Why in news?

• Report titled ‘Groundwater: Making the invisible visible’ describes the challenges and opportunities associated with development, management and governance of groundwater.
• Report is released by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water, which coordinates efforts of UN entities and international organizations working on water and sanitation issues.
• Key findings
• Groundwater presently provides half of the volume of water withdrawn for domestic use by global population and around 25% of all water used for Irrigation.
• An estimated four billion people live in areas that suffer from severe physical water scarcity for at least one month per year.
• Development of groundwater could act as a catalyst for economic growth by increasing extent of irrigated areas and therefore improving agricultural yields and crop diversity.
• India is largest groundwater-user globally followed by China and Pakistan.
• China, India, Iran, Pakistan and US account for about 70% of unsustainable water footprint.
• Recommendations
• Collecting groundwater data for monitoring.
• Strengthening environmental regulations for groundwater pollution.
• Reinforcing human, material and financial resources by way of increasing groundwater professionals among the staff of institutions as well as local and national government.
• Financing and supporting groundwater departments/agencies.

Why in news?

• The ministry said that to promote exports of locally Geographical Indications (GI) tagged agricultural products, the government is identifying new products and export destinations.
• The government, through the Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA), has been facilitating trial shipments of certain products into new markets.
• The products include Kala Namak rice, Naga Mircha etc.

About Kala Namak Rice

• Deriving its name from the black husk (kala) and a mild salty (namak) taste, it is considered as one of the finest rice varieties.
• It has been awarded GI Tag from Uttar Pradesh.
• It is a non-basmati scented rice variety grown primarily in tarai region of Uttar Pradesh.
• It is highly resistant to rice diseases such as panicle blast, stem rot and brown spot.
• Water requirement is also low compared to Basmati.
• It is also known as ‘Buddha ka Mahaprasad’ (an offering to Lord Buddha).
• It has been rebranded as Buddha Rice in order to promote it in Buddhist countries.

Why in news?

• For the first time, Indian Constitution is translated into Santali script ‘Ol Chiki’.
• 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act 2003 added Santali to Schedule VIII along with the Bodo, Dogri and Maithili languages.

About Santals

• Santals community is concentrated in several states including Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.
• They speak Santali language which belongs to the Munda group of Austro-Asiatic sub-family of languages.
• Santals are well known for their housing architecture with colourfully painted walls, floors and artistically carved doors.
• Their primary occupation is settled agriculture.

Why in news?

• Russia has claimed to have used Kinzhal missiles for the first time in Ukraine.
• Kinzhal, which means dagger, is an air-launched hypersonic missile with a reported range of 1,500-2,000km. It can carry nuclear payload of 480 kg.
• Hypersonic describes any speed faster than five times that of sound.
• Hypersonic weapons are normally defined as fast, low-flying, and highly maneuverable weapons designed to be too quick and agile for traditional missile defence systems to detect in time.

Why in news?

• World Water Day is celebrated globally on 22nd March every year. The day aims to highlight the importance of freshwater. It is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
• The World Water Day theme 2022 is “Groundwater, Making the Invisible Visible”. Groundwater is a crucial resource that provides almost half of all drinkable water across the world.
• This year, the focus is groundwater, an invisible resource with an impact visible everywhere. Relevant issues include water scarcity, water pollution, inadequate water supply, lack of sanitation, and the impacts of climate change that are looked upon on this day.
• World Water Day: History
• The idea for this international day goes back to 1992,the year in which the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro took place.
• That same year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993.

Why in news?

• The 9th edition of the Joint Military Exercise ‘LAMITIYE-2022’ between the Indian Army and Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) will be held from March 22 to 31, 2022 at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA), Seychelles.
• The Indian Army contingent will be represented by the 2/3 GORKHA RIFLES group (PIRKANTHI Battalion).
• Exercise LAMITIYE is a biennial training event, been conducted in Seychelles since 2001.
• The objective of this joint training exercise is to build and promote bilateral military relations, sharing experiences gained during various operations; exchanging skills and good practices between both armies.

Why in news?

