Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 March 2022

::NATIONAL::

WHO new guidelines on abortion care

The World Health Organization (WHO) presented new guidelines on abortion care.

Key highlights of the report:

According to report, the developing countries bear the burden of most unsafe abortions.
The proportion of abortions that are unsafe is also significantly higher in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws than in those with less restrictive laws.
Abortion rates were highest in low-income countries with the most legal restrictions to abortion care.
WHO has released more than 50 recommendations that include clinical practice, health care delivery and law and policy interventions to support quality abortion care.
The new guidelines include recommendations on many simple interventions at the primary care level that improve the quality of abortion care provided to women and girls.These include

1.   task sharing by a wider range of health workers;
2.   ensuring access to medical abortion pills,
3.   accurate information on care is available to all those who need it.

The guidelines also include recommendations for the use of telemedicine.
The guidelines also recommend removing medically unnecessary political barriers to safe abortion.

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National Crime Records Bureau

Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah attended the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). He is the first Union Home Minister to attend a Foundation Day function of the NCRB.

About NCRB:

NCRB, part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was set up in 1986 to function as a repository ofinformation on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to theperpetrators.
It was recommended byTandon Committee, National Police Commission (1977-1981), andthe MHA’s Taskforce (1985).

Key reports published by NCRB:

Crime in India,
Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India,
Prison Statistics India,
Finger Prints in India,
Report on missing women and children in India.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Adani group bags power projects in Sri Lanka

Adani Group has signed a deal for two large power projects in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, six months after it bagged a strategic port terminal project in Colombo that it is now executing with majority stakes.

About:

The two renewable energy projects, involving the Adani Group, were aimed at generating combined capacity of 500 MW, at a cost of $ 500 million.
Both projects are in the Northern Province, where New Delhi objected to a Chinese energy project last year, citing proximity to the Tamil Nadu coast.
The agreement was inked on the same day that the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) agreed to set up a 100 MW solar power project in Sampur, in the eastern Trincomalee district.

Background:

Sri Lanka has a daily peak demand of over 2000 MW, and is currently experiencing a severe fuel and power shortage, resulting in right hour-long power cuts across the country that citizens’ groups have been protesting.
Sri Lanka is also in the midst of its worst economic crisis in years, prompting the government to tap assistance from different sources.

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Most favoured nation

The United States, the European Union, Britain, Canada and Japan were due to move jointly to revoke Russia’s “most favoured nation” (MFN) status over its invasion of Ukraine.

What is ‘most favoured nation’ status?

The World Trade Organization’s 164 members commit to treating other members equally so they can all benefit from each other’s lowest tariffs, highest import quotas and fewest trade barriers for goods and services.
This principle of non-discrimination is known as most favoured nation (MFN) treatment.
There are some exceptions, such as when members strike bilateral trade agreements or when members offer developing countries special access to their markets.

Removal of MFN status:

There is no formal procedure for suspending MFN treatment and it is not clear whether members are obliged to inform the WTO if they do so.
India suspended Pakistan’s MFN status in 2019 after a suicide attack by a Pakistan-based Islamist group killed 40 police. Pakistan never applied MFN status to India.

What does losing MFN status mean?

Revoking Russia’s MFN status do not consider Russia an economic partner in any way, but it does not in itself change conditions for trade.
It does formally allow the Western allies to increase import tariffs or impose quotas on Russian goods, or even ban them, and to restrict services out of the country. They could also overlook Russian intellectual property rights.

:ECONOMY::

Geographical Indicationtagged Kashmir carpets

First ever Geographical Indication (GI) tagged Kashmir carpets flagged off to Germany.

About:

Department of Industry Promotion and Internal Trade granted GI tag to Kashmiri hand knottedcarpets in 2016 but the registered carpets were certified from this year.
History of Kashmiri carpet dates back to the period of the famous Sufi Saint and scholar, Hazrat MirSyed Ali Hamdani (1341- 1385 AD) of Persia.
Kashmiri carpets are very similar to Iranian carpets, but in Kashmiri carpets weavers use a writtenset of codes and symbols for design patterns and colors, called Taleem.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Xenotransplantation

A patient on whom Xenotransplantation was has done, scummed to death in two months.

About:

It involves the transplantation, implantation, or infusion into a human recipient of live cells,tissues, or organs from a nonhuman animal source.
Pigs are increasingly being used for this, as their organs are anatomically similar to those ofhumans and are more tuned for genetic engineering.

Why the heart of a pig?

Pig heart valves have been used for replacing damaged valves in humans for over 50 years now. There are several advantages to using the domesticated or farmed pig (Sus scrofa domestica) as the donor animal for xenotransplantation.
The pig’s anatomical and physiological parameters are similar to that of humans, and the breeding of pigs in farms is widespread and cost-effective.
Also, many varieties of pig breeds are farmed, which provides an opportunity for the size of the harvested organs to be matched with the specific needs of the human recipient.

Challenges: