Minority Rights Day

Context:

The National Commission for Minorities celebrated Minorities Rights Day on the 18th of December.

Historical Background of the Day

• Minorities Rights Day is observed annually on 18th December to commemorate the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious, and Linguistic Minorities in 1992. 
• It serves as an important occasion to raise awareness about the rights of minorities, acknowledge their contributions to Indian society, and continue working toward their protection and empowerment.
• This Declaration, though non-binding, plays a vital role in shaping the global discourse on minority rights.
• To reflect its commitment to protecting minority rights and addressing the challenges faced by these communities, India began officially recognising Minorities Rights Day in India in 2013. 

Minority Rights in India

Article 29: Protection of interests of minorities

• It safeguards the cultural and educational rights of minorities. It provides that any section of citizens with a distinct culture, language, or script has the right to preserve it. 

Article 30: Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions 

• All minorities, whether based on religion or language, have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. 
• The state cannot discriminate against any educational institution on the grounds of its minority status while granting aid. Minority institutions should receive the same treatment and protection as institutions established by the majority.

Article 350B: Special Officer for linguistic minorities  

• This provision provides for a Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President.

SLINEX 2024

Context:

India’s Eastern Naval Command hosted the 11th edition of the bilateral naval exercise SLINEX (Sri Lanka- India) 2024 at Visakhapatnam.

More on the News

This edition aims to further reinforce the strong maritime ties between India and Sri Lanka while promoting a safe, secure, and rules-based maritime environment.

The exercise was held in two phases – 

• Harbour Phase: Held from 17 to 18 December where participants engaged in professional and social exchanges to strengthen mutual understanding. 
• Sea Phase: It includes Special Forces operations, gun firings, communication drills, seamanship practices, navigation evolutions, and helicopter operations from 19 to 20 December. 

The Participating Units in the exercise:

• From India: Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sumitra, a Naval Offshore Patrol   Vessel of the Eastern Fleet, along with a Special Forces team.        
• From Sri Lanka: SLNS Sayura, an Offshore Patrol Vessel, with an embarked Special Forces team.

SLINEX was initiated in 2005 and is a significant series of bilateral naval exercises that have strengthened maritime cooperation between India and Sri Lanka over the years. 

Dark Comet

Context:

NASA researchers have recently discovered seven new “dark comets”, thus bringing the total of this strange new class of objects to 14. 

About Dark Comet

These weird celestial objects look like asteroids but move through space like comets. 

The first indication of dark comets came in 2016, when asteroid 2003 RM exhibited unusual orbital deviations that suggested it might be a comet without the usual tail.

Dark comets are more elusive than their bright comets and lack glowing tails and instead resemble asteroids, appearing as a faint point of light against the vast darkness of space.

Dark comets follow elongated, elliptical paths that bring them close to the Sun before sweeping back out to the farthest reaches of the Solar System.

Dark comets are often small, just a few metres to a few hundred metres wide.

Dark Comets fall into two distinct population: 

• Outer dark comets, have similar characteristics to Jupiter-family comets. They have highly eccentric (or elliptical) orbits and are on the larger side (hundreds of meters or more across).
• Inner dark comets reside in the inner solar system (which includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), travel in nearly circular orbits, and are on the smaller side (tens of meters or less).