TAMILNADU

Tamil Nadu CM Stalin urges PM Modi to remove capping of central share in PMFBY

Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove capping of the central share of premium subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana scheme (PMFBY), a government-sponsored crop insurance scheme.

In a letter to Modi, a copy of which was released to the media, the chief minister said the state witnessed a huge growth in terms of area insured and enrolment of farmers due to the best practices adopted by the state under the scheme. “However, the state’s share of the premium subsidy has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 28.7% in the last five years. This has stymied the very purpose of the scheme as the state is finding it difficult to sustain the continuance of the scheme due to increasing financial liability that too during this pandemic period,” Stalin said.

Initially, the pattern of sharing in 2016-17 was 49:49:2 (central, state and farmer’s share respectively). The central share has now been capped at 25% for irrigated area and 30% for rain-fed area, resulting in an increase of the state share of the premium subsidy by 12%. In all, the state’s share becomes 61%.

INTERNATIONAL

First Human Case of Monkey B Virus

China has reported the 1st human infection case with the Monkey B virus (BV). Monkey B virus is an alphaherpesvirus enzootic (endemic) in macaques, and it was initially isolated in 1932.

Highlights:

Alphaherpesviruses are pathogens or neuroinvasive viruses that establish lifelong infections in the peripheral nervous system of humans and many other vertebrates.

B virus is commonly referred to as herpes B, herpes virus simiae, and herpesvirus B.

B virus can survive for hours on surfaces, exceptionally when moist.

Updation of Motto of the Olympics

The Motto of Olympics was updated to Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together from Faster, Higher, Stronger, on 20th July 2021. Motto updation was done to show solidarity around the globe at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved the change.

The Olympic motto was Citius, Altius, Fortius (in Latin) or Faster, Higher, Stronger (in English), from 1894, when it was adopted at the suggestion of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the IOC (International Olympic Committee).
Citius, Altius, Fortius, Communiter is the Latin version of the new motto.

Ski mountaineering was approved as an extra sport for the Milan-Cortina Winter Games which is to be in 2026. Ski mountaineering sport involves climbing mountains either by carrying the skies or on them and then descending on skies. Ski mountaineering is a prevalent sport in Italy. Five medal events for this category were planned at the 2026 Games.

NATIONAL

New Generation of Akash Surface-to-Air missile

The DRDO successfully flight-tested a new generation of Akash surface-to-air missiles from an integrated test range off the coast of Odisha, enhancing air defence capabilities. Compared with the original version, the new variant of Akash-NG has a slightly better range and can strike targets at a distance of about 25 kilometers. During testing, the missile demonstrated the high manoeuvrability required to eliminate rapid and agile aerial threats.

Akash is India’s first indigenously manufactured medium-range Surface-to-Air missile capable of engaging multiple targets from multiple directions.

It is capable of being launched from mobile platforms such as battle tanks or wheeled trucks. It has a kill probability of nearly

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The missile is aided by an indigenously developed radar known as ‘Rajendra,’ which is capable of handling multiple targets from multiple directions in group or autonomous mode.

In a major push for AatmaNirbhar Bharat and the strengthening of the Indian army, DRDO successfully conducted flight tests on the indigenously developed low-weight, firepower and forget Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM).

The test successfully validated the minimum range.
The maximum range of the missile has already been successfully flight tested.
The missile is equipped with the most advanced miniature infrared imaging seeker and advanced avionics.

The test made the development of an indigenous third-generation MPATGM nearly completed.

Antibodies against the coronavirus are present in two-thirds of India’s population. 67.6 percent of adults were seropositive, and more than 62 percent were unvaccinated. Around 400 million of India’s 1.4 billion people do not have antibodies

♦ Sero studies are often called sero surveys, which check how many people in the population are infected with COVID-19.
The sero survey roughly shows the following points:
♦ The percentage (%) of the population that has been infected with the virus.
♦ Which groups have more exposure or higher infection rates
♦ The progress of the infection rate in a specific area.
♦ How close are we to herd immunity