Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 16 March 2024 | Download PDF

National and International News

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Indian Navy’s new headquarters, Nausena Bhawan, in Delhi Cantonment.
• This marks a significant milestone as the Indian Navy establishes its first independent headquarters in Delhi, consolidating its operations previously spread across 13 different locations.

Key points:

• It is equipped with a state-of-the-art integrated building management system for efficient coordination and monitoring of security services and utility systems.
• Nausena Bhawan has achieved Green Rating IV under the integrated habitability assessment.

• The Union Minister of Science & Technology recently inaugurated the pioneering “National Speed Breeding Crop Facility” at the prestigious National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) in Mohali.

Key points:

• The facility is dedicated to developing new varieties of crops like wheat, rice, soybean, pea, and tomato.
• It achieves over four crop generations annually through a meticulously controlled environment.
• The primary aim is to assist agricultural and biotechnology researchers in enhancing crop varieties, aiding plant breeders, and supporting farmers in adopting high-yielding and nutritionally rich varieties.
• The facility is particularly significant for North Indian States like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and the UT of J&K.
• NABI’s technology facilitates the development of climate-resistant crops, freeing farmers from seasonal limitations.
• It enables year-round farming, enhancing food security and economic stability.

About NABI:

• NABI is India’s first Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, established on February 18, 2010.
• It aims to transform the agri-food sector in India.
• NABI focuses on agricultural biotechnology, food, and nutritional biotechnology.
• It aims to provide innovative solutions for quality food and nutrition through research.
• NABI has strong connections with national and international organizations and industries.
• Located in the agri-food cluster of the “Knowledge City” in Mohali, Punjab, along with neighboring institutes.
• NABI has contributed significantly to initiatives such as the ‘Atal Jai Anusandhan Biotech (UNaTI) Mission,’ ‘Poshan Abhiyan,’ and the establishment of Biotech Kisan Hubs in regions like Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana.

• The Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has introduced the Revamped Pharmaceuticals Technology Upgradation Assistance (RPTUAS) Scheme.

Key points:

• Objective: Provide subsidies based on quality reimbursement to aid pharmaceutical companies in achieving Revised Schedule M and WHO-GMP certifications, enhancing product quality and safety.

Key features of the scheme:

• Expanded Eligibility Criteria: Extends eligibility beyond Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to encompass any pharmaceutical manufacturing unit with a turnover of less than 500 crores, facilitating technology and quality upgradation.
• Flexible Financing Options: Introduces more flexible financing, emphasizing subsidies on a reimbursement basis rather than traditional credit-linked approaches.
• Comprehensive Support for Compliance: Aligned with revised Schedule-M and WHO-GMP standards, the scheme supports a broader spectrum of technological upgrades.
• Integration with State Government Schemes: Revised scheme allows integration with state government initiatives, enabling units to benefit from additional top-up assistance.
• New Benefit Limits Based on Turnover: Incentives are determined based on the company’s turnover.

• PM unveiled ‘Pradhan Mantri Samajik Utthan and Rozgar Adharit Jankalyan’ (PM-SURAJ) national portal online.
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched a nationwide initiative aimed at offering credit support to the marginalized segments of society.

Key points:

• • It is a national portal launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide credit support to small entrepreneurs from marginalised communities.
  • Small entrepreneurs from marginalised communities, including Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes, and sanitation workers, can benefit from the PM-SURAJ Portal.
• The objective of PM-SURAJ Portal is to provide financial assistance directly to beneficiaries, eliminate middlemen and commissions, and empower marginalised communities economically and socially.

• PM-SURAJ Portal aims to uplift marginalised communities and integrate them into the mainstream economy, which is essential for achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047.

• Union Minister Piyush Goyal Joins Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Virtual Ministerial Meeting.

Key points:

The four pillars of IPEF are 

(1) Trade; 

(2) Supply Chains; 

(3)Clean Energy, Decarbonization, and Infrastructure; and 

(4) Tax and Anti-Corruption.

• The IPEF is not an FTA.
• India actively participates in the IPEF but not across all pillars.
• India has opted out of the trade pillar due to misalignment with its trade policies.

