• As part of its larger Makerspace initiative, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay opened its first micro-factories ‘Kadayam S. Srinivasan’ and ‘Harivallabh Nagar’ which will expose undergraduate students to state-of-the-art thematic labs and the latest design and manufacturing practices.
• The two micro-factories, which were formally inaugurated on the IIT-B campus, provide advanced facilities on par with those found in real-world industrial setups to enable the students to have hands-on learning and transform their academic experience. In addition to core academic activities, students will also use these micro-factories for a wide range of co-curricular projects.
• The micro-factories are a first-of-its-kind initiative at the undergraduate level by the Institute and form an integral part of IIT Bombay’s overall Makerspace initiative.
• The micro-factories are equipped with 3D printers, laser-cutters, forming machines, advanced mechanical tools, electronics setups and the latest modelling software that students can leverage to enhance their research studies.
• The two new facilities will be accessible to students, as well as faculty across various departments and will be multi-disciplinary.

• Researchers have identified genes in Africa’s local food crops that can improve resistance to drought.
• Orphan crops are nutritious local food crops that could play a crucial role in combating hunger.
• These crops are not traded internationally but have adapted themselves to grow in harsh weather conditions.
• Examples of Orphan crops are finger millets, little millet; African yam bean, jojoba and jatropha.

Significance of this Research:

• Incorporating these genes through hybridisation might improve crop yield that is affected by increasing global temperatures and heatwaves.
• According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimation, Countries like India and Pakistan are also likely to be affected by the prolonged heatwave.
• The UN body is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues.

• India ranks third in the global Startup ecosystem and also in terms of the number of Unicorns. As per the latest data, there are currently 105 unicorns out of which 44 were born in 2021 and 19 in 2022.
• The 49 per cent of the startups are from tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
• The startups are emerging in the fields like IT, agriculture, aviation, education, energy, health and space sectors.
• India has created a massive jump in its global ranking of Global Innovation Index (GII) from 81st in the year 2015 to 46th in 2021 among 130 economies of the world.
• India ranks 2nd among 34 lower middle-income economies and 1st among 10 Central and Southern Asian economies in terms of GII.
• The consistent improvement in the GII ranking is owing to the immense knowledge capital, the vibrant startup ecosystem, and some outstanding work done by the public and private research organisations.

• A MoU has been signed between National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) with an objective to make India the ‘Skill Capital of the world’.
• The MoU was signed between Managing Director (MD), NHIDCL and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NSDC, which is expected to play a significant role in realizing the aims and objectives of Prime Minister’s skill development program.
• The MoU provides a formal basis of interaction between NHIDCL and NSDC.
• The purpose of this MoU is to establish the basis of collaboration between NHIDCL and NSDC, to take up multiple initiatives contributing towards making India the ‘Skill Capital of the World’.

About NSDC:

• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a not-for-profit public limited company incorporated under section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013.
• NSDC was set up by the Ministry of Finance as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
• The Government of India through Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) holds 49% of the share capital of NSDC, while the private sector has the balance 51% of the share capital.

• Researchers at the IIT, Mandi, used artificial intelligence-enhanced operation research tools to select waste water management methods that meet the socio-economic needs specific to places and environments.
• Dr Satvasheel Powar, IIT, Mandi, said, “We have used a set of methods called Multi-Criteria Decision-Making that combines alternative decisions with quantitative and qualitative results in compact solutions.”

• Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur congratulated the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank on its phenomenal turn around. The bank which had suffered a loss of around 46 crore rupees has earned a profit of 87 crores in 2021-22. The Minister expressed happiness that this also happens to be the highest ever profit earned by the bank.
• The Minister acknowledged the growth of the bank in the last four years and said the bank has seen substantial increase in enrolment of customers under various social security schemes.
• He congratulated all the 1,400 employees of the bank whose dedication to serving the bank’s over 17 lakh customers has resulted in an impressive growth of over 3000 crore rupees in last four years.

• 1st Khelo India Womens Hockey League under-16 will be held at the Major Dhyanchand Stadium in New Delhi between 16th to 23rd of this month.
• According to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, a total of 16 teams from across the country are participating. A total of 56 matches will be played and over 300 players will compete in the Phase 1 of the league.
• The Sports Authority of India has allocated a total of 53.72 lakhs rupees for 3 phases of the competition, which includes Prize money of 15.5 lakh rupees.
• The matches are scheduled to start at 6:30 am each day with the final match scheduled at 5 pm. 19th of this month is kept as the rest day.
• Phase 1 and 2 of the Khelo India Women’s Hockey League U-16 will be in round-robin format. The final ranking of teams will be determined after the completion of first 2 phases. Phase 3 will consist of classification matches where each team will play a minimum of 3 matches.

