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IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR 14 JULY 2019

      IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR TODAY 

                        http://dailycurrentaffairs-sumit.blogspot.com
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BY SUMIT BHARDWAJ                             14 JULY 2019

1.Gujarat potato farmers case…..            (GS-2)


  • What is the above context all about?
  • What is the case about?



  • The patent is for the potato plant variety FL-2027 (commercial name FC-5).
  • Pepsi’s North America subsidiary Frito-Lay has the patent until October 2023.
  • For India, PIH has patented FC-5 until January 2031 under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001.
  • The FC-5 variety, used to make Lay’s chips, is grown under a contract farming deal, by 12,000 farmers in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district.
  • PIH has a buyback agreement with some Gujarat farmers.
  • It has now accused 11 farmers of illegally growing, producing and selling the variety “without permission of PIH”.
  • The government reportedly held out-of-court settlement talks with the company, which eventually announced the withdrawal of cases.

  • What do the farmers say?

  • Farmers say that the agreement was only that PIH would collect potatoes of diameter greater than 45 mm.
  • Farmers would store the smaller potatoes for sowing next year.
  • Some of the other accused farmers said they got registered seeds from known groups and farmer communities.
  • They had been sowing these for the last four years or so, and had no contractual agreement with anyone.
  • They said they learnt they were growing a registered variety only when they got a court notice.

  • Is PHI's claim valid?

  • Rights on a patented seed differ from country to country.
  • In the US, if someone has patented a seed, no other farmer can grow it.
  • But the Section 39(1)(iv) of the PPV&FR Act of India has clauses in defence of the farmers in this case.
  • Under this, farmers were allowed to continue to practise in the same manner as was entitled before the coming into force of this Act.
  • In other words, they could save, use, sow, resow, exchange, share or sell farm produce including seed of a variety protected under this Act.
  • It was only specified that the farmer shall not be entitled to sell branded seed of a variety protected under this Act.

  • Certainly, in Pepsico's case, the seeds were not sold as branded seeds.

  • Why is the PPV&FR Act significant?

  • India's choice in this regard is a conscious departure from UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants) 1991.
  • The UPOV 1991 gives breeders the right to monitor all aspects of a farmer’s activity.
  • It bars the scope for farmers to re-use seeds without their permission.
  • But the PPV&FR Act was formulated to give farmers free access to seeds.
  • Japan and Canada, besides other developing countries, have also voiced their reservations against UPOV.
  • The argument that food should be kept out of rigid patent-like frameworks gains ground here.
  • It is not clear whether enhanced breeders’ rights under UPOV have enhanced research and public welfare along expected lines.
  • But monopoly concerns as well as those related to health and the environment have assumed centre-stage over time.
  • To see in the Green Revolution context in India, indigenous varieties of rice have been rendered extinct by the propagation of hybrids.

  • What lies ahead?

  • Plant diversity is crucial in a time of growing pest attacks, rising temperatures and climate change. does not appear to be in sync with these realities.
  • However, breeder research should be promoted in drought resistant varieties of millets and pulses.
  • There is no reason to believe that India’s legal framework does not allow this space, given the private participation in these areas.
  • Government efforts should balance among the aspects of providing for new varieties, farmers rights, and environmental concerns in this regard.


2.Chinese President Xi Jinping and PM Modi to meet in Varanasi on October 12.       (GS-2,3)

  • Important pOints relating to the news article…
  • Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
  • Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
  • 70th anniversary of China’s diplomatic relations with India
  • Doklam military stand-off
  •  Varanasi summit
  • $60-billion trade deficit between the two countries


3.France's president Emmanuel Macron announces creation of a new space force command…..                                              (GS-3)

  • France's declared interest in boosting its military readiness in space follows increased spending and interest in the area by the United States, China and Russia
  • new national military space force command that will eventually be part of his country's air force.
  • includes the renewal of the France's CSO observation and Syracuse communication satellites, the launch of three CERES electromagnetic-monitoring satellites, and the modernisation of a spatial radar surveillance system called GRAVES
  • national security issue


4.Chandrayaan-2 all set for 3.84 lakh km voyage..                                                      (GS-3)


  • ISRO to launch moon landing mission at 2.51 a.m. on Monday
  • Chandrayaan-2, the first Indian moon landing mission, is all set to head on its 3.84 lakh km voyage to the moon in the wee hours of Monday, July 15.
  • Explained: How will Chandrayaan 2 study the moon?
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has scheduled the launch of its lunar probe, by a GSLV MkIII rocket, from the country’s Sriharikota spaceport for 2.51 a.m. And the countdown is set to begin at 6.51 a.m. on Sunday.
  • A sequel to Chandrayaan-1, which was launched in 2008 and only orbited the moon at a distance of 100 km, Chandrayaan-2 entails the first attempt by any nation to make a landing on the moon’s mineral rich south pole.
  • The exercise would take 52 days, with the lander-rover combine programmed to reach the lunar terrain on September 6, ISRO Chairman K.Sivan said at a briefing in June. The rover would be launched from the lander after about four hours and would roam the terrain for about 500 m over the next 14 earth days — or one day on the moon.
  • Imaging, sampling the soil for minerals and water are some of the mission’s tasks and information will be conveyed to earth through the orbiter or lander, and via the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bengaluru.




