Daily UPSC Prelims Current Affairs Bits 17th December, 2022

Daily UPSC Prelims Current Affairs Bits, 17th December 2022: Daily UPSC Prelims Current Affairs Bits are based on the principle of updating UPSC CSE aspirants with Most Important Daily UPSC Prelims Specific Current Affairs with minimum investment of time . As, Reading our Daily UPSC Current Affairs Bits just takes 10-15 Minutes.

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC Exam 16 December 2022

E20 fuel

Why E20 Fuel in News?

Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri declared that India is ready to launch 20 per cent ethanol-blended fuel and it will be available at selected outlets from next month.

What is E20 Fuel?

• E20 fuel is a blend of 20 per cent ethanol and 80 per cent petrol.
• Ethanol-blended fuel is already commonly available throughout India, but the government wants to increase the amount of ethanol in fuel from the existing 5 per cent to 20 per cent to reduce production costs and dependence on other countries for crude oil to some extent.
• In addition, it also wants to promote flex-fuel vehicles.
• It (20 per cent ethanol blending) will not require a change in engine.

What is in the Basket?

• Government has also been developing 2G (second generation) refineries to make ethanol from Parali (Panipat) and Bamboo (Numaligarh) with the twin objective of reducing pollution, along with achieving energy security goals.
• The next target is E-20 (20 per cent ethanol blending in gasoline) by ethanol supply year (ESY) 2025-2026.
• Ethanol adoption, apart from leading to GHG emission reductions, will also help the country reduce its import dependence and thus saving precious foreign exchange.

Daily UPSC Prelims Current Affairs Bits, 15th December 2022

Ikki Jathre Festival

Why Ikki Jathre Festival is in News?

• At a time when climate vagaries are posing a serious threat to farming in the country, a Kerala-based organisation named Thanal has embarked on a unique conservation experiment, planting 300 climate-resilient varieties of traditional rice on 1.5 acres of land at its agroecology centre in Panavally in the Wayanad district.

What is Ikki Jathre?

• On December 12, Thanal gave the public an opportunity to experience their initiative by launching Ikki Jathre, or the Festival of Rice in tribal parlance.
• Throngs of farmers, researchers, environmentalists and students have been arriving at Panavally to take part in the festival.
• The initiative aims to sensitise people to the significance of conserving traditional crops that have the ability to withstand harsh climatic conditions.

Hybrid Rice vs Traditional Rice

• Many farmers had stopped cultivating traditional rice seeds after hybrid rice varieties became popular, under the misconception that the former has low productivity. But this is not true.
• The Thondy variety, a traditional and popular rice among the people in Wayanad a few decades ago, could compete with any hybrid rice in terms of productivity.
• Moreover, the input cost of traditional rice cultivation is very low owing to its inherent resistance to pests and diseases.
• Also, its nutritional value is high, though studies are yet to be conducted.

Did you know?

India had nearly 1.5 lakh varieties of rice, with about 3,000 varieties unique to Kerala. Many of these have disappeared. Only 6,000 varieties are currently being cultivated by the farmers in the country.

Raktsey Karpo Apricot

Why Raktsey Karpo apricot is in News?

• The government has granted Geographical Indications (GI) tag to nine new products from different states and union Territories of the country including the famous ‘Raktsey Karpo Apricot’ variety of Ladakh.
• With this, the total number of GIs has reached 432 in the country.

Know about Raktsey Karpo Apricot?

• Raktsey Karpo apricots known for their pure organic sweetness are famous in Ladakh and all over the country.
• According to the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) Raktsey Karpo’s TSS (total soluble solids) at 37.9ºBrix is the highest reported in the world in fresh apricots to date.
• TSS is one of the ways to calculate sweetness, which is a commonly used quality index in many types of fruit.

What is a GI?

• A GI is primarily an agricultural, natural or manufactured product (handicraft and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.
• Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.
• There is a proper process for registration of GI products, which includes filing of the application, preliminary scrutiny and examination, show cause notice, publication in the geographical indications journal, opposition to registration, and registration.

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