Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 18th October 2022

Lab Grown Meat:

Recently meat and seafood retailer Licious forayed into the marketing of “mock” chicken and mutton under a new ‘UnCrave’ brand.

• “Plant-based” refers to products that bio-mimic or replicate meat, seafood, eggs, and milk derived from animals by looking, smelling, and tasting like them.
• Plant-based dairy products include ice-cream that isn’t simply frozen dessert that replaces milk fat with vegetable oil.
• Even the proteins and other solids-not-fat ingredients are sourced from plants.
• As for plant-based dairy, the main products are milk from oats, almond, soyabean, coconut, and rice. Among these, oat milk is considered the closest to regular milk in taste and texture.
• These are made by Animal meat contains protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water, just like plants.
• This biochemical similarity allows for finding analogues in the plant kingdom or making them through mechanical, chemical, or biological treatment of such ingredients.
• The challenge lies in replicating muscle tissue that plants don’t have. The unique spatial arrangement of proteins in these tissues is what creates the distinct texture of animal meat.
• That’s why plant-based mutton samosas, kebabs or keema, having a simpler texture, are easier to make than larger whole cuts of animal meat.

Wolf Warrior diplomacy:

Wolf Warrior’ Diplomacy is a term that gained popularity, especially after Xi Jinping became the President of China.

• It is a tactic for the Chinese government to extend its ideology beyond China and counter the West and defend itself.
• It is an unofficial term for the more aggressive and confrontational style of communication that Chinese diplomats have taken to in the last decade.
• It confronts head-on any criticism of China in the public sphere.
• A 2015 Chinese action film, titled ‘Wolf Warrior’, and its sequel have served as the inspiration for the term.
• The change in strategy has been attributed to many reasons, such as Xi Jinping’s more authoritarian tendencies as compared to earlier leaders, deteriorating US-China relations under former US President Donald Trump, the coronavirus pandemic-related accusations on China, etc.

India To Take G20 Presidency:

India would be taking over the Group of Twenty (G20) presidency at “a time when there are so many challenges”, the Finance Minister said.

• The Common Framework: 2020 G20 initiative for debt sustainability, was not performing as much as expected, she said.
• Monetary tightening in the U.S.: It has created interest rate differentials between the U.S. and other countries
• It is the primary reason for Asian currencies depreciating “quite sharply”, the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department said.

G20:

• The G20 is an informal group of 19 countries and the European Union, with representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
• The G20 Presidency rotates annually: according to a system that ensures a regional balance over time.
• For the selection of the presidency: 19 countries are divided into 5 groups, each having no more than 4 countries.
• The presidency rotates between each group.
• Every year the G20 selects a country from another group to be president.
• India is in Group 2 which also has Russia, South Africa, and Turkey.
• The G20 does not have a permanent secretariat or Headquarters.

Fish Production:

Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has recently said that India stands third in the world in terms of fish production.

• India is the 3rd largest fish producing and 2nd largest aquaculture nation in the world after China.
• In the recent past, Indian fisheries has witnessed a shift from marine dominated fisheries to inland fisheries, with the latter emerging as a major contributor of fish production from 36% in the mid-1980 to 70% in the recent past.

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY):

• The vision is to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector.
• The main motto of PMMSY is ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’in the fisheries sector.
• Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying is the implementing agency.
• The PMMSY is an umbrella scheme with two separate components – Central Sector Scheme and Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

World Food Day:

World Food Day is celebrated to commemorate the establishment of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on 16th October 1945.

• FAO is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
• As a global community, we each have a role to play in bringing forward those left behind by making our agrifood systems more inclusive and sustainable.
• Promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure healthy diets for all.
• Many awareness initiatives are also held to educate people about malnutrition and obesity, both of which cause major health consequences.

Key Highlights of World Food Day 2022:

• It is observed annually to address the problem of global hunger.
• It emphasises Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) i.e., Zero Hunger.
• Theme: Leave No One Behind.

International Day Of Rural Women:

International Day of Rural Women is celebrated on 15 October every year.

• It focuses on gender equality and women empowerment in rural areas.
• It is to celebrate and highlight their achievements and contributions towards rural development and agriculture.
• The theme for International Day of Rural Women 2022 is “Rural Women, key for a world free from hunger and poverty”.
• In the year 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women was conducted in Beijing, China, and the main topic of discussion was the empowerment of women.
• It was when the UN suggested that 15 October could be observed as International Day of Rural Women to appreciate the contribution of rural women in agriculture, food production, and food safety.
• It was on 18 December 2007 when the UN declared that October 15 would be observed annually as International Day of Rural Women worldwide.

Secure Himalaya Project:

The Union Environment ministry in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been implementing ‘Secure Himalaya’ project to conserve the habitats of snow leopards

• The ‘Secure Himalaya’ project is funded by the Global Environment Facility.
• It supports the government’s efforts for conservation of snow leopard and its habitat by developing and implementing a landscape-based approach for Himalayan ecosystems, and addresses key issues of habitat degradation, threatened livelihoods and illegal trade in wildlife.
• It was launched in 2017.

Components:

• Conservation of key biodiversity areas and their effective management to secure long-term ecosystem resilience, habitat connectivity and conservation of snow leopard and other endangered species.
• Securing sustainable community livelihood sand natural resource management in high range Himalayan ecosystems.
• Enhancing enforcement, monitoring and cooperation to reduce wildlife crime and related threats.
• Gender Mainstreaming, Monitoring, evaluation and knowledge management.

Indian Bison:

Sri Lanka recently asks India to translocate 6 Indian bisons or gaurs to reintroduce them in the island after three centuries.

• Indian Bisons are one of the largest extant bovines. It is one of the largest species among the wild cattle, reaching a shoulder height of up to 220 cm.
• They are found on the forested hills and grassy areas of south to south east Asia.
• There are about 13,000 to 30,000 gaurs in the world with approximately 85% of the population present in India. It is also found in Burma and Thailand.
• The Western Ghats in southern India constitute one of the most extensive extant strongholds of gaur, in particular in the Wayanad – Nagarhole – Mudumalai – Bandipur complex.
• The first-ever population estimation exercise of the Indian gaur carried out in the Nilgiris Forest Division in February 2020 estimated around 2,000 Indian gaurs to be inhabiting the division.
• The gaur is the State Animal of Goa and Bihar.
• It is a protected species and included in Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972
• Listed as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
• It is listed in CITES Appendix I.

Omicron sub-variant BF.7:

The Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre has recently detected the first case of the Omicron sub-variant BF.7 in India.

• Omicron BF. 7 is the latest sub-variant of the Omicron variant, first detected in Northwest China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
• It is also known as the ‘Omicron spawn’.
• This new variant is fast spreading to several other countries including the United States, UK, Australia and Belgium.
• Being a sub-variant of Omicron BA.5, BF.7 reportedly has enhanced immunity evasion in comparison to its parental strain.
• This means that people who have been infected before or have taken the COVID-19 vaccines can get infected with BF.7.
• The symptoms associated with the BF.7 sub-variant is similar to other sub-variants of Omicron.
• This includes headache, persistent cough, changes in sense of smell, chest pain, hearing loss and shaking, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, runny nose, sore throat and fatigue.