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17th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2021

WORLD FOOD DAY 2020
NEW START TREATY
COLLECTIVE SECURITY TREATY
CHAKMA TRIBE
SHEAT BLIGHT DISEASE
Y20 GLOBAL SUMMIT
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
HEADLINES:
India Hosts Virtual Summit of Ministers of Justice of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
WHY IN NEWS:
Law Minister urges SCO Member States to promote exchange of ideas, best practices and experiences in identified areas through the platform
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : International Grouping
ISSUE:
SEVENTH SESSION OF THE MINISTERS OF JUSTICE(SCO)
The Seventh Session of the Ministers of Justice of the SCO Member States deliberated on areas of cooperation;
- Emphasized the high relevance of mutual exchange of legal information on counteraction to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic .
- It also acknowledged the need for cooperation in ADR mechanism area, among others.
THE SALIENT FEATURES OF THE JOINT STATEMENT
- To strengthen the work on implementation of the Agreement on Cooperation between the Ministries of Justice of the SCO Member States.
- To continue the work on implementation of the Action Plans of the working groups of experts on forensic activities and legal services .
- To study the best practices in alternative dispute resolution.
- Actively develop cooperation with the ministries of justice of the SCO observer and dialogue partner states.
- Continue efforts to develop an online platform for the exchange of legal information, taking into account national laws.
SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION (SCO)
- The creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz Republic, the Russia,Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
- It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
CHARTER
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed during the St.Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002.
- Then entered came into force on 19 September 2003.
- This is the fundamental statutory document which outlines the organisation’s goals and principles.
SCO’S GOALS
- Strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states
- Also in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas.
- Making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region.
- Moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.
DECISION MAKING
- The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO.
- The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.
HEADQUARTERS
- The SCO Secretariat based in Beijing .
- The SCO Secretary-General and the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS are appointed by the Council of Heads of State for a term of three years.
MEMBER NATIONS
- The SCO comprises eight member states, namely : India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz Republic,Pakistan, Russian, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
OBSERVERS
- SCO counts four observer states, namely : Belarus, Iran , Mongolia and Afghanistan . (BIMA 😉 )
IASbhai WINDUP:
25 Lakh Virtual Hearings Took Place in Various Courts of India During COVID19.
SOURCES:PIB | 17th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
ASEAN PhD Fellowship Programme (APFP)
HEADLINES:
Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank addresses the students of the 1st Batch of ASEAN PhD Fellowship Programme
WHY IN NEWS:
ASEAN Coordinators from Respective IITs, Directors of the IITs and the selected students also graced the occasion.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Education
ISSUE:
ASEAN PHD FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME (APFP)
- ASEAN PhD Fellowship programme provides ASEAN participants space for pursuing higher education in India.
- The ASEAN Phd fellowship programme caters extensively to realise the goal set within the socio-cultural pillar.
AIM
- APFP will open many doors to synergies in the field of technology and research for the academicians, researchers and the scientists from India and ASEAN.
- Under the APFP, 1000 fellowships will be provided exclusively to the ASEAN citizens.
FUNDING
- It is funded by Government of India.
- APFP is also the largest capacity development programme undertaken by the Government of India for foreign beneficiaries.
SIGNIFICANCE
- It will further strengthen our ties in culture, commerce and connectivity.
- The ASEAN PhD fellows will be recognized as the alumni of the respective IITs from where they will be completing their PhDs.
- It also provides opportunity for promotion of education and cultural exchanges between India and ASEAN countries.
BACKGROUND
ASEAN PhD Fellowship Programme was announced on 25th January 2018, the eve of India’s Republic Day.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- This is an excellent initiative to fill void in education cooperation between India and ASEAN.
- This will encourage the ASEAN students to learn in some of India’s finest institutions and learn from the best minds.
- It will be India’s contribution to the education and upskilling of ASEAN’s IT capacity, and to the closer collaboration between India and ASEAN and to our common digital transformation in IR 4.0.
SOURCES: PIB | 17th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Microbes to fight oil spillage
HEADLINES:
Microbes to fight oil spillage in oceans: Indian scientists devise new technology
WHY IN NEWS:
Cleaning up of the oil spillage from the oceans without damaging the marine ecosystem is becoming an increasingly challenging task.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Ecology : Oil Spill
ISSUE:
GRAVE ECOLOGICAL CONCERN
- A surge in oil extraction through offshore drilling that has resulted in spillage of oil — accidentally or due to negligence.