• World Lion Day is being observed globally on 10th August. The day aims to spread awareness about lions and the urgent need to strive for their conservation.
• Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav said that Asiatic Lions population has shown a steady increase with an increased rate of nearly twenty-nine per cent.
• He highlighted that the distribution of the lions has increased from an area of 22 thousand square kilometers in 2015 to 30 thousand square kilometers in 2020.
• The Minister stressed that there has been a consistent increase in the population and distribution area of Asiatic Lions. He described that several strategies and interventions have been implemented by the Ministry to continue the upward trend of conservation.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, launched the “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” with an aim to protect and conserve the world’s last ranging free population of Asiatic Lion and its associated ecosystem. Asiatic lions that once ranged from Iran to Palamau district of Jharkhand were almost driven to extinction by indiscriminate hunting and habitat loss.
• According to the United Nations, lion populations have dropped by more than 40 per cent in the last two decades. It said unrestricted exploitation of wildlife threatens Mother Earth’s biological diversity and causes ecological imbalance.
• First World Lion Day was observed in 2013 to safeguard lions in their natural environment. At present, between 30 thousand to one lakh lions are left in the world. To ensure the safety of lions, it is crucial to increase public awareness of the threats they face, protect their natural habitat, and build more of these kinds of habitats.

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Government of Japan, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced a new initiative to accelerate climate action in 10 states and Union Territories across the country.
• To be rolled out in partnership with the IMD at the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the initiative will support nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to achieve net-zero emissions and ensure climate-resilient development.
• Under the initiative, the UNDP will work with the IMD to promote climate resilience and MNRE to promote climate mitigation by Deploying clean energy infrastructure and low-emission technologies in key sectors including Transport, Health, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and Agriculture.
• This includes solarising 150 healthcare facilities, 20 micro-enterprises, and installing 85 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations and 30 solar cold storage systems across the 10 states.
• Demonstrating resilient climate planning at the grassroots through climate information flows systems for 30 Gram Panchayats, promote green jobs and green entrepreneurship in sectors like Renewable Energy by providing skilling and training to 2000+ people.
• Japan has extended a $5.16 million in climate grant to the UNDP India for the project. This is part of Japan’s global support to 23 countries through UNDP’s ‘Climate Promise – From Pledge to Impact’ programme for scaling up its support to turn NDCs into concrete action.
• IMD supports the project activities in the districts of Uttarkashi in the state of Uttarakhand, Gyalshing and Soreng in the state of Sikkim, in two types of support – 1. With climate forecasts and weather advisories to improve disaster preparedness in some of the most high-risk geographies and 2. With technical expertise during gram panchayat planning to develop climate-informed plans.”
• The project will be rolled out in the states and Union Territories of Bihar, Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh between 2022-23.
• At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November 2021, India pledged to cut the country’s total projected carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes by 2030, install 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, reduce the carbon intensity of the nation’s economy by less than 45% by the end of the decade and net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
• UNDP’s Climate Promise is the largest global climate and development offer of support to countries on their national pledges to the Paris Agreement. At COP26, UNDP launched the next phase of the Climate Promise – From Pledge to Impact – scaling up its support to turn NDC targets into concrete action in at least 100 countries.
• Japan is the largest supporter of this phase of the pioneering and groundbreaking initiation.

• The south London home where Dadabhai Naoroji, a prominent member of the Indian freedom struggle and Britain’s first Indian parliamentarian, lived for around eight years at the end of the 19th century has been honoured with a commemorative Blue Plaque.
• The Blue Plaque scheme, run by the English Heritage charity, honours the historic significance of particular buildings across London. Naoroji’s plaque was unveiled on Wednesday to coincide with the 75th anniversary celebrations of Indian Independence.
• Naoroji, often referred to as the “grand old man of India”, is reported to have moved to Washington House, 72 Anerley Park, Penge, Bromley, at a time when his thoughts were turning increasingly towards full independence for India in 1897.  That red-brick home now has a plaque which reads: “Dadabhai Naoroji 1825-1917 Indian Nationalist and MP lived here”.
• “Naoroji made seven trips to England and spent over three decades of his long life in London,” English Heritage said in a statement.
• In August 1897 Naoroji moved to Washington House, 72 Anerley Park, Penge, at a time when his thoughts were turning increasingly towards full independence for India.
• “Much of his time here would have been occupied by his work as a member of the Welby Commission, set up by the British government to investigate wasteful spending in India. His key text on drain theory – ‘Poverty and Un-British Rule in India’ (1901) – was published while he was living here,” it noted.
• According to records, Washington House functioned as an important centre for the Indian community in London – a place where many Indians were invited and where Indians travelled to if they were in distress or in trouble.
• Fellow Indian nationalists Romesh Chunder Dutt and Sister Nivedita are known to have been guests at the house.
• “Naoroji left the address in 1904 or 1905, making it his longest-standing London residence,” English Heritage said.
• Born in Mumbai, the prominent Parsi nationalist was an influential political and intellectual force in both India and Britain.
• Much of his work was underpinned by his so-called “drain theory” of British colonial rule, contending that India was impoverished by an expensive foreign bureaucracy for which it had to pay, and that any benefits from the British presence there were incidental.
• Drain theory formed the basis of the classic Indian nationalist interpretation of British colonialism, and it is a view that continues to resonate.
• Naoroji spent seven spells in England, five of them in London. In 1886, he stood for Parliament in the general election as a Liberal candidate for Holborn in central London, but was defeated in the strongly Conservative constituency.
• He went on to be elected on a Liberal ticket for the north London constituency of Finsbury Central at the general election of July 1892 – making history as the first Indian to sit in the UK Parliament.