World food price index back at two-year low

FAO Food Price Index

• The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.
• It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices (cereal, vegetable, dairy, meat, and sugar), weighted with the average export shares.
• Base year: 2014-16

FAO

• It is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
• Its goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.
• Headquarter: Rome (Italy).
• Member countries: With 195 members - 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.
• The World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are its sister bodies.
• Reports published by the FAO: The State of the World''s Forests (SOFO), The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO), The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI)

Global efforts falling short of climate goals, says UN report

Global Stocktake

• It refers to a proposed five-year review of the impact of countries’ climate change actions.
• Under the Paris Agreement, every country must present a climate action plan in five-year cycles.
• The first global stocktake was scheduled for 2023 under the Paris Agreement.
• It will assess whether the net result of the climate actions being taken was consistent with the goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature from pre-industrial times to within 2 degrees Celsius.
• It will help the world determine whether it needs to do more — and how much more.
• It also recognises that money needs to be made available for Loss and Damage and energy transition in developing countries.
• The global emissions are not in line with modelled global mitigation pathways consistent with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
• There is a rapidly narrowing window to raise ambition and implement existing commitments in order to limit warming to 1.5°C.
• It is the most comprehensive assessment of global action on climate change to date, based on technical/scientific data and consultation with government experts, business leaders, and civil society in the past two years.

Two rescued wild animals Fishing Cat and a Python released in D. Ering Wildlife Sanctuary

D. Ering Wildlife Sanctuary

• Location: It is a protected area located in the East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
• This sanctuary was established in 1977 and covers an area of around 190 square kilometres.
• It is named after the pioneer of modern Arunachal, the late Daying Ering, who was a famed Indian politician.
• Vegetation: It is located in a unique ecosystem that comprises tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous forests.
• It is also home to the Siang River, which is one of the major rivers in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Streams and channels intersect the whole Sanctuary. There are small to medium waterbodies in the Sanctuary that provide good nesting sites for birds.
• Flora:
  • About 80% of the Sanctuary is covered with grassland, and the rest is riverine forest patches with mixed bamboo and secondary forests.
  • The main grass species are Saccharum spontaneum, S. arundinaceum, and Neyraudia rennaudiana.
• Fauna:
  • It is home to buffalo, elephant, tiger, leopard cat, barking deer, civet cat, sambar, jackal,
  • Migratory birds like cranes, wild ducks, storks, and waterfowl from Siberia and Mongolia can be spotted every year.

Study sheds more light on firefly habitat, mega congregation in Anamalai Tiger Reserve

• The study stressed the need to minimise the impact of artificial light on the communication and mating behaviours of fireflies.
• Three species of fireflies — Asymmetrica humeralis, Abscondita genus (species unknown) and Curtos sp — were identified. They exhibited variation in size morphology but shared similar types of habitat with overlapping zones.
• The well-preserved core zone of the ATR serves as a critical sanctuary for firefly activity, especially during the crucial breeding season in April and May.
• As fireflies rely on bioluminescence for communication and mating, artificial lights in the buffer zone of the reserve may disrupt their delicate synchronisation and mating behaviour.

Anamalai Tiger Reserve

• It is located in the state of Tamil Nadu.
• It lies South of the Palakkad gap in the Southern Western Ghats.
• Vegetation: The Tiger Reserve supports diverse habitat types viz. Wet evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, dry thorn and shola forests.
• Flora: Around 2,500 species of angiosperms are found in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, with several species of Balsam, Crotalaria, Orchids and Kurinchi.
• Fauna: Elephant, Indian Leopard, Nilgiri Tahr, Lion-tailed Macaque, Gaur, Nilgiri Langur, Sambar Deer, Sloth Bear Malabar
• It supports 6 indigenous people Malasar, Malai malasars, Kadars, Eravallars, Pulayars and Muduvars.
• The Parambikulam – Aliyar Project and Amaravathy dam are housed in this Tiger reserve, which plays a vital role in the regional economy by providing water and power.

Salem Sago gets GI tag

Salem Sago

• Sago is derived from raw tapioca.
• It is in the form of small hard globules, or pearls, and is pearl white in colour.
• It is manufactured from the wet starch powder crushed from tapioca roots.
• The wet starch powder is used for producing sago, and the dry powder has been used as a raw material for industrial purposes.

Tapioca

• It is a major horticulture crop cultivated on nearly 3 lakh hectares in Tamil Nadu, producing 60 lakh tonnes of the crop.
• Climate and Soil
  • Any well-drained soil, preferably red lateritic loamy soil.
  • It thrives best in a tropical, warm, humid climate
  • Rainfall: Well-distributed rainfall of over 100 cm per annum.
  • This crop can be cultivated upto an elevation of 1000 m.

GI tag

• It is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
• This is typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, wine and spirit drinks, handicrafts, and industrial products.
• The **Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999,**seeks to provide for the registration and better protection of geographical indications relating to goods in India.
• This GI tag is valid for 10 years, following which it can be renewed.

RBI likely to launch CBDC pilot in call money market by October

Money Market

• The money market basically refers to a section of the financial market where financial instruments with high liquidity and short-term maturities are traded.
• It includes buying and selling of securities of short-term maturities of one year or less, such as treasury bills and commercial papers.
• It is used by many participants, including companies, to raise funds.
• The money market is considered a safe place to invest due to the high liquidity of securities.

