Cambodia: King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni, will arrive in New Delhi.The visit marks the culmination of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Cambodia. This visit by the King of Cambodia is taking place after almost six decades, with the last being that of the current King’s father in 1963.
Cambodia, country on the Indochinese mainland of Southeast Asia.Its capital is Phnom Penh.It is bordered to the west and northwest by Thailand, to the northeast by Laos, to the east and southeast by Vietnam and to the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand.
The two dominant hydrological features of Cambodia are the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap (Great Lake).The Elephant Mountains and Cardamom Mountain of the southwest and western regions; the Dangrek Mountains of the North adjoining of the Korat Plateau of Thailand and Rattanakiri Plateau and Chhlong highlands on the east merging with the Central Highlands of Viet Nam.Conservation and restoration of the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Preah Vihar are being carried out under India’s funding.
Rice Fortification: India’s pilot studies on rice fortification showed that nutritional anaemia could be reduced, with a significant drop in the prevalence of anaemia among schoolchildren, according to a United Nations report.
Fortification is the process of adding Fortified Rice Kernels (FRK), containing FSSAI prescribed micronutrients (Iron, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12) to normal Rice in the ratio of 1:100 (Mixing 1 Kg of FRK with 100 Kg custom milled rice). Fortified rice is nearly identical to traditional rice in aroma, taste, and texture. This process is done in the rice mills at the time of milling of rice.Fortification of rice is found to be a cost-effective and complementary strategy to increase vitamin and mineral content in diets with low turnaround time (TAT) and a step towards nutritional security.
One District One Product (ODOP) Initiative: It was launched by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in 2018.This initiative is carried out with the ‘Districts as Exports Hub’ initiative by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce.
Process: Under the ODOP initiative, all products have been selected by States/UTs by taking into consideration the existing ecosystem on the ground, products identified under Districts as Export Hubs (DEH), and GI-tagged products.The finalized list is communicated to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) by the relevant Department of States/UTs.All activities including exhibitions, capacity building, etc. are undertaken at the State/UT and district level, in consultation and coordination with the States/UTs.
Nato Plus: A US Congressional Committee recently recommended strengthening Nato Plus by including India in the five-member grouping.
It is a grouping of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and five countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, and South Korea.The group works toward boosting global defence cooperation.
Advantages for India:India would gain access to seamless intelligence sharing between these countries.India would get access to the latest military technology without much of a time lag.
It would further strengthen India’s defence partnership with the United States.
