Goaltide Daily Current Affairs 2021
Current Affair 1:
The Report: Climate Indicators and Sustainable Development: Demonstrating the Interconnections
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has published a new report titled “Climate Indicators and Sustainable Development: Demonstrating the Interconnections” on September 22, 2021.
Some important points of this report:
This report aims to improve risk-informed decision-making by demonstrating the interconnections between the SDGs and the seven state-of-the-climate indicators used by WMO, as follows.
Current Affair 2:
The term 'Ecocide' at the World Economic Forum's Sustainable Development Impact Summit 2021.
The idea of ecocide would see the damage and destruction of the planet become an international crime - comparable to genocide.
Ecocide is defined as an international crime, which means that the unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there's a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment will be criminal.
Current Affair 3:
Reforms to boost Industrial Safety in Petroleum and Explosives Sector
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently implemented reforms to ensure Industrial Safety in critical premises (such as petroleum installations, explosive manufacturing facilities, cylinder filling and storage premises, etc) thus enhancing public safety as well as reducing cost of doing business and creating an enabling ecosystem for domestic as well as international investors.
The highlights of the specific reforms done under each of the three main amendments have been listed below.
A. Static and Mobile Pressure Vessels (unfired) (Amendment) Rules, 2021
- (The amendment has been done to introduce the concept of Third-Party Inspecting Agency (TPIA) to carry out the work related to certification, testing, inspection and safety audit of the licensed premises.
- To increase the number of competent persons to conduct testing and certification, the guidelines on minimum experience required has been reduced from10 years to 5 years.
- To address the urgent need of Oxygen in sufficient quantity at short notice from surplus areas to deficit areas in the wake of COVID 19 pandemic, permission was accorded to ISO containers to move liquid oxygen for domestic transport on 23rdSeptember 2020.
- Provisions have now been incorporated in the Rules to allow transportation of cryogenic compressed gases such as Oxygen, Argon, Nitrogen, LNG etc through ISO Containers in domestic areas. This will help to transport Liquid Oxygen from surplus areas to deficit areas and promote multimodal transportation (by road, rail and waterways) of these gases and reduce the transportation cost as well as time.
B. Calcium Carbide (Amendment) Rules, 2021
- To reduce compliance burden, PESO has increased the validity of license for storage of Calcium Carbide from 3 years to 10 years.
- The need for submitting application and fees to obtain duplicate license has been eliminated. System generated online copy will be sufficient.
- Provision for online fees payment facility has been provided in the Rules.
- To monitor premises for storage of Calcium Carbide, provision of geo-mapping of the premises has been incorporated in the Rules and will be made available to the concerned state and central authorities.
- To increase transparency and access to information, amendments have been made to ensure proper records and compliance of storage related information.
C. Ammonium Nitrate (Amendment) Rules, 2021
The amendments include provision for adequate firefighting facilities in storage and handling areas, improvement of flooring in storage and handling area, provision for auction of serviceable seized Ammonium Nitrate and disposal if not fit for use and specification of safety distance from port area has also been prescribed.
Current Affair 4:
FSSAI food safety index for 2020-21
Union Health Minister releases 3rd State Food Safety Index.
The index ranks states on five parameters of food safety: human resources and institutional data, compliance, food testing facility, training and capacity building besides consumer empowerment.
Highlights of the index:
- Among the larger states, Gujarat was the top-ranking state, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
- Among the smaller states, Goa stood first followed by Meghalaya and Manipur.
- Among UTs, Jammu & Kashmir, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and New Delhi secured top ranks.
About the Index:
- The Index is a dynamic quantitative and qualitative benchmarking model that provides an objective framework for evaluating food safety across all States/UTs.
- The first State Food Safety Index for the year 2018-19 was announced on the first-ever World Food Safety Day on 7th June 2019.
- The index is developed by FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) to measure the performance of states on five significant parameters of Food Safety.
