Key Points:

• Lok Sabha (LS) Speaker, Om Birla has launched the one-of-its-kind literary initiative Kalam website of the Prabha Khaitan Foundation (PKF) to support and encourage vernacular literature.
• The aim of Kalam is to popularize Hindi literature and provide a platform for veteran and young authors and poets to talk about their writings and love for vernacular literature.
• Kalam started its journey back in the summer of 2015 in the cities of Jaipur and Patna and has conducted over 550 sessions spread over 40 cities in India and overseas since then.
• Kalam is in sync with the philosophy of our nation – ‘Unity in Diversity which is reflected in the tagline of Prabha Khaitan Foundation – ‘Aapne Bhasha Aapne Log’.

The Foundation is the custodian of the jewels of literary creations in the Hindi language and Kalam scripts successful sessions enriching the literary heritage of the nation. The hallmarks of Kalam, one of the prized literary verticals of Prabha Khaitan Foundation have a nationwide reach, global identity, and a niche audience

In a setback to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Bombay High Court allowed PILs challenging the construction of a cycling and jogging track around Powai Lake and said the cycle track was illegal.

About Powai Lake:

• Recognized as a wetland, the Powai Lake is located in the north-eastern suburbs of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The Powai Lake is an artificial man-made lake located to the north of Mumbai and southwest of Thane.
• It was formed as a result of two dams built on the Mithi River in 1891.
• The purpose was to create a reservoir for providing water supply in Mumbai.
• However, water quality degraded within a few years, and it was declared unfit for drinking. It is being used for industrial purposes.
• The Maharashtra State Angling Association (then called Bombay Presidency Angling Association), formed in 1936, currently controls and manages the lake
• In 1995, the National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) included Powai Lake among India’s 10 main lakes to be revived and improved.
• This program, launched in 2002, was implemented by BMC. As a result of this move, the condition of the lake has considerably improved

About AIM-PRIME (Program for Researchers in Innovation, Market Readiness, and Entrepreneurship)

• Recently, the AIM-PRIME (Program for Researchers in Innovation, Market Readiness, and Entrepreneurship) Playbook was launched by NITI Aayog.
• The playbook was aimed at promoting early-stage science-based, deep technology ideas to market through training and guidance over a period of 12 months using a blended learning curriculum.

Objective:

• Promoting science-based, deep technology ideas to market through training and guidance over a period of 12 months.
• Deep technology is based on tangible engineering innovation or scientific advances and discoveries. Deep Tech is often set apart by its profound enabling power, the differentiation it can create, and its potential to catalyse change.
• Candidates selected for the programme will get access to in-depth learning via a comprehensive lecture series, live team projects, exercises, and project-specific mentoring.
• They will also have access to a deep tech start-up playbook, curated video library, and plenty of peer-to-peer learning opportunities.

Launching & Implementing Agency:

• AIM has collaborated with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to launch this nationwide programme which will be implemented by Venture Centre – a non-profit technology business incubator hosted by Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research–National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL).

Beneficiaries:

1. Technology developers (early-stage deep tech start-ups, and scientists/ engineers/clinicians) with strong science-based deep tech business ideas.
2. Chief Executive Officers and Senior incubation managers of AIM Funded Atal Incubation Centers that are supporting deep tech entrepreneurs.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

• The Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India. This territory is known as A & N Islands, or ANI.
• It is located in the Indian Ocean, in the southern reaches of the Bay of Bengal, nearer to Indonesia and Thailand. This comprises of two island groups – the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands – which separates the Andaman Sea to the east from the Indian Ocean.
• These two groups are separated by the 10° N parallel, the Andamans lying to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south. The capital of this territory is the Andamanese town of Port Blair.
• Hindi and English are the official languages of the islands. Bengali is the dominant and most spoken language, with 26% of the population speaking Bengali.
• Particularly vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs) who have been identified in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. They are:-
• Great Andamanese of Strait Island
• Onges of Little Andaman
• Jarawas of South and Middle Andaman
• Sentinelese of Sentinel Islands
• Shompens of Great Nicobar

• Recently, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change addressed the fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15)of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Cote d’Ivoire (Western Africa).
• COP 15 is a key moment in the fight against desertification, land degradation and drought.
• It will build on the findings of the second edition of the Global Land Outlook and offer a concrete response to the interconnected challenges of land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss.
• Drought, land restoration, and related enablers such as land rights, gender equality and youth empowerment are among the top items on the Conference agenda.
• Theme: ‘Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity’

Context:

Recently, the Punjab government announced Rs 1,500 incentive per acre for farmers opting for Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR).

About direct seeding of rice

• Here, the pre-germinated seeds are directly drilled into the field by a tractor-powered machine.
• There is no nursery preparation or transplantation involved in this method. Farmers have to only level their land and give one pre-sowing irrigation.

Advantage of DSR:

• Water savings. The first irrigation (apart from the pre-sowing rauni) under DSR is necessary only 21 days after sowing. This is unlike in transplanted paddy, where watering has to be done practically daily to ensure submerged/flooded conditions in the first three weeks.
• Less Labour. About three labourers are required to transplant one acre of paddy at almost Rs 2,400 per acre.
• The cost of herbicides under DSR will not exceed Rs 2,000 per acre.
• Reduce methane emissions due to a shorter flooding period and decreased soil disturbance compared to transplanting rice seedlings.

Limitations:

• Non-availability of herbicides.
• The seed requirement for DSR is also high,8-10 kg/acre, compared to 4-5 kg/acre in transplanting.
• Further, laser land levelling is compulsory in DSR. This is not so in transplanting.
• The sowing needs to be done timely so that the plants have come out properly before the monsoon rains arrive.

Key points:

• The United Nations observed 10th May 2022, the second International Day of Argania.
• This celebration crowns the efforts of the Kingdom of Morocco in promoting the Argan tree as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity and an ancestral source of resilient and sustainable development.
• The day will be celebrated this year under the theme “The Argan tree, symbol of resilience” and will serve to raise international awareness around the tree, its ecosystem, and the important position it holds in Moroccan culture and heritage.

Facts:

• Reliance Industries become the first Indian company to record annual revenue of more than a whopping $100 billion.
• The company has recorded a 22.5% rise in net profit for the quarter ended March 2022.
• Reliance has recorded strong growth in retail, digital services, and the oil & gas business.
• The company has also reported the highest-ever quarterly EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of Rs 33,968 crores (28% up) year-on-year

• According to the portal, total outstanding dues of electricity distribution companies to power producers rose by 4.04 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,21,765 crore (Rs 1.21 trillion) in May 2022.
• DISCOMs owed a total of Rs 1,17,026 crore to power generation firms in May 2021.
• PRAAPTI stands for- Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators.
• The PRAAPTI portal was launched in May 2018 to bring transparency in power purchase transactions between generators and discoms.

About Pantanal wetland:

• The world’s largest wetland, known as the Pantanal, in South America is at risk of collapse.
• This is due to a series of local and seemingly minor decisions that fail to account for their cumulative impact on one of Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystems.
• It is also the world’s largest flooded grasslands.
• It is fed through the Paraguay River and tributaries.
• It is designated a National Heritage by the Brazilian Constitution and a restricted-use region whose use should be ecologically sustainable.