercises is wide. Such collaborations help at the time of maritime accident or ecological disaster like oil spill. These exercises help in developing a better understanding of coast guard of other nation. It will also help in enhancing coordination during different missions.
PMGKAY extended till March 2022
On November 24, 2021, central government has extended “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for four months.
Important Points
- Terming it as a pro-people move, PMGKAY was extended from December 2021 till March 2022 as a part of Phase 5 of this scheme.
- This scheme was launched in 2020 in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.
- Under this scheme, five kg grain are provided to per person per month free of cost.
- It covers all the beneficiaries, who are covered under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and National Food Security Act (NFSA) (Antyodaya Anna Yojana & Priority Households).
Phases
Phase 1 of the scheme was operation during April 2020 to June 2020, phase 2 between July to November 2020, Phase 3 from May to June 2021 on while Phase 4 is in operation from July-November 2021.
Phase 5 of the scheme
Phase 5 of the PMGKAY scheme will start from December 2021 and end in March 2022. This phase will entail an estimated additional food subsidy of Rs 53,344.52 crore. Total outgo of food-grains is likely to be around 163 LMT.
PMGKAY
PMGKAY was launched by government in March 2020, amid the outbreak of Covid-19. Under this scheme, government started distribution of additional free-of-cost food-grains (rice/wheat) to around 80 crore beneficiaries of NFSA at the scale of 5 kgs per person per month. So far, department has allocated about 600 LMT food-grains to the states/UTs, which is equivalent to around Rs 2.07 lakh crores in food subsidy.
National Family Health Survey-5- Highlights
The National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) findings were released on November 24, 2021.
Important facts
- Report finds that, in Uttar Pradesh, only 1.5% women aged between 30 and 49 years have undergone screening test for cervical cancer in life.
- Many health indicators have improved in the state.
- Less domestic violence with women was reported.
- Sex ratio has also improved.
- Use of family planning methods and institutional delivery has increased.
- Diarrhoea infection among kids has decreased.
Findings on Women in UP
- As per NFHS-5, 1.1 % women in urban areas and 1.7 % women in rural areas underwent screening. Thus, rural women scored better with respect to awareness and screening for cervical cancer.
- Number of women (aged 30-49 years) who had undergone breast examination for cancer was just 0.4%, in rural as well as urban areas surveyed.
- Number of women, who undergone for oral cavity examination for cancer was only 0.6% in rural as well as urban areas.
Domestic Violence
- Less domestic violence with women was reported.
- Overall, 34.8% married women aged 18-49 years had experienced spousal violence.
- In urban areas, this ratio was 32.7% while in rural areas it was 35.5%.
Sex ratio
NFHS-5 finds that, sex ratio has improved in the state. Sex ratio of the total population has reached to 1017 in NFHS-5 as opposed to 995 in NFHS 4.
Overall findings
- India has reached a total fertility rate (TFR) of 2.0 in NFHS-5 as compared to 2.2 in the NFHS-4.
- Use of contraceptives has increased from 53.5% to 66.7% in NFHS-5.
- Institutional births have increased from 78.9% to 88.6%.
INS Vela: Indian Navy to commission indigenously built Scorpene-class submarine
The Indian Navy is set to commission INS Vela, on November 25, 2021, which is the fourth stealth Scorpene class submarine under Project 75.
Important Points
- Induction of INS Vela will boost its combat capability.
- Project 75 comprises of construction of six submarines of Scorpene design. Out of six, three submarines namely Karanj, Kalvari, Khanderi, have already been commissioned.
INS Vela
- INS Vela has been built by Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd in association with M/s Naval Group of France.
- Earlier version of INS Vela was commissioned on August 31, 1973, rendering its yeoman service to the nation for 37 eventful years. It was finally decommissioned on June 25, 2010.
- INS Vela is a potent man of war. It is capable of offensive operations which span across entire spectrum of maritime warfare.
- Induction of Vela consolidates position of Indian Navy as a builder’s Navy significantly. It will add sharpness and strength to the combat capability of Indian Navy.
Features
- This submarine is equipped with C303 anti torpedo countermeasure system.
- It can carry up to 18 torpedoes or 30 mines in place of torpedoes or Exocet anti-ship missiles.
- It is a diesel-electric powered attack submarine.
- It is 67.5 metres in length and 12.3 metres in height while its beam measures 6.2 metres.
- Vela can reach a top speed of 20 knots when submerged while its surface top speed is up to11 knots.
- It comprises of four MTU 12V 396 SE84 diesel engines along with 360 battery cells for power.
- It also has a silent Permanently Magnetised Propulsion Motor.
Project 75
This project was conceptualised during IK Gujral government for acquisition of 25 submarines. Following it, India & France signed a $ 3.75 billion contract to build six Scorpene class submarines in 2005.
Hubble Telescope Observes Prawn Nebula
The Hubble Telescope has observed “Prawn Nebula”, which is a massive stellar nursery located around 6,000 light-years away in Scorpius constellation.
Important Points
- Astronomers classify the Prawn Nebula as an emission nebula, meaning that its gas has been energized, or ionized, by the radiation of neighbouring stars.
- Radiation from these massive stars catches electrons from the hydrogen atoms of nebula.
Emission of light from Nebula
When the energized electrons go from higher-energy state to their lower-energy state by combining with hydrogen nuclei, they emit energy in the form of light, which in turn causes the nebula’s gas to glow. In the recent Hubble image, presence of ionized iron emission was indicated in red.
Prawn Nebula
Prawn Nebula is also called as IC 4628. It is an emission nebula located in Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way. Its distance is around 6,000 light-years from Earth in Scorpius constellation. Nebula forms part of the tail of “False Comet” anchored by bright open cluster NGC 6231. This Nebula is also called as Gum 56, honouring Australian astronomer Colin Gum. Gum had published a catalogue of HII regions in 1955.
Emission nebula
Emission Nebula is formed of ionized gases which emit light of various wavelengths. Most common source of ionization is high-energy ultraviolet photons which are emitted from nearby hot stars.
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space telescope was launched in 1990 into low Earth orbit. It is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble.
