UniFocus IAS ( UNIFOCUS UNIVERSAL )

Global Report on Food Crises: Acute hunger remains persistently high in 59 countries with 1 in 5 people assessed in need of critical urgent action Global Network Against Food Crises’ partners call for a transformative approach to break the cycle of acute hunger 24/04/2024 JOINT EU/FAO/IFAD/UNHCR/UNICEF/WB/WFP NEWS RELEASE Rome  - According to the latest Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), nearly 282 million people in 59 countries and territories experienced high levels of acute hunger in 2023 - a worldwide increase of 24 million from the previous year. This rise was due to the report’s increased coverage of food crisis contexts as well as a sharp deterioration in food security, especially in the Gaza Strip and the Sudan. For four consecutive years, the proportion of people facing acute food insecurity has remained persistently high at almost 22 percent of those assessed, significantly exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels. Children and women are at the forefront of these hunger ...

Plant health governing body meets on further measures to curb pests and diseases FAO formally launches Green Cities Initiative in Cameroon Enhanced Transparency Framework ( ETF ) Netzah Yehuda Battalion International Agency for Research on Cancer ( IARC ) reports cancer-causing chemicals ( ethylene oxide ) in Indian spices

The FAO Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) , a key body aimed at curbing the risks posed by plant pests and diseases that threaten agriculture and livelihoods and damage our ecosystems, convened today to discuss further measures to stop their spread. The CPM is the governing body of the  International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) , convening annually to assess the global state of plant health and review progress towards achieving the Convention’s objectives. In 2023, IPPC welcomed the Federal Republic of Somalia as the 185th contracting party to the multilateral treaty. FAO The FAO Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM): The IPPC is governed by the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), which was established under Article XII of the New Revised Text of the IPPC, approved in 1997, and serves as the Convention's governing body, while also being a FAO Statutory Body . CPM was established in 2005 building on the Committee of Experts on Phytosanitar...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations today held an official launch here of its  Green Cities Initiative , which is already being piloted in Cameroon, with seven municipalities submitting letters of intent to join the initiative. FAO’s flagship Green Cities Initiative was launched globally in 2020. It envisions vibrant and inclusive cities where urban green and productive spaces catalyze climate resilience, social cohesion, and economic prosperity. It also aims at bridging the gap between urban and rural areas and between citizens and nature. The FAO GCI supports cities to develop through the availability and access to goods and services provided by urban and peri-urban forestry, agriculture as well as through the circular bioeconomy. Building on FAO’s expertise on sustainable urban and peri urban agriculture and forestry, and urban food systems, the Green Cities Initiative supports local governments to plan, design and implement innovative green actions bring...

Relevance: " Guyana becomes second country, and first Small Island Developing State, to submit climate progress report under the enhanced transparency framework" - UNFCCC In 2015 the  Paris Agreement  established an  Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF)  to build trust and confidence that countries are contributing to global climate action, and set out the  Global Goal for Adaptation (GGA)   The ETF provides arrangements to track and report on national climate change mitigation policies and adaptation actions and support towards achieving the global temperature and adaptation goals, including progress on implementing and achieving individual Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The ETF includes flexibility for developing country Parties, considering Parties’ different capacities. No later than December 2024 countries should report on the implementation and achievement of their national objectives through Biennial Transparency Reports (BTR)...

The 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion (Hebrew: גדוד נצח יהודה, transl. 'Judah's Victory Battalion'), previously known as Nahal Haredi (הנחל החרדי), is a battalion in the Kfir Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. The purpose of the unit is to allow Haredi Jewish men to serve as combat soldiers in the Israeli military by creating an atmosphere conducive to their religious convictions in the strict observance of Halakha. Since the unit's creation, it has attracted many members of a extreme religious-nationalist settler group called the Hilltop Youth who are infamous for establishing illegal outposts on Palestinian land that have no legal basis in Israel law. In recent years, the Netzah Yehuda battalion has experienced at least a half-dozen controversial cases involving its soldiers, resulting in jail time, discharge, or harsh criticism for assaulting or killing innocent Palestinians. In 2024, it was reported that the US State Department plans to sanction it under the Leahy Law...

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)  classified ethylene oxide as a Group 1 carcinogen. About IARC: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC; French: Centre International de Recherche sur le Cancer, CIRC) is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations. Its role is to conduct and coordinate research into the causes of cancer. It also collects and publishes surveillance data regarding the occurrence of cancer worldwide. Its IARC monographs programme identifies carcinogenic hazards and evaluates environmental causes of cancer in humans. IARC was created on 20 May 1965, by a resolution of the World Health Assembly, as the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization. IARC has its own governing council, and in 1965 the first members were West Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Today, IARC's membership has grown to 27 countries. About Ethylene Oxide...

