Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 20 September 2023 | Download PDF

• It is seismic tremors or vibrations that occur on the Moon’s surface. 
• It is less intense than earthquakes on Earth. 
• The strongest moonquakes can reach magnitudes of up to 5.5 on the Richter scale, but most are much weaker.
• It is measured using seismometers placed on the Moon’s surface by Apollo missions. 
• It has helped scientists learn about the Moon’s internal structure, composition, and history.

Did you know?

• The Moon has quakes too. They’re not called earthquakes but moonquakes. They are caused by the gravitational influence of the Earth. 
• Unlike quakes on Earth that last only a few minutes at most, moonquakes can last up to half an hour. They are much weaker than earthquakes though.

• According to data, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana enrolments highest in 6 years. 

Key points about the Scheme: 

• Launched in 2016. 
• It is a centrally sponsored scheme.
• Administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• It replaced the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS).

Eligibility: Farmers including sharecroppers and tenant farmers growing notified crops in the notified areas are eligible for coverage.

Objectives:

• To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crops as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
• To stabilize the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
• To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
• To ensure the flow of credit to the agriculture sector.

Premium:

• There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops.
• In the case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%.

According to recent report –

• Undernutrition is the leading risk factor for TB disease.
• Undernutrition contributes to 55% of annual TB incidence in India. 
• 45% of people in India are undernourished, accounting for nearly 1.2 million TB cases each year. 

Nikshay Poshan Yojna

• The NPY was launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• It aims to support every Tuberculosis (TB) Patient by providing a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of Rs 500 per month for nutritional needs.

Nikshay Mitra Initiative

• It is an initiative under Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
• Aimed to provide aid to TB-afflicted patients on three levels of nutritional, additional diagnostic, and vocational support.

Objective:

• It aims to eradicate the existing societal stigma and discrimination against TB patients and provide them with much-needed nutritional and social support, and help them lead a normal life.
• It also aims to encourage elected representatives, corporates, NGOs, and individuals to come forward as donors/sponsors to help the patients complete their journey toward recovery.

The Ni-kshay 2.0 portal provides a digital platform for extending community support to persons with TB and leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) opportunities.

‘Differentiated TB Care’ as a part of the initiative is aimed at assessing and triaging patients to decide whether people with TB need ambulatory care or admission in a health facility.

• GBA is an India-led Initiative to develop an alliance of Governments, International organizations and Industry to facilitate the adoption of biofuels.
• Founding members – India, Brazil and the US are the founding members of the alliance.
• This Alliance will be aimed at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, including in the transportation sector.

Did you know?

• India, the US and Brazil account for a total of 85 percent of the global ethanol production with the US holding 55 per cent share followed by Brazil 27 per cent and India 3 per cent.

• A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed to establish the ‘India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor’ (IMEC) recently.

IMEC

• IMEC is envisioned as a network of transport corridors comprising railway lines and sea lanes to promote economic integration between Asia, the Arabian Gulf, and Europe.
• This initiative is part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII).
• It aims to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries through public and private investments, offering an alternative to the BRI.

Key Facts :

1. Currently all trade between India and Europe happens via sea route through the  Suez Canal.
2. Due to the corridor , Indian goods can reach Europe in 10 days – 40% faster than the Suez Canal . 
3. Ports involved :
   • India – Kandla , Mundhra and Javaharlal Nehru port
   • Saudi Arabia: – Damman and Ras Al Khair 
   • UAE Countries – Fujairah , Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi .
   • Israel – Haifa 
   • European – Messina (Italy) , Masseille(France) and Piraeus(Greece) .

Did you know?

• Though Israel and the UAE  are part of this corridor , they were rivals for a long time. And have signed the Abraham Accord to conclude peace . 

Odisha Police will soon launch massive cyber crime awareness campaigns in all districts of the state

Key words

• The campaign will be a bigger version of ‘Paree Pain Katha Tiye’, a successful state-wide awareness initiative against child sexual abuse launched in 2018
• The plan is to roll ‘cyber rathas; (chariots) across the state and spread messages on cyber safety to ensure people do not fall prey to fraudsters
• Government departments like Schools and Mass Education, Higher Education, Skill Development and Technical Education, Mission Shakti, Women and Child Development along with Anganwadi and Asha workers will be part of the campaign.

• Farmers of Sarafgarh gram panchayat (GP) demanding an extension of any irrigation coverage to the drought-prone area.

Key points

• Odisha’s farmers from Sarafgarh gram panchayat (GP) are demanding the district administration to construct a storage reservoir to tap water from the nearby Ghughar waterfall.
• The Ghughar waterfall originates from a small hill located in the village. 
• Though the area is used as a picnic spot, locals insist constructing a reservoir would not only help store water for irrigation but also make the reservoir site a tourist attraction.

• Odisha govt. declared Special holiday  in Sambalpur, Bargarh for Nuakhai festival. 

Key points about Nuakhai festival

• Nuakhai Juhar is an agricultural festival, also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat.
• It is celebrated to welcome the new crop of the season.
• Nuakhai is a combination of two words that signifies eating of new rice as ‘nua’ means new and ‘khai’ means eat.
• This is the festival of Western Odisha, southern Chhattisgarh and adjoining areas of Simdega (Jharkhand).
• Its coastal counterpart is Nabanna, observed in Coastal Odisha.
• It is observed on panchami tithi (the fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
• Farmers offer the first produce from their lands to Goddess Samaleswari, the famous ‘Mother Goddess’ of Sambalpur district of Odisha.
• Sambalpuri dance forms like Rasarkeli and Dalkhai can be witnessed.
• Nuakhai festival traces its origin to the Vedic period in Panchyajna.

The state government has made human rabies a notifiable disease to ensure zero human deaths due to it by 2030

Key points

• Odisha has become the 12th state to announce rabies as a notifiable disease
• Rabies is a viral disease that is spread through the animal bite such as the dog. 
• It is caused by the infection of rabies virus. 
• The infection caused by this leads to encephalomyelitis i.e the inflammation of the brain as well as the spinal cord.
•  The transmission of the virus happens through the saliva and affects the CNS or Central nervous system.

Basanta Kumar Rana was among the 18 beneficiaries to receive Vishwakarma certificate from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of Vishwakarma scheme 

Key points

• He is a servitor of Shri Jagannath temple puri and maker of Tahia (tiara), a decorative headgear of Lord Jagannath during Pahandi
• He is a resident of Balisahi in piligrim town.
• Rana was selected by the Ministry of MSME for the unique craftsmanship and the service the family is rendering to the temple for generations. 

• Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Bhagwanth Khuba, lauded artisans and craftsmen for their dedication to their work and their contribution to society.

Key Points:

• The PM Vishwakarma portal is a one-stop online platform for artisans and craftspeople to access a range of government services and benefits. 
• The portal was launched in 2020 by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) as part of the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Yojana (PMVY) scheme.
• The PMVY scheme is a central sector scheme that provides holistic and end-to-end support to artisans and craftspeople.
• The scheme aims to improve the skills, productivity, and income of artisans and craftspeople, and to help them integrate into the global supply chain.