Primary Agricultural Credit Societies
Paper 3 – Agriculture
Why Should You Know?
Recently, Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah told in the Rajya Sabha that the central government is preparing a national level policy for cooperatives.
In details –
- In order to make Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) multipurpose vibrant business entities, draft model bye-laws are being prepared in consultation with the State Governments, National Cooperative Federations and all other stakeholders.
- These Draft Model Bye-Laws contain various provisions for bringing professionalism, transparency and accountability in their operation. It is to mention that PACS registered and administered under the respective State Cooperative Laws.
- The Government is also formulating a new national level policy for cooperatives and two-day National Conference on new Cooperation Policy was held on 12th and 13th April, 2022 with Cooperation Secretaries/ RCSs from all the States/UTs, wherein discussions were inter alia held on legal framework, identification of regulatory, policy & operational barriers; ease of doing business; reforms for strengthening governance; promoting new and social cooperatives; revitalizing defunct ones; making cooperatives vibrant economic entities; cooperation among cooperatives and increasing membership of cooperatives.
- Also, a centrally sponsored project for Computerization of 63,000 PACS has been launched to further help them in their digitalization and end-to-end automation of their businesses.
- It will bring transparency and enhance trustworthiness in the working of PACS and will also help them become nodal service delivery point for Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS), PMFBY, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for various services and provision of inputs like fertilizers, seeds etc.
- This pan India IT project and legal reforms through adoption of model bye-laws by PACS will create enabling environment for PACS to become vibrant multipurpose business entities.
What is Primary Agricultural Credit Societies?
- A Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) is a basic unit and smallest co-operative credit institutions in India.
- It works on the grassroots level (gram panchayat and village level).
- It encourages agriculturists to save, accepts deposits from them, makes loans to deserving borrowers, and collects repayments.
- PACS are the lowest unit in a three-tier structure: The other two tiers — State Cooperative Banks (StCB) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCB) — have already been automated by the NABARD and brought on the Common Banking Software (CBS).
Online Education
Paper 2 – Education
Why Should You Know?
Recently the Minister of State for Education, Smt. Annpurna Devi gave information in Rajya Sabha about the Steps taken by the Government to make online education more conducive.
In details –
- Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under domain of respective State and UT Government.
- However, in order to ensure that every student including those residing in rural and educationally backward districts of the country, gets continues access educational, a multi-pronged approach has been adopted by the Dept. of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.
- A comprehensive initiative called PM e-Vidya has been started as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/ online / on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes the following components:
- DIKSHA the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in states/UTs: and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform)
- One earmarked Swayam Prabha TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel)
- Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani
- Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube.
- Where the digital facility (mobile device/DTH television) is not available, Ministry of Education has taken many initiatives like Community Radio Stations and a podcast called Shiksha Vani of CBSE, Textbooks, worksheet supplied to residence of learners, Handbook on 21st Century Skills and community/mohalla classes are organized.
- Innovation Funds of the Department are used to set up mobile school, virtual studios, virtual class rooms in schools. Continuous Learning Plan (CLP) for states/UTs has been initiated in all States/UTs, pre-loaded tablets in various states and UTs are effectively used in remote rural areas where online classes are difficult.
- Further, an Alternate Academic Calendar has been prepared for learning solutions including self-assessment for grade 1 to 12 for both children with and without device. Bridge Course Modules have also been developed for bridging the learning gaps of Out of School children studying in special training centres (STC) under the provisions of RTE Act, 2009.
- Also, PRAGYATA guidelines were issued to the States/UTs to facilitate continued education through various modes. The guidelines inter-alia include situation where internet connectivity is not available or available with very less bandwidth, resources are shared through various platforms like television, radio etc. that do not depend on internet.
- Similarly, Students Learning Enhancement Guidelines were released in 2020 to support learning of children during COVID-19. Guidelines for development of e-content for children with special needs have been released. Guidelines for parent participation in Home- based learning during school closure and beyond have also been released in 2021.
- Besides, the Ministry has undertaken a proactive initiative, named, ‘MANODARPAN’ covering a wide range of activities to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing during the COVID outbreak and beyond.
Samagra Shiksha –
- Department of School Education and Literacy has launched the Samagra Shiksha – an Integrated Scheme for School Education from 2018-19.
- It envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to Senior Secondary levels.
- It is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.
- Samagra Shiksha is implemented in partnership with all the States and UTs and financial assistance is provided to all States and UTs for various components including strengthening of ICT infrastructure in schools.
- Under Samagra Shiksha, ICT component envisages covering all Government and Aided schools from classes VI to XII and Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs), subject to the availability of budgetary provision.
