Facts in News

Facts in News

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) 

• Recently ,India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose by a sharp 134.44% in April 2021.
• Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that shows the growth rates and performance of different sectors of industry in the economy. 
• Broadly it is a composite indicator of the general level of industrial activity. 
• It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme every month.
• It measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under:
  • Broad sectors: Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity.
  • The relative weights of these sectors are 77.6% (manufacturing), 14.4% (mining) and 8% (electricity).
  • Use-based sectors: Basic Goods, Capital Goods and Intermediate Goods.
• The Base Year of the Index of Eight Core Industries has been revised from the year 2004-05 to 2011-12 from April 2017.

Initiatives to support various Art & Handicraft projects 

• Recently, the Petroleum Secretary inaugurated an initiative by Oil PSUs to support various Art and Crafts in the country in line with the government’s commemoration of 75 years of Indian Independence – Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav.
  • He also launched the Bamboo Craft project of Madhya Pradesh supported by ONGC.
• Central public enterprises under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas will take up 75 projects in different districts across the country. 
• ONGC, in association with local NGOs and forums, is initially undertaking five projects across the country to support the handicraft sector, with an outlay of around 1.3 crore rupees.
• The following five (5) projects are being supported by ONGC in the first phase:
  • Bamboo Cottage: ONGC has joined hands with Shivganga, a voluntary non-profit venture of young tribal entrepreneurs, to make the artisans of Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh, who are struggling to keep the age-old art of crafting decorative items with bamboo alive, thus becoming self-dependent.
  • Dhokra: In association with Anwesha Tribal Arts and Crafts in Odisha’s Dhenkanal.
    • This project will create new opportunities for the artisans of ancient metal casting craft Dhokra and lost wax technique Cire Perdue by forming clusters, impart training and create market linkages.
  • Lac: In association with CINI, ONGC aims to make the communities in Khunthi and Ghumla districts of Jharkhand aware of their forest resources and revive the forgotten Lac culture. 
    • The project will train the tribal women and local youth in scientific lac cultivation.  
  • Bhotia: To promote the traditional craft of wool dyeing in Uttarakhand, ONGC with the support of SEWA International, will create platforms and marketing opportunities to showcase talent by combining their style of costume with modern clothing trends and exhibit their craftsmanship to a wider consumer base.  
  • Assam Silk: ONGC, along with the North East Development Forum, will facilitate the sustainable development of handloom weavers located in and outside identified handloom clusters of Sivasagar district (Upper Assam) into a cohesive, self-managing and competitive socio-economic unit.
• Significance 
  • These projects along with other flagship initiatives planned as a part of Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav will significantly contribute to a resurgent Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
  • The initiatives  will  revive the struggling handicraft projects and empower the local artisans. 

• It will address the challenges faced by the artisans and the art and handicraft forms, thereby improving the rural livelihoods associated with the handicrafts and handloom sectors.

Padma Awards-2022

• Recently, the government opened online nominations and recommendations for Padma Awards 2022. 
• The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day. 
• The Awards are given in three categories: 
  • Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service)
  • Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order) 
  • Padma Shri (distinguished service). 

• The awards are presented by the President of India usually in the month of March/April every year where the awardees are presented a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.
• The recipients are also given a small replica of the medallion, which they can wear during any ceremonial/State functions etc., if the awardees so desire. 
• The names of the awardees are published in the Gazette of India on the day of the presentation ceremony.
• The award does not amount to a title and cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardees’ name
• Process 
  • The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year. 
  • The nomination process is open to the public. Even self-nomination can be made.
  • All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards.
  • However, Government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for these Awards.
  • The award is normally not conferred posthumously. However, in highly deserving cases, the Government could consider giving an award posthumously.

Objectives 

• The award seeks to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.

History and Relevance 

• The Government of India instituted two civilian awards-Bharat Ratna & Padma Vibhushan in 1954. 
• The latter had three classes namely Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg and Tisra Varg. These were subsequently renamed as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri vide Presidential Notification issued on January 8, 1955.

