24-02-23 Daily-Tamilnadu-TNPSC Current Affairs

Seeking to bring about aparadigm shiftin the government’spaddy procurement system, the is all set to rope in private players to process paddy procured by the civil supplies corporation fromfarmers. Sources said the government would sign agreements with private players for 10 years.
Drenching of paddy bags in direct procurement centres (DPCs) will be a thing of the past as modern rice mills of 200TPD (tonnes per day) would come up at Theni, and six units of 500TPD would come up at Thanjavur, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai and Thiruvarur districts. These centres to be established by private players would have adequate warehouses/silo to store 1,500MT/3,500MT. They would also have facilities for post-harvesting activities, said sources.

The rice will be sent for public distribution in bags of 5kgs-50kgs as stipulated by the Civil Supplies Corporation.

The state procures 40 lakh tonnes of paddy annually. It hulls paddy in its own 21 rice mills and through 592 private hulling agents. They have a minimum capacity of 100TPD. Frequent cyclonic storms result in moisture level rising in paddy. Hence, they require post-harvest drying facility.

The rice mills and hulling agents, however, lack drying and storage facilities, which results in large scale damage to paddy and deterioration of quality of rice and by-products. “Tenders will be floated in a few days to engage private players to save the paddy from getting spoilt and improve the quality of rice being supplied to PDS outlets,” said a senior official.

UNICEF India made an official announcement of the appointment of the National award-winning film star Ayushmann Khurrana as a National Ambassador. The actor collaborates with UNICEF in order to support ensuring the rights of each and every child to survive, thrive, and be protected. His role is also to encourage their voice and agency in necessary decisions that are related to them.

Ayushmann assumed the position of UNICEF India’s Celebrity Advocate in September 2020. At that time, his role was to advocate against violence committed against children and the agenda of broader child rights. He has actively engaged while working on the cause at the root level.

The Union Minister of State for Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh declares that the first nuclear power plant will be constructed in the Northern part of the country. This will be initiated in the Gorakhpur village in the Fatehabad district in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh.

Minister Jitendra Singh stated that the installation of a Nuclear Energy plant in Northern India will be undertaken due to prioritising the increase in the nuclear capacity of India. It is one of the innovative decisions that has been taken in the past eight years.

North India’s first Nuclear Plant is coming up in Haryana in the town of Gorakhpur, which is about 150 km north of the national capital of New Delhi.

In a significant boost to tourism and other economic activities in the region, the Cabinet has approved the construction of 4.1-km-long Shinku La Tunnel at an estimated cost of Rs 1,681 crore to provide all-weather connectivity in Ladakh.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will construct the world’s highest tunnel at 16,580 feet.

The Seattle City Council added caste to the citys anti-discrimination laws, becoming the first U.S. city to specifically ban caste discrimination.

Calls to outlaw discrimination based on caste, a division of people based on birth or descent, have grown louder among South Asian diaspora communities in the United States. But the movement is getting pushback from some Hindu Americans who argue that such legislation maligns a specific community.

The UK surpassed India as the sixth-largest country by , as the domestic market grappled with a crash in stock prices of Adani Group and a weak rupee thats prompting foreign investors to turn net sellers.

This is the first time in nine months that the UK took the spot of sixth-largest market by value and India is at the seventh spot, a Bloomberg report said. Compared to India, a weak pound sterling is helping UK companies boost their exports and that, in turn, is leading to a surge in their stock prices, it said.
At close of trading on Tuesday, the UK had a market cap of $3.11 trillion, about $5 billion ahead of Indias, Bloomberg data showed. The table is topped by US with a market cap of almost $44 trillion, with China at the second spot with $11.1 trillion.