DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

By admin: Jan. 28, 2022

India - Central Asia first Summit Meeting

Tags: National News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the first India Central Asian summit meeting in a virtual mode to commemorate the establishment of 30 years of diplomatic relationship on 27 January 2022.

The meeting saw the participation of the five Presidents of the  Central Asian Republics namely;  Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan’s Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan’s Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan. 

 Speaking on the occasion Prime Minister Modi outlined three main objectives of the summit;

First, the cooperation between India and Central Asia is vital for the security and prosperity of the region. 

Secondly, to set up an effective structure of cooperation between the two for regular interactions at various levels 

Thirdly, to create an ambitious roadmap for cooperation between India and Central Asia.

Important highlights of the meeting:

• The leaders agreed to hold such a summit meeting every two years.
• They also agreed on regular meetings of Foreign Ministers, Trade Ministers, Culture Ministers and Secretaries of the Security Council to prepare the groundwork for the Summit meetings.
• An India-Central Asia Secretariat in New Delhi would be set up to support the new mechanism.

To further cooperation between the two they agreed to:

•  set up  a  Joint Working Groups at senior official level on Afghanistan and use of Chabahar Port of Iran
• To organise Buddhist exhibitions in Central Asian countries
•  To commission  an India-Central Asia dictionary of common words;
•  To hold joint  counter-terrorism exercises; 
• To organise the visit of a 100 member youth delegation annually from Central Asian countries to India.

 The Central Asian Presidents were to be the chief guest at the 73 Republic day celebration 2022 but due to covid pandmeic their visit was cancelled.

EU launches WTO action against China over Lithuania disputes

Tags: International News

The European Union has filed a case against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for targeting Lithuania over its stance on Taiwan.

The move has angered China, which does not recognise Taiwan as a state and considers the self-ruled democratic island a rebellious territory of the mainland. 

This European Union move comes after Lithuania complained that China is blocking its imports and putting up a number of restrictions on economic ties between the two countries.

Background to the issue

• In July 2021, Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a diplomatic mission in its capital Vilnius in Taiwan's name instead of Chinese Taipei which many countries do to avoid angering China.
•  It enraged China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province of China and opposes any country which seeks to establish relations with Taiwan.
• In November 2021, China retaliated and downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania and stopped issuing visas there in protest at Vilnius' decision to allow Taiwan to open the representative office under its own name.
• The European Commission handles trade policy for the EU’s 27 member states and takes the lead on conflicts at the WTO in Geneva, even if they involve a single state.
• According to the WTO rules, both sides have 60 days to resolve the issue through talks and if they fail to resolve the issue then it will be taken up by the dispute panel of the WTO.

Lithuania 

It is a European country and is the member of 27countries European Union bloc.

Capital: Vilnius 

Currency: Euro 

President: Gitanas Nauseda

TRAI directs the Telecom companies to offer 30 days validity plan

Tags: Economics/Business

Telecom sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)  on 27  January 2022, directed the telecom service providers in India to provide recharge plans with a validity of 30 days for prepaid customers.

• At present, telecom operators provide recharge plans with a validity of 28 days in the pre-paid segment .
• The TRAI notification mandates mobile phone service providers to provide one plan voucher, one special tariff voucher and one combo voucher which shall be renewable on the same day of every month.
• The telecom provider has to comply with the order within 60 days of the TRAI notification.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI)

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was set up by the Government of India in 1997 under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997.

Function :It was set up to regulate telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central Government.

Headquarters: New Delhi 

Current Chairman: Ram Sewak Sharma

4th National Conference on Agriculture for Summer Campaign 2021-22

Tags: Summits

Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Narendra Kumar Tomar virtually  addressed the 4th National Conference on Agriculture  for Summer Campaign 2021-22 held at New Delhi on 27 January 2022.

The conference mainly focused on Zaid crops and the objective  of the Zaid conference was to review and assess the crop performance during the preceding crop seasons and fix crop-wise targets for the summer season in consultation with State Governments.

The Minister said that the area under cultivation of Zaid crops including rice has increased progressively 2.7 times from 29.71 lakh hectares in 2017-18 to 80.46 lakh hectares in 2020-21.

According to the minister, 

• the country produced 3086.47 lakh tonnes of food grains during 2020-21 (4th Advance Estimates), which will be an all-time record.
• Pulses and oilseed production has also achieved all-time highs at 257.19 and 361.01 lakh tonnes, respectively.
• Production of cotton is being estimated at 353.84 lakh bales with which India is set to rise to the first position in the world. 

Cropping season in India

According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) there are three agricultural seasons in India 

Kharif Season

• Kharif crops are grown with the onset of monsoon in different parts of the country and these are harvested in September-October.
• Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soybean.

Rabi Season 

• Rabi crops are sown in winter from October to December and harvested in summer from April to June. 
• Some of the important rabi crops are wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard.

Zaid Season 

• In between the rabi and the kharif seasons, there is a short season during the summer months known as the Zaid season. 
• Some of the crops produced during ‘zaid’ are watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber,vegetables and fodder crops.

Airtel Africa enters into UK's FTSE 100 Index from Jan 31 2022

Tags: Economics/Business

Bharti Airtel African subsidiary company, Airtel Africa has been included in the FTSE 100 Index, which includes the top 100 companies on  the London Stock exchange, with effect from January 31, 2022.

Airtel Africa was listed on the London Stock Exchange in June 2019.

Airtel started its African operation in 2010 and has over 122 million customers across the 14 African markets in which it operates.

FTSE -100

Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Ined also known as Footsie, FT-100 or FTSE is a index of the London Stock Exchange. It includes shares of top 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Supreme Court quashes the suspension of 12 BJP MLA from Maharashtra Assembly

Tags: National News

In a significant judgement the Supreme Court on 28 January 2022 has  set aside the Maharashtra Assembly's decision to suspend 12 legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a one-year period beginning July 5, 2021.

• A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said the MLAs cannot be suspended beyond the session.The apex court held that the suspension beyond the remainder of the session of the Assembly was  substantially unconstitutional and irrational.
•  Reinstating them, the court held that the resolutions passed by the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly were illegal and it was beyond the powers of the assembly . 
• The court held that the suspended 12  MLAs will now be entitled to all consequential benefits after the conclusion of the session in July, last year.
• The legislators were suspended for a year for allegedly misbehaving with Bhaskar Jadhav, the presiding officer in the Assembly.

Kindly also see 12 January 2022 post on the issue 

Release of a pictorial book on India’s Women Unsung Heroes of Freedom Struggle as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

Tags: National News

Union Minister of State for Culture Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi released a pictorial book on India’s Women Unsung Heroes of Freedom Struggle as part of Azadi ka Mahotsav, in New Delhi on 27th January.

• The book has been released in partnership with Amar Chitra Katha which is a household name in India.

• The Ministry of Culture has decided to release pictorial books on 75 Unsung Heroes of the Freedom Struggle in partnership with Amar Chitra Katha.

• The second edition will be on 25 unsung Tribal Freedom Fighters which is under process and will take some time. 

• The third and final edition will be of 30 unsung heroes drawn from other areas. 

• This book celebrates the lives of some of the women who led the charge and lit the flame of protest and rebellion throughout the country. 
• It contains the stories of queens who battled colonial powers in the struggle against imperial rule and women who dedicated and even laid down their lives for the cause of the motherland.