National & International Events - Current Affairs for September, 2015

Maharashtra Government has declared 2017 as the Visit Maharashtra Year to promote state tourism and attract more tourists. State government has also launched a global tourism promotion project referred to as Maharashtra International Travel mart 2015. Another important initiative is the international Buddhist Conclave which will be a B2B exhibition held in March 2016. MTM is a flagship international tourism promotion platform put together by the tourism department of the state to attract buyers and sellers.

India and China will be conducting a bilateral HiH military exercise as a CBM between the world’s biggest and second biggest armies. HiH exercise will be held in Kunming in China. China has recently cut its 2.3 million strong PLA by 2017 through a proposed 3,00,000 troop cut and is strengthening its naval and air forces for out of area operations and expansion of large missile inventory comprising anti ship and anti satellite missiles. India is looking to streamline modernisation and slash the size of the 1.18 m army. China’s annual defiance budget is USD 130 billion while it is USD 40 billion for India. India has limited missile arsenal as compared to China. China has DF-3LA ICBMs with 11,200 km range, JL-2 SLBMs with 7200 km range. India currently has no ICMBS or SLBMs. While China has more than 250 nuclear warheads, India only has 50-110. Of submarines, China has 53 of which 5 are nuclear powered while India has 34 of which 1 is nuclear powered. In terms of major warships, China has double (75) that of India (3)) though it has only 1 aircraft carrier against 2 in India. China has 1600 fighter jets and more than 7,000 battle tanks and India’s corresponding numbers are 550 and 3,200. Bilateral military CBMs between the countries include HiH exercises, Border Defence Cooperation Agreement 2013 and border personnel meeting points at Chushul, DBO( Ladakh, Nathu La, Sikkim) Bum La and Kibithu( Arunachal Pradesh).

21st International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone layer was celebrated across the world on September 16, 2015. The theme for this year was 30 Years of Healing the Ozone Together. The 2015 slogan was Ozone: All There is Between You and UV. The year 2015 also marks the 30th anniversary of Vienna Convention for Protection of the Ozone Layer. The Vienna Convention was signed on March 22 1985. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed on September 16, 1987 and since then, this day us celebrated as the international dat for preservation of the ozone layer.

Government has taken the decision to streamline criteria for classification of communities as scheduled tribes basing it on 5 criteria -- primitive traits, distinctive culture, shyness of contact, geographical isolation and backwardness and 2 additional criteria— socio-economic and educational backwardness, and autonomous religious practices. Government will also rework the existing criteria. Under the new rules, a state government would now send its proposal for inclusion of a community as ST to the ministry of tribal affairs, which would take the views of the Registrar General of India, Anthropological Society of India and the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes (NCST) all at once.

The festival will be dedicated ot promoting awareness about and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of differently-abled people.