Project UNNATI was launched by the Ministry of shipping in 2014.
In nutshell it is a port transformation project.
Under the project, the global benchmarks were adopted to improve the efficiency and productivity, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of major ports.
The aims and objectives of Project, which is focused on 12 major ports, are as follows:
Benchmark operational and financial performance of the major ports
Undertake capability maturity assessment for key processes and functional capabilities
Detailed diagnosis and root cause analysis for the identified opportunity areas to understand underlying reasons for performance bottlenecks.
Develop practical and actionable solutions on the basis of root cause findings, and develop a comprehensive improvement roadmap
Swaminathan Committee
Maharashtra Farmers protested for various demands, one among which was to implement the Swaminathan committee’s recommendation.
In 2004, the government constituted the National Commission on Farmers (NCF), under the chairmanship of agriculture scientist and father of Green Revolution, M S Swaminathan.
The reports were a comprehensive status paper on Indian agriculture, food and rural sector.
It provided an elaborate explanation for the distress surrounding farming and ways to come out of it.
The report focused upon land reforms, irrigation, credit and insurance, productivity in agriculture, food security and prevention of farmers’ suicides, competitiveness in farming, employment and bio-resources.
For food security, NCF suggested universal public distribution system (PDS), National Food Guarantee Act, community food and water banks.
Pre-Iron Age Artifacts
Archeological Survey of India discovered pre-iron age artifacts in Prachi valley, Jalalpur village, Cuttack District, Odisha, that sheds light on a cultural continuity from Chalcolithic to early Iron Age period.
The discovery includes faunal remains, carbonized grains and stone and bone tools of early Iron Age to prehistoric period.
In case of potteries the following were discovered: red ware, red slipped ware, grey and black wares, pots of different shapes, bowls.
Prachi Valley civilisation predates that of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro civilizations.
The Prachi River, a tributary of river Mahanadi, is along the eastern coast of India is an important topographical as well as cultural landscape.
Presently the parts of the modern day districts of Puri, Khurda, Cuttack and Jagatsingpur comprise the Prachi valley region
The Prachi River is also called as the ‘eastern Saraswathi’.
Tuberculosis Free India Campaign
The campaign will be launched by the Prime Minister during the The Delhi End TB Summit, at Delhi.
The campaign will take the activities of National Strategic Plan for TB elimination forward in Mission mode.
The vision to end TB by 2025, five years ahead of the SDG’s has galvanized the efforts of the Revised National Tuberculosis Program.
One of the new digital initiatives under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program is Comprehensive Management Information System for TB (NIKSHAY).
National Academy of Coastal Policing
Union home ministry recently sanctioned the launch of the National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP).
It is to be situated in Gujarat's Fisheries Research Centre located in coastal Okha in Devbhoomi Dwarka district.
It will be the country’s first national academy to train police forces in effectively safeguarding the Indian shoreline.
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), Home ministries’ policing think tank, will pilot the establishment and running of the academy.
The Border Security Force (BSF), the navy and the Coast Guard will form the core to run the academy.
The academy will sharpen the skills of marine forces of coastal States.
Bodi Hills
A massive forest fire in Tamil Nadu's Theni district has claimed ten lives of trekkers who had gone mountain trekking in Kurangani hills in Bodi foothills.
Bodi hill is located in the Theni district, Tamil Nadu bordering the state of Kerala.
It is part of the southern Western Ghats.
Munnar, the popular hill station is near to this region.
West Bodi hill was selected as the site for the India’s ambitious INO project.
Ionizing radiation is radiation with enough energy so that during an interaction with an atom, it can remove tightly bound electrons from the orbit of an atom, causing the atom to become charged or ionized.
Ionizing radiation is a permanent feature of the upper atmosphere.
At airlines’ cruising altitude, particles periodically ejected by the sun and cosmic radiation coursing through the universe are 100 times more potent than down below.
The protection at these altitudes is thinner compare to the natural protection at the ground.
Airline employees face more radiation exposure than radiology workers or nuclear power plant engineers, according to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.
Ionizing radiation exposure is measured using the Sievert
A dose of 4 Sieverts or more at once is often fatal.
Map of the day
Australia
Lake disappointment is a salt lake which lies on the Tropic of Capricorn.
Outback is a term that is used for any sparsely populated regions of Australia which covers most of Australia.
Alice spring, which roughly situated at the geographic centre of Australia and Uluru rocks are important spots in the Outback.
New Zealand
Lake Taupo is a cladera of taupo volcano.
A caldera is a volcanic feature formed by the collapse of a volcano into itself, making it a large, special form of volcanic crater.
