ASEAN

Syllabus- Prelims-Important Organizations 

 Why in News?

· India and the ASEAN countries reached an agreement to review their free trade pact for goods.

 · They set a 2025 goalpost for concluding the review aimed at addressing the asymmetry in bilateral trade

 Association of Southeast Asian Nations: 

 · It was established by signing the Bangkok Declaration in the year 1967. 

 · The founding members of ASEAN are: 1. Malaysia 2. Indonesia 3. Philippines 4. Singapore 5. Thailand

· Later the countries Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia had joined. 

 · Secretariat-Indonesia, Jakarta · Motto-One Vision, One Identity, One Community.

· ASEAN Day-8^th August. 

 · Chairmanship-It rotates annually based on the Alphabetical order of the English name among the member states. 

 · ASEAN Summit-It is the supreme policy making body of the ASEAN. 

 · ASEAN Ministerial Councils: There are four new Ministerial bodies. They are: 1. ASEAN Coordinating Council 2. ASEAN Political-Security Community Council 3. ASEAN Economic-Community Council 4. ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council. 

 Objectives: 

 · To accelerate the economic growth.

 · To promote the social progress and cultural development.

 · To maintain the regional peace and stability.

 · To promote mutual assistance on the matters of common interest.

PM-DevINE 

Syllabus: GS Paper-2-Important Policies

Why in News?

The revised guidelines of PM-DevINE scheme will be issued. 

PM-DevINE Scheme:

 • PM-DevINE stands for Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North Eastern Region. 

• It is a Central sector scheme with 100% Central funding. 

• It was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23.

 • It has an outlay of 6,000 crores for the period of 4 years from 2022-2026. 

Objective: 

• To fund infrastructure convergently, in the spirit of PM GatiShakti 

• To support the social projects based on the felt needs of NER. 

• To enable livelihood activities for youth and women.

 • To fill the development gaps in various sectors.

 Implementation: 

• It will be implemented by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region through the North Eastern Council or Central Ministries/Agencies.

 Reasons for implementing the scheme: 

• The Basic Minimum Services (BMS) in Northeast India is much below the national average. 

• There are critical development gaps in the Northeast India. 

Northeast India: • Northeast India comprises of the following states: 1. Assam 2. Arunachal Pradesh 3. Manipur 4. Meghalaya 5. Mizoram 6. Nagaland 7. Tripura 

• Sikkim is also a part of the Northeast India but it is not included in the Seven Sisters.

 • It is because the seven states are contiguous but the Sikkim is sort of a neighbour which is divided by the Silguri Corridor.

 • Sikkim sometimes referred as the Brother of the Seven sisters.

Malabar Exercise

 Syllabus: GS Paper-3-Defense

 Why in News? 

• Four Australian F-35 jets has joined the 27th edition of Malabar exercise.

 • It was concluded on the east coast of Australia off Sydney on Monday. 

Malabar Exercise: 

• It was started in the year 1992. 

• It is a multilateral war-gaming naval exercise. 

• It was first initiated as a bilateral exercise between India and United States. 

• Japan and Australia participated in the year 2007. 

• From the year 2014, India, the U.S and Japan have participated in the exercise. 

• Australia has joined the Malabar Exercise in the year 2020. 

• It was started to support free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. 

Importance: 

• It will enhance the strategic partnership.

 • It builds a sustainable Indo-Pacific coalition. 

• It provides peace through Sea. 

Important Exercise with Quad Countries: 

a) India-Japan: • JIMEX • Shinyuu Maitri • Dharma Guardian 

b) India-US: • Yudha Abhyas • Vajra Prahar • Spitting Cobra • COPE INDIA

 c) India-Australia: • AUSINDEX • Pitch Black • AUSTRA Hind

Psoriasis 

Syllabus- GS Paper-3-Science & Technology

 Why in News? 

A patient of psoriasis has now become a part of a team that invented a drug for the disease. 

Psoriasis:

 • It is a chronic autoimmune condition which causes the rapid buildup of skin cells.

 • These cells will cause scaling on the skin’s surface. 

• Then it leads to a rash with itchy, scaly patches. 

• It can be seen commonly on the knees, elbows, trunk and scalp.

