Home Ministry has enhanced the powers of Border Security Force (BSF). Under the enhanced power, officers will have the power to search and arrest.

What are the enhanced powers?

• Officers will also have the power of seizure up to the extent of 50 km in three new states which are sharing international boundaries with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
• They have been given the right to take this action under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Passport Act and Passport (Entry to India) Act.
• BSF officers will be able to conduct searches and arrests across a wider area in the states of Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.
• In the mentioned states, the BSF will have the right to search and arrest just like state police.
• They also have the power to search and arrest in Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, and Ladakh.

Why this decision was taken?

• As per Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the decision to expand the jurisdiction of BSF was taken in the backdrop of recent droppings of drone weapons from across the border.
• This decision will help in curbing illegal activities related to national security across 10 states and two Union Territories.
• However, it is likely to raise administrative and political issues.

The Northern Ireland protocol was designed to prevent checks across the border between Northern Ireland (US) and the Republic of Ireland (EU), following Brexit.

Highlights

• The Protocol came into force in the beginning of 2021.
• It has resulted into disagreements between the UK and EU as it disrupted trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• The UK government has been calling to rewrite the deal.

What was the need of Northern Ireland Protocol?

• During Brexit negotiations, all the parties agreed that protecting the 1998 Northern Ireland peace deal is an absolute priority.
• This protocol means that, keeping the land border open and avoiding setting up new infrastructure like cameras and border posts.
• This was easy to do when Ireland and Northern Ireland were part of the EU. Both the parties automatically shared the same EU rules on trade. No checks were required on goods travelling between them.
• However, in the backdrop of Brexit, new arrangement was required because EU requires goods like milk and eggs to be checked when they arrive from non-EU countries. While products like chilled meats are not allowed to enter EU at all.

Northern Ireland Protocol

• Under this protocol it was agreed that Northern Ireland will continue to follow EU rules on product standards in order to prevent checks across the border.
• Goods entering Northern Ireland from Scotland, England or Wales would be inspected.

China pledged to inject $233 million into a new fund called “Kunming Biodiversity Fund” for the protection of biodiversity in developing countries, recently.

Highlights

• This decision was taken during a key UN conservation summit, even though major donors disagreed on it.
• China pledged as it the world’s biggest polluter and seeks to play a prominent role internationally on biodiversity conservation.

UN Conservation Summit

• China pledged as delegates from around 195 countries met in Chinese city of Kunming for a summit on safeguarding plants, animals and ecosystems.
• This summit seeks to establish a new accord, setting targets for 2030 and 2050.

30 by 30 agenda

Countries are also debating on proposal called “30 by 30 agenda” at the conference. This agenda will afford 30 percent of land and oceans protected status of Earth by 2030. Global spending on protection and restoration of nature needs to triple this decade, accounting for $350 billion annually by 2030 while $536 billion by 2050 in order to meet this target.

Kunming Biodiversity fund

The funding issue for the Kunming Biodiversity Fund will be taken up in January 2022 at negotiations in Geneva. China’s pledge is below the $4 billion committed by Britain for conservation projects across the world as well as France’s commitment to spend 30 percent of its climate finance on protection of biodiversity.

The Department of Biotechnology launched a ‘One Health’ consortium on October 14, 2021 in virtual mode. It was launched by secretary of Department of Biotechnology, Dr Renu Swarup.

One Health Consortium

• One Health Consortium has been empowered to carry out surveillance of important viral, bacterial, & parasitic infections of zoonotic and transboundary pathogens in India.
• This project will also look into use of existing diagnostic tests and development of additional methodologies to conduct surveillance and understand the spread of emerging diseases.

This consortium was launched in the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic, that showed the relevance of ‘One Health’ principle in governance of infectious diseases. One Health principle is relevant to prevent and contain the zoonotic diseases across the world. Thus, this holistic approach will be taken in order to understand the health of human, animals and wildlife for minimising the damage caused by covid-19 like pandemics.

India and the United States are set to start a 15-day mega military exercise in Alaska from October 15, 2021 in a bid to further deepen bilateral military cooperation between both the countries.

Key Points

• Year 2021 will mark the 17th edition of the exercise “Yudh Abhyas”.
• Exercise will be conducted at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in Alaska.
• It will commence from October 15 and end on 29.

Indian contingent

At the exercise, the Indian contingent will comprise of 350 personnel from an infantry battalion group of Indian Army.

Background

The previous (16^th) edition of the exercise took place in February 2021 in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Bikaner.

