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ORANGE COLOUR: Important for Prelims.
RED COLOUR: Important for Mains.
BLACK COLOUR: Must Read !
BLUE COLOUR : Important Links/Survey.
PINK COLOUR: Reports/Themes/Summits.
Page Contents:
14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2021
Today's Must Read Articles :India-Mexico High Level Meeting
HEADLINES:
5th Meeting of the India-Mexico Bilateral High Level Group on Trade, Investment and Cooperation
WHY IN NEWS:
The fifth meeting of the India-Mexico Bilateral High Level Group on Trade, Investment and Cooperation (BHLG) was held on 9 October 2020 through video conference.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Trade
ISSUE:
BILATERAL TRADE AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS
Both sides discussed a number of bilateral ongoing and outstanding issues:
- Ranging from Audio-visual Co-production
- Bilateral Investment Treaty
- Market access for agricultural products
- Cooperation framework on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)
- Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) measures between the two countries
- Co-operation in the Intellectual Property Rights
- Exploring ways to promote tourism and people-to-people contact between India and Mexico.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- They also agreed to expand and diversify the bilateral trade relationship to tap the potential of the complementarities between India and Mexico.
- Bilateral trade will be enhanced cooperation in pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, healthcare, agro-products, fisheries, food processing and aerospace industry etc.
SOURCES: PIB | 14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Festivals of Goa-Series I : Philatelic Passport
HEADLINES:
Goa Postal Division releases Philatelic Passport on “Festivals of Goa-Series I” on National Philately day
WHY IN NEWS:
Hot from PIB !
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : 3 : Indian Post : Communication
ISSUE:
NATIONAL PHILATELY DAY
- Philately is the collection and study of postage stamps and postal history.
PHILATELIC PASSPORT
- Philatelic Passport a unique collectable item in which the name of different countries/locations/cities is provided along with pictures and local information on each separate page.
- It acts as a tourist guide and also enriches the knowledge of the visitors.
- The Philatelic Passport on “Festivals of Goa-Series I” enlist ten unique festivals celebrated in Goa.
- This Philatelic Passport on “Festivals of Goa-Series I “will be available for sale at Rs.600/- each at Panaji Head Post Office w.e.f. 13.10.2020.
UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION
- The UPU is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) .
- It coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal systems.
HEADQUARTERS
SIGNIFICANCE
- India Post has been serving the people in an extraordinary way in the difficult situation during Covid-19.
- This is by bringing them medicines and financial assistance.
- Indian Post is leveraging the immense strength of its vast network.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- Postal schemes are known for providing highly secured deposits, they provide a higher return of interest with low risk.
SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB | 14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
IIFPT
HEADLINES:
Virtual Inauguration of Students Residential Complex and other Facilities at IIFPT
WHY IN NEWS:
Inaugurating the student’s residential complex and pilot food processing plants in IIFPT
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Food Processing
ISSUE:
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOOD PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
- The institute commenced as a paddy quality testing laboratory in 1967, and has evolved across years.
- Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology to signify its upgradation and broadening of scope and services to all areas of food processing, including milk, meat, fish and poultry.
- Research at IIFPT is not confined to the labs but has widened its horizons to be of use to the farmers and the society at large.
Government has identified certain key areas for improvement:
- Gaps in supply chain infrastructure
- Inadequate link between production and processing
- Seasonality of operations and low capacity utilization
- Inadequate focus on quality and safety standards
- Lack of product development and innovation, and
- Supply chain institutional gaps.
FOOD PROCESSING
- Food processing accounts for 32% of the country’s total food market.
- Estimated percentage wastage in most durables ranges between from 3-9% and 5-16% for horticultural crops, and between 2.5 and 10.52% for the fish, meat, and poultry.
ABOUT IIFPT
- Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT), Thanjavur is a national R&D and educational institute.
- The institute undertakes research and offers academic programmes in food processing.
- The institute is equipped with hi-tech research facilities, business incubation centre and accredited food testing lab.
- IIFPT has forged strong links with industrial community in India and abroad.
IASbhai WINDUP:
The institute has recently acquired 14.50 acres of land adjacent to its existing location for creation of infrastructure for expanding its research and academic activities.
SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB | 14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Nirbadh Initiative
HEADLINES:
EPFO’s recently WhatsApp helpline to resolve Grievances under Nirbadh initiative gains popularity
WHY IN NEWS:
Hot from PIB !
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Miscelleneous
ISSUE:
NIRBADH INITIATIVE
- To further enhance ease of living experience for its members, EPFO has recently launched WhatsApp based helpline-cum-grievance redressal mechanism.