 • It is caused by an over-reactive immune system which creates inflammation in your skin. 

• It is not contagious. 

Symptoms: 

• Inflamed patches of the skin 

• White-silver scales 

• Dry skin 

• Soreness 

• Itching and burning sensations

 • Painful joints 

Treatment: 

• It is a long-term disease with no cure. 

• Treatment will reduce the inflammation and scales on the skin.

 • The treatment includes: a. Steroid creams b. Vitamin D3 ointments c. Moisturizers d. Medicated lotions etc.

 Autoimmune Condition: 

• In autoimmune condition the immune system which destroys the foreign invaders like bacteria, mistakes healthy cells for foreign invaders and destroys them

Green Hydrogen Standard 

Syllabus- GS Paper-3-Environment & Ecology 

Why in News? 

• Recently, the Ministry of new and Renewable Energy has introduced the Green Hydrogen Standard. 

Green Hydrogen: 

• The Ministry has defined the Green Hydrogen as hydrogen with a well-to-gate emission of not more than 2kg of CO2 which is equivalent to hydrogen of 1kg. 

• To be classified as Green Hydrogen, the standard outlines the emission thresholds. 

• The ministry will specify a detailed methodology for measurement, reporting, monitoring and also certification of green hydrogen. 

• The nodal agency for the monitoring, verification and certification is Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power. 

Importance: 

• It brings clarification regarding Green Hydrogen.

 • India will now become one of the first few countries in the world to announce a definition of Green Hydrogen. 

Green Hydrogen: 

• It is one of the forms of Hydrogen which is produced through the electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power.

 • This process splits the water into hydrogen and water. 

• Then the produced hydrogen can be used as a clean and renewable fuel. 

Advantages: 

• It is used in chemical industry for the manufacturing of ammonia and fertilisers. 

• It is also used in the production of petroleum products 

• It is helpful in the steel industries also.

 National Hydrogen Mission: 

• National Hydrogen Mission was launched in the year 2021. 

• It was introduced with a view to cut down the carbon emissions.

 • It wants to increase the use of renewable sources of energy. 

• It is being implemented by the Ministry of Renewable Energy.

 • National Green Hydrogen Mission was started under the NHM. 

• Its main aim is to make India a global hub for the production of green energy.

NeSDA 

Syllabus- Prelims-Important Reports 

Why in News? 

• 5 th edition of the NeSDA-Way Forward Monthly Report for States/UTs is released. 

• The report mentioned that there are 13,867 e-services are provided across the States/UTs. 

• 911 e-services are mapped under the education sector. 

Best Practices: 

• Gujarat Government has developed G-Shala which is a Learning Management System with e-content for Grade I-XII.

 • The Government of Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country to have used online and centralized system for allotment of 100% seats through their Right to Education portal.

 National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment:

• It was launched in the year 2018 by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) under Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

 • It was launched based on the Online Service Index of UNDESA e-Government Survey which is the initiative of UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs.

 • It was introduced to measure the performance of States, UTs and also selected Central ministries in delivering e-Governance to the citizens.

 • This study helps the governments to identify the gaps in their service delivery. 

Parameters: 

• It uses four parameters such as: a. Accessibility b. Content Availability c. Information security and Ease of Use d. Privacy for the Central Ministry Portals. 

• Another three parameters are also used for the Central Ministry Services. They are: a. End Service Delivery b. Integrated Service Delivery c. Status and Request Tracking

Questions

1.Consider the following statements regarding ASEAN Countries: 

1. It was established by signing the Bangkok Declaration in the year 1987. 

2. Singapore is one of the founding members of ASEAN. 

Which of the above statements are correct?

 a. Only 1

 b. Only 2

 c. Both 1&2

 d. Neither 1 nor 2

2..Consider the following statements regarding Green Hydrogen: 

Statement-I: India become one of the first few countries in the world to announce a definition of Green Hydrogen. 

Statement-II: National Hydrogen Mission was launched in the year 2020.

 Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements? 

 a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I. 

b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I. 

 c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect

 d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct.

3.NeSDA works under which of the following ministry? 

a. Ministry of Human Resources and Development 

b. Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions 

c. Ministry of Finance 

d. Ministry of Home Affairs