Current Affairs 21 June 2021 – IAS Current Affairs

Current Affairs 21 June 2021 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :

India Abstains From Voting On UN’s Myanmar Resolution

Source : Hindustan Times
GS II : Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

Approach “Election Petition : Election Results Challenged” : Mains and Prelims

1. What is the resolution
2. Indian Stand
3. About India-Myanmar

Why in News ?

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution on the situation in Myanmar with a vote of 119-1.

• The draft resolution The situation in Myanmar was adopted with 119 member states.
• India Abstains From Voting On UN’s Myanmar Resolution

Key Facts

• Although not legally binding on member states, the document carries significant political heft.
• It also calls on all member states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar while recalling last year’s UN Security Council resolution demanding a global ceasefire in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • It also called upon all member states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.
  • Myanmar’s military junta to immediately and unconditionally release any government officials, politicians and those arbitrarily detained or arrested.
• 36 countries including India abstained from voting.
• Belarus, which requested the vote, was the only country to vote against the resolution.
• Indian Stand
  • This resolution was tabled without adequate consultations with neighbours and regional countries.
  • This is not helpful because it becomes counter-productive to the efforts of the ASEAN to find a solution to the current situation in Myanmar.

Reason for Current Unrest

• A coup in Myanmar began on the morning of February 2021
• The reason was when democratically elected members of the country’s ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD) were deposed by the Myanmar’s military
• The country made under military rule by declaring the results of the November 2020 general election invalid.
  • Military coup that ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
• Tensions between the KNU and the military increased during the unrest following the 2021 Myanmar coup.
• Most of the Myanmar people were satisfied with the election result.

M Yoga App Launched UPSC

Source : PIB
GS II : Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources

Why in News ?

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi launched WHO M-Yoga App while addressing on the occasion of 7thInternational Day of Yoga.

Key Facts

• M-Yoga app will provide many videos of Yoga training and practice.
• It is based on common Yoga protocol in many languages.

  

• Terming this as a great example of fusion of modern technology and ancient science
• M-Yoga app will help in spreading Yoga world over and will contribute to the efforts of One World,One Health.
• This mobile app will be immensely helpful in the promotion of Yoga and wellness among people around the world, especially during the ongoing pandemic.
• It will play an instrumental role in re-rehabilitation of the health of the Covid patients who have recovered from Covid-19.

Need for M-Yoga App

• Ministry of AYUSH and the World Health Organization (WHO) had jointly undertaken a project in mid 2019, focusing on mobile-Yoga.
• It envisaged the concept of the ‘Be Healthy, Be Mobile’ (BHBM)
• The concept under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030.
• Be Healthy, Be Mobile (BHBM) initiative is a global partnership led by WHO which supports the scale up of mobile health (m-Health) technology.
• In order to achieve the above objectives, a memorandum of understanding was signed in July, 2019 between WHO and the Ministry of AYUSH.

Details of M-Yoga App

• M Yoga project focused on four areas
  • Common Yoga Protocol for GeneralWellness
  • Yoga for mental health and resilience
  • Yoga for Adolescents
  • Yoga for pre – Diabetics.
• Currently launched app is available in two of the six official languages of the UN i.e English and Hindi.
• Common Yoga Protocol booklets, video shoots, their translations in 6 major UN languages and designs of the booklets under the directives of Ministry of AYUSH,

Be Healthy, Be Mobile

7 billion mobile telephone subscriptions across the world  has the potential to transform the face of health service delivery across the globe. 

Increasing threat of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which kill 41 million people each year, around 71% of all deaths.

• To address this challenge, the Be Healthy, Be Mobile (BHBM) initiative was set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Telecommunication union (ITU) in 2012.
• BHBM works with governments to scale up mHealth services for NCDs and their risk factors.
• Major objective
  • The major objective is to continue expanding the number of countries it works with and the variety of diseases it addresses.
  • To achieve Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals for global community by 2030.

Permanent Mission of India to the UN Office

Source : PIB
GS II : Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

Approach “Permanent Mission of India to the UN Office” : Mains and Prelims

1. About the News
2. Information About 
   • Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council
   • About Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Office
   • Special Rapporteur

Why in News ?

Recently Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva has responded the concerns raised by Special Procedures Branch of the Human Rights Council regarding India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Key Facts

• Concerns by Special Rapporteur India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
  • The promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
  • The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
  • The right to privacy
• Permanent Mission of India Reply
  • Undertook broad consultations in 2018 with various stakeholders, including individuals, civil society, industry association and organisations and invited public comments to prepare the draft Rules.

    

  • An inter-ministerial meeting had discussed in detail the comments received in detail and, accordingly, the Rules were finalised.
  • Right to freedom of speech and expression in India
    • Guaranteed under the Indian Constitution.
    • The independent judiciary
    • Robust media are part of India’s democratic structure.

Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council

• The special procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts
• It has the mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective.
• They are non-paid and elected for 3-year mandates that can be reconducted for another three years.
• With the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) special procedures
  • Undertake country visits
  • Act on individual cases of reported violations and concerns of a broader nature by sending communications to States and others
  • Conduct annual thematic studies, seek information from calls for input and convene expert consultations
  • Contribute to the development of international human rights standards
  • Engage in advocacy, raise public awareness, and provide advice for technical cooperation.