- Financial support of @ Rs. 10000 per teacher for tablets is being provided from the year 2022-23 to the teachers at the primary level, based on state specific proposal as part of “Learning Recovery Package”
Youth Tourism Club
Paper 3 – Economy, Tourism
Why Should You Know?
Recently the Minister of State for Education, Smt. Annpurna Devi gave information in Rajya Sabha about the Benefits of Youth Tourism Club.
In details –
- Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has advised its affiliated schools to establish YUVA Tourism Clubs and to organize various activities to promote tourism under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) programme .
- It is noteworthy that the purpose of YUVA Tourism Clubs is to develop young ambassadors of the Indian tourism sector who would become aware of the potential for tourism in India, appreciate India’s rich cultural heritage, and ignite a passion for tourism.
- The clubs will encourage learners to appreciate the importance of tourism, sensitize learners regarding elements of travel, and promote responsible & sustainable tourism practices. These clubs will also promote national integration and carry forward the vision of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. This is also in line with Dekho Apna Desh initiative of the Prime Minister.
- The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) pledged to support the YUVA Tourism Clubs initiative. CBSE issued instructions to its affiliated schools to form Yuva Tourism Clubs.
- YUVA Tourism Clubs are being established by the Ministry of Tourism as a part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.
Benefits –
The benefits that students would derive from the YUVA Tourism Clubs are to:-
- enable them to appreciate the importance of travel and tourism;
- ignite a passion for tourism and its value;
- educate them regarding the rich natural & cultural travel heritage present in our villages, towns, cities, and states;
- sensitize them to various elements of travel;
- encourage, teach and propagate responsible tourism practices;
- improve physical & mental health through exploratory, adventure and sports tourism; and
- spread awareness about tourism opportunities at an early stage and encourage them to be skilled professionals and entrepreneurs in the hospitality and tourism sector.
Vidya Samiksha Kendra
Paper 2 – Education
Why Should You Know?
Recently the Minister of State for Education, Smt. Annpurna Devi gave information in Rajya Sabha about the Vidya Samiksha Kendra.
In details –
The ability to effectively collect, monitor, correlate, and analyse data will lead to timely actions to implement schemes. Various initiatives of the Ministry of Education like UDISE, Student Database, NAS, NIPUN BARAT, Teacher Database, DIKSHA etc. are efficient systems working in silos. Integrating various data sets and breaking through the barrier of operating in silos will help us effectively leverage different entities towards a common goal.
In view of the above, States/UTs were advised to establish a Central system (Vidya Samiksha Kendra) at state level for tracking student enrolment, progress in their learning levels, Out of School Children mainstreamed, textbook delivery, support required by teachers and schools, etc.
Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK) is aimed at leveraging data and technology to bring a bid leap in learning outcomes. This will cover data of more than 15 Lakh schools, 96 Lakh teachers and 26 Crore students and analyse them meaningfully using big data analysis, artificial intelligence and machine learning in order to enhance the overall monitoring of the education system and there by improving learning outcomes.
Vidya Samiksha Kendra is the first of its kind data driven model as per the National Digital Architecture Framework of the Government of India. With the help of this, real time monitoring of teachers to students has been started. With the help of this platform, vast improvements in grade appropriate learning outcome have been possible.
Objectives –
To monitor the real-time status of various projects/ activities under the ambit of Samagra Shiksha.
To keep track of enrolled students including learning outcomes, Dropouts, support required by teachers and schools, etc.
To monitor and track field level academic and non-academic activities at state level and also empower administrators and teachers in the field to take data driven decisions.
To identify and analyse improvement areas for decision making and implementation that needs urgent attention.
To improve the academic performance of students and to enhance the accountability of teachers in schools and effective utilisation of the available resources.
To setup centralized helpdesk for grievance redressal mechanism for stakeholders of School ecosystem.
To develop Centralized dashboard providing the real-time performance indicators of Schools.
Increase accountability among all the field level staffs / administrators & monitor the real-time status towards various projects components / activities under the ambit of School Education.
Budget –
Financial assistance of Rs. 2.00 Crore to Rs. 5.00 Crore based on no. of schools are given to States and UTs.
Outcomes –
- Monitoring of Access, Enrolment, Dropout, Retention, Completion and Achievement
- Child wise tracking of achievements and assessments
- Real time Attendance monitoring of students and teachers
- Tracking of distribution of Incentives like scholarships, uniform, free textbooks etc.
