Daily Current Capsules
01st and 02nd December 2022

Community Innovator Fellowship

 

What's the NEWS

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog announced the launch of applications for Community Innovator Fellowship (CIF), an initiative of Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog in collaboration with UNDP India to facilitate knowledge building and provide infrastructure support to aspiring community innovators essential for their entrepreneurship journey.
• Currently there are 22 Community Innovator fellows being incubated at the Atal Community Innovation Centre (ACIC) program of AIM.

 

Atal Community Innovation Centers (ACIC)

 

• AICC are envisaged to serve the unserved/underserved areas of the country with respect to the start-up and innovation ecosystem.
• ACIC saw it to be crucial to reach the innovators at the bottom of the pyramid and give them equitable opportunities, especially by reducing the lab to land distance and creating a space for pre-incubation of ideas/solutions.
• A Community Innovator Fellow is an individual with an entrepreneurial mind-set, with an idea to solve a community challenge through her/his enterprise.
• This is a one-year-long intensive fellowship program wherein an aspiring community innovator can apply irrespective of their socio-economic background is aimed at creating a conducive environment where knowledge, mentorship, community immersion and inclusion can prosper through adequate infrastructure and funding.

 

 

• During the course of this fellowship, each fellow would be hosted at an Atal Community Innovation Centre and would acquire SDG awareness, entrepreneurial skills and life skills while working on her/his idea.
• AIM has been setting up Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACIC) across the country.

 

Mk-III squadron commissioned

 

What's the NEWS

• An Indian Coast Guard Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mk-III squadron, was commissioned at ICG Air Station, Chennai
• It will provide a major fillip to the abilities of Indian Coast Guard in the security sensitive waters off Tamil Nadu and Andhra region.

Know! about ALH Mk-III helicopters

• The ALH Mk-III helicopters, indigenously manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), features state-of-the-art equipment including advanced RADAR as well as Electro optical sensors
• This feature enables the helicopter to undertake maritime reconnaissance as well as carry out search and rescue at extended ranges while operating from ships, both by day and night.
• The aircraft has the ability to switch roles from an offensive platform with heavy machine gun to that of a benign one carrying a Medical Intensive Care Unit to facilitate transfer of critically ill patients.
• A total of 16 ALH Mk-III aircraft have been inducted in the Indian Coast Guard in a phased manner and four of these aircraft are positioned in Chennai.

 

DIVYA KALA MELA 2022

What's the NEWS

• Department of Social Justice & Empowerment is organizing a unique event showcasing the products and craftsmanship of Divyang entrepreneurs/artisans from across the country
• Around 200 Divyang artisans/artists and entrepreneurs from about 22 states/UTs will be showcasing their products and skills.

 

Joint Exercise Agni Warrior

 

What's the NEWS

• The 12th Edition of Exercise Agni Warrior, a bilateral exercise between the Singapore & Indian Army, which had commenced on 13 November 2022 concluded at Field Firing Ranges, Devlali (Maharashtra) on 30 November 2022.
• Exercise Agni Warrior, involved showcasing joint firepower planning, execution and use of New Generation Equipment by the Artillery arm of both armies.
• The exercise achieved its aim of enhancing mutual understanding of drills & procedures and improving interoperability between the two armies.

 

 

23rd edition of Hornbill Festival

What's the NEWS

• The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated the 23rd edition of Hornbill Festival at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama near the state capital, Kohima.

 

Know! about Hornbill Festival

• The Hornbill Festival is an annual festival celebrated from 1 to 10 of December in the Northeastern Indian state of Nagaland.
• The festival represents all ethnic groups of Nagaland for which it is also called the Festival of Festivals.
• The state of Nagaland is home to several ethnic groups, which have their own distinct festivals.
• More than 60% of the population of Nagaland depends on agriculture and therefore most of their festivals revolve around agriculture.
• The Nagas consider their festivals sacred, so participation in these festivals is essential.
• To encourage inter-ethnic interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland, the Government of Nagaland organizes the Hornbill Festival every year in the first week of December.
• The first festival was held in December 2000.
• the festival is named after the Indian hornbill, the large and colourful forest bird which is displayed in the folklore of most of the state's ethnic groups.

Hornbill Bird

 

 

• Hornbill is an Indian bird also known as the concave-casqued hornbill.
• It is one of the larger members of the hornbill family and is found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
• The bird is an important part of tribal culture and is known for its size and colour.
• Indian Hornbill is a cultural icon of the Naga people and is part of the folklore

 

World's first intra-nasal vaccine for COVID

What's the NEWS

• World's first intra-nasal vaccine for COVID developed by India has got approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for restricted use in emergency situations in the age group of 18 and above.
• Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and its PSU, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance (BIRAC) supported the development of world's first Intranasal vaccine for COVID by Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL).
• The Product development and Clinical trials were funded by the Department of biotechnology, Government of India and BIRAC under the Mission COVID Suraksha Program.
• This vaccine received approval under restricted Use in emergency situations for ages 18 and above for primary 2 dose schedule, homologous booster doses.

