KVK, Goa and ICAR-CCARI celebrates ‘World Bee Day’

In News: ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, North Goa and ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute CARI, Goa, celebrated “World Bee Day” on 20th, May 2021.

Context:

  • A one-day programme entitled ‘Augmenting rural income: The Beekeeping way’ was organized virtually at ICAR-CCARI Goa.
  • Director, ICAR-CCARI, Goa, explained the background of celebrating World Bee Day on May 20 every year from 2018 and onward. He explained that the United Nations Council accepted the proposal from Slovenia to celebrate 20th May, the birth anniversary of the pioneer of beekeeping Anton Jansa, from Slovenia, as World Bee Day.
  • The purpose of observing World Bee Day is also to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators in the ecosystem.
  • Director, ICAR-ATARI, Pune, Maharashtra briefed the success stories of beekeeping with the example of Madhushakti which is a start-up project initiated by 100 women in Pune for 2 years and now ventured into FPO with branding and marketing of honey and earning additional income to farming.

North- Eastern states on the export map of India

In News: In a major step towards harnessing exports potential of agricultural and processed food products from north-eastern region, a shipment of 1.2 metric tonne (MT) of fresh jackfruit was today exported from Tripura to London.

Context:

  • This was the first APEDA assisted pack house for exports to European Union, which was approved in May 2021.
  • APEDA regularly carries out promotional activities to bring the North- Eastern states on the export map of India.
  • Recently, the first consignment of ‘red rice’ was sent to the USA from Assam. Iron rich ‘red rice’ is grown in Brahmaputra valley of Assam, without the use of any chemical fertilizer. The rice variety is referred as ‘Bao-dhaan’, which is an integral part of the Assamese food.
  • APEDA would continue to focus on north eastern region both in terms of capacity building, quality up gradation, infrastructure development.

Southern states exports:

  • Apeda organises virtual buyer seller meet for boosting mango exports to South Korea. India shipped consignment of 2.5 MTs of Geographical Indication (GI) certified Banganapalli & other variety Survarnarekha mangoes to South Korea.
  • Mango in India is also referred as ‘king of fruits’ and referred as Kalpavriksha (wish granting tree) in ancient scriptures. While most of the states in India have mango plantations, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka have major share in total production of the fruit.
  • Alphonso, Kesar, Totapuri and Banganpalli are leading export varieties from India. Mango exports primarily take place in three forms: fresh mango, mango pulp, and mango slice.

Government of India to States/UTs on Black Fungus

In News: Taking a note of the secondary and opportunistic fungal infections which are getting amplified due to the present surge in COVID cases and Mucormycosis becoming a cause of concern, Union Ministry of Health has advised all States/UTs to review their preparedness for infection prevention and control, as well as hygiene and sanitation in hospitals.

Context:

The advisory on the preparedness to states:

  1. Establish/activate the Hospital Infection Control Committee with the head of the institution or an administrator as the chairperson.
  2. Designate an infection prevention and control nodal officer – preferably a microbiologist or senior infection control nurse.
  3. Prepare and implement the Infection Prevention Control (IPC) Programme in the hospital/health facilities, as per the guidance given in National Guidelines for Infection and Control in Healthcare Facilities

Films on Raja Ram Mohan Roy to mark 249th Birth Anniversary celebrations

In News: Films Division is joining the nation in paying  tribute to the great social reformer and  ‘Father of Indian Renaissance’, Raja Ram Mohan Roy on his 249th Birth Anniversary on 22nd May, 2021 by screening  documentary films focusing  on his life  and seminal contributions in building a modern India. 

Context:

  • Raja Ram Mohan Roy was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj in 1828, a social-religious reform movement in the Indian subcontinent.
  • He was given the title of Raja by Akbar II, the Mughal emperor.
  • His influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration, education and religion.
  • He was known for his efforts to abolish the practices of sati and child marriage.
  • Raja Ram Mohan Roy is considered to be the “Father of the Bengal Renaissance” by many historians.
  • In 2004, Roy was ranked number 10 in BBC’s poll of the Greatest Bengali of all time.

GOI launches NMMS app and AOM App

In News: Union Minister of Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Panchayati Raj and Food Processing Industries, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launched National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app and Area officer monitoring App through Video-Conferencing.

Context:

  • The NMMS App permits taking real time attendance of workers at Mahatma Gandhi NREGS worksites along with geo-tagged photograph, which will increase citizen oversight of the programme besides potentially enabling processing payments faster.
  • Area Officer Monitoring App facilitates them to record their findings online along with time stamped and geo-coordinate tagged photograph for all the schemes of Deptt of Rural Development- Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, PMAYG, PMGSY.
  • This would also enable not only better record keeping of inspections by field and supervisory officials but also facilitate analysis of the findings for better programme implementation.

BRICS countries on enhancing collaboration among Astronomers

In News: Delegates from BRICS nations highlighted the importance of enhancing collaboration among astronomers from the countries at the seventh meeting of the BRICS Astronomy Working Group Meeting.

Context:

  • Under the Science, Technology, and Innovation track of the BRICS 2021 calendar, India hosted the seventh meeting of BRICS Astronomy Working Group (BAWG) meeting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, as well as astronomers from these countries in online mode from 19 to 20th May 2021.
  • The delegates recommended the networking of existing Telescopes in BRICS countries and create regional Data Network.
  • India has assumed the BRICS Presidency from January 2021, about 100 events, including Ministerial level meetings, Senior Official meetings, and sectorial meetings/conferences, will be organized as part of BRICS 2021 Calendar.

SC: Personal guarantors liable for corporate debt

In News: The Supreme Court upheld a government move to allow lenders to initiate insolvency proceedings against personal guarantors, who are usually promoters of big business houses, along with the stressed corporate entities for whom they gave guarantee.

Context:

  • The judgment allows creditors, usually financial institutions and banks, to move against personal guarantors under the Indian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code (IBC) made “legal and valid”.
  • The court said there was an “intrinsic connection” between personal guarantors and their corporate debtors.
  • It was again this intimacy that made the government decide that corporate debtors and their personal guarantors should be dealt with by a common forum — National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) — through the same adjudicatory process.
  • In this context, Justice Bhat referred to how the November 2019 notification had not strayed from the original intent of the IBC. In fact, Section 60(2) of the Code had required the bankruptcy proceedings of corporate debtors and their personal guarantors to be held before a common forum — the NCLT.
  • The adjudicating authority for personal guarantors will be the NCLT if a parallel resolution process is pending in respect of a corporate debtor for whom the guarantee is given, Justice Bhat noted.

Israel-Hamas reach truce after 11 days of fighting

  • A truce between Israel and Hamas took hold after the worst violence in years, with U.S. President Joe Biden pledging to salvage the devastated Gaza Strip and the UN urging new Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
  • Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and militant rocket attacks on Israeli towns ceased after 11 days under an agreement mediated by Egypt but with negotiations to maintain stability still to be held, it was unclear how long it would last.