Ministry of Electronics & Information (MeitY) organised the first MeitY Start-up Summit at New Delhi.
The discussion on importance of JAM Trinity and startups were held.
Some of the achievements of the ministry were also highlighted –
Reaching of BPOs to tier 2,3,4 and mofussil towns of India
Connecting 1.25 Lakh Gram Panchayats by optical fibres
Promotion of startups through Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE) scheme.
TechSagar
TechSagar is a dynamic national repository of India’s cyber tech capabilities.
It is launched by National Cyber Security Coordinator's office in partnership with Data Security Council (DSCI) of India.
It will list business and research entities from the IT industry, startups, academia, and individual researchers.
It provides actionable insights about capabilities of the Indian Industry, academia and research across technology areas.
It covers 25 areas like internet of things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), blockchain, cloud & virtualisation, robotics & automation, Augmented/Virtual reality, wireless & networking, and more.
DSCI is a not-for-profit, industry body on data protection in India, setup by NASSCOM.
Global Wealth Report
The 10th edition of annual Global Wealth Report was released by the Credit Suisse Group, a Switzerland-based multinational investment bank.
It tracks both the growth and distribution of wealth both in terms of the numbers of millionaires and billionaires and the status of inequality around the world.
Wealth is defined in terms of “net worth” of an individual which is calculated by adding up the value of financial assets (such as money) and real assets (such as houses) and then subtracting any debts an individual may have.
Key findings - China has overtaken the US to become the country with most people in the top 10% of global wealth distribution.
Just 47 million people, accounting for merely 0.9% of the world’s adult population owned $158.3 trillion, which is almost 44% of the world’s total wealth.
In inequality, the richest 10% own 82% of global wealth and the top 1% alone own 45%.
Ajanta Cave Paintings
Ajanta Cave Paintings is a classic masterpiece of Buddhist Art in the State of Maharashtra.
It is a UNESCO world heritage site and a protected monument of the Archaeological Survey of India.
The first Buddhist cave monuments at Ajanta date from the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C.
During the Gupta period (5th and 6th centuries A.D.), many more richly decorated caves were added to the original group.
But the cave paintings have started deteriorating in the past few decades due to insects and other climatic stressors.
The basal layer of the murals was made of mud plaster and organic matter such as paddy husks, grass, vegetable fibres, thus making it a good breeding place for microbes and insects.
The most common insects were silverfish, beetles and common bugs.
Another main problem was the entry of rainwater and water from the Waghura River.
This leads to dampness in the cave atmosphere causing an increase in algae, fungi, insects, and microbes.
All these together were changing the original colour of the paintings white is turning to yellow and blue is becoming green.
Solution - The researchers have suggested using certain lights and colour to tackle the problem of insects.
For instance, they suggest using ultraviolet light traps as nocturnal insects are known to get attracted to ultraviolet radiation.
G20 Meeting
G20 Health Ministers Meeting was recently held under the Presidency of Japan in Okayama City.
Four major global health issues were focussed –
Achievement of Universal Health Coverage
Response to population aging
Management of health risks and
Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) and its containment
India’s Health Minister shared 2 best practices
Successful pulse polio campaign in Delhi in 1994 threatened by a major outbreak of Plague during the same period and
The risk communication management to bring down the mass hysteria created by Social media during Nipah outbreak in Kerala in 2018.
