Relevance IN - Prelims (about 13^th COP of CMS and the important takeaways of the conference) + Mains ( GS III Environment Conservation)
What's the NEWS

• India marks the beginning of super year of Biodiversity with the hosting of the 13^th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), an environmental treaty under the aegis of United Nations Environment Programme, from 17^th to 22^nd February 2020 at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

• On the side-lines of the COP, India and Norway agreed to jointly tackle concerns related to oceans, environment and climate matters.
• India and Norway declared the 2020-30 decade as the "Decade of rapid action on Climate Change and Environment

• India shall be designated as the Presidency during the intersessional period following the meeting.
• The COP Presidency is tasked to provide political leadership and facilitate positive outcomes that further advance the objectives of the Convention, including steering efforts towards implementing the Resolutions and Decisions adopted by the Conference of Parties.
• The 13^th conference of Migratory Species is the first meet on bio diversity
• Theme: Migratory Species connect the planet and together we welcome them home

• Migratory species of wild animals move from one habitat to another during different times of the year, due to various factors such as food, sunlight, temperature, climate, etc.
• The movement between habitats, can sometimes exceed thousands of kilometers/miles for some migratory birds and mammals.
• A migratory route will typically have nesting sites, breeding sites, availability of preferred food and requires the availability of suitable habitat before and after each migration.
• India is home to several migratory species of wildlife including snow leopard, Amur falcons, bar headed Geese, black necked cranes, marine turtles, dugongs, humpbacked whales, etc.
• India has four biodiversity hotspots - Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats, Indo Myanmar landscape and Andaman and Nicobar Islands and home to as many as 500 species of migratory birds from across the globe", said the Prime Minister.

Know! the agenda of the Conference

• India is set to host the UN biodiversity summit that will bring together more than 1,200 delegates from over 110 countries to deliberate on the alarming decline of migratory species

• The Conference will consider the need for implementation of guidance tools that will mitigate the impacts of infrastructure on migratory species.
• The CMS Guidelines currently deals only with the underwater noises. It does not include threats related to infrastructural development.
• The agenda of the talks include new proposals to mitigate effects of infrastructure on migratory mammals and joining the Gobi bear, the only bear living in the desert, the Persian leopard and the urial, a wild sheep, in the Central Asian mammal species for their protection.
• Besides, Indian species like the Asian elephant, the great Indian bustard and the Ganges river dolphin are likely to get more priority in biodiversity conservation.
• CMS is the only United Nations treaty that addresses migratory species and their habitats.

• The Gobi Bear - the only bear living in the desert of Mongolia., There were only 30 adult Gobi Bears in the desert counted in 2009. The IUCN Red List categorizes Gobi Bear under Critically Endangered.

• The Persian Leopards are found in Iran, Afghanistan and central Asia.
• The IUCN Red List categorizes them as Endangered.

• They are found in western and Central Asia, that is, in Kazakhstan, Pakistan and India.
• The IUCN Red List categorizes them as Vulnerable .

• These species are going to be included under the Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI) and are set to join other Central Asian mammal species already benefiting from international cooperation under the CMS.
• The Urial is being proposed for listing on Appendix II at CMS COP13, while Range States are seeking to include it as well as the Gobi Bear and Persian Leopard under the Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI).
• CAMI currently covers 15 species including the Saiga Antelope, the Snow Leopard and the Cheetah. The initiative spans 14 countries from the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan in the west to China in the east.
• Central Asia boasts the world's largest intact grasslands, but the scale of this habitat is being threatened by the rapid construction of roads and railways.
• Many migratory mammals rely on these large steppe ecosystems and on the region's deserts and mountains for their survival. Linear barriers to migration, coupled with illegal hunting are putting their survival at risk.
• Targeting threats from the construction of linear infrastructure is part of a comprehensive package of conservation measures that CAMI Range States are expected to adopt at COP13 for the period 2021 - 2026 .
• The countries concerned will enhance transboundary cooperation, and enforce national legislation to prevent poaching, possession, and trade.
• CAMI coordinates conservation activities, cross-border cooperation and efforts to address major threats to species such as the Saiga Antelope, the Snow Leopard, and the Wild Camel and their habitats.
• The infrastructural threats to large mammals was governed by the Central Asian Mammals Initiative.

• For the first time, insect decline and its cascading effects on migratory species feeding on them will be on the agenda of a CMS COP.
• About half of all insect species are rapidly declining.
• The main drivers causing insect decline are habitat change and loss, pollution through synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, invasive species and pathogens, as well as climate change.
• Insect biodiversity plays a vital role for functioning ecosystems, especially for insectivorous migratory species such as birds and bats.
• To combat the drivers of insect decline, the draft resolution recommends a series of actions.
• Increased scientific research is needed to better understand the impact of insect decline on migratory insectivorous animals.
• An important prerequisite to achieving the goal is raising awareness among farmers regarding the drivers of insect decline.
• Parties to EUROBATS, the Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats, have already adopted resolutions discussing insect decline as a threat, highlighting the need for guidelines for urgent actions.

