PIB 14th February

Contents:

1. Election Commission of India
2. Iberian Peninsula
3. First Consignment of Nagpur Orange flagged off to Dubai

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

• ECI to implement the directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court concerning criminal antecedents of candidates by reiterating its existing instructions with suitable modifications
• It shall be mandatory for political parties (at the Central and State election level)to upload on their website detailed information regarding individuals with pending criminal cases (including the nature of the offences, and relevant particulars such as whether charges have been framed, the concerned Court, the case number etc.) who have been selected as candidates, along with the reasons for such selection, as also as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates.
• The reasons as to selection shall be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned, and not mere “winnability” at the polls.
• This information shall also be published in:
  • One local vernacular newspaper and one national newspaper
  • On the official social media platforms of the political party, including Facebook & Twitter.
• These details shall be published within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate or not less than two weeks before the first date for filing of nominations, whichever is earlier.
• The political party concerned shall then submit a report of compliance with these directions with the Election Commission within 72 hours of the selection of the said candidate.
• If a political party fails to submit such compliance report with the Election Commission, the Election Commission shall bring such non-compliance by the political party concerned to the notice of the Supreme Court as being in contempt of this Court’s orders/directions.”

IBERIAN PENINSULA

• Peninsula in southwestern Europe, occupied by Spain and Portugal. Its name derives from its ancient inhabitants whom the Greeks called Iberians, probably for the Ebro (Iberus), the peninsula’s second longest river (after the Tagus).
• The Pyrenees mountain range forms an effective land barrier in the northeast, separating the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe, and in the south at Gibraltar the peninsula is separated from North Africa by the narrow Strait of Gibraltar.
• The Atlantic Ocean washes the northern, western, and southwestern coasts, and the Mediterranean Sea washes the southern and eastern shores.
• Cape Roca, in Portugal, is the most westerly point of continental Europe.

FIRST CONSIGNMENT OF NAGPUR ORANGE FLAGGED OFF TO DUBAI

• First consignment of Nagpur oranges was flagged off to Dubai on 13th February 2020 from Vashi, Navi Mumbai.
• Total 1500 crates were loaded in the refrigerated container from Vanguard Health Care(VHT) facility.
• Nagpur mandarin in one of the best mandarins in the world
• Production of this fruit crop in central and western part of India is increasing every year.
• Mrig crop (monsoon blossom), which matures in February – March, has great potential for export since arrivals of mandarin fruit in international market are less during this period.
• For the implementation of the Agriculture Export Policy, (AEP) Nagpur District is being developed as a cluster for Nagpur Orange by APEDA.
• The APEDA officer in Mumbai has been nominated as a nodal officer for implementation of AEP and cluster development of Nagpur orange.
• The International Trade in 2018 for orange was USD 10183 million. India produced 8781 thousand tons of orange in 2018-19 (orange includes Mandarin, clementine)