Current Affairs Question - 06 February 2019

Explanation :

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is an alliance of the countries of North America and Europe i.e. it provides a link between the western countries of two continents. The membership of NATO is open to all the countries of Europe. The decision to add any country as the member of NATO is taken by consensus.
• Japan, South Korea, New Zealand are among the countries which are not the members of NATO.

Explanation :

• In the recent Interim Budget, government has allocated Rs. 750 crore for the Rashtriya Gokul Mission which aims to conserve and develop indigenous breeds of cattle. The scheme is run by the Ministry of Agriculture & Family Welfare.
• RGM is aimed at conserving indigenous Indian breeds of cattle through selective breeding, especially for the genetic upgrade of 11.3 crore low-milk yield nondescript bovines in the country.
• The government has announced to set up the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog which aims to improve sustainable genetic upgrading of cow resources, and to enhance production and productivity of cows.

Source: TH, IE

Explanation :

• Kerala recently became the first state to set up a price monitoring and research unit (PMRU) to track violation of prices of essential drugs and medical devices under the Drugs Price Control Order.

Explanation :

•The MCC, often described as a voluntary Moral Code of Conduct, is a set of guidelines issued to parties, candidates and the government to ensure free and fair elections.

•There is no statute governing these guidelines. The Code of Conduct comes into force immediately after the elections are announced by the EC.

•Even though the Code of Conduct does not have any statutory backing, the EC has the power to disqualify a candidate if he/ she violate the code.

Explanation :

• At a time when a recent survey found seven elephant corridors in the country impaired, the Asian Elephant Alliance, an umbrella initiative by five NGOs, has come together to secure 96 out of the 101 existing corridors used by elephants across 12 states in India.

• NGOs Elephant Family, International Fund for Animal Welfare, IUCN Netherlands and World Land Trust has teamed up with WTI in the alliance.