National
India's first-ever Night Sky Sanctuary, Ladakh
⇒ Union Minister of State (I/C) Science & Technology; Minister of State (I/C) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh and Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, R K Mathur called on him at North Block on 25 November 2022.
» In the meeting, the Union Minister stated that the work on India’s first-ever Night Sky Sanctuary, being set up by CSIR under Union Ministry of Science & Technology, in Ladakh’s Hanle is going on in full swing; and shall be complete in over a month’s time.
- The Night Sky Sanctuary will attract tourists from across the world over to picturesque Ladakh and also boost astro-tourism in the region.
About Night Sky Sanctuary:
- In a unique and first-of-its-kind initiative, the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt of India, has undertaken to set up India’s first-ever “Night Sky Sanctuary” in Ladakh.
- The proposed Dark Sky Reserve will be located at Hanle in Ladakh as a part of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary.
- It will boost Astro tourism in India and will be one of the world’s highest-located sites for optical, infra-red, and gamma-ray telescopes.
International
2022 Edition of the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2022 (IPRD-2022)
⇒ The Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2022 (IPRD-2022), the annual apex-level regional strategic dialogue of the Indian Navy, was conducted by the Indian Navy in New Delhi from 23 November 2022 to 25 November 2022.
- IPRD-2022 was the fourth edition of the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD).
- The IPRD-2022 was attended by over 800 participants, including delegates from friendly foreign countries and international organisations.
- The IPRD is an apex level international annual conference of Indian Navy, and is principal manifestation of Navy’s engagement at the strategic-level.
- The IPRD seeks to foster exchange of ideas and promote deliberations on maritime issues relevant to the Indo-Pacific which, for India, stretches over a vast, predominantly maritime expanse from the eastern shore of Africa to the western shore of the Americas.
- Being a Track 1.5 event that aims to encourage discussions on public policy, the IPRD endeavors for a balanced representation from government and non-government agencies and institutions.
Knowledge Partner and Chief Organizer:
» The National Maritime Foundation (NMF) is Indian Navy’s knowledge partner and chief organizer of each edition of the event.
- Established in 2005, the NMF is the nation’s sole maritime think-tank that concentrates upon the entire gamut of activities relevant to India’s maritime interests and has gained significant international traction for conduct of independent, original, and policy-relevant research on all ‘matters maritime’.
Theme:
The theme of IPRD-2022 was ‘Operationalising the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI)’, which was articulated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in Bangkok, at the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) on 04 November 2019.
- The IPOI is a comprehensive and inclusive construct for regional cooperation that is focused on seven interconnected spokes or pillars: Maritime Security, Maritime Ecology, Maritime Resources, Disaster Risk-reduction and Management, Trade-Connectivity and Maritime Transport, Capacity-building and Resource sharing, and Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation.
- Indian Navy being the lead maritime security agency of the Government, is deeply invested in the actualization of each of the seven spokes or pillars of the IPOI.
- The 2022 edition of the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD-2022) was appropriately centered upon the IPOI and its operationalization, with particular but not exclusive focus upon the pillars of ‘Maritime Security’.
The six thematically-arranged sessions of the IPRD-2022 were:
- Weaving the Fabric of Holistic Maritime Security in the Indo-Pacific: Multilateral Options
- Constructing Holistic-Security Bridges across the Western and Eastern Maritime Expanse of the Indo-Pacific
- Building maritime Connectivity: Ports, Trade, and Transport;
- Capacity-building and Capability Enhancement Leveraging the Physical and Social Sciences
- Practical approaches to a Regional Blue Economy
- Disaster Risk-reduction and Management; Solutions for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Vulnerable Littoral States
IPRD-2022 concludes on 25 November 2022 at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi.
- On the last day of IPRD, Shri Rajnath Singh, Raksha Mantri addressed the session and also released a book titled “Coastal Security Dimensions of Maritime Security” published by National Maritime Foundation.
- In addition, the valedictory address was followed by release of a book entitled “Public International Maritime Law” published by the National Maritime Foundation.
