Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 04 March 2021

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Central Revenues Control Laboratory (CRCL) has been recognized as a Regional Customs Laboratory of the World Customs Organisation (WCO)for Asia-Pacific Region.

About:

It was established in 1939, under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs.
It serves as headquarters of 14 Revenue Laboratories.
It assists the field formations in chemical analysis of samples of various trade commodities to enable duty assessment.
The WCO (E-IQ- Brussels) develops international standards and fosters cooperation to facilitate legitimate trade.
India was the vice-chair of the Asia Pacific region of the WCO from 2018-2020.

Karnataka launched the country’s maiden Engineering Research & Development (ER&D) Policy to raise its contribution to the sector in the country to 45% in the next five years.
The State government anticipates the policy has the potential to create over 50,000 jobs in the ER&D space in five years.
According to industry apex body Nasscom, ER&D has the potential to become a $100-billion industry in the country in the next five years.

About the policy:

Reported by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in collaboration with other environmental groups.
Almost one-third of all fish in the water are endangered.
Since 1970, freshwater fish have decreased by 76% and megafish have decreased by 94%.
Freshwater fish are the major source of protein for 200 million people,
Its accounting for about 2.5-6% of the world's farmers.

Threats:

The US has said that India’s general and consistent trend of trade-restrictive policies has inhibited the potential of the bilateral trade relationship.
In its trade agenda for 2021, Washington said that the recent Indian emphasis on import substitution through the Make in India campaign has “epitomized the challenges” facing the bilateral trade relationship though India’s large market and economic growth make it “an essential market” for many American exporters.

About:

It said, recent Indian emphasis on import substitution through a “Make in India” campaign has epitomized the challenges facing the bilateral trade relationship.
The report comes at a time when India has said that the two sides will work on a greater engagement on the trade front instead of small issues.
As per the report, during 2020, the US continued its engagement with India to try to resolve “longstanding market access impediments” affecting its exporters.
Effective June 5, 2019, the US terminated India’s eligibility under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme.
India’s barriers to US manufactured goods exports, including medical devices and high-technology products were also taken up last year, according to the report.
On the services front, New Delhi was Washington’s sixth largest supplier with exports worth $29.7 billion in 2019.

The telecom spectrum auctions concluded on Tuesday after a day and a half of bidding, with the Centre garnering 77,814.80 crore in revenues.
The amount exceeded the expectations of the government as well as analysts, as telcos focussed on renewing expiring spectrum and consolidating holdings in select bands.

About:

Spectrum refers to the radio frequencies that wireless signals travel over.
The frequencies we use for wireless communication are a portion of the broader electromagnetic spectrum.
Portions of electromagnetic spectrum are grouped inband and allocated to the mobile industry and other sectors for communication over the airwaves.
Spectrum is a sovereign asset and Department of Telecommunications is the custodian and manager of spectrum and decides on the framework for spectrum allocation, licensing, and pricing.

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, this technique has been used in water supply in Ladakh, where water supply in winter is affected due to freezing of water pipes.
It is a method of water treatment through soil filtration. Under this, pipe is connected to the bottom of reservoir or river and water is cleaned and transported to the supply site.
Also, water is kept hot in the overhead tank with the help of solar energy. From where it is supplied at scheduled time.