News Crux
Joseph Lowery
- Veteran US civil rights leader Joseph Lowery who helped in establishing the Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference, passed away.
- The Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an African-American civil rights organisation was set up to promote racial equality.
Beni Prasad Verma
- Former Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma has passed away.
- He served as the telecom minister, steel minister and was also a Lok Sabha member from 1996 to 2014. He also served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs during his career.
Centre For Internet Of Ethical Things
- To bring together aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Ethics on a single platform, Karnataka Government has decided to set up a Centre for Internet of Ethical Things in Bengaluru.
- It is a collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Hubli-Ankola Railway Project
- The Government of Karnataka has approved the Hubballi-Ankola railway line project despite opposition by several members of the State Board of Wildlife.
- The railway line passes through two major protected areas — Kali Tiger Reserve and Bedthi Conservation Reserve which are part of Western Ghats.
- Kali Tiger Reserve comprises two important protected areas of the region namely Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and Anshi National Park.
Gujarat First State To Equip Police With Taser Guns
- Gujarat has become the first state in India to introduce Taser Guns to its Police Force.
- Taser Guns (electrical weapon) use compressed nitrogen to fire, by sending electricity through attached wires, which disrupt voluntary control of muscles.
Poshan Abhiyan: Andhra Pradesh Tops In Overall Implementation
- NITI Aayog has released a report on the performance of States in the implementation of Poshan Abhiyan.
- Andhra Pradesh ranked 1st in country for the overall implementation of Poshan Abhiyan.
- Tamil Nadu topped the list of the states in terms of the number of participants in the programme.
- The Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition or POSHAN Abhiyan or National Nutrition Mission was launched in 2018. It is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
- The scheme aims at achieving improvement in nutritional status of Children (0-6 years) and Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) in a time-bound manner and ensure attainment of malnutrition free India by 2022.
A New Era For Girls: Taking Stock Of 25 Years Of Progress
- UNICEF along with Plan International and United Nations Women has released a report titled “A New era for girls: Taking stock on 25 years of progress”.
- The report is issued in the context of the Generation Equality campaign and to mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
Namda Traditional Art
- Arifa Jan who revived a Kashmiri traditional art called ‘Namda’ was awarded Nari Shakti Puraskar and was also among the seven women who took control of the Prime minister’s Twitter account.
- Namda comes from the root word Namata (Sanskrit for woollen stuff). It is a local term used for felted wool floor coverings made out of coarse variety of wool.
- The art consists of floral patterns which provide the themes for these masterpieces and flowers, leaves, buds and fruits are the essence of the designs.
- It is practiced as a craft in several cultures especially the countries throughout Asia such as Iran, Afghanistan and several places in Ladakh, Kutch and Kashmir and Rajasthan in India.
Three Schemes For Electronics Manufacturing In India
- The Union Cabinet has approved three schemes to boost large-scale electronics manufacturing in India.
- Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC2.0) Scheme: To create world class infrastructure along with common facilities and amenities through setting up of Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) and Common Facility Centers (CFCs).
- Scheme for Promotion of manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS): To offer financial incentive of 25% of capital expenditure for the manufacturing of goods that constitute the supply chain of an electronic product.
- Production Incentive Scheme (PLI) for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing: To attract large investments in mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronic components, including assembly, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP) units.
National Innovations In Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)
- The Government of India is implementing programmes such as National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) to tackle the impact of climate change on agriculture.
- It was launched by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 2011.
- To enhance resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and climate vulnerability through strategic research and technology demonstration.
- The research on adaptation and mitigation covers crops, livestock, fisheries and natural resource management.
- It consists of four components namely a) Strategic Research b) Technology Demonstration c) Capacity Building and d) Sponsored or Competitive Grants.
