1. Amazon India signs MoU with Manipur govt to sell Panthoibi Emporium products
Tags: Economy/Finance State News
E-commerce Amazon and the Manipur government inaugurated Panthoibi Emporium, an online platform for the display and sale of handlooms and handicrafts from the state.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed for this online store between e-commerce Amazon and the Manipur government.
The initiative will benefit about 300,000 artisans, weavers and members of tribal communities in the state.
Operated under the aegis of the Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles, Panthoibi Emporium is a part of Manipur Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited (MHHDCL), a government enterprise for the development of local artisans.
Panthoibi Emporium on Amazon.in includes hand woven clothing, handcrafted hats and bags, terracotta products as well as kauna crafts – a unique handicraft of Manipur in which kauna wood is used to make baskets, purses, bags etc.
The Manipuri queen Phi, a hand-woven shawl made of silk, can also be found on the website.
In addition, food items typical of Manipur, including black rice, tea, GI tagged chillies, lemons and oranges, will also be available for sale.
About Manipur
Manipur is also called the 'Orchid Basket' of the country. 500 species of orchid flowers are found here.
This northeastern state is described as Swarna Bhoomi or 'Suvarnabhu'.
The major population here is Manipuri people known as Meiti.
Loktak Lake is an important lake here.
The language of the people here is Manipuri, which was added to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India in 1992.
Capital- Imphal
Governor- L A Ganesan
Chief Minister- N Biren Singh
2. Mela Kheer Bhawani begins in Jammu and Kashmir after two years
Tags: State News
The annual Mata Kheer Bhavani Mela began on June 8 at Tullamulla village in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir, with Kashmiri Pandits and tourists paying obeisance at the Kheer Bhavani temple.
Kheerbhawani Temple
The temple is dedicated to Goddess Ragya Devi.
The temple is located 30 km from the city of Srinagar, it is one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Kashmiri Hindus.
The temple gets its name from kheer, or milk and rice pudding, which is offered by pilgrims inside the temple premises as prasad to the goddess.
The Kheerbhawani Mela is the largest gathering of Hindus in Kashmir after the annual Amarnath Yatra.
Legend has it that the water in the spring of the temple changes from white to red and black.
The colour of water is said to predict the imminent future.
If the water turns black, it is seen as inauspicious or an impending disaster.
Kashmiri Pandits say that the water turned black before they were forced to flee Kashmir during the 1990 insurgency.
3. The National Food Laboratory of FSSAI was inaugurated at Raxaul, Bihar
Tags: Popular State News
The National Food Laboratory of FSSAI was inaugurated at Raxaul, Bihar by the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilisers, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya.
Under the bilateral agreement between India and Nepal, this laboratory has been established in Raxaul to reduce the time taken in testing the samples of food items imported from Nepal.
The building for the laboratory was constructed in the year 2009, but due to lack of skilled personnel and departmental neglect, the institute till now functioned only as a collection centre.
In the laboratory, there is a system of testing products like oil, fatty goods, water, fruits and vegetables, beverages, grains etc.
In this, the quality of the product and its impact on public life are examined, after which permission for business and use is granted.
About Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India was constituted by the Central Government under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
It is operated under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Headquarter- Delhi
Work
FSSAI works to ensure safe arrangements for production, storage, distribution, sale and import of nutritious food items for human consumption.
Apart from this, it helps in maintaining the prescribed standards of production and sale of food items at all the state, district and gram panchayat level of the country.
4. IAF heritage centre to come up in Chandigarh
Tags: State News
A heritage centre will be set up in Chandigarh to showcase the role and overall functioning of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in various wars.
An MoU was signed between the Union Territory of Chandigarh and the Indian Air Force for the establishment of this centre.
The 'IAF Heritage Centre' will be set up jointly by the Indian Air Force and the Chandigarh Administration.
The aim of the Heritage Centre is to inspire the youth to join the Indian Air Force.
The country's first Air Force Heritage Centre will house warplanes, simulators, rockets, missiles and more, and people will be able to read and watch the history of the Air Force.
About Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force was established on 8 October 1932.
Before independence it was known as the Royal Indian Air Force.
In the recently released World Air Power Index 2022, the Indian Air Force has been placed at the third position after the US and Russia.
Headquarters- New Delhi
Chief of Air Staff- Vivek Ram Choudhary.
5. A new biomass-based boiler technology was launched in Kurukshetra, Haryana
Tags: State News
A new biomass-based boiler technology has been launched in Kurukshetra, Haryana which is claimed to accommodate all types of agricultural residues as fuel and can also help in reducing the burden of stubble burning.
The new boiler has a capacity of 75 tonnes per hour and generates 15 MW of electricity.
This is Denmark-based technology.
This combustion technology is advantageous because of the vibrating grate.
Existing conventional boilers are designed only for specific types of agricultural residues such as paddy husk, mustard etc. and restrict the biomass contribution to energy production.
On the other hand vibrating grate boiler technology can be a better solution for firing any kind of biomass.
What is Biomass?
It is a renewable organic material made from plants and animals.
It is an important fuel in many countries, especially for cooking and heating in developing countries.
The use of biomass fuels for transportation and for electricity generation is increasing in many developed countries as a means of avoiding carbon dioxide emissions.
Biomass consists of stored chemical energy from the sun.