- This new grievance redressal mechanism using Whatsapp has gained immense popularity amongst EPFO’s stakeholders
- So far, EPFO has redressed more than 1,64,040 grievances and queries through WhatsApp.
IMPLEMENTATION
- This initiative will allow the PF subscribers to interact directly with EPFO’s regional offices at a personalized level adhering to one-to-one guidance principle.
- WhatsApp helpline is now functional in all the 138 regional offices of EPFO.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The helpline aims to make the subscribers self-reliant by taking digital initiatives of EPFO to the last mile, thereby reducing dependence on intermediaries.
- To ensure expeditious resolution of the grievance and reply to the queries raised on WhatsApp, each regional office has been equipped with a dedicated team of experts.
SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB | 14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Aquaponics
HEADLINES:
Aquaponics and related alternative farming techniques to help the farmer in increasing their productivity & income: Shri Sanjay Dhotre
WHY IN NEWS:
Shri Dhotre inaugurates a pilot ‘Aquaponics facility’ at GADVASU, Ludhiana
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Agriculture
ISSUE:
AQUAPONICS
- Aquaponics uses these two in a symbiotic combination in which plants are fed the aquatic animals’ discharge or waste.
- In return, the vegetables clean the water that goes back to the fish.
- Along with the fish and their waste, microbes play an important role to the nutrition of the plants.
BENEFITS OF AQUAPONICS
1) Aquaponics is a way to grow your own fish and vegetables at the same time. You feed the fish and the fish will feed your plants through their waste output.
2) There is no need to use fertilizers because the fish provide rich nutrients for the plants.
3) In aquaponics, less water is used for the crops. Research has shown that aquaponic gardens use 1/10th of the water you would use for soil garden.
4) Regular gardening pesticides or other chemicals can’t be used because they would harm the fish.
5) This results in healthier and organic vegetables.
6) You won’t experience any soil borne diseases in aquaponics because there is no soil.
7) You can grow plants in very small space, and have a great harvest.
8) Plants grow fast because they get very nutritious substances from the fish waste.
9) Plants and fish production can be done in a controlled temperature environment.
10) Water is used in a closed system and circulated effectively, reducing the consumption and the water bills.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- Aquaponics is a big hope for sustainable organic crop production, aquaculture and water consumption.
- The water is recirculated in a closed system lowering the consumption of this resource.
SOURCES: PIB | 14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
eVIN network
HEADLINES:
eVIN network to handle COVID-19 vaccine supply
WHY IN NEWS:
Meet takes stock of identification of frontline workers
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Health:Diseases
ISSUE:
THE eVIN NETWORK
It is responsible for :
- Temperature at storage facility.
- Geo-tag health centres.
- Maintain facility-level dashboard.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- National Centre for Disease Control, presented a detailed report, and said that the overall recovery rate for India is 86.36%.
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have the highest recovery rate of 96.25% in India.
- It is followed by Andaman & Nicobar Islands (93.98%) and Bihar (93.89%).
SOURCES:THE HINDU | 14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Child rescue roadmap
HEADLINES:
Child rescue roadmap: keeping track of trafficking routes, school dropouts
WHY IN NEWS:
Experts now warn that the next few months are crucial, and effective action could spell the difference between mitigation and a full-blown crisis.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Trafficking
ISSUE:
CHILD TRAFFICKING
- The trafficking of children from vulnerable families in villages, mainly for cheap labour and child marriages, amid deep economic distress has been in news.
- What is needed now, experts say, is an immediate and coordinated response built on several recommendations made at multiple levels.
WHAT LED TO SURGE
The surge in child trafficking is due to a combination of two factors
- The lockdown created the ideal hunting ground for child traffickers preying on vulnerable families.
- And now, the unlockdown has sparked demand for cheap labour with industries desperate to reopen.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) recommendations
- Depute a special officer to monitor school dropout rates in identified areas.
- Involve representatives at the village, block and district levels, strengthen police networks.
- Utilise databases of migrant workers created in various states after their return during the lockdown.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- It is very crucial and important to develop mechanisms with the Education Department.
- Concentrating on lessening the number of school dropouts.
- With more dropouts, a higher number of children, especially girls, become vulnerable.
- All the district magistrates must be ordered to look at this on priority, and depute a special officer for monitoring.
SOURCES:IE | 14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
DISCOVER MORE : Important Daily Current Affairs for UPSC PRELIMS 2021
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