National
Government to Develop National Maritime Heritage Complex in Lothal
⇒ Under the Sagarmala programme, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is developing a National Maritime Heritage Complex, a world-class facility at Lothal, Gujarat.
NMHC would be developed as an international tourist destination, where the maritime heritage of India from ancient to modern times would be showcased and an edutainment approach using the latest technology would be adopted to spread awareness about India’s maritime heritage.
- In this line, an onsite project progress review meeting was held on 2nd July 2023 at Lothal, Gujarat.
About maritime complex:
- The maritime complex will include world’s highest light house museum, world’s largest open aquatic gallery, India’s grandest naval museum and is envisaged to be one of the biggest international tourist destinations in the world.
- The complex, work which started in March 2022, is being developed at a cost of around Rs 4500 crores.
- It will have several innovative and unique features such as Lothal mini recreation to recreate Harappan architecture and lifestyle; four theme parks – Memorial theme park, Maritime and Navy theme park, Climate theme park and Adventure and Amusement theme park; fourteen galleries highlighting India’s maritime heritage starting from the Harappan times till now; Coastal states pavilion displaying diverse maritime heritage of states and UTs; among others.
- The boost to the tourism potential through this project will also augment the economic development of the region.
Tomato Grand Challenge Hackathon
⇒ Government announced Tomato Grand Challenge Hackathon to generate innovative ideas to enhance the Tomato value chain and ensure its availability at affordable prices.
Ministry of Education in collaboration with Department of Consumer Affairs launched a hackathon Grand Challenge for ideas on technologies for primary processing, storage and valorization of Tomato on 30 June, 2023.
Formulated by:
TGC has been formulated by the Department of Consumer Affairs in collaboration with Ministry of Education (Innovation Cell).
Focus Area:
The Grand Challenge invited ideas on comprehensive and focused area interventions in tomato value chain – from cropping and market insights for the farmers, appropriate cultivars (OP varieties or hybrids) with higher shelf-life of the fruits for fresh marker, cultivars specifically suitable for processing, value-addition through interventions that can increase shelf-life, improve transportation of fresh and processing products, innovative packaging and storage.
The entry of participants for the TGC were invited under two tracks, namely,
- Students, Research Scholars and Faculty Members, and
- Industry individuals, Indian start-ups, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Limited Liability Partnership (LLPs), Professionals.
» lmproved technologies in the Tomato value chain that the Grand Challenge proposes to develop are expected to help reduce post-harvest losses and vulnerability to extreme price volatility.
Other Points:
- Tomato is produced almost in all the states in India, though in varying quantities.
- Maximum production is in southern and western regions of India, contributing 56%-58% of all India production.
- Southern and Western regions being surplus states, feed to other markets depending on production seasons.
- The production seasons are also different across regions. The peak harvesting season occurred in December to February.
International
International Tracked Packet Service between India Post and Canada Post
⇒ India Post entered into an agreement with Canada Post to introduce International Tracked Packet Service (ITPS) between the two countries to facilitate e-commerce exports.
- This service is operational from July 01, 2023, as notified by the Department of Posts in the Gazette of India dated June 28, 2023.
Key Points:
- The ITPS is a competitive service for transmission and delivery of packets and has been designed to meet the cross-border shipping requirements of e-commerce exporter including MSMEs, small businesses, merchants, etc to promote exports of their products using local post offices.
- India Post already provides this service with 38 partner countries and Canada will be the 39th.
- The service was extended from 16 countries to 38 countries by adding 22 new partners including Britain, France, UAE, Egypt, Oman, etc. from June 01, 2023.
Important Day
National Statistics Day 2023
⇒ National Statistics Day is observed every year on 29 June in India.
India celebrates National Statistics Day on the birth anniversary of eminent statistician Prof. PC Mahalanobis to popularise the idea of increasing people’s awareness of statistics and encouraging them to apply them.
Theme:
Every year, Statistics Day is celebrated with a theme of contemporary national importance. The theme of Statistics Day 2023 was “Alignment of State Indicator Framework with National Indicator Framework for Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals”.
History:
- In recognition of the notable contributions made by Professor (late) Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of statistics and economic planning, Government of India has designated 29 June as “Statistics Day” in the category of Special Days to be celebrated at the national level.
- The notice of this was published in the gazette of India on June 05, 2007. The first National Statistics Day was celebrated on June 29, 2007.
- The objective of this Day is to create public awareness, especially in the younger generation for drawing inspiration from Professor (late) Mahalanobis about the role and importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation.
About Prof. Mahalanobis:
- Professor PC Mahalanobis was part of the first planning commission of India and was instrumental in establishing the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in 1931.
- He was a scientist and statistician and is best known for devising the “Mahalanobis Distance,” which is utilised in classification and cluster analysis. This formula is based on measurements in multiple dimensions and helps determine the distance between a point and its distribution points.
- For his contributions, Mahalanobis has been considered the father of statistics in India. The Government of India honored him with the Padma Vibhushan in 1968.
This year, the main event of Statistics Day, 2023 was organized at Scope Convention Centre, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.
- Winners of ‘On the Spot Essay Writing Competition, 2023’ were also felicitated during the event.
- The Sustainable Development Goals-National Indicator Framework, Progress Report, 2023 was released during the event. Along with the report, Data Snapshot on Sustainable Development Goals-National Indicator Framework, 2023 and Sustainable Development Goals- National Indicator Framework, 2023 were also released.
United Nations’ World Statistics Day
⇒ United Nations’ World Statistics Day is celebrated every five years on 20 October.
- The last celebration was in 2020 and the next celebration is scheduled for 2025.
Theme:
The 3rd World Statistics Day was celebrated around the globe on 20 October 2020 with the theme “Connecting the world with data we can trust.”
- This theme reflects the importance of trust, authoritative data, innovation and the public good in national statistical systems.
History:
- At its 41st Session in February 2010, the United Nations Statistical Commission proposed celebrating 20 October 2010 as World Statistics Day (Decision 41/109).
- Acknowledging that the production of reliable, timely statistics and indicators of countries’ progress is indispensable for informed policy decisions and monitoring implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, the General Assembly adopted on 3 June 2010 resolution 64/267, which officially designated 20 October 2010 as the first ever World Statistics Day under the general theme “Celebrating the many achievements of official statistics.”
- In 2015, with resolution 96/282, the General Assembly decided to designate 20 October 2015 as the second World Statistics Day under the general theme “Better data, better lives,” as well as to celebrate World Statistics Day every five years on 20 October.