Ambassador of Khadi Prakritik Paint – MSME Minister

The MSME Minister has been appointed as the brand ambassador for Khadi Prakritik Paint.

About Khadi Prakritik Paint:

It is an environmentally friendly, non-toxic coating with anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. The paint, which is based on cow dung as its main ingredient, is inexpensive and odourless, and it has been certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
The paint is free of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, chromium, arsenic, and cadmium.
It will help local manufacturing and create long-term local jobs through technology transfer.
This technology will increase the consumption of cow dung as a raw material for environmentally friendly products, and will bring additional income to farmers and gaushalas.
It is estimated that this will generate an additional Rs 30,000 (approx.) per animal per year for farmers/gaushalas
Using cow dung will also help to clean the Environment and keep drains clear.

NIPUN Bharat Programme Launched by Union Minister

Union Education Minister Ramesh has launched the NIPUN Bharat programme. The NIPUN programme ambitions that every child in India receives foundational Literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade three by 2026-27.

Highlights:

NIPUN stands for National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy. This Mission, which has been launched below the aegis of the centrally backed scheme of Samagra Shiksha, will centre of attention on imparting get entry to and conserving teens in foundational years of schooling; instructor potential building; improvement of excessive pleasant and different Student and Teacher Resources/Learning Materials; and tracking the progress of every toddler in achieving mastering outcomes.

Lady Doctors-The Untold Stories of Indias First Women – Book by Kavitha Rao

Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of Indias First Women

A book named Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of Indias First Women in Medicine has authored by Kavitha Rao. This book recovers the stories of Indias first women doctors, frequently not noted via HISTORY. In this excerpt from Kavitha Raos Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of Indias First Women in Medicine, the story of Rukhmabai Raut.

Rukhmabai was an Indian doctor and feminist. She is first-rate acknowledged for being one of the first practising women medical practitioner in colonial India as nicely as being involved in a landmark legal case involving her marriage as a child bride between 1884 and 1888.

Retail and Wholesale Trades are Now Included in the MSME category

Retail and wholesale traders have been classified as MSME (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) by the government.

Highlights:

The MSME sector includes the industrial and service sectors but not the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture sector.
Despite the fact that the retail and wholesale trades are all part of the Services-sector”>services sector, they were not considered MSMEs.
Because MSMEs are included in the Priority Sector Lending (PSL) Guidelines, Retail and Wholesale trade will now be able to obtain loans under PSL.
Priority Sector Lending is an important role assigned by the RBI to banks in which a specified portion of bank lending is directed toward a few specific sectors.
In the absence of this special dispensation, these sectors of the economy with high social returns and a high need for inclusive development may not receive timely and adequate credit.
Today, banks lend nearly 40 percent of their adjusted net bank credit to the priority sector.

India Drops in Open Defecation – Wash Report

According to a new report from the Wash Institute (a non-profit organization based in Nadu), in absolute terms, India is the cause of the biggest drop in open defecation since 2015.
Open Defecation is the practise of defecating in fields or other open spaces rather than using a toilet. It puts Women at risk of physical assault and endangers children’s Health (vulnerability to diseases & Infection)

Highlights:

By 2016, open defecation had decreased in all Indian states, with the greatest reductions in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
Sub-Saharan Africa has made slow progress in combating open defecation.
The global Population with access to safely managed drinking water at Home increased from 70% to 74% between 2016 and 2020.
People faced difficulties in maintaining hygiene, particularly during the Covid-19.
Due to a lack of Resources“>Water Resources, three out of every ten people around the world were unable to wash their hands with soap and water at home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Unity 22 Mission – Test Flight of Spaceship

The next rocket-powered test flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip- VSS Unity will be called “Unity 22.”

About the mission:

The crew will fly to the edge of space on the Unity’ rocket ship developed by Virgin Galactic as part of the mission on July 11.
This will be the VSS Unity’s 22nd mission.
This will be the fourth crewed spaceflight for Virgin Galactic.
It will also be the first to fly with a full crew of two pilots and four mission specialists, including Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson, who will be testing out the private astronaut experience.
The mission’s goal: Unity 22 will focus on cabin testing and customer experience.
Two more test flights are still needed before Virgin Galactic can begin commercial service in 2022.

Indias 1st International Cruise Vessel MV Empress Flagged Off

Union Minister of , Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal has flagged off the maiden International Cruise Vessel MV Empress, Indias first international cruise vessel from Chennai to Sri Lanka in Chennai. This marks the beginning of the international cruise tourism terminal at Chennai, built at a cost of Rs 17.21 crores, heralding a new age of cruise tourism and maritime trade in the country.

The launch of the MV Empress is a major boost for cruise tourism in India. The country has a long coastline and a rich HISTORY and culture, which make it an attractive destination for cruise passengers. The MV Empress is expected to attract tourists from India and abroad, and to help boost the local economy

Solar Energy Corporation of India gets Miniratna Category-I status

The Ministry of New and has granted Miniratna Category-I Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) status to the state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI), according to a statement. SECI, which was established in 2011, is the primary implementing agency for renewable energy schemes/projects of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy aimed at fulfilling Indias international commitments. SECI has played a Central role in the rapid increase of RE generation capacity in the country and has contributed towards the nations Climate commitments, Carbon Emission reduction strategies and sustainable energy transition

SECI has awarded more than 56 GW of Renewable Energy (RE) project capacities to date. It also plays an active role in establishing projects through its own investments and as a Project Management Consultant (PMC) for other public sector entities. SECI has received a top credit rating of AAA from the domestic rating agency ICRA

Central India has worlds highest tiger count; Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh play big role

Of the 200 tigers added to the 2,967 estimated in 2018, taking the count to 3,167 as per the latest Status of Tiger Report, 128 are from the Central India Landscape (CIL). This makes it clear that Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh (MP) have played a big role in increasing the tiger numbers in the country.

This means, Central India has largest Population of tigers in the world, said Bilal Habib, Wildlife Institute of India scientist. As per the 2018 estimates, there were 1,033 tigers in Central India and the Eastern Ghats Landscape, which comprises in Maharashtra, MP, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha andRajasthan. However, the latest report estimates 1,161 tigers, an increase of 128.

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) officials say the addition to the national figure of 3,167 tigers must be from Maharashtra and MP and Shivalik Landscape, which have done well.

Tiger signs were detected in 1,049 grids and 1,161 unique tigers were photo-captured. As per the distribution of tigers in Central India and Eastern Ghats Landscape, the big cats have occupied several territorial areas of MP and Maharashtra that were not occupied in 2018, the report states.

Rajya Sabha passes Competition Amendment Bill, 2023

The Rajya Sabha approved the Competition Amendment Bill, 2023, aimed at modernizing the two-decade-old anti-trust law to align with changes in the economy. The Competition Amendment Bill, 2023 aims to modify the Competition Act, 2002, which authorizes the Competition Commission Of India (CCI) to prevent practices that adversely impact competition and consumer interests.

Under the new bill, mergers and acquisitions exceeding Rs. 2,000 crores in value must be notified to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), provided that the party being acquired has substantial business operations in India.