WHY IN NEWS?

• World football body, FIFA has unveiled the official mascot of the U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 “Ibha” an Asiatic lioness representing women power.
• The tournament will be held in India from October 11-30 next year. The announcement coincided with the International Day of the Girl Child.
• According to a release issued by the global body, Ibha aims to inspire women and girls across India and around the world to realise their potential.
• Ibha is a strong, playful and charming Asiatic lioness that aims to inspire and encourage women and girls by using teamwork, resilience, kindness and empowering others.

WHY IN NEWS?

• The 2021 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Report was jointly released by UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).
• The report provides estimates on multidimensional poverty across 109 developing countries (with data from surveys ranging 2009-2019/2020); These include 26 low-income countries, 80 middle-income countries and 3 high-income countries.
• The index measures each person’s deprivations across 10 indicators divided into three equally weighted dimensions.

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) KV Subramanian has decided to return to academia after the completion of his three-year term in the Finance Ministry of India.
• KV Subramanian had taken over the charge of Chief Economic Adviser on December 7, 2018. The appointment was made nearly five months after his predecessor Arvind Subramanian had stepped down.

WHY IN NEWS?

• The unique clove spice grown in the hills of Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu has been awarded a geographical indication (GI) as ‘Kanyakumari clove’.
• In India, the total production of cloves is 1,100 metric tons and of this, 1,000 metric tons is produced in Tamil Nadu every year while 750 metric tons of cloves are produced in the Kanyakumari district alone.
• Apart from this, the traditional dye-painted figurative and patterned cloth called Karuppur kalamkari paintings and the wood carvings of Kallakurichi from Tamil Nadu have also received GI tags.

WHY IN NEWS?

• Secretary DDR&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy has been conferred the prestigious Aryabhata Award by the Astronautical Society of India (ASI) for his outstanding lifetime contribution to the promotion of astronautics in India.
• Dr Reddy is a pioneer in the area of R&D of advanced avionics, navigation, and missile technologies. Dr Reddy has contributed immensely to strategic and tactical missile systems and helped the country become self-reliant in critical defence technologies.
• He is an institution builder and has set up mechanisms to establish robust defence development and production ecosystem.

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2021 with one half to David Card (University of California, Berkeley, USA) “for his empirical contributions to labour economics”.
• The other half jointly to Joshua Angrist (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA) and Guido Imbens (Stanford University, USA) “for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships”.
• The Prize in Economic Sciences is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, according to the same principles as for the Nobel Prizes that have been awarded since 1901.

WHY IN NEWS?

• The nine-day floral festival has begun in Telangana. The festival began with excitement as the women were dressed in traditional clothes and colourful processions were carried out in Telangana, the Bathukamma festival is celebrated during Durga Navratri.
• Bathukamma festival begins on the day of Mahalaya Amavasya and the festival continues till nine days, ending on the day of Durgashtami.

WHY IN NEWS?

• Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has flagged off the Doon Drone Mela 2021 in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Minister flagged off the event with a paragliding demonstration and also interacted with the drone companies exhibiting their prototypes at the Doon Drone Mela.
• The day marked the demonstration of the Drone & Aerosports Demonstrations that included a paragliding demonstration by the Border Security Force, a Paramotor demonstration by Harsh Sachan, and an agriculture spraying drone demonstration by IoTechWorld Aviation & Dhaksha.

WHY IN NEWS?

Former chief of State Bank of India, Rajnish Kumar, has joined the Board of BharatPe as chairman.

About:

• Rajnish Kumar will get involved in defining the short-term and long-term strategies of companies.
• He will also work closely with other Board Members and chief experience officer (CXOs) on key regulatory and business initiatives.
• BharatPe-Centrum Capital received an in-principal approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a small finance bank which will take over the Punjab Maharashtra Bank.

Function as chairman of BharatPe

As the chairman of BharatPe, Rajnish Kumar will advise and counsel the management of BharatPe regarding the matters on business performance as well as corporate governance.

Term as Chairman

Rajnish Kumar completed his term as chairman of India’s largest lender SBI in October 2020. Currently, he is working as advisor (resource raising) to the Andhra Pradesh government. He also serves as an independent non-executive director at HSBC Bank, L&T infotech and Asia.

Term as Managing director

Rajnish Kumar has also served as the managing director of National Banking Group, and managing director (Compliance & Risk) of State Bank of India. The senior bank official had also headed the Capital Markets Ltd as managing director and chief executive officer of State Bank of India.

About Rajnish Kumar

He is an Indian banker, holding the position of Chairman of SBI. He became chairman of SBI on October 7, 2017. His three-year term ended on October 6, 2020. He is the Probationary officer of 1980 batch.

WHY IN NEWS?

The traditional dye-painted figurative called Karuppur Kalamkari Paintings, and Kallakuruchi wood carvings have received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

About:

• Kallakuruchi wood carvings is done using pens, palm stem, date trees, brushes made of bamboo stick and coconut tree stems.
• This certificate was issued the Geographical Indications Registry on the basis of an application filed by Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation (Poompuhar).

About Kalamkari

The Karuppur Kalamkari Paintings are done in Thanjavur region. These are traditional dye-painted figurative and patterned clothes. They are made for temples like ceiling cloth, cylindrical hangings, umbrella covers and chariot covers. Thanjavur tradition of Kalamkari had canopies, umbrella covers, thombai (cylindrical hangings), and ‘thoranams’ (door hangings) comprising of motifs of yazhi, peacock, swan, flowers, and images of deities. They are used in temples and mutts.

Background of Kalamkari

Artisans from Sikkalnaikkanpettai near Kumbakonam have been practicing this traditional art form for many generations. Artisans enjoyed royal patronage in times of yore. Presently, this traditional art form is practised at Karuppur in Udayarpalayam taluk of Ariyalur district as well as in villages around Sikkalnaikkapettai and Tiruppanandal in Thanjavur district.

Kallakurichi Wood Carvings

These carvings are done for designs and ornaments. These are indigenous to Madurai region.

Geographical Indication

GI is a tag used to identify products originating from a definite geographical territory and have some special characteristics. The tag is governed by Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 in India. The Geographical Indications Registry, Chennai issues these tags. The tag is valid for a period of 10 years. It is also a part of the “Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)” by World Bank.