TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Indian Standards for Soy Products 2. Sahithyotsav 3. Exercise Dharma Guardian 2022 4. International Webinar on New Forms of Employment 5. Pusa Krishi Mela
1. Indian Standards for Soy Products
Syllabus: GS III, Issues of food security
Prelims: Soy Products, BIS
Mains: Examining the interventions that ensure food safety and security in India.
Context: The Bureau of Indian Standards has organised an awareness webinar on Indian Standards on Soy products.
What are Soy Products?
- Soy products include soybeans and soy foods that reduce the risk of several health problems like cardiovascular disease, stroke, coronary heart disease along with the improvement in bone health.
- Soybeans are members of the pea (legume) family of vegetables and have been a staple of Asian cuisines for many years.
- Soybeans contain hormones like phytoestrogens that have many beneficial effects on women. For example, isoflavones are phytoestrogens that act as strong antioxidants and can replicate the effects of female oestrogen.
- Soy flour and soy nuts are the richest sources of isoflavones.
- Soybeans are rich in fibre, protein, omega 3 fatty acids, have low saturated fats and are free from cholesterol and lactose.
- Soy products include a wide variety of unfermented foods such as tofu, soymilk, edamame, soy nuts and sprouts and fermented foods like miso, tempeh, natto and soy sauce.
- There exists another variety of soy products called second-generation soy products. These comprise tofu sausages and burgers, soy breads, soy pasta and soymilk yoghurt and cheeses.
Objective of the webinar:
- To maintain the quality and safety of soy products, the discussion took place with the major intention to standardise the physical, chemical and microbiological parameters and their test methods.
About the discussion:
- The manufacturers of soy products were encouraged to take BIS certification for the use of the ISI (Indian Standards Institution) mark which depicts the Indian Standards for industrial products in India since 1955.
- BIS has published seven standards for soy products:
Image Source: PIB
2. Sahithyotsav
Syllabus: GS I, Indian Culture, Salient aspects of Literature
Prelims: About Sahithyotsav, Sahitya Akademi Awards, Sahitya Akademi
Context: The festival of letters of Sahitya Akademi which is the most inclusive festival of literature in India, has been inaugurated in New Delhi.
About the Event:
- The event emphasised recognising the significance of literature that plays the role of a mirror reflecting the cultural richness of the country.
- An Akademi exhibition was inaugurated that highlighted the achievements of the Akademi.
- The event witnessed the participation of writers representing a variety of Indian languages as “The rise of young India”.
- It also conducted a tribal writers’ meet to promote tribal languages.
- The prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award will be presented to several writers for their remarkable contribution towards the conservation of Indian literature and languages.
- Purvottari: North Eastern and Northern writers’ meet will also be a part of the event.
About Sahitya Akademi:
- Sahitya Akademi is India’s National Academy of Letters that was established in 1954 by the Government of India by a government resolution.
- The first general council of the academy included Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Abul Kalam Azad, C. Rajagopalachari, K.M. Pannikar, K.M. Munshi, Zakir Husain, Umashankar Joshi, Mahadevi Varma, D.V. Gundappa, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and it was presided over by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.
- The Ministry of Culture acts as the parent organisation for the academy.
- As the premier institution of India’s literary works, the academy recognises the excellent works by writers across the country through fellowships, awards, grants, programmes and other initiatives.
- The academy also nurtures literary exchanges with various countries to promote Indian literature beyond the boundaries of the subcontinent.
- It harbours one of the largest multi-lingual libraries in India.
3. Exercise Dharma Guardian 2022
Syllabus: GS III, Various security forces and agencies and their mandate.
Prelims: Exercise Dharma Guardian
Mains: Significance of the Exercise Dharma Guardian in India’s counter-terrorism operations.
Context: The annual Indo-Japanese defence exercise Dharma Guardian has been concluded at Belgaum.
Objective:
- The joint military exercise between India and Japan intends to provide a platform of synergy between the armed forces of both the countries.
- It focused on counter-terrorism operations and disruptive technologies between the two partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
About the Exercise:
- It was held between the Indian Army and the Japanese Ground Self Defence Force.
- It touched upon a wide range of areas like cross-training and combat conditioning in the field environment, culture and sports.
- The first edition was held at the Counter Insurgency Warfare School of the Indian Army at Vairengte in 2018 with the intent of promoting military cooperation between India and Japan.
Explore more about Dharma Guardian Exercise by following the link.
4. International Webinar on New Forms of Employment
Syllabus: GS II, Global Groupings involving India’s interests
Prelims: BRICS, ILO
Mains: Opportunities for the emergence of new forms of employment in the Indian perspective.
Context: The Ministry of Labour and Employment has conducted a webinar on “New forms of employment with reference to Gig and Platform working in the BRICS and Global South.”
Highlights of the Webinar:
- This webinar took place in collaboration with the National Labour Institute, International Labour Organisation (ILO), BRICS Network of Labour Research Institutes and the International Training Centre of the ILO.
- The objective of the webinar was to address two specific areas like Opportunities and Challenges of the gig and platform working and policy environment to promote new forms of employment. The webinar welcomed the cross-country perspective on these areas.
- The Gig and Platform working are accompanied by challenges such as uncertain service conditions, lack of social security benefits and absence of regulations and regulatory platforms to resolve the disputes. These issues have been highlighted and it was requested that the member countries of BRICS must come together to resolve these issues.
Read more about Gig and Platform Workers in the linked article.
Syllabus: GS III, Economy, e-technology in the aid of farmers
Prelims: Pusa Krishi Mela
Mains: The scope and benefits of smart agriculture in India and the efforts of the government to promote it.
Context: The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has organised the Krishi Vigyan Mela to benefit the farmers with the theme of “Self-reliant farmer with technical knowledge”.
About Pusa Krishi Mela:
- Farmers across the country participated in the fair and a bulk of Pusa seeds were purchased by the farmers.
- There were technical sessions to educate the farmers on smart agriculture, natural farming practices (for example Zero Budget Natural Farming), Hydroponic and aeroponic agriculture for high productivity with an enhanced rate of agricultural exports.
- Seeds of three varieties of Basmati rice such as Pusa Basmati 1847, Pusa Basmati 1885 and Pusa Basmati 1886 were being distributed to the farmers which would assist them to develop these improved varieties of seeds on their own.
- There were Krishi Vigyan Kendras and other institutes demonstrating advanced technologies that would spread the awareness of Digital Smart Agriculture among the farmers.
- The major significance of the fair involved the new innovative technologies developed by the institutes like the solar-powered Pusa farm sun fridge, Pusa Decomposers, Pusa complete bio-fertiliser, etc.
Get a comprehensive view of Agriculture in India in the linked article.
Read previous PIB here.
March 10th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here
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