Rapid Fire Current Affairs | 13 Apr 2023

GI Tag for Madhya Pradesh's Gond Painting

Madhya Pradesh's traditional Gond painting has been awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, a recognition that will help protect the art form and the artists who create it. The paintings, which are created by the Gond tribe, depict nature, animals, and religious themes, and showcase their way of life. The Dindori district is the main source of Gond painting, and it has expanded to other places in the area.

The promotion of Gond painting through the National Rural Livelihood Mission(NRLM) and National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) also will bring the art form to a wider audience through greeting cards, mobile covers, and bag covers.

Cellular Agriculture

Cellular agriculture is a relatively new concept that offers a sustainable and ethical alternative to traditional animal agriculture. It involves growing animal-based products, such as meat, dairy, and seafood, from cell cultures rather than directly from animals. This technology comprises two different approaches, namely cell cultivation and precision fermentation. In the cell-cultivation method, stem cells are initially sampled from animals through a painless process and then fed with nutrients in large containers where they multiply and differentiate into muscle tissue, which is the main component of meat. On the other hand, the precision-fermentation method uses microorganisms, such as yeast, to produce products such as milk and egg-white proteins. These products can be grown directly from microorganisms in a similar fermentation process to that which has been used for many years in the food industry to produce enzymes and other products.

One of the main advantages of cellular agriculture is its potential to address the environmental and ethical issues associated with traditional animal agriculture. It requires fewer resources, such as land, water, and feed, and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and waste. Additionally, the raising and slaughtering of animals can be avoided, which can significantly improve animal welfare.

US-Philippines Joint Military Exercises

Recently, the US and the Philippines have launched their annual "Balikatan" military exercises, and aimed at improving the respective militaries' ability to respond jointly to threats in the Indo-Pacific. The exercises were first staged in 1991. Balikatan means “shoulder-to-shoulder”. The Philippines' foreign policy is moving towards the US and away from its previous China-friendly stance.

Overall, the joint military exercises reflect the Philippines' efforts to increase its military capabilities and defend against China's assertiveness in the region.

Read more: Indo- Pacific

Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) 2022

According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority's (NTCA) fifth cycle of Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) for 2022, the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) ranked first, Satpura and Bandipur came second, while Nagarhole was ranked third (92.42%) in the 2022 cycle of MEE.

And all five reserves in Tamil Nadu are managed well, the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) and the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) are ranked fifth and eighth among the 51 tiger reserves in the country and have improved their ranking from "very good" to "excellent." These two tiger reserves are among the 12 tiger reserves that have been classified as "excellent." The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) and the Kalakkad and Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) retained their "very good". The newly declared tiger reserve, Srivilliputhur-Megamalai, was ranked "good".

The MEE evaluation was based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) framework and covered six assessment elements, including context, planning, input, process, output, and outcomes.