North India''s first Biotech Park at Kathua inaugurated by Dr. Jitendra Singh

• This biotech park will carry out research on biodiversity, medicinal and aromatic plants of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and it will also promote green category businesses.
• The biotechnology park at Kathua has a potential to produce 25 startups in a year which will be among its great contributions to this region.
• The work on the two Industrial Biotech Parks, one at Ghatti, Kathua, Jammu and other in Handwara, Kashmir jointly funded by department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, Ministry of Science & Technology and Jammu & Kashmir Science, Technology & Innovation Council was started in February 2019.
• CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, (CSIR-IIIM) Jammu has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementation of this project.

Atal Innovation Mission organises national outreach meet in Goa

• ANIC is a flagship program of Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog.
• The program aims to seek, select, support and nurture technology-based innovations that solve sectoral challenges of national importance and societal relevance.
• Each ANIC winner will be eligible for a funding of up to INR 1 crore.
• The sectors in which ANIC 2.0 launched the challenges include E-mobility, Road Transportation, Space Technology and Application, Sanitation, Medical Devices and Equipment, Waste Management and Agriculture.
• The first edition of the ANIC program received more than 1000 applications for 24 challenges and is currently supporting 30+ startups through grants, partnerships, networking, tech support, mentorship, infrastructure and access to investors.

An IAS couple is transferred after dog-walking incident; what Rules govern the conduct of senior Govt officers

• The three All India Services (IAS, IPS, Indian Forest Service) are governed by the All India Service Conduct Rules, 1968.
• There are 23 Rules in all, which have been amended 37 times since they were first notified.
• The other civil services are governed by the Central Civil Services (CCS) Conduct Rules, 1964, which comprise 25 Rules which have seen 44 amendments so far.
• The overarching Rule for civil servants is: “Every member of the Service shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the Service".

Centre extends scholarship scheme for Jammu and Kashmir students

• The Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) was introduced by the Congress-led UPA government in 2011 to provide funding to 5,000 meritorious students each year to study in private and government educational institutions across the country.
• Aimed at promoting employment opportunities for students from J&K and Ladakh, the scheme, with an annual budget of ₹180 crore to ₹190 crore, is implemented by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
• The term of the scheme was due to end last year, but the Central government decided to extend it for another five years for the benefit of students.
• The scheme offers 4,500 seats for general education courses (Bachelor’s in Arts, Commerce and Science), and 250 each for engineering and medical degrees.
• While the scholarship offered for general education courses is ₹1.3 lakh, including a ₹1 lakh maintenance fee to cover hostel and mess charges, it is ₹2.25 lakh for engineering and ₹4 lakh for medical degrees.

Bihar to allow exploration of India’s ‘largest’ gold reserve in Jamui

• As per a Geological Survey of India (GSI) survey, around 222.88 million tonnes of gold reserve, including 37.6 tonnes of the mineral-rich ore, are present in the district.
• Union Minister of Mines Pralhad Joshi had last year informed the Lok Sabha that Bihar holds the highest share of India’s gold reserves. He had said that Bihar has 222.885 million tonnes of gold metal, which amounts to 44% of the total gold reserves in the country.

Government To Prepare Framework To Prevent Fake Reviews in e-commerce website

• The Consumer Affairs Ministry, along with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), held a virtual meeting with stakeholders, including e-commerce entities, to discuss the magnitude of fake reviews on their platforms.
• Fake reviews mislead consumers into buying online products and services. The Department of Consumer Affairs will develop these frameworks after studying the present mechanism being followed by the e-commerce entities in India and best practices available globally.
• Since e-commerce involves a virtual shopping experience without any opportunity to physically view or examine the product, consumers heavily rely on reviews posted on platforms to see the opinion and experience of users who have already purchased the product or service.

UN-Habitat finds multi-hazard vulnerabilities in Jaipur city

• The global body has based its findings on a sustainable cities integrated approach pilot project, as part of which the “sustainable urban planning and management” component was implemented in collaboration with the Jaipur Development Authority and Jaipur Greater Municipal Corporation.
• Jaipur has received an overall sustainability rating of three on the Urban Sustainability Assessment Framework (USAF) on the basis of data collected for 87 of its 131 parameters.
• Experts have identified urban sectors where the city needs to pay maximum attention, and made recommendations to increase its green cover, strengthen urban biodiversity, and enhance the quality of life for citizens.
• The project has received funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF-6) to estimate the carbon sequestration potential of Indian cities.
• Mitigating urban sprawl remains a major challenge in the State capital, with the UN body emphasising the concept of a compact city with re-development and re-densification of the existing urban areas.
• As an indirect measure to curb development on the city’s outskirts, linking the distance from the main city to the development charges imposed on citizens could be considered.

INS Gomati bids adieu after 34 years of service

• INS Gomati derives her name from the vibrant river Gomti and was commissioned on 16 April 1988 by the then Defence Minister, KC Pant, at Mazgaon Dock Ltd, Bombay.
• The third ship of the Godavari class guided-missile frigates, INS Gomati was also the oldest warrior of the Western Fleet when decommissioned.
• During her service, she participated in Operations Cactus, Parakram and Rainbow, and several bilateral and multinational naval exercises.
• For her remarkable spirit and stellar contribution to national maritime security, she was twice awarded the coveted Unit Citation, once in 2007-08 and again in 2019-20.

Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov successfully test-fired a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile:

• The missile hit a naval target about 1,000 kms away in the White Sea and the flight of the projectile corresponded to the designed parameters.
• The Tsirkon missile has been test-fired several times from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and a nuclear-powered submarine.
• The Tsirkon missile is capable of flying at Mach 9 or nine times the speed of sound and striking a target over 1,000 kms away.

India – UAE mou on climate action

• The basic objective of this MoU is to establish a framework to facilitate and enhance bilateral cooperation on climate action, and also contributes towards implementing the Paris Agreement 2015.
• The Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 at the end of the annual climate change conference for global collective efforts at reducing carbon emissions to restrict global temperature rise to preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius as compared to the pre-industrial area.