Gold Deposits in Sonbhadra
Context :
The Geological Survey of India has rejected the UP government’s Department of Geology and Mining claims of discovering about 3,000 tonnes of gold deposits in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, saying the actual estimated reserve stands at 160 kg.
About Sonbhadra :
- Sonbhadra is the second largest district (area-wise) of Uttar Pradesh after Lakhimpur Kheri.
- It is the only district in the country which shares borders with four states.
- Madhya Pradesh to the west, Chhattisgarh to the south, Jharkhand to the south-east and Bihar to the east.
- Sonbhadra district is an industrial zone and has lots of minerals like bauxite, limestone, coal, gold etc.
- It is drained by tributaries of the Ganges including the Belan and Karmanasha rivers. Son river flows through the district from west to east. Rihand river rises to the south in the highlands of Surguja district of Chhattisgarh and flows north to join the Son in the centre of Sonbhadra.
- The Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar (also known as Rihand Dam) is a reservoir on the Rihand, lies partly in the district and partly in Madhya Pradesh.
- Kaimoor Wildlife Sanctuary lies mostly within Sonbhadra, reaching generally east and west along the Kaimur Range, and extending to the Son river at its eastern end.
- Sonbhadra is known for its several Cave painting sites found in the Vindhya region.
- The Lakhania caves are located in the Kaimur ranges and are known for their beautiful ageless rock paintings.
- These historic paintings are about 4000 years old.
- Khodwa Pahar or Ghoramangar is another well-known ancient cave painting site.
- The Lakhania caves are located in the Kaimur ranges and are known for their beautiful ageless rock paintings.
Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill
Context :
Cabinet clears Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, aims to regulate IVF clinics.
Overview and key features of the Bill:
- It would lead to the creation of a national board to lay down and implement a code of conduct for people working at IVF clinics.
- Determines the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory, diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by ART clinics and banks.
- The bill intends to make genetic testing of the embryo mandatory before implantation for the benefit of the child born through ART.
- It also seeks to streamline the cryo-preservation processes for sperm, oocytes and embryo.
- It also proposes to constitute a national registry and registration authority to maintain a central database and assist the national board in its functioning.
- The bill proposes stringent punishment for those “practising sex selection, sale of human embryos or gametes and running agencies/rackets/organisations for such unlawful practices.
Background :
According to a registry maintained by the Indian Council of Medical Research, there are 1,269 ART clinics in India (as on November, 2019). The number swells up to 1,846 when ART clinics and ART banks are taken together. Maharashtra has the maximum number of ART clinics (266) followed by Tamil Nadu (164), Delhi (113), Karnataka (102), Uttar Pradesh (92) and Gujarat (80).
Need for a legislation in this regard :
The need to regulate the ART services is to protect the affected women and children from exploitation. Registration with the ICMR is a voluntary exercise at the moment because of which many clinics don’t take the trouble and prefer opacity while offering infertility treatment.
Significance:
The major benefit of the act would be regulation of the assisted reproductive technology services in the country. Consequently, infertile couples will be more ensured and confident of the ethical practices in ART clinics.
What is ART? Why it is in demand :
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), as commonly understood, comprises procedures such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), intra-uterine insemination (IUI), oocyte and sperm donation, cryopreservation and includes surrogacy as well.
Social stigma of being childless and lengthy adoption processes have increased the demand for ART in India. It is thus not surprising that the ART industry is expected to grow by a compounded annual growth rate of 10%.
Sources: pib
DoT launched 5G Hackathon
Context :
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched the “5G Hackathon” on 21 February to promote applications relevant to India in the 5G realm. The 5G Hackathon was launched by DoT in association with several governments, academia-industry stakeholders.
Aim :
The hackathon is aimed to shortlist India focussed cutting edge ideas that can be converted into workable 5G products and solutions.
5G Hackathon :
- The Hackathon will be held in three phases beginning from 21 February. The hackathon will conclude on 16 October 2020 at India Mobile Congress.
- Winners of the various phases will be awarded a total prize of Rs.2.5 crores. Also, a unique opportunity to scale and implement their 5G applications to make them market-ready with the support of DoT, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and a number of leading industry, academia, Telcos/Original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
- 5G Hackathon will convert innovating ideas into products and solutions in different verticals and develop India specific Use cases around 5G.
- Participants will be asked to develop 5G solutions from across 10 categories namely Education and Governance, AgriTech and Livestock, Healthcare, Environment, Public Safety, and Disaster Management Enterprise, Smart Cities and Infrastructure, Cyber
- Security, Banking, Finance and Insurance, Logistics & Transportation, Multimedia and Broadcast, among others.
- Developers, start-ups, students, SMEs, Stakeholders, academic institutions and registered companies in India and NRIs can participate in the event.
- The details of the Hackathon can be seen on the
- www.5ghackathon.in.
5G technology :
5G technology will provide over 4G in terms of peak data, rate, speed, latency, spectrum efficiency, and connection density. The special feature of the technology applications in different economic verticals.
Kiliki language
Context :
On International Mother Language Day (February 21), an official website of KiLiKi language has been launched.
About Kiliki language :
The new speech was invented for the terrifying warrior tribe called Kalakeya in the two-part Baahubali franchise. It now has evolved into a language with script grammar and more than 3000 words for everyday communication. It is considered as the world’s easiest language. This fictional language was created by popular lyricist and screenwriter Madhan Karky.
About International Mother Language Day :
- Observed every year on 21st February since 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
- The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh.
- It was approved at the UNESCO General Conference (1999) and has been observed throughout the world since 2000.
- The United Nations General Assembly had proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages.
- The Ministry of Human Resource and Development along with educational institutions and language institutions is celebrating the day as the Matribhasha Diwas in the country.
Sources: the Hindu.