KEY POINTS:

• WTO members concluded the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva, securing multilaterally negotiated outcomes on a series of key trade initiatives.
• The “Geneva Package” confirms the historical importance of the multilateral trading system and underlines the important role of the WTO in addressing the world’s most pressing issues, especially at a time when global solutions are critical.

The package adopted by members includes:

• A package on WTO response to emergencies, comprising:
  • Ministerial Declaration on the Emergency Response to Food Insecurity.
  • Ministerial Decision on World Food Programme (WFP) Food Purchases Exemptions from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions.
  • Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics.
  • Ministerial Decision on the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
• A Decision on the E-commerce Moratorium and Work Programme.
• An Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.
• In addition, ministers adopted two decisions – on the Work Programme on Small Economies and on the TRIPS non-violation and situation complaints— and a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Declaration for the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference.

KEY POINTS:

• PM inaugurated the Rs 920 crore Pragati Maidan integrated transit corridor project, which includes a 1.4 km tunnel and five underpasses on Mathura Road.
• The new corridor will provide hassle-free and smooth access to the new world-class exhibition and convention centre being developed at Pragati Maidan, thereby facilitating easy participation of exhibitors and visitors in the programmes being held at Pragati Maidan.
• The tunnel will provide relief to thousands of people coming from east Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad (and commuting to central Delhi).
• This integrated corridor will help people save time and it will also save fuel. In the presentation it was said that 55 lakh litres of fuel will be saved.

KEY POINTS:

• The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) decided its health insurance scheme ESI will be implemented throughout the country by the end of 2022.
• Presently, the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Scheme is fully implemented in 443 districts and partially implemented in 153 districts.
• A total of 148 districts are not covered under the ESI Scheme.
• The ESIC, under the chairmanship of Minister of Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav, has taken significant decisions to augment the medical care and service delivery mechanism across the country.
• It has been decided that the ESI Scheme will be implemented in the entire country by the end of 2022.

KEY POINTS:

• India has the second-highest burden of genetic blood disorder after Nigeria.
• Tribal populations are the worst hit with this disease in India.
• Children Before reaching the age of two, 20% of tribal children with sickle cell disease die, and 30% of children die before reaching adulthood.
• As per doctors, there may be 18 million Sickle Cell Traits (SCT) and 1.4 million SCD patients among the tribal population.
• According to officials, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is also working on a road map for the management, control and eradication of Sickle Cell disease.
• The action plan will be implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, State Governments, Organizations working on SCD and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO).
• The disease have a higher prevalence in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan which is referred to as the sickle cell belt.
• This condition is most common in tribal communities in India but is gradually finding its way throughout because of migration into the cities.
• The Tribal Ministry would support the initiative of Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) on research on CRISPER -technology involving gene-editing after consultation with the Department of Science and Technology, ICMR, and Union Health Ministry.
• Social stigma and ignorance around the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) continue to remain a public health challenge in India.

KEY POINTS:

• The RBI came out with its ‘Payments Vision 2025’document which talks about ring-fencing of domestic payment systems, including the need to mandate domestic processing of payment transactions, in view of the emerging geopolitical risks.
• The core theme of the vision documents is ‘E Payments for Everyone, Everywhere, Everytime’ (4Es), with an overall objective to provide every user with safe, secure, fast, convenient, accessible, and affordable e-payment options.
• The Reserve Bank’s ‘Payments Vision 2025’ document, which seeks a threefold jump in the number of digital payments, is progressive and aims to establish India as a powerhouse of payments globally, opined industry players.
• One of the most important forward-looking initiatives is the global outreach of UPI, RTGS, NEFT and RuPay cards with internationalisation, where bilateral treaties with nations especially covering the USD, GBP and Euro will hugely benefit Indian residents and their counterparties overseas with online realisation at lesser costs.

• Chief Minister announced that necessary budget provision would be made by the Language, Arts and Culture Department for Dev Shri Ganpati Mandir Bhatwari and Dev Shri Laxmi Narayan Mandir Kot Khamaradha so that it could be developed from a tourism point of view.
• Dev Darshan Samaroh’ was held at Shri Dev Ganpati Temple at Bhatwari in Drang Vidhan Sabha area of Mandi district.

• Three-day international literary festival ‘Unmesh’ began at Gaiety Theatre.
• Over 425 writers, poets, translators, critics and distinguished personalities from 15 countries, representing over 60 languages will attend the event.
• Unmesh is being held for the first time and similar functions would be held in different parts of the country.
• The festival is being organised by the Union Ministry of Culture and the Sahitya Akademi with the support of the Himachal Pradesh Department of Art and Culture as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• According to the organisers, Unmesh’ — a celebration of expression — is the biggest international literary festival in the country so far.
• More than 1,000 books related to the freedom movement will be displayed during the event.

• According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Strong and consistent inflow of moist southwesterly/ southerly winds from the Bay of Bengal are reaching straight over to the northeast India, resulting in such a deluge.
• Such winds along with local orographic and weather factors contributed to such high rainfall over northeast India.
• Such extreme rain comes after last month’s surplus rain over the northeast India region. Between March and May this year, Meghalaya received 93 per cent surplus rain and had ended as one of the wettest northeastern states.
• The rainfall received at Cherrapunji was more than what Mumbai would record during an entire monsoon season between June to September.

APEDA Formation: 1986.

APEDA Headquarters: New Delhi.

• The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has organized an eight-day long mango festival in Bahrain to boost the export of Mangoes.
• 34 varieties of mangoes from eastern states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, are being displayed at eight different locations of Bahrain’s Al Jazira group supermarket.
• All the varieties of mangoes have been directly procured from farmers and two Farmer Producer Organizations.
• The mango show in Bahrain is part of APEDA’s new initiatives to explore international markets for Indian mangoes under the ‘Mango Festival 2022.

• Renowned Urdu scholar, linguist, theorist, literary critic, and former Chairperson of Sahitya Akademi Professor, Gopi Chand Narang has passed away at 91.
• He was a Professor Emeritus at the University of Delhi and Jamia Millia Islamia.
• He has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan (2004) and Sahitya Akademi Awards (1995).
• He incorporated a range of modern theoretical frameworks, including stylistics, structuralism, post-structuralism, and Sanskrit poetics.