India, Italy to Negotiate Defence Industrial Roadmap

Context: India and Italy will negotiate a defence industrial roadmap, ensure classified information protection, and enhance maritime and port sector cooperation under the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-29.

India-Italy Defence Cooperation Highlights

• Defence Industrial Roadmap:
  • Promotion of an MoU between the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and the Italian Industries Federation for Aerospace, Defence, and Security (AIAD).
• Military Exchanges:
  • Increased interactions between Armed Forces to enhance interoperability, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.
  • Historic maritime exercise with carrier strike groups, including INS Vikramaditya and ITS Cavour, showcasing naval collaboration.
• Technology Collaboration: Focus on co-production, co-development, and technology sharing for defence platforms and equipment.

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Key Highlights of India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029

• Political Dialogue
  • Regular meetings and visits between Heads of Government and Ministers.
  • Annual Foreign Office Consultations at the Senior Officials’ level.
  • Enhanced interaction between ministries for sectoral cooperation.
• Economic Cooperation and Investments
  • Boost bilateral trade and investment in sectors like transportation, food processing, green technologies, and pharmaceuticals.
• Connectivity
  • Collaborate on sustainable transport and maritime infrastructure under the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC).
  • Agreement on maritime and port sector cooperation.
• Science, Technology, and Innovation
  • Expand collaboration in critical technologies like AI, telecom, and digitalization.
  • Joint initiatives in Industry 4.0, clean energy, and critical mineral refining.
  • Launch of the Indo-Italian Innovation and Incubation Exchange Programme.
• Space Sector
  • Strengthen Italian Space Agency (ASI) – Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) cooperation in Earth observation, heliophysics, and lunar science.
  • Organise an Italian space industry delegation visit to India in 2025.
• Energy Transition
  • Collaboration in green hydrogen, biofuels, and renewable energy.
  • Promote the Global Biofuels Alliance and International Solar Alliance.
  • Share best practices in energy efficiency and grid development.
• Defence Cooperation
  • Annual Joint Defence Consultative (JDC) meetings and Joint Staff Talks (JST).
  • Develop a Defence Industrial Roadmap and facilitate co-development of platforms.
• Security Cooperation
  • Annual Joint Working Group meetings on international terrorism and crime.
• Migration and Mobility
  • Promote safe and legal migration pathways and training for Indian health professionals for employment in Italy.
• Culture, Academic, and People-to-People Exchanges
  • Strengthen university collaborations and vocational education exchanges.

SANYUKT VIMOCHAN 2024′

Context: Recently, The Indian Army successfully organised an exercise, ‘Sanyukt Vimochan 2024’ at Ahmedabad and Porbandar, Gujarat.

About Exercise Sanyukt Vimochan

• It is a  multilateral annual joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise.
• The exercise was conducted by the Konark Corps of Southern Command of the Indian Army.
• Objective:
• • To improve India’s ability to respond effectively to natural disasters by enhancing preparedness and readiness.

Key Highlights of the Exercise

• About Table Top Exercise on Cyclone Management
  • Location: Ahmedabad
  • Theme: ‘Cyclone in Coastal Region of Gujarat’
  • A Tabletop Exercise (TTX) simulated a cyclone affecting the Okha-Porbandar coastline, focusing on disaster relief strategies.
  • Key aim: Identify gaps in inter-agency cooperation and establish mechanisms for a swift, coordinated disaster response.
• About  Multi-Agency Capability Demonstration
  • The day featured a live simulation of disaster management in a cyclone scenario.

Green World Awards 2024

Context: Coal India Limited (CIL), under the Ministry of Coal, received the Green World Environment Award 2024 in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) category.

More on the news

• This  international award has been given to CIL for exemplary work in the field of CSR i.e Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna. 
• The company was also honoured with the title of Green World Ambassador for its contributions to environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

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• Award Ceremony
• • The award was presented by The Green Organization.
  • The ceremony took place at The Orangery, Kensington Palace, London.

About Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna

• It offers curative treatment for Thalassemia patients through stem cell transplant called Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT).
• Achievements of the Scheme:
• • Over 600 patients have received permanent treatment under the program.
  • Financial assistance of up to ₹10 lakh is provided as per BMT procedure.
  • The initiative partners with 17 leading hospitals across India.

About Coal India Limited (CIL)

• It is a  state-owned coal mining corporate.
• Established: 1975
• Classification: classified as a ‘Maharatna’ enterprise under the Ministry of Coal, Government of India.
• Headquarters- Kolkata

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

Context: Recently, the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament, and Development 2023 was given. 

Event Details

• Award Recipients
  • Daniel Barenboim: He is Argentine-born distinguished classical pianist and conductor.
    • Recognized for promoting peace through musical and cultural dialogue.
  • Ali Abu Awwad: Palestinian peace activist honoured for his non-violent advocacy and dialogue efforts through his organisation, Roots an outfit that he started after spending time in an Israeli jail. 

About Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

• The Indira Gandhi Prize, also known as the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize, is an annual award presented by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.
• Location: New Delhi
• First awarded: 1986
• Naming: After former Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi. 
• Eligibility and Criteria
  • It honours individuals or organisations for their exceptional contributions in
    • Promoting international peace and development.
    • Advocating for a new international economic order.
    • Ensuring scientific discoveries benefit humanity.
    • Expanding the scope of freedom.
• Award Components
  • The prize includes:
    • A cash award of 2.5 million Indian rupees.
    • A citation recognizing the recipient’s contributions.

African Penguins

Context: The African Penguin was recently listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

About African Penguins

• They are also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, as they are confined to southern African waters. 
• Scientific name: Spheniscus demersus
• Present Status: Less than 10,000 breeding pairs are left globally, mainly concentrated in South Africa, down from 42,500 in 1991
  • African Penguins are feared to go extinct in the wild by 2035.
• IUCN Status: Critically Endangered.
• Habitat: Large colonies of penguins are found along the southwestern rocky coast of Africa from Namibia to Port Elizabeth, and many of the surrounding islands. 
  • The largest colony is located on Dyer Island. 
• Prey: The preferred prey of the penguins are sardines or anchovies, capelin, and night smelt as well as squid and crustaceans.
• Features: 
  • Size: The African penguin is one of the smallest penguin species.
  • Appearance: They are covered in a black, white, and gray dense, waterproof feathers. They also have a distinct, sharply pointed beak and black feet.
    • Flecks: They have a number of dot-like markings flecked across their white chests which are unique to each penguin.
  • Communication: Penguins communicate with each other through vocalisations and body language. 
  • Cause of Decline:
    • Lack of Nutrition and Food: When Penguins starve and don’t eat enough they tend to abandon breeding.
    • Other Causes: Climate change, disturbances, predators, disease, oil spills etc.
• Threats: 
  • Tourism: Each year thousands of people visit the penguin colonies making them susceptible.
  • Industrial Fishing: Direct competition for their primary food source with the industry is resulting in a lack of food affecting their breeding behaviour.
  • Climate Change: Climate Change induced global warming is altering their habitat and ecosystem. 
• Conservation:
  • No Fishing Zones: A commercial fishing ban has been imposed around six penguin colonies for 10 years.
  • Artificial Nests and New Colonies are being made up to support breeding.

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India-Japan MOI for Co-development of UNICORN Masts

Context: India and Japan have signed a Memorandum of Implementation (MoI) for the “co-development” of UNICORN (Unified Complex Radio Antenna) Nora-50 integrated mast for Indian Naval Warships.

• The agreement will be implemented under the framework of the India-Japan Defence Technology Cooperation 2015 and will be the first export case of defence technology from Japan to India.

