1.Government of India launches Suraksha Store Initiative
News: Department of Consumer Affairs has partnered with two tech to use technology to power the Suraksha Store Initiative.
Facts:
- Suraksha Store Initiative: It is a public-private initiative to ensure that we can create a safe and secure environment for our consumers and shop owners at our kirana stores.
- Suraksha Store:It is a store (kirana, pharmacy, consumer touchpoint) that follows 100% Suraksha safety norms.These stores shall be educated, certified and validated to follow all common minimum health standards as well as safety checklists.
2.Gopal Krishna Gokhale: The liberal nationalist regarded by Gandhi as his political guru
News:The Prime Minister paid tribute to Gopal Krishna Gokhale on his birth anniversary on 9th May,1866.
Facts:
- Gopal Krishna Gokhale was an Indian political leader, a social reformer during the Indian Independence Movement and Mahatma Gandhi’s political mentor.
Contributions:
- Role in Legislatures:He was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council between 1899 and 1902.It was followed by work at the Imperial Legislative Council from 1902 where he played a key role in framing the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909.
- Role in Indian a National Congress(INC):He was associated with the Moderate Group of Indian National Congress(joined in 1889).He became president of INC in 1905 in Banaras session.
- Related Societies:
- He served as Secretary of the Deccan Education Society.
- He established the Servants of India Society in 1905 for the expansion of Indian education.
- In 1908, he founded the ‘Ranade Institute of Economics’.
- Journals:
- He started english weekly newspaper, The Hitavada (The people’s paper).
- He was also associated with the Sarvajanik sabha journal started by Govind Ranade.
3.Tying up with Todas to keep the virus at bay
News:TheTodas Artisans from the Nilgiris are producing masks with exquisite embroidery for the Health Care workers to fight against Coronavirus pandemic.
Facts:
- The Todas are the tribal pastoral people who live in the Nilgiri Hills of southern India.
- They speak a Dravidian language but their language has no written form and for the most part is not understood by non-Toda.
- They are included in the list of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG’s).
- The Toda Embroidery is called as pohor.It is made exclusively by their women.
- The embroidery has also got a Geographical Indications (GI) Tag.
4.Sample Registration System(SRS):Data Related to Birth and Death Rate
News: Registrar General of India has released data related to birth rate, death rate and infant mortality rate in its Sample Registration System(SRS) bulletin for 2018.The rates are calculated per one thousand of the population.
Facts:
Birth Rate: It is a crude measure of fertility of a population and a crucial determinant of population growth.
- It has declined from 36.9 in 1971 to 20.0 in 2018.The rural-urban differential has also narrowed.
- However, the birth rate has continued to be higher in rural areas compared to urban areas.
- Bihar (26.2) continues to remain at the top of list in birth rate while Andaman and Nicobar (11.2) is at the bottom.
Death Rate: It is one of the basic components of population change and the data is essential for demographic studies and public health administration
- It has decreased from 14.9 in 1971 to 6.2 in 2018.The decline has been steeper in rural areas.
- Chhattisgarh has the highest death rate at 8 and Delhi has a lowest death rate of 3.3.
Infant mortality rate(IMR):It is the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births.
- It has decreased to 32 in 2018 from 50 in the last decade and about one-fourth as compared to 1971 (129).
- Madhya Pradesh has the highest IMR of 48 and Nagaland has the lowest IMR of 4.
Additional Facts:
- Sample Registration System:It is a demographic survey for providing reliable annual estimates of infant mortality rate, birth rate, death rate and other fertility and mortality indicators at the national and sub-national levels.It was initiated on a pilot basis by the Registrar General of India in a few states in 1964-65, it became fully operational during 1969-70.
- Registrar General of India:It was founded in 1961 under the Ministry of Home Affairs.It conducts and analyses the results of the demographic surveys of India including Census of India and Linguistic Survey of India.
5.DRDO develops devices to sanitise currency notes, laptops, mobile phones
News: Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a premier lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed devices to sanitise currency notes, laptops, mobile phones.
Facts:
- Defence Research Ultraviolet Sanitiser(DRUVS): It is an automated contactless UVC sanitising cabinet to sanitise mobile phones, iPads, laptops, currency notes, cheque leafs, challans, passbooks, and paper.
- NOTESCLEAN: It is an automated UVC currency sanitising device which picks the note inserted from the input slot and makes them pass through a series of UVC lamps for complete disinfection.
Additional Facts:
- UV-C: It is a form of Ultraviolet light that has a short wavelength.It is the most harmful one, but it is completely absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere and does not reach the Earth’s surface.
- It is used for disinfecting water, sterilizing surfaces, destroying harmful microorganisms in food products and in air.
6.Bharosa helpline launched for counselling of Odisha university students
News: Union HRD Minister has launched Bharosa helpline for the students of the Central University of Odisha.
Facts:
- The helpline has been launched in collaboration with the University Grants Council (UGC).
- Aim: To provide mental and psychological assistance to the students of the Central University of Odisha in the wake of COVID-19.
7.Jobless rate drops as govt lifts some curbs on economic activity
News: According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy(CMIE), India’s unemployment rate has dropped to 23.97% as the government has lifted some curbs on economic activity.
Facts:
- Unemployment: Itis a phenomenon that occurs when a person who is capable of working and is actively searching for the work is unable to find work.
- The most frequent measure of unemployment is Unemployment Rate:It is defined as a number of unemployed people divided by the number of people in the labour force.
- Labour Force: Persons who are either working (or employed) or seeking or available for work (or unemployed) during the reference period together constitute the labour force.
Unemployment rate = (Unemployed Workers / Total labour force) × 100
Measure of Unemployment in India:
| Usual Status Approach | Weekly Status Approach | Daily Status Approach |
| It records only those persons as unemployed who had no gainful work for a major time during the 365 days preceding the date of survey. | It records only those persons as unemployed who had no gainful work for a major time during the seven days preceding the date of survey. | The unemployment status of a person is measured for each day in a reference week.A person having no gainful work even for 1 hour in a day is described as unemployed for that day. |
| It captures long-term unemployment in the economy | It captures both the long-term open chronic unemployment and the seasonal unemployment | It is most inclusive than the other two as it captures the unemployment based on day to day changes |
