6th January, 2022 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL

Government launches six brands developed as part of 'One District-One Product' approach under PMFME scheme

Food Processing Industries Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras launched six brands developed as part of the 'One District-One Product' approach under the Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro food processing Enterprises Scheme in New Delhi.
The products are Amrit Phal, Cori Gold, Kashmiri Mantra, Madhu Mantra, Somdana, and Whole Wheat Cookies of Dilli Bakes. The Ministry has signed an agreement with NAFED for developing ten brands of selected One District One Product under the branding and marketing component of the scheme. According to NAFED, all the products come in unique and attractive packaging to ensure a longer shelf life of the product and keeping it fresh.
The Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro food processing Enterprises Scheme is a centrally sponsored scheme that aims to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry and to provide support to Farmer Producer Organizations, Self Help Groups, and Producers Cooperatives along their entire value chain.

INTERNATIONAL

Russia-led military alliance to send peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan

Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led military alliance, has said, that it will dispatch peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan after the country’s President asked for help in controlling protests that escalated into violence. The protests in the Central Asian nation were first sparked by rising fuel prices, but have broadened to include other political grievances.
Protesters in Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty stormed the Presidential Residence and the mayor’s office yesterday and set both on fire.
The Kazakh Interior Ministry said eight police officers and nationalguard members were killed in the unrest and more than 300 were injured. Prime Minister AskarMamin resigned amid the protest.
President Kassym-JomartTokayevclaimed the unrest was the work of foreign-trained terrorist gangs. He has imposed a nationwide state of emergency that includes an overnight curfew and a ban on mass gatherings and has vowed a tough response to the protests. In a televised speech, President Tokayev said he had sought help from the CSTO - a Moscow-based alliance of six former Soviet countries, to help stabilize the country. Hours later, the CSTO’s council approved sending an unspecified number of peacekeepers.
The US State Department said, it is closely following the situation in Kazakhstan and urged for restraint by authorities and protesters alike.
President Tokayevis only the second person to lead Kazakhstan since it declared independence in 1991.

Australia, Japan to sign treaty to beef up defence& security cooperation

Australia and Japan are set to sign a treaty to beef up defence and security cooperation at a virtual summit. The move to strengthen ties comes amid China's rising military power and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific region.
He and his Japan counterpart Fumio Kishida would sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which would for the first time set out a framework for the two countries' defence forces to cooperate with each other. He said, this treaty will be a statement of the two nations' commitment to work together in meeting the shared strategic security challenges they face and to contribute to a secure and stable Indo-Pacific.
The strengthened security ties will expand on efforts of Quad grouping comprising United States, Japan, India and Australia dubbed to work on shared concerns as well as freedom of navigation in the region.

PM Modi and new German Chancellor express hope of cooperation initiatives in areas of Climate Action and Green Energy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz have agreed on further diversifying cooperation and exchanges in new areas including Climate Action and Green Energy.
The two leaders agreed that there was significant synergy in the governance priorities announced by the new German Government and India's own economic vision.
They reviewed the potential of ongoing cooperation initiatives, including for promoting investment and trade links. They agreed on the potential for further diversifying cooperation and exchanges in new areas. In particular, they expressed the hope to commence new cooperation initiatives in the areas of Climate Action and Green Energy, to enable both countries to achieve their climate commitments.
The Prime Minister conveyed his good wishes for the New Year to Chancellor Scholz and to the German people and looked forward to meeting him soon for the next meeting of the bilateral Inter-Governmental Consultations.

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile into the sea: South Korea's defence minister

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile into the sea, South Korea's defence minister has said.
The launch was first reported by the Japanese coast guard early on Wednesday, before being confirmed by defence authorities in Seoul later.
The UN prohibits North Korea from ballistic and nuclear weapons tests. This is the first missile launch by Pyongyang after leader Kim Jong-Un pledged to bolster the country's defence capabilities last month.
South Korean and US intelligence are closely analyzing for further detail, the Seoul's Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
Japan's defence minister Nobuo Kishi said the ballistic missile had flown about 500 km, according to a news agency.
In 2017, North Korea tested the Hwasong-15, a missile that peaked at an estimated altitude of 4,500km, putting US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam well within striking distance.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the latest launch very regrettable, pointing to North Korea's repeated testing of missiles since 2021.
In 2021, North Korea continued the advancement of its weapons programme, conducting what state media reported as the testing of a new hypersonic missile, as well as a train-based ballistic missile and a new long-range cruise missile.
Ballistic missiles are considered more threatening than cruise missiles because they can carry more powerful payloads, have a longer range and can fly faster.
The tests come as Pyongyang struggles with food shortages due to a coronavirus blockade that has affected its economy.
At the end-of-year meeting, Mr. Kim said the country was facing a great life-and-death struggle, adding that increasing development and improving people's living standards were among this year's goals.
United Nations officials had earlier warned that vulnerable children and elderly people in North Korea were at risk of starvation.

U.S. charges Colombian man over Haiti president’s assassination

A former Colombian military officer has been charged in the U.S. in connection with the assassination of Haiti's President JovenelMoïse last July.
The U.S. justice department said, Mario Antonio Palacios is accused of having participated in a plot to kidnap or kill the Haitian president. Palacios appeared at a Miami court to hear the charges against him.
JovenelMoïse was shot dead on 7 July by gunmen who stormed his residence in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. While several arrests have been made in Haiti in connection with the killing, Palacios is the first suspect to face charges.

