ANSWER: C

About the awards:

• Awards to States and UTs and Aspirational Districts for their contribution to the MSME, parameters like sector-specific policies & their performance, the efficacy of Facilitation Council, Grievance redressal, Y-o-Y growth of MSME budget, growth of MSME credit, implementation of the cluster approach, Udyam Registration, skill development programs, and awareness conducted, etc. were taken into account.

KEY POINTS:

• The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Department, Government of Odisha has been awarded first prize in the category “National MSME Award 2022 to States/UTs for outstanding contribution in the promotion and Development of MSME Sector” by virtue of various developmental initiatives taken up for the development of MSMEs.
• Bihar and Haryana were second and third respectively.

Other awardees:

• Kalahandi has been awarded third prize in the category “National MSME Award 2022 to Aspirational districts for outstanding contribution in the promotion and Development of MSME Sector” as the sectoral development was in the line of award parameters, according to an official statement issued by the state government.
• Similarly, Sumeet Mohanty M/s Saferisk Insurance Brokers Private Limited, Bhubaneswar has been awarded first prize in the category “Award for Service Entrepreneurship – Service Small Enterprise (Overall).
• In addition, Sibabrata Rout M/s Amarnath Pest Management Technology, Cuttack has also been awarded third prize in the category “Award for Service Entrepreneurship – Service Micro Enterprise (Overall).

ANSWER: C

• A report titled “India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy” was released by NITI Aayog. Suman Bery, vice chairman of NITI Aayog, CEO,Amitabh Kant, and Dr K Rajeswara Rao, special secretary, released the report.
• The study, which is a first of its kind, offers in-depth viewpoints and suggestions on the gig-platform economy in India.
• CEO Amitabh Kant emphasised the industry’s potential to generate jobs in light of India’s growing urbanisation, and widespread access to the internet, digital technology, and cellphones.

Key points:

• The report offers a comprehensive methodical approach to calculating the sector’s current size and potential for employment creation.
• It examines the benefits and drawbacks of this developing industry, shows international best practices for social security programmes, and outlines plans for skill development and job creation for various worker categories in the industry.

About the Report:

• According to the research, the gig economy employed 77 lakh (7.7 million) employees in 2020–21.
• They made up 1.5 percent of India’s total labour force or 2.6 percent of the non-agricultural workforce.
• By 2029–2030, there will be 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers in the gig economy. By 2029–2030, it is anticipated that gig workers will account for 6.7 percent of India’s non-agricultural workforce and 4.1 percent of all income.
• Currently, medium-skilled occupations make up approximately 47% of gig labour, high skilled jobs make up about 22%, and low-skilled jobs make up about 31%.
• The trend indicates that the concentration of workers with medium skills is gradually decreasing while it is rising for those with low and high skills.
• The report suggests connecting self-employed people in the business of selling regional and rural cuisine, street food, etc., with platforms in order to enable them to sell their products to larger markets in towns and cities to accelerate access to finance through products specifically designed for platform workers.
• The report recommends platform-led transformational and outcome-based skilling, improving social inclusion through programmes that educate workers and their families about gender issues and accessibility, and extending social security measures in partnership as envisioned by the Code on Social Security 2020.
• Other suggestions include conducting a second census exercise to calculate the size of the gig and platform workforce and gathering data during official censuses (Periodic Labour Force Survey) to identify gig workers.

ANSWER: C

International Day of the Tropics: History

• The inaugural State of the Tropics Report was launched on 29 June 2014, as the culmination of a collaboration between twelve leading tropical research institutions.
• The report offers a unique perspective on this increasingly important region. Marking the anniversary of the report’s launch the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/70/267 in 2016, which declared that 29 June of each year is to be observed as the International Day of the Tropics.

KEY POINTS:

• International Day of the Tropics is observed globally on 29 June. The International Day of the Tropics celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the tropics while highlighting unique challenges and opportunities nations of the Tropics face.
• It provides an opportunity to take stock of progress across the tropics, to share tropical stories and expertise and to acknowledge the diversity and potential of the region.

ANSWER: C

• The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) will be launched the One Health pilot in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• The programme is aimed at bringing stakeholders from animal, human and environment health on a common platform to address challenges. DAHD in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)and The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as implementation partner is implementing the One-Health Framework undertaking project in the states of Karnataka and Uttarakhand, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying.

About the ‘One Health Pilot’:

• The Pilot project in Karnataka would be launched by Secretary Atul Chaturvedi, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying. Key dignitaries and stakeholders from the Centre and state level across livestock, human, wildlife, and environment sectors will also be a part of the inauguration.
• The ‘One Health India’ program initiated by the Department aims to work with stakeholders from various sectors to improve livestock health, human health, wildlife health, and environmental health through technology and finance.

‘One Health Pilot’: Benefits

• Human health cannot be viewed in isolation and it is dependent on the environment it lives which includes animals too. The One Health project helps in realizing the interdependencies that animal and environmental health have on human life.
• It will develop a national One Health roadmap based on the learnings of the pilot project implementation.
• This will be useful in preventing zoonotic disease outbreaks in the future and facilitate a better response mechanism. Earlier, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had called for the need of creating vigilance and awareness on zoonotic diseases.
• The pilot project will institutionalize better management, and development of a targeted surveillance plan, integrate a network of laboratories, develop and implement communication strategy across sectors
• It will also integrate data with the digital architecture of the National Digital Livestock Mission.
• Furthermore, it will also help in building a strong social infrastructure that supports the health of the people and the planet.

