Daily Current Events – 23rd April 2021

Topics/Highlights

1. Swine fever
2. Gender bias and inclusion in advertising in India
3. Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC)
4. Armenian Genocide
5. Earth Day 2021
6. #FOSS4GOV Innovation Challenge
7. Civil Services Day

Focus

1. Swine fever

In News

Four districts of Mizoram have been declared as the epicentre of the African swine fever. It has so far killed 1,119 pigs in a month.

Key Points

1. It is a fatal and highly contagious disease which infects wild and domestic pigs.
2. It results in an acute form of hemorrhagic fever.
3. First detected in Africa in the 1920s.
4. The fever has no cure and the way to stop spreading is by culling the animals.
5. The mortality rate is close to 100 percent.

Source – The Hindu

2. Gender bias and inclusion in advertising in India

In News

• UNICEF and the Geena Davis Institute released a study named “Gender bias and inclusion in advertising in India” on Gender in Media.
• The study measures around 1,000 television and YouTube advertisements aired across India in 2019 which received the most reach.

Key Points

1. The analysis has shown that while they are superior to global benchmarks so far as women have equality of presentation in terms of speaking and screen time.
2. Their impression is problematic because of gender stereotypes.
3. They are more likely to be shown as married, less likely to be in paid occupation and more likely to be pictured as caretaker than their male counterparts.
4. The study also said that women characters influence 59.7% of screen time and 56.3% speaking time. 
5. Women characters are usually shown doing cleaning, shopping, purchase and preparation of meals.
6. The major concern is that they are still marginalised by hypersexualisation, colorism, and without careers or aspirations.

Source – The Hindu

3. Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC)

In News

• Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH), established under Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC).
• Fifth session began virtually with India as Host.
• Spices Board India serving as the secretariat of the Committee.

Key Point

1. Codex Committee On Spices And Culinary Herbs was formed in 2013 to develop and expand worldwide standards for spices and culinary herbs.
2. It was formed with the support of more than a hundred countries with India as the host country.
3. It has been successful in the development of global Codex standards for spices and herbs.

Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC)

1. Set up in 1963.
2. It is an intergovernmental body established jointly by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and WHO.
3. It works within the framework of the Joint Food Standards Programme to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.

Source – PIB

4. Armenian Genocide

In News

• US President Joe Biden is to formally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
• It is the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire that occurred more than a century ago.

Key Point

1. Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day will be marked on April 24, every year.
2. During the Armenian Genocide, between 1915 to 1922, during the First World War, thousands of Armenians died due to killings, starvation and disease, when they were deported by Ottoman Turks from eastern Anatolia, according to the consensus among historians but rejected by the Turkey.
3. More than 1 million Armenians may have died according to the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

Armenia

1. It is a landlocked country.
2. It is a part of the Caucasus region.
3. It is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the Lachin corridor under a Russian peacekeeping force, and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
4. Capital – Yerevan.

Source – Indian Express

5. Earth Day 2021

In News

It is observed on April 22 every year.

Key Points

1. The year 2021 marks the 51st anniversary.
2. Theme for Earth Day is ‘Restore Our Earth’.
3. It was first observed in 1970.
4. The event was started after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and polluted rivers.
5. The United Nations designated 22nd April as ‘International Mother Earth Day’ in 2009.
6. The Paris agreement was also signed on Earth Day in 2016.

Source – Indian Express

6. #FOSS4GOV Innovation Challenge

In News

It is announced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to adopt Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) In Government.

Key Points

1. The challenge calls upon FOSS innovators, technology entrepreneurs and Indian Startups to submit open source product innovations in CRM and ERP.
2. The product should be in applications for Govtech in Health, Education, Agriculture, Urban Governance etc.
3. The Government of India had issued a Policy on Adoption of Open Source Software in 2015.

Source – PIB

7. Civil Services Day

In News

It is observed on 1st April every year.

Key Point

1. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel addressed the first batch of probationers at the All India Administrative Service Training School at Metcalfe House, New Delhi in 1947 on this day.
2. The objective is to make civil servants dedicate themselves to service of the citizens and commitment to the public service.

Source – PIB