22nd April 2021
Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH)
Recently, the 5th session of Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH)was inaugurated.
Key Highlights
- The FSSAI has described the risk of unscrupulous and intentional adulteration of spices through substitution due to their high economic value.
- The economically motivated adulteration is a major malpractice and it is necessary to be extremely vigilant, particularly in the regulatory space to avoid such practices.
- It is important that there are harmonized Codex standards for spices products in global trade and this is a work that needs the highest priority to ensure the safety and quality of the spices and culinary herbs.
- The committee will be considering the quality Standards for dried or dehydrated forms of Ginger, Cloves, Saffron and two culinary herbs, Oregano & Basil at step seven, besides Nutmeg and Chilli peppers & Paprika at step four.
- The CCSCH is proud to be the first Codex Commodity Committee to take the online route for its session.
- India is the host country and Spices Board India as the Secretariat for organising the sessions of the committee.
Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH)
- It was formed in 2013 with support of more than a hundred countries under Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC).
- It has been successful in developing harmonised global Codex standards for spices and herbs.
- It has developed and finalized standards for four spices, viz. dried or dehydrated forms of black/ white/ green pepper, cumin, thyme, and garlic.
Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC)
- It is an intergovernmental body established in 1963.
- It is constituted jointly by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), within the framework of the Joint Food Standards Programme.
- It aims to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.
- It is the body responsible for all matters regarding the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
- The Membership of the Commission is open to all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO.
- The Commission meets in regular session once a year alternating between Geneva and Rome.
- The Commission works in the six UN official languages.
Significance of Earth Day 2021
Recently, the Earth Day is being celebrated around the world on April 22nd to pledge support for environmental protection.
- Earth Day was first observed in 1970, when 20 million took to the streets to protest against environmental degradation.
- The event was triggered by the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, as well as other issues such as smog and polluted rivers.
- In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 as ‘International Mother Earth Day’.
- The landmark Paris Agreement, which brings almost 200 countries together in setting a common target to reduce global greenhouse emissions, was signed on Earth Day 2016.
- Earth Day aims to build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and the planet.
- Its mission is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.
- According to the United Nations, International Mother Earth Day is celebrated to remind each of us that the Earth and its ecosystems provide us with life and sustenance.
- It recognizes a collective responsibility under 1992 Rio Declaration which aims to promote harmony with nature and the Earth to achieve a just balance among the needs of present and future generations of humanity.
- It provides an opportunity to raise public awareness around the world to the challenges regarding the well-being of the planet and all the life it supports.
What is the significance of Earth Day 2021?
- The year 2021 marks the 51st anniversary of the annual celebrations.
- The theme for Earth Day 2021 is ‘Restore Our Earth’.
- The 2021 Earth Day theme focuses on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems.
Tyrannosaurus Rex
Recently, a study by paleontologists from the Netherlands have published a report thatTyrannosaurus had a preferred walking speed of just 5 kmph which is about the same as the average walking speed of humans.
Tyrannosaurus Rex
- It is considered the most fearsome eating machine to have evolved on Earth.
- It lived toward the end of the Cretaceous period, around 66 million to 68 million years ago.
- It is believed that an adult member of the species stood 12 feet tall and 40 feet long,and weighed between 5,000 to 7,000 kg.
- The dinosaur inhabited what is today’s western United States and it was not found in India.
- The fiercest of all Indian dinosaurs was probably the Rajasaurus narmadensis, followed by another specimen of the Abelisauridae family, the Indosuchus raptorius.
- The habitat of the T. Rex could have extended from as far as Alaska in North America up until Mexico in the south.
Research on Tyrannosaurus Rex’s Speed
- The studies by paleontologists over the years have already disproven the rapid speed that the T. Rex is portrayed.
- The previous studies placed the T. Rex’s walking speed between 7.2-10.8 kmph which is the maximum speed that its bone structure researchers believed could have permitted.
- The new research reduces the previous estimates by more than half as the Dutch paleontologists made simulations of the vertical movement of the dinosaur’s tail, something not done before.
India’s oil and gas production is falling
India’s crude oil and natural gas production have been falling consistently since 2011-12 with Covid-19 related delays are among the key reasons cited by producers behind lower production.
Reasons for falling oil and gas production
- The experts have noted that most of India’s crude oil and natural gas production comes from ageing wells that have become less productive over time.
- There was no more easy oil and gas available in India and producers would have to invest in extracting oil and gas using technologically intensive means from more difficult fields such as ultra-deep water fields.
- The experts noted that the interest from foreign payers in oil and gas exploration in India had been low.
- The crude oil production in India is dominated by two major state-owned exploration and production companies, ONGC and Oil India.
Reasons for lack of private participation in India’s oil and gas production
- The experts believe that the low private participation in India’s upstream oil and gas sector is mainly due to delays in the operationalisation of hydrocarbon blocks.
- It is due to delays in major clearances including environmental clearances and approval by the regulator of field development plans that make private players reluctant to participate in oil and gas production.
- The industry players have been calling for a reduction in the cess on domestically produced crude oil to 10 per cent from the current 20 per cent.
- The internal maximum production levels set by oil and gas majors to address climate change had also lowered interest by oil majors to expand operations in India.
Recommendation of government to increase oil and gas production
- The government has asked ONGC to boost its investments in explorations and increase tie-ups with foreign players to provide technological support in extracting oil and gas from difficult oil and gas fields.
