World Cotton Day

Current context: Smriti Irani, Textiles Minister will participate in the World Cotton Day from India, which being observed from 7th October to 11th October 2019 in Geneva.

• World Cotton Day is being organized by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in collaboration with the Secretariats of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Trade Centre (ITC) the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) and ) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
• WTO is hosting the event at the request of the Cotton – 4 countries, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. The 4 countries in their official application to WTO had asked for the recognition of 7th October as World Cotton Day by the United Nations.
• The World Cotton Day will be observed with the significance:

1. To celebrate the many advantages of cotton- its production, transformation, trade and consumption.
2. To shed light on the challenges faced by cotton economies around the world.

• The objective of observing October, 7 as World Cotton Day is:

1. To give exposure and recognition to cotton and all its stakeholders.
2. To engage donors and beneficiaries and strengthen development assistance for cotton.
3. Seek new collaborations with the private sector and investors in developing countries.
4. At the event, a sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi made out of cotton will be displayed to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary.

• WTO has recognized the Importance of cotton as:

1. A single tonne of cotton provides year-round employment for five people on average.
2. Cotton is a drought-resistant crop ideal for arid climates.
3. It occupies just 2.1 % of the world’s arable land, yet it meets 27% of the world’s textiles need.
4. In addition to fibre, food products like edible oil and animal feed are also derived from the seed.

Question: 

Q.1 The World Cotton Day is observed on?
a. 5th August
b. 7th October
c. 5th September
d. 7th November