Highlights
- International: Bangladesh held general elections; Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won her fifth term and fourth consecutive term.
- Governance: the PRITHVI Vigyan Scheme was approved by the Union Cabinet with a budget of Rs 4,797 crore for five years.
- Diplomacy: Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey was appointed the 4th Secretary General of BIMSTEC for a three-year term.
- Maritime: India's first submarine tourism initiative was planned near Bet Dwarka island in Gujarat.
1. Bangladesh elections: Sheikh Hasina's fifth term
GS area: International Relations (South Asia)
Bangladesh held its 12th general election on 7 January. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League secured a landslide victory, winning more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats. This was Hasina's fifth term overall and fourth consecutive term.
- Context: the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party boycotted the election, alleging that free and fair polls were not possible. Voter turnout was reported as low.
- India-Bangladesh relations: the two countries have a Friendship Treaty (1972), share the Ganga Water Treaty (1996), and are connected by multiple road and rail transit arrangements. Bangladesh is one of India's largest trade partners in South Asia.
- Regional significance: stability in Bangladesh affects the security environment in India's north-east. The Chittagong Hill Tracts and the shared rivers are perennial bilateral issues.
Static linkage: India's neighbourhood policy, SAARC, Bangladesh relations.
2. PRITHVI Vigyan Scheme: Cabinet approval
GS area: Science and Technology, Governance
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the PRITHVI (PRITHvi VIgyan) Scheme, a five-year programme for earth sciences with a budget of Rs 4,797 crore.
- Ministry: Ministry of Earth Sciences.
- Five sub-schemes: ACROSS (atmosphere and climate research, modelling), O-SMART (ocean science and technology), PACER (polar science and cryosphere), SAGE (seismology and geosciences), and REACHOUT (research, education, and training).
- Purpose: to improve weather forecasting, ocean state prediction, seismic monitoring, and polar research. It also addresses climate change science.
Static linkage: climate science, government schemes (science and technology).
3. BIMSTEC: India's Indra Mani Pandey appointed Secretary General
GS area: International Relations (multilateral organisations)
Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey was appointed the 4th Secretary General of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation for a three-year term.
- BIMSTEC: established in 1997. Its seven members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Secretariat in Dhaka.
- Significance: BIMSTEC connects South Asia and South-East Asia without Pakistan's participation, making it strategically complementary to SAARC.
- Focus areas: trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism, fisheries, and agriculture.
- India's interest: India uses BIMSTEC to build connectivity with the north-east through its neighbourhood-first policy. The 2022 BIMSTEC Charter gave it greater institutional form.
Static linkage: multilateral organisations, India's foreign policy.
4. Submarine tourism in Gujarat
GS area: Economy (tourism), Environment
India's first submarine tourism project was planned near Bet Dwarka island in Gujarat, a partnership between the Gujarat government and Mazagon Dock Limited. The tourist submarine was designed to carry 30 passengers.
- Bet Dwarka: an island in the Gulf of Kutch, connected by boat to Okha. It is a significant pilgrimage site associated with Lord Krishna.
- MDL: Mazagon Dock Limited is a state-owned shipbuilding company headquartered in Mumbai. It builds warships and submarines for the Indian Navy.
- Deeper significance: MDL's involvement in civilian submarine tourism signals technology transfer potential. India produces the Scorpene-class submarines under Project 75.
Static linkage: maritime tourism, shipbuilding, Gujarat's coastal geography.
5. Briefly noted
- NAM Summit: the 19th Non-Aligned Movement Summit was held in Kampala, Uganda. India was represented by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. The theme was "Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence." NAM was established in 1961 and India is a founding member.
- 43rd Indian Antarctic Expedition: a 21-member Indian team plus researchers from Bangladesh and Mauritius departed for Antarctica on the vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin. India operates two research stations there: Maitri and Bharati.
- PRASADAM food street: the country's first officially designated healthy food street was inaugurated at Neelkanth Van in Mahakal Lok, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, by the Union Health Minister.
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