- The government may consider providing fiscal incentives to attract foreign players to India’s upstream sector.
- The boost in oil and gas production has also been a key part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative and its goal to boost the use of natural gas in India’s primary energy mix from the current 6.2 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030.
Impact of low oil and gas production
- The low domestic production of crude oil and natural gas makes India more reliant on imports.
- It increases the India’s Current Account Deficit as well as Fiscal deficit due to heavy dependence on imports.
- The share of imports as a proportion of overall crude oil consumption in India has risen from 81.8 per cent in FY2012 to 87.6 per cent in FY2020.
USCIRF recommends India for countries of particular concern tag
Recently, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended India for ‘countries of particular concern’ tag.
- The USCIRF has asked the Biden Administration to designate four nations, including India, as "countries of particular concern".
- The other three countries are Russia, Syria and Vietnam.
- The USCIRF report has alleged that religious freedom conditions in 2020 in these countries continued their negative trajectory.
- The report also recommended the State Department to redesignate 10 nations as "countries of particular concern" (CPC).
- These are Burma (Myanmar), China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
USCIRF recommend ‘countries of particular concern’ tag for India
- The passage of the religiously discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which is a fast track to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan residing in India - led to nationwide protests.
- The Indian Parliament amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to increase restrictions on non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
- It stifled civil society and forcing religious organisations and human rights organisations, including those advocating for religious freedom, to shut down.
- The USCIRF also alleged that in conjunction with a proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) requiring all residents to provide documentation of citizenship, the CAA could subject Muslim.
USCIRF’s ‘countries of particular concern’ tag meant for India
- India has been designated for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
- India has in the past said that the American body on international religious freedom has chosen to be guided only by its biases on a matter on which it has no locus standi.
- USCIRF urges to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals' or entities' assets and barring their entry into the US.
- It urges the Congress to continue to raise religious freedom concerns in the US-India bilateral relationship and highlight concerns through hearings, briefings, letters, and congressional delegations.
Argument against USCIRF tag
- India must always resist allowing political and inter-communal conflict to be exacerbated by religious tensions.
- India's government and people have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose from preserving social harmony and protecting the rights of everyone.
- India should not be a 'country of particular concern (CPC)’ because it is the world's largest democracy, and it is governed by a pristine constitution.
- India has said that the updation of the NRC in Assam is an "entirely internal processcarried out at the direction and under the supervision of the Supreme Court.
US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
- It is a quasi-judicial body constituted by US-Congress.
- It was established by the US Government in 1998 after the inaction of the International Religious Freedom Act.
- The recommendations of USCIRF are non-binding to the State Department.
- It monitors international religious freedom.
- It is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Recently, India has been elected by acclamation to three bodies of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
- India was elected by acclamation to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2022.
- Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Ghana, Libya, Pakistan, Qatar, Thailand, Togo and the US were also elected by acclamation.
- Brazil, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Chile, Cuba were elected by secret ballot.
- India was elected by acclamation to the Executive Board of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) for a three-year term beginning on January 1, 2022.
- Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Gambia, Guyana, Kenya, Monaco, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Ukraine were also elected by acclamation.
- India was elected to the Executive Board of the World Food Programme, along with France, Ghana, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Sweden by acclamation for a three-year term beginning on 1 January 2022.
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
- It was established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolution 1992/1, upon request of General Assembly (GA) resolution 46/152.
- It acts as the principal policymaking body of the United Nations in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.
- It offers Member States a forum for exchanging expertise, experience and information in order to develop national and international strategies, and to identify priorities for combating crime.
- It is the preparatory body to the United Nations Crime Congresses.
UN Entity for Gender Equality
- In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
- The UN Women is the UN entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.
- It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:
- Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
- International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
- Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
- United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
World Food Programme
- It is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.
- The WFP’s efforts focus on emergency assistance, relief and rehabilitation, development aid and special operations.
- It provides services to the entire humanitarian community, including passenger air transportation through the UN Humanitarian Air Service.
- It is governed by a 36-member Executive Board.
- It works closely with its two Rome-based sister organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
- The UN Charter established ECOSOC in 1945 as one of the six main organs of the United Nations.
- It is at the heart of the United Nations system to advance the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental.
- It is the central platform for fostering debate and innovative thinking, forging consensus on ways forward, and coordinating efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals.
- ECOSOC links a diverse family of UN entities dedicated to sustainable development, providing overall guidance and coordination.
Boao Forum for Asia
Recently, the Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that the international affairs should be conducted by way of negotiations and discussions, and the future destiny of the world should be decided by all countries at the Boao Forum on Asia.
Boao Forum for Asia
- It is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization.
- It is a platform for dialogs among leaders of national governments, industrial and business circles, and academic circles of countries in Asia and other continents.
- Its purpose is to promote and deepen the economic exchange, coordination, and cooperation within Asia and between Asia and other parts of the world.
- It aims to offer a high-end dialog platform for governments, enterprises, experts, and scholars to jointly discuss economy, society, and environment and other relevant issues.
- It was proposed in 1998 by Fidel V. Ramos, former President of the Philippines, Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia, and Morihiro Hosokawa, former Prime Minister of Japan.
- It was formally inaugurated on February 27, 2001.
- Boao, Hainan Province, the People's Republic of China serves as the permanent site of BFA Headquarters.
- It is modelled on the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland.
- India is a member of Boao Forum for Asia.
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