Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 19 January 2024 | Download PDF

• Three infrastructure projects were unveiled by the PM in Kochi.
• It included a new dry dock and an international ship repair facility (ISRF) of Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) and an LPG import terminal of Indian Oil Corporation Limited at Puthuvypeen 

Key points

• The new projects, including the country’s largest dry dock, would catalyse the development of Kerala and southern parts of the country. 
• The new dry dock would enable big vessels to dock here for repairs, reducing dependence on foreign countries and thus saving foreign exchange. 
• The ISRF would transform Kochi into South Asia’s largest ship-repair centre.

• The study — authored by Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a research and policy think tank — analysed high-resolution meteorological data spanning four decades, from 1982 to 2022, which has been recorded by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
• According to it,Rainfall is increasing in more than half of India’s 4,400-odd tehsils or sub-districts
•  While 55% of tehsils have seen a rise in rainfall, about 11% have experienced a fall.

• The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released a report titled “Beyond Basics”
• It involved a survey by the civil society organisation Pratham among rural students aged 14 to 18.
• The household survey, conducted in 28 districts across 26 States, assessed the foundational reading and arithmetic abilities of 34,745 students. 
• It discussed the activities students are engaged in, their basic and applied reading and maths abilities and digital awareness and skills.

Key findings

• Overall, 86.8% of 14- to 18-year-olds are enrolled in an educational institution. There are small gender gaps in enrolment, but notable differences are visible by age. 
• The percentage of youth not enrolled is 3.9% for 14-year-old youth and is 32.6% for 18-year-olds
• Most of the people in this age group were enrolled in the Arts/Humanities stream. 
• In Class 11 or higher, more than half are enrolled in the Arts/Humanities stream (55.7%) and girls are less likely to be enrolled in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics stream (28.1%) than boys (36.3%)
• More than half struggle with division (3-digit by 1-digit) problems. Only 43.3% of 14-18-year-olds are able to do such problems correctly.

• An artificial intelligence-based map of Kerala has revealed that 13% of the land mass is extremely vulnerable to landslips, forming part of a multifaceted crisis gripping the region.
• The map shows Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram, Pathanamthitta, and Wayanad as highly vulnerable regions
• Critical factors contributing to landslip vulnerability include first-order stream disturbances, slope toe cutting for road construction, and unscientific land use. 
• The vulnerability map, prepared under the aegis of Kufos, is the first AI-based landslip susceptibility map.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed an improvised distress alert transmitter (DAT) with advanced capabilities for fishermen at sea to send emergency messages from boats.
• The DAT-SG has the facility to send back acknowledgement to the fishermen who activate the distress alert from sea.
• The information about potential fishing zones are also transmitted to fishermen using DAT-SG on regular intervals.

• India’s domestic air passenger traffic is expected to touch 300 million by 2030, an almost two-fold rise from the 153 million in 2023
• The country would still remain one of the most under-penetrated markets among the top 20 globally, moving up from existing 3-4% to 10-15% by the end of decade. 

The Kai or Nali Pimpudi (red ant) Chutney received the prestigious GI tag from Mayurbhanj district.

About

• The Kai Chutney is prepared from the Weaver ants and are popular in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district among the people, mostly tribals.
• When required, leafy nests of ants are plucked from their host trees and collected in a bucket of water before sorting and separation from leaves and debris.
• It helps in getting rid of flu, common cold, whooping cough, to increase appetite, enhance vision and eyesight naturally.
• The tribal healers also prepare medicinal oil, which is used as baby oil and externally used to cure rheumatism, gout, ringworm and other skin diseases.

• Researchers from the Central University of Odisha (CUO) have identified a number of nutrition-rich little millets (Suan) cultivated by tribals of Koraput hills in Eastern Ghats that can be used to create high-value functional foods
• They have identified three indigenous little millets – Mami, Kalia, and Bada – that have higher protein, fibre, ash, energy, flavonoid, vitamin C, antioxidants, iron, and zinc content

• Findings of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) survey were released recently.
• Around 22 percent of adolescents and teens in the age group of 14 -18 years from Sambalpur cannot read Class-II level text while only around 30 per cent can do everyday calculations. 
• In Odisha, the survey was conducted in Sambalpur district.
• The report revealed 78.1 per cent of youth aged 14-18 were enrolled in some formal education institution and 69.2 per cent in government educational institutions.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the proposal for equity investment by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) for setting up 2×800 Mw thermal power plant in Odisha’s Sundargarh district.
• The CCEA approved equity investment for 2×800 MW Supercritical Thermal Power Plant in Sundergarh district through ‘Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd’ (MBPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of MCL
• The CCEA also approved proposal for equity investment by South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) for setting-up 1×660 MW Thermal Power Plant through JV of SECL and MPPGCL.

• Chief Minister would inaugurate Jagannath Express bus service under its Location Accessible Multi-modal Initiative (LAccMI), connecting all district headquarters in Odisha with Puri via Bhubaneswar
• This AC Super Deluxe bus service is part of the Odisha government’s plan to mobilise around 10,000 people daily for a month to visit Srimandir Parikrama Prakalpa 

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