ALPHABET WORKERS UNION
More than 225 Google engineers and other workers have formed a union, capping years of growing activism at one of the world’s largest companies and presenting a rare beachhead for labour organizers in staunchly anti-union Silicon Valley.
About:
- The new union, called the Alphabet Workers Union after Google’s parent company, Alphabet, was organized in secret for the better part of a year and elected its leadership last month.
- The group is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, a union that represents workers in telecommunications and media in the United States and Canada.
- But unlike a traditional union, which demands that an employer come to the bargaining table to agree on a contract, the Alphabet Workers Union is a so-called minority union that represents a fraction of the company’s more than 260,000 full-time employees and contractors.
- Workers said it was primarily an effort to give structure and longevity to activism at Google, rather than to negotiate for a contract.
TOYCATHON-2021
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), Ministry of Textile, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Ministry of MSME, Ministry of I&B and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have jointly launched Toycathon-2021 and Toycathon Portal.
About:
- This is a special kind of hackathon where students and teachers from schools and colleges, design experts, toy experts and startups will get together to crowd source ideas for developing toys and games that are based on Indian culture & ethos and local folklore & heroes.
- While this will greatly help India develop into a global hub for toys and games, it will also help our children to understand the ethos and values of Indian culture as envisaged in the National Education Policy 2020.
- The Toycathon is based on nine themes viz. Indian Culture, History, Knowledge of India and Ethos; Learning, Education and Schooling; Social and human values; Occupations & specific fields; Environment; Divyang ; Fitness and sport; Out of the box, creative and logical thinking and Rediscovering/redesigning traditional Indian toys
- The Toycathon will have 3 variants of tracks of Junior Level, Senior Level and Start up Level and will allow participation of students and teachers from schools, colleges and universities apart from startups and toy experts.
SAGARMALA SEAPLANE SERVICES (SSPS)
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is initiating the ambitious Project of Sagarmala Seaplane Services (SSPS) with potential airline operators.
About:
- Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is initiating the process of commencing operations of the Seaplane services, on the select routes, under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) framework through prospective airline operators.
- The project execution and implementation would be through Sagarmala Development Company Ltd (SDCL), which is under the administrative control of the Ministry.
- Several destinations are envisaged for seaplane operations. The proposed Origin-Destination pairs under Hub and Spoke model include various islands of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, Guwahati Riverfront & Umranso Reservoir in Assam, Yamuna Riverfront / Delhi (as Hub) to Ayodhaya etc.
- One such Seaplane Service is already in operation between Kevadia and Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 31st October 2020.
- To run more such services in the coastal areas or proximity to water bodies, SDCL is keen to associate with the interested scheduled / non-scheduled airline operators.
MANNATHU PADMANABHAN
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid tribute to Sri Mannathu Padmanabhan Ji on his jayanti.
About:
- Mannathu Padmanabhan (1878 – 1970) was an Indian social reformer and freedom fighter from Kerala.
- He is recognised as the founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS), an organisation created for the welfare of the Nair community that is found primarily in Kerala.
- He revived and reshaped the old concept of village societies, the Karayogams, which practically set the tenor of family and village life.
- He took part in the Vaikom (1924) and Guruvayoor(1931) temple-entry Satyagrahas.
- As the first president of Travancore Devaswom Board he revitalised many temples which had almost ceased to function.
- In 1959, he along with Christian Churches led a united opposition against the State Communist Ministry, which became known as the Vimochana Samaram (liberation struggle).
- Awards and honours: He was honoured with the title Bharata Kesari by the President of India. He also received Padma Bhushan in 1966.
MORINGA
India has started exports of Moringa powder, keeping in mind its rising global demand and nutritional properties, the commerce ministry said. Two tonne of organic certified Moringa powder were sent to the US through air consignment on December 29, 2020.
About:
- Moringa (botanical name Moringa oleifera) is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree of the family Moringaceae, native to the Indian subcontinent. India is the largest producer of moringa.
- More generally, moringa grows in the wild or is cultivated in Central America and the Caribbean, northern countries of South America, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and various countries of Oceania.
- Common names include moringa, drumstick tree, horseradish tree, and ben oil tree or benzolive tree.
- Globally, the demand for Moringa products, such as Moringa Leaf Powder and Moringa Oil, has been witnessing healthy growth for its nutritional, medicinal, culinary uses.
