CLAT-2022 CURRENT AFFAIRS (22ND SEPTEMBER)

CONTENTS

 

1. INDIA WARNS UK OF RECIPROCAL STEPS OVER QUARANTINE RULES

2. NO LINK BETWEEN AUKUS AND QUAD

3. MISSION DEPLOYED – INS TABAR

4. WHY HAS SAARC FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING BEEN CALLED OFF?

5. WORLD RHINO DAY: ASSAM BURNS RHINO HORNS TO BUST MYTH

 

INDIA WARNS UK OF RECIPROCAL STEPS OVER QUARANTINE RULES

 

• India may take “reciprocal measures” if the UK doesn’t change a policy that requires visiting Indian nationals to undergo mandatory quarantine. 

 

• The rules require Indians visiting the UK to quarantine themselves for 10 days and undergo covid-19 tests even if they are fully vaccinated with Covishield. 

 

• Covishield is produced under licence by Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine maker, and is a version of the vaccine developed in the UK by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. 

 

• Britain and Scotland are expected to ease pandemic restrictions from early October. However, the list of countries with approved vaccines does not include India. 

 

• Meanwhile, foreign minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday discussed the matter with his British counterpart Liz Truss on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. 

 

 

(SOURCE: LIVEMINT) 

 

 

 

 

NO LINK BETWEEN AUKUS AND QUAD

 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet U.S. President Joe Biden and attend the Quadrilateral (Quad) summit along with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. 

 

• The Quad meeting would deal with issues such as the pandemic, new and emerging technologies, climate change, infrastructure, maritime security, education, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

 

• Mr. Modi is expected to begin his visit to the U.S. on September 24, and will hold talks with Kamala Harris, the first U.S. Vice-President of Indian origin. 

• On September 25, Mr. Modi will meet Mr. Biden and both leaders will attend the Quad summit subsequently.

 

• They will discuss the need to see an end to radicalism, extremism, cross border terrorism and the dismantling of global terrorist networks. 

 

‘Different visions’. 

 

• “There is no link between AUKUS and Quad. AUKUS is a security alliance; Quad is a different group of countries working on a different vision of the Indo Pacific. 

 

• The Malabar exercises [maritime exercises involving Australia, India, Japan and the U.S.] are those that are done between different nations and has nothing to do with Quad.

 

• India had noted Australia’s clarification that the AUKUS partnership only dealt with nuclear power technology, and hence, was not a case of “nuclear proliferation”. 

 

(SOURCE: THE HINDU) 

 

 

 

MISSION DEPLOYED – INS TABAR

• Towards enhancing military cooperation with friendly nations, Indian Naval Ship INS Tabar was mission-deployed in international waters for over three months from 13 June 21.

 

• During the deployment, she made 11 port calls in nine countries of Europe and Africa, traversing nearly 20,000 nautical miles. 

 

• The ship undertook twelve maritime partnership exercises with foreign navies at sea. 

 

• These also included prominent bilateral exercises such as Exercise Konkan 21 with the Royal Navy and Exercise Indra-Navy 21 with the Russian Navy. 

 

• A few of these exercises were maiden engagements, such as that with the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Algerian Navy and the Sudanese Navy.

 

• INS Tabar also participated in the 325th anniversary celebrations of the Russian Navy at St. Petersburg in Russia. 

 

• Post successful completion of this Operational Deployment, the INS Tabar is now deployed for patrol in the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf. 

 

• Commanded by Captain Mahesh Mangipudi, INS Tabar is a stealth frigate and has a crew of 300 personnel. 

 

• Belonging to the Western Fleet, she had participated earlier in counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. 

 

(SOURCE: PIB) 

 

 

 

WHY HAS SAARC FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING BEEN CALLED OFF?

 

 

• SAARC Foreign Ministers meeting that was scheduled to be held in New York on September 25, 2021 has been cancelled after Pakistan demanded the participation of the Taliban regime.

 

• SAARC Chair Nepal sent a letter to SAARC member countries, officially informing them that the meeting stands cancelled.

 

• If the meeting was held, Ghulam M. Isaczai, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations could have attended it but Pakistan refused to allow it.

 

• It is reported that majority of SAARC members had agreed to keep an empty chair for Afghanistan during the meeting but Pakistan did not agree.

 

• Pakistan demanded the participation of a Taliban representative, which was shot down by the remaining SAARC member countries including India and chair Nepal. 

 

• The Taliban regime has not yet been recognised by governments across the world. In fact, many of the top Taliban cabinet ministers are blacklisted by the United Nations. 

About SAARC:

 

• The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organization that comprises eight South Asian countries as its member states including:

India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

• SAARC was founded in December 1985 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The grouping aims to promote development of economic and regional integration.

 

• Afghanistan is SAARC’s youngest member, as it joined the grouping in 2007. The SAARC Secretariat is located in Kathmandu, Nepal. 

 

• With the recent developments in the region, questions have been raised on the functionality of SAARC and India’s engagement in the grouping given Pakistan’s continuous support to terrorism.

 

(SOURCE: JAGRAN JOSH) 

 

 

 

WORLD RHINO DAY: ASSAM BURNS RHINO HORNS TO BUST MYTH

 

 

• Nearly 2,500 rhino horns were burnt and destroyed in Assam’s Bokakhat.

 

• To mark World Rhino Day and discourage the myths that has propelled poaching of the endangered pachyderms.

 

• About 2,479 horns weighing around 1300 kg, which had been seized or recovered from dead rhinos since 1979, were burnt in six large pyres at a stadium in Bokakhat, 240 km east of Guwahati. 

 

• The chief minister said it was necessary not to sell the horns and add value to the illegal poaching industry. He added that this may be the largest such pile to be destroyed.

 

• At 71%, Assam is home to the world’s largest population of one-horned rhinoceros. 

 

• According to a 2018 census, there are nearly 2,650 rhinos in the state with around 2,400 of them in the Kaziranga National Park. 

 

• Rhinoceros are listed in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as endangered animals. 

 

• There is an international ban on trade of rhino horns under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). 

 

• The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 allows for destruction of wildlife parts (including rhino horn) under Section 39 (3). 

 

• 50 horns associated with pending court cases will be kept in state treasuries and 94 others will be preserved for exhibition or educational purposes.

 

•  Before destroying them, experts verified the horns using scientific methods at the 12 treasuries where they were kept.

 

• Each horn was cleaned, weighed, photographed, and labeled with a unique barcode, DNA samples extracted, and packed and sealed again in the presence of several witnesses.

 

• Of the total 2,623 horns in state treasuries, 15 were of African rhinos (which have two horns) and 21 were found to be fake.

 

• In recent years, the state government has taken measures to clamp down on poaching, including arming forest personnel with sophisticated weapons and increasing surveillance using drones. 

 

(SOURCE: HINDUSTAN TIMES)