PM to inaugurate TRIFED’s Aadi Mahotsav in Delhi on Feb. 16

• It is an annual Tribal Festival that was started in the year 2017.
• It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs & Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED).
• Aim: It aimed to familiarise the people with the rich and diverse craft, and the culture of the tribal communities, in one place.
• Theme: “A Celebration of the Spirit of Tribal Crafts, Culture and Commerce”

TRIFED

• TRIFED came into existence in 1987 under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, of 1984.
• It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• Objectives of the Organisation: Socio-economic development of tribal people in the country by way of marketing development of tribal products.
• The organisation assists tribal people in exploring and creating opportunities to market the developed products in national and international markets on a sustainable basis.
• Under the TRIBES India brand, the sourced handcrafted products from the tribal people are sold.

WHO confirms outbreak of highly infectious Marburg virus after 9 deaths; symptoms, treatment, and other details

• MVD, earlier known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever that affects both people and non-human primates.
• Causative agent: MVD is caused by the Marburg virus, a genetically unique zoonotic (animal-borne) RNA virus. Marburg and Ebola viruses are both members of the Filoviridae family (filovirus).
• Marburg virus was first recognized in 1967, when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever occurred simultaneously in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia).
• The reservoir host of the Marburg virus is the African fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus.
• Transmission: The Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission.
• Fatality: The average MVD case fatality rate is around 50%.
• Treatment:
• There is no specific treatment for Marburg virus disease.
• Supportive therapy, such as intravenous fluids, electrolyte replacement, supplemental oxygen, as well as blood and blood products replacement, improves survival.

Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs)

• VHFs are a group of diseases that are caused by several distinct families of viruses.
• The term “viral hemorrhagic fever” refers to a condition that affects many organ systems of the body, damages the overall cardiovascular system, and reduces the body’s ability to function on its own.
• Some VHFs cause mild illnesses, while others can cause severe, life-threatening diseases.
• Most VHFs have no known cure or vaccine.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah to present President’s Colour Award to Haryana Police

• The President’s Colour is one of the highest honour that can be awarded to any military unit, military training establishments, and state/UT Police Forces of India.
• It is bestowed upon in recognition of exceptional service rendered to the Nation, both in peace and in war.
• It is also known as “Rashtrapati ka Nishaan” in Hindi.
• Indian Navy was the first Indian Armed Force to be awarded the President’s Colour by Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 27 May 1951.
• Award:
• A special flag, also known as ‘Nishaan,’ is given to a unit as part of the award.
• The flag consists of a golden border in the middle; it has insignia of a respective military unit, training establishments, and police forces in the center.
• The flag may also contain the motto, important achievements, and battle participation of those military units to which the award is bestowed.
• During any ceremonial parade, the President’s Colour is kept at a special position, and soldiers often march with the President’s Colour on important dates like on their establishment anniversary

Budget 2023: From green growth to youth power, know all about PM Modi govt''s ‘Saptarishi’ for India''s Amrit Kaal

• It aims to improve the performance of blocks lagging on various development parameters.
• This will enable holistic development in those areas that require added assistance.
• The programme will cover 500 districts across 31 states and Union Territories initially.
• Over half of these blocks are in 6 states—Uttar Pradesh (68 blocks), Bihar (61), Madhya Pradesh (42), Jharkhand (34), Odisha (29), and West Bengal (29).
• It is on the lines of the Aspirational District Programme that was launched in 2018 and covers 112 districts across the country.

Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission:

• The mission will saturate the particularly vulnerable tribal groups with safe housing, clean drinking water, education, nutrition, road, and telecom connection, and livelihood.
• A budget of Rs 15,000 crore will be dedicated to this mission in the next three years.
• The scheme will benefit 3.5 lakh tribals.

Eklavya Model Residential Schools:

• EMRS started in the year 1997-98 to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas.
• Implementing ministry: Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• EMRSs will be set up in every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons.
• Budget 2023: In the next three years, the center will recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for the 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools.

Water for Drought Prone Region:

• Central assistance of 5,300 crores will be given to Upper Bhadra Project.
• Upper Bhadra Project:
• It is a major lift irrigation Scheme under implementation in the central region of Karnataka State.
• It is planned to irrigate 2,25,515 hectares by micro irrigationin drought-prone districts of Chikkamagalur, Chitradurga, Tumkur and Davangere.
• It also proposes to recharge groundwater tablesand provide drinking water by filling 367 tanks with six tmcft water in drought-prone taluks.

Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions (Bharat SHRI):

• It will be set up in a digital epigraphy museum, with the digitization of one lakh ancient inscriptions in the first stage.

India Domestic Workers Survey undertaken by Labour Bureau

• This is the first-ever such surveyin independent India which was initiated in 2021.
• The survey would cover all States and Union Territories, covering 1.5 lakh households in 742 districts.
• The main objectives of the survey are:
  • Estimate the number/proportion of domestic workers at the National and State level.
  • Household Estimates of Live-in/Live-out DWs.
  • The average number of DWs engaged by different types of households.