Significance of the exercise

Exercise Yudh Abhyas is a step towards growing military cooperation between the both the countries. It is carried with the aim of enhancing understanding, cooperation and interoperability between armies of India and USA. It will also focus on combined arms manoeuvres in cold climatic conditions. The primary aim of the exercise if to share tactical level drills and learn best practices from each other.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, launched the ‘MyParkings’ app on October 14, 2021.

Key Points

• MyParkings App is a first-of-its-kind initiative.
• On this app, people can book parking slots online in areas which are under the jurisdiction of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).

About MyParkings App

• This app was launched with the aim of tackling the issue of congestion of vehicle parking.
• App will inform about total capacity of vehicles which can be parked, used spaces as well as space available for parking in each of the parking site.

Who developed the app?

• App has been developed by Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL).
• BECIL is the implementing agency of the app-based smart parking system under the jurisdiction of SDMC.
• BECIL will bear the entire cost of development and maintenance of the app. It will also bear capital cost of the server as well as its allied hardware and software.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) seminar on ‘Role of Women in Armed Forces’ was organised on October 14, in virtual mode.

Key Points

• The webinar was addressed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
• During the seminar, defence minister highlighted that government has taken several steps to strengthen the role of women in the security setup in general and armed forces in particular.
• He also noted that, women have been serving in Indian Military Nursing Service with pride for more than 100 years now.
• Indian Army started commissioning women officers from year 1992. Army has now moved to induct women officers in more branches of Army as well.
• Women are also being accepted for permanent commission and will be commanding army units & battalions in near future.

Host of the seminar

This seminar was hosted by India, highlighting the role of India’s women military officers in UN peacekeeping missions at global level.

China and Russia are holding Joint naval drills called “Joint Sea 2021 naval exercise” in the Sea of Japan.

Key Points

• The joint naval drill was kicked off from October 14, 2021.
• It highlights the latest sign of growing political and military alignment between Russia and China.
• The drill started in Russia’s Peter the Great Gulf in Sea of Japan. It will run through October 17, 2021.

Activities under the drill

This joint naval drill would encompass communications, joint manoeuvring & firing on seaborn targets, anti-air, anti-mine, and anti-submarine operations, joint manoeuvring and firing on seaborn targets.

China in the drill

For the first time China will be represented by anti-submarine warfare planes and destroyers of greater than 10,000 tons in displacement for exercises abroad. China will also be represented by warships such as Type 055 large destroyer Nanchang, Type 054A frigates Binzhou & Liuzhou, Type 052D destroyer Kunming, Type 903A comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu, vessel-borne helicopters and fixed wing anti-submarine warfare aircraft. On the other hand, Russia will be represented by anti-submarine ships, aircraft and frigates.

China-Russia cooperation

China and Russia are jointly holding the drill as they are united in opposing the dominance of United States in global affairs. Both the countries have been harsh critics of foreign policy of Washington in Afghanistan. China generally follows Russia’s lead on matters like Iran. It has become increasingly assertive in defending its vital interests regarding Taiwan, South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific. China has also strongly criticized an agreement for Australia in order to obtain eight nuclear-powered submarines which are built with US technology.

India got re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council for 2022-24 term on October 14, 2021 with the overwhelming majority in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Key Facts

• Envoy from New Delhi described the election as “robust endorsement” of India’s strong roots in democracy, fundamental rights and pluralism as enshrined in the Constitution.
• This decision was taken in the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.
• Assembly took place for 18 new members of the UN Human Rights Council.
• These new members will serve for a period of three years, starting from January 2022.

India’s selection

India secured its selection by 184 votes in the 193-member assembly, wat ahead of the majority of 97. India’s current term was to end on December 31 2021. There were five vacant seats in Asia-Pacific States category namely Kazakhstan, Malaysia, India, Qatar and United Arab Emirates, for election for the term of 2022-2024.

A bilingual mobile application ‘Healthy Smile’ was launched by AIIMS in a bid to raise awareness on maintaining oral hygiene among children.

Key Facts

• This app is an initiative of the Department of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, with the help of AIIMS intramural research grant.
• This initiative was launched with the aim of spreading awareness on maintaining oral hygiene among children right from infancy.
• It will also motivate them to brush thoroughly twice a day.
• App will provide information on how they can keep dental decay under control through simple home care measures.

Feature of the App

The app comprises of a musical two-minute brushing timer along with preventive dental care tips for all age groups of children, child-friendly colourful panels, motivational songs, FAQ’s & oral care tips during pregnancy and brushing demonstration videos.