National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 30th March 2019

GI certification to 5 coffee varieties

Topic: Intellectual Property Rights

In News: Five varieties of Indian coffee have been awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, a move that will enhance their visibility globally and allow growers to get the right value.

More on the Topic:

• While Coorg Arabica coffee is grown specifically in Kodagu district of Karnataka, Wayanaad Robusta coffee is from Wayanad district in east Kerala, Chikmagalur Arabica coffee from Chikmagalur district in the Deccan plateau of Karnataka, Araku Valley Arabica coffee from the hilly tracks of Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha region, and Bababudangiris Arabica coffee from the central portion of Chikmagalur district.
• The Monsooned Malabar Robusta Coffee, a unique coffee from India, was given the GI certification earlier by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

About GI Tag:

• A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g. a town, region, or country).
• India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 has come into force with effect from 15 September 2003.
• GIs have been defined under Article 22(1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights(TRIPS) Agreement as: “Indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member, or a region or a locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin.
• The GI tag ensures that none other than those registered as authorised users (or at least those residing inside the geographic territory) are allowed to use the popular product name. Darjeeling tea became the first GI tagged product in India, in 2004-05.

Source:Hindu

Oxfam report on Women’s labour force participation

Topic: Economy

In News: Oxfam, an international non-profit organisation, has released a report on women’s labour force participation.The report based its estimates on employment unemployment survey (EUS) 2011-12, done by the National Sample Survey Oganisation (NSSO), International Labour Organization (ILO) studies, and also builds on the first inequality report launched by Oxfam in 2018.

More on the Topic:

• According to the report, Irrespective of employment category (casual and regular/salaried), organised or unorganised sector, and location (urban and rural), women workers in India are paid a lower wage rate.
• The gender pay gap was 34 per cent in India, that is, women get 34 per cent less compared to men for performing the same job with same qualifications.
• In the organised sector, women professionals even in the highest ranks of labour (legislators, senior officials, and managers) are also paid less compared to their male counterparts. However, these women constitute only one per cent of the total female work force and the gap is lowest as they are aware of their rights.
• The wage difference is lesser for more skilled workers and more for semi-skilled or unskilled workers. Across enterprise type, wage difference is less for government/public sector and public/private limited company.
• Large pay gaps in terms of average daily wages exist in male and female wage rates of casual and regular workers in rural and urban areas and the gap is narrower for regular workers in urban areas. On the other hand, for casual workers, wage gap is narrower in rural areas.
• While inequality in jobs has increased, inequality in education has decreased between boys and girls. But this situation further exacerbates the crisis in jobs when it comes to women. Even as girls frequently outperform boys in school examinations, they are not finding suitable jobs for the skills that they have.
• While both men and women are diversifying out of agriculture, almost 75 per cent of rural women are still engaged in it. A patriarchal ideology and local socio-cultural traditions confine women to the village where agriculture continues to be their most important (but insufficient) source of food and income.
• Male outmigration has also pushed women into taking on more responsibility of own cultivation and to perform wage labour to ensure households’ daily survival.

Source: The Hindu

Blockchain based market place app

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: With a view to enabling growers find better price for their produce, the Coffee Board has launched Coffee Blockchain, a marketplace app, developed in coordination with Eka Software Solutions.

More on the topic:

• The blockchain-enabled marketplace was aimed at reducing growers’ dependency on intermediaries, bring in trust and efficiency in the chain, help farmers with market access, and ensure traceability.
• Anyone willing to participate in the marketplace will have to register on the app and will get a smart contract number.

About Block chain Technology:

• Blockchain technology allows consumers and suppliers to connect directly, removing the need for a third party.
• It provides a decentralised database or digital ledger of transactions that everyone on the network can see. Or we can say it is a simple way of transaction.
• A blockchain is an anonymous online ledger that uses a data structure to simplify the way we transact. Without the help of third party blockchain allows users to manipulate the ledger in a secure way.
• It protects the identities of the users. This way blockchain is a more secure way to carry out transactions. Each list of records in a blockchain is called a block. That is why it is known as blockchain because the various growing list of records i.e. blocks are linked and secured.
• In 2008, Blockchain Technology was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto for use in the cryptocurrency bitcoin, as its public transaction ledger.
• Blockchain for bitcoin made it the first digital currency to solve the double spending problem without the need of a trusted central authority or central server.

Source: The Hindu

Dhole (Asiatic wild dog)

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: A new study has found that expansion of protected areas in the Western Ghats has not helped the lot of Dhole, commonly known as the Asiatic wild dog, even while enabling the recovery of populations of tigers and other big carnivores.

More on the Topic:

• Dhole is an apex social carnivore in the tropical forests of South and South East Asia. Conservation of such carnivores leads to well-being of the entire ecosystem. There are many conservation projects based on this concept.
• These have helped improve the population of bigger carnivores.
• A recent study found that there are 49 sites in the surveyed areas, which faced the threat of local extinction of the animal.
• Generally, dholes hunt in packs and tend to venture into forested landscapes adjoining protected areas. Anthropogenic factors, which fragment and alter landscapes, affected dholes.
• Under certain circumstances, the dhole population might even get restricted within the fragmented areas, forming meta-populations. If due conservation efforts are not taken towards these isolated populations, they might get wiped out.
• The presence of livestock adjacent to reserve areas negatively affected dhole occupancy. It affects habitat quality as livestock competes with the wild prey of dholes. Free-ranging feral dogs also adversely affect dhole populations because of competition for prey and by hosting a range of pathogens harmful to dholes.

Protection Status:

• Endangered –IUCN.
• CITES – Appendix II.
• Shedule II of wildlife act.

Source:The Hindu

India’s marine meadows

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Tape seagrass, which has the longest leaves among its kind found in Indian waters, is a major carbon sink. A recent study has some useful insights on its flowering and fruiting.

More on the Topic:

• Tape seagrass grows up to 150cms tall and is found extensively in Indo-Pacific region, it acts as a feeding area for more than 1000 fish species.
• The grass can bury carbon in under water sediments 40 times faster than tropical forests bury under the soil, thus acts as a major carbon sink.
• The tape seagrass ecosystem under waters is known as India’s marine meadows, which can be extensively found in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Source:Hindu

Mt Makalu

Topic: Geography

In News: First Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Makalu (8485m) was flagged off by Director General Military Training.

More on the Topic:

• Mt Makalu is considered amongst the most dangerous peaks and summiting the peak is considered extremely challenging due to inclement weather conditions and freezing temperatures. The peak will test the climbers for technical acumen, mental and physical courage and their determination to reach atop Mt Makalu.

About Mt Makalu:

• Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world at 8,485 metres (27,838 ft). It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas 19 km (12 mi) southeast of Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and Tibet, China. One of the eight-thousanders, Makalu is an isolated peak whose shape is a four-sided pyramid.

Source: PIB