Why in news?

• An architect Diebedo Francis Kere from Burkina Faso ,West Africa became the first African to win the 51st Pritzker Architecture Prize 2022. It’s a most prestigious honour in the field of architecture.
• In 2021 Jean-Philippe Vassal, a French architect won the 50th Pritzker Architecture Prize.
• Balkrishna Doshi is the first Indian winner of the 2018 Pritzker Prize.

About Pritzker Architecture Prize:

• It is granted annually and is often referred to as “architecture’s Nobel”.
• It was first awarded in 1979.
• It is sponsored by Hyatt Foundation.

Why in news?

• The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Mastercard have partnered to promote digital empowerment of women in India through ‘Project Kirana’, a digital financial literacy programme for women entrepreneurs in India.
• Objective: To increase the revenue of the women-owned-and-operated kirana shops and also expand their financial inclusion and enable them to adopt digital tools like digital payments etc.
• USAID and Mastercard will support women participants to build financial and digital literacy skills.
• The customized training on business and financial management, and leadership development will be provided to the beneficiaries.
• Mastercard and USAID will also address the gender gaps that limit the ability for women-owned businesses to flourish.

About Project Kirana:

• Project Kirana is a two year programme implemented by DAI and ACCESS Development Services started in November 2020.
• It is working in some selected cities like Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh.
• It provides assistance to women to prepare basic business management skills such as sales, accounting, budget management, and insurance to become successful kirana entrepreneurs.
• It witnessed the participation of more than 2,100 women in the project.

Why in news?

• Recently West Bengal celebrated the ‘Dol Utsav’ or ‘Dol jatra, the festival of colors, marking the onset of spring season.
• The festival is dedicated to Lord Krishna and Radha and celebrated on the full moon day.
• It also marks the last festival of the year as per the Bengali calendar.
• The majestic festival is celebrated by throwing ‘gulaal’ or ‘aabir’ on others and by singing and dancing in cultural programs.
• In Eastern region of India, the festival of spring is celebrated as Dol Tatra, Dol Purnima, Dol Utsav and Basanta Utsay.
• Other Popular spring festival of India:
• Rongali Bihu – the spring festival of Assam,It signifies the onset of the Assamese New Year.
• Sarhul – the spring festival of Jharkhand

Why in news?

• Telangana turned out to be the first state in India to adopt the Crop Diversification Index (CDI) by way of recording their crop diversification pattern in the form of an index. According to the CDI, Telangana grows 77 varieties of crops, out of which only 10 crops (mostly grains) are chosen for crop diversification.
• The districts of Nirmal, Vikarabad, and Sangareddy emerge as the most diverse, ranking in the top 3 in the state.
• The least diversified districts (bottom 3) in the state in terms of crop diversification would be Peddapalli, Karimnagar, and Suryapet, where paddy is the most cultivated crop, showing a decrease in the cropping areas of maize and an increase in the cropping areas of cotton.

About Crop Diversification Index (CDI)

• All the areas under the 77 different crops, which include food, non-food, and cash crops, as well as the areas under floriculture practices, have been considered to calculate the index.
• The index has a starting value of ONE representing the percentage of total cultivated area devoted to a single crop.
• Many districts in the state have index values ranging from 0 to 5, and the higher the value, the greater the agricultural diversification.
• The index would serve as the baseline for future crop diversification in the state.
• Next to paddy and maize, which are the traditionally grown crops in the state, pulses were the most preferred crops by the farmers.

Why in news?

• Recently , American Astrophysicist Eugene Newman Parker (Eugene Parker), who contributed to the solar physics, has passed away at the age of 94 at a retirement community in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America(USA).
• He was born on 10th June 1927 in Houghton, Michigan, USA.

About Eugene Parker:

• Eugene Parker witnessed the launch of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Parker Solar Probe in 2018, the first NASA Mission named after a living person and became the first person to witness the launch of a spacecraft named after them.
• He was a visionary in the field of heliophysics, which focuses on the study of the sun and other stars & he is well known for this theory on the existence of solar wind, a supersonic flow of particles off the sun’s surface.
• He virtually created the field of heliophysics in the 1950s.

Why in news?

• The State Bank of India (SBI) will set up an Innovation, Incubation and Acceleration Centre (IIAC) at Hyderabad, Telangana which will be operational in six to nine months of on-boarding a consultant.
• This Centre will be the bank’s in-house capability to enhance its current performance and drive higher top-line growth through innovation.
• Features of IIAC:
• It will help the bank to develop a set of technologies, knowledge, and skills for the introduction of new products and services.
• It will act as a central body to govern and drive fin-tech partnerships and implement change across the bank.
• It will explore emerging innovations, market shifts or technologies that could impact the bank’s status quo; pursue large-scale initiatives, will redefine the existing business or create a new business unit or division for the bank; and transfer innovation from prototype to project/product that can be monetised by the bank.

