Facts in News

Facts in News

National Handloom Day

• The Union Government had declared the 7th of August as the National Handloom Day in July 2015.
  • August 7 was chosen as the National Handloom Day to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement which was launched on this day in 1905 in Calcutta Town Hall to protest against the partition of Bengal by the British Government. 
    • It aims to boycott foreign goods and rely on Indian-made products. 
• It is celebrated to honour the handloom community and acknowledge their contribution to India’s socio-economic development.
  • As over 70% of handloom weavers and allied workers are women, it acts as a key to women’s empowerment.  
• Aim 
  • The day is dedicated to raising awareness among the public and increasing the contribution towards the socio-economic development of the weavers.
  • To ensure sustainable development of the handloom sector. 

Importance of Handlooms Sector in India

• Handlooms in India have a rich cultural heritage and are renowned the world over for their craftsmanship since ancient times. 
• The handloom sector is a symbol of our country’s rich and varied cultural heritage, and is an important source of livelihood in rural and semi-rural parts of our country. 
• It is also a sector that directly addresses women’s empowerment with over 70% of all weavers and allied workers being female.
• It has eco-friendly production processes with minimal requirement of capital and power.
• It provides flexibility to innovate to meet changes in fashion trends and fast-changing customer preferences.

Various Initiatives in this context

• The Ministry of Textiles is implementing following schemes through the Office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms across the country: 

• National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP)
• Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS)
• Handloom Weavers’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme (HWCWS)
• Yarn Supply Scheme (YSS)

Initial Public Offering (IPO)

• Recently, Devyani International’s initial public offering (IPO) has opened for subscription.

Key Points 

• It refers to the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance.
• It is also known as floating or going public.
• Public share issuance allows a company to raise capital from public investors.
• An IPO is underwritten by one or more investment banks, who also arrange for the shares to be listed on one or more stock exchanges.
  • Underwriting (of a bank or other financial institution) means a pledge to buy all the unsold shares in (an issue of new shares).

• Through this process, a privately held company is transformed into a public company.
• IPO can be used
  • To raise new equity capital for companies.
  • To monetize the investments of private shareholders such as company founders or private equity investors.
  • To enable easy trading of existing holdings or future capital raising by becoming publicly traded.

• Markets regulator SEBI has put in place a uniform policy to streamline the reconciliation process among intermediaries with regard to IPO as well as a new mechanism to compensate investors.

Central Universities Bill

• The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha.
• The Bill seeks to amend the Central Universities Act, 2009, which establishes universities for teaching and research in various states.
•  Aims and Objectives 
  • To provide for the establishment of a university in the Union territory of Ladakh which will facilitate and promote avenues of higher education and research for the people of the Union territory.

Quail Farming

• The farming of Japanese quails is gaining popularity in the Koraput region amidst the pandemic.

About

• Quail farming is more profitable than farming poultry, along with low farming costs and less risk of diseases.

Quail: 

• The quail is a small bird that belongs to the pheasant family. They were first domesticated in Japan in 1595. 
• There are two species of quail in India: 
  • The black-breasted quail found in the wild and the brown-coloured Japanese quail which is bred for meat. They were introduced in India in 1974 from California.

Benefits

• Quail farming requires little capital and labour and involves less risk of disease.
• It could play a vital role in meeting the demand for food and nutrition.
• Quail eggs are more nutritious than other poultry eggs as they contain comparatively more protein, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, B1 and B2.

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)

• Bangladesh and Canada have accepted the invitation to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
• The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) as of now includes 22 countries, four international partners and two private sector organisations.

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)

• About:
  • It is the partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks, financing mechanisms, private sector, and knowledge institutions that will promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring sustainable development.
  • It was launched by India at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019, which was held in New York City, USA.
• Aim:
  • Enabling measurable reduction in infrastructure losses from disasters, including extreme climate events.
    • The world is facing forest fires in Canada, from flooding in Europe to extreme heat in India, the impacts of a changing climate are real and significant.
  • To enable the achievement of objectives of expanding universal access to basic services and enabling prosperity as enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Also working at the intersection of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Climate Agreement.

 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

• The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 was adopted at the Third
• UN World Conference in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015.
• It applies to the risk of small-scale and large-scale, frequent and infrequent, sudden and slow-onset disasters caused by natural or man-made hazards, as well as related environmental, technological and biological hazards and risks.

Advantages of CDRI to India

• Complement the International Solar Alliance
• The leadership of Indian for climate Action and Disaster Resilience at the global level.
• Support India’s resilient missions abroad.
• Provide opportunities for Indian infrastructure & technology firms to expand services abroad.

National Innovation on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) 

• It is a flagship network project launched by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 2011 of the XI Plan.
• Aim: 
  • Strategic research on adaptation and mitigation, demonstration of technologies on farmers’ fields and creating awareness among farmers and other stakeholders to minimize the climatic change impacts on agriculture.
• Areas covered:
  • Identifying most vulnerable districts/regions 
  • Evolving crop varieties and management practices for adaptation and mitigation
  • Assessing climate change impacts on livestock, fisheries and poultry and identifying adaptation strategies
• Steps Taken So Far:
  • Unique infrastructure facilities viz. High Throughput Plant Phenomics, Free Air Temperature Enrichment facility (FATE), Free Air CO2 Enrichment facility (FACE), CO2 Temperature Gradient Chambers (CTGC), Gas chromatography, Atomic absorption spectrophotometers, Environmental growth chamber, UV-VIS spectrophotometer, Thermal imaging system, Psychrometric chambers etc.
  • Establishment of Custom hiring centres (CHCs) to ensure availability of farm implements for timely operations.
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
  • It is an autonomous organization under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India.
  • It is the apex body for coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the entire country.