23-08-21 Daily-Tamilnadu-TNPSC Current Affairs

There is a demand to declare Kadavur Reserve Forest in the Karur district of Nadu as a sanctuary for Slender Loris.

Highlights:

The whole wooded area in the taluk has been categorized as a reserve wooded area and viewed as a hotspot in the State for Slender Loris.

According to a census taken in 2016-17 through the Forest Department, the Reserve Forest has a populace of 3,500 Slender Loris, and the modern-day populace is estimated to be around 5,000.

The Slender Loris are a small, secretive nocturnal primate. These animals are about 25 cm long & have long, thin arms. Their most prominent function is the pair of two large, closely set, brown eyes.

It is frequently discovered in the tropical scrub and deciduous forests as properly as the dense hedgerow plantations bordering farmlands of Southern India & Sri Lanka.

Being arboreal, they spend most of their existence on the trees. Slender Loris live between 12 to 15 years.

There are 2 species of slender loris: The narrow red loris (Loris tardigrades) and the grey slender loris (L. lydekkerianus)

They are fond of lantana berries and additionally consume insects, lizards, small birds, tree frogs, smooth leaves and buds.

They have an addiction to urine washing of their face and limbs, which is ideal for soothing or defending against the sting of the toxic insects they pick to eat.

IUCN status- Endangered

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (Hal) signed a $716-man deal with GE Aviation of the U.S. for 99 F404 plane engines and help Services to power the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk-1A.

Highlights:

In February, the DEFENCE Ministry had signed an Rs. 48,000 crore deal with HAL to provide 83 LCA-Mk1A to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is an indigenous supersonic fighter jet used with the aid of the Indian military.

LCA Tejas is a single-engine multirole light fighter aircraft.

The Light Combat Aircraft programme was started by the Government of India in 1984 when they installed the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to manage the LCA programme.

LCA Tejas was once designed and developed by India’s HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited).

It replaced the aging Mig 21 fighter planes.

Union minister for power and new and R K Singh said all villages in the country will get 24×7 electricity supply soon.

Talking to reporters here during his partys ashirwad yatra, Singh said the ministry of power has started working on the plan to ensure 24-hour electricity availability in all the villages. “For this, the central government has approved a scheme of Rs3,03,000 crore. Before this, a scheme of Rs2,02,000 crore was started in which Bihar got Rs22,000 crore, he said.

Singh said there is a demand of 2 lakh MW power in the country while the total power generation capacity has reached 3,84,000 MW. Altogether 1,42,000km of grid line has been expanded in the country. In a span of just 18 months, 2,82,00,000 households have been given electricity connections. In Bihar, 512 new power sub-stations were installed and 450 sub-stations were upgraded. We have replaced 7.5 lakh km of power lines and installed 6.65 lakh new transformers in the country. Solar grid of 1 lakh MW capacity has also been installed, Singh said.

INDIAN NAVY Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt arrived at Guam to participate in the Multilateral Maritime Ex Malabar.

INS Shivalik and INS Kadmatt arrived at Guam, an Island Territory of the USA as part of their ongoing deployment to nations in SouthEast Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

The 2 ships are scheduled to participate in the annual Exercise MALABAR-21, between the navies of Australia, India, Japan and the USA.

INS Shivalik is a multi-role Guided Missile Stealth Frigate.

INS Kadmatt is an Anti-Submarine Corvette.

Both are indigenously built and structure phase of the Indian Navys Eastern Fleet primarily based at Visakhapatnam, Eastern Naval Command.

Facebook India has launched the “Small Business Loans Initiative” in India in PARTNERSHIP with the online lending platform Indifi. India is the first site where Facebook is rolling out this programme.

Highlights:

This initiative aims to help small and medium corporations (SMBs) that advertise on Facebook to quickly get the right of entry to credit/loans via impartial lending partners.

This will make business loans extraordinary without difficulty handy to small businesses and minimize the gap inside India’s MSME sector.

It is open to groups registered across 200 towns and cities of India.

Indifi is the first lending associate that Facebook has tied up with, and the programme is constructed with the concept of carrying more companions on board.

Through Facebook’s partnership with Indifi, small agencies promoting Facebook can get loans at a predefined interest fee of 17-20 per cent per annum.

The programme will additionally allow small groups to follow for loans besides collateral via a speedy online application.

World Day, (also regarded as Sanskrit Diwas), is celebrated each and every year on Shravan Poornima, which is the Poornima day of the Shravan month in the Hindu calendar, which is also marked as Raksha Bandhan. In 2021, this day will be observed on August 22, 2021.

Key Points:

The day commemorates the historic Indian language of Sanskrit and objectives to promote its revival and maintenance. The Government of India decided to rejoice World Sanskrit Day in 1969, on the event of Raksha Bandhan that comes on the full moon day of the Hindu month of Shravana.