It is a fast patrol vessel, indigenously built by Hindustan Shipyard.
It is built under the Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) project of Indian Coast Guard.
Under the first phase of the project, 5 FPV’s has been built.
The first four such ships are ICGS Rani Abbakka, ICGS Rani Avanti Bai, ICGS Rani Durgavati and ICGS Rani Gaidinliu.
They have been commissioned and are in active service at various locations on the eastern seaboard.
Rani Rashmoni is the last in the first phase and recently commissioned into the ICG.
It will be based in Visakhapatnam.
India – U.S Defence Pacts
There are four foundational agreements that helps the U.S. to intensify its defence cooperation with a partner nation such as India.
India has already signed two pacts such as Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) and General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).
LEMOA gives both nations access to each other’s military facilities. But it does not make it automatic or obligatory.
GSOMIA paved the way for greater technology cooperation in the military sector.
The other two pacts which India yet to ratify are Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).
COMCASA will facilitate transfer of encrypted communications systems.
It helps in sharing high-tech military hardware, especially armed drones which the U.S. is willing to supply to India.
BECA facilitates exchange of geospatial information.
2+2 dialogue (Two plus Two discussion)
It is a diplomatic arrangement between India and U.S.
It is going to be held in July in which Indian External Affairs and Defence Ministry will held meeting with their U.S counterparts.
It is expected to further cement the India-U.S. engagements.
It key focus areas will be concluding COMCASA and BECA pacts.
Sale of armed drones is high on the agenda of the 2+2 dialogue.
The U.S. has been engaging India since 2002 on the foundational agreements.
But successive governments have been wary of giving in to the U.S. demands due to fear that these pacts may compromise India-Russia military ties.
Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS)
Under LRS, all resident individuals can freely remit $250,000 overseas every financial year for a permissible set of current or capital account transactions.
Remittances are permitted for overseas education, travel, medical treatment and purchase of shares and property, apart from maintenance of relatives living abroad, gifting and donations.
Under LRS, people can’t send money to countries identified as ‘non-cooperative’ by the Financial Action Task Force.
However, the rules do not allow remittances for trading on the foreign exchange markets and the purchase of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds issued by Indian companies abroad.
Recent Concern – Outward remittances under maintenance of close relatives shot up to almost $3 billion in 2017-18 from a mere $174 million in 2013-14.
RBI has been concerned over this and thereby, it has narrowed the definition of relatives to check the flow of funds.
Hence, funds under the ‘maintenance of close relative’ category can be sent only to immediate relatives such as parents, spouses, children and their spouses.
This has brought about by defining ‘relatives’ under the Companies Act, 2013 instead of the same act of 1956.
Global Classification of Diseases
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).
ICD is a unique code for diseases, injuries that helps health professionals to share health information across the globe.
It is also used by national health programme managers, health insurers whose reimbursements depend on ICD coding.
The latest edition ICD – 11 provides significant improvements on previous versions in coding structure and electronic tooling.
This will allow health care professionals to more easily and completely record conditions.
ICD-11 will be presented at the World Health Assembly in May 2019 for adoption by Member States.
It will come into effect on 1 January 2022.
New Additions in ICD-11 – It includes new separate chapters including traditional medicine and sexual health which was previously categorized in mental health conditions.
Gaming disorder has been added to the section on addictive disorders
The codes relating to antimicrobial resistance are more closely in line with the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS).
Devrais
Devrais (Dev - ‘God’ and Rai - forest) is the name given to sacred groves located in Western Ghats of Maharastra.
A sacred grove can range from a few trees to several hundred trees in a cluster with a local deity.
They have been nurtured by local communities residing there, who draw upon traditional knowledge to conserve these patches of forestland.
Owing to rising urban migration and eroding ties to nature, younger generation have little awareness about the importance of preserving these groves.
Recently, a city-based environmental NGO has come up with a unique initiative to comprehensively document sacred groves in Maharashtra.
It is not only to encourage local communities to carry their traditions forward, but to document regional deities in what proposes to be a socio-cultural assessment.
