The Government of India sponsored the proposal for International Year of Millets (IYM) 2023 which was accepted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The declaration has been instrumental for the Government of India to be at the forefront in celebrating the IYM. PM Narendra Modi has also shared his vision to make IYM 2023 a ‘People’s Movement’ alongside positioning India as the 'Global Hub for Millets'.

 

Recognising the enormous potential of Millets, which also aligns with several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Government of India (GoI) has prioritized Millets. In April 2018, Millets were rebranded as “Nutri Cereals”, followed by the year 2018 being declared as the National Year of Millets, aiming at larger promotion and demand generation. The global millets market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period between 2021-2026.

 

On 6th December 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, organized an opening ceremony for the International Year of Millets – 2023 at Rome, Italy. The event was attended by a delegation of senior government officials from India. Next in the series, prior to the year-long celebration of ‘International Year of Millets (IYM) 2023’, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare hosted a special ‘Millet Luncheon’ for the Members of the Parliament at the Parliament house.

 

Further Development Regarding This : Among central ministries, the activities related to IYM for the month of January 2023 will be kick started by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of India. The ministry has planned 15 activities over 15 days in January which include engaging sports persons, nutritionists and fitness experts through video messages, conducting webinars on millets with leading nutritionists, dieticians and elite athletes, promotion amplification through Fit India App, etc. Some of the other ministries which have planned events in January are Ministry of Food Processing Industries which will be organizing Millet Fair-cum-exhibitions in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh; FSSAI will organize Eat Right Melas in Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu etc.

 

With respect to states, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan have been allocated the month of January for carrying out specific activities for sensitization and promotion of IYM. The states will be conducting millet centric activities including mahotsavs/ melas and food festivals, training of farmers, awareness campaigns, workshops/ seminars, placement of hoardings and distribution of promotional material at various key locations in the state, etc. Other states that are organizing similar activities in the month of January include Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Punjab.

 

What are millets : Millet is a common term for categorising small-seeded grasses that are often called Nutri-cereals. Some of them are sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), finger millet (ragi), little millet (kutki), foxtail millet (kakun), proso millet (cheena), barnyard millet (sawa), and kodo millet (kodon). An essential staple cereal crop for millions of smallholder dryland farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, millets offer nutrition, resilience, income and livelihood for farmers, and have multiple uses such as food, feed, fodder, biofuels and brewing.

 

Significance and benefits of millets : Millets are nutritionally superior to wheat and rice owing to their higher protein levels and a more balanced amino acid profile. Millets also contain various phytochemicals which exert therapeutic properties owing to their anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. Further, besides being climate resilient, millet grains are rich sources of nutrients like carbohydrates, protein, dietary fibre, and good-quality fat; minerals like calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc and B complex vitamins. Most importantly, millet production is not dependent on the use of chemical fertilizers.

 

Millet Producing States : India produces all the nine commonly known millets and is the largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of millets in the world. Most of the states in India grow one or more millet crop species. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana are the major millets producing states..

Source : PIB

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) chief Sujoy Lal Thaosen on Saturday(31st Dec 2022) took over the additional charge of Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) that guards 7,419 km of the Indian fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

 

Thaosen took the charge as the incumbent BSF Director General Pankaj Kumar Singh, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer of the Rajasthan cadre, retired on Saturday after completing his 1.4-year tenure at the post. Singh had taken over the charge of BSF chief on August 31 last year.

 

CRPF chief Thaosen is Singh’s batchmate from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, and an order issued from Union Home Ministry mentions that he will hold additional charge of the BSF DG till further orders.

 

Singh handed over the baton to Thaosen on Saturday afternoon following a farewell parade of the force and giving service medals to BSF personnel at the force’s camp.

 

Singh’s appointment in BSF as its DG created history last year as it was the time when a son had held the topmost position of the force like his father, Prakash Singh, a retired IPS officer of the 1959 batch who also headed the BSF as its DG from June 1993 to January 1994.

 

The BSF is about 2.65 lakh personnel in strength.

 

After taking over the additional charge of BSF DG, Thaosen has been among the list of a few officers who served as Director Generals Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), CRPF and the BSF.

 

Thaosen on October 3 took charge as 37th Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the largest Central armed police force mandated to provide internal security in the country. Earlier, Thaosen was holding charge of Director General of SSB as well as the additional charge of ITBP chief..

Source : The Print

India on Sunday(1st Jan 2023) got its first In vitro fertilization (IVF) mobile unit for animals in Gujarat's Amreli.

The mobile IVF lab was inaugurated by union minister Purushottam Rupala.

 

According to the minister, the IVF mobile van was "dedicated in a joint venture of the Government of India and Amar Dairy."

 

“This is India's first IVF mobile unit. With the help of this unit, the work of providing IVF technology to the cattle rearers of Amreli has started from 1st Jan 2023,” Rupala added.

 

Notably, the IVF is a complex series of procedures used to help with fertility and assist with the conception of a child. In animals, it is an advanced reproductive technology for the multiplication of superior female germplasm at a higher rate..