Previous edition:
- The first two editions of IPRD were held in 2018 and 2019 respectively at New Delhi.
- IPRD 2020 was cancelled due to Covid-19 outbreak. The third edition of IPRD was held in 2021 in online mode.
- The aim of each successive edition of the IPRD is to review both opportunities and challenges that arise within the Indo-Pacific.
- Through this annual dialogue, the Indian Navy and the NMF, continue to provide a platform for incisive discussions pertaining to the geopolitical developments affecting the maritime domain of the Indo-Pacific.
Important Day
Constitution Day, 2022
⇒ Constitution Day also known as ‘Samvidhan Divas’, is celebrated in India on 26th November every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India.
- Samvidhan Diwas is celebrated to honour and acknowledge the contribution of Founding Fathers of the Constitution.
- Constitution Day 2022 marks the 73rd anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India.
Theme:
The theme of the Constitution Day 2022 was “India – the Mother of Democracy/भारतलोकतन्त्रकीजननी”.
Constitution Day celebrations:
» The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi participated in the Constitution Day celebrations and addressed the gathering in the Supreme Court of India on 26th November 2022.
During the programme, the Prime Minister also launched various new initiatives under the e-court project.
- The Project is an effort to provide services to litigants, lawyers and the judiciary through ICT enablement of courts.
- The initiatives were launched by the Prime Minister include Virtual Justice Clock, JustIS mobile App 2.0, Digital court and S3WaaS Websites.
About Initiatives:
Virtual Justice Clock:
Virtual Justice Clock is an initiative to exhibit vital statistics of the justice delivery system at the Court level giving the details of the cases instituted, cases disposed and pendency of cases on day/week/month basis at the Court level. The effort is to make the functioning of the courts accountable and transparent by sharing with the public the status of case disposals by the court. The public can access the Virtual Justice Clock of any court establishment on the District Court’s website.
JustIS Mobile App 2.0:
JustIS Mobile App 2.0 is a tool available to judicial officers for effective court and case management by monitoring the pendency and disposal of not only his/her court but also individual judges working under them. This App is also made available to High Court and Supreme Court Judges who can now monitor the pendency and disposal of all the States and Districts under their jurisdiction.
Digital court:
Digital court is an initiative to make court records available to the judge in digitised form to enable the transition to Paperless Courts.
S3WaaS Websites:
S3WaaS Websites is a framework to generate, configure, deploy and manage websites for publishing specified information and services related to district judiciary. S3WaaS is a cloud service developed for government entities to generate Secure, Scalable & Sugamya (Accessible) websites. It is multilingual, citizen-friendly and divyang friendly.
» The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu delivered the valedictory address at the Constitution Day Celebrations, organised by the Supreme Court of India in New Delhi on November 26, 2022.
» Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region organized a daylong celebration on the occasion of Constitution Day.
- A Slogan Writing Competition, based on Constitution Day 2022 Theme, i.e., “India – the Mother of Democracy/ भारतलोकतन्त्रकीजननी”was organized.
Background:
- On 26th November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, which came into effect from 26th January 1950.
- The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 19th November 2015 notified the decision of Government of India to celebrate the 26th day of November every year as ‘Constitution Day’ to promote Constitution values among citizens.
- Constitution Day was celebrated for the first time on 26 November 2015, while in 2015, the 125th birth anniversary of Dr B.R Ambedkar, father of the Constitution, was being celebrated.
Death
Veteran Actor Vikram Gokhale
⇒ Veteran actor Vikram Gokhale passed away on 26 November 2022 in Pune. He was 77.
Vikram Gokhale, popularly known for his roles in films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Agneepath, and Khuda Gawah. In television, he also worked in popular shows like Ghar Aaja Pardesi, Alpviraam, Jaana Na Dil Se Door, Sanjeevni, Indradhanush etc.
Gokhale made his directorial debut in 2010, with the Marathi film Aaghaat. In 2013, he won the National Film Award for Best Actor category for his Marathi film Anumati.