6th July, 2024 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

INTERNATIONAL
Global Cereal Production To Touch All-Time High Of 2,854 Million Tonnes This Year

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) updated its forecast for global cereal production in 2024, now pegging it at 2854 million tonnes, a new all-time high.
The Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, issued by FAO Friday, attributed its raised projections to a better harvest outlook for maize in Argentina and Brazil as well as Turkiye and Ukraine, which will offset downgrades to the outlook for Indonesia, Pakistan and several Southern African countries. The wheat production forecast has also been raised based on better prospects in Asia, notably Pakistan, which should outpace an expected decline in the Russian Federation due to inclement weather in major wheat-producing areas earlier in the season.
Global rice production is projected to reach a record 535.1 million tonnes. World cereal total utilization in 2024/25 is forecast to rise to 2 856 million tonnes, up 0.5 per cent from the previous year, led by rice and coarse grains.
World cereal stocks are forecast to expand by 1.3 per cent in 2025, leaving the global cereal stocks-to-use ratio in 2024/25 nearly unchanged at 30.8 per cent.
FAO’s forecast for international trade in total cereals remains unchanged at 481 million tonnes, representing a 3.0 per cent decline from 2023/24.

Laos Gears Up to Host 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

Laos authorities have discussed preparations for the 57th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings, scheduled to take place in the Laos capital Vientiane from July 21 to 27.
During the meeting, participants were briefed about the progress made by sub-committees in preparation for the major regional events. The preparatory work includes accommodation for ministers and delegations from more than 34 countries, delegate vehicles, transport, communication, and internet facilities.
Full Name: Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Founded: August 8, 1967
Headquarters: Jakarta, Indonesia
Motto: “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”

Member Countries (10)

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Keir Starmer: The Next British Prime Minister

Keir Starmer, born in 1963 to a working-class family near London, is set to become Britain’s next Prime Minister. With a background in human rights law and public prosecution, he entered politics relatively late, becoming an MP in 2015.
Starmer’s rise within Labour saw him restore the party’s fortunes after the 2019 election setback. His tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions (2008-2013) underlines his commitment to justice, prosecuting MPs and journalists in high-profile cases.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Chinese Geologists Discovered Two New Minerals In Northern China

Chinese geologists have discovered two new minerals at the world’s largest rare-earth mine in northern China. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has announced the two new niobium-scandium minerals, named Oboniobite and Scandio-fluoro-eckermannite, were discovered in the Bayan Obo deposit in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Niobium and scandium are both extremely rare strategically critical metals. Niobium is mainly used in special steels, superconducting materials and aerospace industries, while scandium is widely used in aluminum-scandium alloys and solid oxide fuel cells.
The new minerals contain valuable elements that have significant applications in fields such as new materials, new energy, information technology, aerospace, national defense and military industry, and are of great significance to the country’s economic and social development.

Published date : 06 Jul 2024 05:19PM