Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
India will host a meeting of WTO member countries in February 2018 to muster support for food security and other issues. This was stated by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu while speaking at an event organised by Apparel Export Promotion Council, AEPC in New Delhi on December 18, 2017. He further stated that the government is trying to call a meeting of almost 30 to 40 countries in Delhi to help multi-lateral process. India has been keenly pushing agriculture issues at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It has also been raising its voice against bringing new issues, especially those which are not directly linked to trade, on the negotiating table.

Notes:
The Unified Commanders’ Conference (UCC) for the year 2018 has started at New Delhi on July 30 to review external security challenges as well as the country’s preparedness. The 2-day annual conference will provide a platform for discussions at the Apex Level on all ‘Joint Issues’ among the three Services & Ministry of Defence. The scope of this conference is to enable the forum to facilitate joint stock taking of the previous year’s performance of all Services & Departments of Ministry of Defence and jointly chart the course for the next year. The conference will be attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force among others.

Notes:
Hokersar is an important refuge for migratory waterfowls, shorebirds and trans-Himalayan species during winters. It also acts as one of the major flood absorption basins. Hokersar has been declared as Conservation Reserve under the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978. It was also declared as Ramsar site on November 8, 2005 under the Ramsar Convention. The study shows that the open waters of the wetland have been colonized by the weeds and other aquatic vegetation. Some areas of the wetland that existed in 1969 have been converted into paddy fields. About 10 hectares of the wetland has been converted into built-up area.This wetland is on the brink of extiction as per various environmentalists.

Notes:
Non-Tariff Trade Barriers (NTBs) are trade barriers that restrict imports or exports of goods or services through mechanisms other than the simple imposition of tariffs. These barriers include- Import quotas, subsidies, customs delays, technical barriers, or other systems for preventing or impeding trade like import licensing, pre shipment inspections and rules for valuation of goods at customs. The term “neo-protectionism” has been recently making news due to emerging wave of neo-protectionism in USA. Recently, Indiana state has just cancelled a $ 15 million software contract awarded to Tata Constancy Services and shifted it to a local company to keep jobs in the state. Various curbs on outsourcing activities and visas for Indians are being considered in 9 other states. Imports quotas imposed on Chinese textile exports. The USA continues to subsidise its farmers, depressing the price of commodities for Third World exporter. This sudden change in American attitudes to trade may lead to trade restriction in world trade and impose serious threat to Indian economy.

Notes:
Custard apples are also known as sitaphal. Beed district of Maharashtra is famous for its organically grown custard apples. Beed’s custard apples were recently issued GI certificates.

Notes:
Monero (XMR) is an open-source cryptocurrency created in April 2014 that focuses on privacy, decentralisation and scalability.

Notes:
SERIIUS stands for the Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States. It is co-led by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)—Bangalore, India, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, Colorado, USA. It aims to accelerate the development of solar electric technologies by lowering the cost per watt of photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) and create a strong workforce development program in solar energy science and technology. Supercritical carbon dioxide-based power generation is said to offer an efficient alternative to conventional steam-based power plants and reduce the carbon footprint of power generation significantly.

Notes:
The 2018 UCI Para-Cycling World Championships were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A total of 28 nations took part in the same.

Notes:
The Telstar 18 was presented in Moscow in November 2017 by Lionel Messi the winner of the Golden Ball at 2014 FIFA World Cup. It was an official presentation attended by winners of the World Cup in different years.

Notes:
In addition to the local singers, Super Junior, Ikon and Indian singer Sidharth Slathia performed at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games.