About IPEF:

• IPEF was launched in May 2022, bringing together 14 regional partners – Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam – in a new model of economic cooperation. 
• IPEF negotiations began in late 2022. 
• In May 2023, the IPEF partners announced the substantial conclusion of the negotiations for a first-of-its-kind IPEF Supply Chain Agreement. 
• In November 2023, the IPEF partners announced the substantial conclusion of the negotiations on the proposed IPEF Clean Economy and Fair Economy Agreements, as well as on a proposed overarching Agreement on IPEF to help ensure the durability of the framework and held a signing ceremony for the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement.

Pi Day, celebrated annually on March 14, honors the mathematical constant pi (π), chosen due to the significance of the date’s digits (3/14 mirroring the first three digits of pi). 

Key points:

• In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives officially recognized Pi Day.
• UNESCO declared Pi Day as the International Day of Mathematics in November 2019.
• Origins: Founded by Larry Shaw in 1988 at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha.
• Both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha will be held in four phases.
• The polling dates are May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.
• A total of 96.8 crore voters will cast their votes at 10.5 lakh polling stations across India for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

• The Odisha Government, under the “Mo Jungle Jami Yojana (MJJM),” awarded habitat rights to 32 villages of the Paudi Bhuyan Community in Deogarh district.

Key points:

• Paudi Bhuyan is the first indigenous community from Odisha to receive such rights.
• This is the fourth such title awarded in India, following similar awards to other vulnerable tribal groups (PTVGs) like Bharia in Madhya Pradesh, and Kamar and Baiga in Chhattisgarh.
• Paudi Bhuyan is among the 75 centrally recognized PVTGs in India, a special category conceptualized during the 4th Five-Year Plan based on the Dhebar Commission report (1960-61).
• The Habitat Rights will ensure the protection of the Paudi Bhuyan community’s territorial habitat, generational knowledge, cultural identity, livelihood, and allow for the preservation of local biodiversity and sustainable management of natural resources.

• Odisha government has prohibited taking selfies with scheduled wildlife species.

Key points:

• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, now considers taking selfies with wild animals punishable, with imprisonment up to seven years.
• Photos and selfies with wildlife posted on social media disrupt the animals’ life cycle and violate the Wildlife Protection Act.

• A Gupta-era stone sculpture was discovered during road work near Bhimkela village in Odisha. 
• The heavily eroded sculpture, measuring two-and-a-half feet in length and 30 cm wide, depicts a couple, with the female playing a musical instrument. 
• It has been placed at the Bishnu temple in Bhimkela.

Key points:

• Historian Mishra called for an extensive archaeological survey in the villages near Asurgarh, which is believed to be the oldest fortified settlement in the state. 
• Previously, stone antiquities and beads were excavated from Bhimkela as part of the ancient settlement.

• On 16 March 1995, the government of India started the pulse polio Immunization Programme as the first attempt of eradicating the disease from the country. 
• Since then, March 16 has been celebrated as National Vaccination Day.

About:

• National Vaccination Day aims to raise awareness about the importance of vaccines. 
• It recognizes the life-saving benefits of vaccination in preventing serious diseases.
• This day encourages people to get vaccinated and stay up-to-date on their immunizations. 

Key Points:

• The vaccination campaign, “Do Boond Zindagi Ki,” has targeted children between the ages of 0 and 5, and two drops of the vaccine orally are administered at public health centers.

Theme:

• The theme for National Vaccination Day 2024 is “Vaccines Work For All”

• World Sleep Day is observed on the Friday before the March equinox ( This year it is 15th March)
• It is a global event raising awareness about the importance of sleep. 

Key Points:

• It is organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society, formerly World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM)
• The first World Sleep Day was held on 14 March 2008. 

Theme:

• The theme for this World Sleep Day is “Sleep Equity for Global Health”
• The day promotes the benefits of adequate sleep and the negative consequences of sleep disorders. 
• It aims to educate people about sleep medicine, prevention, and management of sleep problems.

About:

• The March equinox or northward equinox is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. 
• The March equinox is known as the vernal equinox (spring equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and as the autumnal equinox (autumn equinox) or fall equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.

All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Adda247.