14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020

Dear Aspirants

IASbhai 14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020-21 is an initiative to dilute major articles from leading Newspapers in India which are most relevant to UPSC preparation –‘THE HINDU, LIVEMINT , INDIAN EXPRESS’ and help millions of readers who find difficulty in answer writing and making notes everyday. Hence we choose articles on daily basis and analyse them with respect to UPSC PRELIMS 2021.

Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.– Jamie Paolinetti

HIGHLIGHT INFO:

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 :

WORLD ENERGY OUTLOOK (WEO) 2020

NATIONAL SUPERCOMPUTING MISSION

EXERCISE SURAKSHA KAVACH

India-Mexico High Level Meeting

HEADLINES:

5^th 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.

MINISTRY? :- Ministry of Commerce & Industry

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Trade

ISSUE:

The two sides appreciated the progress made in the bilateral trade and commercial relations between India and Mexico in the recent years.

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 !

MINISTRY? :-Ministry of Communications

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : 3 : Indian Post : Communication

ISSUE:

World Post Day is celebrated each year on 9^th October, to commemorate the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874

NATIONAL PHILATELY DAY

Philately is the collection and study of postage stamps and postal history.

The aim is to create awareness about India Post’s role and activities among the public and media at the national level.

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.

An individual can paste a relevant stamp and get it cancelled with the postmark available in that particular area.

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

Its headquarters are located in Berne, Switzerland.

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.

The Postal Department has been playing a major role in the implementation of Government schemes.

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

MINISTRY? :- Ministry of Food Processing Industries

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Food Processing

ISSUE:

Foundation Stone Laid for New Infrastructure Development in Newly Purchased Land

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.

Food processing is one of the largest industries in the country, ranked 5^th in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth.

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.

It is under Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Government of India.

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 !

MINISTRY? :- Ministry of Labour & Employment

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Miscelleneous

ISSUE:

Over 164000 Grievances Redressed through New Mechanism

NIRBADH INITIATIVE

To further enhance ease of living experience for its members, EPFO has recently launched WhatsApp based helpline-cum-grievance redressal mechanism.

This is under its series of Nirbadh initiatives aimed at ensuring seamless and un-interrupted service delivery to subscribers during COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

It will ensure prompt and secure services to the subscribers from the comfort of their homes.

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.

WhatsApp will drastically reduce the need for the subscribers to physically visit EPFO’s offices.

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

MINISTRY? :- Ministry of Electronics & IT

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Agriculture

ISSUE:

Aquaponics and related alternative farming techniques are highly required to improve the status of farmers.

AQUAPONICS

Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture, which is growing fish and other aquatic animals, and hydroponics which is growing plants without soil.

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 fish waste is recycled and used for plant growth instead of throwing it in the ocean.

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:

Kerala currently has the lowest recovery rate due to a sudden surge in cases.

THE eVIN NETWORK

It is responsible for :

Tracking the latest vaccine stock position.

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:

Several states are yet to put in place the minimum number of monitoring units required despite an alert in July from the Union Home Ministry.

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.

14th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis

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.

The biggest worries now are agents scouting in villages for child labour and children attending online classes being targeted by traffickers on the Internet.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) recommendations

Depute a special officer to monitor school dropout rates in identified areas.

Map source and destination states, identify vulnerable families, provide rehabilitation packages.

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

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