China’s New Maritime Rules From September 1, 2021, China’s new maritime rules designed to control the entry of foreign vessels in what Beijing calls “Chinese territorial waters” take effect. Foreign vessels, both military and commercial, will be henceforth required to submit to Chinese supervision in “Chinese territorial waters,” as per the new law. The move […]
Tag: 3rd Sep 2021
ZAPAD 2021: Multinational Exercise
Multinational Exercise ZAPAD 2021 A contingent of 200 Army personnel will participate in the multinational Exercise ZAPAD 2021 being held at Nizhniy, Russia from September 3 to 16, the Army said. Of the 17 countries invited for the exercise, there are nine Participating countries and eight Observers including China and Pakistan. ZAPAD 2021 is one […]
Provident Fund (PF) Accounts
Provident Fund (PF) Accounts The government has decided to split existing Provident Fund (PF) accounts into two separate accounts in order to operationalise the new tax on PF income arising out of employee contributions exceeding ₹2.5 lakh a year. The Finance Ministry notified new Income Tax rules to this effect, but experts said this could […]
Afghanistan in SAARC
SAARC: With uncertainty hanging over the international representation of Afghanistan under the Taliban, a question has risen over its membership in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which is scheduled to meet next in Islamabad. The fate of Afghanistan’s membership, and even the future of SAARC to some extent, depends on the Taliban […]
Ramon Magsaysay Award 2021: Winners List
Ramon Magsaysay Award: This year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award — regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize — were announced. The winners are: Indonesian torch bearer for investigative journalism, Watchdoc. Muhammad Amjad Saqib, a microfinance pioneer from Pakistan, Filipino fisher and community environmentalist Roberto Ballon, American Steven Muncy for humanitarian work and refugee assistance […]
Types of Economic Recovery
Economic Recovery: The National Statistical Office data has revealed that the Indian economy grew at a record pace of 20.1% in April-June 2021, as compared to the corresponding period last year. Last year, Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 24.4% in the same period, when the national lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic had nearly halted […]
World Social Protection Report 2021: ILO
World Social Protection Report: ILO International Labour Organization report titled ‘World Social Protection Report 2020–22’ has revealed that, globally 4.1 billion people are living without any social safety net of any kind. The report highlighted that the pandemic response was uneven and insufficient. Thereby, Covid-19 has further underscored the critical importance of achieving universal social […]
Poshan 2.0
Poshan 2.0: The Ministry for Women and Child Development inaugurated Poshan 2.0 and urged all Aspirational Districts to establish a Poshan Vatika (nutrition garden) during the Nutrition Month (Poshan Mah) from 1st September. A month-long celebration of the POSHAN Abhiyan mission places special attention on Severe Acute Malnourished (SAM) children. It is an umbrella scheme […]
Special Drawing Rights (SDR)
Special Drawing Rights (SDR): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made an allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 12.57 billion (equivalent to around $17.86 billion at the latest exchange rate) to India. Now, the total SDR holdings of India stand at SDR 13.66 billion. Special Drawing Rights (SDR): The SDR is neither a currency nor […]
India – Algeria: Maiden Navy Exercise
Maiden Navy Exercise: India-Algeria: The Indian and Algerian navies participated in a maiden naval exercise off the Algerian coast in a bid to increase maritime cooperation. The naval exercise with Algeria is crucial for India as it is strategically located in the Maghreb region (region of North Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea) and is the […]