SWASTH VAYU
The expert committee constituted by Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, has concluded that SwasthVayu may be used on Covid-19 patients who require oxygen supplementation up to 35%.
About:
- To address the shortages of ventilators in the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) scientists indigenously designed and developed the non-invasive bi-level positive airway pressure ventilator –SwasthVayu.
- SwasthVayu developed by CSIR-NAL is a microcontroller based precise closed-loop adaptive control system with a built-in biocompatible “3D printed manifold and coupler” with HEPA filter (Highly Efficient Particulate Air Filter).
- These unique features help to alleviate the fear of the virus spread. It has features like CPAP, Bi-Timed, Spontaneous / AUTO modes with provision to connect Oxygen concentrator or Enrichment unit externally.
- CSIR-NAL has commercialized this technology with six private companies.
RICE EXPORTS
Vietnam, the world’s third biggest exporter of rice, has started buying the grain from rival India for the first time in decades after local prices jumped to their highest in nine years amid limited domestic supplies.
About:
- The purchases underscore tightening supplies in Asia, which could lift rice prices in 2021 and even force traditional buyers of rice from Thailand and Vietnam to switch to India — the world’s biggest exporter of the Rice.
- In 2020 India exported a record 14 million tonnes of rice, provisional data from the trade Ministry showed.
AURANGABAD
A long standing demand of the Shiv Sena for renaming Aurangabad city in Maharashtra as Sambahji Nagar has resurfaced over the last few days. The controversy has led to a war of words between the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena and Congress, and the BJP.
About:
- Location: Aurangabad is a city in Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region.
- Geology: The entire area is covered by the Deccan Traps lava flows of Upper Cretaceous to Lower Eocene age.
- Economy: The city is known as a major production center of cotton textile and artistic silk fabrics.
- In 2019, the Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) became the first greenfield industrial smart city of India under the country's flagship Smart Cities Mission.
History and its name:
- Paithan, the imperial capital of the Satavahana dynasty (1st century BCE–2nd century CE), as well as Daulatabad or Dēvagirī, the capital of the Yadava dynasty (9th century CE–14th century CE), are located within the limits of modern Aurangabad.
- Aurangabad was built in 1610 by Malik Ambar of the Nijamshahi dynasty. It was renamed Aurangabad by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb when he made it the capital of the Deccan region of the Mughal Empire.
- Aurangzeb, who lived in Aurangabad until his death, tortured and killed Chhatrapati Sambahji Maharaj, son of the Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
2020 WAS 8TH WARMEST YEAR SINCE 1901
The year 2020 was the eight warmest since 1901 but it was "substantially lower" than the highest warming observed in 2016, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement on Climate of India during 2020.
Key findings from IMD data:
- The past two decades -- 2001-2010 and 2011-2020 -- were also the warmest decades on record with anomalies of 0.23 degree Celsius and 0.34 degree Celsius respectively, indicating the overall rising temperature.
- Twelve out of the 15 warmest years since 1901 were during the past 15 years -- between 2006 and 2020.
- The country's averaged annual mean temperature during 1901-2020 showed an increasing trend of 0.62 degree C/100 years with significant increasing trend in maximum temperature (0.99 degree C/100 years) and relatively lower increasing trend (0.24 degree C/100 years) in minimum temperature.
- During the year (2020), annual mean land surface air temperature averaged over the country was 0.29 degree Celsius above normal (based on the data of 1981-2010).
- The five warmest years on record in order were: 2016 (0.71 degree C), 2009 (0.55 degree C), 2017 (0.541 degree C), 2010 (0.539 degrees C), and 2015 (0.42 degree C).
- The 2020 Northeast monsoon season (October-December) rainfall over the country as a whole was normal (101 per cent of LPA).
IIM SAMBALPUR
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the permanent campus of IIM Sambalpur. It is one of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM).
About Sambalpur:
- Sambalpur is a city in Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi.
- Sambalpur is one of the ancient places of India, with recorded settlements in the prehistoric age.
- It is known for Sambalpuri Saree which are known for their incorporation of traditional motifs like shankha (shell), chakra (wheel), phula (flower). It is made from fabric woven on a hand-loom.
- Hirakud Dam, the longest earthen dam in the world and the largest artificial lake of Asia, is at Sambalpur.
- Sambalpur derives its name from the Goddess Samalei who is regarded as the reigning deity of the region.
- Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), one of the subsidiaries of Coal India Limited, is headquartered at Sambalpur.
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