21 May 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
With Raisi’s death, India to keep watch on how Iran’s succession plan unfolds
Page no- 7
GS2-Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests
- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a chopper crash has come at a time when Tehran’s role in the peace and stability in the region has been under a sharp focus.
- India, which considers Iran to be part of its extended neighbourhood, has been watching Iran’s dynamics in the region quite closely and cautiously.
- The assessment in Delhi is that the supreme leader Ali Khamenei being the most powerful player in the Iranian establishment is around, and now he has to step in to fill the vacuum created by Raisi’s sudden demise.
SII ships 1st set of Malaria vaccine doses to Africa
Page no- 7
GS3- Achievements of Indians in Science & Technology; Indigenization of Technology and Developing New Technology
- Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by number of doses, marked a significant milestone on Monday with the shipment of the first set of R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine to seven-eight countries in Africa.
- Close to half-a-million children die of malaria each year in the African region, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
- The low-cost, high-efficacy R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford and SII leveraging Novavax’s adjuvant technology.
A better do-good metric
Page no-11
GS4- Corporate governance
- The acronym ESG (Environmental Social Governance) is one of the defining mantras of our times.
- It pertains to the interconnected worlds of business, government, and civil society.
- The way companies and other organisations deal with the challenges of E, S, and G — managing the environmental and social impact, as well as how they handle their governance issues — can now be bundled into integrated ESG metrics and ranked by rating agencies.
- These assessments have become vital for firms to secure their future by de-risking themselves from external uncertainties, as well as to conform to regulatory requirements.
Antarctic parliament meets in Kochi: What’s on the table?
Page no- 13
GS2-Important International Institutions, agencies and fora - their Structure, Mandate
- India is hosting the 46th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM 46), also known as the Antarctic Parliament, from May 20-30 in Kochi.
- The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa, through the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has organised the meeting, which will be attended by the 56 member countries of the Antarctic Treaty.
- India had last hosted the ATCM in New Delhi in 2007.
Spices Board inspecting MDH, Everest plants; efforts on to improve compliance
Page no- 15
GS2- Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies
- The Spices Board of India is carrying out inspections in several MDH and Everest processing plants in the country to ensure that spice exports meet the requirement in the respective export destination, senior government officials said on Monday, adding that corrective actions such as use of steam sterilisation technology and tracking of the food supply chain is being looked at to prevent future rejections.
- This comes after Hong Kong on April 5 asked its citizens not to consume four products of Indian manufacturers MDH and Everest Food Products citing the presence of pesticide, ethylene oxide (EtO).
- Later on April 18, Singapore Food Agency (SFA) ordered the recall of Everest’s fish curry masala stating that it had ethylene oxide at a level which is “not fit for human consumption”.
RBI set to buy back bonds worth rupees 60K cr
Page no- 1
GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development
- The bond market will be closely watching the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) buyback of securities worth Rs. 60,000 crore on behalf of the government on Tuesday, as the two previous buybacks this month did not achieve the desired results.
- With banks offering to sell bonds at higher prices — or lower yields — the RBI rejected most of the bids in the previous two auctions, accepting bids worth only `12,583 crore out of a total notified amount of Rs. 1 trillion.
Barriers to entry, platform neutrality, algorithmic collision key concern
Page no- 15
GS2-Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies
- The control of digital platforms over large datasets can create barriers to entry for new players, compromise platform neutrality, and lead to algorithmic collusion, Ravneet Kaur, Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), said Monday at the regulatory body’s annual day celebrations.
- During his special address, the Attorney-General for India R Venkataramani also highlighted that the monopoly of e-commerce platforms over user data “can be an area for scrutiny” and that the new government could include the e-Commerce Policy in its 100-day agenda.