- State level Centralized Monitoring Mechanism in the form of CCC for monitoring, tracking, taking feedback and providing support to all the major field level staff / activities of the school education system
- Real-time Data Integration & analysis of various existing Samagra Shiksha applications for Centralized Monitoring Dashboard along with integration of Data-analysis based Call Management Utility & Reporting.
- Real time data which improves School Management and Governance by timely interventions, streamlining processes, creating transparency and driving accountability through channelized escalations to field level academic & Non-academic staff and timely actions.
- Quick delivery of alerts, notification, and news with minimal failure rate among the field level staff/Head Masters/Teachers/Parents
- Motivate, encourage and facilitate teachers by sending actionable and continuous tips on best practices in pedagogy and teaching in classes.
Coastal erosion
Paper 3- Environment
Why Should You Know?
Recently In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha the Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, about 34 percent of the coastline is under varying degrees of erosion for the past 28 years.
In details –
- Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, about 34 percent of the coastline is under varying degrees of erosion for the past 28 years.
- In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), an attached office of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is monitoring shoreline erosion since 1990, using remote sensing data and GIS mapping techniques.
- He said, totally, 6907.18 km long coastline of the mainland has been analyzed for the period from 1990 to 2018 and it is observed that (33.6%) of the coastline is under varying degrees of erosion for the past 28 years.
- In a related question, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has not estimated the percentage of loss specifically due to coastal erosion, however, INCOIS has estimated Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) for the Indian coastline, which is a cumulative impact of seven coastal parameters.
- INCOIS has carried out Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) mapping to assess the probable implications of sea-level rise along the Indian coast. This exercise has generated maps using seven input parameters: shoreline change rate, sea-level change rate, coastal elevation, coastal slope, coastal geomorphology, significant wave height and tidal range. An atlas composing 156 maps of the entire Indian coast on a 1:1 lakh scale was released in 2012.
- Moreover, the 15th Finance Commission recommended the creation of National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) and State Disaster Risk Management Fund (SDRMF) comprising Mitigation Fund at the National and State level (NDMF/SDMF) and Response Fund at the National and State level (NDRF/ SDRF) for the award period from 2021-22 to 2022-26.
- The Finance Commission has also made specific recommendations for “Mitigation Measures to Prevent Erosion” under NDMF and “Resettlement of Displaced People Affected by Erosion” under NDRF.
- To operate these funds, the Commission also suggested that NDMA and/ or Ministry of Home Affairs may develop suitable norms for mitigation measures to prevent erosion and both the Union and the State Governments develop a policy to deal with the extensive displacement of people caused by coastal and river erosion.
- At present, NDMA is in the process of preparing the suitable norms for mitigation measures and developing a policy to deal with the extensive displacement of people.
What is Coastal erosion?
- Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms.
- The landward retreat of the shoreline can be measured and described over a temporal scale of tides, seasons, and other short-term cyclic processes.
- Coastal erosion may be caused by hydraulic action, abrasion, impact and corrosion by wind and water, and other forces, natural or unnatural.
- According to the IPCC, sea level rise caused by climate change will increase coastal erosion worldwide, significantly changing the coasts and low-lying coastal areas.
Indigenous platforms
Paper 3 – Science & Technology
Why Should You Know?
Recently In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha the the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar gave information about Indigenous platforms.
In details –
Government has already taken steps to provide indigenous social media platforms. The details are as follows:
Sandes –
It has been designed and developed as an indigenous solution for instant messaging for use by government and its stake holders.
It is hosted at government infrastructure and is made available at leading appstores.
Lok Samvaad –
It has been developed to provide indigenous public micro blogging platform.
MyGov –
has been established as Government of India’s Citizen Engagement Platform which collaborates with multiple Government bodies/ Ministries to engage with citizens for policy formulation and seeks the opinion of people on issues/ topics of public interest and welfare.
MyGov has adopted multiple engagement methodologies like discussions, tasks, polls, surveys, blogs, talks, pledges, quizzes, and on-ground activities by innovatively using internet, mobile apps, IVRS, SMS and outbound dialling (OBD) technologies.
About IT Act, 2000 –
As per the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, social media platforms are generally considered as intermediaries.
Any intermediaries, irrespective of their country of origin, rendering their online services in India need to follow the IT Act, 2000 and other applicable laws.
Government has notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Codes) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules, 2021”) on 25th February, 2021 to make intermediaries including social media platforms accountable to their users and enhance user safety online.
Digital literacy in rural areas
Paper 2 – Education
Why Should You Know?
Recently In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha the the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar gave information about digital literacy in rural areas.
