Daily Current Affairs 21 September 2023 – IAS Current Affairs
Current Affairs 21 September 2023 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :
Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar
Source: Indian Express
Prelims
Overview
- News in Brief
- About Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar
Why in the News?
The Union Government is consolidating nearly 300 science awards from various science-affiliated Ministries into 56 centrally administered Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) awards.
- These awards will no longer include cash prizes; instead, they will offer a certificate and medallion to the awardee.
About Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar
- Will be announced annually on May 11, coinciding with National Technology Day.
- Will be awarded on National Space Day, which falls on August 23.
- Categories of RVP Awards:
- The RVP awards will comprise:
- 3 Vigyan Ratna awards,
- 25 Vigyan Shri awards,
- 25 Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards, and
- 3 Vigyan Team awards.
- The RVP awards will comprise:
- Areas of Award
- These awards will cover various disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biological sciences, mathematics and computer science, earth science, medicine, engineering science, agricultural science, environmental science, technology and innovation, atomic energy, space science and technology, and a category called ‘Others’.
- Eligibility extended to Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) with category-specific quotas.
- The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will manage awards initially for two years, then oversight shifts to the National Research Foundation.
Criteria
- Vigyan Ratna awards will recognize “lifetime contributions along with excellence made in any field of science”.
- Vigyan Shri awards will honor“distinguished contribution to any field”
- Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards will celebrate “exceptional contribution by young scientists”.
- Vigyan Team awards will be for three or more researchers who have made an “exceptional contribution as a team”.
- PIOs will not be eligible for the Vigyan Team awards.
- There are no age limits for most prizes, except the Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards, which have a maximum age limit of 45 years for recipients.
- The RVP awards will begin in 2024 and will be conferred by the President of India or the Vice President.
A committee will be constituted annually with
- Secretaries from six science Ministries
- Presidents of science and engineering academies, and
- Distinguished scientists and technologists from various fields.
Mithun Gets Food Animal Tag
Source: Indian Express
Prelims
Overview
- About Mithun
Why in the News?
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has recognized the bovine as a ‘food animal’.
About Mithun
- The mithun, which goes by its scientific name Bos frontalis.
- It is a ruminant species of the Bovidae family found in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
- The mithun or gayal (Bos frontalis),is considered as a descendant of the Indian Gaur or bison.
- It is distributed in Northeast India, Bangladesh, northern Myanmar and in Yunnan, China.
- Reared under free-range conditions in hilly forests, the mithun is known as the ‘cattle of the mountain’.
- It plays an important role in the socio-economic and cultural life of tribes viz. the Nyishi, Apatani, Galo and Adi in Arunachal Pradesh.
- The Mithun is the state animal of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
- IUCN status:
- Vulnerable
- It is listed in CITES Appendix I.
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