Bharat Ratna

• Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the country.
•  It is awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour. 
• It is treated on a different footing from Padma Award.
•  The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President of India.
  • No formal recommendations for Bharat Ratna are necessary. 
  • The number of Bharat Ratna Awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year. Government has conferred Bharat Ratna Award on 45 persons till date

Woolly Flying Squirrels Species

• Scientists have discovered two new species of woolly flying squirrel, whose scientific name is Eupetaurus cinereus. 
• They live thousands of miles apart at some of the highest altitudes in the Himalayas. 
• The study used morphological examinations and molecular phylogenetic analyses to differentiate between the newly discovered species.
  • Scientists have known of the woolly flying squirrel which is among the rarest and least studied mammals in the world, for a long time.
  •  For much of the 20th century, it was thought to be extinct, until it was rediscovered in 1994 in northern Pakistan.
• Characteristics 
  • The woolly squirrel is usually found in the rugged Himalayan habitat that is situated at an altitude of 16,000 feet. 
  • It is because of the remote and uninhabited region where they thrive, that very few scientists have even seen the animal in the wild. 
  • Woolly squirrels are nocturnal in nature and have grayish-brown fur, which helps them camouflage with their surroundings. 
  • This makes it even more difficult to spot. Zoologist Oldfield Thomas identified the wooly squirrel in 1888.
• Discovered species 
  • The two new species discovered are named the Tibetan woolly flying squirrel (Eupetaurus tibetensis) and the Yunnan woolly flying squirrel (Eupetaurus nivamons). 
  • Tibetan woolly flying squirrel lives in the Himalayan region that intersects India, Bhutan, and Tibet, whereas the Yunnan woolly flying squirrel is a native of the Yunnan Province of southwestern China.

    Tibetan woolly flying squirrel.

          Image Courtesy :HT

Heritage Trees

Recently, the Maharashtra government has decided to make amendments to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act of 1975, to introduce provisions for the protection of ‘heritage trees’. 

• There are a range of criteria that designate a tree as a heritage tree. These attributes, both material and non-material, make the tree stand out.
  • The material attributes could be the age or size of the tree. It could also be the result of the form or shape of the tree. Further, it could be that the tree is a rare species or a tree at risk of being lost.
  • The non-material criteria relate to cultural and aesthetic aspects. It could be that the tree has a historical or cultural association either with a person, an event or a place. It could also be a tree associated with myth or folklore.
• In Maharashtra, a tree with an estimated age of 50 years or more shall be defined as a heritage tree. It may belong to specific species, which will be notified from time to time.
  • The most common method of determining the age of the tree is Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating).
  • Each year, roughly a tree adds to its girth, the new growth is called a tree ring. By counting the rings of a tree, the age can be determined.
  • However, the process is invasive as core samples are extracted using a borer that’s screwed into the tree and pulled out, bringing with it a straw-size sample.
• A heritage tree gets special protection.
  • The local Tree Authority has to ensure tree census every five years.
  • Rules under compensatory plantation include planting trees on a one-to-one basis or in equal numbers to the age of a heritage tree.
  • In case compensatory plantation is not possible, the tree feller has to pay compensation for the economic valuation of the trees being felled.

Global Liveability Index 2021

Recently, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the Global Liveability Index 2021.

• EIU is the research and analysis division of Economist Group providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis. It was founded in 1946 and is headquartered at London, UK.
• The Index examines 140 cities worldwide to quantify the challenges presented to an individual’s lifestyle in the past year, for the first time taking into account the disrupting global event of Covid-19 pandemic.
• Each city is assigned a livability score for more than 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
  • Due to the pandemic, the EIU added new indicators such as stress on health-care resources as well as restrictions around local sporting events, theatres, music concerts, restaurants and schools.
• The data for the latest survey was collected from February 2020 to March 2021, the period that witnessed multiple waves of pandemic.
  • The overall global average liveability fell by seven points as compared with the pre-pandemic score.
  • Asia-Pacific cities dominated the top 10 rankings even as the pandemic caused overall livability around the world to decline.
  • However, on a regional average, Asia ranked well below North America and Western Europe.

(Image Courtesy: Bloomberg)