Daily Current Capsules
31st October 2022

National Unity Day

What's the NEWS

• National Unity Day or Rashtriya Ekta Diwas is celebrated on October 31, every year since 2014 to mark the birth anniversary of the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• This year marks the 147th birth anniversary of freedom fighter Vallabhbhai Patel.
• Sardar Vallabhbhai merged 565 princely states to make India one nation. This is the reason why National Unity Day is celebrated on his birth anniversary.

Know! about Sardar Patel

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was appointed as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India from 1947 to 1950.
• He joined the Congress and became the secretary of the Gujarat Sabha that became a Congress stronghold later.
• On Gandhi's call, Patel quit his hard-earned job and joined the movement to fight for exemption of taxes in Kheda at the time of plague and famine (1918).
• He joined Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement (1920)
• He was so influenced by Gandhiji's ideas that in the year 1920 in the non-cooperation movement, he adopted indigenous Khadi items and started boycotting foreign clothes.
• When Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned, it was Patel who led the Satyagraha movement in Nagpur in 1923 against British law.
• It was the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928 which earned Vallabhbhai Patel the title of ‘Sardar' and made him popular throughout the country.
• Pandit Motilal Nehru suggested Vallabhbhai's name to Gandhiji for the presidency of the Congress.
• In 2013, Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Sardar Patel's memorial in the Narmada district of Gujarat. It was named the Statue of Unity.

Kalanamak Rice

What's the NEWS

• Indian Agriculture Research Institute has successfully tested two new dwarf varieties in Uttar Pradesh that give double the yield of traditional variety of Kalanamak rice.

Two new dwarf varieties

1. Pusa Narendra Kalanamak 1638 and
2. Pusa Narendra Kalanamak 1652.

Know! about Kalanamak rice.

• Kalanamak is a traditional variety of paddy with black husk and strong fragrance.
• It is considered a gift from Lord Buddha to the people of Sravasti when he visited the region after enlightenment.
• Grown in 11 districts of the Terai region of north-eastern Uttar Pradesh and in Nepal, the traditional variety has been prone to ‘lodging', a reason for its low yield.
• Its yield is barely two to 2.5 tonnes per hectare.
• Lodging is a condition in which the top of the plant becomes heavy because of grain formation, the stem becomes weak, and the plant falls on the ground.
• The traditional Kalanamak rice is protected under the Geographical Indication (GI) tag system.
• It's recorded in the GI application that Lord Budhha gifted Kalanamak paddy to the people of Sravasti so that they remembered him by its fragrance.

Amur falcons

What's the NEWS

• Amur falcons, the world's longest travelling raptors, began to arrive in Manipur's Tamenglong district as part of its annual routine migration.
• Locally known as Akhuipuina, the bird arrives mainly in Manipur and Nagaland on its southbound migration from breeding grounds in North China, Eastern Mongolia and far-east Russia en-route to its wintering grounds in South Africa.
• The one-way journey via India is about 20,000 km long and the birds do this twice a year.
• Amur falcon is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and included under its Schedule IV.
• Hunting of the birds or possessing its meat is punishable with imprisonment up to three years or a fine up to Rs 5,000.
• In 2018, the forest department started a conservation programme by radio-tagging the birds to study their migratory route.
• IUCN status is Least Concern.

Miyawaki Forest

What's the NEWS

• Recently, The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi dedicated Maze Garden and Miyawaki Forest in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat.

Know! about Miyawaki Forest

• The Miyawaki Forest is named after the technique developed by Japanese botanist Dr Akira Miyawaki to plant saplings of various species close to each other to develop a dense urban forest.
• Through the Miyawaki method, a forest can be developed in just two to three years while it takes at least 20 to 30 years through the traditional method.
• The growth of plants is ten times faster using this method and as a result, the forest developed is thirty times denser.
• The Miyawaki Forest will include a Native Floral Garden, Timber Garden, Fruit Garden, Medicinal Garden and a Digital Orientation Centre.

• Sprawling over three acres with a pathway of 2,100 metres, this is the largest maze garden in the country. It has been designed in the shape of a ‘Shriyantra', which is believed to bring positive energy to the place.

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