Mount Ruang Eruption - Indonesia Earth Day - 22nd April G20’s Common Framework for Debt Treatments & G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative ( DSSI ) The New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) European XFEL UK Ratifies 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage IRDAI Removes Age Cap On Health Insurance Purchase International Rainbow Tourism Conference - Nepal Euvichol-S: WHO prequalifies new oral simplified vaccine for cholera WHO launches first ever Patient Safety Rights Charter

Ruang is the southernmost stratovolcano in the Sangihe Islands arc, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. It comprises an island 4 by 5 kilometres (2.5 mi × 3.1 mi) wide. The summit contains a partial lava dome and reaches some 725 metres (2,379 ft) in altitude. From its summit, Klabat's peak in the south, that of Siau to the north, and Ternate to the east can all be seen. Geology The top of the mountain is partially filled with a lava dome formed as a result of activity in 1904. Since then, volcanic activity been observed through the formation of lava domes and pyroclastic flows. It comprises an island 4 by 5 kilometres (2.5 mi × 3.1 mi) wide. Eruptions Pre-21st century At least 16 eruptions have been recorded from the volcano, with the first one occurring in 1808. Dr. Adolf Meyer witnessed a large eruption in 1871. Ruang was uninhabited at the time, but the inhabitants of nearby Tagulandang had many plantations on its slopes. The eruption destroyed these in minutes and caused a tsunami that...

  Earth Day takes place every year on 22 April and is one of the biggest environmental protest movements on the planet. The theme of Earth Day this year is 'Planet vs. Plastics' - campaigners are calling for a 60% reduction in the production of plastics by 2040. The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2024 finds that environmental risks make up half of the top 10 risks over the next 10 years. World Economic Forum ( WEF )

The G20’s Common Framework for Debt Treatments: The G20’s Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), known as the Common Framework (CF), was launched in November 2020. Its main aim is to strengthen the international debt architecture for the world’s poorest countries. The framework provides a support structure for official creditor coordination to facilitate timely, orderly, and durable debt treatment and to forge the principles of fair burden-sharing across official and private sector creditors. Only three debtor countries have so far requested treatment under the Common Framework (Chad, Zambia, and Ethiopia) and the process for each of these countries has suffered delays. Limited private sector participation has contributed to the delays. The G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI): The G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), launched in April 2020, further illustrates the challenges of private sector participation in i...

Relevance: " World Bank, IMF meetings conclude without concrete plan on climate finance " - Business Standard The New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) is a new global climate finance goal that the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) shall set from a floor of USD 100 billion per year, prior to 2025. In 2021, Parties agreed the aim of the NCQG as to contributing to accelerating the achievement of Article 2 of the Paris Agreement of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. The ad hoc work programme was established in 2021 to facilitate technical discussions on the NCQG, running from 2022 to 2024. The CMA will take stock of progress made in 2022 and 2023 and provide further guidance on the work programme. In 2024, the CMA will set the NCQG.  UNFCCC , U...

The  European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility  ( European XFEL ) is an  X-ray  research  laser  facility commissioned during 2017. The first laser pulses were produced in May 2017 and the facility started user operation in September 2017. The international project with twelve participating countries; nine shareholders at the time of commissioning (Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland), later joined by three other partners (Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), is located in the German federal states of  Hamburg  and  Schleswig-Holstein . A  free-electron laser  generates high-intensity  electromagnetic radiation  by accelerating electrons to  relativistic  speeds and directing them through special magnetic structures. The European XFEL is constructed such that the  electrons  produce X-ray light in synchronisation, resulting in high-intensity X-ray pulse...

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s ratified the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. It will be effective on 7 June 2024. Created in 2003, UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage recognizes traditional craftsmanship, oral traditions and expressions, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices related to nature and the universe.  The Convention entered into force on 20 April 2006 for the thirty States that had ratified it on or before the 20 January 2006. With respect to any other State, the Convention enters into force three months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. India and  2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage India ratified the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in September 2005. As one of the earliest State Parties to r...

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has lifted the age cap on purchasing health insurance policies, effective from April 1, 2024. Previously, individuals were restricted to buying new insurance policies only until the age of 65. However, with the recent changes that came into effect on April 1, 2024, anyone, regardless of age, is now eligible to purchase new health insurance. Through gazette notification, Body asked insurers to design following types of policies: 2.1.1 Indemnity based health insurance policy means an insurance policy that compensates an insured for the loss due to occurrence of an insured event as specified in the policy.  2.1.2 Benefit based health insurance policy means an insurance policy that pays fixed amount on the occurrence of an insured event as specified in the policy. Following are the three major changes introduced by Notification:  6.1 Insurers shall ensure that they offer health insurance products to cater to all t...

