(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 26 October 2021

::NATIONAL::

The Government of Himachal Pradesh launched PK3Y in 2018 to promote natural farming in theState.

About:

The State’s PrakritikKhetiKhushhal Yojana (PK3Y) is promoting the climate resilient Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF), also called ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’.
Over 1.5 lakh farmers have been trained in natural farming in the State so far, with substantial numbers of women participants.

Significance:

Natural farming is a system where the laws of nature are applied to agricultural practices.
This method works along with the natural biodiversity of each farmed area, encouraging the complexity of living organisms, both plants, and animals that shape each particular ecosystem to thrive along with food plants.
In organic farming, organic fertilisers and manures like compost, vermicompost, cow dung manure, etc. are used and added to farmlands from external sources.
In natural farming, neither chemical nor organic fertilizers are added to the soil. In fact, no external fertilisers are added to soil or give to plants whatsoever.

In its suggestion to review the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has recommended a more humane approach, avoiding prison, for drug users and addicts.

About:

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has suggested amendments to the NDPS Act to treat those who use drugs or are dependent on them as victims, to be referred for de-addiction and rehabilitation, and not sentenced to jail.
The ministry has sought decriminalising possession of small quantities of drugs for personal consumption. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment sent its suggestions to the Department of Revenue in this regard.
The Ministry’s stand is in line with recommendations of the International Narcotics Control Board, which state that criminalisation of drug use only perpetuates stigma and can compound the problem.

Highlights the provision:

The Board is an independent, quasi-judicial body for implementation of the UN's drug control conventions.
In India, drug consumption or possession is a criminal offence. Currently, the NDPS Act only adopts a reformative approach towards addicts.
It gives addicts (or dependents) immunity from prosecution and imprisonment (if found guilty) if they volunteer for treatment and rehabilitation.
However, there’s no provision for relief or exemption for, say, first-time users or recreational users.
Section 27 of the NDPS Act prescribes imprisonment of up to a year or a fine of up to Rs 20,000, or both, for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance. It makes no distinction between addicts, first-time users and recreational users.
Small quantities under the NDPS Act mean amounts less than those specified by the Union government by a notification in the Official Gazette. For instance, the government has set 100 grams as the limit for a small quantity of cannabis, and 2 grams in case of cocaine.

Asserting that sovereignty and territorial integrity of China are “sacred and inviolable”, the country’s national legislature has adopted a new law on the protection and exploitation of the land border areas, which could have bearing on Beijing’s border dispute with India.
Members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) approved the law at the closing meeting of a legislative session.

About the rules:

The law, which becomes operational from January 1 next year, stipulates that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of China are sacred and inviolable.
The state shall take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land boundaries and guard against and combat any act that undermines territorial sovereignty and land boundaries.
The law also stipulates that the state shall take measures to strengthen border defence, support economic and social development as well as opening-up in border areas, improve public services and infrastructure in such areas, encourage and support people’s life and work there, and promote coordination between border defence and social, economic development in border areas.
The state shall, following the principle of equality, mutual trust and friendly consultation, handle land border-related affairs with neighbouring countries through negotiations to properly resolve disputes and longstanding border issues.
India and Bhutan are the two countries with which China is yet to finalise the border agreements, while Beijing resolved the boundary disputes with 12 other neighbours.

India, along with Australia, UK and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) will be launching a newgrouping of IRIS on the sidelines of the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP26).

About:

The Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), a global partnership of 27 countries initiated by India in 2019, will be launching a programme to help small island states develop resilience to climate crisis at the upcoming Glasgow climate change conference COP 26.
It is aimed at creating a coalition for putting in place infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters and lessen economic losses in island nations.
SIDS, comprising countries in the Caribbean, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean,Mediterranean and SouthChina Sea regions, are among the most vulnerable to geophysical and hydro-meteorological hazards.
SIDS accounts for two-thirds of the countries that suffer the highest relative losses due to
disasters.

An acute shortage of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) in Haryana has seen desperate farmers pelting stones at the police, blocking roads in protest, and even resorting to “loot” the fertilizer from a private dealer’s outlet in Mahendragarh district of south Haryana.

Why is DAP so important for farmers?

Being a basic nutrient for Rabi crops, the DAP fertiliser has to be sprinkled at the time of sowing crops like mustard and wheat.
The farmers say they need a bag of at least 45 kilos for sowing an acre of land. Any delay in its supply could adversely impact the sowing of crops. So, the farmers of the state have started turning impatient as they see a lack of supply of the fertilizer.

How did it all begin?

The shortage of DAP has already become a big issue in south Haryana — which is known for its cultivation of mustard crops — with panic already spreading among the farmers.
Government sources say that the shortage is the fallout of less import in the wake of a spurt in the global prices of DAP.

An aromatherapy spray, manufactured in India and being sold in the US, has been found to contain a bacteria that sickened four people earlier this year, of which two persons died.

Key highlights:

The spray was reported to contain a bacterium, Burkholderiapseudomallei, that causes melioidosis.
The bacteria is commonly found in Australia and Northern Thailand.
Melioidosis, also called Whitmore’s disease, is an infectious disease that can infect humans or animals.
Burkholderia Pseudomallei is a soil bacterium found in tropical areas worldwide.
It causing opportunistic infections and melioidosis, primarily through percutaneous (through the skin)inoculation, inhalation, or ingestion.