Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 22 October 2022

::NATIONAL::

India suffered income loss of $159 billion in key sectors due to extreme heat in 2021.

Key highlights:

G20 members are responsible for around three-quarters of globalemissions. However, they are still not taking the necessary level ofaccountability of action.
Six G20 members including India did not sign the global methanepledge.
At 1.5°C, most G20 members can expect water scarcity and prolongedperiods of drought, and less favorable agricultural conditions.

India

India lost 5.4% of its gross domestic product, in the service,manufacturing, agriculture, and construction sectors due to extremeheat in 2021.
Several areas of Hindukush Karakoram Himalaya, experiencedreduced snowfall and glacial retreat.
Local precipitation is projected to increase 5.8% and labourproductivity is projected to decline by 5% from the reference periodof 1986-2006 at 1.5°C of warming.

The GI-tagged Pokkali is a saltwater-tolerant paddy endemic to central Kerala (grown in thecoastal fields of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts).

About:

It is raised between June and November followed by a season of fish-farming.
After paddy’s harvest, the stubble in the fields acts as food and shelter for shrimp and smallfish.

It is published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
It measures the extent to which governments are implementing recommendations to increasephysical activity across all ages and abilities.

Key findings:

Less than 50% of countries have a national physical activity policy, of which less than 40% areoperational
only just over 40% of countries have road design standards that make walking and cyclingsafer.
The report calls for countries to prioritize physical activity as key to improving health and tacklingNoncommunicable diseases (NCDs),
Integrate physical activity into all relevant policies, anddevelop tools, guidance and training to improve implementation.

Late Hollywood actress and fashion icon Anna May Wong (1905-1961) is set to become the first Asian American to feature on US currency.

About:

Her birth name was Wong Liu-Tsong.
She was born to second-generation Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, Wong started her film career at the age of 14 as an extra in The Red Lantern (1919).
She gained critical acclaim only three years later when she played the leading role in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first Technicolour films.
She was also the first Asian American leading actor in a television show, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951).

American Women Quarters Program:

The American Women Quarters Program is a four-year program that celebrates the accomplishments and contributions made by women to the development and history of U.S.A.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday imposed a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on Google.

Key highlights:

The fine was imposed for anti-competitive practices by Google in the markets for mobile operating system (OS), app stores, websearch services, web browsers, and online video hosting services.
Google is accused of ensuring mandatory pre-installation of the entire Google Mobile Suite (GMS) under Mobile ApplicationDistribution Agreement (MADA).
By virtue of various agreements executed by Google with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), it ensured that users continuedto use its search services on mobile devices which facilitated un-interrupted growth of advertisement revenue for Google.
CCI concluded that Google has perpetuated its dominant position in the onlinesearch market resulting in denial of market access for competing search apps.

Issue with respect to Big tech companies regulations

Pricing and promotion decisions can be managed and favour somemerchants and their own private label products.
Indulge in acquirers of smaller, fast-growing companies thereby act a barrierfor new start-ups.

According to new research published by the Royal Society B, named as the biological research journal, yet another effect could be the increased risk of “viral spillover” in some regions that could cause new pandemics over the next few years.
The research article titled as, ‘Viral spillover risk increases with climate change in High Arctic lake sediments’,

What is viral spillover?

Viruses are some of the most abundant entities on earth, but they need to infect a host’s cell in order to replicate.
According to the research, these virus/host relationships seem relatively stable within superkingdoms, the major groupings of organisms.
However, below this rank, viruses may infect a new host from a reservoir host (in which it usually resides) by being able to transmit sustainably in a novel host – a process defined as ‘viral spillover’.