Today's Brief 15/1/2024

IE Analysis:https://youtu.be/0Br9lVVc2Jk?si=xbUlOUzz3UhDT_1t

JN Analysis:https://youtu.be/Vs3kXa01vCI?si=O1kvhkEfRzeQDLH8

1 .National Turmeric Board.:will provide leadership on turmeric related matters, augment the efforts, and facilitate greater coordination with Spices Board and other Government agencies in development and growth of the turmeric sector.

The Board shall have a Chairperson to be appointed by the Central Government, members from the Ministry of AYUSH, Departments of Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Commerce & Industry of the Union Government, senior State Government representatives from three states (on rotation basis),

select national/state institutions involved in research, representatives of turmeric farmers and exporters, and have a Secretary to be appointed by the Department of Commerce.

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of turmeric in the world. In the year 2022-23, an area of 3.24 lakh ha was under turmeric cultivation in India with a production of 11.61 lakh tonnes (over 75% of global turmeric production).

More than 30 varieties of Turmeric are grown in India and it is grown in over 20 states in the country.

The largest producing states of Turmeric are Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

India has more than 62% share of world trade in turmeric. During 2022-23, 1.534 lakh tonnes of turmeric and turmeric products valued at 207.45 million USD was exported by more than 380 exporters The leading export markets for Indian Turmeric are Bangladesh, UAE, USA and Malaysia. With the focused activities of the Board, it is expected that turmeric exports will reach USD 1 Billion by 2030.

2 .Bhashini Platform: , the National Language Technology Mission (NLTM), was launched by the Prime Minister in July 2022 to provide language technology solutions as digital public goods through the Bhashini platform (https://bhashini.gov.in).

Bhashini is a platform that helps translate languages spoken in India, like Hindi, Tamil, or Bengali. It uses special technology called AI to understand and translate these languages. This makes it easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other and access information online.

This is aimed to be achieved by harnessing emerging technologies such as AI/ML, and NLP to develop and share open-source models, tools and solutions (products and services) for Indian languages with ecosystem development involving startups, industries, academia, research groups, enthusiasts and State/Central Governments

3 .Coal imports in the country have dropped by over three percent from April to October last year. It has dropped from over 154 million tonnes to over 149 million tonnes during the same period in the previous year.

• Last Year: From April to October, India imported over 154 million tonnes of coal.

• This Year: During the same period, imports dropped to over 149 million tonnes, which is a decrease of over three percent.

India is the second-largest coal producer globally, after China.

 Coal is a crucial fuel source for India's energy needs, particularly for electricity generation.

State-Owned Dominance: Coal India Limited (CIL) Headquartered in Kolkata, India is the largest coal-producing company in the world, contributing significantly to India's domestic production.

4 .Mission Mausam: to be chiefly implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is envisaged to be a multi-faceted and transformative initiative to tremendously boost India’s weather and climate-related science, research, and services. It will help to better equip stakeholders, including citizens and last-mile users, in tackling extreme weather events and the impacts of climate change.

The ambitious program will help broaden capacity and resilience across communities, sectors, and ecosystems in the long run.

Three institutes of the Ministry of Earth Sciences: the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting will primarily implement Mission Mausam

These institutions will be supported by other MoES institutions (Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, and National Institute of Ocean Technology), along with collaborating national and international Institutes, Academia and Industries, furthering India’s leadership in weather and climate sciences and

5 .Cursive Writing and relevance: USA, The South Bend Community School Corporation Board has voted unanimously to reintroduce cursive writing into its curriculum. Once considered a fundamental skill, cursive writing was phased out in 2010 when Indiana, along with more than 40 other states, adopted the Common Core standards.

This change prioritized digital communication skills, leading to the decline of cursive instruction in classrooms.

The debate over reintroducing cursive writing into school curricula highlights the balance between traditional skills and modern educational priorities.

While the digital age has shifted focus toward typing and online communication, cursive writing remains a valuable tool for developing fine motor skills, cognitive abilities, and personal expression through handwritten signatures.

The reintroduction of cursive in schools requires careful planning, including

training teachers, developing age-appropriate lesson plans, and aligning it with broader educational goals.

Moving forward, a hybrid approach that embraces both digital literacy and foundational handwriting skills can ensure students are equipped for the demands of a technologically driven world while preserving essential traditional practices.

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