1) India’s first graphene innovation center to be established in Kerala
•India’s first innovation centre for graphene will be set up in Kerala by the Digital University Kerala (DUK), along with the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) in Thrissur, for Rs 86.41 crore. This will be the first graphene Research and Development (R&D) incubation centre in the country. Tata Steel Limited is set to be the industrial partner of the centre.
•The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, has given approval for the project. The project, which will be implemented with the support of the Kerala government, is expected to accelerate the state’s growth in the knowledge industry sector.
What is Graphene?
•Graphene is known for its extraordinary electrical and electronic properties, and as per latest research, it could replace indium and thereby bring down the cost of OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screens in smartphones. Graphene has good chemical stability, high electrical conductivity and a large surface area while being transparent and lightweight.
2) Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve bags TX2 award
•Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (Erode district, Tamil Nadu) has been given the prestigious TX2 award after its tiger numbers doubled to 80 since 2010. Apart from the STR, the Bardia National Park in Nepal has won this year’s TX2 award for doubling the population of wild tigers. Sathyamangalam wildlife sanctuary was declared a tiger reserve in 2013 and the reserve that spread across 1,411.60 sq km is an important link between the Nilgiris and Eastern Ghats landscape. The Nilgiri biosphere landscape that this reserve is part of is currently the home to the largest tiger population in the world. It is connected to other well-established tiger habitats like Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve and BR Hills Tiger Reserve.
3) J&K Police Bags Highest 115 Police Medals For Gallantry
•Jammu and Kashmir Police has bagged 115 Police Medals for Gallantry (PMG), out of a total of 189 awarded this year. They more than doubled their last year’s tally of 52 PMGs. J&K Police won awards for conducting several counter-insurgency operations in 2019-20. Police personnel from Jammu and Kashmir have been awarded 115 Police Medals for Gallantry, the highest number from any police force this year, followed by CRPF with 30, Chhattisgarh Police with 10, Odisha Police with nine, and Maharashtra Police with seven.
4) India pays $29.9 million in UN regular budget assessments for 2022
•India has paid USD 29.9 million in UN regular budget assessments for the year 2022. As of January 21, 2022, 24 Member States have paid their regular budget assessments in full. India is currently a non-permanent member of the 15-nation Security Council and its two-year term will end on December 31, 2022.
•“#India proud to pay again in full! India joins the 2022 Honour Roll of 24 Member States out of 193 that have paid their @UN RegularBudget Assessments in full,” India’s Permanent Mission to the UN tweeted.
5) Pencilton Launches Teen-Focused Debit and Travel Card
•A teen-focused Fintech startup based in India, Pencilton has recently launched PencilCard, a debit card that is compliant with National Common Mobility Card standards. It has been launched in partnership with Transcorp. The National Common Mobility Card was developed by India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in early 2019. It allows the user to pay for travel, toll duties, retail shopping and withdraw money.
6) Meenakashi Lekhi launches pictorial comic book ‘India’s Women Unsung Heroes’
•Union Minister of State for Culture, Meenakashi Lekhi has released a pictorial comic book titled ‘India’s Women Unsung Heroes’, as a tribute to the forgotten women freedom fighters of the country. The book has been prepared by the Ministry of Culture in partnership with Amar Chitra Katha, an Indian publisher of Indian comics and graphic novels. India will be celebrating 75 years of independence this August 15. And so, the book celebrates the lives of 75 unsung women freedom fighters of India, including Chakali Ilamma, Padmaja Naidu, Durgabhai Deshmukh, among others.
•The book is a fitting tribute to the forgotten heroes of our freedom struggle as it celebrates the lives of women who led the charge and lit the flame of rebellion throughout the country. It contains stories of queens who battled imperialism and dedicated their lives for Maa Bharati.
