• The India Child Protection Forum [ICPF] has opposed the move to raise the marriage age of women.
• ICPF is an umbrella body of child rights organisations launched by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi.
• It recently appeared before the parliamentary panel studying the Bill on raising the age of marriage for women to 21 from 18 years.

Why ICPF is against raising the age?

• Because, raising the age of marriage for women to 21 will result in criminalising young adults entering into wedlock, especially those who marry against the consent of their parents.
• It will empower the patriarchal violence against women’s autonomy” when they exercise their choice to marry.

According to ASI, the Odisha state government was constructing the Puri Heritage Corridor project without proper licence in protected and controlled areas of the monument. A PIL has been filed in court against the proposal, which has prompted worries about its influence on the structural safety of the Puri temple.

What is the Puri heritage corridor project?

• Conceived in 2016, the Project aims to transform the holy town of Puri into an international place of heritage.
• The project includes redevelopment of Puri lake and Musa river revival plan.
• Puri Jagannath Temple is an important Vaishnavite temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Sri Krishna in Puri in Odisha.
• The temple is believed to have been constructed in the 12th century by King Anatavarman Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
• Jagannath Puri temple is called ‘Yamanika Tirtha’ where, according to the Hindu beliefs, the power of ‘Yama’, the god of death has been nullified in Puri due to the presence of Lord Jagannath.
• The Puri temple is famous for its annual Ratha Yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three principal deities are pulled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars.

A first of its kind Bird Festival is going to be organized in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to promote sustainable ecotourism and give impetus to nature-based alternative sources of livelihood for the local people. The festival is planned to be held in Pahalgam and Dachigam, Jammu and Kashmir. The Tourism Department, Forests and Wildlife Departments with the support of Sanctuary Nature Foundation will conduct the pre-festival bird watching trails for more than a month all across J&K.

Assam Rifles, Axis Bank and National Integrity and Educational Development Organisation (NIEDO) have signed a Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a Centre of Excellence and Wellness, to secure a better future for the youth of Nagaland.

• Centre would be named as the ‘Late Capt N Kenguruse, MVC Centre of Excellence and Wellness’ which would be located at Chieswema in the outskirts of Kohima, Nagaland.
• The centre was named after an Indian Army officer Late Captain Neikezhakuo Kenguruse from Nagaland.

Key Takeaways

The programme emanating following the establishment of Centre of Excellence and Wellness in Nagaland, has following significance:

i.The MoU conceptualised Centre of Excellence and Wellness would provide a year-long fully residential coaching and mentoring facility for students from economically weaker and underprivileged sections of Nagaland to prepare them for competitive examinations.

1. It is expected to be fully functional for the first batch of 30 students by the first week of July 2022

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) designed and developed, ‘HANSA-NG’, India’s First Indigenous Trainer Aircraft (new generation two seater flying trainer aircraft) was successfully completed in-flight engine relight test at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) facility of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) at Challakere, Chitradurga district of Karnataka.

The Indian Navy in association with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test fired the first indigenously developed air launched Naval Anti-ship missile from a Seaking 42B Helicopter at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore, Odisha.

Key Points:

i.The missile is fitted with many new technologies such as an indigenously developed launcher for the helicopter, Missile Guidance System, a State-of-the-art navigation system and integrated avionics.

ii.The firing adds the silver line, in steps towards achieving Self-reliance in niche missile technology and reaffirms the Indian Navy’s commitment to indigenisation.

The Coventry City Council and Urban-Air Port Limited, United Kingdom (UK) based Start-up parterened to set up the world’s first Urban airport Pop-up Air-One, for electric drones and flying cars in the city of Coventry, England. The aim of the project is to reduce Urban congestion and Pollution.It’s designed for zero-emission electric drones and air taxis and the airport itself is powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Dr. Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), has released the State of Inequality in India Report.

• The report was written by the Institute for Competitiveness and it provides a comprehensive analysis of the depth and nature of inequality in India. The report compiles data on inequality in the health, education, household characteristics, and labour market sectors. It’s an assessment of both inclusion and exclusion.
• Inequities in these sectors, according to the report, make the population more vulnerable and lead to multidimensional poverty. India’s unemployment rate is 4.8 % in 2019-20, with a 46.8 % worker population ratio.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoCI), and Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched ‘India-UAE Start-Up Bridge’ at India-UAE Economic Partnership Summit 2022 in Mumbai, Maharashtra which was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on the theme ‘India UAE CEPA – Unleashing the Golden Era’.

• This is the first such bridge/platform by the UAE with any country.
• India-UAE Partnership is best defined by its tagline ‘Openness, Opportunity and Growth’

International Museum Day (IMD) is annually observed across the globe on 18th May to create awareness about the Museums which are important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.

• The theme of International Museum Day 2022 is “The Power of Museum”.