• The Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission(HPSSC) got three new members of the governing body.
• The three positions in the five-member commission were vacant for a long time and a chairman and a member were running it. The appointment of members was done with prior permission of the election commission.
• All three members, namely Prof PK Vaid, Piar Chand Akela and Rakesh Bhardwaj, were administered the oath of office at the HPSSC.
• Prof PK Vaid had served in Himachal Pradesh University for over 32 years before retirement. Piar Chand Akela, a retired HAS officer, had served the Himachal Government on various positions like Deputy Commissioner, ADC and the administrative officer at the PGI, Chandigarh. Engineer Rakesh Bhardwaj had served with Satluj Jal Vidhut Nigam Limited for over 34 years.
• Dr Sanjay Thakur, chairman of the commission, administered the oath of office to all three members. Deputy Commissioner Deba Sweta Banik, SP Akriti Sharma, Additional DC Jitender Sanjta and Secretary of the HPSSC Jitender Kanwar were present on the occasion.

• For the first time in history, ‘natti’ of Himachal Pradesh was performed in Canada at Parliament Hill in Ottawa by the Himachali Pravasi Global Association (HPGA) during celebration of Hindu Heritage Month.
• Sanjay Verma, High Commissioner of India to Canada, attended the event that was facilitated by Canadian MP Chandra Arya.
• ‘Natti’ is the folk dance of Himachal Pradesh.
• The HPGA is a non-profit organisation with an aim to help the Himachal-based immigrants and students to understand the culture of the new country which they have chosen as their new home.
• Also, it aims to promote Himachali and Indian culture and contribute to the development of the diaspora.

• Two girls from the Union Territory of Ladakh are among eight tribals who have been conferred Samvaad Fellowship 22 by the Jamshedpur-based Tata Steel Foundation’s Samvaad.
• Sarah Batool and Rashida Kousar, received the prestigious Samvaad Fellowship. This is the first time that the coveted fellowship was conferred on girls from Ladakh.
• Sara Batool from Turtuk along the LOC represents the Balti tribe of Ladakh. She will work on the “revival and preservation of ethnic Balti cuisine in Ladakh”.
• Similarly, Rashida Kousar’s proposed area of research is “Study of Traditional kitchen (Thab-tshang/Byan-sa) and ethnic foods in Ladakh”.
• This year drew more than 2,000 participants of 200 tribes from 23 states and four union territories. Outstanding tribal artists, healers, home cooks, cultural crusaders, experts, and leaders from various tribal communities around the country are among the participants.
• In an era of rapid development and industrialisation, Samvaad, which is observed since 2014, has developed into an ecosystem where tribal tribes from throughout the nation come together to celebrate their cultures and start discussions about issues that are important to their communities.
• Over the past five years, the Samvaad Fellowship has been conferred to 30 fellows from 13 states and 27 tribes in India. This year, the organizers received 176 applications from 68 tribes throughout 22 states and 3 UTs. These applications were scrutinized and evaluated internally, after which 28 of them were given to the jury members, who scored them and chose the top 18 to present their projects to the panel. Eight candidates have been chosen by the jury members after two days of pitches.
• The Samvaad Fellowship is an initiative that was launched in 2017 to address one of the ecosystem’s core objectives “to document and hence, preserve a body of knowledge and a world view that runs the risk of being obliterated”. The Fellowship envisions supporting initiatives and ideas which are aligned towards conservation of lesser-known indigenous practices from tribal cultures which are vulnerable and are not part of a large conservation effort and thus run the risk of being lost.
• Sonam Wangchok, founder of the Himalayan Cultural Heritage Foundation (HCHF) and one of the jury members for the Samvaad Fellowship, has thanked the Tata Steel Foundation for establishing the fellowship in order to inspire youth from tribal communities to work for the urgent  need of revitalizing, preserving, and promoting their cultural and natural heritage.

