1. Paralympics 2024: Nitesh Kumar and Suhas Yathiraj power into finals
About Paralympics :
– On 29 July 1948, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the London 1948 Olympic Games, Dr. Guttmann organised the first competition for wheelchair athletes which he named the Stoke Mandeville Games, a milestone in Paralympic history.
– They involved 16 injured servicemen and women who took part in archery.
– Stoke Mandeville Games later became the Paralympic Games which first took place in Rome, Italy, in 1960 featuring 400 athletes from 23 countries. Since then they have taken place every four years.
– In 1976 the first Winter Games in Paralympics history were held in Sweden
About The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) :
– The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement and is based in Bonn, Germany.
– Founded on 22 September 1989 as a non-profit organisation
– As of 1 January 2024, the IPC has 208 member organisations consisting of
1. 183 National Paralympic Committees
2. 17 International Federations
3. 5 Regional Organisations
4. 3 International Organisations of Sport for the Disabled
2. Culture of adjournments should go; case pendency should be resolved, says President
Black court syndrome
– President Murmu told the audience that they must have heard about “white coat” syndrome, where the patient’s blood pressure increases in the presence of doctors.
– She said that common people, face same similar plight in courts where they go with the hope to seek justice but are only given further dates.
– Therefore, it wouldn’t be wrong to term it as ‘blackcoat syndrome’.
What is adjournment of cases in court :
– It is the postponement of a court hearing or trial to a later date.
– It is a procedural tool that allows the court to grant time to the parties for various reasons, such as the need for additional preparation, the absence of a key witness or unforeseen circumstances
3. Prototype of sleeper-coach Vande Bharat Express unveiled in Bengaluru
– The prototype, designed and manufactured by BEML , a public sector undertaking under the defence ministry .
4. LGBTQIA+ couples to be treated as part of same house for ration card – Central Government
– Department of Food and Public Distribution recently issued an advisory to not to discriminate against in the issuance of ration cards
– Recently supreme court refused to recognise same-sex marriages but it noted the Centre’s submission that it would form a committee to look into the scope of entitlements for LGBTQIA+ people and couples in Queer relationships.
5. Cabinet approves one more semiconductor unit under India Semiconductor Mission (ISM)
– With the objective to develop a vibrant semiconductor ecosystem, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister approved the proposal of Kaynes Semicon Pvt Ltd to setup a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat.
– The proposed unit will be setup with an investment of Rs 3,300 crore. The capacity of this unit will be 60 Lakh chips per day.
– In June, 2023, the Union Cabinet had approved the first proposal for setting up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat.
6. Cabinet approves the Digital Agriculture Mission
– The Mission is conceived as an umbrella scheme to support digital agriculture initiatives, such as creating Digital Public Infrastructure, implementing the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES), and taking up other IT initiatives by the Central Government, State Governments, and Academic and Research Institutions.
– The Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for Agriculture aims to provide comprehensive and useful data on farmers comprising of authenticated demographic details, land holdings and crops sown.
– Under the Mission, detailed Soil Profile Mapson a 1:10,000 scale of about 142 million ha of the country’s agricultural land are envisaged to be completed. A detailed soil profile inventory of about 29 million ha has already been completed.
– The Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES) will provide yield estimates based on scientifically designed crop-cutting experiments. This initiative will prove very useful in making accurate estimates of agricultural production.
7. Digital Bharat Nidhi
– The Universal Service Obligation Fund created under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 has now been rechristened as Digital Bharat Nidhi vide section 24(1) of the Telecommunications Act, 2024
– The Digital Bharat Nidhi was formerly known as Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF), which earlier supported the rollout of networks in rural and remote areas only
– The ₹80,000 crore Digital Bharat Nidhi will now support provisioning of telecommunication services in urban areas with additional benchmarks, such as making such services affordable and enhancing their security
8. eShram achieved over 30 crore registrations in the span of just 3 years
About eShram ;
– Ministry of Labour & Employment has developed eShram portal for creating a National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW), which will be seeded with Aadhaar. – It will have details of name, occupation, address, occupation type, educational qualification, skill types etc. for optimum realization of their employability and extend the benefits of the social security schemes to them.
– It is the first-ever national database of unorganised workers including migrant workers,
construction workers, gig and platform workers, etc.