Agri scientist advocates inclusion of millet in PDS

Making a strong pitch for inclusion of in the daily diet of the Population for their nutritional value and other Health benefits, All India Pearl Millet Research Project has opined that the Central and State governments should make millets a component in the Public Distribution System (PDS), while incentivising farmers to grow nutri-Cereals at the same time.

The millet acreage of 13 million hectares in the country, pearl millet is grown in 7.41 million hectares. The productivity of the crop has gone up from 1200 kg per hectare to 1,370 kg per hectare since 2016. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the crop has gone up from 1,300 per quintal to 2,250 per quintal. However, the farmers are being offered much less than this by private buyers.

The Power of the Dog’ wins best picture at BAFTAs

Sci-fi epic Dune won five prizes and brooding Western The Power of the Dog was named best film as the British Academy Film Awards returned Sunday with a live, black-tie ceremony after a pandemic-curtailed event in 2021.

New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion was named best director for The Power of the Dog, becoming only the third woman to win the prize in the awards 75-year HISTORY.

Katalin Novak: Hungary’s First-Ever Female President

The Hungarian parliament has elected Katalin Novak, a detailed ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as the EU member’s first-ever female president.

Highlights

The Hungarian parliament has elected Katalin Novak, a detailed ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as the EU member’s first-ever female president.

Novak, who last served as a minister for family policy, portrayed her election as a victory for Women.

India climbs up six slots and now placed at 61st rank as per Network Readiness Index 2022

India has improved its position by six slots and is now placed at 61strank as per the Network Readiness Index 2022 (NRI 2022) report released recently. In its latest version of 2022, the NRI Report maps the network-based readiness landscape of 131 economies based on their performances in four different pillars: Technology, People, Governance, and Impact covering a total of 58 variables. The report has been prepared by the Portulans Institute, an independent non-profit, nonpartisan research and educational institute based in Washington DC.

India has not only improved its ranking, but also improved its score from 49.74 in 2021 to 51.19 in 2022. It is noteworthy that India leads in several indicators. The report states that India secured 1strank in AI talent concentration, 2ndrank in Mobile broadband Internet traffic within the country and International Internet bandwidth, 3rdrank in Annual in Telecommunication Services and Domestic market size, 4thrank in ICT Services exports, 5thrank in FTTH/Building Internet subscriptions and AI scientific publications.

NRI-2022 report states that India has a greater network readiness than would be expected given its income level. India is ranked 3rdout of 36 in the group of lower-middle-income countries after Ukraine (50) and Indonesia (59). India has a score higher than the income group Average in all pillars and sub-pillars.

PM inaugurates Kashi Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated Kashi Sangamam – a month-long programme being organised in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.The objective of the programme is to celebrate, reaffirm and rediscover the age-old links between Tamil Nadu and Kashi two of the countrys most important and ancient seats of Learning. More than 2500 delegates from Tamil Nadu will be visiting Kashi. During the programme, the Prime Minister also released a book Tirukkural along with its translation into 13 languages. He also witnessed a cultural programme followed by aarti.

Throwing Light on the connection between Kashi and Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister said that on one hand, Kashi is the cultural capital of India whereas Tamil Nadu and Tamil culture is the centre of India’s antiquity and pride. Drawing an analogy to the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, the Prime Minister said the Kashi-Tamil Sangam is equally holy which engulfs endless opportunities and strength in itself. The Prime Minister congratulated the Ministry of Education and the Government of Uttar Pradesh for this momentous gathering and thanked central universities like IIT, Madras and BHU for extending their support to the programme. The Prime Minister especially thanked the students and scholars of Kashi and Tamil Nadu.

The Prime Minister underlined that Kashi and Tamil Nadu are timeless centres of our culture and civilisation. He informed that both Sanskrit and Tamil are one of the most ancient languages that existed. The Prime Minister exclaimed, In Kashi, we have Baba Vishwanath, while in Tamil Nadu we have the blessings of Lord Rameshwaram. Both Kashi and Tamil Nadu are immersed in Shiva. Be it music, literature or art, the Prime Minister remarked that Kashi and Tamil Nadu have always been a source of art.

$50m fund to support disaster-proof infrastructure

The Coalition for Disaster Resilient (CDRI) announced setting up theInfrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund(IRAF) with allocation of $50 million to support global action to build robust infrastructure, especially in developing countries and small island developing nations, that can withstand the impacts of Climate-change”>Climate Change.

It will be a multi-donor trust fund, managed by UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office, New York. Supported by India, the UK, Australia and theEuropean Union, the IRAFs multi-pronged programme will offer customised technical assistance, capacity building, research, knowledge management, and advocacy across the infrastructure life cycle for countries at all stages of development.

The CDRI, launched byPM Narendra Modiin New York in 2019, is a PARTNERSHIP of national governments, UN agencies and multilateral Development Banks that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks in support of Sustainable Development.

Sugar Cane, Cotton, Jute Farmers To Get Incentives

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) authorized a number of measures to help , sugar cane, and jute growers.

Highlights:

The CCEA raised the price of ethanol made from sugar cane juice in order to blend it with gasoline.

Blending of ethanol with gasoline is predicted to reach 10% by 2022 and 20% by 2025.

The rate of ethanol produced from C-heavy molasses has also risen thanks to CCEA.

At the rate specified by the government, oil Marketing corporations buy ethanol from distilleries and sugar mills.

The ethanol blending scheme helped to minimize the country’s reliance on crude oil imports.

The Cotton Corporation of India received committed price assistance of Rs. 17,408.85 crore from the CCEA (CCI).

Reservation guidelines for the required use of jute in packaging were authorized by the CCEA.

Public Service Broadcasting Day Is Observed On 12 November

Every year on November 12th, Broadcasting Day is observed.

Highlights:

The day is observed to honor Mahatma Gandhi‘s first and only visit to the All India Radio studio in Delhi in 1947.

Mahatma Gandhi addressed the displaced people (a Pakistani refugee) who had temporarily moved to Kurukshetra, Haryana, after partition on November 12, 1947.

After Suhas Borker, Convenor, Jan Prasar, conceptualized the day, it was declared Public Service Broadcasting Day or (Jan Prasaran Diwas) in 2000.

Prasar Bharati has been entrusted with the task of public service broadcasting in order to strengthen democratic traditions and provide opportunities to people from all walks of life.

Delhi Declaration: Afghanistan

OnNovember 10, 2021,India hosted a regional security summit. Eight countries, including Iran and Russia, attended the summit.

Highlights:

Each country’s national security advisors attended the conference.

During the summit, it was announced that Afghanistan and its territories could not be used to harbor, train, or finance terrorists.

The “Delhi Declaration on Afghanistan” was issued by the countries as a unified statement.

According to the statement, eight countries discussed the growing Afghan situation, as well as the worldwide implications of the Taliban’s takeover.

They devoted specific attention to terrorism threats, Afghanistan’s current political crisis, radicalization, and drug trafficking.

World Pneumonia Day Commemorated On 12 November

Every year on November 12th, the world commemorates World Pneumonia Day

Highlights

It is celebrated to raise awareness, promote prevention and treatment, and inspire action to combat the disease.

World Pneumonia Day 2021 is an annual event that first took place in 2009.

Raise awareness of pneumonia, the biggest cause of death in children under the age of five.

In order to prevent and treat pneumonia, interventions must be strengthened, accelerated, and sustained.

Focus on ensuring that all people have equal access to and receive comprehensive pneumonia prevention and control programs.

Develop specialized ways to reach “harder-to-reach” people in order to increase their access to available solutions.