Daily Current Capsules
11th November 2022

India's first national repository for life science data-‘Indian Biological Data Center' (IBDC)

What's the NEWS

• Ministry of Science and Technology dedicated to the nation India's first national repository for life science data-‘Indian Biological Data Center' (IBDC) at Faridabad, Haryana.
• As per the BIOTECH-PRIDE guidelines of the Government of India, IBDC is mandated to archive all life science data generated from publicly-funded research in India.
• It has a data storage capacity of about 4 petabytes and houses the ‘Brahm' High Performance Computing (HPC) facility.
• The computational infrastructure at IBDC is also made available for researchers interested in performing computational-intensive analysis.

Know! about IBDC

• It is an effort by the Government of India for the purpose of deposition, storage, annotation and sharing of biological data.
• IBDC is mandated to archive all life science data generated from publicly funded research in India.
• The data center is supported by the Government of India (GOI) through the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
• It is being established at the Regional Centre of Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad in the national capital region in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), India.
• In times to come, IBDC is envisaged to emerge as a major data repository for all life science data emerging from India.
• Due to the heterogeneity of life science data, IBDC is being developed in a modular nature wherein different sections would typically deal with particular type/s of life science data.
• Each IBDC section would have dedicated data submission and access schema.
• Further, besides archiving life science data, IBDC shall also develop highly curated data sets in order to facilitate knowledge discovery in various domains of life sciences.
• It would also provide infrastructure and expertise for biological data analysis.
• IBDC is committed to the spirit of data sharing as per FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles

• Biotech PRIDE Guidelines will facilitate and enable exchange of information to promote research and innovation in different research groups across the country.
• The Biotech PRIDE Guidelines are applicable for all biological data generated through research conducted within the country.
• These guidelines envisage to bridge other existing biological datasets/data centres with the IBDC, which will be called Bio-Grid.
• This Bio-Grid will be a National Repository for biological knowledge, information and data.
• Bio-Grid will be responsible for enabling its exchange, developing measures for safety, standards and quality for datasets and establishing detailed modalities for accessing data.
• These guidelines will be implemented through Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC).

Acharya Kripalani

What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Acharya Kripalani on his Jayanti.

Know! about Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani

• Popularly known as Acharya Kripalani
• He was an Indian politician, noted particularly for holding the presidency of the Indian National Congress during the transfer of power in 1947 and the husband of Sucheta Kripalani.
• Kripalani was an environmentalist, mystic and independence activist who was long a Gandhian socialist, before joining the economically right wing Swatantra Party later in life.
• From 1912 to 1927, he taught at various places before becoming wholly involved in the freedom movement.
• He earned the moniker ‘Acharya' around 1922 when he was teaching at the Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by the Mahatma a couple of years before.
• He, along with Vinoba Bhave, was involved in preservation and conservation activities throughout the 1970s.
• He was part of the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) and the Civil Disobedience movements (started in 1930) and Quit India Movement (1942).
• He was the President of Indian National Congress (INC) at the time of independence.
• He served in the Interim government of India (1946-1947) and the Constituent Assembly of India.
• He became one of the founders of the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP) after independence leaving congress.
• He moved the first-ever "No confidence motion" in Lok Sabha in 1963, immediately after the India-China War (1962).
• He was a critic of Nehru's policies and Indira Gandhi's rule. He was arrested during Emergency (1975).
• In 1963, Sucheta Kripalani, a Congress leader became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, a first for any woman in the country while her husband Acharya remained an opponent to the Congress.
• My Times, his autobiography published posthumously in 2004.
• He had served as the General Secretary of the INC for almost a decade.

National Education Day - November 11

What's the NEWS

• National Education Day is celebrated every year on November 11 to mark the birth anniversary of the first Minister of Education in India, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

• He was an Indian independence activist, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress.
• After the nation gained independence, he became the first Minister of Education in the Indian government.
• He served as the education minister from August 15, 1947 till February 2, 1958, and passed away in Delhi on February 22, 1958.
• He played an instrumental role in the development of the education system of independent India.
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian award -- Bharat Ratna in 1992.
• Maulana Azad was the visionary behind the establishment of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the School of Architecture and Planning.
• He was also responsible for setting-up University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE), Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Sahitya Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy, and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• The first National Education Day celebration was inaugurated by then President Pratibha Patil on November 11, 2008

India hosted the 2nd BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministers meeting

What's the NEWS

• India hosted the Second Agriculture Ministerial-level meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
• Agriculture ministers of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the meeting.

Meeting Highlights

• The 2nd BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministerial Meeting adopted the Action Plan for Strengthening BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation (2023-2027).
• An MoU between the BIMSTEC Secretariat and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has been signed and approval has been given to bring Fisheries and Livestock sub-sectors under the Agricultural Working Group.
• BIMSTEC member countries appreciated India's efforts to strengthen cooperation in agricultural research and development and for awarding six scholarships each for postgraduate and PhD programmes in agriculture.

• BIMSTEC was established in the year 1997.
• It includes five countries of South Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and two countries of South-East Asia - Myanmar and Thailand.

Know! about International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

• It is an international agricultural research center founded in the early 1970s to improve the understanding of national agricultural and food policies to promote the adoption of innovations in agricultural technology.
• IFPRI was meant to shed more light on the role of agricultural and rural development in the broader development pathway of a country
• The mission of IFPRI is to provide research-based policy solutions that sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition.
• IFPRI carries out food policy research and disseminates it through hundreds of publications, bulletins, conferences, and other initiatives.

11th Session of the India-Belarus Inter-Governmental Commission

What's the NEWS

• The 11th Session of the India-Belarus Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation was held on November 10, 2022 in New Delhi.

Meeting Highlights

• The Intergovernmental Commission reviewed the results of bilateral cooperation that took place after the tenth session of the Commission in 2020.
• India and Belarus reiterated their strong desire to further broaden their cooperation with emphasis on key sectors such as pharmaceuticals, financial services, science and technology, heavy industries, culture, tourism, and education.
• India and Belarus are strategic partners since 1991.
• The two countries cooperate on several areas.
• This visit was an opportunity to review the existing relationship and find out ways and means to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

Belarus Location

102nd Birth Anniversary of Shri Dattopant Thengadi celebrated

What's the NEWS

• 102nd Birth Anniversary of Shri Dattopant Thengadi was celebrated at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi by Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education & Development (DTNBWED).

• He was an Indian Hindu Ideologue, trade union leader and founder of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh.
• He is one of the foremost ideologues of Swadeshi economics.
• He was born in the village of Arvi in Wardha district in Maharashtra.
• Thengadi was a full-time Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak until his death on 14 October 2004.
• He was awarded with Padma Bhushan but refused to accept it.
• He actively took part in India's Freedom Movement and was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) from 1936-38.

• Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (1955)
• Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (1979),
• Swadeshi Jagran Manch (1991)
• Samajik Samarasata Manch
• Sarva- panth Samadar Manch

• Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
• Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad
• Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat and
• Bharatiya Vichara Kendra.

Know! about Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development (DTNBWED)

• It is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India.
• It is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• Started in 1958, the Workers Education Scheme in India has been playing a very significant role in our national development
• The Scheme of Workers Education aims to create and increase awareness and educate workforce for their effective participation in the socio-economic development of the country.
• To achieve these objectives, various training programmes are conducted by the Board for the workers of formal and informal sectors at national, regional and unit levels

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