US, Norway, UK and EU warn Sudanese military against appointing their own PM

The United States, Norway, Britain and the European Union have warned the Sudanese military against appointing their own prime minister, saying it would risk plunging the nation into conflict.
The countries said they would not support a prime minister or government appointed without the involvement of a broad range of civilian stakeholders.
The former Prime Minister, AbdallaHamdok, resigned on Sunday amid a political deadlock and widespread protests resulting from October's military coup.
The Western countries again voiced alarm at the military's actions against protesters - more than 50 have been killed since the coup.
In several cities, security forces fired tear gas to disperse large crowds demonstrating against military rule.

Kazakhstan declares state of emergency after protests over fuel price rises turned violent

The President of Kazakhstan has declared a two-week state of emergency in parts of the country after protests over fuel price rises turned violent. Big demonstrations were reported in several areas across the country.
Police in Almaty, the country's biggest city, used tear gas to contain crowds after vehicles were set on fire.
A decree issued by President Kassym-JomartTokayevsaid that he had accepted the government's resignation amid the unrest. It also appointed the nation's deputy Prime Minister, AlikhanSmailov, as the new prime minister on an interim basis.
Demonstrations began after authorities in the oil-rich nation lifted price caps on liquefied petroleum gas used for vehicles, causing consumer prices to surge. Some thousand protesters gathered in Almaty. A news agency reported that riot police were injured in clashes. There have also been reports of internet outages across the country.
President Tokayev tweeted that the authorities would restore lower prices for the fuel in order to ensure stability in the country.

science and technology

Union Minister Dr.Jitendra Singh launches theme of National Science Day 2022

Union Science and Technology Minister, Dr.Jitendra Singh today launched the theme of National Science Day 2022. The theme of this year is 'Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future'. The National Science Day is observed every year on 28th February to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect.
Through this all the institutions across the country will be able to chart out programmes to observe the day. He said this is the best time to give a push to this theme because a lot of awareness of science has been generated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been reiterating that we have to come out of the culture of working in silos and now this is no longer only an option, it is a necessity. Dr. Singh said, for India to live up to the global benchmarks, it has to live up to the global parameters.

Indigenous RT-PCR kit to detect Omicron in four hours gets DCGI approval

An RT-PCR test kit for detecting new coronavirus variant Omicron has been developed in India in partnership with Tata MD and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Briefing media in New Delhi yesterday, Director General of ICMR, Dr.Balram Bhargava said, the testing kit has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). He said, this kit test will give results in four hours.
Dr. Bhargava has also said that Omicron is the predominant circulating strain in the country. As per the Union Health Ministry, 2,135 cases of Omicron have been reported in the country with Maharashtra registering the maximum cases followed by Delhi.
As per the Ministry, 2,135 cases of Omicron have been reported in the country with Maharashtra registering the maximum cases followed by Delhi.

ECONOMY

Department of Food & Public Distribution issues guidelines for restructuring of Sugar Development Fund Loans

Department of Food and Public Distribution has issued guidelines for restructuring of Sugar Development Fund, SDF Loans to facilitate rehabilitation of financially weak but economically viable sugar mills which have availed loans under the Sugar Development Fund Act, 1982. The outstanding amount of default of SDF loans is around 3 thousand 68 crore rupees as on 30th of November last year.
It includes around 1,249 crore rupees as Principal amount, over 1,000 crore rupees as interest and 747 crore rupees as additional interest due to default.
These guidelines are uniformly applicable for SDF loans availed by all types of concerns, including Co-operative Societies, Private Limited Companies and Public Limited Companies. It said, the Guidelines have provision for two years moratorium and then five years of repayment which is expected to provide big relief to financially weak sugar mills which have availed SDF loans. Waiver of additional interest in full will be given to the eligible sugar factories. The rate of interest will be changed to the interest rate as per the prevailing bank rate on the date of approval of the rehabilitation package.
A sugar factory that has been incurring cash losses continuously for the last 3 financial years or Sugar factory’s net worth is negative, and the sugar factory is not closed/has not ceased to crush cane for more than 2 sugar seasons, excluding the current sugar season is eligible to apply for re-structuring.

Smart Cities Mission launches “Smart cities and Academia towards Action & Research (SAAR)” program

Smart Cities Mission has launched “Smart cities and Academia towards Action & Research (SAAR)” program. It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, National Institute of Urban Affairs and leading Indian academic institutions of the country.
Under the program, 15 premier architecture & planning institutes of the country will be working with Smart Cities to document landmark projects undertaken by the Smart Cities Mission. The documents will capture learnings from best practices. It will provide opportunities to students for engagement on urban development projects and enable real-time information flow between urban practitioners and academia. The first activity envisaged under SAAR is to prepare a compendium of 75 landmark urban projects in India under the Smart Cities Mission.
These 75 urban projects are innovative, multi-sectoral, and have been implemented across geographies. The program marks the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has said that the compendium of 75 urban projects would be launched by June this year.

Published date : 06 Jan 2022 05:22PM