The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) at Mysore is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
It was set up in 1969 to help in evolving and implementing the language policy of Government of India.
It was also to coordinate the development of Indian Languages by conducting research in the areas of language analysis, language pedagogy, language technology and language use in the society.
For promotion of its objectives, CIIL organizes a number of programs, some of which are:
Development of Indian Languages
Regional Language Centers (RLCs)
Grant in Aid Scheme
National Testing Service
Amravati Bonds
The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (AP-CRDA) is all set to enter the capital markets with ‘Amravati bonds’ worth Rs. 2,000 crore.
It is a significant development pertaining to mobilizing funds for the construction of the capital city, Amravati.
The State government would stand as the guarantor for the bonds.
London School of Economics (LSE) had come forward to help the CRDA in transforming Amravati into a world-class happy city.
The Students of LSE will study the different facets of socio-economic development of the capital city.
Protected lands under urbanization pressure
A team of scientists used global “human footprint” maps to quantify the intensity of human pressure in 41,927 protected areas in 213 countries.
The result shoed that around 1/3rd of the world’s protected areas is under intense pressure from human activities such as road construction, grazing for livestock and urbanization.
Protected areas are the natural spaces that are legally protected to conserve nature and biodiversity.
It shows that 32.8% of protected land worldwide is highly degraded.
55% of protected areas created before the ratification of the Convention of Biological Diversity in 1992 have experienced increases in pressure from human activities.
The Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 which mandates including at least 17% of terrestrial areas of a country as protected by 2020 will be undermined if widespread human pressure continues inside protected areas.
India’s freshwater stocks in danger
A first-of-its-kind study using an array of NASA satellite observations of the earth have revealed the status of the freshwater resources in the world.
According to the study, India is among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has caused a sharp decline in the availability of freshwater.
Wetter parts of the earth’s were getting wetter and dry areas getting drier due to a variety of factors, including human water use, climate change and natural cycles.
Areas in northern and eastern India, West Asia, California and Australia are among the hotspots where there is a serious decline in the availability of freshwater.
In northern India, groundwater extraction for irrigation of wheat and rice crops has led to depletion.
Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute (CSWRI)
Scientists at the Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute (CSWRI), Avikanagar, have come up with a new laparascope-assisted insemination technique for sheep.
It is a premier Institute of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) engaged in research and extension activities on sheep.
It was established in 1962 at Malpura in Rajasthan.
The Institute has developed new strains of Avikalin for carpet wool production and Bharat Merino sheep for fine wool production in temperate climate.
It has three Regional Research Centres in different climatic zones of the country to develop region specific technologies.
North Temperate Regional Station (NTRS) was established in 1963 in temperate region at Garsa, Kullu in Himachal Pradesh
The Southern Regional Research Centre (SRRC) was established in 1965 in sub temperate region at Mannavanur in Tamil Nadu.
Arid Region Campus (ARC) was established in 1974 at Bikaner in arid region of Rajasthan.
Project Asita
It is the Delhi Development Authority’s Yamuna River Front Development Project.
The Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) inspected the Yamuna River Front Development (RFD) recently.
Yamuna RFD project aims to restore, revive and rejuvenate the river’s floodplains and make them accessible to the people of Delhi.
River Front “walks”, a major component of the project, will enable people to develop a relationship with river Yamuna.
The project is given the name “Asita” as it is another name of river Yamuna.
The project envisages creating a green buffer area approx. 300mts wide along the river edge with species of riverine ecology.
To revive the ecosystem of the floodplains, wetlands will be created to store the flood waters and also to improve the groundwater recharge which will eventually result in flourishing of biodiversity in the floodplains.
