Important Facts for Prelims (15th January 2019)

• 15 Jan 2019

Army Day 2019

• 15^th January is celebrated as ‘Army Day’ by Indian Army.
• The January 15^th is the day when General (later Field Marshal) K.M Carriappa took over the command of Army from General Sir F.R.R Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949 and became the first Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army post-independence.

Agasthyarkoodam Peak, Kerala

• The defense Spokesperson K Dhanya Sanal has become the first woman to begin scaling 1,868-metre-tall Agasthyarkoodam - the second highest peak of Kerala – traditionally open only to men.
  • Anai Mudi is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and South India, at an elevation of 2,695 meters.
• After the order of Kerala High Court, the Forest Department lifted the ban preventing women from summiting Agasthyarkoodam.
• The local Kani tribes living on the foothills have opposed this. According to them, the mountain range is the holy abode of their deity 'Agastya Muni' – a Hindu sage believed to be the guardian of the inhabitants.
• Agasthyarkoodam peak is located in the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary, in Agasthymala Biosphere Reserve, Kerala.
• Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve is among 20 new sites added by UNESCO to its World Network of Biosphere Reserves in March 2016.

Philip Kotler Presidential Award

• Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has been awarded first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential Award by World Marketing Summit India.
• The Award focuses on the triple-bottom-line of People, Profit, and Planet. It will be offered annually to the leader of a Nation.
• Prof. Philip Kotler is a world-renowned Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, U.S.

Spiritual Circuit in Kerala

• A spiritual circuit linking 133 religious places spread over 14 districts in Kerala has been given the nod by the Union Ministry of Tourism under the Swadesh Darshan scheme.
• The destinations have been selected keeping in view the inherent historic, cultural and religious significance of the places.
• The development works include Community hall, Annadhana Mandapam, Multipurpose hall, toilets, cafeteria, parking facilities, landscaping, pathways, illuminations, signages, dustbins etc.

Womaniya on Government e Marketplace

• Government e Marketplace [GeM] has launched “Womaniya on GeM”, an initiative to enable women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups (WSHGs) to sell handicrafts and handloom, accessories, jute and coir products, home décor and office furnishings, directly to various Government ministries, departments and institutions.
• The initiative seeks to develop women entrepreneurship on the margins of society to achieve gender-inclusive economic growth.

Background

• Nearly 80% women-owned establishments are self-financed and more than 60% of 8 million units are owned and or led by women entrepreneurs from socially-challenged sections of the society.
• Since women tend to invest up to 90% of their earnings back in their families to provide better nutrition, health care and education to their children, economic empowerment of women is a step in the direction of poverty alleviation.
• The initiative aligns with Government’s initiatives for MSMEs, especially to reserve 3% in government procurement from women entrepreneurs.
• Womaniya on GeM will spur hyper-local economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs and address goals and objectives under United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

End-to-End Prediction System for Thunderstorms/Lightning

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will be implementing an end-to-end prediction system for predicting thunderstorms/lightning by April 2019.
• It will be developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and IMD, New Delhi.
• IITM Pune also developed a Mobile App called “DAMINI” to give alerts on impending lightning activity over the area.

Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) Project

• AURIC, India's first Greenfield Industrial Smart City along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is being developed by the Aurangabad Industrial Township (AIT) — a special purpose vehicle formed by DMIC Development Corporation and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.
• Domestic and foreign investors are expected to invest in projects from agriculture and food processing, automobile and engineering, textile, defence and aviation and electronics system design, manufacturing of electric vehicles, drones and aircraft for civil and defence aviation.
• The Government plans to develop 5 Industrial Corridors in the country namely:
  • Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)
  • Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC)
  • Bengaluru Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC)
  • Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC)
  • East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC)

Delhi - Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)

• DMIC aims to develop new industrial cities as "Smart Cities".
• The objective is to expand India's Manufacturing & Services base and develop DMIC as a "Global Manufacturing and Trading Hub".
• The programme envisages development of infrastructure linkages like power plants, assured water supply, high capacity transportation and logistics facilities as well as softer interventions like skill development programme for employment of the local populace.
• The programme will provide a major impetus to planned urbanization in India with manufacturing as the key driver.
• The programme has been conceptualized in partnership and collaboration with Government of Japan.

Maha Agritech launched in Maharashtra

• Maha Agritech, has been launched by Maharashtra govt. under which area under cultivation from sowing to harvesting, climate, and diseases on crops will be monitored digitally using satellite and drone technology.
• This will be the first project in the country under which farming will be digitally tracked.
• Remote sensing techniques have been used in India to provide basic information on crops, soils, water resources and the impact of drought and flood on agriculture.
• The main users of crop maps and yield forecasts are governments and agribusiness who use them to assess demand, anticipate prices and plan the use of resources.
• OTHER Programmes / Projects by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
  • Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land based observations (FASAL)
  • National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System (NADAMS)
  • KISAN (Crop Insurance using Space technology And geoinformatics)
  • CHAMAN (Coordinated programme on Horticulture Assessment and Management using geo informatics)
  • Crop Intensification: Mapping and monitoring of post-kharif rice fallow lands using Satellite Remote Sensing and GIS technologies for Rabi Crop Area Expansion.