Important News For PSC

ADMM-Plus Maritime exercise:

Context: ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus Maritime Security Field Training Exercise (MS FTX) was held recently. This is the fourth Maritime Security Field Training Exercise (MS FTX) conducted under the ambit of the ADMM-Plus.

It was co-organized by Singapore and South Korea as both nations currently holds co-chairmanship of ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security.

Participants: The ADMM-Plus comprises total 18 nation participants which include ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and other 8 includes the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Russia, China, and India.

In news- What is the Strait of Hormuz?

It is the waterway separates Iran and Oman, linking the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Strait is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just two miles (three km) wide in either direction.

Why does Strait of Hormuz matter?

• 5 million barrels per day (bpd) of seaborne oil passed through the waterway in 2016. That was about 30 per cent of crude and other oil liquids traded by sea in 2016. About 17.2 million bpd of crude and condensates were estimated to have been shipped through the Strait in 2017 and about 17.4 million bpd in the first half of 2018.
• With global oil consumption standing at about 100 million bpd, that means almost a fifth passes through the Strait.
• Most crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq — all members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries — is shipped through the waterway.
• It is also the route used for nearly all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by the world’s biggest LNG exporter, Qatar.

Thrissur Pooram:

Known as the festival of festivals, Thrissur Pooram has a tradition of more than 200 years. This spectacular event was started by Sakthan Thampuran, the erstwhile ruler of Kochi. Held on the Moolam asterism in the Malayalam month of Medam (April-May), festival related events take place at the Vadakkumnathan templesituated in the heart of Thrissur town and the adjoining Thekkinkadu ground.

The pooram festival mainly happens between two groups representing the geographic divisions of Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi. They will compete in their respective presentations of richly caparisoned elephants, traditional orchestra called panchavadyam, the swift and rhythmic changing of brightly coloured and sequined parasols called kudamattom and the dazzling fireworks in the early morning hours are the festival highlights.