12 August 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
Modi releases 109 high-yield, climate-resilient crop varieties
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GS3- Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient and biofortified varieties of crops at an event at the India Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi.
- “The 109 varieties of 61 crops released by the Prime Minister included 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops.
- Among the field crops, seeds of various cereals including millets, forage crops, oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, fibre and other potential crops were released.
- Among the horticultural crops, different varieties of fruits, vegetable crops, plantation crops, tuber crops, spices, flowers and medicinal crops were released,” The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
SEBI and a cloud
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GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
- Eighteen-odd months after Hindenburg Research accused the Adani group of “brazen stock market manipulation” and “accounting fraud”, allegations that the group denied and the Supreme Court said don’t need any CBI or court-monitored probe, the firm, facing a show-cause notice from Sebi, the stock market regulator, is back.
- It claims it’s connecting the dots between what it sees as inaction on the issue by the regulator and its chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch’s investments.
- A series of revelations, based on whistleblower papers, made by the US-based firm raise questions for SEBI, and turn the spotlight, specifically, on the regulator’s disclosure norms.
Three neighbourhood questions
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GS2- India and its neighborhood- relations
- In less than three years, Indian foreign and security interests have suffered severe setbacks in three countries in India’s immediate neighbourhood.
- On August 5, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the mainstay of India’s Bangladesh policy, had to resign at short notice amidst widespread and violent protests and flee to this country.
- On November 17, 2023, Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in as President of Maldives after winning the presidential election.
- He is committed to diminishing India’s role in the island country while enhancing China’s presence.
- His predecessor, Ibrahim Solih, had the opposite approach. And, on August 15, 2021, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, in whom India had invested so much diplomatic capital, had to fly out of the country even as the Taliban took over.
- Were these grave reverses the consequence of misjudgements of those in charge of the country’s foreign and security policies or do the reasons lie in the structures of policy making in these critical areas?
Provision to skip local trials for certain drugs: regulator’s rationale
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GS3- Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
- The government has waived the requirement for clinical trials of certain categories of drugs in India if they are approved in the US, the UK, Japan, Australia, Canada and the European Union.
- The waiver only covers five categories — orphan drugs for rare diseases, gene and cellular therapy products, new drugs used in pandemic situations, new drugs used for special defence purposes and new drugs having significant therapeutic advances over the current standard care.
First-ever ‘Megaquake advisory’ issued by Japan: What this means
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GS1- Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes
- After a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook southern Japan on Thursday (August 8), the country’s meteorological agency issued its first-ever “megaquake advisory”.
- The warning said the likelihood of strong shaking and large tsunamis is higher than normal on the Nankai Trough, a subduction zone (a region where tectonic plates collide with each other, and the heavier one slides under another) along Japan’s southwest Pacific coast.
How Centre’s Clean Plant Programme plans to boost production of fruits
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GS3- Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country
- The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the Clean Plant Programme (CPP), aimed at increasing the yield and productivity of horticulture crops in India.
- First announced in Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s interim Budget speech in February 2023, the CPP is also targeted at enhancing the quality of fruit crops across the nation.
Re-validate all decisions by contractual employees: DPIIT directs patent office
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GS3- Issues relating to intellectual property rights
- The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has asked the patent office to terminate its Memorandum Of Understanding with Quality Council of India (QCI) and form a committee consisting of 5 to 10 officials from Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and TradeMarks (CGPDTM) to re-validate all decisions taken by contractual staff, a government official told The Indian Express on Sunday.
- This comes after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati in her legal opinion sought by DPIIT suggested annulment of all the decisions made by the outsourced QCI employees hired by CGPDTM.
- She said that quasi-judicial functions conducted by the outsourced employees from any agency without the necessary statutory architectural powers would be “inherently flawed and legally unenforceable”. QCI is an autonomous not-for-profit body.
