• Over 260 people were detained in Tripura recently during a 12-hour statewide strike called by the Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF) to press for the introduction of Roman script for Kokborok, state’s indigenous lingua franca.
• Tripura’s script debate centring on Kokborok is several decades old.

ABOUT KOKBOROK LANGUAGE

• It belongs to Tibeto-Burman family of languages and has close affinity with other language family like Bodo, Garo, Dimasa etc.
• Kokborok was first recognised as an official state language of the state in 1979.
• It is also declared as official language of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council.
• The language is spoken by many of Tripura’s 19 tribal communities as their first language.
  • Tripura has nearly 30 per cent of its 37 lakh population from the tribal communities.
• It is recognised as an official language in the state under its three-language policy and is accepted as a medium of communication by other tribal communities of the state, but it does not have a script.
• The government set up two commissions under former legislator Shyama Charan Tripura and linguist Pabitra Sarkar to decide the script for it.

• India’s first indigenously developed nuclear power plant unit , 700 MWe Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant Unit-3, in Gujarat has started operations at full capacity.
• The Kakrapar Unit-3 is an expansion of the existing nuclear power plant, which already had two operational units, KAPS-1 and KAPS-2, each with a capacity of around 220 MWe (megawatts electrical).

• KAPP-3 is the country’s first 700 MWe unit and the biggest indigenously developed variant of the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR).
• The third unit is larger and more advanced compared to the first two.
  • Another unit (KAPP 4) has also been constructed and operation here is expected to begin by March 2024.
• As per the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited or NPCIL, which operates the nuclear plants in the country, KAPP-3 and 4 are India’s first pair of indigenously designed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 700 MW unit size with enhanced safety features.

• Surgical oncologist Ravi Kannan, Director of the Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (CCHRC) in Assam, is one of the four winners of the 2023 Ramon Magsaysay Award and the only one from India.
• He is credited with revolutionising cancer treatment in Assam through people-centric and pro-poor healthcare.
• Under Dr. Kannan’s leadership, the CCHRC became a full-fledged comprehensive cancer hospital and research centre.
• Dr Kannan was also honoured with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, for his contribution towards the health sector in 2020.

ABOUT RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD

• It is often called the “Nobel Prize of Asia.”
• It was established in 1957 and named after Ramon Magasaysay, the third president (1953-57) of Philippines.
• Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) honours individuals or organizations in Asia every year for social contribution activities.
• Awardees are presented with a certificate, a medallion with an embossed image of Ramon Magsaysay and cash prize.

• Sree Narayan Guru’s 169^th birth anniversary was observed recently.

ABOUT SREE NARAYANA GURU

• He was a 19^th century spiritual guru and social reformer.
• He was born in 1856 into a backward Ezhava family in an era when people from such communities faced social injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala.
• He became one of the greatest proponents and re-evaluators of Advaita Vedanta, the principle of non-duality put forward by Adi Shankara.
• Sree Narayana Guru had propagated the message of ‘One Caste, One Religion and One God for Mankind’.
• In 1888, he built a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva at Aruvippuram which was against the caste-based restrictions of the time.
• In 1903, he established the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) as the founder and president.
• He also led the ‘Vaikom Satyagraha’ in 1923-24 to protest movement against caste discrimination, untouchability, and inequality.
• In a temple he consecrated at Kalavancode, he kept mirrors instead of idols to symbolize that the divine was within each individual.
• He also Guru founded the Sivagiri foundation in 1924 to promote the virtues of cleanliness, education, devotion, agriculture, handicrafts, and trade.
• Literary contribution– Advaitha Deepika, Asrama, Thevarappathinkangal, Brahmavidya Panchakam

• The Himachal Government has accorded approval to the detailed project report (DPR) of the proposed Chamba-Chowari tunnel beneath Jot Pass.
• The Chamba-Chuwari tunnel would provide a better opportunity to the Aspirational Chamba district and give it much-needed fillip in terms of development activities besides empowering people economically.

ABOUT JOT PASS

• Jot Pass stands at a height of 2880 meters above the sea level.
• Jot Pass overlooks the Chuwadi Valley and it is 23 kilometers away from the top of the Pass.
• Jot is one of the highest altitude tourist destinations in Chamba and is located on the Pathankot-Nurpur-Chowari-Chamba stretch.

• National Nutrition Week is an annual event in India that takes place from 1^st to 7^th
• It is commemorated to raise public awareness of the importance of nutrition.
• In 1982, National Nutrition Week was first celebrated in India.
• The theme of Nutrition Month 2023, according to UNICEF, is “Healthy Diet Going Affordable for All”.
• In India, September is celebrated as the National Nutrition Month or Rashtriya Poshan Maah.

• Facebook parent Meta has shut down a so-called “Spamouflage” campaign to covertly boost China’s image on its platforms.
• Meta said it removed some 7,700 Facebook accounts plus hundreds of other pages, groups and Instagram accounts that pushed pro-China narratives online.
• The accounts typically praised China and its policies in Xinjiang, and criticized the United States, Western foreign policy, and individuals critical of Beijing, including journalists.
• Similarities were found with the Russian network that Meta first exposed in 2019 which was later dubbed “Secondary Infektion”.

• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the US Department of Energy held a meeting recently to launch the new US-India Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP) under Strategic Clean Energy Partnership.
• The RETAP was established to further bilateral collaboration with a result-oriented, time-bound technology focus.
• DOE and MNRE outlined an Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP). Work is guided by five themes:
  • Research and Development,
  • Piloting and Testing of Innovative Technologies,
  • Advanced Training and Skill Development,
  • Policy and Planning for Advancing RET and
  • Enabling Technologies, Investment, Incubation and Outreach programmes.
• RETAP’s initial focus is to be on green/clean hydrogen, wind energy, and duration energy storage and to explore geothermal energy, ocean/tidal energy and other emerging technologies as mutually determined in the future.

• Prototype of World’s 1st BS-6 Stage-II, Electrified Flex fuel vehicle, developed by Toyota Kirloskar Motor was launched recently.
• It is based on the Innova Hycross and is engineered to adhere to India’s stricter emission standards.

ABOUT ELECTRIC FLEX FUEL VEHICLE

• An Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicle has both a Flexi Fuel engine and an electric powertrain.
• This gives it ability to provide dual benefit of higher ethanol use and much higher fuel efficiency as is in case of a Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicle (SHEV), which can provide 30-50% higher Fuel Efficiency as it can run 40-60% in EV mode with engine shut off.

• A Super Blue moon was witnessed recently in August.
• Super blue moons occur on average every 10 years, according to NASA.
• The next Super Blue moon will occur in January 2037.
• A super blue moon occurs with convergence of 3 lunar occurrences – a full Moon, a Supermoon, and a blue Moon.
• Blue moon refers to the second full moon within a single month—a rare event since full moons typically occur once a month. When a season experiences four full moons, the third full moon is deemed the blue moon.
• Supermoons occur when the moon passes through its perigee, or the point that takes it closest to Earth during its elliptical orbit.
  • This makes it look about 14% bigger and 30% brighter compared to when it is at its furthest point (apogee) and a touch brighter.