09 November 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

Read the daily PIB update and stay up-to-date on current affairs for the UPSC exam

Bilateral Exercise Between Indian & Republic of Singapore Navies

• The 25^thedition of SIMBEX, an acronym for “Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise” is scheduled from 10^th to 21^st November 2018 off Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
• Bilateral cooperation between Singapore and India was first formalised when RSN ships began training with the Indian Navy in 1994.
• Complementing India’s ‘Act-East’policy, there have been a number of agreements and high level visits in the recent past between the two countries.

Relationship:

• Indo-Singapore bilateral relations have been on an upswing in the recent past. 
• Both countries have a full calendar of more than 20 bilateral mechanisms, dialogues and exercises, many of which take place annually.
• In November 2015, the robust relationship between the two countries was elevated to ‘Strategic Partnership’. 
• In June this year, on the side-lines of the Shangrila Dialogue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore inked many agreements including those under the ‘Defence and Strategic Partnership Sectors’.
• Key among them is the ‘Implementation Agreement between Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy concerning Mutual Coordination, Logistics and Services Support for Naval Ships’, Submarines and Naval Aircraft (including Ship borne Aviation Assets) visits. 
• The Implementation Agreement since coming in force has facilitated deployment of naval assets from bases of the other through logistics and services support. 
• Both sides agreed to undertake continuous and institutionalised naval engagements in their shared maritime space including establishing maritime exercises with like-minded regional / ASEAN partners. 

The 2018 edition marks the Silver Jubilee of SIMBEX. 

SIMBEX 2018 will be the largest edition since 1994 in terms of scale and complexity.

Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities 2018 Begins

• The Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities, 2018 was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar.
• The three day event is being organised by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in association with Rehabilitation International Korea and their associated partner LG Electronics.

Objective:

• To leverage IT skills among youth with disabilities and also to spread awareness about the application of Information and Computer Technology (ICT) in enhancing the quality of life of persons with disabilities especially in Asia-Pacific region.

About:

• The Global ICT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities is a capacity building project that helps youth with disabilities to overcome their limitations and challenge themselves for a better future by providing them with access to ICT and related experiences, improving their ability to leverage information and social participation while setting ICT agendas for participant countries related to disabilities and boosting international cooperation and exchange.
• This year around 100 youth with disabilities (visual disability, hearing disability, locomotor disability and intellectual disability/developmental disorder) from 18 countries namely, India, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, UK and UAE are participating in this event.
• India has nominated twelve youth with disabilities to participate in the event.

Context:

• The competition is focused on strategies for strengthening IT skills of youth with disabilities as a critical requirement for enhancing their access to information and communication services on an equal basis with others.
• It is being held with a total of four events including e-Tool Challenge to evaluate the skills of using the MS Office programme and e-Life Map Challenge to evaluate the online information search ability in specific situations.

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