In details –
- To enhance digital adoption, MeitY is focusing on providing digital literacy to the citizens across the country especially in the rural areas.
- In line with this, the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was approved by Union Cabinet in February 2017 to usher in digital literacy in rural India with a target to cover 6 crore rural households (1 person per household) across the country.
- So far, a total of around 6.15 crore candidates have been enrolled and 5.24 crore have been trained, out of which 3.89 crore candidates have been certified under the PMGDISHA Scheme.
- The PMGDISHA scheme is being implemented across the rural India including the state of Madhya Pradesh.
- Against the indicative target of 37.84 lakh, so far, 45.42 lakh candidates have been trained, out of which, 33.51 lakh candidates have been duly certified in Madhya Pradesh under the scheme.
- Government has carried out, three impact assessment studies for PMGDISHA scheme. The last impact assessment study of the scheme was carried out by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in FY 2020-21.
- IIPA, after the comprehensive and methodological evaluation of scheme, concluded in the report that PMGDISHA as a digital literacy programme plays an indispensable part in not only bridging the digital gap in the country but also transforming it into a knowledge economy and society.
- There seems to be a good demand for acquiring digital literacy in the rural areas as can be seen by the number of enrolments to the tune of more than 6.15 crore under the PMGDISHA scheme.
India-Namibia MoU
Paper 2 – International Relations
Why Should You Know?
Recently India-Namibia signed an MoU on wildlife conservation and sustainable biodiversity utilization.
In details –
- Government of India and Government of the Republic of Namibia have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on wildlife conservation and sustainable biodiversity utilization, on 20 july, 2022, for establishing the cheetah into the historical range in India.
- The MoU facilitates development of a mutually beneficial relationship to promote wildlife conservation and sustainable biodiversity utilization based on the principles of mutual respect, sovereignty, equality and the best interest of both India and Namibia.
The main thrust areas of MoU are –
- Biodiversity conservation with specific focus on conservation and restoration of cheetah in their former range areas from which they went extinct,
- Sharing and exchange of expertise and capacities aimed at promoting cheetah conservation in two countries,
- Wildlife conservation and sustainable biodiversity utilization by sharing good practices in
- Technological applications, mechanisms of livelihood generation for local communities living in wildlife habitats, and sustainable management of biodiversity.
- Collaboration in areas of climate change, environmental governance, environmental impact assessments, pollution and waste management and other areas of mutual interest.
- Exchange of personnel for training and education in wildlife management, including sharing of technical expertise, wherever relevant.
Cheetah Project restarted –
- Cheetah has a very special significance for the national conservation ethic and ethos. Bringing the cheetah back to India would have equally important conservation ramifications.
- Cheetah restoration will be part of a prototype for restoration of original cheetah habitats and their biodiversity, helping to stem the degradation and rapid loss of biodiversity.
- Among large carnivores, conflict with human interests are lowest for cheetahs, as they are not a threat to humans and usually do not attack large livestock. Bringing back a top predator restores historic evolutionary balance resulting in cascading effects on various levels of the ecosystem leading to better management and restoration of wildlife habitat (grasslands, scrublands and open forest ecosystems), conservation of cheetah’s prey and sympatric endangered species and a top-down effect of a large predator that enhances and maintains the diversity in lower trophic levels of the ecosystems.
- The main goal of Cheetah reintroduction project in India is to establish viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provides space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historical range thereby contributing to its global conservation efforts.
- Surveys for 10 sites were conducted between 2010 and 2012. From the potential sites evaluated for the feasibility of establishing cheetah populations in India based on IUCN guidelines for reintroductions that consider species viability according to demography, genetics and socio-economics of conflict and livelihoods, Kuno National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh was considered ready for receiving cheetah with the least management interventions since a lot of investments had been done in this Protected Area for reintroducing Asiatic lions.
- Cheetah presence locations from Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe) were used along with relevant eco-climatic covariates to model equivalent niche space in India using Maximum Entropy Models. The analysis shows that the climatic niche of the cheetah from southern Africa exists in India with Kuno National Park having a high probability of cheetah habitat suitability.
Kuno National Park –
- The action plan for cheetah translocations in Kuno National Park has been developed in compliance with IUCN guidelines and considering site assessment and prey density, current cheetah carrying capacity of Kuno National Park, among other criteria.
- While the current carrying capacity for Kuno National Park is a maximum of 21 cheetahs, once restored the larger landscape can hold about 36 cheetahs. The carrying capacity can be further enhanced by including the remaining part of the Kuno Wildlife Division (1,280 sq km) through prey restoration.
