1. AHMEDNAGAR RENAMED AS AHILYANAGAR
TAGS: GS 1: HISTORY; ART AND CULTURE
CONTEXT: Marking the 298th birth anniversary of Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar on May 31, 2023, Maharashtra Chief Minister announced that his government would rename Ahmednagar after her. The Western Maharashtrian city will now be known as Ahilyanagar.
EXPLANATION:
How did the city of Ahmednagar first get its name?
- Located in the Western region of Maharashtra, Ahmednagar has been a part of some prominent kingdoms, starting from 240 BC, when the vicinity is mentioned in the reference to the Mauryan Emperor Ashok.
- In the Medieval period, the region was ruled over by the Rashtrakuta Dynasty, the Western Chalukyas, and then the Delhi
- In the last case, the rule was not direct, and a revolt by Afghan soldier Alladin Hasan Gangu led to the establishment of the Bahmani kingdom in the Deccan. In the following years, Ahmednagar, then known as Nizamshahi, became one of the five independent kingdoms to emerge from that empire.
- In 1486, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah assumed the position of the Bahmani Sultanate’s prime minister. He successfully defeated the king of the Bahmani kingdom, who tried to dislodge him from power, in 1490.
- Four years later, he laid the foundation of a city close to where he had defeated the army, on the left bank of Sina river. This city was named after him: Ahmednagar.
- Nizam Shah also later captured the fort of Daulatabad and stationed his army there. By his kindness, peaceful demeanour & efficiency, he could win the loyalty of the local and foreign Muslims and also of the Maratha peasants and worriers. Since his origin was Hindu, he found no difficulty in winning over the confidence of Brahmins, who were highly regarded by the Hindus.
- Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book A Discovery of India (1946), wrote of him, “Ahmad Nizam Shah, the founder of Ahmadnagar in 1490, was the son of Nizam-ul-Mulk Bhairi, a minister of the Bahmani kings. This Nizam-ul-Mulk was the son of a Brahmin accountant named Bhairu. Thus the Ahmednagar dynasty was of indigenous origin.”
Ahilyabai holkar:
- Ahilyabai was born in Chondi village of Ahmednagar to the village head Mankoji Shinde, who ensured that his daughter received an education, which was quite rare at that time.
- It is believed that Malhar Rao Holkar, the army commander to Peshwa Bajirao, spotted eight-year-old Ahilyabai at a temple service in Chondi. Impressed by her devotion and character, he decided to get his son, Khande Rao, married to her.
- After her husband’s death in the Battle of Kumbher against the king of Bharatpur in 1754, Ahilyabai took control of Malwa.
Role in administration and temple-building
- She excelled at administrative and military strategies under the guidance of her father-in-law, who believed she should lead her people, and not die by Sati after Khande Rao passed away. After the death of her father-in-law and son a few years later, she petitioned the Peshwa to become the ruler, backed by the support of her army.
- In his book, Nehru said Holkar’s rule, which lasted for thirty years (1765-1795), was “almost legendary as a period during which perfect order and good government prevailed and the people prospered.
- She was a very able ruler and organizer, highly respected during her lifetime.
- Notably, her role in the restoration of Hindu temples is often talked about for instance ancient Somnath, the temple built by Holkar in 1783.
2. COMBINED MARITIME FORCES
TAGS: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE
CONTEXT: The United Arab Emirates has withdrawn from a U.S.-led maritime coalition tasked with securing tense Gulf waterways that are vital to the global oil trade. The UAE “withdrew its participation” in the 38-nation Combined Maritime Forces two months ago, a Foreign Ministry statement said, without giving reasons for the move.
EXPLANATION:
- The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) is a multinational maritime partnership, which exists to uphold the Rules-Based International Order (RBIO) by countering illicit non-state actors on the high seas and promoting security, stability, and prosperity across approximately 3.2 million square miles of international waters, which encompass some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.
- The Bahrain-headquartered CMF was established in 2001, initially as a partnership between 12 nations.
- It is active in crucial but troubled Gulf waters where tankers have been seized and attacked in recent months.
- CMF is commanded by a U.S. Navy Vice Admiral, who also serves as Commander US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and US Navy Fifth Fleet. All four commands are co-located at US Naval Support Activity Bahrain.
- CMF’s Deputy Commander is a United Kingdom Royal Navy Commodore. Other senior staff roles at CMF’s headquarters are filled by personnel from member nations.