About Special Rapporteur

• Human rights defenders (HRDs) are all persons, who individually or in association with others, act to promote or protect human rights peacefully.
• Functions 
  • Promote the effective implementation of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in cooperation and dialogue with Governments and other actors
  • Study developments and challenges on the right to promote and protect human rights and seek, receive and respond to information on the situation of human rights defenders
  • Recommend effective strategies to better protect human rights defenders
  • Integrate a gender perspective and pay particular attention to women human rights defenders.

Mangroves as Barrier To Cyclone Storms

Source : Down To Earth
GS II : Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Approach “Mangroves as Barrier To Cyclone Storms” : Mains and Prelims

1. About Mangrove Barrier
2. Why it is needed ?
3. Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project

Why in News ?

The Odisha government has proposed to raise mangrove and casuarinas plantation in around 109 and 4,000 hectares of land, respectively, in the coastal belt. 

Key Facts

• The mangrove forests will be raised under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP) Phase-II.
• The casuarinas will be planted by the state resources.

  

• The coastal belt plantation aims to erect a strong, natural barrier against the strong winds during cyclones.
• According to the plan, mangroves would be planted in Balasore (50 hectares), Bhadrak (30 ha), Kendrapara (25 ha) and Puri (4 ha).
• Casuarinas block and gap plantations have been proposed in Balasore district (99 ha), Puri (300 ha), Bhadrak (5 ha), Ganjam (28 ha), Kendrapara (55 ha), Khurda (30 ha).
• Also another 3,500 ha of casuarinas (gap plantation with 400 seedlings per hectare) will be made in Chilika and Puri wildlife divisions.
• Need for these measures
  • Odisha is one the most cyclone-prone states in the country.
  • The state has around 480-kilometres-long coastal belt.
  • As many as 96 cyclones have hit Odisha coast in the last 130 years.
  • The mangroves served as a natural barrier to cyclonic winds in Bhitarkanika National Park during Cyclone Yaas.
  • Its impact was not felt in Kalibhanjadiha island inside the national park due to the presence of mangroves.
  • Besides Odisha is vulnerable to various natural disasters like cyclone, flood, hailstorm, drought due to its unique geo-climatic condition.

NISHTHA Capacity Building Programme

Source : PIB
GS II : Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources

Approach “NISHTHA Capacity Building Programme” : Mains and Prelims

1. About NISHTHA Capacity Building Programme

Why in News ?

To fulfill the long-standing vision of Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) to achieve academic excellence in Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) a 40 days NISHTHA-National initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement Program completed

• National flagship program of NCERT on 19th June 2021.

Key Facts

• The capacity building program is aimed to build competencies among teachers and school principals and Improving Quality of School Education through Integrated Teacher Training.

  

• MoTA has recently collaborated with National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) which a national apex education body for several programmatic initiatives and interventions, for conducting such programs across 350 functional EMRS schools across the country.
• The participants were capacitated on 18 holistic and comprehensive modules covering different aspects of education such as Learning Outcomes, Assessment Practices, learner-centered pedagogy, Art-Integrated Learning, Gender Equality, Covid Response of Schools, POCSO Act, Pedagogy of Science, Mathematics, Language, Social Science Subjects etc.
• The training was conducted in an online mode adopting a blended approach.
• Amalgam of strategies were adopted by National Resource Group (NRG) members of NCERT using narratives, stories, quizzes, and puzzles etc. as part of the training methodologies.
• National Education Policy (NEP-2020) recommendation of Providing In-service continuous professional development
  • These will be strengthened and substantially expanded to meet the needs of enriched teaching-learning processes for quality education.

Unbox Tinkering – ATL Teacher Training Program

• Unbox Tinkering – ATL Teacher Training Program also organised earlier. 
• Organised in coordination with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, IBM and Learning Links foundation for 60 EMRS Heads, Teachers and ATL incharges from 12 States.
• During this simulation sessions which allowed open learning and exchange of ideas on wide ranging topics like computational thinking, Arduino Basics-Coding to Design Thinking etc.

PRELIMS

Ganga Quest 2021

• The final results of Ganga Quest 2021 were announced on occasion of Ganga Dussehra.
• Ganga Quest is an online quiz contest & an educational program to sensitize children and youth on Riven Ganga& other rivers of India and the environment.
• The quiz was organised by National Mission for Clean Ganga, Jal Shakti Ministry in association with Tree Craze Foundation.

Divyangta Khel Kendras

• Under Union minister for Social Justice and Empowerment
• Looking at the interest towards the sports among the Divyangjan of the country and their good performance in Paralympics
• The ministry has decided to establish five Divyangta Khel Kendra in different parts of country, out of which Ahemdabad City is identified to open one of such facilities.

JaanHaiToJahaanHai

• Launched a nationwide “JaanHaiToJahaanHai” awareness campaign to create awareness on Corona vaccination in rural and remote areas of the country.
• Also to “Crush and Curb” the rumours and apprehensions, being spread by some vested interests regarding the on-going vaccination drive.