6. PM Modi lays foundation stone for projects worth Rs 80,000 crore in UP
Tags: National State News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Investors' Summit (3.0) in Lucknow on June 3 and laid the foundation stone for 1,406 projects worth Rs 80,000 crore.
The event was attended by top industry leaders of the country.
The first ground-breaking ceremony took place on July 29, 2018.
The second Ground Breaking Ceremony was held on July 28, 2019.
The foundation stone for 81 projects worth over Rs 61,500 crore was laid during the first ground breaking ceremony.
In the second ground breaking ceremony, the foundation stone of 290 projects with an investment of over Rs 67,000 crore was laid.
The foundation stone for the following projects was laid
Agriculture and Allied sector, IT and Electronics, MSME, Manufacturing, Renewable Energy, Pharma, Tourism, Defence and Aerospace, Handloom and Textiles etc.
7. Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand opens for tourists
Tags: State News
World Famous Heritage Site and National Park The Valley of Flowers of Uttarakhand has been opened for tourists, it is a part of Nanda Devi National Park located in the Garhwal region.
Located at an altitude of 3962 metres above sea level, the Valley of Flowers is spread over an area of 87 square kilometres.
On November 6, 1982, UNESCO declared this valley as a World Heritage Site.
More than five hundred colourful flower species are the centre of attraction for tourists in the Valley of Flowers.
Alpine flowers and beautiful meadows are found in this national park area.
High diversity and density of flora and fauna is found here, with many endangered species including snow leopard, Himalayan musk deer and various species of plants.
The valley is described in Hindu mythology as 'Nandan Kanan' meaning "heaven of Indra".
About Nanda Devi National Park
Nanda Devi National Park was established in 1982 as Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
Nanda Devi National is located in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
It is situated on the Nanda Devi peak (7816 m) in the state of Uttarakhand in northern India.
It was included in the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in the year 1988.
8. Telangana formation day
Tags: State News Important Days
Telangana Formation Day is celebrated every year on 2nd June as Telangana emerged as the 29th state of India on 2nd June 2014.
This day remembers the sacrifice and cooperation of all those people who laid down their lives in making this separate state.
History of State
Telangana was divided from the erstwhile Madras on 1 November 1956 and the Telugu speaking people merged with Andhra Pradesh.
In 1969, there was a protest and agitation for a new state in the Telangana region.
After protests, a separate new state was formed in 1972 in the form of Andhra Pradesh.
After nearly 40 years of opposition, the Telangana Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha by the Congress Working Committee and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in February 2014.
The bill was introduced in the Indian Parliament in 2014 and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act got its nod in the same year.
According to the bill, Telangana was formed by ten districts of north-western Andhra Pradesh.
About Telangana State
Capital- Hyderabad
Governor- Tamilisai Soundararajan
Chief Minister- K. Chandrashekhar Rao
Legislative Assembly seats- 119
Lok Sabha seats - 17
State Bird- Palpitta or Neelkanth
State Animal – Jinka or Blackbuck
State flower- Tangedu
Important facts
STATE | FORMATION DAY |
Rajasthan | 1 November |
Maharashtra | 1 May |
Gujarat | 1 May |
9. Centre hands over 10 stolen idols to Tamil Nadu
Tags: National State News
The central government has handed back 10 idols stolen from Tamil Nadu temples to the Tamil Nadu government.
These idols were stolen from different places between 1960 to 2008.
These sculptures were handed over by the US and Australia to the Union Ministry of Culture and Ministry of External Affairs in 2020, 2021, 2022.
These idols were handed over to Tamil Nadu DGP C Shailendra Babu during an event in Delhi.
Among the idols that have been returned are two idols of Dwarapal, which are from the 15-16th century; they were stolen from Tirunelvalli in 1994.
Both the idols were handed over by Australia to India in 2020.
Apart from this, two metal idols were stolen from Narsinghdhar Swamy temple in 1985, it has been handed over by America to India.
A bronze statue of Lord Nataraja, an 11-12th century idol, was stolen from the Punnanallur Arulmigu Mariaman temple in 1966-77. It was kept in the Museum of New York.
Apart from this, another bronze idol of Lord Shiva and Parvati was stolen from Vanamigandhar Swamy temple, this idol has been found from Indiana.
In total, eight bronze and two stone sculptures have been returned. Six of the sculptures have been obtained from America and four from Australia.
Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu
It had been set up in 1983 to investigate cases of theft of idols.
It has retrieved 878 idols so far.
10. Caste-based census to be held in Bihar
Tags: State News
In the all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on June 1, it was decided that the census would be conducted on the basis of caste in Bihar soon.
Its purpose is to take development works to the underprivileged people.
The people involved in this mega exercise will be given proper training.
It will be a time bound exercise and every detail of caste, sub-castes, community and religion will be taken care of for the development of all sections of the people.
The census report will be published so that no one is left out and the media will also be informed about it from time to time.
However, the central government had rejected the state government demand saying it would be a "divisive exercise", but also said that states can conduct caste census on their own.
What is caste based census?
In independent India, data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has been published in every census from 1951 to 2011, but no data on other castes has been published.
Every census until 1931 contained caste figures.
Although, in 1941, caste-based data was collected but not published.
In the absence of such a census, there is no proper estimate of the population of OBC and others.
The Mandal Commission estimated the OBC population at 52%.