CMF’s main focus areas:
- CMF’s main focus areas are counter-narcotics, counter-smuggling, suppressing piracy, encouraging regional cooperation, and engaging with regional and other partners to strengthen relevant capabilities in order to improve overall security and stability, and promoting a safe maritime environment free from illicit non-state actors.
- When requested, CMF assets at sea will also respond to environmental and humanitarian incidents.
CMF has four Combined Task Forces:
- CTF 150 (Maritime Security Operations outside the Arabian Gulf)
- CTF 151 (Counter-Piracy)
- CTF 152 (Maritime Security Operations inside the Arabian Gulf)
- CTF 153 (Red Sea Maritime Security)
- CTF 154 (Maritime Security Training)
CMF has 37 member nations (Earlier 38 members including UAE)
- Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Türkiye, United Kingdom, United States, and Yemen.
How CMF works?
- CMF nations are united in their desire to uphold the IRBO by protecting the free flow of commerce, improving maritime security, and deterring illicit activity by non-state actors in the CMF Area of Operations.
- CMF is a coalition of the willing and does not proscribe a specific level of participation from any member nation. The contribution from each country, therefore, varies depending on its ability to contribute assets and the availability of those assets at any given time.
- The 37 nations that comprise CMF are not bound by either a fixed political or military mandate.
- CMF is a flexible organisation. Contributions can vary from the provision of a liaison officer at CMF HQ in Bahrain to the deployment of warships or maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
- Participation is purely voluntary. No nation is asked to carry out any duty that it is unwilling to conduct. The contribution from each country varies depending on its ability to contribute assets and the availability of those assets at any given time.
- The 34 nations that comprise CMF are not bound by either a political or military mandate.
3. NEURALINK
TAGS: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CONTEXT: Since its founding in 2016, Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company Neuralink has had the ambitious mission to build a next-generation brain implant with at least 100-times more brain connections than devices currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The company has now reached a significant milestone, having received FDA approval to begin human trials.
EXPLANATION:
- Neuralink is making a Class III medical device known as a brain-computer interface (BCI).
- The device connects the brain to an external computer via a Bluetooth signal, enabling continuous communication back and forth.
- The device itself is a coin-sized unit called a Link. It’s implanted within a small disk-shaped cutout in the skull using a precision surgical robot. The robot splices a thousand tiny threads from the Link to certain neurons in the brain.
- Each thread is about a quarter the diameter of a human hair.
Potential benefits
- The company says the device could enable precise control of prosthetic limbs, giving amputees natural motor skills.
- It could revolutionise treatment for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and spinal cord injuries.
- It also shows some promise for potential treatment of obesity, autism, depression, schizophrenia and tinnitus.
- It can be used to help older people train their motor and cognitive abilities to moderate the worst effects of ageing.
What were the FDA’s concerns?
- The FDA had quite a list of issues that needed to be resolved before human trials could commence, as was reported in a Reuters investigation, which claimed to have spoken to several Neuralink sources.
- A precision robot known as Implant/r1 performs the surgical procedure to implant the Neuralink BCI. This robot surgeon had to be put through its paces to gather evidence that it could reliably and safely implant and remove the Neuralink BCI without damaging surrounding brain tissue, or creating the risk of infection, bleeding, inflammation.
- In particular, overheating lithium-ion batteries can pose great risk to users. When defective, such batteries have historically been known to overheat. They can even explode if the insulation between the cathode and anode (the metal electrode components) breaks down, resulting in a short circuit.
- Then there is the risk of wire migration. The Link consists of a disk-shaped chip with very thin wire electrodes that connect to neurons in the brain.
- Another challenge Neuralink faced was that of safe implant removal. The FDA wanted to know how easy or difficult it would be to remove the device from the brain if this became necessary.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.
- The FDA also provides accurate, science-based health information to the public.
- FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by accelerating innovations to make medicines more effective and providing the public with accurate, science-based information on medicines and food to improve their health.
- FDA plays a significant role in addressing the Nation’s counterterrorism capability and ensuring the security of the food supply.
4. CITY INVESTMENTS TO INNOVATE, INTEGRATE AND SUSTAIN (CITIIS) PROJECT
TAGS: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE
CONTEXT: The government approved the second phase of the City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) project, a programme under the ambit of the Smart Cities Mission, which aims to promote integrated waste management and climate-oriented reform actions.
EXPLANATION:
- The CITIIS 2.0 will be implemented in 18 cities which would be selected based on a competition.
