CHHOTU RAM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Sir Chotu Ram Ji on his birth anniversary.
About:
- Sir Chhotu Ram, (1881 – 1945) was a prominent politician in British India's Punjab Province.
- He belonged to the Jat community and championed the interest of oppressed communities of the Indian subcontinent. For this feat, he was knighted in 1937.
- On the political front, he was a co-founder of the National Unionist Party which ruled the United Punjab Province in pre-independent India and kept Congress and Muslim League at bay.
- his birthname was Ram Richpal and was popularly known as Deen Bandhu (in Urdu as Rahbare Azam, which translates as messiah of the poor).
DESALINATION PLANTS
Maharashtra announced the setting up of a desalination plant in Mumbai, becoming the fourth state in the country to experiment with the idea.
Working:
- A desalination plant turns salt water into water that is fit to drink.
- The most commonly used technology used for the process is reverse osmosis where an external pressure is applied to push solvents from an area of high-solute concentration to an area of low-solute concentration through a membrane.
- The microscopic pores in the membranes allow water molecules through but leave salt and most other impurities behind, releasing clean water from the other side.
Challenges:
- Desalination is an expensive way of generating drinking water as it requires a high amount of energy.
- The other problem is the disposal of the by-product — highly concentrated brine — of the desalination process. While in most places brine is pumped back into the sea, there have been rising complaints that it ends up severely damaging the local ecology around the plant.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FILM FESTIVAL
The tenth edition of National Science Film Festival kicked off in a virtual mode.
About:
- Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous agency under the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, has been organizing this festival as a part of its science popularization endeavour.
- The festival offers a unique platform to showcase the science films made by professionals, amateur and student filmmakers under various themes.
- The national science film festival 2020 is being jointly by organized Vigyan Prasar, and the Tripura State Council of Science and Technology, Govt. of Tripura.
- A total of 115 shortlisted films selected by the ten-member jury will be screened during the festival. These include films in Hindi, English, Urdu, Malayalam, Kashmiri, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and Tamil languages.
CREATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGRO-PROCESSING CLUSTER
The government has approved seven proposals of Food Processing Projects worth over 234 crore rupees under the Scheme for Creation of Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Cluster.
About:
- The scheme for Creation of Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Cluster was approved in 2017 under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana to incentivize the setting up of agro processing clusters in the country.
- This scheme aims at development of modern infrastructure to encourage entrepreneurs to set up food processing units based on cluster approach.
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
This year’s theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”.
About:
- The United Nations General Assembly has designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Resolution 54/134).
- The premise of the day is to raise awareness of the fact that women around the world are subject to rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence.
- The date is based on the date of the 1960 assassination of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic; the killings were ordered by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo (1930–1961). On December 17, 1999, the date received its official United Nations (UN) resolution.
GERMANY’S NEW BOARDROOM QUOTA FOR WOMEN
Last week, a working group of Germany’s ruling coalition parties headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to impose a mandatory quota for the number of women working in senior management positions in the country’s listed firms.
About:
- A final decision on the key points of the legislation, called the Second Management Positions Act, will be made by the cabinet this week.
- As per the agreed-upon provisions, in case executive boards of listed companies have more than three members, one of them must be a woman.
- Further, companies in which the federal government has a stake will require a supervisory board quota of at least 30 per cent and minimum participation in executive boards.
SAHAKAR PRAGYA
Union Agriculture Minister unveiled ‘Sahakar Pragya’ to impart training to primary cooperative societies in rural areas.
About:
- The 45 new training modules of Sahakar Pragya of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will impart training to primary cooperative societies in rural areas along with Lakshmanrao Inamdar National Cooperative Research and Development Academy(LINAC).
- Sahakar Pragya embodies enhancing NCDC’s training capacity by 18-fold through an elaborate network of 18 Regional Training Centres across the country by the dedicated LINAC set up and fully funded by NCDC
RE-INVEST 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the virtual 3rd Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo (RE-Invest 2020), on 26 November 2020.
About:
- The summit is organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and will be held from 26 – 28 November 2020.
- The theme for RE-Invest 2020 is ‘Innovations for Sustainable Energy Transition’.
- It will feature a 3-day conference on renewables and future energy choices, and an exhibition of manufacturers, developers, investors and innovators.
- It aims to build upon the success of the first two editions held in 2015 and 2018 and provide an international forum for investment promotion in renewable energy.
LACHIT BORPHUKAN
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has paid tribute to Lachit Borphukan on Lachit Diwas.
About:
- Lachit Borphukan (1622 - 1672) was a commander and Borphukan (Phu-Kon-Lung) in the Ahom kingdom, located in present-day Assam.
- He is known for his leadership in the 1671 Battle of Saraighat that thwarted a drawn-out attempt by Mughal forces under the command of Ramsingh I to take over Ahom kingdom.
- On 24 November each year Lachit Divas (Lachit Day) is celebrated state-wide in Assam to commemorate the heroism of Lachit Borphukan and the victory of the Assamese army at the Battle of Saraighat.
NORTHEAST MONSOON
The Northeast monsoon has remained subdued this year. Rainfall over the Southern peninsular region has been deficient so far. The reason is a prevalent La Niña condition, along with a low pressure belt that is currently lying to the north of its normal position.
About:
- India receives rainfall during two seasons. About 75 per cent of the country’s annual rainfall is received from the Southwest monsoon between June and September.
- The Northeast monsoon, on the other hand, occurs during October to December, and is a comparatively small-scale monsoon, which is confined to the Southern peninsula.
- Also called the winter monsoon, the rainfall associated with the Northeast monsoon is important for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, Yanam, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, north interior Karnataka, Mahe and Lakshadweep.
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