- Industrial effluent discharge, waste burn-out and other manmade disasters polluting the marine environment are among other concerns.
RECENT FINDINGS
The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has developed an eco-friendly crude oil bioremediation mechanism technology using consortia of marine microbes wheat bran (WB) immobilized on agro-residue bacterial cells.
- During the study, nine different hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria extracted from the ocean sediment and collected from a depth of 2,100 metres, were used.
- It was found that complete breakdown and degradation of crude oil was achievable .
- In marine ecosystem, hydrocarbonoclastic deep sea microbial consortium (two or more group of bacteria) plays an important role in breaking down oil in the event of a spill.
- The microbial community serves as energetic primary degraders of complex mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons into various aldehydes, ketones and acidic metabolites.
PETROLEUM PRODUCT
- Petroleum is a mixture of natural gas, condensate, and crude oil (viscous liquid mixture) consisting mainly of thousands of hydrocarbon compounds.
- The present world crude oil production exceeds three billion tonnes a year, about half of which is transported through the sea routes.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The NIOT study found that immobilised bacterial cells had better oil degrading capacity than the free bacterial cells.
- The free bacterial cells degraded a maximum of 60 per cent of the crude oil at optimised conditions.
- These findings evinced their efficacy in treating accidental bulk discharge of oil in marine environment through non-toxic clean-up technology.
SOURCES:DOWNTOEARTH | 17th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope
HEADLINES:
New research sheds light on declining star formation in Milky Way
WHY IN NEWS:
Astronomers use upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope to glean vital clues
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Space
ISSUE:
GIANT METREWAVE RADIO TELESCOPE (GMRT)
RESEARCHERS
- Astronomers from the Pune-based National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA-TIFR)
- Raman Research Institute (RRI) in Bengaluru .
KEY POINTS FROM RESEARCH
- Galaxies are made up mostly of gas and stars, with gas being converted into stars during the life of a galaxy.
- Understanding galaxies requires us to determine how the amounts of both gas and stars change with time.
- The star formation activity in galaxies peaked about 8-10 billion years ago and has been declining steadily till today.
IASbhai WINDUP:
The measurement of the atomic hydrogen mass of distant galaxies was done by using the upgraded GMRT to search for a spectral line in atomic hydrogen.
SOURCES:THE HINDU | 17th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Global Hunger Index 2020
HEADLINES:
India fares poorly in hunger index
WHY IN NEWS:
Country has the highest prevalence of ‘wasted children’; even Bangladesh and Pakistan score better
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Reports
ISSUE:
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The situation has worsened in the 2015-19 period, when the prevalence of child wasting was 17.3%, in comparison to 2010-14, when it was 15.1%.
- Overall, India ranks 94 out of 107 countries in the Index, lower than neighbours such as Bangladesh (75) and Pakistan (88). 2020 scores reflect data from 2015-19.
PUBLISHED BY
- It uses four parameters to determine its scores.
- India fares worst in child wasting (low weight for height, reflecting acute undernutrition) and child stunting (low height for age, reflecting chronic undernutrition), which together make up a third of the total score.
- India has improved in both child mortality rates, which are now at 3.7%.
IASbhai WINDUP:
In the region of south, east and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan and North Korea.
We will cover this report in depth tomorrow.
SOURCES:THE HINDU | 17th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
Any stay : Valid only for 6 months
HEADLINES:
Any stay on proceedings is valid only for 6 months: SC
WHY IN NEWS:
‘An extension can be granted only for a good reason’
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : Judiciary
ISSUE:
THE VERDICT
- “Whatever stay has been granted by any court, including the High Court, automatically expires within a period of six months,”
2013 JUDGMENT
- The Bench was reiterating a 2013 judgment in the Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency Pvt. Ltd case.
- “The speaking order must show that the case was of such exceptional nature that continuing the stay was more important than having the trial finalised,” .
IASbhai WINDUP:
CALL TO MAGISTRATES
- Though not subordinate administratively, High Courts are certainly subordinate judicially.
We expect that the magistrates all over the country will follow our order in letter and spirit,” – Supreme Court observed.
SOURCES:THE HINDU | 17th Oct Current Affairs News Analysis
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