Prelim Bits 15-03-2019

Royal Gurkha Rifles of Britain

• Recently British Army announced that it would create a new Specialized Infantry Battalion by recruiting Nepalese Gurkha servicepersons.
• British were impressed by the discipline and ferocity of Gurkha soldiers during the Anglo-Nepalese War of (1814-16) and started recruiting these soldiers from 1815.
• Since then, the Gurkhas have fought on the side of the British Empire in almost every war, including both World Wars.
• During Indian independence (1947) Britain-India-Nepal Tripartite Agreement was signed for the allotment of Gurkha regiments, which assigned the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 10th Gurkha Rifles regiments to India, and the 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 10th regiments to Britain.
• In 1948, India created an 11th Gurkha Rifles regiment to accommodate the Gurkhas who refused to depart with the now-British regiments.
• Later, the British Army amalgamated their four regiments into a combined Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) regiment consisting of three battalions.

Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–16)

• The Anglo-Nepalese War is also known as the Gurkha War.

• It was fought between the Kingdom of Gorkha (present-day Nepal) and the East India Company as a result of border disputes and ambitious expansionism of both the belligerent parties.
• The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, which ceded some Nepalese controlled territory to the British.

Global Trade Mark System Agreements

• Union government approves the proposal for accession to Nice, Vienna and Locarno Agreements.

1. Nice Agreement - Based on the international classification of goods and services for the purposes of registration of marks.
2. Vienna Agreement - Leads to setting up an International classification of the figurative elements of marks.
3. Locarno Agreement - It for establishing an International classification for industrial designs.

• Accession to the above agreements would give an opportunity to include Indian designs, figurative elements and goods in the international classification systems.
• The accession is expected to instil confidence in foreign investors in relation to the protection of Intellectual Property in India.

MPATG Missile

• Man-Portable Anti-tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) incorporates advanced features, including Imaging Infrared Radar (IIR) seeker with integrated avionics.
• MPATG has been indigenously developed by DRDO, which will enhance the hit and destruction capacity of the armed forces in short distance battle situations considerably.

Exercise Sampriti

• Sampriti series is a joint Indo-Bangladesh military exercise which started in 2009.

• Exercise Sampriti strengthens and broadens interoperability and cooperation between the Indian and Bangladesh Armies.

Exercise Al-Nagah

• Al Nagah series is a joint military exercise between Indian and Royal Army of Oman (RAO).
• Exercise Al Nagah will contribute immensely in developing mutual understanding and respect for each other’s military as also facilitate in tackling the worldwide phenomenon of terrorism.

India Energy Modelling Forum

• India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF) has been envisaged as a pan-stakeholder platform for debating ideas, scenario-planning & discussing India's energy future.
• The Forum aims to improve cooperation and coordination between modelling teams, the Government of India, knowledge partners and think-tanks, build the capacity of Indian institutions, and identify issues for joint modelling activities and future areas of research.
• Recently NITI Aayog and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organized the first workshop on the development of the India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF).

Source: PIB, the Hindu, Business Line, Indian Express