              I                                   IMAGE-1(SOURCE:THE HINDU) 

5.ASSAM ,BIHAR FLOODS……HOME MINISTERY……..NDRF DEPLOYMENT……..                     (GS-3)

  • ABOUT NDRF
  • The National Disaster Response Force is a specialized force constituted "for the purpose of specialist response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster" under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The "Apex Body for Disaster Management" in India is the National Disaster Management Authority.


6.India builds 250 homes in Myanmar to assist Rohingya …..                                    (GS-2,3)  


  • The project is part of an agreement signed by the two governments in 2017, under which the government had committed to spending $25 million over five years. The houses, measuring 40 square metres each, are designed to survive quakes and cyclonic storms, according to a presentation by the Ministry of External Affairs.   


7.  PM Narendera  Modi likely to attend UNGA meet in September …….                      (Gs-2,3)  

ABOUT UNGA:

  •  United Nations General Assembly (UNGA )is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), the only one in which all member nations have equal representation, and the main deliberative, policy-making, and representative organ of the UN. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the UN, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General of the United Nations, receive reports from other parts of the UN, and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions. It has also established numerous subsidiary organs.
  • The General Assembly currently meets under its president or secretary-general in annual sessions at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City, the main part of which lasts from September to December and part of January until all issues are addressed (which often is just before the next session's start).


8.Chinese men unfurl banner near Line of Actual Control….                                   (GS-1,2)

  • WHAT IS Line of Actual Control?

The LAC has always remained a major cause of tension between India and China. Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to India was seen by several political analysts as an opportunity to sort out the border related issues. Here are some interesting facts about the 'all important' LAC:


  • India and China have different perspectives regarding LAC:


Called Line of Actual Control (LAC), a 4,057-km porous border running through glaciers, snow deserts, mountains and rivers separate India and China. Both the nations have differing perceptions of LAC. This has sharpened in last few years ever since New Delhi has started building military infrastructure along the LAC in response to Beijing's defence build-up and deployment of troops

  • Areas under LAC:

The LAC traverses three areas — Western (Ladakh, Kashmir), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal).

  • Illegal occupation by China:

China illegally occupies 38,000sqkm of land in Jammu & Kashmir. It also holds 5,180km of Indian territory in PoK under the Sino-Pak agreement of 1963.
  • Pacts signed by India and China:

In 1993, India and China signed an accord to reduce tensions along their border and respect the LAC. Three years later in 1996 the two countries agreed to delimit the LAC and institute confidence building measures.(SOURCE:TOI)

  • 9.a.Sardar Sarovar Dam:

  • The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a gravity dam on the Narmada river near Navagam, Gujarat in India. Four Indian states, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Rajasthan, receive water and electricity supplied from the dam. The foundation stone of the project was laid out by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 5 April 1961

  • b. Narmada River:
  • The Narmada River, also called the Rewa and previously also known as Nerbudda, is a river in central India after the Godavari, and the Krishna. It is also known as "Life Line of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh" for its huge contribution to the state of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in many ways.



10. a.World Heritage Committee(The World Heritage Committee was concerned about a proposal to widen the road near the tank area in Hampi.)

                                                                    (GS-1)

  • The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties
  • b. UNESCO:
  • The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO);is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) based in Paris. Its declared purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration in education, sciences, and culture in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter. It is the successor of the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.


  • c. Hampi is an ancient village in the south Indian state of Karnataka. It’s dotted with numerous ruined temple complexes from the Vijayanagara Empire. On the south bank of the River Tungabhadra is the 7th-century Hindu Virupaksha Temple, near the revived Hampi Bazaar. A carved stone chariot stands in front of the huge Vittala Temple site. Southeast of Hampi, Daroji Bear Sanctuary is home to the Indian sloth bear.

11. South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA):(GS-2)    


  • The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is an agreement reached on January 6, 2004, at the 12th SAARC summit in Islamabad, Pakistan. It created a free trade area of 1.6 billion people in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (as of 2018, the combined population is 2.08 billion people, about 27% of the world's population of 7718545000 ). to reduce customs duties of all traded goods to zero by the year 2016. The SAFTA agreement came into force on January 1, 2006,[1] and is operational following the ratification of the agreement by the seven governments. SAFTA required the developing countries in South Asia (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) to bring their duties down to 20 percent in the first phase of the two-year period ending in 2007. In the final five-year phase ending in 2012, the 20 percent duty was reduced to zero in a series of annual cuts. The least developed nations in South Asia (Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Maldives) had an additional three years to reduce tariffs to zero. India and Pakistan ratified the treaty in 2009, whereas Afghanistan as the 8th member state of the SAARC ratified the SAFTA protocol on 4 May 2011


12.SOVEREIGN BOND:A government bond or sovereign bond is a bond issued by a national government, generally with a promise to pay periodic interest payments called coupon payments and to repay the face value on the maturity date.

13.Russia sends telescope into space..      (GS-3)
The Spektr­RG, developed with Germany, is a
space observatory intended to replace the Spektr­R,
known as the “Russian Hubble”, which Roskosmos
said it lost control of in January. Spektr­R was
launched in 2011 to observe black holes, neutron stars
and magnetic fIelds.Its Successor will take up similar
duties.

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