text: The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval to the allocation of additional foodgrain under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana Phase III- for another period of 2 months e. May to June 2021 @ 5 kg per person per month free of cost for about 79.88 Crore beneficiaries covered under NFSA (AAY & PHH) including those covered under DBT.
  Prelims GS – Governance
  NFSA:
  The National Food Security Act, 2013 was notified on 10th September 2013 with the objective to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.
  The Act provides for coverage of up to 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population.
  The eligible persons will be entitled to receive 5 Kg of foodgrains per person per month at subsidized prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per Kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains.
  The existing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 Kgs of foodgrains per household per month.
  The eldest women of the household of age 18 years or above will be the head of the household for the purpose of issuing ration cards.
  Click here to view the Courtesy: Vikaspedia website.
  2. EEZ
  News Summary
  Indian Coast Guard has apprehended Myanmarese poachers in Indian EEZ. Despite challenges posed by COVID-19, ICG ships and aircraft are on patrol 24×7, monitoring activities in Indian Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ) to thwart any nefarious activity in Maritime Zones of India.
  Courtesy: PIB
  Prelims GS – Geography
  EEZ:(Exclusive Economic Zone)
  India, a traditionally maritime country with rich maritime heritage, has an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of more than 2 million sq km wherein India enjoys the exclusive legal right to utilize all living and non-living resources.
  The entire EEZ has been divided into two areas viz. deep water areas (> 500 m water depth) and shallow water areas (< 500 m water depth).
  The project mainly focuses on mapping the entire EEZ of India using the state-of-the-art technologies of Multibeam apart from systematic sediment sampling and its analysis.
  Ministry of Earth Sciences is responsible for EEZ mapping.
  Click here to know more about EEZ on the MOES Govt website.
  Some highlights of EEZ in UNCLOS:
  The exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, subject to the specific legal regime established in this Part, under which the rights and jurisdiction of the coastal State and the rights and freedoms of other States are governed by the relevant provisions of the UNCLOS Convention.
  In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State shall have the exclusive right to construct and to authorize and regulate the construction, operation, and use of:
  (a) artificial islands;
  (b) installations and structures for the purposes provided for in article 56 and other economic purposes
  (c) installations and structures which may interfere with the exercise of the rights of the coastal State in the zone.
  The exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
  The coastal State shall determine the allowable catch of the living resources in its exclusive economic zone.
  UNCLOS:
  The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982.
  It lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world’s oceans and seas establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources.
  It embodies in one instrument traditional rules for the uses of the oceans and at the same time introduces new legal concepts and regimes and addresses new concerns.
  The Convention also provides the framework for further development of specific areas of the law of the sea.