• The Chhattisgarh government has signed two MoUs (Memorandum of Understandings) at the Chhattisgarh Business Summit 2022 at India International Trade Fair-2022 in New Delhi.
• The MoUs were signed for setting up ethanol production plant and drone and an UAV manufacturing unit.
• Business delegates and entrepreneurs from across the country participated in the summit organised for business, entrepreneurs and exporters from electronics, minor forest produce and handicrafts and handloom.
• A MoU has been signed between the state government and Rajesh Gautam of NKJ Biofuel, Durg for setting up ethanol production plant in cooperative sector with an investment of Rs 140 crores, while another MoU was inked with Manish Bajpai of Daybest Research Private Ltd for setting up 4500 drone and UAV manufacturing units at the investment of Rs five crore.
• Labor Minister Shiv Dharaiya encouraged entrepreneurs to invest and said that Chhattisgarh is a progressive state full of possibilities. He maintained that under the new industrial policy of the state government, many types of concessions and facilities are being given to the entrepreneurs.
• The state government has provisioned special packages and concessions to prioritize agriculture and forest based industries as well as to create a better environment for investment. Besides, the rules for establishment and operation of industries have also been simplified.
• Government has come up with various exemptions, incentives and benefits to the manufacturers interested in setting up a unit in the state.

• In January this year, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha’s landmark visit to Saudi Arabia marked the highest level of contact between the two countries after the $20-million heist controversy, resuming full diplomatic ties.
• Now, Salman’s visit to Thailand came on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
• The crown prince said restoration of ties has benefits for both countries, as the two leaders inked agreements pledging to increase trade and investment.

The Blue Diamond Affair:

• Saudi Arabia downgraded its diplomatic relations with Thailand over the theft that led to a string of mysterious killings and became known as the Blue Diamond affair.
  • It all started with the theft of jewelry and other valuable gems from the palace of Prince Faisal bin Fahd, the eldest son of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, in 1989.
  • A Thai worker employed as a servant at the palace, stole precious gems worth $20 million from Prince Faisal’s home, which also included a rare 50-carat blue diamond, which is still missing.
  • The ensuing diplomatic repercussion was thus named after the gem.
• Present Saudi-Thailand relations:  Recent The high-level meeting also saw the two leaders agreeing on the appointment of ambassadors “in the near future” and to strengthen economic and trade relations
  • As the two countries turned a new page in their relationship, Saudi restarted direct flights to Thailand in February.
  • Since January 2022, many friendly exchanges have taken place between the two countries — one being an agreement between state-owned energy firms Saudi Aramco and Thailand’s PTT for cooperation in carbon capture and crude oil sourcing.

About:

• For effective pollution monitoring and response, the Indian Coast Guard will get two more new generation vessels from Goa Shipyards Ltd (GSL) by 2025. The keel laying ceremony for the two pollution control vessels, GSL Yard 1267 and 1268, took place at the Goa Shipyard.
• The vessel, with an overall length of 114.5 meters, breadth of 16.5 meters and a draft of 4.5 meters, is capable of carrying a of 129 personnel, 14 officers and 115 sailors, onboard. The vessel’s maximum speed will be 22 knots with an endurance of 6,000 nautical miles.
• These vessels have been designed for the first time in India.
• The GSL bagged the contract for two PCVs, which will be delivered by February 2025 and August 2025, through competitive bidding which saw participation from both, public as well as private shipyards.
• The ships will be capable of carrying out dedicated oil spill response operations for containment, recovery, separation and dispersal of pollutants. The vessel will be fitted with latest pollution control equipment including two flush type side sweeping arms enabling it to contain oil spill whilst in motion.
• An advanced software would assist in predicting the spread of the complex oil spill pattern and dynamic positioning system will enable the vessel to be maneuvered in restricted areas with precision.
• The vessel is being designed to recover the lightest to the most viscous oil at the rate of 300 tonnes per hour, and is also fitted with fire-fighting and salvage systems.
• Besides this, the GSL will hand over 8 Fast Patrol Vessels to the Coast Guard, from 2024 onwards. These specially designed FPVs are medium range weapon fitted surface vessels capable of operation in coastal waters and around island territories to protect offshore assets, said the GSL.

