Important Daily Facts of the Day

Exercise La Perouse 2023 (GS Paper 3, Defence)

Why in news?

• The third edition of the multilateral exercise La Perouse commenced in the Indian Ocean Region recently.

 

About La Perouse:

• The biennial exercise La Perouse is conducted by the French Navy, and is aimed at enhancing maritime domain awareness and optimising maritime coordination amongst the participating navies in the Indo-Pacific Region.

 

Participants:

• This edition will witness participation of personnel, ships and integral helicopters of Royal Australian Navy, French Navy, Indian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, Royal Navy and the United States Navy.

 

Key Highlights:

• The two-day exercise provides an opportunity for like-minded navies to develop closer links in planning, coordination and information sharing for seamless maritime operations.
• The exercise will witness complex and advanced naval operations including surface warfare, anti-air warfare, air defence exercises, cross deck landings and tactical manoeuvres. 
• Indigenously built guided missile frigate INS Sahyadri and fleet tanker INS Jyoti will be participating in this edition of the exercise.

 

Way Forward:

• Participation of Indian Navy in the exercise showcases the high levels of synergy, coordination and inter-operability between the friendly navies, and their commitment to a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region.

NIRDPR, ICRISAT sign MoU to promote dryland crops, climate-smart farming 

(GS Paper 3, Environment)

Why in news?

• Recently, the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) signed a MoU to strengthen evidence-based research and capacity building on critical development issues.

Mandate:

• The Memorandum of Understanding aims to promote collaboration between the two institutions in areas such as climate change adaptation, rural entrepreneurship development, value chain development, sharing international best practices, scaling-up of identified agricultural and rural technologies, and livelihood development.

 

Key Highlights:

• Under the agreement, the two institutions will focus on different collaborative activities by sharing each other's strengths, including developing Rurban' clusters for ICRISAT mandate crops through value chain development, encouraging rural incubation and entrepreneurship development by integrating with National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) activities.
• Enhancing the value of new generation watersheds through climate proofing of Gram Panchayats in India and promoting international best practices for poverty alleviation through agriculture and rural development programmes is also included.

 

Way Forward:

• The technical competence of ICRISAT in research and development on high-yielding varieties and related value-added products, and the strength of NIRDPR in creating business opportunities and marketing support through self-help groups (SHGs) under NRLM across the country, will act in synergy to transform rural livelihoods.

 

5-judge Constitution Bench to decide legal validation of same-sex marriage

(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)

Why in news?

• Recently, the Supreme Court referred the pleas seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages to a five-judge constitution bench for adjudication, saying the issue is of ‘seminal importance’.
• A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said the submissions on the issue involve an interplay between constitutional rights on the one hand and special legislative enactments, including the Special Marriage Act, on the other.

 

Petitioners claim:

• In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the government submitted that despite the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, the petitioners cannot claim a fundamental right for same-sex marriage to be recognised under the laws of the country.
• The petitioners argued that the court’s judgment in the Navtej Singh Johar case in 2018, while decriminalising homosexuality, had also upheld the individual right to family and choice of partners.
• Right to love and marry cannot be withheld from a class of persons solely on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Right to marry is the natural consequence of the decriminalisation judgment.

 

Key Highlights:

• Chief Justice said the case involved an “interplay” between constitutional rights of life, liberty, dignity, equal treatment of members of the LGBTQ+ community on one side and specific statutory enactments that consider only a married union between a biological man and woman on the other.
•  The three-judge Bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, invoked Article 145(3) of the Constitution to refer the case to a five-judge Bench.
• The Centre has opposed in the top court a batch of petitions seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages, claiming they will cause a complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws and accepted societal values.
• Growing up with lesbian or gay parents will not necessarily make a child lesbian or gay, the Supreme Court observed, as it confronted the government’s concern about the “psychological” impact same-sex marriages may have on children.

What’s next?

• The court posted the matter for arguments on April 18 and said the proceedings will be live-streamed as is done in case of hearings before the constitution benches.