News in Shorts: 12 September 2024

Curcuma ungmensis 

About Curcuma ungmensis:

• It is a rhizomatous herb. 
• Belongs to: Genus Curcuma (the ginger family Zingiberaceae)
• Named after: Ungma (village in Mokokchung district where it was found)
• Distribution: Curcuma is widely distributed in south and southeast Asia and south China. A few species are also found in northern Australia and the south Pacific.
  • India: In northeast and southern States and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

About Rhizomes:

• Rhizomes are subterranean shoots growing horizontally. 
• It is branched and found deeply buried in the soil. 
• These shoots have scale leaves and adventitious roots towards their bottom. 
• Major Functions: Food storage and vegetative reproduction.

Mission Mausam 

About Mission Mausam:

• Refers: A multi-faceted and transformative initiative to tremendously boost India’s weather and climate-related science, research, and services.
• Aim: To improve accuracy in forecasts and nowcasts 
• Implemented by: The Ministry of Earth Sciences
• Significance: Direct benefit to agriculture, disaster management, defence, environment, aviation, water resources, power, tourism, shipping, transport, energy, and health. 
• Other Weather Forecasting Missions:
• • Project Mausam (2014) by the Ministry of Culture, to explore the cultural and historical connections between countries in the Indian Ocean region.
  • National Monsoon Mission (2012) by the Ministry of Earth Sciences to develop a state-of-the-art dynamical prediction system for Indian monsoon rainfall on different time scales.

Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language.

Chairperson

• Shri Amit Shah served as Chairperson from 2019 to 2024.
  • He aims to ensure that by 2047, all government work in India is done in Indian languages.

Parliamentary Committee on Official Language

• Formation and Background:
  • Established in 1976 under Section 4 of the Official Languages Act, 1963.
  • Chaired by the Union Home Minister.
  • The committee consists of 30 members – 20 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.
• Purpose of the Committee:
  • Review of Hindi Usage: To assess the progress made in using Hindi for official purposes.
    • The committee’s goal is to make Hindi a friend of all regional languages, not a competitor.
  • Recommendations: To suggest ways to increase the use of Hindi in official communications.
• Report Submission Process:
• • The committee submits its report to the President.
  • The President then ensures the report is presented to both Houses of Parliament.
  • The report is also shared with all State Governments.

First Meeting Of Anusandhan National Research Fund Board Convened

Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF):

• About: ANRF was conceived as a funding body to galvanise science and engineering research in the country. 
  • ANRF will act as an apex body to provide high-level strategic direction of scientific research in the country as per recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP). 
  • With the establishment of ANRF, the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) established by an act of Parliament in 2008 has been subsumed into ANRF. 
• Governing Act: The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) has been established with Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) 2023 Act.
• Aim:  The ANRF aims to seed, grow and promote research and development (R&D) and foster a culture of research and innovation throughout India’s universities, colleges, research institutions, and R&D laboratories. 
• Corpus: The ANRF aims to establish a ₹50,000 crore corpus with ₹36,000 crore of it coming in from non-government sources. 
• Members of the Governing Board of the ANRF: It is headed by the Prime Minister of India.
  • Other members of the Board are:
    • The Union Ministers of Science and Technology, Education as Vice Presidents,
    • The Principal Scientific Advisor as Member Secretary, and
    • Secretaries to the Departments of Science and Technology, Biotechnology, and Scientific and Industrial Research.
• Executive Council of the ANRF: The Executive Council of the ANRF, chaired by the Principal Scientific Advisor.
  • Its key functions include reviewing and approving applications for financial assistance, establishing regulations for these applications, preparing the foundation’s budget, and managing its financial accounts.