• The National eGovernance Division (NeGD) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is set to integrate Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) into its existing Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) platform.
• PAL’s software-based approach will allow each student to have an individualised learning experience over the course of the curriculum based on their unique needs and abilities.

ABOUT DIKSHA

• DIKSHA comes under the Ministry of Education.
• It provides e-content for schools via an online portal and a mobile application.
• It also has embedded assistive technologies for learners with visual or hearing impairments.
• However, DIKSHA is a static content repository.
• DIKSHA features digitised National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks used national and State Boards.
• Apart from this, DIKSHA hosts 2.43 lakh contributions by 11,624 academicians by way of teaching videos, explainers, and practice questions.
• The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has sought the MeitY’s expertise in facilitating PAL for DIKSHA.
  • In some States, private players are already administering PAL, which works on AI or Artificial Intelligence, but budget constraints have been an obstacle.

• Villagers in Theerthahalli taluk, Shivamogga district of Karnataka, were treated to a rare sighting of an Asiatic Wild Dog group, also known as Dholes recently.

ABOUT ASIATIC WILD DOG

• Scientific name- Cuon alpinus
• The Asiatic Wild Dog, also known as kadunai, selunai, or the red dog, is an elusive and wolf-like forest-dwelling creature that tends to avoid human contact.
• Its name ‘Seelunai’ is derived from the distinctive whistling sounds it produces.
• These creatures are known to travel in packs and are referred to as Asiatic Wild Dogs (Dhole) in English.
• Global distribution- Majorly found in the forests of central, south, and southeast Asia.
  • In India, they are found in three clusters across India namely the Western and Eastern Ghats, central Indian landscape and North East India.
• Threats– Habitat loss, prey base depletion, Persecution due to livestock predation, disease from domestic dogs etc.
• Conservation status-
  • IUCN red list– Endangered
  • CITES– Appendix II

• The first tranche of loans to fund ongoing projects in tier-2 and tier-3 cities — under the Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) will likely be disbursed soon.
• The fund was announced in the FY24 Budget.
• The fund makes low-cost loans available to 459 tier-2 cities with a population between 1 lakh and 9,99,999 and 580 tier-3 towns with a population between 50,000 and 99,999 as per the 2011 Census.
• The National Housing Bank (NHB) is in charge of executing the UIDF.
• The UIDF funding can be combined with funding under other schemes of the Ministry such as Swachh Bharat Mission and AMRUT.
• Funding
  • Cities can get loans at a rate that is 1.5 % points less than the prevailing bank interest rate. They will have to repay the amount within seven years from the date of withdrawal in five equal instalments, including a two-year moratorium period where interest will have to be paid at the end of each quarter.
  • The amount of the loan will be 90 %, 85 % and 75% for project costs of Rs 5-10 crore, Rs 10-50 crore and Rs 50-100 crore, respectively.
• Projects that can be funded under the UIDF are water supply, sanitation, construction of roads, comprehensive area development, local area planning for decongestion, heritage conservation, town-planning schemes and parks with open gyms that do not involve major construction.
  • Fund cannot be used for maintenance work, administrative expenses, housing, power, telecom, urban transport, health and education projects.

• In a significant stride towards bolstering sustainable agricultural practices and uplifting the livelihoods of natural farmers, the state of Himachal Pradesh is rolling out a Sustainable Food System Platform (SusPNF).
• This collaborative endeavour brings together the expertise of Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni, the State Agriculture Department, and Farmer Producer companies.
• The SusPNF is set to become the first of its kind in the country.
• It is a result of a Memorandum of Association between the University, the State Department of Agriculture’s Prakritik Krishi Khushal Yojana (PK3Y), and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
• The primary goal of this collaboration is to empower natural farmers and drive advancements in the agricultural sector, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for local communities.

• Tharman Shanmugaratnam who is an economist of Indian origin, has emerged victorious in Singapore’s presidential election.
• He received almost 70% of the votes casted.

• Renowned actor R Madhavan has been nominated as the new President of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune.

ABOUT FTII

• The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) was set up by the Government of India in 1960, in the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Studios in Pune.
• It was formerly known the ‘Film Institute of India’. In 1971, FTII came to be known as the ‘Film and Television Institute of India’ (FTII).
• FTII is an Autonomous Society under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, run by a Governing Council and its appointed Director.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has been awarded an ‘A+’ rating in the prestigious Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2023.
• The other Bank Governors who earned an ‘A+’ grade are Thomas J. Jordan (Switzerland), Nguyen Thi Hong (Vietnam).
• The Central Banker Report Cards, published annually by Global Finance since 1994, grade the central bank governors of 101 key countries, territories and districts, including the European Union, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Bank of Central African States and the Central Bank of West African States.

• The Chhattisgarh high court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) that aimed to designate the Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) as a tiger reserve and the Chilpi Range as a buffer zone.
• The court’s decision was primarily based on the failure to comply with legal procedures, including consultation with local Gram Sabhas and obtaining consent from the affected communities.

ABOUT BHORAMDEO WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

• It is located in the Kawardha district of Chhattisgarh and is part of the Maikal Range of the Satpura Hills.
• It shares a border with Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, making it an important tiger habitat in central India.
• Area- 325 sq. km (approx)
• This sanctuary serves as the origin for the Fen and Sankari rivers.
• The Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary holds ecological significance and is home to various tribal communities.
• Flora– sal, saja, tinsa, kara, and haldu.
• Fauna includes wild dogs, sloth bears, sambar deer, barking deer, tigers, leopards, , chital (spotted deer), gaur (Indian bison), and numerous bird and reptile species.

• The North East Regional Centre (NERC) of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (INGCA) staged Malati Mem recently.
• It is a multilingual play based on the life and the revolutionary zeal of Mangri Orang, an Adivasi with roots in central India.

ABOUT MANGRI ORANG

• Mangri Orang is an unsung hero of India’s struggle for freedom from British rule.
• She was a woman labourer in the Lalmati tea garden of Tezpur.
• She was gunned down in 1921 for leading a fight against foreign liquor and opium pushed during the colonial period.
• She is considered to be the first woman martyr of Assam in the freedom struggle.
• Fellow plantation workers used to call her Malati Mem, the second word being a shorter form of memsahib.

• The Supreme Court recently held that a child born of a void or voidable marriage can inherit the parent’s share in a joint Hindu family property governed by the Mitakshara law.
• A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud however clarified that such a child would not be entitled to rights in or to the property of any other person in the family.

ABOUT MITAKASHARA LAW

• The term Mitakshara is derived from the name of a commentary written by Vijnaneswara, on the Yajnavalkya Smriti.
• It is a Hindu law school that governs the succession of property in a Hindu Undivided Families (HUF).
• The Mitakshara school of thought holds that the son, grandson, and grandson’s son have a right to the family property through birth.
• Mitakashara law of succession governing HUF applies to the whole of India except West Bengal and Assam.