It is the inaugural tourism conference hosted by Nepal for  advocating for LGBT rights, inclusivity, and economic growth in the tourism sector. It was hosted to promote Nepal has a  safe and respectful destination in South Asia for the sexual minority community. Note: In 2007, Supreme Court of Nepal asked the government to formulate laws recognising the identity of the third gender and scrap all discriminatory laws. In June 2023, Supreme Court of Nepal allowed same-sex marriage to be registered legally. Hindustan Times

A new oral vaccine for cholera has received prequalification by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 12 April. The inactivated oral vaccine Euvichol-S has a similar efficacy to existing vaccines but a simplified formulation, allowing opportunities to rapidly increase production capacity. WHO prequalification list already includes Euvichol and Euvichol-Plus inactivated oral cholera vaccines produced by EuBiologicals Co., Ltd, Republic of Korea, which also produces the new vaccine Euvichol-S.   What is cholera? Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the toxigenic bacterium  Vibrio cholerae  serogroup O1 or O139. An  estimated 1.3 to 4 million people around the world get cholera each year and 21,000 to 143,000 people  die from it. People who get cholera often have mild symptoms or no symptoms, but cholera can be severe. Approximately 1 in 10 people who get sick with cholera will develop severe symptoms such as watery...

WHO launched a Patient Safety Rights Charter at the Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety. It is the first Charter to outline patients’ rights in the context of safety, and will support stakeholders in formulating the legislation, policies and guidelines needed to ensure patient safety. Patient safety refers to the processes, procedures and cultures established in health systems which promote safety and minimise the risk of harm to patients.  Everyone has the right to safe health care, as established by international human rights standards, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity or race, language, religion, disability, socioeconomic status or any other status. The 10 fundamental patient safety rights outlined in the Charter are the right to: Timely, effective and appropriate care; Safe health care processes and practices; Qualified and competent health workers; Safe medical products and their safe and rational use; Safe and secure health care facilities; Dignity, respect,...

Goldene: a thinnest sheet of gold with one atom thickness Wigner crystal NASA’s Dragonfly Rotorcraft Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan Confirmed Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) Factsheet US vetoes Palestine’s request for full UN membership

Researchers have created sheet of gold with thickness equal to one atom. It is   cousin of  graphene ( discovered in 2004 ) where instead of carbon atoms, goldene contains atoms of gold.  They have supposed to have wide range of applications including  communications technologies, water purification, carbon dioxide conversion etc., It is reported that it is very difficult to create this substance because atoms of metals are tend to become powder. " Meet ‘goldene’: this gilded cousin of graphene is also one atom thick" - Nature

Relevance: " What are Wigner Crystals, and do they really exist?" - Times of India A Wigner crystal is the solid (crystalline) phase of electrons first predicted by Eugene Wigner in 1934. A gas of electrons moving in a uniform, inert, neutralizing background (i.e. Jellium Model) will crystallize and form a lattice if the electron density is less than a critical value. This is because the potential energy dominates the kinetic energy at low densities, so the detailed spatial arrangement of the electrons becomes important. To minimize the potential energy, the electrons form a bcc (body-centered cubic) lattice in 3D, a triangular lattice in 2D and an evenly spaced lattice in 1D. Most experimentally observed Wigner clusters exist due to the presence of the external confinement, i.e. external potential trap. As a consequence, deviations from the b.c.c or triangular lattice are observed. A crystalline state of the 2D electron gas can also be realized by applying a sufficiently str...

NASA has confirmed its  Dragonfly  rotorcraft mission to Saturn’s organic-rich moon Titan. The decision allows the mission to progress to completion of final design, followed by the construction and testing of the entire spacecraft and science instruments. In early 2023, the mission successfully  passed all the success criteria  of its Preliminary Design Review. The rotorcraft, targeted to arrive at Titan in 2034, will fly to dozens of promising locations on the moon, looking for prebiotic chemical processes common on both Titan and the early Earth before life developed. Dragonfly marks the first time NASA will fly a vehicle for science on another planetary body. The rotorcraft has eight rotors and flies like a large drone. NASA

Relevance: " Ocean spray emits more PFAS than industrial polluters, study finds" - The Guardian The per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. Fluoropolymer coatings can be in a variety of products. These include clothing, furniture, adhesives, food packaging, heat-resistant non-stick cooking surfaces, and the insulation of electrical wire. Many PFAS, including perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are a concern because they: do not break down in the environment, can move through soils and contaminate drinking water sources, build up (bioaccumulate) in fish and wildlife. PFAS are found in rivers and lakes and in many types of animals on land and in the water. PFAS Exposure in People PFAS persist in the environment and exposure in people can occur by consuming PFAS-contaminated water or food. Exposure may happen by using p...