UPSC Quiz – 2024 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 7th August 2024

·       The woodlands are characterized by the dominance of Brachystegia species, either alone or in association with Julbernardia and Isoberlinia species.

·       Significance of this forest: This forest is vital for millions of people in rural areas, providing essential resources such as firewood, food, and water.

·       It also encompasses four bio-regions and is responsible for maintaining the Greater Zambezi, one of the most important transnational river basins.

·       It is organized by the National Handloom Development Corporation Ltd (NHDC) under the Ministry of Textiles.

·       The series “VIRAASAT”- the “Exclusive Handloom Expo” is a continuation of celebrations held during previous years around the National Handloom Day.

·       Focus: The event focuses on the glorious tradition of Handloom and Handicrafts. It also provides a market connected to the handloom weavers and artisans.

·       The unique products such as Banarasi, Jamdani, Baluchari, Madhubani, Kosa, Ikkat, Patola, Tussar Silk, Maheshwari, Moirang Phee, Baluchari, Phulkari, Laheriya, Khandua and Tangaliya will be featured in this exhibition.

Key facts about the National Handloom Day

·       Historical context: The Swadeshi Movement which was launched on 7th August, 1905 had encouraged indigenous industries and in particular handloom weavers.

·       Since 2015, the Government of India has decided to commemorate the 7th of August every year as the National Handloom Day.

·       The first National Handloom Day was held on 7th August 2015 in Chennai.

·       It aims to recognise the efforts and skills of the community of weavers engaged in this sector.

·       It belongs to the Fabaceae family and is a deciduous tree with a wide range of uses.

·       They require a warm and humid climate and can be grown in a variety of soil types, including clay, loam, and sandy soil.

·       It grows up to a maximum height of 15-20 meters and has a wide-spreading,umbrella-shaped canopy.

·       The tree trunk is typically straight, with a diameter of up to 1 meter.

·       Its leaves are green and fern-like and can grow up to 25 cm long.

·       The tree is capable of fixing nitrogen from the atmosphere, which helps to enrich the soil and support other plant species.

·       The extensive, shallow root system makes it a good soil binder and suited to soil conservation and erosion control.

·       India has the largest area under cotton cultivation and is also the largest producer and second largest consumer of cotton.

·       Approximately 67% of Indian’s cotton is produced on rain-fed areas and 33% on irrigated lands.

·       In India, most of the cotton is produced from the rain-fed areas.

·       It’s a joint effort between the Government of India, trade bodies, and industry.

·       A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in 2022 between the Cotton Corporation of India and The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council.

·       QR-based certification technology is used at each processing stage.

·       A block chain-based software platform provides end-to-end traceability and transaction certificates.

·       A microsite with QR code verification and block-chain technology has been developed.

·       The block-chain technology implementation involves stakeholders across the entire Indian cotton value chain, including Andhra Pradesh.

·       The program operates at the national level and promotion is done on both national and international platforms.

·       Funding is not allocated at the state level.

·       All ginners in India, including those in Andhra Pradesh, can produce Kasturi Cotton Bharat brand according to the stipulated protocol.

·       343 modernized ginning and pressing units have registered for the initiative.

·       It is a bacterium which exists in nature in abundance in wetlands and rice fields.

·       It had a characteristic oval and elongated shape, similar to that of a cucumber, and hence the name ‘methane eating cucumbers’ was given to this novel genus.

Features

·       It is found to be important methanotroph components.

·       It has a remarkably large size compared to other bacteria and is equal to the size of a small yeast (3-6 µm).

·       Another unique feature of this bacterium is that it has a strict mesophilic nature and cannot grow above 37ºC while most of the other methanotrophs can tolerate or grow at 37ºC or even at 40ºC.

·       The bacterium forms light pale pink colored colonies, and the genome is indicative of a carotenoid pathway.

·       In recent years, this methanotroph was also found to promote the growth of rice plants by inducing early flowering and increased grain yield.

·       The current constraints with Methylocucumis are slow growth which limits growing this culture on a larger scale, needed for mitigation and biotechnological applications.

What are methanotrophs?

·       Methanotrophs or methane oxidizing bacteria oxidize this methane and build up their biomass, breathing oxygen and producing CO2 and H2O as we do.

·       These are natural methane mitigating agents and are present in all the environments where methane and oxygen both are available.

·       Habitat: Wetlands, rice fields, ponds and other water bodies are the habitats where these grow in abundance.