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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:
15th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2021
Today's Must Read Articles :
75th Anniversary of FAO
HEADLINES:
PM to release commemorative coin of Rs 75 denomination to mark the 75th Anniversary of FAO
WHY IN NEWS:
Hot from PIB !
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : UN : Institutions
CONTEXT:
THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO)
- FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations.
- The UN system, also known unofficially as the ‘UN family‘.
- It is made up of the UN itself and a series of Programmes, Funds and Specialized Agencies, all with their own leadership and budget.
- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
- With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.
INDIA AND FAO
- The journey of FAO in making the vulnerable classes and masses stronger, economically and nutritionally, has been unparalleled.
- India has had a historic association with FAO.
- Indian Civil Service Officer Dr. Binay Ranjan Sen was the Director General of FAO during 1956-1967.
- The World Food Programme, which has won the Nobel Peace Prize 2020, was established during his time.
COMBATING MALNUTRITION
- India has rolled out an ambitious POSHAN Abhiyaan targeting over 100 million people with the aim to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anaemia, and low birth weight.
- Malnutrition is a global problem with two billion people suffering from micronutrient deficiency.
- Nearly 45% of deaths among children are linked to malnutrition.
- Appropriately, it is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.
- With high lysine and tryptophan, anthocyanin, provitamin A, and oleic acid, and reduced level of anti-nutritional factors etc. has been accorded top priority by the government.
- The National Agricultural Research System under the leadership of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) developed 53 such varieties during the last five years.
- There was only one biofortified variety developed prior to 2014.
TRANSFORMING INDIAN THALI INTO NUTRI-THALI
- The 17 recently developed biofortified varieties of 8 crops to be dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister will have up to 3.0-fold increase in nutritional value.
- The rice variety CR Dhan 315 has high zinc.
- Ladhowal Quality Protein Maize Hybrid 1, 2 and 3 rich in lysine and tryptophan.
- CFMV1 and 2 of finger millet rich in calcium, iron and zinc; CLMV1 of little Millet rich in iron and zinc;
- Pusa Mustard 32 with low erucic acid;
- These varieties, along with other food ingredients, will transform the normal Indian thali into nutri-thali.
- These varieties have been developed by utilizing the local landraces and farmer’s varieties.
- The high zinc rice has been developed from landraces of Assam rice collected from Garo hills and those of finger millets from Gujarat collections of Dang district.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- ICAR has started Nutri-Sensitive Agricultural Resources and Innovations (NARI) programme for promoting family farming linking agriculture to nutrition.
- The production of bio-fortified crop varieties will be upscaled and linked with government programmes of mid-day meal, Anganwadi etc.
- This will also usher in higher income of farmers and will open new avenues of entrepreneurship development.
SOURCES:PIB | 15th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Wildfires and Mental Health
HEADLINES:
Spike in deaths, mental health concerns: Report flags consequences of wildfires
WHY IN NEWS:
Between 1997 and 2016, the global mean carbon dioxide emissions from wildfires were approximately 22% of carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Forests
ISSUE:
TITLE OF THE REPORT
- Wildfires, Global Climate Change, and Human Health
PUBLISHED BY
- The report was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on October 10, 2020.
- They analysed global wildfires for over 20 years.
KEY POINTS
- It warned that forest loss in tropical areas due to wildfires damaged the Earth’s ability to absorb CO2 and to cool the climate.
- Between 1997 and 2016, the global mean carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from wildfires were approximately 22 per cent of the carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.
REACHING NET ZERO AROUND 2050
- It added that reaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius target would require reducing global net CO2 emissions by about 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030.
- The 1.5°C target would remain achievable if CO2 emissions declined by 7.6 per cent per year from 2020 to 2030.
- The report flagged concerns on human health, including one’s mental health.
- This also includes post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and insomnia.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- Heat-related illnesses ranging from dehydration-induced heat cramps to life-threatening heat stroke were also highly likely.
- Wildfire bring heavy smoke can cause eye irritation and corneal abrasions and can substantially reduce visibility, increasing the risk of traffic accidents.
- As far as 1,000 kilometre away, wildfire smoke can increase ambient air pollution, along with associated risks of illness and death.
SOURCES:DownToEarth | 15th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
SC upholds : Elephant corridor in Tamil Nadu
HEADLINES:
SC upholds 2011 Madras HC order on elephant corridor in Tamil Nadu
WHY IN NEWS:
Judgment comes on 32 appeals
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Environment and Ecology
ISSUE:
THE VERDICT
- The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Tamil Nadu government’s authority to notify an elephant corridor .
- The reserve is the largest protected forest area in the country, spanning across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
LOCATION
- The corridor is situated in the ecologically fragile Sigur plateau.
- It connects the Western and the Eastern Ghats and sustains elephant populations and their genetic diversity.
- The elephants cross the plateau in search of food and water, depending on the monsoon.
IASbhai WINDUP:
NOMADIC MODE
- Elephant corridors allow elephants to continue their nomadic mode of survival, despite shrinking forest cover.
- These corridors play a crucial role in sustaining wildlife by reducing the impact of habitat isolation.
SOURCES:THE HINDU | 15th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Loan Borrowers Waiver scheme
HEADLINES:
‘Loan borrowers’ Deepavali is in your hands, SC tells Centre
WHY IN NEWS:
It questions need to wait till Nov. 15 to notify compound interest waiver scheme
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : Governance
ISSUE:
- The scheme is meant to “hand-hold small and vulnerable borrowers” whose fortunes have dipped during the lockdown.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had termed the Centre’s resolve an “additional relief” for pandemic-induced financial distress among borrowers.
SOURCES:THE HINDU | 15th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Special Marriage Act
HEADLINES:
HC notice to Centre on same-sex couples’ pleas
WHY IN NEWS:
Petitions seek Special Marriage Act and Foreign Marriage Act be applicable to all regardless of gender
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : Judiciary
CONTEXT:
SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT OF 1954
- The SMA is a law which allows solemnization of marriages without going through any religious customs or rituals.
- The prime purpose of the Act was to address Inter-religious marriages and to establish marriage as a secular institution bereft of all religious formalities.
PROCEDURE
- One of the parties to the marriage has to give a notice of the intended marriage to the marriage officer of the district .
- At least one of the parties to the marriage has resided for at least 30 days immediately prior to the date on which such notice is given.
- Such notice is then entered in the marriage notice book .
- The marriage officer publishes a notice of marriage at some conspicuous place in his office.
- The notice of marriage published by the marriage officer includes details of the parties like names, date of birth, age, occupation, parents’ names and details, address, pin code, identity information, phone number etc.
- Anybody can then raise objections to the marriage on various grounds provided under the Act.
- If no objection is raised within the 30 day period, then marriage can be solemnized.
- If objections are raised, then the marriage officer has to inquire into the objections after which he will decide whether or not to solemnize the marriage.
‘MARRIAGE NOT DEFINED’
- “Marriage is not defined… When something goes against what an authority in India has been seeing for his/her entire life, they won’t accept it.
- Delhi High Court said that sexual orientation could not be grounds for discrimination.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The two women in their petition stated that lack of a legal structure around their relationship became increasingly stark when they tried to bring each other on as nominees in financial plans.
- The two men sought for legal recognition of their status as a married couple, to be able to secure the rights and benefits for each other, appurtenant to the legal recognition of marriage in India.
SOURCES:THE HINDU | 15th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
DISCOVER MORE : Important Daily Current Affairs for UPSC PRELIMS 2021
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