Ima Market

• The Ima Market, also known as the Nupi Keithel or the Khwairamband Keithel, is a market in the middle of Imphal in the Indian state of Manipur.
• Ima Keithel, or Mothers’ Market, is an all-women market, said to be the largest such shopping complex in Asia.
• The Ima Market is centuries-old, and has its origins in Lallup Kaba, an ancient bonded labour system.
• Under the system, Meitei men had to compulsorily serve some time working in the military and on other civil projects, keeping them away from home.
  • The Meitei people, also known as the Manipuri people, is the predominant ethnic group of Manipur in Northeast India.
• The women, thus, were left to manage on their own, and they developed a market system which is today the Ima Keithel.

The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP)

• The GSLEP is a first-of-its-kind intergovernmental alliance for the conservation of the snow leopard and its unique ecosystem.
• It is led by the environment ministers of 12 countries in Asia that form the home range of the snow leopard.
• These are Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• The total range spans two million square kilometres.
• The GSLEP Program’s secretariat is based in Bishkek, and is hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision of the Kyrgyz Republic.
• The Bishkek Declaration (2013) proposed to cooperate in the conservation of this species and its habitat.

Indian Ocean Region Meet

• China convened a first “China-Indian Ocean Region Forum” bringing together 19 countries from the region, and all of India’s neighbours, except for India itself.
• Members: Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, and Australia.
• The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) is China’s new development aid agency.
• The forum underlined China’s stepped up diplomacy in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

India and the Indian Ocean

• The Chinese forum apparently is aimed at countering India's strong influence in the Indian Ocean region where India-backed organisations like the Indian Ocean Rim Association, (IORA).
• IORA has a membership of 23 countries and have taken strong roots.
• China is a dialogue partner in the IORA formed in 1997.
• IORA became an observer to the UN General Assembly and the African Union in 2015.
• Besides the IORA, Prime Minister Modi has proposed "Security and Growth for All in the Region" (SAGAR) in 2015 for active cooperation among the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean region.
• The Indian Navy-backed 'Indian Ocean Naval Symposium' (IONS) seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the region.

Political parties with religious names

• Under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, there was no express provision that barred associations with religious connotations from registering as political parties.
• The EC generally does not have the power to deregister political parties.
• While there are some parties with religious connotations in their names, it is a “legacy” issue as the ECI said it had taken a policy decision in 2005 to not register parties with such names.
• On the issue of symbols, the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 bars parties from having symbols with religious or communal connotations.
• Political parties, however, are bound to abide by the principle of secularism as one of the requisites for registration with the EC under the RP Act, 1951.

Kamchatka Peninsula

• The Shiveluch volcano in Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula may be gearing up for its first powerful eruption in 15 years.
• Kamchatka is home to 29 active volcanoes, part of a vast belt of Earth known as the “Ring of Fire” which circles the Pacific Ocean and is prone to eruptions and frequent earthquakes.
• The peninsula is lying between the Sea of Okhotsk on the west and the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea on the east.
• The climate of the Kamchatka Peninsula is tundra with prolonged, cold, and snowy winters and wet, cool summers.
• Most of the peninsula’s volcanoes are surrounded by sparsely populated tundra forest.
• The Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Eurasia’s highest active volcano is located in this Peninsula.