• Bihar government is in the process to translate and publish hundreds of original Buddhist manuscripts from Nalanda and Vikramshila, saved during the burning of the ancient universities in the 12th and 13th centuries by Bakhtiyar Khilji’s army and later brought back to India from Tibet by Rahul Sankrityayan.

About Rahul Sankrityayan

• A traveller and literary polymath, he was universally called Mahapandit (great scholar) as he knew nearly 30 languages, but he almost wrote in Hindi.
• Wrote “Madhya Asia Ka Itihas” (History of Central Asia); “Volga Se Ganga” (From Volga to Ganga); a grammar and primer of Tibetan in Sanskrit.
• Made a pioneering contribution in preserving and reconstructing the philosophical works of Buddhist logicians like Dharmakirti, Asang and Subandhu.
• His travels prompted him to write travelogues and he is considered ‘father of Hindi travel literature’.
• Awarded by Sahitya Akademi (1958) & Padma Bhushan.

Why in news?

• World Puppetry Day was observed on 21^st March 2022. It aims to recognize puppetry as a global art form and to pay tribute to and honor puppeteers from around the world.
• The World Puppetry Day was established in 2003 by the Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA) also known as the International Puppetry Association.
• On this day, Sangeet Natak Akademi under the Ministry of Culture is organizing a puppet festival ‘Putul Utsav’ in five cities in India, which include Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Hyderabad (Telangana), Angul (Odisha), New Delhi and Agartala (Tripura).
• Theme– ‘Azadi ke Rang, Putul Ke Sang’.
• The festival will retell the stories of freedom struggles of India through the medium of puppets.
• Various forms of puppetry art such as String, Shadow, Rod and Hand puppets will be showcased.
• Puppetry in India was traditionally a temple-based art, whose themes were borrowed from puranic literature, mythology, epics and local legends.

About Union Internationale de la marionnette (UNIMA):

• UNIMA is a non-governmental organization affiliated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• Founded- 1929
• Headquarters- Charleville-Mézières , France

Why in news?

• World Oral Health Day(WOHD) is annually observed across the world on 20th March to create awareness about the importance of oral health. The day also aims to reduce the burden of oral diseases, which affect individuals, health systems and economies everywhere.
• Purpose: To empower people with the knowledge, tools and confidence to secure good oral health.
• The three-year campaign theme 2021-2023 of World Oral Health Day is “Be Proud of Your Mouth”.
• The campaign provides an opportunity to explore the links between oral health, general health and quality of life.
• World Oral Health Day(WOHD) is an initiative of the FDI World Dental Federation (FDI), an organization that unites the world of dentistry with the aim of achieving optimal oral health for everyone.
• The WOHD was first declared in 2007 and was originally celebrated on 12 September, which marks the birth anniversary of Dr Charles Godon, Founder of FDI.
• The campaign was fully activated in 2013 and the date was changed to 20th March to avoid conflict with the FDI World Dental Congress which takes place in September.
• The date 20^th March was chosen to reflect that, Seniors must have a total of 20 natural teeth at the end of their life to be considered healthy and Children should possess 20 baby teeth. Healthy adults must have a total of 32 teeth and 0 dental cavities, this expressed on a numerical basis can be translated as 3/20 hence March 20.

India’s National Oral Health Programme (NOHP)

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW), Government of India has initiated a National Oral Health Programme to provide integrated, comprehensive oral health care in the existing health care facilities.
• Objective:
• To improve the determinants of oral health,
• To reduce morbidity from oral diseases,
• To integrate oral health promotion and preventive services with the general health care system, and
• To encourage the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) model for achieving better oral health.

Why in news?

• Venezuelan athlete, Yulimar Rojas nicknamed “la reina del triple salto – queen of the triple jump” created a World Record (WR) by clearing 15.74 metres (m) to win gold at the World Indoor Championships 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia.
• Rojas who is 6’4 jumped 15.67m (WR) in Tokyo Olympics 2020 to claim Gold Medal, smashing the previous best of 15.50m set by Ukraine’s Inessa Kravets in 1995.
• Rojas won third straight world indoor triple jump gold, adding to successes in Portland, United States of America in 2016 and Birmingham, United Kingdom in 2018.
• Yulimar Rojas is the first female Olympic gold medalist from Venezuela.