National Tribal Festival - Aadi Mahotsav 2021 at New Delhi

• Vice President Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the National Tribal Festival 'Aadi Mahotsav' 2021 at Dilli Haat, New Delhi.

• The festival is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs & Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED).

• Aadi Mahotsav has been organized annually since 2017.

• The Theme of the Tribal Festival is 'A Celebration of the Spirit of Tribal Crafts, Culture and Commerce'.

About TRIFED:

• Managing Director - Pravir Krishna
• Headquarters - New Delhi

Yudh-Abhyas: Indo-US joint military exercise

• The 16th edition of Indo-US joint military exercise 'Yudh Abhyas' begin in Rajasthan from February 8 and it will be concluded in February 21, 2021.

• Indian Army will be represented by the 11th Battalion of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles which is the part of the South Western Command.

• US Army will be represented by the troops of 2nd battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment. These troops belong to the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Respective brigade headquarters will also represent the army along with the troops.

• Yudh Abhyas between two armies is held since 2004. The exercise has been designed to promote the cooperation between both the armies. Both the sides share their training techniques, their culture and build the joint operating skills.

France's Ecological Transition Minister, Barbara Pompil's Visit to India

• Signing of Letter of Intent between the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) & French Development Agency (AFD) for development of 150 MW floating solar plant

• Signing of Credit Facility agreement with Finance Ministry to provide 250 M Euros for Surat Metro Rail Project Indo-French Year of the Environment for the period 2021-22:

Based on 5 main themes:

• Environmental protection
• Climate change
• Biodiversity Conservation
• Sustainable Urban Development
• Development of renewable energies and energy efficiency

• During her visit, Barbara Pompili also visited Kaziranga National Park in Assam. It is one of the sites of Assam Project on Forest and Biodiversity Conservation (APFBC) which is being funded by AFD.

• She also interacted with Research in the Centre of Excellence-Sustainable Polymers, IIT Guwahati who have developed India's first biodegradable plastic

• From the French side it will be coordinated by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Embassy of France in Delhi.

• From the Indian side, MoEFCC, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will coordinate the events.

Government approves INR 945 Crore for 'Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)' for 2021-25

• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry has given the approval for setting up of Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) with a Corpus of INR 945 crores for the period 2021-25. The Scheme will come into force from April 1, 2021 & DPIIT will be the implementing agency of the scheme.

• The scheme will provide funds to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry & commercialization.

• Any startup recognised by DPIIT, incorporated not more than 2 years ago

• The startups should also not have received more than INR 10 Lakh of monetary support from the Central or State Government scheme

• Shareholding by Indian Promoters in the startup must be at least 51%.

• Startups who have already availed seed funds once will not be eligible. Selected Startups will receive an amount of up to INR 20 Lakhs after successful validation of their concepts, prototype development & product trials.

• Startups would qualify for amounts of upto INR 50 Lakh through Convertible debentures or debt or debt- linked instruments that can be used for market entry, commercialisation or scaling up process.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs includes 14 New MFP items under MSP scheme

• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has included 14 additional Minor Forest Produce (MFP) items under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) Scheme to ensure that Tribal Gatherers get fair prices for their Forest Produces.

• The 14 items are Tasar Cocoon, Cashew Kernel, Elephant Apple Dry, Bamboo Shoot, Malkangani Seed, Mahul Leaves, Nagod, Gokhru, Pipla/Uchithi, Gamhar/Gamari, Oroxylumindicum, Wild Mushroom dry, Shringraj & Tree Moss.

• The 14 new items have been added to MSP under the 'Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP' scheme.

• It has injected around INR 3000 crores into the tribal economy since April 2020.

About Ministry of Tribal Affairs:

• Union Minister - Arjun Munda
• Minister of State (MOS) - Renuka Singh Saruta

Textile Minister Smriti Irani virtually Inaugurates 8th India International Silk Fair

• Union Minister for Women & Child Development and Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani virtually addressed the inaugural session of India's Biggest Silk Fair, the 8th India International Silk Fair. The 5 daylong event was virtually organised by Indian Silk Export Promotion Council (ISEPC), a non-profit organisation under the Ministry of Textiles & Sponsored by Department of Commerce.

• India is the only country in the world to produce all 4 varieties of Silk - Mulberry, Eri, Tassar (Tropical & Temperate), and Muga.

• India (in 2nd place) is only behind China in Silk Production.

• India has around 11 Geographical Indications (GI) in silk

US Startup bluShift Aerospace launches 'Stardust 1.0'- World's first Commercial Rocket powered by Biofuel

• United States based Startup bluShift Aerospace launched 'Stardust 1.0' from Loring Commerce Centre in Maine, US. It is the World's 1st Commercial Rocket launch powered by Biofuel.

• The solid biofuels used in the launch is non-toxic, Carbon Neutral & can be sourced from America

• It uses Nitrous Oxide bubbled with Oxygen as an oxidizer.

• Stardust 1.0 is a launch vehicle which is capable of launching tiny nanosatellites.

• It is 20 Feet Tall & weighs around 250 kg

• It can carry a maximum payload mass of 8 kg

About bluShift Aerospace:

• Chief Executive Officer (CEO) - Sascha Deri

• Headquarters - Brunswick, Maine, USA

Dalai Lama's New Book Titled "The Little Book of Encouragement” Released

• 14th Dalai Lama authored a new book titled "The Little Book of Encouragement". The book edited by Renuka Singh is published by Penguin Random House is set to be released.

• The book is a compilation of Dalai Lama's quotes and ideas to deal with the new realities of the post pandemic world along with how to combat rising extremism, polarity and climate change and his views on Tibet.

• He has authored numerous books which include, Inner World, The Seed of Compassion: Lessons from the Life and Teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The Life of My Teacher: A Biography of Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and Happiness.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh launched 'Har Ghar Pani, Har Ghar Safai' Mission

• Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh virtually launched 'Har Ghar Pani, Har Ghar Safai mission, aimed at providing 100% potable water supply to all rural households of the state by March, 2022

• CM inaugurated Mega Surface Water Supply Scheme, covering 85 villages in Moga district, 144 new water supply schemes for 172 villages, 121 Arsenic & Iron removal plants.

• Funded by World Bank, Jal Jeewan Mission of Gol, NABARD and State Budget

• The scheme will benefit residents from 155 villages in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts by helping replace groundwater with surface water supply for drinking, besides resolving the problem of arsenic affected habitations.

• CM launched New Large multi-village surface water supply schemes covering 85 villages in Moga district that were affected by Uranium pollution, at a cost of Rs. 1,020 crores.

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal launches 2 Schemes for College Students, Literary bodies

• Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched 2 schemes namely - 'Pragyan Bharati & 'Bhasha Gourab' in the State. Under the schemes monetary assistance will be provided to college students & literary bodies of the state.

• Pragyan Bharati' - under this scheme around 3, 26, 046 College students will be given INR 1,500 each for purchasing new text books.

• A total of INR 161 crores would be reimbursed for the free admission of 4 Lakh Eligible students 'Bhasha Gourab' Under the scheme, the State Government will provide 21 Sahitya Sabha's (Literary bodies) around INR 43 crore as a contribution towards their capital funds.

• Around 600 writers have received INR 50, 000 each under the scheme for help in their literary activities.