Headquarters of Confederation of International Tea Smallholders to Shift from Chinato India
The headquarters of the Confederation of International Tea Smallholders (CITS) will shift from China toIndia. The decision was taken during the 25th session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG/Tea) held at Guwahati, Assam for the 1st time from 31 January-2February 2024.
India took over as the Chair of the FAO IGG/Teafrom the United Kingdom (UK) for the next 2 years(2024-2026) and the session was presided over bySaurav Pahari, Deputy Chairman of Tea BoardIndia.
Sri Lanka will host the next IGG session after 2years in 2026.
Points to Note:
CITS was formed at the 22nd session of the FAOIGG in Naivasha, Kenya, in 2016.
CITS was proposed to be under the auspices ofFAO / IGG on Tea to support the small growersegment globally, especially in policies andsolutions.
Decisions taken at FAO IGG/Tea:
- The FAO IGG/Tea, which is under the United Nations (UN), also decided to take up the issue of climatechange and assess the carbon footprint of tea plantations globally.
- The meeting also discussed the strategic framework for the group for the period 2022-31 as per themandate of the FAO.
FAO-IGG session on Tea:
- The FAO-IGG session on Tea, held every 2 years, is an intergovernmental platform for consultation,offering insights into tea production, consumption, trade, and pricing trends.
- Under FAO auspices, the group addresses changes in national policies and examines the internationaleffects of national policies on current and prospective markets.
Note: The 24th Session of the IGG/Tea was held virtually on February 2022.
Key Points:
- IGG/Tea, under the title Consultative Committee on Tea, was established by the Committee on CommodityProblems (CCP) at its 45th Session in 1969.
The title of this Body was changed in 1971. - Today, the IGG/Tea operates as a subsidiary body of the CCP, boasting a membership of 44 countries and14 observers.
Note –As of February 2024, Kenya is the world’s largest tea exporting country.
About Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
Director-General– QU Dongyu
Established in– 1945
Headquarters– Rome, Italy
Members– 194 Member Nations, and 1 member organization, the European Union.
Union Agri Minister launches SARATHI portal for insurance products & KrishiRakshak Helpline
Union Minister Arjun Munda, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) launched Sandboxfor Agricultural and Rural Security, Technology and Insurance (SARTHI) Portal to offer a range ofinsurance products including Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana(PMFBY).
He also launched the Krishi Rakshakportal and helpline number (14447) toenable farmers in India to file theirgrievances.
Union Minister also launched the LearningManagement System (LMS) Platform forthe farming community under the PMFBY
About SARTHI Portal:
- This will simplify the insurance processfor farmers by offering a digitised insuranceprocess.
- This will act as a single window platformto view, purchase and avail the insurance products.
- The platform with a user-friendly interface has digital payment options and this will enable streamlinedpremium collection, effortless claim initiation, tracking and resolution.
- SARTHI can be accessed via the AIDE app available on the Android App Store.
- Products will be introduced on the portal in a phased manner.
1st phase – personal accident and hospital cash policies.
2nd phase – health, shop and home insurance.
3rd phase – tractor, two-wheeler, livestock and non-PMFBY insurance products.
Krishi Rakshak Portal and Helpline:
- This will bridge the gap between insured farmers and insurance companies, bankers, Common ServiceCentres (CSCs) and governments.
- The farmers can register their grievances through this portal and helpline and the centre will be themediator to ensure the grievances are resolved.
Learning Management System (LMS)
- The LMS was developed by MoA&FW in collaboration with the National E-Governance Division (NeGD)under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY).
- This will ensure continuous learning, knowledge enhancement, and coordination among stakeholders.
About Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana(PMFBY):
- PMFBY the flagship scheme of MoA&FW was launched on 18th February 2016 by Prime Minister (PM)Narendra Modi at Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.
- The scheme aims to support sustainable production in the agriculture sector by providing financial supportto farmers and stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
Dharmendra Pradhan launches EdCIL Vidyanjali Scholarship Programme
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, theMinistry of Education(MoE) launched theEdCIL Vidyanjali Scholarship Programme inNew Delhi, Delhi.
The Vidyanjali Scholarship Programme is tohelp students join higher education aftersecondary education and also provide financialassistance for higher education to theeconomically marginalised and meritoriousstudents from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya(JNV)
The programme is implemented by EducationalConsultants India Limited (EdCIL), MiniRatna Category-1 Central Public SectorEnterprises (CPSEs), and is the only Public Sector Undertaking(PSU) under the MoE. Established in 1981,it offers management and consultancy services in all areas of education both within India and overseas.The Vidyanjali Fintech portal was also launched to facilitate student enrollment and distribute financialassistance.
To encourage private involvement in education, there are about five Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)were exchanged between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) sponsors/impact founders including FiatIndia, HDFC Bank Limited, ClearMedi Healthcare, Bharat Forge, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Maharashtra Govt Signs MoU with Google for AI-led Solutions across Sectors
Maharashtra government signed a Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) with search engine giantGoogle to utilise innovative and scalable ArtificialIntelligence (AI)-led solutions across sectorsincluding agriculture, healthcare, education, etc.
