CURRENT AFFAIRS

Environmental disasters like landslides due to heavy rains have struck Kerala once again and caused a high loss of life and property.With a population density of 860 persons/sq. km against an all-India average of 368 persons/sq. km (Census 2011), Kerala experiences very high pressure on the land.

The heads of state from at least 120 countries are expected to convene in Glasgow for the 26th meeting of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP).

The export of rice from India has triggered an uproar in several European countries on the grounds that it was genetically modified (GM) rice.

Livestock breeding in India has been largely unorganised which leads to gaps in forward and backward integration across the value chain. This scenario impacts the quality of livestock that is produced and in turn negatively impacts the return on investment for livestock farmers.

Prime minister recently launched the Gati Shakti National Master Plan to expand India’s slowing economic growth. Gati Shakti National Master Plan will renew momentum through major infrastructure upgrades that will cut logistics costs for industry and raise all round efficiency.

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) rank of India for 2021 is 101 out of 116 countries shows the severity of the hunger problem in India.Barring  last year’s rank of 94 out of 107 countries, India’s rank has been between 100 and 103 since 2017.

The 26^th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place in Glasgow, United Kingdom this year.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in June published a “Consultative Document on Regulation of Microfinance” with the objective of promoting the financial inclusion of the poor and competition among lenders.

The first United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) 2021 held in September concluded to find solutions and ‘catalyse momentum’ to transform the way the world produces, consumes, and thinks about food and help address rising hunger.

The announcement of the new Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS)  and the outcome of the recent Quad summit indicate that AUKUS will go on to form a key security arrangement of the Indo-Pacific region.