RAJASTHAN
- Rajasthan defers closure of Gang Canal for repair
- The Rajasthan Government has deferred the closure of the Gang Canal for carrying out repair works due to the lack of funds.
- The move also ensures the supply of tonnes of fresh vegetables that were transported from Sriganganagar to Abohar and Fazilka.
- Notably, the closure proposal could not be processed before the model code of conduct came into force for the ensuing Lok Sabha poll.
- Also known as the Bikaner Canal, it is fed from the Sutlej near Ferozepur, close to the Indo-Pak border, and passes through Faridkot, Muktsar and Abohar in Fazilka district.
INTERNATIONAL
- China successfully launches second generation data relay satellite
- China has successfully launched the first of its new-generation data relay satellites into orbit that will provide data relay, measurement and control services for its manned spacecraft.
- The Tianlian II-01 satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.
- The Tianlian II network will be markedly more advanced in mission planning, system management and operations than the first-generation network composed of Tianlian I satellites.
- The satellite is developed by the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
- China launched its first data relay satellite, the Tianlian I-01, in April 2008.
- Shanghais Hongkou becomes worlds first district with 5G coverage
- Shanghai claimed to have the world’s first districtwith 5G coverage and a broadband gigabit network. It conducted trial runs of the 5G network, backed by telecom services provider China Mobile.
- 5G is the next generation of cellular technology with download speeds that are 10 to 100 times faster than 4G LTE networks.
- The city aims to build over 10,000 5G base stations by the end of this year and the number of 5G base stations could cross 30,000 in 2021.
- Zuzana Caputova became Slovakia’s first female president
- Liberal lawyer Zuzana Čaputováwon Slovakia’s Presidential election, becoming the country’s first female head of state.
- Caputova will now become Slovakia’s fifth president since its independence in the 1993 split of Czechoslovakia.
- Slovakia becomes the eighth country in the European Union to currently have a woman in power.
NATIONAL
- Kandhamal haldi gets GI tag
- Kandhamal haldi (turmeric) produced by the tribal farmers in Odisha’s Kandhamal district received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
- Kandhamal turmeric, originally grown by tribal people in Kandhamal, is famous for its medicinal properties.
- Kandhamal haldi is organic by default being cultivated by more than 60,000 families.
- The colour of Kandhamal haldi is golden yellow being well distinguished from other varieties.
- Chunar sandstone second natural good to get GI tag
- Chunar Balua Patthar (sandstone), widely used in architectures and monuments across the country, has been granted Geographical Indication (GI) tag under natural goods category in the first week of March this year. It is the second GI tag under natural goods after Makrana Marble of Rajasthan.
- The use of Chunar sandstone could be seen in Ashokan Pillar and Lion Capitol at ASI museum of Sarnath, Chunar Fort, Ramnagar fort, ghats of Varanasi, main building of Sampurnanad Sanskrit University, 80-feet Buddha statue in Kandhar style at Thai Temple in Sarnath, 70-feet sitting statue of Buddha at Vietnamese Temple, Sarnath, and innumerable architectures and monuments in the country.
- Centre to set up Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) in J&K
- The Union Home Ministryhas announced setting up of a Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) to ensure synergised and concerted action against terror financing and terror-related activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
- TMG willact against all registered cases related to terror, terror financing and terror-related activities and bring them to a logical conclusion. It will identify all key persons including leaders of the organisations who are involved in supporting terrorism in any form and take concerted action against them. It will investigate the networks of various channels being used to fund terror and terror-related activities and take action to stop the flow of such funds.
- The seven-member TMG constitutes of members headed by Jammu and Kashmir additional director general of police (ADGP) and remaining from Intelligence Bureau (IB), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Jammu and Kashmir police inspector-general.