About:

• It is the first of its kind in the country, with time-bound action plans and multi-sectoral collaborations to achieve reduction in suicide mortality by 10% by 2030.
• The strategy broadly seeks to establish effective surveillance mechanisms for suicide within the next three years.
• It aims to establish psychiatric outpatient departments that will provide suicide prevention services through the District Mental Health Programme in all districts within the next five years.
• It also seeks to integrate a mental well-being curriculum in all educational institutions within the next eight years.
• It envisages developing guidelines for responsible media reporting of suicides, and restricting access to means of suicide.
• The stress is on developing community resilience and societal support for suicide prevention.
• While the strategy is in line with the WHO’s South East-Asia Region Strategy for suicide prevention, it says it will remain true to India’s cultural and social milieu.

Suicides in India:

• In India, more than one lakh lives are lost every year to suicide, and it is the top killer in the 15-29 years category.
• In the past three years, the suicide rate has increased from 10.2 to 11.3 per 1,00,000 population.
• The most common reasons for suicide include family problems and illnesses, which account for 34% and 18% of all suicide-related deaths.

• India and Gabon held the first Foreign Office Consultations in New Delhi.
• Both sides carried out a comprehensive review of the existing bilateral relations, including strengthening of cooperation in trade and economic relations, defence and maritime.
• The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, including cooperation in the UN and other multilateral fora, climate change, International Solar Alliance and sustainable development.
• India and Gabon have traditionally enjoyed warm and friendly relations, which are based on shared democratic values and vision.
• The bilateral relationship has further strengthened in the past few years with opening of the Gabonese Mission in New Delhi and exchange of high-level visits.
• The bilateral trade between India and Gabon is growing at a healthy rate and has touched 1.12 billion dollars in 2021-22 from 440 million dollars in 2017-18.
• India is now the second-largest destination for Gabonese exports. Over 50 Indian companies have set up manufacturing units in the Gabon Special Economic Zone.

• India is amongst the top five best-performing countries on Climate Change. The latest report of Climate Change Performance Index- 2023, released at COP 27, shows Denmark, Sweden, Chile and Morocco as the only four small countries that were ranked above India.
• Power Ministry said, India has jumped two spots higher and now ranks 8th as per Climate Change Performance Index.
• The first, second and third ranks were not awarded to any country. The Ministry said, India has earned a high rating in the global greenhouse gas Emissions and Energy Use categories.
• The CCPI is an independent monitoring tool for tracking the climate protection performance of 59 countries and the European Union.

• India and Australia would now implement the free trade agreement on a mutually agreed date as the Australian Parliament on Tuesday approved the pact between the two countries.
• The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) needed ratification by the Australian parliament before its implementation. In India, such pacts are approved by the Union Cabinet.
• The agreement was signed between the two countries in April this year.
• After the ratification, both sides will decide a date to implement the pact and customs authorities will also issue a notification a day before the implementation.
• Meanwhile, Australian trade minister in a statement said that the ECTA will enter into force 30 days (or another mutually agreed time) after the respective parties have confirmed in writing that they have completed their domestic requirements.
• The agreement, once implemented, will provide duty-free access to the Australian market for over 6,000 broad sectors of India, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery.
• Under the pact, Australia is offering zero-duty access to India for about 96.4 per cent of exports (by value) from day one. This covers many products that currently attract 4-5 per cent customs duty in Australia.
• Labour-intensive sectors which would gain immensely include textiles and apparel, few agricultural and fish products, leather, footwear, furniture, sports goods, jewellery, machinery, electrical goods and railway wagons.
• India’s goods exports to Australia stood at USD 8.3 billion and imports from the country aggregated to USD 16.75 billion in 2021-22.
• Goyal had earlier stated that the agreement would help in taking the bilateral trade from USD 27.5 billion at present to USD 45-50 billion in the next five years.