June 16th Current Affairs

1. 5th edition of VivaTech

IN NEWS:

PM to deliver Keynote address at the 5th edition of VivaTech on 16th June.

KEY POINTS:

• The Prime Minister has been invited as a Guest of Honour to deliver the keynote address at VivaTech 2021.
• VivaTech is one of the largest digital and startup events in Europe, held in Paris every year since 2016. It is jointly organized by Publicis Groupe – a prominent advertising and marketing conglomerate and Les Echos – a leading French media group.
• It brings together stakeholders in technology innovation and the startup ecosystem and includes exhibitions, awards, panel discussions and startup contests.
• The 5th edition of VivaTech is scheduled to be held between 16-19 June 2021.
• Other prominent speakers in the event include Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Mr. Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain and Ministers/MPs from various European countries. The event will also witness participation of corporate leaders like Mr. Tim Cook, CEO, Apple, Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO, Facebook and Mr. Brad Smith, President, Microsoft among others.

SOURCE:PIB

2. 42nd Session of FAO Conference.

IN NEWS:

• Recently, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare addressed the 42nd session of Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Conference.
• The Conference takes place every two years and is FAO’s supreme governing body.
• It determines the policies of the Organization, approves the budget, and makes recommendations to Members on food and agriculture issues.

KEY POINTS:

• India’s Efforts for Food Security during the Covid-19 Pandemic:
• High Production of Foodgrains: India registered an all-time high production of foodgrains at 305 million tonnes as well as in exports during 2020-21, contributing to global food security.
• KISAN RAIL: It was introduced to transport the essential commodities including perishable horticulture produce, milk and dairy produce from the production centres to the large urban markets.
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package: Under this scheme, free food grains were provided to 810 million beneficiaries and it has been further extended in which workers will be benefited till November, 2021.
• PM Kisan Scheme: More than Rs.1,37,000 Crore have been sent to the bank accounts of over 100 million farmers under this to provide income support to the farmers.

Climate Change and Agricultural Schemes:

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY): It was launched in 2015 to address the issues of water resources and provide a permanent solution that envisages Per Drop More Crop.

Green India Mission: It was launched in 2014 under the umbrella of National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) with the primary objective of protecting, restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover.

Soil Health Card (SHC): It was launched with the main objective of analysing cluster soil samples and advocating farmers regarding their land fertility status.

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY): It was executed to extensively leverage adaptation of climate-smart practices and technologies in conjunction with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and state governments of India.

SOURCE:TH

3. Jalgaon Banana

IN NEWS:

Consignment of fibre & mineral rich “Jalgaon Banana” was exported to Dubai on June 16, 2021, marking a major boost to exports.

KEY POINTS:

• Jalgaon Banana is Geographical Indications (GI) certified agricultural produce from Jalgaon district of Maharashtra.
• Twenty-two metric tonnes of Jalgaon banana were sourced from progressive farmers of Tandalwadi village. This village is a part of Jalgaon district of Maharashtra.
• •Jalgaon District is an identified banana cluster under Agri Export Policy and is called as “Banana city” of Maharashtra. It contributes for two-third of total production of banana in the state.
• Jalgaon Banana got GI certification in 2016. It was registered with Nisargraja Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Jalgaon.
• Banana export from India has been rising sharply because of adoption of farm practices in accordance with global standards.
• India’s banana exports have increased both in volume as well as value from 1.34 lakh metric tonne in 2018-19 to 1.95 lakh metric tonne in 2019-20. During 2020-21, India has exported banana worth of 1.91 lakh tonne which is valued at Rs 619 crore.
• India is world’s leading producer of bananas with its share of 25% in total output. Leading banana producing states are Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
• These states account for about 70% of India’s banana production.

SOURCE:MINT

4. World’s First Wooden Satellite

IN NEWS:

European Space Agency (ESA) will  launch world’s first wooden satellite called WISA Woodsat in Earth’s orbit by the end 2021.

KEY POINTS:

• WISA Woodsat will be launched to test the applicability of wooden materials such as plywood in spacecraft structures.
• Mission will expose wooden materials to extreme space conditions like heat, cold, vacuum and radiation.
• Wooden satellite will be launched to space by end of 2021 with a Rocket Lab Electron rocket. It will be launched from Mahia Peninsula launch complex in New Zealand.
• Satellite has been designed and built in Finland.
• Satellite will orbit at around 500-600 km altitude in polar Sun-synchronous orbit.
• It is a10x10x10 cm nano satellite which was built up using standardised boxes and surface panels of plywood, which is usually found in hardware store and are used to make furniture. Wood have been placed in a thermal vacuum chamber to keep dry when it is in space.
• Thin layer of aluminium oxide has been applied to it to minimise vapour coming from wood and to protect it from erosive effects of atomic oxygen.
• The non-wooden external parts of satellite are corner aluminium rails which will be used for its deployment into space and a metal selfie stick.

SOURCE:TH