• Seven new Migratory Species Champions will be named
• The Migratory Species Champion Programme aims to promote initiatives developed under the CMS Family and encourage their sustainable support.
• India will join the ranks of CMS Champions at the event for the first time.
• The Indian Government, which is hosting CMS COP13, will be recognized with Champion Plus status for its commitments towards the Small Grant Programme 2020-2023 and for supporting the Energy Task Force in promoting wildlife-friendly energy over the same period.
• The Conference kicks off ‘"Super Year for Environment", which will include a UN Summit in September and culminate in the UN Biodiversity Conference at the end of 2020, when a new global biodiversity strategy for the next decade will be adopted - the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
• This is a "super year" for the environment-a make or break year in which key international meetings will set the tone and agenda for environmental action in the decade ahead.

Relevance IN - Prelims (about GulFood 2020 + about APEDA)
What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the India Pavilion at 25^th Edition of the GulFood 2020, Dubai being held from 16^th to 20^th February 2020.
• Indian exhibitors can make use of the platform of GulFood 2020 for facilitating tie-ups between foreign investors and accelerate the pace of export of food products from India to the western market.
• The display put forward by APEDA and APEDA is participating with more than 100 exporters in the Gulf Food.
• India and UAE have been amongst each other's largest trading partners for the last several years. Currently UAE is the third largest trading partner with bilateral trade reaching US$ 59.909 in 2018-19.

Know! about APEDA

• Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is an apex body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, responsible for the export promotion of agricultural products
• The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act passed by the Parliament in December, 1985.
• The Authority replaced the Processed Food Export Promotion Council (PFEPC).

APEDA is mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of the following scheduled products:

• Fruits, Vegetables and their Products.
• Meat and Meat Products.
• Poultry and Poultry Products.
• Dairy Products.
• Confectionery, Biscuits and Bakery Products.
• Honey, Jaggery and Sugar Products.
• Cocoa and its products, chocolates of all kinds.
• Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages.
• Cereal and Cereal Products.
• Groundnuts, Peanuts and Walnuts.
• Pickles, Papads and Chutneys.
• Guar Gum.
• Floriculture and Floriculture Products.
• Herbal and Medicinal Plants.
• In addition to this, APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility to monitor import of sugar.

Economic Development
RBI to sync its accounting year with govt's fiscal year from 2020-21

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the synchronisation of accounting year and its benefits) + Mains ( GS III Economic development)
What's the NEWS

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will align its financial accounting year with that of the central government with effect from 2020-21 - a move that may put an end to the practice of the exchequer getting interim dividend from the central bank.
• The decision was taken at a meeting of the RBI's central board held in the national capital.

Know! more about it

• The board recommended aligning the financial year of the RBI, currently July-June, with the government's fiscal year (April-March) from the year 2020-21 and approved forwarding a proposal to the government for its consideration
• With this move, the central bank will do away with nearly eight decades of practice.

Know! why the move has been taken and its benefits

• The RBI, which was established in April 1935, used to follow January-December as its accounting year before it was changed to July-June in March 1940.
• Taking advantage of the RBI's different accounting year, the Centre had started demanding an interim dividend till the time the latter's final balance sheet is prepared (usually in August).
• To address this anomaly, an expert committee led by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan had recommended aligning the RBI's financial year with that of the government.
• An RBI executive explained that for 2020-21, the central bank would prepare a truncated balance sheet for a period of nine months (from July 2020 to March 2021). Following next year, the full fiscal year of the RBI will start from April 1, 2021.

Implementation of Jalan committee report

• The Jalan committee in its report had said the alignment of the fiscal years of the RBI and the government would ensure that the central bank was "able to provide better estimates of the projected surplus transfers to the government for the financial year for budgeting purposes
• This will reduce the interim dividend that the RBI has to pay to the Government. However, the interim dividend will be restricted to extraordinary circumstances. It will also bring in cohesiveness with the reports and policy projections made by the RBI.

Prelims Factoids
Seed sowing festival 'Lui-Ngai-Ni' celebrated at Ukhrul Manipur

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Lui-Ngai-Ni)
What's the NEWS

• The Naga tribes of Manipur celebrated it's seed sowing festival 'Lui-Ngai-Ni', under the theme "Oneness through Culture", with much fanfare at Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) ground in Ukhrul

Know! more about the fest

• Leaders from other communities of the State, mainly Meitei, Kuki and Zomi also participated at Lui-Ngai-Ni Festival to show mutual solidarity for peaceful co-existence.
• The two-day event was organised by the United Naga Council and hosted by the Tangkhul Naga Long, an apex body of the Tangkhul community in Manipur.
• Lui-Ngai-Ni is one of the biggest festivals of the Naga community in Manipur. The festival is marked by a plethora of cultural displays and events including the lighting of the sacred fire, blessing of seeds to be sown for the season.

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