Why in news?

• The Indian Army is making steady, yet significant strides in the field of emerging technology domains. The Army, with support from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) has recently established the Quantum Lab at Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow (MP) MCTE to spearhead research and training in this key developing field. Gen MM Naravane, the Chief of Army Staff was briefed on the facility during his recent visit to Mhow.

About Quantum Laboratory by the Indian army and other achievements

• Indian Army has also established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre at the same institution with over 140 deployments in forward areas and active support of industry and academia. Training on cyber warfare is being imparted through a state of art cyber range, and cyber security labs. Ideation for Army’s involvement in Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations was done in a seminar on Electromagnetic Spectrum and National Security organised in October last year. Since then, an impetus has been given to Indian Army’s Technology Institutions for investing in AI, Quantum and Cyber.
• Research undertaken by Indian Army in the field of Quantum Technology will help leapfrog into next generation communication and transform the current system of cryptography in the Indian Armed Forces to Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC).
• Key thrust areas are Quantum Key Distribution, Quantum Communication, Quantum Computing and Post Quantum Cryptography.

Why in news?

• Telangana is the first large state across the country to complete 100 per cent first dose vaccination against Covid-19, said state health minister T Harish Rao recently.

About Telangana having 100% first dose Covid vaccine

• Telangana is the first large state across the country to complete 100 per cent first dose vaccination against COVID-19, said state health minister T Harish Rao recently.
• As per the health minister of Telangana, until now the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Sikkim — only 8 smaller states, Union Territories, have achieved this feat.
• The minister further informed that that state has completed 66 per cent coverage of second dose.

Why in news?

• Bag makers in Pudukkottai in Tamil Nadu have welcomed Chief Minister MK Stalin’s ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme to reduce the use of plastic bags, and are all set to print yellow bags, among other cloth bags.

About ‘Meendum Manjappai’

• The demand for the traditional yellow cloth bag in Tamil Nadu that has been a landmark for the businessmen and ordinary people of the state is making a major comeback.
• Chief Minister M K Stalin has inaugurated a scheme ‘Meendum Manjappai’ aimed at reducing the use of plastic bags and promoting cloth bags.
• The cloth bag-making units of Pudukottai, Kancheepuram, Salem, Erode, and Dindigul have become vibrant with orders pouring in from wholesale and retail traders across the state.

Why in news?

• Rural women picked up as ‘Krishi Sakhis’ (community resourse persons) for agriculture-related activities under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) have become the messengers of natural farming in Himachal.
• The womenfolk associated with training in natural farming technique, concept seeding at village organisation level, training and promotion of ecological practices, promotion of agri-nutri garden and running seed banks by the Himachal Pradesh Prakritik Khushhal Kisan (PK3Y) Yojana are changing the mindsets, with sustainable agriculture, income, environment and nutrition in focus.

Why in news?

• Education, Arts, Language and Culture Minister of HP Govind Singh Thakur said about 82-km area having width of about 2.5 km from Bhuntar to Kothi in Kullu district had been included in the Amrut scheme to formulate a master plan to meet the basic needs of people by 2041.
• The minister said tourism is the backbone of the district. Adventure tourism, religious tourism and deity culture also need to be kept in mind
• The Government of India has launched the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) with the aim of providing basic civic amenities like water supply, sewerage, urban transport, parks as to improve the quality of life for all especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

Why in news?

• Himachal Pradesh stunned Tamil Nadu to clinch the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the first time ever.

About

• The Vijay Hazare Trophy, also known as the Ranji One-Day Trophy, was started in 2002-03 as a limited-overs cricket domestic competition involving state teams from the Ranji Trophy plates.
• It is named after the legendary Indian cricketer Vijay Hazare.

Why in news?

• Surat’s noted industrialist Viral Desai, popularly known as Greenman for his love for the environment, has been awarded the prestigious Global Environment and Climate Action Citizen Award in Dubai.