Call Money

• Call money is also referred to as the money at call.
• It is a short-term loan that is due to be paid immediately in full as and when demanded by the lender.
• Unliketerm loans, call money loan does not have a defined schedule of payment and maturity.
• Furthermore, the lender of the call money need not provide prior notice to the borrower about the repayment.

Interbank Call Money Market

• It is a short-term money market which allows large financial institutions to borrow and lend money at interbank rates, the rate of interest that banks charge when they borrow funds from each other.
• The loans in the call money market are very short, usually lasting no longer than a week.
• These loans are often used to help banks meet reserve requirements.
• It is not exclusively used by banks. Interbank call money market customers can include other financial institutions, mutual funds, large corporations, and insurance companies.

A New York spotlight for Buddhist artefacts from Telangana’s Phanigirit.

Phanigiri artefacts

• The Phanigiri Buddhist site is considered one of the most important finds in Buddhist iconography in this millennium.
• Phanigiri (meaning hillock of snake hood) is a small village in the state of Telangana.
• Key findings
  • The thoranas discovered at Phanigiri are very important as they are among the first found south of Sanchi.
  • The same thorana has a panel that shows both Mahayana and Hinayana schools of thought.
  • There is evidence from Phanigiri that shows the deification of Buddha, and we can date this change. From a historical and spiritual identity, there is a transition to canonisation and ritual.
  • The monograph of the event has the image of the Buddha wearing what looks like a Roman toga with folds carved in limestone.

Indian Coast Guard participates in 19th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) in Istanbul, Türkiye

Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM)

• The HACGAM is an annual event hosted by one of its member nations on a rotational basis.
• It was initiated by Japan to promote cooperation among regional coastguards.
• The forum has 23 member Coast Guard agencies and two associate members – the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
• It was launched after the capture of the pirated vessel MV Alondra Rainbow by the Indian Coast Guard in November 1999.
• Objectives:
  • The primary focus of the HACGAM is to foster cooperation between the coast guards of the member Asian states to ensure and promote safe, secure and clean seas in the region.
  • To achieve this, HACGAM comprises four working groups that enable a focused and goal-oriented approach towards coordinated response and synergy towards common maritime issues.
• The Indian Coast Guard chairs the search and rescue (SAR) working group and is a proactive member of the other working groups, which include environmental protection, controlling unlawful acts at sea, and information sharing.
• In 2022, the 18th edition of the meeting was hosted by the ICG in New Delhi.

G20 Leaders Endorse Goa Roadmap For Tourism

Goa Roadmap for Tourism

• The ‘Goa Roadmap’, an outcome of India’s G20 Tourism Track, is a blueprint for sustainable global tourism.
• It is aligned with the theme of India’s G20 Presidency and underscores the role of tourism in society, the economy, and environmental efforts.
• The roadmap focuses on five interconnected priorities. They are,
  • green tourism;
  • digitisation;
  • destination management;
  • skills development;
  • support for tourism micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs);
• These priorities have been endorsed by all G20 countries, emphasising their commitment to achieving sustainable, resilient, and inclusive tourism.
• India’s vision of ‘Travel for LiFE’ (Lifestyle for Environment) has been incorporated into the Goa roadmap.

G20 Tourism and SDG Dashboard

• It was launched by the Union Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
• The dashboard will serve as a global repository, showcasing the best practices and case studies of sustainable tourism practices and policies from G20 nations.

Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment)

• Mission LiFE, or Lifestyle for Environment, is an India-led global mass movement to nudge individual and community action to protect and preserve the environment.
• It was launched by the Indian Prime Minister at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021.
• The program hopes to “mobilise one billion Indians as well as people in other countriesto become individuals who practice sustainable lifestyles.
• It makes the fight against climate change democratic, in which everyone can contribute with their respective capacities.
• It emboldens the spirit of the P3 model, e., Pro Planet People.
• It functions on the basic principles of ‘Lifestyle of the planet, for theplanet,t and by the planet’.
• It aims tofollowing a three-pronged strategy for changing people''s collective approach towards sustainability,
  • nudging individuals to practice simple yet effective environment-friendly actions in their daily lives (demand)
  • enabling industries and markets to respond swiftly to the changing demand (supply)
  • to influence government and industrial policy to support both sustainable consumption and production.

Filling of Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile complete, Ethiopia says

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

• Location:
  • The GERD, formerly known as the Millennium Dam, is situated in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, near the border with Sudan.
  • It is located on the Blue Nile, one of the main tributaries of the Nile River.
• Capacity: At 6.45 Gigawatts, the dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when completed.
• Features:
  • It is a roller-compacted concrete (RCC) gravity-type dam comprising two power stations, three spillways, and a saddle dam.
  • The main dam is 145m high and 1,780m long.
  • It will create a reservoir covering 1,875 square kilometres and contain 74 billion cubic metres of water.
• Dispute: Egypt and Sudan fear the massive $4.2bn GERD will severely reduce the share of Nile water they receive and have repeatedly asked Ethiopia to stop filling it until they have all reached an agreement on how it should work.