ANSWER: B

• One of the world’s biggest plant to capture carbon dioxide from the air and deposit it underground, would be set up in
• According to Swiss start-up Climeworks AG, its second large-scale direct air capture (DAC) plant will be built in Iceland in 18-24 months, and have capacity to suck 36,000 tonnes of CO2 per year from the air.
• The new “Mammoth” plant will contain around 80 large blocks of fans and filters that suck in air and extract its CO2, which Icelandic carbon storage firm Carbfix then mixes with water and injects underground where a chemical reaction turns it to rock. The process will be powered by a nearby geothermal energy plant.
• According to Co-CEO Christoph Gebald once this plant launches, Climeworks intends to build a far bigger facility capturing roughly half a million tonnes of CO2 per year — and then replicate multiple plants of that size, backed by project financing, towards the end of the decade.
• Mammoth was part-financed by a 600 million Swiss Franc ($627 million) financing round Climeworks announced in April. The firm also sells among the world’s most expensive carbon removal credit — costing up to 1,000 euros per tonne — to buyers including Microsoft, Audi and Boston Consulting Group.

ANSWER: C

About the Airwards programme:

• Airwards is the first panoptic global awards programme of its kind dedicated to identifying, recognising and championing the breadth of positive drone use cases from around the world which are innovative, safe and having a real-world impact.
• Over 120 global submissions were judged by 38 drone experts and business leaders to award this year’s 18 Airwards main category winners.
• Announced during the second-ever Airwards Winners’ Week (23-31 May 2022), the winners have been recognised by Airwards as the pinnacle in innovative, responsible, and impactful projects made possible with drones.

KEY POINTS:

• The Delhi-based leading Drone enterprise platform company IG Drones has been felicitated with the “Best Drone Organization – Start-up Category” by Airwards.
• IG Drones has been selected for the award for its approach of helping local communities and giving access to technology to various stakeholders during natural disasters and calamities.
• IG Drones is developing new technology-based disaster response and mitigation to increase the efficiency and efficacy of first responders’ aid in emergency response and catastrophe mapping.
• Using drone and GIS technology, they’ve saved hundreds of thousands of lives throughout national disasters such as the Assam Floods, Amphan Cyclone, Fani Cyclone, and Jajpur Flood in Odisha, Maharashtra Flood, and Uttarakhand CloudBurst.

ANSWER: D

• The Indian Space Research Organisation’s second dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Ltd. will launch three satellites.
• The PSLV­ C53, the 55th flight of ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle, will carry on board three satellites from Singapore.
• The satellites — DS­EO, a Singaporean Earth Observation Satellite, NeuSAR, Singapore’s first small commercial satellite carrying a SAR payload, and SCOOB­I satellite from the Nanyang Technological University — will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

ANSWER: D

• The Election Commission (EC) kicked off a drive to update the electoral rolls in Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where elections are expected later this year, for the first time allowing those turning 18 as of October 1 instead of January 1 to enrol, and for the collection of Aadhaar numbers of the applicants.
• The EC wrote to the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh CEOs, giving the programme for the revision of rolls to be followed.
• The EC informed the CEOs to carry out the special revision in accordance with the rules framed under the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, which increased the qualifying dates from January 1 every year to January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1, and allowed for Aadhaar linking with voter ID.
• The two State Assembly elections would also be the first ones where new electors would have Aadhaar linked voter IDs, but it would not be mandatory.
• According to EC, the applicant had to furnish Aadhaar Number in Form­6 and Form­8, if he/ she is having Aadhaar number, however, no application for inclusion of name in electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar Number.

ANSWER: A

• The Himachal Government is considering the inclusion of apple in mid-day meals in schools and anganwadis and in meals served to patients in hospitals.
• According to Mahender Singh, Horticulture Minister, “We are expecting a higher yield this time. The availability of this nutritious fruit will benefit both students and patients. We are also thinking of making the fruit available in small packing of 2-6 kg for sale at hotels. This will not only help the growers, but also benefit the tourists as they will get good quality fruit at reasonable prices.
• Growers welcomed this move from government and want the govt to list procurement norms.
• According to the minister the processing unit at Parala, Shimla would be made functional before July 31. This will ensure that much of the apple procured through the market intervention scheme and taken to Parwanoo be used up at Parala itself.

ANSWER: A

• DR Bhardwaj of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Nauni, has been bestowed with the Indian Society of Agroforestry (ISAF) Gold Medal for 2019.
• Bhardwaj is Principal Scientist in the Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry of the university.
• The award was given during the executive council meeting of the ISAF held recently at Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi.
• Bhardwaj, carrying over 27 years of teaching and research experience, has guided 37 students in the field of agroforestry and silviculture.
• According to the university, he has several research achievements to his credit, including the development of propagation and plantation technology of many tree species of the Himalayan region.
• He has introduced edible bamboo species which are in great demand among the farming community. Several agroforestry models for the state have been developed by him.
• The scientist has also developed regression models for the estimation of the timber, fodder and fuel wood production potential of farmland tree species.
• The ISAF was founded in 1998 to encourage basic, applied and strategic research in agroforestry.