Entity Locker

Context:

• Indian government introduces Entity Locker for organisations to manage official documents

News:

• The Indian government has introduced the Entity Locker tool aimed at organisations, to help them manage users’ government documents and store them on a secure, cloud-based platform.

More info:

• Entity Locker can be used by any organisation registered in India.
• Files that can be managed through the platform include registration certificates, tax returns, and provident fund-related documents.
• Entity Locker is an initiative by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) to tap into the Government-to-Business (G2B) domain.
• To start using the service, registered organisations can authenticate themselves, verify their identity, secure their document in the enterprise vault, and share documents.
• 10 GB of encrypted cloud storage is available.
• With the Entity Locker account, the company director or proprietor will be able to access entity-related documents such as registration certificates, tax returns, and provident fund-related documents.
• Advanced encryption and authentication mechanisms are used in order to secure the Entity Locker, per the website, but the owner can share documents stored through the platform.
• The tool is also said to be in compliance with “various data privacy regulations”.

Indonesia’s Java Island

Context:

• Landslides, flash floods on Indonesia’s Java island leave 17 dead, 8 missing

More info:

• Seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile floodplains.

About Java Island:

• Java, island of Indonesia lying southeast of Malaysia and Sumatra, south of Borneo (Kalimantan), and west of Bali.
• Java is home to roughly half of Indonesia’s population and dominates the country politically and economically.
• The capital of Java and of the country is Jakarta (formerly Batavia), which is also Indonesia’s largest city.
• A longitudinal mountain chain, surmounted by many volcanoes, runs east to west along the island’s spine and is flanked by limestone ridges and lowlands.
• Java is highly volcanic, yet serious eruptions are few; only 35 of its 112 volcanoes are active.
• The highest volcano is Mount Semeru, at 3,676 metres.
• Java’s soils are very fertile because of periodic enrichment by volcanic ash.

Indonesia

Context:

• Activists slam ‘destructive’ Indonesia forest conversion plan

News:

• Indonesia’s plan to convert millions of hectares of forests for food and energy use is “environmentally illogical and destructive,” and risks irreversible environmental and biodiversity loss, activists warned.

More info:

• The Indonesian government wants to turn 20 million hectares (49 million acres) of forest into areas for food and energy production and water reserves.
• The government has identified 1.1 million hectares of land that could produce up to 3.5 million tonnes of rice annually, equal to Indonesia’s total rice imports in 2023, government also plans to plant sugar palm trees as a source for bioethanol.
• President Prabowo Subianto, who assumed office in October, has pledged to boost food and energy self-sufficiency in the country, including by expanding bio-based fuels to lower fuel imports.
• But the plan, which will affect an area nearly twice the size of Indonesia’s main Java island, contradicts the government’s food and energy security goals, said activists.
• The proposal has raised concerns that more forest areas would be cleared to pave ways for oil palm plantations – Indonesia’s top export commodity and one of the key deforestation drivers in the archipelago.
• Minister concerned last week dismissed deforestation concerns, insisting that the proposal would not clear forest but “maximise” its function through agroforestry systems.
• Instead of clearing forests, the government should focus on optimising existing agricultural land, respecting indigenous rights, and implementing genuine agrarian reform.

About Indonesia:

• Indonesia, country located off the coast of mainland Southeast Asia in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
• The most populous country in Southeast Asia and the fourth most populous in the world, Indonesia is situated on an archipelago that lies across the Equator and spans a distance equivalent to one-eighth of Earth’s circumference.
• Its islands can be grouped into the Greater Sunda Islands of Sumatra (Sumatera), Java (Jawa), the southern extent of Borneo (Kalimantan), and Celebes (Sulawesi); the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara) of Bali and a chain of islands that runs eastward through Timor; the Moluccas (Maluku) between Celebes and the island of New Guinea; and the western extent of New Guinea (generally known as Papua).
• The capital, Jakarta, is located near the northwestern coast of Java.
• It shares a border with Malaysia in the northern part of Borneo and with Papua New Guinea in the centre of New Guinea.
• Indonesia is composed of some 17,500 islands, of which more than 7,000 are uninhabited.
• Almost three-fourths of Indonesia’s area is embraced by Sumatra, Kalimantan, and western New Guinea; Celebes, Java, and the Moluccas account for most of the country’s remaining area.

