• PM has recently said that the new Mega Textile Park at Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh will strengthen Make in India and will create new job opportunities for the youth.
• The Centre has selected sites in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to set up new textile parks under the PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme.
• PM MITRA Park will be developed by a Special Purpose Vehicle which will be owned by the Central govt (49%) and State govt.(51%) and in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Mode.
• It will offer the opportunity to create an Integrated Textiles Value Chain right from spinning, weaving, processing/dyeing and printing to garment manufacturing etc. at one location and will reduce the logistics cost of the Industry.
• Each MITRA Park will have an incubation centre, common processing house and a common effluent treatment plant and other textile related facilities such as design centres and testing centres.

FUNDING

• The parks will be set up by 2026-27.
• The total outlay for the project is Rs 4,445 crore, though the initial allocation in the 2023-24 Budget is only Rs 200 crore.
• The Ministry of Textiles (nodal ministry) will disburse Development Capital Fund of ₹500 crore in two tranches for each of the seven facilities.
• A Competitive Incentive Support upto Rs 300 crore per park to the units in PM MITRA Park shall also be provided to incentivise speedy implementation.

• The light tank Zorawar being jointly developed jointly by the DRDO and private sector firm L & T is expected to be ready for trials in the high-altitude mountainous border with China by the end of 2023.

About Zorawar Tank

• It is an indigenously designed and developed Light Tank.
• It is designed to operate in varying terrain from high altitude areas and marginal terrains to island territories.
• It will be highly transportable for rapid deployment to meet any operational situation.
• Zorawar will have niche technologies to include Artificial Intelligence, Drone integration, Active Protection System, High Degree of Situational Awareness and amphibious operation capability.
  • An active protection system is designed to protect vehicles from anti-tank guided missiles and projectiles away from combat vehicles.
• It will weigh less than 25 tonnes with a high power-to-weight ratio as well as superior firepower and protection.
• The tank has been named after the legendary General Zorawar Singh Kahluria who led multiple successful victories in Tibet.
  • He was a military general who had served under Jammu’s Raja Gulab Singh in the 19^th

• A tiger cub was recently found dead with injuries in Bandhavgarh toger reserve.

ABOUT BANDHAVGARH TIGER RESERVE

• It is located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh and is spread over the Vindhya hills.
• It was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993.
• The national park consists of a core area of 105 sq km and a buffer area of approximately 400 sq km.
• The national park was the former hunting preserve of the Maharaja of Rewa and at present is a famous natural hub for White Tigers.
  • White Tigers, were first discovered in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh not far from here.
• The name Bandhavgarh given to the reserve is due to the presence of an ancient fort which is believed to be gifted by Lord Rama, to his younger brother Lakshmana
• Bandhavgarh is specially filled with Sal forest in the valleys, and Bamboo stretches on the lower slopes. Other tree species include Saj, Dhaora, Tendu, Arjun, Amla, Palas etc.
• Fauna consists of chital, sambhar, barking deer, nilgai, chinkara, wild pig, chowsingha, langur, rhesus macaque, tiger, leopard, wild dog, wolf and jackal.

• A full grown rhino died after in an infighting incident with another rhino Orang national Park and Tiger Reserve.

ABOUT ORANG NATIONAL PARK

• It was formerly known as the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park.
• It is located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts of Assam.
• It was established as a sanctuary in 1985 and declared a National Park in April 1999.
• It is the 49^th Tiger Reserve of the country, notified in 2016.
• It is also known as the mini Kaziranga National Park since the two parks have a similar landscape made up of marshes, streams and grasslands
• It is known for its population of Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros and the Royal Bengal Tiger.
• It is the only stronghold of rhinoceros on the north bank of the Brahmaputra
• Other species include
  • pygmy hog, elephants, wild buffalo, Indian rock python
  • Bird species include- Spot Billed Pelican, White Pelican, Greater Adjutant Stork, Brahminy Duck, Bengal Florican
• Flora: The park is rich in vegetation of forests, natural forest, grasses, and aquatic and non-aquatic plants. Example- Bombax ceiba, Dalbergia sissoo, Sterculia villosa, Trewia nudiflora, Zizyphus jujuba and Litsea monopetala etc.

• PM Modi called Small Island nations of the Pacific Ocean as “large ocean states”, recently highlighting the importance of the 14 members of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC).
• The 3^rd forum for India-Pacific islands co-operation (FIPIC Summit) was held at Port Moresby
  • It was jointly hosted by India with Papua New Guinea.

ABOUT FORUM FOR INDIA-PACIFIC ISLANDS COOPERATION (FIPIC)

• FIPIC is a multinational grouping for cooperation between India and 14 Pacific Islands nations. These are-
  • Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and
• FIPIC, or the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation, was established by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2014.
• The FIPIC initiative marks a serious effort to expand India’s engagement in the Pacific region.
• A major part of India’s engagement with these countries is through development assistance under South-South Cooperation, mainly in capacity building (training, scholarships, grant-in-aid and loan assistance) and community development projects.

• Himachal Pradesh’s unique Kangra tea has become the second product of the country to get registered with the European Commission (EC) as a protected Geographical Indication (GI), paving the way for its sale in European countries.
• The registration was an important tool to recognise the quality, genuineness, and reputation of the product in the European markets.
• It would boost the sale of Kangra tea and would eventually benefit tea growers in Palampur, Baijnath, Kangra, and Dharamshala in Kangra district, Jogindernagar of Mandi district and Bhattiyat area of Chamba district.
• The Kangra tea — known for its unique taste and fragrance, attributed to its abundant pyrazine contents — was given GI status in the year 2005 by the Registrar of Geographical Indicators, Chennai.

• World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, also known as Diversity Day, is annually celebrated on May 21^st.
• The purpose of the World Day for Cultural Diversity is to celebrate the richness of the world’s cultures and to promote intercultural dialogue.

• Uttarakhand govt. recently inaugurated the innovative “Patch Reporting App”.
• Developed by the Public Works Department, this user-friendly application aims to address the persistent issue of potholes on the state’s roads.
• It offers a convenient platform for citizens to register complaints and provide detailed information about encountered potholes.
• Users can capture photographs of the potholes to supplement their reports.

• Indian author Ruskin Bond’s book titled “The Golden Years: The Many Joys of Living a Good Long Life” was released on 19th May 2023, Bond’s 89th birthday.
• The book is published by HarperCollins India.
• “The Golden Years” focuses on Bond’s experiences during the 60s, 70s and 80s.
• The book is a collection of essays and reflections on aging.

• The Supreme Court made public the report of the court-appointed expert panel in the Hindenburg-Adani row case.

ABOUT JUSTICE A.M. SAPRE COMMITTEE

• It is a six-member expert committee constituted by the Supreme Court in the Hindenburg-Adani allegations case and headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice A.M. Sapre.
  • The other 5 members include veteran bankers V. Kamath and O.P. Bhat, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, retired Justice J.P. Devdhar and advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan.
• The committee gave the Supreme Court a detailed assessment of the situation which could have led to volatility in the securities market due to the Hindenburg-Adani row.
• It found that there was no evidence of a “regulatory failure” on the part of SEBI.
  • But, it acknowledged that there is a need for an effective enforcement policy.