Labour bureau

• Labour Bureau is an attached office under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, which was set up on 1st October 1946.
• It is entrusted with the work of compilation, collection, analysis and dissemination of statistics on different aspects of labour.
• It releases Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers, Agricultural/Rural Labourers, Retail Price Index of Selected Essential Commodities in Urban Areas etc.
• Quick Employment Survey and Employment-Unemployment survey are also being conducted by Labour Bureau.

Budget 2023 Highlights: FM lists ''Saptarishi'', 7 priorities including infra, green growth, inclusive development

Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture:

• It will be built as an open source, open standard, and inter-operable public good.
• Aim: To enable inclusive farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and help improve access to farm input, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for the growth of the agritech industry and startups.

Agriculture Accelerator Fund:

• It will be set up to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas.
• The Fund will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers.
• It will also bring in modern technologies to transform agricultural practices and increase productivity and profitability.

Atmanirbhar Horticulture Clean Plant Program:

• It will be launched to improve the availability of disease-free quality planting material for high-value horticultural crops.
• The total outlay on the project is estimated at ₹2,200 crore.

Agriculture Credit:

• The agriculture credit target will be increased to 20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries.
• It helps to provide higher farm loans at subsidized rates to the farming community.

Global Hub for Millets: ‘Shree Anna’:

• India is the world''s largest producer and second-largest exporter of ‘Shree Anna (Millets)’.
• The Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research, and technologies at the international level.

New sub-scheme of PM Matsya Sampada Yojana:

• This sub-scheme would enable activities for fishermen, fish vendors, and micro & small enterprises while also helping them expand markets.
• It will have a targeted investment of 6,000 crores.

Health, Education, and Skilling - Budget2023

Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission:

• Target: To eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.
• The mission will entail awareness creation, universal screening of seven crore people in the 0-40 years age group in affected tribal areas, and counseling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments.

National Digital Library for Children and Adolescents:

• It will be set up to facilitate the availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres, and levels and device agnostic accessibility.
• States would also be encouraged to set up physical libraries at panchayat and ward levels and provide infrastructure for accessing the National Digital Library resources.
• The National Book Trust, Children’s Book Trust, and other sources will be encouraged to provide and replenish non-curricular titles in regional languages and English to these physical libraries.
• Users can access educational materials ranging from elementary to post-graduate levels.

PM Shares aerial coverage of Ground and Air display captured

• It is known as Tapas-BH (Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon 201), formerly referred to as Rustom-II.
• The UAV is named after Rustom Damania, a former professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
• It is designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru with production partners being Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Limited.
• It is being developed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles and is capable of carrying different combinations of advanced payloads and capable of auto-landing among others.
• It is being designed to acquire real-time, high-quality pictures and signal intelligence from fields of concern at medium to long ranges.
• Technologically it matches contemporary UAVs available and is also cheaper than the imported ones.

As a heatwave spectre hangs again over India’s wheat harvest, its home-grown crop simulation model can help

• In 2004, InfoCrop version 1 was launched by the IARI which is being updated regularly.
• It is a dynamic simulation model for the assessment of crop yields, losses due to pests, and the environmental impact of agroecosystems in tropical environments.
• It has the life cycle data for almost all the local varieties of 11 crops: paddy, wheat, maize, sorghum, pearl millet, pigeon pea, chickpea, soybean, groundnut, potato and cotton.
• It provides daily and summary outputs on various growth and yield parameters, nitrogen uptake, greenhouse gas emissions, soil water and nitrogen balance.
• InfoCrop version 2.1, India’s only dynamic crop simulation model developed and released by the IARI in 2015 to study the long-term impact of climate change and crop management practices on yield.

PM inaugurates 14th edition of Aero India 2023 in Bengaluru

• Aero India is a premier global aviation trade fair, which provides an opportunity for the Indian aviation-defence industry, to showcase its products, technologies and solutions to the national decision-makers.
• The Aero India show is held every 2 years.
• This year it is being organised by the Bengaluru-based defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
• The theme of 2023: ‘‘The runway to a billion opportunities”.
• Besides the major entrepreneurs and investors in the defence and aerospace industries, the event will witness the participation of prominent defence think tanks and defence-related bodies from across the world.

ICHR not rewriting Indian history, only filling gaps: Govt

• ICHR is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
• It was established in 1972 by an Administrative Order.
• ICHR was registered under the Societies Registration Act (Act XXI of 1860) as a literary and charitable society.
• The ICHR is based in Delhi, with regional centers in Pune (Maharashtra), Bengaluru (Karnataka), and Guwahati (Assam).
• The ICHR receives grants-in-aid from the Department of Higher Education, grants-in-aid from various Indian states, private donations, and the proceeds of revenues from the sale of publications of the ICHR.
• ICHR disburses funds for carrying out research to Indian as well as foreign scholars on their applications for fellowships, grants, and symposia, made to the ICHR or through the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
• Objectives:
• Bring historians together and provide a forum for the exchange of views between them;
• Give a national direction to an objective and scientific writing of history and to have rational presentation and interpretation of history;
• To Promote, accelerate and coordinate research in history with special emphasis on areas that have not received adequate attention so far;
• To coordinate a balanced distribution of research efforts over different areas;
• To elicit support and recognition for historical research from all concerned and ensure the necessary dissemination and use of results.