World Health Organization (WHO)

Context:

• Trump signs executive order withdrawing U.S. from the World Health Organization

News:

• The United States will exit the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump said, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.

More info:

• Trump said the WHO had failed to act independently from the “inappropriate political influence of WHO member states” and required “unfairly onerous payments” from the U.S. that are disproportionate to the sums provided by other, larger countries, such as China.
• The move means the U.S. will leave the United Nations health agency in 12 months’ time and stop all financial contributions to its work.
• The United States is by far the WHO’s biggest financial backer, contributing around 18% of its overall funding.

About WHO:

• Founded in 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nations agency dedicated to global health and safety.
• The Organization connects nations, partners and communities to promote health and serve the vulnerable.
• WHO works with its Member States to achieve the highest level of health for all people by pursuing universal health coverage.
• WHO headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.
• WHO is governed by 194 Member States grouped into 6 regions.
• Each region is represented by a regional office, which coordinates programming in country offices and field offices.
• WHO works globally to promote health, expand universal health coverage and respond to emergencies.

Funding:

• WHO receives funding through membership dues paid by Member States and voluntary contributions from Member States and other partners.
• Calculated as a percentage of each country’s gross domestic product, membership dues are assessed every 2 years at the World Health Assembly.
• Less than 20% of WHO’s total budget comes from membership dues, while the remainder comes from voluntary contributions, largely from Member States as well as from other United Nations organizations, intergovernmental organizations, philanthropic foundations, the private sector and other sources.

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.

Executive Board:

• The Executive Board is composed of 34 technically qualified members elected for three-year terms.
• The annual Board meeting is held in January when the members agree upon the agenda for the World Health Assembly and the resolutions to be considered by the Health Assembly.
• A second shorter meeting takes place in May-June, as a follow-up to the Health Assembly.
• The main functions of the Board are to implement the decisions and policies of the Health Assembly, and advise and generally to facilitate its work.

UPSC Mains PYQ:

• Critically examine the role of WHO in providing global health security during the Covid-19 pandemic. (2020)

Multilateral exercise La Perouse

Context:

• Nine navies hold joint drills in strategic straits between Indian Ocean and the Pacific

News:

• Navies of nine Indo-Pacific countries, including India, are taking part in a multilateral exercise, La Perouse, hosted by France in the strategic straits of Malacca, Sunda, and Lombok, between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
• The three straits are critical choke points as these provide entry and exit into the Indian Ocean Region.
• With forays by the Chinese Navy in the region rising, the straits are under increased focus.

More info:

• Strengthening maritime safety will be at the core of this exercise, with the development of interoperability and the ability to act collectively in the event of a maritime crisis.
• On the location of the exercise, these straits, mainstays of global maritime trade, are subject to numerous human-induced risks such as maritime accidents and environmental hazards, illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and natural risks such as earthquakes and tsunamis.
• Australia, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, U.K. and the U.S are part of the exercise.
• In an important sign of strengthening interoperability, “During this exercise, all navies will train in the use of IORIS (Indo-Pacific Regional Information Sharing), a communication and coordination system dedicated to the exchange of information, documents in order to effectively and collectively face a maritime crisis in a synchronised manner.”
• The planned interactions will enable work on a broad spectrum of maritime security operations.
• The various forces distributed in the area will train to search for and then intervene on ships suspected of illicit activities; with suspect vessels being played by vessels of the force.
• “The exercise aims to develop common maritime situational awareness by enhancing the cooperation in the field of maritime surveillance, maritime interdiction operations and air operations along with the conduct of progressive training and information sharing,” the Indian Navy said in a statement.
• The exercise provides an opportunity for like-minded navies to develop closer links in planning, co-ordination and information sharing for enhanced tactical interoperability.
• “Participation of Indian Navy in the exercise showcases the high levels of synergy, co-ordination and inter-operability between the like-minded navies and their commitment to a rules-based international order in the maritime domain,” it added.
• The drills will witness complex and advanced multi-domain exercises including surface warfare, anti-air warfare, air defence, cross-deck landings and tactical manoeuvres, as also the constabulary missions such as VBSS (Visit, Board, Search and Seizure) operations.
• Prior to the exercise, the French CSG (Carrier Strike Group), during the ongoing deployment in the Indian Ocean, did a port call in Goa and Kochi and carried out the 42nd edition of the bilateral exercise Varuna with the Indian Navy.