May 1st Current Affairs

1. Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs.

IN NEWS:

The Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) has finalised and recommended quality standards for four spices; cloves, oregano, basil, and ginger.

KEY POINTS:

• The committee forwarded these four new standards to the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) for adoption at final step 8, as full -fledged Codex standards.
• CCSCH5 unanimously agreed to forward the following four draft standards to Codex Alimentarius Commission for final adoption as Codex standards:  dried / dehydrated forms of cloves, oregano, basil and ginger. 
• These standards will shortly join the ranks of the other four standards adopted earlier, to form a body of reference for world spice trade and for member countries to align their national regulations.
• The committee also took up the following new work items: to develop Codex standards for small cardamom and turmeric, and to develop the first group standard for spices that fall under the class ‘dried fruits and berries’.
• This grouping approach, on a large scale enough to meet the demands for spices and herbs, will be a pioneering effort by this committee that might result in considerably reducing the time required for finalizing the standards of individual spices.

ABOUT CCSCH & CAC

• To develop and expand worldwide standards for spices and culinary herbs, and to consult with other international organisations in the standards development process CCSCH was formed in 2013 with support of more than a hundred countries with India as the host country and Spices Board as the Secretariat for organising the sessions of the committee.
• Since its inception, the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs has been successful in developing harmonised global Codex standards for spices and herbs.
• Set up in 1963, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is an intergovernmental body established jointly by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), within the framework of the Joint Food Standards Programme to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.

SOURCE:PIB

2. Do not clamp down on citizens’ SOS calls via social media: SC

IN NEWS:

The Supreme Court warned the State governments and the police against clamping down on the spread of information or calls for help through social media

from citizens affected by COVID-19.

Key Highlights:

• The court said any move by any State to punish citizens who take to social media to seek help for oxygen cylinders, COVID-19 drugs, beds and hospitals

amid a rampaging second wave would attract contempt of court action.

• “We don’t want any clampdown of information. We will treat it as a contempt of court if such grievances are considered for action. Let a strong message go

to all the States and DGPs of the States. Clampdown of information is contrary

to basic precepts,” Justice Chandrachud made a categorical statement in court.

• Justice Chandrachud said the free flow of information in the 1970 famine enabled the government to tackle problems effectively as compared to the

clampdown during the 1918 pandemic.

Vaccine to illiterates

• At one point, Justice Chandrachud questioned how the Centre intended to ensure registration for vaccines for illiterate people, considering the fact that

registration on the CoWIN app was mandatory.

• The Bench also asked how the Centre expected a sense of equity from the vaccine manufacturers.

SOURCE:TH

3. The Global Forest Goals Report 2021: UN Report

IN NEWS:

• According to the United Nations’ Global Forest Goals Report 2021, Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the challenges faced by countries in managing their forests.
• The Report has been prepared by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations. It provides an initial overview of progress of Goals and targets contained within the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2030.

KEY POINTS:

During COVID-19 the forest dependent population faced reduced income, job losses, diminished access to markets and information. Most of the forest dependent population faced difficulty in accessing healthcare and basic services.

Reliance on forests

According to the report,

Around 1.6 billion people rely on forests. This is 25% of global population.

Of the rural areas in the world, more than 40% live in Savannah and forests. This is 20% of the global population.

Key goals as identified by the report

• Australia: To plant 20 million trees by 2020. This is to be increased to billion plantations by 2030
• Brazil: To increase the planted areas to two million hectares
• India: To add 200,000 hectares of tree and forest cover per year
• Kenya: To increase tree cover by 10%
• Myanmar: To increase forest cover to 30%
• Japan: To maintain the 25 million hectares of forest area
• New Zealand: To plant 1 billion trees by 2028
• Thailand: To increase forest cover to 55%
• Sri Lanka: To increase forest cover to 32%
• Nigeria: To increase forest cover from 6% to 25% by 2030

Background

• The report provides an overview of the six Global Forest Goals out of the twenty-six targets of National Strategic Plan for Forests. The six goals are as follows:
• Reverse Forest Cover Loss
• Improve Forest Benefits and Livelihoods
• Protect Forests and use sustainable forest products
• Mobilise resources
• Promote inclusive forest governance
• Cooperate and work across the sectors

The United Nations Strategic Plan for forests was created to promote sustainable forest management. It was to be implemented between 2017 and 2030. The main objective of the plan is to increase the forest area in the world by 3% by 2030. That is, to bring 120 million hectares of land under forest cover.

SOURCE:IE

4. Drone Delivery Of Covid-19 Vaccines

IN NEWS:

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption for drone deployment to the Government of Telangana for Experimental delivery of Covid-19 Vaccines.

Key takeaways

• The permission has been granted within Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) Range using drones.
• It is valid for a period of one year or until further orders.
• Earlier this month, similar permission was granted to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting feasibility study of Covid-19 vaccine delivery using drones in collaboration with IIT Kanpur.
• The grant of these permissions is intended to achieve the dual objectives of faster vaccine delivery & improved healthcare access by:
• Ensuring primary healthcare delivery at the citizen’s doorstep
• Limiting human exposure to COVID congested or COVID prone areas through aerial delivery
• Ensuring access to health care to the last mile, especially in remote areas
• Possible integration into the middle mile of medical logistics for long range drones
• Improving medical supply chain, especially with a third vaccine expected to be commissioned and millions of doses to be transported across India.

5. Launch of Operation Samudra Setu-II

IN NEWS:

Indian Navy has launched Operation Samudra Setu-II to augment the ongoing national mission for meeting the Oxygen requirements.

Key takeaways

• Mission deployed Indian Naval warships will undertake shipment of liquid Oxygen filled cryogenic containers and associated medical equipment in support of India’s  fight against COVID-19.
• Two ships INS Kolkata and INS Talwar have entered port of Manama, Bahrain for embarking and transporting 40MT of liquid oxygen to Mumbai.
• INS Jalashwa is enroute to Bangkok and INS Airavat to Singapore for similar missions.
• Last year Indian Navy had launched Operation Samudra Setu as part of the Vande Bharat Mission and repatriated approx 4,000 stranded and distressed Indian citizens from Maldives, Sri Lanka and Iran.