Financial and administrative support –
- Financial and administrative support to the cheetah reintroduction programme in India would be provided by MoEF&CC through NTCA. Participation of Government and corporate agencies through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) would be encouraged for additional funding at the State and Central level. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), national and international carnivore/cheetah experts/agencies would provide technical and knowledge support to the programme.
- The officials of the MoEF&CC, NTCA, WII, State Forest Departments would be sensitized to ensure the success of cheetah reintroduction in India, through capacity building programs in Cheetah conservation reserves of Africa. In addition, the Cheetah managers and biologists from Africa would be invited to impart training of Indian counterparts.
Monitoring –
- The Kuno National Park management will be responsible for monitoring which is essential for protection and management while a cheetah research team will monitor for research.
- Various outreach & awareness programmes will be conducted to encourage participation of local villagers.
- Sarpanches (village head men), local leaders, teachers, social workers, religious figures and NGOs would be provided with a better stake in the conservation.
- Awareness programmes are also planned for schools, colleges and villages sensitizing people about the conservation and various schemes available with the forest department.
- Public awareness campaigns are underway for the local communities with a local mascot named “Chintu Cheetah”.
- The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh has asked all state officials and elected members of the state assembly from the constituencies around Kuno National Park to disseminate information regarding the cheetah-human interface.
- As per the directions of the Supreme Court of India in 2020, the cheetah reintroduction in India is being overseen by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), guided and directed by the committee of experts designated by the Supreme Court of India.
Young generation towards Cyber Crime
Paper 2 – Education, Scoial Issues
Why Should You Know?
Recently In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra gave information about vulnerability of young generation towards cyber crime.
In details –
With enhanced use of cyber space, the younger generation is also becoming vulnerable to cyber crime.
‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. States/UTs are primarily responsible for developing mechanism for spreading awareness and to safeguard the young generation from cyber crime.
The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the States/UTs through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes.
To spread awareness on cyber crime, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include; dissemination of messages through SMS, I4C social media account i.e. Twitter handle (@Cyberdost), Facebook (CyberDostI4C), Instagram (cyberdosti4c), Telegram (cyberdosti4c), Radio campaign, engaged MyGov for publicity in multiple media, organizing Cyber Safety and Security Awareness weeks in association with States/UTs, publishing of Handbook for Adolescents/Students, etc. The States/UTs have also been requested to carry out publicity to create mass awareness.
In addition, the Government is creating widespread awareness on cyber security and safety which, inter-alia, include –
A ‘Cyber Jaagrookta Diwas’ is organized on the first Wednesday of every month for the students of classes 6 to 12 for cyber security and safety through PM E-Vidya and YouTube channels.
Cyber security and safety related digital resources are developed and disseminated through TV channels, Radio and Digital platforms like DIKSHA.
Cyber security and safety related material has been included in the school curriculum as a part of NISHTHA ICT courses. Around 42 lakh teachers and school heads at the elementary level, 10 lakh at the secondary level and 10 lakh at the pre-primary and primary level have been oriented.
Chapters on Cyber security and safety have been included in Computer Science and Informational Practices subjects in the NCERT syllabus for Class 11 and 12.
Cyber security and safety related guidelines are developed and disseminated regularly for students, teachers, parents and schools.
MoU between India and Maldives
Paper 2 – International Relations
Why Should You Know?
Cabinet approves signing of MoU in the field of Judicial Cooperation between Judicial Service Commission of Maldives.
In details –
- The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of Judicial Cooperation between India and Judicial Service Commission of the Republic of Maldives.
- This is the eighth MoU signed between India and other countries in the field of Judicial Cooperation.
- This MoU will provide a platform to tap benefits of Information Technology for court digitization and can be a potential growth area for the IT companies and start-ups in both the countries.
- During recent years, the close relationship between India and Maldives has intensified multi-dimensionally. With the signing of this agreement on cooperation in the field of law and justice, the good relations between the two countries will receive further impetus.
- It will not only enable exchange of knowledge and technology in judicial and other legal areas between the two countries but will also further the objectives of “Neighbourhood First” policy.
About Maldives –
- Maldives officially the Republic of is an archipelagic country located in Southern Asia, situated in the Indian Ocean.
- It lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 750 kilometres (470 miles; 400 nautical miles) from the Asian continent’s mainland.
- The chain of 26 atolls stretches from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south (across the Equator).
- Maldives is one of the world’s most geographically dispersed sovereign states and the smallest Asian country as well as one of the smallest Muslim-majority countries by land area
- and the most populated city, traditionally called the “King’s Island” where the ancient royal dynasties ruled for its central location.