CHHATTISGARH
Over 67,000 children bid goodbye to malnutrition in C’garh
A total of 67,889 children are free of malnutrition in Chhattisgarh as on March this year, a fall of 13.79 percent from the 9.70 lakh malnourished recorded in 2019.
This has been made possible by the Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyaan and the integrated plan of various schemes in the state.
After the formation of the new government in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched a drive to free the state from malnutrition and anaemia among women and children.
According to the National Family Health Survey-4, 37.7 percent children under the age of 5 years were suffering from malnutrition and 47 percent women aged 15 to 49 years were victims of anemia.
Most of the 9.7 lakh malnourished children were tribals and children from remote forest areas.
Baghel started the Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyaan across the state on October 2, 2019, on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Before the launch, Suposhan Abhiyan was a pilot project in some gram panchayats of forest areas, including the Bastar region where Naxalites are active.
This was further enhanced through innovative programmes such as distribution of hot-cooked nutritious meal through panchayats in Dantewada district and ‘Laika Jatan Tihar’ in Dhamtari district.
Under the Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyan, arrangements have been made to distribute dry rations in place of cooked food. A total of 3.47 lakh people got the dry ration till May this year.
Along with free counseling, the facilities are regularly monitored. Efforts are also being made to create public awareness through Suposhan chariots, camps and discussions.
UNICEF has praised the Malaria Free Bastar campaign launched in Bastar district.
INTERNATIONAL
World Wind Day :15th June
Global Wind Day is a worldwide event that occurs annually on 15 June.
The event is celebrated to spread awareness about wind energy, the various uses of wind energy, and the ways and possibilities as to how wind energy can help change the world.
EWEA established the day as Wind Day in the year 2007 and later in 2009, EWEA (European Wind Energy Association) and GWEC (Global Wind Energy Council) teamed up with aims to coordinate the events globally and the name was changed to World Wind Day.
Global Wind Day began in Europe in 2007 and globally in 2009.
NATIONAL
CIMAP announces photography competition on medicinal and aromatic plants
In an effort to create awareness about the usefulness of Medicinal and aromatic plants, the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic plants (CIMAP) has announced a photography competition on medicinal and aromatic plants.
Through this competition, CIMAP also wants to convey the message of conservation of these medicinal plants.
The theme of the competition is ‘Know your Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs)’.
Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) is a research institute of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
It is located in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Centre distributed assistive aids and devices to divyangjan under ADIP Scheme
Government of India has taken special measures to benefit the welfare scheme for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) amidst the prevailing unprecedented situation faced by the society due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Virtual Assistance to Disabled Persons (ADIP) Scheme for free distribution of assistive aids and devices at Block level for Divyangjans under the ADIP scheme was organized at Talwandi Bhai Block of Firozpur district in Punjab.
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has announced that the Virtual ADIP Camps will be organized nationwide for distribution of aids & assistive devices to Divyangjan during the pandemic.
Under the Ministry, several schemes have been initiated to provide financial assistance and scholarships to Divyangjan students to pursue their education to become self-reliant.
Centre also invited Divyangjan and their family members to get enrolled for Unique ID Cards for Divyangjan which are valid all over India.
31 Lakhs Unique ID Cards have been delivered to Divyangjan so far.
Centre launched online delivery-based gas trading platform, Indian Gas Exchange
The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan launched the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX).
It will be the first nationwide online delivery-based gas trading platform.
IGX will act as a delivery-based trading platform to deliver natural gas.
The launch of IGX aims to help the nation move towards free-market pricing of natural gas
It is incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), India’s energy market platform.
IGX will enable market participants to trade in standardized gas contracts.
The fully automated platform is a web-based interface and it provides seamless trading experience to the customers.
IGX is expected to play a bigger role in realizing a free market for gas.
IGX, India’s vision on mega investments on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, gas pipelines, City-gas distribution (CGD) infrastructure, and permission for market-driven price mechanism will be materialized.
India joined GPAI to support the responsible and human-centric development and use of AI
India has joined as a founding member and launched the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI or Gee-Pay). Under this move, India has joined along with the league of leading economies including Australia, the US, the UK, European Union (EU), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore.
Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI):
GPAI initiative aims to guide the responsible development and use of AI across the world.
The first of its kind initiative aims to evolve a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating countries.
The main objective of the initiative is to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
They will evolve new methodologies through which AI can be leveraged to better respond to the present global crisis around COVID-19 pandemic.