Know! about the vaccine and its benefits

• Vaccine is a recombinant replication deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilized spike protein.
• This vaccine candidate was evaluated in Phases I, II and III clinical trials with successful results.
• It has been specifically formulated to allow intranasal delivery through nasal drops.
• The nasal delivery system has been designed and developed to be cost-effective in low- and middle-income countries.
• This vaccine is stable at 2-8°C for easy storage and distribution.

Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC)

 

 

• In another historic and path-breaking decision, Dr Jitendra Singh today approved subsuming of 14 Autonomous Institutions of DBT to create one Apex Autonomous Body - Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC) for achieving centralized and unified governance to maximize impact of biotech research.

 

 

24th National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan and Preparedness Meeting

What's the NEWS

• Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted the 24th National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP) and Preparedness Meeting in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on November 30, 2022.
• About 100 delegates, including representatives of various Ministries, Central and State Government departments and agencies, State Pollution Control Board, Ports and Oil Handling Companies participated.
• National capabilities with the common aim to ensure collective preparedness to respond to any oil and chemical spill contingency in Indian waters were reviewed.
• Presently, as the third largest importer of crude, India receives a large volume of oil through ships.
• It stands sixth in the world as major chemical importer country.
• Both oil and chemicals if spilled pose inherent risks to the maritime zones of India and the connected coastlines housing large coastal population, marine ecosystem, industries and various installations along with supporting tourism industry.
• Therefore, preventive measures by the Central Coordinating Agency, Ports, Ship Owners, Oil Handling Facilities, Coastal States and other concerned stakeholders are required to be taken to prepare for any likely marine spill.

 

Vayu - The vital life force

What's the NEWS

• To channel dialogue on need for clean air in the country, a conference titled ‘Vayu - The vital life force' is being organized at Siksha O Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha from December 02 - 04, 2022.
• This Conference is focused on varied air quality issues ranging from scientific discussions on climate change and pollution control to enriching our understanding on air quality from ancient scriptures and texts.
• The aim of the Vayu conference is to build upon the multidimensional efforts taken by Governments to achieve our air quality targets as set in National Clean Air Program by uniting all the important stakeholders.
• The conference will be attended by more than 500 participants comprising experts, students, academicians, State Pollution Control Boards, Pollution Control Committees, Municipal Commissioners, State Environment Secretaries, scientists, and engineers.

 

D&B Business Excellence Awards 2022

 

What's the NEWS

• The Manthan platform won NSEIT the Best Tech Initiative of the Year at the Dun & Bradstreet Business Excellence Awards 2022 on 29th November 2022 during an event in Mumbai.
• The award was presented for building the technology infrastructure to support Manthan, a platform that promotes collaboration at scale between industry and the scientific research and development ecosystem.
• The development of the platform was conceptualized and implemented by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India.

Know! about Manthan

 

 

 

• Manthan is aimed at promoting collaboration between industry and the scientific research and development ecosystem.
• Launched on India's 76th Independence Day, Manthan empowers multiple stakeholders to collaborate for co-creating solutions aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and our national scientific missions.
• Manthan is a unique platform enabling public-private-academia collaboration to achieve sustainability goals, and the goal is to play a transformative role in doing that
• It is giving a thrust for innovative ideas and inventive minds to seamlessly collaborate and work towards making India a global innovation hub.

Know! about Dun & Bradstreet Business Excellence Awards 2022

• Dun & Bradstreet is a global provider of B2B data, insights, and AI-driven platforms for organizations around the world. Since 1841, companies of every size have relied on Dun & Bradstreet to help them manage risk and reveal opportunity.
• The Dun & Bradstreet SME and Mid-Corporate ‘Business Excellence Awards 2022' is an endeavor to acknowledge and recognize the achievements and performance of SMEs and Mid-Corporates.
• The award covers 23 categories largely based on business performance parameters.
• The award nominations were reviewed by a distinguished jury panel featuring experts from the banking and energy development sectors.

Know! about NSEIT

• NSEIT Limited is a global technology enterprise focused on delivering excellence in a complex digital environment, primarily in the banking, insurance, and capital market ecosystem, and a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India.
• Their key service pillars are Application Modernization, Business Transformation, Data Analytics, Infrastructure & Cloud Services, Cybersecurity, EdTech, and online examinations solutions.

 

Manipur Sangai Festival

 

What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Manipur Sangai Festival
• The festival is named after the state animal, Sangai, the brow-antlered deer found only in Manipur.
• It started in the year 2010 and has grown over the years into a big platform for Manipur to showcase its rich tradition and culture to the world.
• It helps promote Manipur as a world class tourism destination.
• The festival will reflect the State's proud cultural heritage
• The State's classical dance form, ‘Ras Leela' is quite famous all over the world for its distinctiveness from any other dance forms in India.

 

Other folk dance

• Kabui Naga dance, Bamboo dance, Maibi dance, Lai Haraoba dance, Khamba Thoibi dance etc.

 

Manipur brow-antlered deer or Eld's deer/Sangai deer

 

• The sangai is an endemic and endangered subspecies of Eld's deer found only in Manipur, India.
• It is also the state animal of Manipur.
• Its original natural habitat is the floating marshy grasslands of the Keibul Lamjao National Park, located in the southern parts of the Loktak Lake, which is the largest freshwater lake in eastern India.

 

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