KERALA
- KAU centre to promote coconut farming
- Giving a fillip to coconut farming in the State, Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) has announced plans to establish a Centre for Advanced Agricultural Science and Technology for developing knowledge and skill in coconut-based secondary agriculture.
- The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) has approved a ₹24.73-crore project in this regard under the Centres for Advanced Agricultural Science and Technology (CAAST) component of the National Agricultural Higher Education Programme.
- The university, which developed the first coconut hybrid in the world, has strength in the emerging areas of industrial processing and value addition in coconut, namely production of Neera, extraction of virgin coconut oil and its byproducts and making quality furniture from coconut wood.
- Coir pith, known as coir peat and coir dust — a byproduct of coconut fibre — can be converted into organic manure for vegetable cultivation, especially in urban and peri-urban areas, according to the university.
INTERNATIONAL
- Iran is to restart the activities at the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor, western Iran
- Iran is to restart the activities at the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor,western Iran. The anouncement was made byAli Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.Heavy water are used in reactors to produce plutonium. Plutonium is a fuel used in nuclear warheads.
- Regarding this US Sanctions on Tehran, a meeting was conducted between Iranian officials and the UK, France and Germany, in Vienna. In the meeting Iran persuaded the European states to provided more effective relief from US sanctions.
The move is after the US’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and the introduction of sanctions on Tehran, Iran stopped complying with some commitments in the 2015 nuclear deal.
NATIONAL
- Kargil Vijay Diwas: 26 July
- The 20th Anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas is being celebrated on 26 July 2019.
- The day is named after the successful Operation Vijay in 1999 when India regained the control of the high outposts which had been stealthily taken over by Pakistan.
- The Kargil war was fought for more than 60 days and ended with India regaining control of all the previously held territory.
- The central theme of this year’s celebrations is ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’.
- WhatsApp and NITI Aayog partner to promote women entrepreneurs in India
- NITI Aayog and Facebook-owned WhatsApp, under the aegis of its Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), have announced a partnership to support the growth of a robust ecosystem to promote women entrepreneurs in India.
- They will announce an annual calendar of events aimed at capacity building of women entrepreneurs.
- The initiative would target the registered users of WEP.
- WhatsApp will also partner with the Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards 2019, the flagship initiative of NITI Aayog.
- WhatsApp has decided to provide support amounting to $100,000 to WTI winners.
- UP becomes No. 1 in implementation of Pradhanamntri Suraksha Beema Yojna
- Uttar Pradesh has become number one in implementation of Pradhanamntri Suraksha Beema Yojna in the country.
- 95 crores people have been given insurance cover under the scheme till 31 march 2019.
- The implementation of this ambitious central government scheme started in the state from January 2018 under which people between the age group of 18 to 70 get an accidental insurance cover of rupees 2 lakh by paying a nominal premium of 12 rupees annually.
- Railway’s first printing press heritage gallery opened
- The Western Railway (WR) has thrown open to the public the first printing press heritage gallery of the Indian Railways at Mahalaxmi, Mumbai.
- Western Railway Mahalaxmi General Stores Depot (GSD) has become the first in Indian Railways to portray a heritage gallery of the printing and allied machines used in the Western Railway Printing Press since 1948, which are still in working condition.
- Parcel waybills and railway receipts for all zonal railways of India, along with stationery and money value items required for the Western Railway were printed at this press.
- Centre has approved Deep Ocean Mission
- Centre has approved the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences’ Deep Ocean Mission (DOM). The project plans to explore the deepest recesses of the ocean. It is afive year The cost estimated for the project is Rs.8,000 crore.
- DOM will commence from October 31, 2019. A blueprint of the programme was unveiled by the Ministry last July. One of the proposals is offshore desalination plantthat will work with tidal energy. The projects also proposes to develop a submersible vehicle that can go to a depth of at least 6,000 metres with three people on board.
- The main objective of the mission is to explore the deep ocean. The mission aims to look for metals and minerals. For this project, India has been allotted a site of 75,000 sq. km. in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB)by the UN International Sea Bed Authority for exploitation of polymetallic nodules (PMN). Various estimations says that 380 million metric tonnes of polymetallic nodules are available at the bottom of the seas in the Central Indian Ocean. India’s Exclusive Economic Zone spreads over 2.2 million sq. km. and in the deep sea, lies unexplored and unutilised.
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