Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 25 September 2023 | Download PDF

Person in news: Sahitya Akademi winner Ashokamitran

Recently  the book called ‘Fiction and beyond’ was launched to mark the 92nd birth anniversary of Ashokamitran.

• Fiction and Beyond, a collection of fiction and non-fiction works of the prominent Tamil writer and Sahitya Akademi winner Ashokamitran was launched recently.

About Ashokamitran

• Ashokamitran was the pen name of Jagadisa Thyagarajan.
• He was an Indian writer regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-independent Tamil literature.
• He has written over 200 short stories, nine novels, and some 15 novellas besides other prose writings.

Did you know?

• Ashokamitran was a sahitya  academy award winner which is the most  prestigious award in the field of literature.

• The National Population Register (NPR) is a register of usual residents of the country.
• It includes both Indian citizens as well as a foreign citizen.
• The categorisation of residents done According to the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003’.
•  A usual resident is a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.

Census

• Population Census provides basic statistics of  state on various elements 
• It includes the data on  human resources, demography, culture and economic structure at all levels.
• The responsibility of conducting the decadal census rests with the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
• It comes under the  Ministry of Home Affairs.

Did you know?

The first synchronous census was taken under British rule in 1881, by W.C. Plowden, Census Commissioner of India.

Recently the government has passed the bill in Lok sabha as well Rajya sabha.

Key features of the bill

• The amendment bill seeks to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act,1969 which provides for registration and regulation of birth and death. 
•  The Bill adds that the Registrar General will maintain a national database of registered births and deaths. 
• The Bill amends the provision of obtaining extract  to provide for obtaining a birth or death certificate (electronically or otherwise) instead of extracts.
• The Bill adds that, in cases of births, the specified persons shall provide the Aadhaar number of the parents and the informant
• District registrar is the appealing authority
• It introduces a significant shift towards digital birth certificates.

Did you know?

The registration of births and deaths falls under the Concurrent List, giving powers to both Parliament and state legislatures to make laws on the subject.

Did you know?

The INSTC project was initiated by Russia, India, and Iran in September 2000 . These are the founding members of the project.

• The International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is the multimodal freight transportation corridor among India, Russia, Iran, Europe, and Central Asia. 
• The corridor spans  around 7200 km.
• The primary goal of INSTC is to enhance connectivity and promote trade and economic cooperation among these regions 
• The INSTC is designed to provide an alternative and shorter trade route between South Asia and Northern Europe.
•  It connects the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea and further extends to Northern and Western Europe.
• The route begins in mumbai and goes to bandar abbas in iran and reached to petersburg by crossing caspian sea .

The  process of resolving conflicts  through negotiation between parties without going to the  courts is known as alternative dispute resolution (ADR). 

Modes of Alternative Dispute Resolution

Arbitration

• Arbitration is a process in which the parties dispute is presented to an arbitral tribunal,
• The award of ruling is  binding on the parties involved.

Mediation

• In mediation, a third party who is impartial to both sides of the conflict works with the parties to arrive at an agreeable  resolution.
• It is a voluntary informal, out-of-court settlement, 
• The outcome is not always legally binding.

Conciliation

• Conciliation is a way of settling disputes where the parties work with a conciliator to reach an agreement.
• The conciliator’s job is to get the parties to agree to put their differences aside and come to a mutually agreeable settlement on the terms.

Did you know?

The arbitration and conciliation act was last amended in 2021.

Recently during the 78th session of UNGA , QUAD countries have backed the UNs efforts to restart the black grain initiative 

Black Sea Grain Initiative

• It is an agreement  among Russia, Ukraine,Turkey and the United Nation .
• The Black Sea Grain initiative endeavors to tackle escalating food prices emanating from supply chain disruptions.
• The deal was to secure the exports from ukraine and Russia
• The central idea was to calm markets by ensuring an adequate supply of grains, thereby limiting food price inflation.
• The Black Sea Grain initiative deal brokered by the United Nations (UN) and Turkey, was signed in Istanbul in July, 2022.

Did you know?

Ukraine is one of the world’s  major grain producers, especially wheat.

• It is the ASEAN’s policy on Myanmar.
• This includes:-

1. An immediate end to violence in the country; 
2. Dialogue among all parties; 
3. The appointment of a special envoy; 
4. Humanitarian assistance by ASEAN; and 
5. The special envoy’s visit to Myanmar to meet with all parties.

Did you know?

Myanmar is a part of BIMSTEC but not SAARC.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport Tourism and Culture has asked the government to revise the rules to make them realistic

Key facts :

• The existing rules declare  the 100m area as prohibited and 300 m is regulated.
• The provisions apply to all significant and non-significant  monuments.
• The rules are hindering the construction and renovation process of locals living around the marked area.

Did you know?

The prohibited and restricted area provision was introduced in 2010 through an amendment to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958.

An incubation center named ‘Sambalpur University Start-ups Forum’ was inaugurated on the premises of Sambalpur University.

Key points

• The center aims to foster entrepreneurship among students and mentor innovative start-ups. 

Facilities provided 

1. meeting with investors.
2.  training on business-related topics as well as work space
3. industrial exposure. 

A new building of the Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF) was also inaugurated to provide essential instruments.

Sagar Kavach-2, a mock drill by the Coastal Security Group, was kicked off the Odisha coast.

Key facts 

• It is coastal security exercise 
• Sagar Kavach is a half-yearly exercise
• The aim of the exercise is to  check coastal security mechanisms 
• Also to  validate Standard Operating Procedure.

 The  Justice Raghubir Das Commission for Inquiry will complete five years.

Key facts

• The commission was formed to inquire into the issue of loss of key to the treasure of the Ratna Bhadra  temple
• The main objective of the commission was to lift  the curtain on the issue of missing the key to the jewel.

The women who have applied for scooters under the mission, are unable to get loans till date.

 Mission Shakti Scooter Yojana 

• It is a program launched by the Odisha government to provide mobility support to members of rural women self-help groups (WSHG). 
• It offers interest-free bank loans of up to Rs. 1 lakh for purchasing scooters to eligible individuals.

• The primary objective of the Mission Shakti Scooter Yojana is to enhance the efficiency and reach of SHG federation leaders and community support staff.

Did you know?

It aims to empower these women who promote social change and development in their communities.

A Kalaparatria tiger was seen roaming near the forest beet house in Chodopunk village under the Ulunda range of Subarnapur district.

Key facts 

• It is a tiger species which have distinctive dark stripe pattern 
• They are called kalaparatria or  black tigers locally 
• The dark stripe pattern is because of gene mutation 
• These tigers generally found in Simlipal tiger reserve. 

Did you know?

Tiger is listed as endangered in IUCN list. 

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