Google Renamed its AI chatbot Bard as Geminiand launched Gemini Advanced, a new Geminiapp for its Android mobile operating system andalso released Gemini Ultra 1.0.
About Google:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO-)- Sundar Pichai
Headquarters- California, United States ofAmerica
Established in- 1998
Indian sprinter P.T. Usha Honoured with SJFI’s Lifetime Achievement Award
President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Indian sprinter Pilavullakandy ThekkeyparambilUsha (P.T. Usha) was conferred with the LifetimeAchievement Award with Gold Medal by SportsJournalists’ Federation of India (SJFI) in an eventheld at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI),New Delhi, Delhi.
The programme was co-hosted by Delhi SportsJournalists’ Association (DSJA), one of theaffiliates of SJFI.
Key Points:
- The award consists of a Gold Medal, a citationand a memento. SJFI award is the highest honourof SJFI.
- PT Usha is the fifth recipient of the SJFI GoldMedal. The other four receipts are:
Former Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj
Former Indian badminton player Prakash Padukone
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar
Former Indian sprinter Late Milkha Singh
About PT Usha:
- PT Usha hails from Payyoli, Kerala.
- She is the winner of 4 Asian gold medals and 7 Silver medals, and fourth place finisher in the 1984 LosAngeles Olympics (United States) 400m hurdles final.
From 1977 to 2000, Usha won 103 international medals. - At the age of just 16 years, she became the youngest sprinter to ever represent India at the biggest stagefor track and field athletes.
- PT Usha was awarded the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri Award(in the field of sports) in 1983 and1985.
- In July 2022, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
- In December 2022, she became the first woman President of IOA.
Lebanese Judge Nawaf Salam Elected as President of the International Court of Justice
Justice Nawaf Salam from Lebanon was elected as the President of the International Court of Justice(ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations(UN), for 3 years with effect from 6th February2024.
Nawaf Salam succeeds Judge Joan EDonoghue from the United States ofAmerica(USA) who served as president ofICJ from 2021 to 2024.
Vice President:
Justice Julia Sebutinde from Uganda waselected as the Vice President(VP) of ICJfor 3 years with effect from 6th February2024. She succeeds KirillGevorgian (Russian Federation), whoserved as VP of ICJ from 2021-2024.
Julia has been a judge of ICJ sinceFebruary 2012 and was re-elected inFebruary 2021.
About Justice Nawaf Salam:
- Nawaf Salam has been a member of ICJ since February 2018.
- He has previously served as an Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the UN from2007 to 2017.
- He has also represented Lebanon (non-permanent member) in the UN Security council (2010-2011) andassumed the presidency of the council in May 2010 and September 2011.
- He also represented Lebanon in the Economic and Social Council of the UN in 2016 and 2018.
About International Court of Justice (ICJ):
The seat of the ICJ is at the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands.
ICJ was established in June 1945 and began activities in 1946.
ICJ Judge: ICJ comprises 15 judges (including the President and Vice President of ICJ) elected for a termof 9 years.
Note: Judge Dalveer Bhandari from India is one of the 15 Judges of ICJ. He has been a member of ICJ sinceApril 2012 and was re-elected in February 2018.
Dalveer was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2014 in the field of Public Affairs.
SpaceX Launched NASA’s PACE satellite to Study Earth’s Oceans, Air & Climate
National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) launched “PACE” – the Plankton,Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, an Earthobservingsatellite to study the ocean health, airquality, and the effects of Climate change.
The PACE onboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocketwas launched to a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO)from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 40 at CapeCanaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the United States of America (USA).
Note: This was the 4th flight of Falcon 9’s first stage booster supporting this mission, which previouslylaunched Crew-7, CRS-29, and one Starlink mission.
About PACE Mission:
- From its orbit about 420 miles above Earth, the PACE mission will study microscopic life in the oceansand microscopic particles in the air to investigate key mysteries of our planet’s interconnected systems.
- NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, managed the launchservices of the mission.
- The PACE mission is managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. NASAGoddard built and tested the spacecraft and the Ocean-Colour Instrument (OCI).
- PACE will enable researchers to study the effects of Climate change on phytoplankton, a vital players inthe global carbon cycle which absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and converts it intocellular material.
PACE’s Scientific Focus:
- The satellite’s hyperspectral OCI will allow researchers to measure oceans across the spectrum ofultraviolet (UV), visible, and near-infrared (IR) light.
It enables the identification and tracking of phytoplankton distribution on a daily, global scale, a first fromspace, and supports fisheries health forecasting. - The spacecraft carries 2 polarimeter instruments:
Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 – designed and built by the University of Maryland, BaltimoreCountySpectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration – developed and built by a Dutch consortium led byNetherlands Institute for Space Research, Airbus Defence, and Space Netherlands.
The polarimeters will detect how sunlight interacts with atmospheric particles, providing information onatmospheric aerosols, cloud properties, and air quality at different scales.
About National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):
Administrator– Bill Nelson
Headquarters– Washington, D.C., U.S.
Established in– 1958