ASSAM
People celebrate Kati Bihu festival in Assam
People celebrated Kati Bihu festival in Assam’s Bongaigaon area.
The Kati Bihu is also closely related to agriculture.
Kati Bihu is celebrated on the first day of ‘Kati’ month in the Assamese calendar.
On the occasion of Kati Bihu, women, both in urban and rural areas, try to ward off evil and pray for a rich harvest by lighting earthen lamps.
This is a much sombre festival when compared to the other two Bihu festivals of the state – the Rongali and Bohagi Bihu.
The festival is held at this time of the year since the granaries of the farmers usually remain empty and therefore it is known as Kongali (poor) Bihu.
NORTH-EASTERN STATES
Arunachal tunnel to cut short travel time to LAC
Defence minister Rajnath Singh virtually laid the foundation of a tunnel at Nechiphu in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh at a height of 5,600 ft. Once complete, it will shorten travel time for troops till the LAC through Tawang, which China claims to be its territory.
The BRO is already constructing another tunnel through the Sela Pass situated at a height of 13,700 ft in Tawang district, which would further cut down the distance to the border with China through Tawang. The two strategically important tunnels will enable troops to reach the LAC at least an hour earlier from the Army’s 4th Corps headquarters at Tezpur in Assam.
INTERNATIONAL
National Philately Day: 13 October
The National Philately Day was celebrated on 13 October throughout the country.
The Philately is the study of postage stamps and postal history.
The day also marks the collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps and other philatelic products.
My Stamp is the brand name for personalized sheets of Postage Stamps of India Post.
Postage stamp is a small adhesive piece of paper of specified value issued by a national post Office to be affixed to a letter or parcel to indicate the amount of postage paid.
ISA Solar Awards conferred for the first time
For the first time since the inception of the framework agreement of ISA, Solar awards were conferred on countries of the region as well as institutions working for solar.
Solar Awards were awarded for the three categories
Visvesvaraya award – to recognise the countries with maximum floating solar capacity in each of the four regions of ISA.
Kalpana Chawla awards – to recognise outstanding contribution of scientists and engineers working in the field of solar energy.
Diwakar award – to recognizes organisations & institutions that have been working for the benefit of differently-abled people and have maximised the use of solar energy in the host country.
The winners of these 3 categories are
Visvesvaraya award – Japan for the Asia Pacific region and the Netherlands for Europe and Others region.
Kalpana Chawla awards – Dr.Bhim Singh from IIT Delhi (India) and Dr. Aaesha Alnuaimi from Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (United Arab Emirates.
Diwakar award – Arpan Institute (Haryana) and Arushi Society.
NATIONAL
E-Sanjeevani rapidly gaining popularity amongst patients & doctors
Health Ministry’s telemedicine initiative – E-Sanjeevani is rapidly gaining popularity amongst patients and doctors.
It has recorded five lakh teleconsultations in a short span of time and the last one lakh consultations were completed in a record time of 17 days.
As a digital modality of health care services delivery, e-Sanjeevani is gradually shaping into a parallel stream for the Indian healthcare delivery system with the number of teleconsultations per day on the platform touching 8,000 mark in the last few days.
At present, 26 states are using e-Sanjeevani’s two variants of telemedicine namely – doctor to doctor (e-SanjeevaniAB-HWC) and patient to doctor (e-SanjeevaniOPD).
Shashi Tharoor announces book titled ‘The Battle of Belonging’
Renowned Author and Politician, Shashi Tharoor is set to release his new book titled “The Battle of Belonging” is set to be released in November 2020.
The book is published by Aleph Book Company.
Shashi Tharoor described this book as his “magnum opus” on the Theory, evolution and practice of Nationalism across the globe and especially in India.
The book appears to be an extension of his book “Why I Am a Hindu”.
India hosts virtual Summit of Ministers of Justice of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
India hosted the virtual Summit of Ministers of Justice of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, SCO.
Addressing the Ministers of Justice from SCO Member States, Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad highlighted the initiatives taken by the Indian Government for providing affordable and easy access to justice for all.
He mentioned Pro Bono Legal Services to provide free legal aid to marginalized sections of the society.
As part of activities of the Justice Ministers’ Forum, the Minister urged SCO Member States to promote exchange of ideas, best practices and experiences in identified areas through the platform.
NITI Aayog to establish Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre with AWS
In order to address societal challenges through digital innovation, NITI Aayog announced the establishment of a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre, CIC with Amazon Web Services, AWS.
It is the first of its kind in India.
This CIC is part of the AWS CIC Global Programme which provides an opportunity for government agencies, non-profits and educational institutions, to come together on pressing challenges, apply design thinking, test new ideas, and access the technology expertise of AWS.
India’s agricultural exports rise by 14.8 % during first five months of current fiscal
India’s agricultural exports have recovered from a pandemic-induced decline.
Exports of major farm products stood at 53,000 crore rupees in the five-month period between April and August 2020-21, a rise of 14.8 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.
During the April to August period, farmers gained from higher exports of rice, wheat and sugar.
Exports of basmati rice, a big-ticket export item among cereals, during April-August rose 8.2 percent from the year-ago period, while the value of non-basmati rice exports grew 91.3 percent.