UTTAR PRADESH
Uttar Pradesh CM launches ‘kalanamak’ rice festival, hails research
Amidst multiple initiatives to promote local agri products, the state government on Saturday launched a ‘kalanamak’ rice festival in Siddharth Nagar. Inaugurating the programme virtually from Lucknow, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, even though historical records mention farming of ‘kalanamak’ rice in the area since 600 BC, its unviability forced farmers to shift to other crops. “Currently, the variety is being grown on 5,000 hectares in just Siddharth Nagar, due to efforts of our government,” he said.
Earlier, kalanamak rice was grown, but yield was less. Over the years, investment costs too spiralled and farmers did not find it viable. “Research and innovation increased yield, while reducing investment,” he said.
In 2018, the state government included ‘kalanamak’ rice in the ‘one district-one product’ scheme and provided marketing, branding and technical support to farmers to give them a bigger platform to sell their produce. PUSA Institute, Delhi, and Acharya Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology, Ayodhya, have been researching on ‘kalanamak’ rice and provided significant inputs to raise its viability.
INTERNATIONAL
Pi Day is on 14th March
Pi Day is celebrated on March 14, commemorating Pi (the Greek letter π). This idea originated in the United States. In the United States, it is agreed to write the date in a format that represents March 14th as 3/14. These three numbers match the value of pi to up to two decimal places, which is 3.14. Highlights:
Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter of the circle. Pi is also the area of the circle divided by the square of its radius. The ratio is always constant.
Pi is an irrational number, represented by the symbol “π”.
Pi is used in geometry, trigonometry, physics, astronomy, and other sciences. It appears in various formulas. Several important formulas are:
The area of the circle is πr2.
The volume of the cylinder is πr2h.
The surface area of the ball is 4πr2.
The volume of the sphere is 4/3 (πr3).
The volume of the cone is 1/3 (πr2h).
Indias Foreign Exchange Reserves Now World’s Fourth Largest
:India’s foreign exchange trading has become the world’s fourth largest foreign exchange. Highlights:
India’s foreign exchange reserves surpass Russia, becoming the world’s fourth largest foreign exchange reserves.
India’s reserves are sufficient to cover approximately 18 months of imports, thanks to the scarce current account surplus, funds flowing into the local stock market and the increase in foreign direct investment.
As of now, India’s foreign currency holdings had decreased by US$4.3 billion to US$580.3 billion.
China has the largest foreign exchange reserves, followed by Japan and Switzerland on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) table.
NATIONAL
Report by Index Monitoring Cell
The Index Monitoring Cell (IMC) submitted its report to the center. Highlights: Key recommendations: Before submitting to the FIR for media or publications, the approval of the Press Council of India should be obtained.
About the Index Monitoring Cell: Established in 2020 by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Its task is to improve India’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index and develop objective standards for measuring media freedom. The group will also establish a mechanism for States to propose their own levels of press freedom.
Composition of the IMC: In addition to the Secretary of the Press Council of India and Niti Aayog, it will include the Director of the Press and Information Bureau, the Director of the Registrar of Indian Newspapers, the Bureau of Publicity and Communications, and officials from the Press Promotion Agency.
Panel On Mythical Sarasvati River
The center has reorganized an advisory committee to develop a plan to study the fabulous Sarasvati River in the next two years after the earlier panel of experts ended in 2019. ASI established the committee for the first time on December 28, 2017, for a period of two years. About Saraswati:
Saraswati river originated in Kapal tirith in Himalayas in the western part of Kailash, flows south to Mansarovar, and then turns west.
The river flows through Haryana, Rajasthan and North Gujarat.
It also flows through Pakistan, and then merges with the West Sea through the Rann of Kutch.
This river has two branches: west and east. Satluj, in the Himalayas, flows through the current Ghaggar-Patialiwali creek, representing the western branch of the ancient river.
On the other hand, Markanda and Sarsuti represent the western branch of Saraswati, namely Tons-Yamuna.
The confluence of the branches is near Shatrana, 25 kilometers south of Patiala. Suddenly, it flows past dessert (Rann of Kutch) and meets the bay of the West Sea.
New Scheme Announced For Tourist Vehicle Operators
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has announced a new scheme under which any tourist vehicle operator can apply for an “All India Travel Authorization/Permit” online. Highlights:
After submitting the relevant documents and paying the fee, the permit will be issued within 30 days after submitting such an application.
The new regulations are called “All Indian Tourist Vehicle Authorization and Licensing Rules for 2021” and will be applied in April 2021.
The scheme will also integrate a central database and all such authorization/permit fees, which may give visitors a sense of movement, improve and promote tourism.
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