Factoids
Jyeshtha Ashtami

What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday extended greetings to the Kashmiri Pandit community on the occasion of Jyeshtha Ashtami.

• Kashmiri Pandits offer prayers at the Kheer Bhawani temple in Ganderbal district in Jammu and Kashmir on this occasion in honour of their patron goddess Ragnya Devi.
• ‘Kheer'- a milk and rice pudding that is offered to propitiate the goddess.
• Kheer Bhawani is sometimes translated as ‘Milk Goddess'.
• The worship of Kheer Bhawani is universal among the Hindus of Kashmir, most of them worship her as their protective patron deity Kuladevi.

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister was apprised the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Government of Australia for Technical Cooperation in urban water management.
• MoU would reinforce bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the area of urban water security.
• It would strengthen institutional capacities at all levels for urban water management; improve accessibility, affordability & quality of water
• MoU will enable both sides to learn about technological advancements gained by two nations in key areas of urban water security and will promote exchange of learning, best practices and capacity building of institutions.
• This will help towards realisation of AatmaNirbhar Bharat.

What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the transfer of 10 in-orbit communication satellites from Government of India (Gol) to M/s.NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL), a wholly owned Public Sector Enterprise of GOI under the administrative control of the Department of Space.
• The Union Cabinet has also approved increasing the authorized share capital of NSIL from Rs.1000 crore to Rs.7500 crore.
• This approval is expected to trigger domestic economic activity in space sector and increase India's share in the global space market.
• The Space Sector reforms mandated NSIL to undertake end-to-end commercial space activities and function as a full-fledged satellite operator.
• NSIL functioning as a single-window operator will also facilitate the ease of doing business in space sector.
• NSIL Board will now be empowered to price the transponders as per the market dynamics and global trends in the Satellite Communication sector.
• NSIL is also authorized to offer and allocate capacity as per its internal policies and guidelines.

What's the NEWS

• The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved Hyderabad-based Biological E. Limited (BE)'s COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax as a COVID-19 booster dose.

• The vaccine can be administered to adults six months after the administration of second dose of Covaxin or Covishield for restricted use in emergency situations.
• Corbevax is India's first approved heterologous COVID booster (when the third dose is different from earlier doses)
• Clinical trial data showed that Corbevax booster dose provided significant enhancement in immune response and good safety profile required for an effective booster.

What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya will inaugurate Food testing Lab at Raxaul in Bihar.

• This laboratory has been established under Indo - Nepal bilateral agreement to reduce the time in testing of imported food samples brought into Raxaul from Nepal.
• It will facilitate cross-border trade with Nepal through reduced time of testing and faster report generation for the imported samples.
• Earlier, all the imported samples having legal sanctity were being sent to National Food Laboratory, Kolkata, for the purpose of testing.

What's the news

• Gujarat villagers (of Ganasar village) turn farm into artificial wetland to save Saras crane eggs.

• The sarus crane (Antigone antigone) is a large non-migratory crane.
• It is found in open wetlands in South Asia, seasonally flooded Dipterocarpus forests in Southeast Asia, and Eucalyptus-dominated woodlands and grasslands in Australia.
• The Sarus crane is the tallest flying bird in the world standing 152-156 cm tall with a wingspan of 240cm.
• The sarus crane is easily distinguished from other cranes in the region by its overall grey colour and the contrasting red head and upper neck.
• The main threat to the Sarus crane in India is habitat loss and degradation due to draining the wetland and conversion of land for agriculture.

• Union Education Minister released a book ‘Loktantra ke Swar' and ‘The Republican Ethic' having selected speeches of the President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind.
• This the fourth volume of the series featuring the fourth year of presidency of Shri Ram Nath Kovind.
• The compilation contains speeches on a wide range of subjects. E-books were also released on the occasion.