GS1
Daily GS Mains Notes or Mains Content Enrichment for Civil Services
Category: SOCIAL ISSUES
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Fight against hunger disrupted by slowdown
Why in news
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2020 report has been released.
The report was released in New York on the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development which tracks the progress of nations towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
SOFI
- It is produced jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Its first edition was brought out in 2017.
Findings:
- Hunger continues to be on the rise since 2014. The global prevalence of undernourishment, or the overall percentage of hungry people, is 8.9%. Asia remains home to the greatest number of undernourished (38 crores), Africa is second (25 crores), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (4.8 crores).
- According to current estimates, in 2019, 21.3% (14.4 crores) of children under 5 years were stunted, 6.9% (4.7 crores) wasted and 5.6% (3.8 million) overweight.
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
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India and European Union push trade talks
Why in news
Indian’s Prime Minister held talks with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen via videoconference.
Details:
- India and the European Union (EU) committed to a framework for strategic cooperation until 2025.
- They vowed to cooperate on their response to the coronavirus pandemic and at the United Nations Security Council.
- In a new initiative to revive talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) that has been suspended since 2013, the two sides announced a “high-level dialogue” between India’s Commerce Minister and EU Trade Commissioner to try and take the Bilateral
- Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) forward.
- This is a key takeaway of the EU-India summit. The two sides issued:
- A joint political statement.
- A five-year roadmap for the India-EU strategic partnership.
- A civil nuclear research and development cooperation agreement between EURATOM and the Department of Atomic Energy.
- A declaration on “resource efficiency and circular economy” to exchange best practices in a range of areas and the renewal of their science and technology agreement for another five years.
- Leaders discussed India’s tensions with China at the Line of Actual Control, the situation with Iran and concerns over cross-border terrorism from Pakistan.
- The EU leadership also raised concerns over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Category: HEALTH
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Indigenous vaccine for pneumonia gets nod
Why in news
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the first fully indigenously developed conjugate vaccine for pneumonia.
Details:
- The vaccine is developed by the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd, Pune. It has been granted permission to manufacture the first domestically-developed Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine.
- Earlier the demand for such vaccine was substantially met by licensed importers since the manufacturers were all based outside India. This vaccine is used for active immunisation against invasive disease and pneumonia caused by “streptococcus pneumonia” in infants and is administered intramuscularly.
GS 3
Category: DEFENCE
- Govt. nod for urgent defence procurements
Why in news
The Defence Ministry, once again gave emergency powers to the armed forces to procure weapons systems at costs up to 300 crore on an urgent basis, without any further clearances, to cut short the procurement cycle.
Details:
- Similar powers were given to the services after the Balakot air strike in February 2019. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by the Defence Minister, which the Ministry had convened considering the security environment due to the situation along the northern borders and the need to strengthen the armed forces.
- The Army has already taken a decision to place repeat orders for 72,400 SIG-716 assault rifles from Sig Sauer of the U.S. and 12 launchers and around 250 missiles of the Spike Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) from Israel.
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