National
Horticulture Cluster Development Programme
⇒ Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar virtually launched the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme on 31 May 2021. The HCDP has been launched to ensure holistic growth of horticulture.
Implementation:
The central sector programme will be implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
Aim:
The Horticulture Cluster Development Programme aims at growing and developing identified horticulture clusters to make them globally competitive.
Pilot Phase:
In a pilot phase, the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme will be implemented in 12 horticulture clusters covering 11 States/UTs out of the total 53 clusters selected for the programme.
The clusters of the pilot phase include:
- Shopian (J&K) and Kinnaur (HP) for Apple
- Lucknow (UP), Kutch (Gujarat) and Mahbubnagar (Telangana) for Mango
- Anantpur (AP) and Theni (TN) for Banana
- Nasik (Maharashtra) for Grapes
- Siphahijala (Tripura) for Pineapple
- Solapur (Maharashtra) and Chitradurga (Karnataka) for Pomegranate
- West Jaintia Hills (Meghalaya) for Turmeric
Benefit:
The programme will benefit about 10 lakh farmers and is expected to attract an investment of Rs 10,000 crore when implemented in all the 53 clusters.
Speaker of the 15th Kerala Assembly
⇒ CPM Leader, MB Rajesh has been elected as the Speaker of the 15th Kerala Assembly on 25 May 2021. He was elected with support from 96 legislators in the 140-member Assembly.
New Species of Plant belonging to the African Violets in Mizoram
⇒ Researchers at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, have discovered a new species of plant belonging to the African Violets family in Mizoram and adjacent areas in Myanmar.
The newly-described species Didymocarpus vickifunkiae (Gesneriaceae) is currently known from only three locations in Mizoram and considered as an endangered species.
The species is named in honour of Late Dr Vicki Ann Funk, a renowned Botanist who worked at Smithsonian Institute, USA.
Didymocarpus is a genus belonging to the plant family Gesneriaceae. Gesneriaceae is commonly known as ‘African Violets’ & its members are distributed from Western Himalayas to Sumatra.
International
Indian Network for Memory Studies
⇒ The Indian Institute of Technology Madras has launched the Indian Network for Memory Studies (INMS). The network was inaugurated in the virtual event on June 16, 2021.
The Indian Network for Memory Studies (INMS) is the first national network in the field in Asia under the aegis of the International Memory Studies Association, Amsterdam.
Read More About Indian Network for Memory Studies
Death
Veteran Gandhian, K M Natarajan
⇒ Veteran Gandhian K M Natarajan died on 25 May 2021 in Madurai. He was 89.
Natarajan was the secretary of the Madurai Gandhi Museum and chairman of the Sarvodaya Movement. He was also the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Gandhi Smarak Nidhi in Madurai.
He had actively participated in the Bhoodan Movement launched by Vinoba Bhave. He was also associated with fighters Jayaprakash Narayan and J C Kumarappa.