Why in news?

• While addressing the National Youth Parliament Festival, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla said ‘nation first’ should guide youth in their every effort.

About National Youth Parliament

• Organised under Ministry of Parliamentary affairs.
• Objective -to strengthen the roots of democracy, inculcate discipline, tolerance and to enable students to learn about practices and procedures of Parliament.
• Programme envisages Kishore Sabha for the students of Class IX to Class XII and Tarun Sabha for the students of Under Graduate/ Post Graduate level.
• It is in existence since 1966, but recently to increase coverage, a web portal has been established.

Why in news?

• Santhali communities of Odisha and Jharkhand are changing their ways of painting Sohrai murals.

About Sohrai mural art

• It is painted on the mud wal and is a matriarchal tradition handed down from mother to daughter.
• Usually either monochromatic or colorful, with the use of natural pigments mixed in mud.
• The red line is drawn first as it represents the ‘blood of the ancestors; procreation, and fertility.
• It is performed during marriage and harvest seasons.
• It is continued since 10,000-4,000 BC which was prevalent into caves’ structure.
• In 2020, Jharkhand received a Geographical Indication tag for its Sohrai art.

Why in news?

• First ever Geographical Indication (GI) tagged Kashmir carpets flagged off to Germany.
• Department of Industry Promotion and Internal Trade granted GI tag to Kashmiri hand knotted carpets in 2016 but the registered carpets were certified from this year.
• History of Kashmiri carpet dates back to the period of the famous Sufi Saint and scholar, Hazrat Mir Syed All Hamdani (1341-1385 AD) of Persia.
• Kashmiri carpets are very similar to Iranian carpets, but in Kashmiri carpets weavers use a written set of codes and symbols for design patterns and colors, called Taleem.
• Taleem, a coded color chart indicates the number of knots to be woven in their respective colors.

Why in news?

• Awards are given to Indian citizens for the most outstanding books of literary merit published in India in the last 5 years.
• It covers the 22 languages enumerated in Constitution of India, and English and Rajasthani languages.
• The winners will be honoured with an engraved copper plaque, a shawl, and prize money of Rs 1 Iakh.
• Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, is the central institution for literary dialogue, publication and promotion in the country.
• It was set up in 1954 and registered as a society under Societies Registration Act, 1860.

Why in news?

• Andhra Pradesh has retained its number one spot in the SKOCH State of Governance rankings for the second consecutive year. According to a release, the State retained the first rank for the second consecutive year. In 2020 too, Andhra Pradesh bagged top rank in governance. Andhra Pradesh was ranked at second position in 2018 and later it slipped to 4th position in 2019, according to Skoch.
• The second rank was bagged by West Bengal and Odisha was ranked 3, Gujarat was ranked 4 and Maharashtra was ranked 5.

SKOCH Governance Report Card for 2021:

• The SKOCH Group has released the SKOCH Governance Report Card for 2021 in New Delhi, ranking the states according to their performance in various projects at state, district, and municipal levels.

Why in news?

• Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, while presenting the state budget, has announced a ‘Sushma Swaraj Award’ for women for their significant achievements or contribution in different walks of life in the international and national spheres.
• The Sushma Swaraj Award will carry an award money of Rs 5 lakh along with a commendation.

About the Sushma Swaraj:

• Sushma Swaraj was a lawyer of the Supreme Court as well as an Indian politician.
• She was a senior member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, served as India’s Minister of External Affairs during the first Narendra Modi government (2014–2019). After Indira Gandhi, she was the second woman to occupy this position.

Why in news?

• Debasish Panda has been appointed as the chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
• He is a former financial services secretary. The post of Chairman of IRDAI was lying vacant since May 2021 when Subhash Chandra Khuntia completed his term.
• Panda, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, retired as financial services secretary in January this year after a two-year stint.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Panda’s appointment as chairperson of the insurance regulator initially for a period of three years from the assumption of charge.

Why in news?

• Government has appointed Ajay Bhushan Pandey, former Finance & Revenue secretary of India, Ministry of Finance, as new Chairperson of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge or till he attains the age of 65 years.
• The ACC has also appointed 2 full-time members for NFRA,
• Praveen Kumar Tiwari, former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General, a retired Indian Audit and Accounts Service official.
• Smita Jhingran, Principal Director General at Central Board of Direct Taxes, an Indian Revenue Service officer.

About the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA):

• An independent regulatory body set up by the Government of India as envisaged under the provisions of Section 132, Companies Ad, 2013 to oversee the quality of accounting and auditing standards in India.
• Establishment – 01st October, 2018

Why in news?

• A special programme for school students “YUva Vlgyani KAryakram” (YUVIKA) or “Young Scientist Programme” is organized by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• It will provide basic knowledge related to space technology, space science and space applications to young students, especially rural areas students.
• Objective-To create awareness about the emerging trends in science and technology amongst the young minds.
• Under the YUVIKA-2022 residential programme, 150 students who are studying in Class IX as on March 1, 2022 will get selected across India from different schools. ISRO outlined the programme to “catch them young”.
• lt will start from May 16 2022 to May 28 2022 (two weeks) and the program include talks, experience-sharing by eminent scientists, experimental demonstration, facility and lab visits etc.
• It will also encourage more students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) based research /career.
• The programme will be held at five ISRO centres —
• Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram
• U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru •
• Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad
• National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad
• North-East Space Application Centre (NE-SAC), Shillong.

Why in news?

• Under the Prime Minister’s GatiShakti initiative,and the Ministry of Railways policy on ‘Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal’ (GCT) , the Asansol Division of Eastern Railway commissioned private siding of Maithan Power at Thaparnagar, Jharkhand.
• This is the first such GCT commissioned by Indian Railways since publication of GCT policy in December 2021.
• In 2009 the Maithan Power Project was started in Jharkhand and the power generation was started in 2011.
• Till now the requirement of coal to the power project was being made through a road which is expected to convert into 120 inward coal rakes per month.
• The new power project will increase the earnings of Indian Railways upto Rs 11 crore per month.

About Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti-

• Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi launched the GatiShakti initiative in 2021.
• It is Rs. 100 lakh crore ‘National Master Plan for Multi-Modal Connectivity’ project.
• Gati Shakti is a digital platform collaborating 16 Central Ministries and Departments to implement infrastructure connectivity projects.