Why in news?

• The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have signed a new agreement to boost decent work and reinforce a humanistic-based revival from the COVID-19 pandemic in the aviation industry.
• The agreement has a five-year duration and is renewable.
• This agreement will renew the 1953 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the possible establishment of a joint aviation commission and acts as a follow-up to the request made by ILO constituents during the 2013 Global Dialogue Forum on the Effects of the Global Economic Crisis on the Civil Aviation Industry to refurbish cooperation between the two agencies.
• Significance:
• The renewed collaboration between the ILO and the ICAO focuses to guarantee a safe, strong, inclusive and sustainable COVID-19 recovery in the aviation industry.
• Given the serious challenges posed by the pandemic to workers and their rights in the aviation industry, this agreement will be a timely step toward establishing a socially sustainable recovery and decent work in the industry.
• The agreement complies with the ICAO Assembly’s Resolutions on the United Nations Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and gender equality and commits to collaborating with the UN system to enhance aviation’s contributions to sustainable development, forming a steadfast leadership and committing to advancing women’s rights.

About International Labour Organization (ILO):

• ILO is the only tripartite United Nations agency that brings together governments, employers, and workers from 187 member countries.
• India is a founder member of the International Labour Organization.
• ILO was established in 1919 and it is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

About International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

• A United Nations (UN) specialized agency established in the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention – 1944) to achieve long-term growth of the global civil aviation system.
• Established in 1947 and 193 Member States.
• Headquarters – Montreal, Canada.

Why in news?

• Recently, the world’s most advanced Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) powered by Hydrogen, Toyota Mirai, was launched in India by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in New Delhi, Delhi. It runs on fully hydrogen generated electricity.
• This launch is a pilot project taking place in Delhi by Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (TKM) and International Center for Automotive Technology (ICAT) to study and evaluate this FCEV on Indian roads and climatic conditions.
• This is also a first of its kind project in India aiming to create a Green Hydrogen based ecosystem by raising awareness about the utility of Green Hydrogen and FCEV technology.
• Green hydrogen can be generated from renewable energy and abundantly available biomass.
• FCEV is one of the best Zero Emission solutions.

About Toyota Mirai:

• Powered by a hydrogen fuel cell battery pack, it is capable of providing a range up to 650 km in a single charge, with a refuelling time of five minutes. The powertrain breaks the hydrogen into water and oxygen to generate energy from it. In Japanese, the word ‘Mirai’ means ‘future’.
• Toyota Mirai was launched in 2014 and was one of the world’s first hydrogen fuel EV.
• Now, this new launch in India is second generation (introduced globally in 2020), with a 30% increase in range, better handling and sharper styling. Its iteration will be built in TKM’s plant in Karnataka.
• The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) will be supplying Hydrogen for this vehicle.
• The launch of the EV, and adoption of green hydrogen technology will cater to India’s initiative of becoming ‘Energy Self-reliant’ by 2047 as it will promote clean energy, affordable energy and environmental protection by reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
• It is completely environment friendly with no tailpipe emissions other than water.

Why in news?

• The Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India, has announced that it has become the country’s largest coal producer. In the financial year 2021-22, the company reported it produced 157 million tonnes of coal.
• The business also generated 62 lakh tonnes of dry fuel on March 12. In a statement, the corporation stated that it was the largest production in a single day during the current fiscal year.
• MCL has delivered over 166 MT dry fuel to consumers, a 22 percent increase over the previous financial year, and has removed 195 MCuM (million cubic metres) of overburden, a 19 percent increase over the previous financial year, according to a statement.

Why in news?

• Recently information was given by Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences on achievements under National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical system
• About National Mission On Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical system
• The NM-ICPS is a comprehensive Mission which would address technology development, application development, human resource development & skill enhancement, entrepreneurship and start-up development in Cyber Physical System (CPS) and associated technologies.
• The Mission aims at establishment of 15 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH), six Application Innovation Hubs (AIH)and four Technology Translation Research Parks (TTRP).
• These Hubs & TTRPs will connect to Academics, Industry, Central Ministries and State Government in developing solutions at reputed academic, R&D and other organizations across the country in a hub and spoke model.
• The Hubs & TTRPs have four focused areas along which the Mission implementation would proceed, namely:
• Technology Development,
• HRD & Skill Development,
• Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Start-ups Ecosystem Development, and
• International Collaborations.

Cyber-Physical Systems

• Cyber-physical systems integrate sensing, computation, control and networking into physical objects and infrastructure, connecting them to the Internet and to each other.
• Few Potential applications: Driverless carst hat communicate securely with each other on smart roads, Sensors in the home to detect changing health conditions, improving agricultural practices and enabling scientists to address issues arising out of climate change etc.
• Advances in cyber-physical systems will enable capability, adaptability, scalability, resiliency, safety, security and usability that will far exceed the simple embedded systems of today.