About the awards

• Viral Desai and the other winners were felicitated at Dubai’s Atlantis, The Palm, on December 23, with the Bharat Gaurav Samman by Sanskruti Yuva Sansthan. The UAE’s Foreign Trade And Economic Development Department’s Director-General Sheikh Awad Mohammed Mugrin graced the ceremony with his presence.
• Twenty-eight prominent personalities from 11 countries, including the UK, the US, New Zealand, France, and Malaysia, were felicitated with the prestigious awards on occasion, but Viral Desai was the only one from India to have won the honour for climate action.
• Some of the other awardees include motivational speaker Padma Shri Gaur Gopaldas, polo player Ashvini Kumar Sharma, Akshaya Patra Foundation’s chairman Padma Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, instrumentalist Padma Bhushan Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Padma Shri Ramkishore Chhipa, Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi, investor banker Saket Mishra, and others

Why in news?

• The Gujarat government recently launched ‘Nadi Utsav’, or river festival, to honour rivers for their contribution to the development of the state as well as to raise awareness about their protection.

About Nadi Utsav

• Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel participated in a state-level launch function at a weir-cum-causeway on Tapi river here, where he worshipped Goddess Tapi with Vedic rituals.
• The state government is committed to building a riverfront on the Tapi river in Surat, Patel said at the function, organised as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, being celebrated across the country, to honour rivers.
• ‘Nadi Utsav’ is an attempt to revive the glorious culture scattered along the rivers. Our rivers are a silent witness to the unparalleled development of the state. Rivers are the only source of pure fresh water for many species, including humans. It is our duty to preserve life-giving rivers to protect the environment for our future generations.

Why in news?

• International day of epidemic preparedness was recently observed on 27^th December

About International day of epidemic preparedness

• The day was first observed last December in 2020 when the United Nations General Assembly had emphasised on the need to advocate the importance of the preparedness for, prevention of and partnership against epidemics.
• According to the United Nations, it is necessary to learn lessons on epidemic management and apply those to strengthen epidemic prevention in order to have the most adequate response for any future adversity. It also underscores the significance of solidarity and partnership among every international organisation, and even every community and individual to combat a pestilence like Covid-19.
• Marking the day, the United Nations General Assembly had invited all its member states to use awareness raising campaigns and education to exchange information, scientific knowledge along with best practices to help stepping up the preparedness for epidemics.

Why in news?

• NITI Aayog recently released the fourth edition of the State Health Index for 2019–20.

About State Health Index

• The report, titled “Healthy States, Progressive India”, ranks states and Union Territories on their year-on-year incremental performance in health outcomes as well as their overall status.
• Round IV of the report focuses on measuring and highlighting the overall performance and incremental improvement of states and UTs over the period 2018–19 to 2019–20.
• The report was released jointly by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, CEO Amitabh Kant, Additional Secretary Dr Rakesh Sarwal, and World Bank Senior Health Specialist Sheena Chhabra.
• The report has been developed by NITI Aayog, with technical assistance from the World Bank, and in close consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

The Findings

• The State Health Index is annual tool to assess the performance of states and UTs. It is a weighted composite index based on 24 indicators grouped under the domains of ‘Health Outcomes’, ‘Governance and Information’, and ‘Key Inputs/Processes’. Each domain has been assigned weights based on its importance with higher score for outcome indicators.
• To ensure comparison among similar entities, the ranking is categorized as ‘Larger States’, ‘Smaller States’ and ‘Union Territories’.
• Among the ‘Larger States’, in terms of annual incremental performance, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Telangana are the top three ranking states.
• Among ‘Smaller States’, Mizoram and Meghalaya registered the maximum annual incremental progress.
• Among UTs, Delhi, followed by Jammu and Kashmir, showed the best incremental performance.
• On overall ranking based on the composite index score in 2019–20, the top-ranking states were Kerala and Tamil Nadu among the ‘Larger States’, Mizoram and Tripura among the ‘Smaller States’, and DH&DD and Chandigarh among the UTs.