Source : Hindustan Times

R Krishnakumar, a close confidante of Ratan Tata and a group veteran, died Sunday(1st Jan 2023) evening.

* Kerala-born Krishnakumar, who had served at multiple positions in the group, including heading its hospitality arm Indian Hotels, was 84.

 

* The Padma Shri awardee suffered a heart attack at his home in the financial capital on Sunday(1st Jan 2023).

* Tata Sons' current chairman N Chandrasekaran offered condolences for Krishnakumar's “enormous contribution” to the Tata Group..

Source : India Today

Union Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah’s statement in Karnataka’s Mandya on 30th Dec 2022 for pushing “cooperation” between the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) and the Anand Milk Union Limited (Amul) in Gujarat has not gone down well with the citizens and the Opposition to save the brand ‘Nandini’.

 

Amit Shah inaugurated a mega dairy established by the Mandya District Cooperative Milk Producers Associations Federation at a cost of Rs 260 crore in Gejjalagere of Mandya district.

During his address he said, “Amul and KMF together will work together towards ensuring there is a primary dairy in every village of the state.

In 47 years, Karnataka has progressed in the dairy sector and the turnover has increased by Rs 4 crore to Rs 25,000 crore during the same period. Amul and KMF have to work together to boost the cooperative dairy in Karnataka.”.

Source : Indian Express

The Prajjwala Challenge was launched by Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Shri. Shailesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi 29th Dec 2022.

The Mission is looking for ideas and solutions around Innovative Technology Solution, Inclusive Growth, Value Chain Interventions, Enhanced Women Entrepreneurship, Cost effective Solutions, Sustainability, place-based employment, localised models etc. 

 

 

* Focus on Women and Marginalized section of community

 

* Localised Models

 

* Sustainability

 

* Cost Effective solutions

 

* Multi sectoral ideas and solutions etc

Aim : To invite ideas, solutions and actions that can transform rural economy, the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) has launched the Prajjwala Challenge.

It is one of the platforms where ideas are invited from individuals, Social Enterprises, Start up, Private Sector, Civil Society, Community Based Organization, Academic Institution, Start-ups, Incubation centres, Investors etc having potential to transform the rural economy.

 

Applications are open from 29th December, 2022 to 31st January, 2023. Shortlisted ideas will be acknowledged by the Mission and will be provided mentorship support from an expert panel and incubation support to scale up. The top 5 ideas will be rewarded with Rs. 2 Lakh each.

 

DAY-NRLM is one of the flagship poverty alleviation programs of the Ministry of Rural Development, which aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor, enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihoods enhancements and improved access to financial services. 

Applicants can visit the website www.prajjwalachallenge.com and apply..

Source : PIB

Ajay Kumar Srivastava has been elevated as Managing Director and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank with effect from January 1, 2023 from his current posting as executive director.

 

* He started his banking career as a probationary officer in 1991 with Allahabad Bank where he worked in various capacities in different parts of the country.

* Ajay Kumar Srivastava is an astute and hardcore banker with Vast field-level experience and has the distinction of having successfully led the largest and most critical areas of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Delhi while working at a senior level in Allahabad Bank.

 

* After the successful completion of about 27 years in Allahabad Bank he was elevated as Executive Director of IOB in October 2017.

* At Indian Overseas Bank as Executive Director, he had a very challenging journey. Bank was incurring losses since 2014, was in PCA since 2015 and Financial parameters were in bad shape besides many other challenges.

 

* He made strategies for each of the key areas and successfully implemented them at the ground level with the support of the Board. He served the Bank as Executive Director for more than five years and handled all the departments and portfolios during the period.

* The highlight of his stint as Executive Director has been playing a very key role in bringing the Bank out of loss in March 2020 and out of PCA in September 2021. Moreover, he was the only Executive Director in the Bank for about 14 months during 2020-2021.

 

* He was appointed as Director on the Board of India Infrastructure Finance Company by the government for two years. He also served as Director on the Board of Regional Rural Bank in his previous Bank..

Source : Business Standard

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been sworn in as the 39th president of Brazil following the 2022 Brazilian general election.

77-year-old Lula narrowly defeated Jair Bolsonaro in October to win an unprecedented third presidential term after a hiatus that saw him spend a year and a half behind bars on corruption convictions that were later overturned.

 

In his previous years as Workers Party (PT) president from 2003 to 2010, the former union leader lifted millions of Brazilians from poverty during a commodity boom that boosted the economy..

Source : AIR

Indian-American Rajeev Badyal is among 30 members selected by US Vice President Kamala Harris to serve on the National Space Council's Users Advisory Group (UAG).

 

Badyal presently leads Amazon's Project Kuiper -- an initiative to launch a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites to provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world.

 

As a selected member of the UAG, Badyal will serve to enable the Biden-Harris Administration's effort to maintain a robust and responsible US space enterprise and preserve space for current and future generations, according to a White House statement.

 

The UAG will provide the National Space Council advice and recommendations on matters related to space policy and strategy, including but not limited to, government policies, laws, regulations, treaties, international instruments, programmes, and practices across the civil, commercial, international, and national security space sectors..

Source : Gadgetsnow