Why in news?

• Assam Chief Minister, presented the country’s highest literary award, the 56th Jnanpith for the year 2021to one of the most celebrated poets of Assam, Nilamani Phookan.
• Nilmani Phookan is the third person to win the Jnanpith Award from Assam after Mamoni Roisom Goswami and Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya. The Award carried a Citation, a shawl, and Rs. 11 lakh.
• The octogenarian was awarded the Padma Shri in 1990 and received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2002. He was selected as an ‘Emeritus Fellow’ for a period of two years by Cultural Department, Govt. of India in 1998. Assam Sahitya Sabha also conferred ‘Sahityacharya’ honour to him. The notable works of Phukan are ‘Xurjya Henu Naami Aahe Ei Nodiyedi’, ‘Kabita’ and ‘Gulapi Jamur Lagna’.

Why in news?

• Every year, April 11is observed as World Parkinson’s Day to raise awareness of Parkinson’s disease, which is a progressive nervous system disorder.
• This year, the theme is integrated healthcare.
• The day marks the birthday of Dr James Parkinson from London, who was the first person to systematically describe the six individuals with the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, the month of April is observed as Parkinson’s Awareness Month.

Why in news?

• India’s first indigenously developed polycentric prosthetic knee – Kadam was launched by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), the Above Knee Prosthesis was developed in association with Society for Biomedical Technology (SBMT) and Mobility India.
• Kadam will help people with above-knee amputees to walk in comfortable gait.
• Kadam has multiple axes hinge joints for rotation which provide greater control over the prosthesis and gives a maximum knee flexion of 160 degrees to make it easy to sit in cramped spaces like buses and autos.
• The design includes high durable stainless steel and aluminium alloy along with hard chrome plated EN8 pins and high fatigue life polymer bushings, which was developed by a team at TTK Centre for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (R2D2) at IIT-M.
• The Kadam prosthetic knee is suitable for both short and long residual limbs after transfemoral (above-knee) amputation and comes with a patented 4-bar geometry that provides stability even on uneven terrain and improved ground clearance.

Why in news?

• Recently, President Ramnath Kovind inaugurated the annual Madhavpur Mela. It is a five-day cultural fair that is held in Madhavpur, the coastal village, located 60 kilometers south of Porbandar.
• This festival celebrates the marriage of Lord Krishna with Rukmini.
• This marriage is said to have taken place in Madhavpur.
• It is said that Rukmini was from the present-day Arunachal Pradesh.
• On Ram Navami, Madhavpur Mela begins.
• Ram Navami is the day that marks the birth of Lord Rama.
• A Madhavrai temple of the 15th-century marks the site of this fair.
• Every year during this event a cultural fair is also held.
• A chariot is decorated colourfully and it carries the idol of Lord Krishna around the village.
• The festivities are usually held for a period of five days.

Why in news?

• Celebrated each year on April 10 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of German physician Dr Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homoeopathy.
• Homeopathy is based on two unconventional theories
  • “Like cures like”—the notion that a disease can be cured by a substance that produces similar symptoms in healthy people.
  • “Law of minimum dose”—the notion that the lower the dose of the medication, the greater its effectiveness.
• Steps taken for promotion by Indian government
  • Creation of AYUSH Ministry
  • Setting up of National Commission of Homeopathy (2021)

Why in news?

• Government has announced that nearly 2,71,000 persons will be trained over five years under the scheme.
• PM-DAKSH yojana is a skill development scheme from Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• Started from 2020-21, it aims to provide free training to persons from SCs/OBCs, Safai Karamcharis etc. through Up-skilling/Reskilling, Short Term Training Programme (focus on self-employment), Long Term Training Programme and Entrepreneurship Development Program.
• Implementation is through 3 Corporations:
  • National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation
  • National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation
  • National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation

Why in news?

• Pinaka Mk-1 (Enhanced) Rocket System (EPRS) and Pinaka Area Denial Munition (ADM) rocket systems have been successfully flight-tested by Defence Research and Development Organisation and Indian Army at Pokhran.
• The new Pinaka ER gives it a range of around 70 km, over the 45 km existing range of the missile which has been with the Indian forces for nearly a decade.
• The Pinaka is a Multi-Barrel Rocket-Launcher (MBRL) system which can fire a salvo of 12 rockets over a period of 44 seconds.

Why in news?

• Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change chaired the 20th NTCA in Arunachal Pradesh.
• It released the three reports
  • Tiger Reintroduction and Supplementation in Wild Protocol
  • Forest Fire Audit protocol for tiger reserve
  • Technical manual on Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of tiger reserve. MEE exercise in tiger reserves was initiated in 2006 and four cycles have been completed.
• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
• It was established in 2005following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
• It was constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972,as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it.
• It approves the Tiger Conservation Plan prepared by the State Governments.

Why in news?

• Centre has reduced the maximum stock limit of raw Jute to 500 quintals for Jute balers (from 750 quintals) and 50 quintals for traders (from 150 quintals).
• It will prevent hoarding of raw jute in the market and ease its supply to mills at a reasonable price.

About Jute

• Jute, also known as golden fibre, is a soft, flexible and hard-wearing bast fibre obtained from the plants Corchorus olitorius (White Jute) and Corchorus capsularis (Tossa Jute).
• It is native to the Indian subcontinent.
• Jute is included in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime of the country.
• Temperature: Between 25-35°C.
• Rainfall: Around 150-250 cm.
• Soil Type: Well-drained alluvial soil.
• Top Jute Producing States: West Bengal > Bihar > Assam > Andhra Pradesh > Odisha.
  • It is mainly concentrated in eastern India because of the rich alluvial soil of Ganga-Brahmaputra delta.
• The world’s largest jute producing countries are India, Bangladesh, China and Thailand.
• India is the largest producer of Jute contributing 50% of raw jute and 40% of jute goods.
• It is known as the golden fibre because it is one of the longest and most used natural fibre for various textile applications.
• It is used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets and other artefacts.
• Due to its high cost, it is losing market to synthetic fibres and packing materials, particularly nylon.

Why in news?

• Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the states of Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand, will hold a meeting on April 26 in Kolkata.
• Idea of zonal council was mooted by the first Prime Minister of India to “develop the habit of cooperative working” among these States.
• Five Zonal Councils were set up vide Part-Ill of the States Re-organisation Act, 1956.
• Chairman – Union Home Minister
• Members-Chief Minister and two other Ministers as nominated by the Governor from each of the States and two members from Union Territories included in the zone.