- The programme, aims to support competitively selected projects promoting circular economy with a focus on integrated waste management at the city level, climate-oriented reform actions at the state level, and institutional strengthening and knowledge dissemination at the national level.
- It would span over a period of four years from 2023-2027 and has been conceived and would be implemented in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD), Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), the European Union (EU), and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
- The funding for CITIIS 2.0 would include a loan of Rs 1760 crore from AFD and KfW, split equally, and a technical assistance grant of Rs 106 crore from the European Union.
- The CITIIS 2.0 has three major components which are financial and technical support for developing projects focused on building climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation in up to 18 smart cities, support to all states and Union Territories on a demand basis and interventions at all centre, state and city levels to further climate governance in urban India through institutional strengthening, knowledge dissemination and capacity building.
- The design framework for CITIIS 2.0 is being conceptualized by AFD in consultation with SCM and MoHUA.
CITIIS(City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain)
- It is a sub-component of the Government of India’s Smart Cities Mission.
- The CITIIS program was launched on July 9, 2018.
- It is a joint program of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), the European Union (EU), and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
- It was launched with projects in 12 cities namely Agartala, Amaravati, Amritsar, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Dehradun, Hubbali-Dharwad, Kochi, Puducherry, Surat, Ujjain and Visakhapatnam.
- Each city receives financial assistance through a grant as well as technicalassistance from an international mentor and a domestic expert, besidesaccess to a pool of transversal experts.
- CITIIS (Cities Investments to Innovate Integrate and Sustain) Challenge was launched in partnership with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and European Union, to extend a loan of EUR 100 million for implementation of upto 15 innovative projects selected through an All-India Challenge in four sectors- sustainable mobility, public open spaces, urban governance & ICT and social and organizational innovation in low-income settlements.
- The entire set of activities including organisation of preparatory Workshop, handholding of cities to enable submission of proposals by them, evaluation of proposals by the jury leading up to selection of 12 projects and signing of tripartite agreements with the concerned cities and States was completed in record time.
- The selected projects will improve sustainable mobility, increase the amountof public open spaces, implement ICT measures to improve e-governance andintroduce social and organisational innovation in low-income settlements.
5. WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY APPROVES DRAFT RESOLUTION ON HEALTH ACTION PLAN FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
TAGS: GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
CONTEXT: Member states of the World Health Organization accepted a draft resolution that proposed developing a Global Plan of Action for the Health of Indigenous People during the World Health Assembly hosted on May 29, 2023. The plan will be up for consideration at the 79th World Health Assembly in 2026.
EXPLANATION:
- The document stated that the global plan should be done in consultation with member states along “strategic lines of action for the improvement of the health of Indigenous Peoples in the development of the 14th World Health Organization General Programme of Work”.
- The draft resolution was proposed by Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, the European Union and its Member States, Guatemala, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States of America and Vanuatu.
- This should be executed in consultation with indigenous peoples, with their free, prior and informed consent.
- The resolution that was proposed noted that the “indigenous peoples are disproportionately subject to poverty, poor housing, cultural barriers, violence, including gender-based violence, racism, experiencing disability, pollution and lack of access to education, economic opportunities, social protection, water, and sanitation, as well as appropriate resilience planning for climate change and natural and other emergencies”.
- The resolution put forward that the global plan be formulated “with a particular emphasis on the reproductive, maternal and adolescent health and with a specific focus on those in vulnerable situations, and bearing in mind local context”.
- WHO’s 194 member states were urged to develop a collection of ethical data to identify specific requirements of indigenous people and fill in the gaps. They were also urged to have an intersectional approach to their politics that overcomes geographical barriers, digital connectivity, information availability, remoteness and disability.
- Another approach proposed was to use evidence-based traditional medicine, along with medical services offered at the primary healthcare level, which also includes mental health and wellness serives.
Status of Indigenous people:
- According to the United Nations, The world presently has 476 million indigenous people across the world in about 90 countries.
- They speak 7,000 languages and come from 500 different cultures.
- They are marginalised individuals without access to basic infrastructure and oftentimes cannot claim titles over their land and surrounding natural resources.
- The life expectancy of indigenous people is 20 years lower than that of an average person.
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
- The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues established in 2000.
- The Permanent Forum is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council established by resolution 2000/22 on 28 July 2000.
- The Forum has the mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.
World Health Assembly:
- The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of WHO.
- It is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board.
- The main functions of the World Health Assembly are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget.
- The Health Assembly is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland.
