DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 17th July 2021
93rd Foundation Day of ICAR Celebrated
- Est on 16th July 1929, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for coordinating agricultural education and research in India.
- On the occasion awards in various categories were announced along with releasing the publications of ICAR.
- The Council’s hard work to achieve the targets of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022 was also appreciated.
Kisan Sarathi: ‘Right Information at Right Time’
- To facilitate farmers to get ‘right information at right time’ in their desired language, a digital platform namely ‘KisanSarathi’ was launched jointly by Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare with Shri Ashwini Vaishnav, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, on 93rd ICAR Foundation Day.
- The farmers can interact and avail personalized advisories on agriculture and allied areas directly from the respective scientists of KrishiVigyan Kendra (KVKs).
- The Minister asked the ICAR Scientists to take-up research on new technological interventions in transportation of farmer’s crop from their farm gate to warehouses, markets, and the places where they want to sell with minimum damage.
School Innovation Ambassador Training Program
- Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda jointly launched the School Innovation Ambassador Training Program.
- It aims to train 50 thousand schoolteachers on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Design Thinking, Product development and Idea generation.
- The program has been designed by Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education and AICTE for School Teachers. The training will be given in online mode only.
- Ministry of Agriculture has signed a MOU with Microsoft to run a pilot programme for 100 villages in 6 states.
Automated Train Toilet Sewerage Disposal System
- An automated technology for collection of toilet waste which is easy to maintain and seven times cheaper alternative to the bio-toilets, developed by an Indian scientist (Dr. R.V. Krishnaiah), can be used to maintain the toilet system of the Indian Railways.
- The technology developed with support from the Advanced Manufacturing Technologies programme of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), aligned with the ‘Make in India’ initiative has been granted five National patents and is in the testing phase.
- Existing Bio toilets use anaerobic bacteria for converting human waste to gas, but that bacterium cannot decompose plastic and cloth materials dumped into toilets by passengers.
- Hence maintenance and removing of such non decomposed materials inside the tank is difficult.
- The automated system has 3 steps: The septic tank (which is placed under the track) top cover gets opened when train approaches to the septic tank place by using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sensor and reader placed at Engine and septic tank position respectively,
- sewerage material in toilet tanks is dropped into the septic tank when they are mutually synchronized,
- Septic tank cover gets closed when train departs away from it.
Aruna Asaf Ali Remembered on her Birth Anniversary
- Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today remembered freedom fighter Aruna Asaf Ali on her birth anniversary.
- In a tweet, Mr. Naidu said, she was a fearless freedom fighter, resolute leader and passionate educator and earned the sobriquet Heroine of the 1942 Movement’ for her role in the Quit India Movement.
- The Vice President said, her love for the motherland continues to inspire every Indian.
Draft Drone Rules, 2021
- The Ministry of Civil Aviation has unveiled the Draft Drone Rules, 2021 based on “trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring”.
- The new rules would replace the existing Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, notified in March 2021.
- It aims to create a “digital sky platform” as a business-friendly single-window online system for procuring various approvals.
- There will be minimal human interface on the digital sky platform and most permissions will be self-generated.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- Who is the Current Director General, ICAR?
- Dr. S Ayyappan
- Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra
- Dr. Renu Swarup
- Dr. Ashutosh Sharma
ANSWER: B
- ___________ is the motto of ICAR?
- Agrisearch with a human touch
- Agriculture for Human Life
- Agri Development with Human touch
- Food for Life
ANSWER: A
- Indian Institute of Rice Research is located at?
- Hyderabad
- Chennai
- Mysore
- Bengaluru
ANSWER: A
- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute is located at?
- Thiruvananthapuram
- Kochi
- Vishakhapatnam
- Mumbai
ANSWER: B
- Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research is located at?
- Kanpur
- Lucknow
- Patna
- Ranchi
ANSWER: B
- Central Tobacco Research Institute is located at?
- Rajamahendravaram
- Kurnool
- Kadapa
- Chittoor
ANSWER: A
- Indian Institute of Horticultural Research is located at?
- Hyderabad
- Chennai
- Kochi
- Bengaluru
ANSWER: D
- Indian Institute of Spices Research is located at?
- Kochi
- Thiruvananthapuram
- Khazikode (Calicut)
- Kollam
ANSWER: C
- Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology is located at?
- Ranchi
- Jhansi
- Meerut
- Varanasi
ANSWER: A
- Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation is located at?
- Dehradun
- Bhopal
- Bhubaneshwar
- Karnal
ANSWER: A
