22 Dec 2023: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)
2. Ministry of Rural Development signs MoU with Reliance Retail’s JioMart

1. Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)

Syllabus: GS-3, Security; GS-2, IR

Prelims: Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)

Context:

The 8th edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs (CoC) was conducted by the Royal Thai Navy in Bangkok, Thailand from 19 – 22 Dec 23.

Details:

• Chiefs of Navies/Senior Delegates from 27 Members/Observer countries participated in the event.
• The Indian Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar led a three-member naval delegation.
• As a first, the Flag designed by India was selected as the IONS Flag. 
• India also took over as the co-chair of IONS Working Groups on Maritime Security and HADR for the forthcoming cycle.
• The Navy of the Republic of Korea was inducted as an ‘Observer’. This takes the collective strength of IONS to 34 (25 Members & 09 Observers). 
• IONS was conceived by the Indian Navy in 2008 as a forum which seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among Navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region by providing an open and inclusive platform for discussions on regionally relevant maritime issues that would lead to a common understanding on the way ahead.

Read more about the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium in the linked article.

2. Ministry of Rural Development signs MoU with Reliance Retail’s JioMart

Syllabus: GS-2, Governance

Prelims: Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)

Mains: SHGs in India

Context:

Ministry of Rural Development signs MoU with Reliance Retail’s JioMart, to on-board  DAY-NRLM’s SHGs.

Details:

• The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Reliance Retail’s JioMart towards its efforts to help enhance the outreach of the products of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) thereby empowering the rural SHG artisans.
• This collaboration will enable SHGs to be on-boarded as sellers onto the e-commerce fold on JioMart and this initiative will further boost the MoRD’s provision under the SARAS collection to be available to a larger consumer base. 
• With this alliance, SHGs will get to widen their market and visibility and offer their curated products to customers of JioMart across India.

Read previous PIB articles here.