Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 29 January 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 29 January 2021

::NATIONAL::

Indo-French partnership towards global environment protection will set an example for the rest of the world

The Indo-French Year of the Environment was launched on 28th January 2021 by PrakashJavadekar.
The basic objective is to strengthen Indo-French cooperation in sustainable development, increase the effectiveness of actions in favour of global environment protection and give them greater visibility.
Welcoming Barbara Pompili on her maiden visit to India, Union Minister PrakashJavadekar emphasised on the significance of India-France alliance is working towards climate change. He stated “We are the two main pillars of the International Solar Alliance launched by PM NarendraModi.
This revolutionary step has changed into a successful experiment. This partnership towards global environment protection will set an example for the rest of the world to work more effectively and efficiently towards sustainable development.
India has made significant progress towards climate change action & has already achieved a 26% reduction of emission intensity. As of 2020, the renewable capacity in India stands at 90 GW which includes 36 GW of solar energy & 38 GW of wind energy.
Union Environment Minister further added that India looks forward to strengthening the Indo-French cooperation in sustainable development, increase the effectiveness of actions in favour of global environmental protection and give them greater visibility.
French Minister for Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili reiterated the significance of the Indo-French partnership towards climate change and environmental protection and through this partnership, looks forward to setting an example for the rest of the world.

::INTERNATIONAL::

India-Bangladesh to work towards citizen-centric consular mechanisms

India and Bangladesh have reiterated their commitment to work towards citizen-centric consular mechanisms.
During the second Consular meeting held in Delhi on Thursday, both the countries also agreed to further strengthen bilateral relations and promote greater people to people exchanges.
India and Bangladesh also agreed on the need for further liberalization of visa formalities and entry and exit norms to enhance ease of travel. Both sides agreed on the implementation of provisions under the Revised Travel Arrangements (2018) relating to tourist, student and business visas.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), during the consular meeting, the two sides had a wide-ranging discussion on mechanisms to strengthen coordination and cooperation on Consular issues.
The meeting discussed the finalisation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for consular access, verification of nationality and release of detainees, particularly early release of detained fishermen.
Both sides welcomed the close cooperation between agencies to deal with terrorism and cross-boundary crimes and on legal assistance.
The Indian delegation was led by the Secretary (CPV & OIA) Sanjay Bhattacharyya while the Bangladesh side was led by Ambassador MashfeeBinte Shams, Secretary (East), Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

::ECONOMY::

MSP operations during Kharif Marketing Season 2020- 21

In the ongoingKharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21, Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at MSP from farmers as per existing MSP Schemes, as was done in previous seasons.
Paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in the procuring States & UTs of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Karnataka and West Bengal with purchase of over 591.63 LMTs of paddy up to 27.01.2021.This is an increase of 19.20 % against the last year corresponding purchase of 496.32 LMT.
Out of the total purchase of 591.63 LMT, Punjab alone has contributed 202.77 LMT which is 34.27% of total procur
Further, based on the proposal from the States, approval was accorded for procurement of 51.92 LMT of Pulse and Oilseeds of Kharif Marketing Season 2020 for the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under Price Support Scheme (PSS).
The sanction for procurement of 1.23 LMT of Copra (the perennial crop) for the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was also given. Further, based on the concerned State Govt. proposals, the sanction for procurement of 2.50 LMT of Pulse and Oilseeds of Rabi Marketing Season 2020-2021 for the States of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, was also given.
For other States/UTs, approval will also be accorded on receipt of proposals for procurement of Pulses, Oilseeds and Copra under PSS so that procurement of FAQ grade of these crops can be made at notified MSP for the year 2020-21 directly from the registered farmers, if the market rate goes below MSP during the notified harvesting period in the respective States/UTs by the Central Nodal Agencies through State nominated procuring agencies.
Upto 27.01.2021, the Government through its Nodal Agencies has procured 3,02,498.56 MT of Moong, Urad, Toor, Groundnut Pods and Soybean having MSP value of Rs.1,624.03 Crores benefitting 1,63,054 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

CSIR celebrates 20 years of India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, the first of its kind globally

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched a new campaign of highlighting 80 success stories from the organization as it is set to turn 80 years old in 2022.
This campaign is being launched on 25th January 2021 as CSIR’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) completes two decades of safeguarding India’s Traditional Knowledge. To commemorate the two decades, journey a webinar “Two Decades of TKDL - Connecting to the Future" was organized. The distinguished dignitaries who graced the program were Dr Raghunath A. Mashelkar, Former DG, CSIR & Secretary, DSIR, Vd. Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Min of AYUSH, GuruprasadMohapatra, Secretary, DPIIT and BegonaVenero, Sr. Counsellor, Traditional Knowledge Division, WIPO, Geneva, and Dr Shekhar C. Mande, DG, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR.
Dr Viswajanani J Sattigeri, Head TKDL described the journey and highlighted that in 2001, CSIR jointly with Department of Indian Systems of Medicine & Homeopathy (ISM&H, now Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) developed the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). This initiative was a follow-up action to thwart misappropriation of India’s valuable traditional knowledge, based on learnings from the patent battles with international patent offices over the grant of intellectual property rights on turmeric, neem, basmati rice and other such ancient knowledge and practices of the country.
TKDL database contains more than 3.9 lakh formulations/ practices from the Indian systems of medicine (Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Sowa Rigpa) and Yoga. The database is available to only patent examiners through TKDL Access (Non-disclosure) Agreement and so far, Access Agreements have been signed with 13 international patent offices including India. Significantly, 239 patent applications have either been set aside/ withdrawn/ amended, based on the prior art evidence present in the TKDL database.
The valuable partnership with Ministry of Ayush and DPIIT and support from WIPO were acknowledged.

::SPORTS::

Sports Authority of India to engage specialised manpower for the operation of NCOEs and upgrade its Hostel and Mess facility

The 54th Governing Body Meeting of the Sports Authority of India took place under the chairmanship of Union Sports Minister KirenRijiju.
The focus of the meeting was on the development of various aspects of the National Centre of Excellence. The key issues that were approved in the meeting were related to creating the highest standards across all National Centres of Excellence which included inter-alia the development and up-gradation of infrastructure, management of hostels and Kitchen through an expert agency and provision of sports science equipment and manpower to various NCOEs. It was also decided to hire expert manpower to optimally operate National Centres of Excellence.
To ensure the highest quality of residential facilities and to ensure best athlete experience, it has been decided to outsource the management of hostel, mess and kitchen facilities to an expert agency at various SAI centres to bring the facilities at par with three-star hotels. The pilot will be started with the newly-built hostels at Karni Singh Shooting Range and JLN complex.