About the UNICORN (Unified Complex Radio Antenna) Mast

• The Mast is a conical structure housing antennas and integrated communication systems atop Naval Platforms increasing their stealth characteristics.
• Built by: It is a result of collaboration between three Japanese companies ie. NEC Corporation, Sampa Kogyo K.K, and The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd
• Indian Partner: For the Indian Warships the UNICORN Mast will be co-developed by Bharat Electronics Limited in India with Japanese collaboration. 
  • The Indian Navy currently uses the BEL-supplied Advanced Composite Communication System (ACCS).
• Key Features:
  • Radome: It consolidates multiple communication antennas into a single, state-of-the-art radar dome, known as a radome minimising electronic signatures and enhancing stealth.
  • TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation System): UNICORN is an improvement on the TACAN antenna design framework.
    • The TACAN system constitutes a mobile transmitting unit. The airborne unit, in conjunction with the Naval platform, processes the transmitted signals to a visual presentation of both azimuth and distance information 
  • Wider Detection Range: The UNICORN system can detect the movement of missiles and drones from afar by sensing radio waves over a wide area.

India- Japan Defence Collaboration

• Tarang Shakti Exercise 2024: It is the first multilateral exercise hosted by the Indian Air Force and Japan participation marked the first air visit by Japanese fighters to India 
• Veer Guardian 2023: It is the maiden edition of the bilateral fighter exercise between the Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
• The Indian Navy and JMSDF interact bilaterally during JIMEX every year in addition to meeting in Multilateral settings of exercises MALABAR and MILAN.
• Development of the Andaman and Nicobar Island: Japan has aided India with 4.02 billion yen ($31 million) to develop the islands. This was the first time that India accepted foreign assistance for development on the island

Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative

Context: Tzeporah Berman, Chair and Founder of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, recently, spelt out the latest threats to the planet at COP29 in Baku.

About Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative

• Launched: The idea was conceptualised in 2016 and officially launched in 2019 through a Climate Breakthrough award.
• Endorsed by: The treaty is endorsed by 14 nations-states comprising, 
  • Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Tonga, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Niue, Antigua and Barbuda, Timor-Leste, Palau, Colombia,  Samoa, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia
• First Ministerial Meeting: The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative convened its first meeting in May 2024 in Antigua and Barbuda.
• Objective: The FF-NPT desires to make it legally binding on the nations to end fossil fuel extraction and phase down existing production, and manage a just transition to renewable energy.
• Pillars: 
  • Non-Proliferation: It is a global cooperation model to end the expansion of coal, oil and gas production 
  • Fair Phase-Out: A fair and equitable plan to shut down existing fossil fuel production by inculcating the Common yet Differentiated Responsibility Principle. 
  • Just Transition: To fast-track the adoption of renewable energy and economic diversification away from fossil fuels universally.
• Aligned with Paris Agreement Goals: The Treaty aims to support the work of Paris Agreement through,
  • Implementing the New Collective Quantified Goal: It aims to establish a new financial target to assist developing countries in their climate actions post-2025.
  • Through Nationally Determined Contributions (the climate action plans submitted by countries) and Just Transition Work Programmes

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Salil Chowdhury 100th Birth Anniversary

Context: Artistes in West Bengal celebrated the centennial of Salil Chowdhury, whose body of works spans across various genres of Indian music.

About Salil Chowdhary

• Birth and Background: Born on November 19, 1925, in West Bengal, India.
• Musical Training: He was deeply rooted in Hindustani classical music, skillfully blending diverse musical styles in his compositions.
• IPTA Membership: He was an cctive member of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), composing revolutionary songs during his tenure.

Contributuions of Salil Chowdhary

• Film Contributions: Created music for 100+ films across multiple languages, including Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Assamese, and others.
• Chemmeen (1965): A groundbreaking project that combined Bengali folk music with Western orchestration to portray Kerala’s coastal culture.
• Revolutionised music in Indian cinema, particularly Malayalam, through unique blending of Hindustani classical, Western classical, and folk styles.
• Legacy: Pioneered a melody-first approach to film music, now a standard in Malayalam cinema.
  • In Melody First Approach the composition of music is done before writing the Lyrics.

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