PUNJAB

Chandigarh to get country’s tallest air purifier tower

A giant 24-metre-tall air purifier tower will be installed in the Union Territory of Chandigarh to combat air pollution. The country’s tallest air purifier tower is expected to treat air within a circumference area of almost 500 meters.

The Central Pollution Control Board has notified Chandigarh as one of the non-attainment cities, where the air quality is worse than the prescribed standards.

“With an aim to improve air quality in the city, a 24 metres (78 feet) tall air purifier will soon be installed here. The tower is fitted with a system to suck polluted air, pass it through a filter which separates the particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM10) and release the clean air

The Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) has also planned to launch a mobile based app for the city denizens for redressal of their grievances related to the poor air quality.

In the past few years, Chandigarh has recorded a high concentration of PM 10- (particulate matters with diameter of 10 microns or less) and PM2.5 (particulate matters less than 2.5 microns)-form of air pollution, which is considered most serious.

Notably, the air quality index (AQI) was recorded at its worst ever in November 2019 in Chandigarh. The AQI was recorded between 300 and 400 in the city, according to the CPCC data.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe.

INTERNATIONAL

UN Released International Migration 2020 Report

The United Nations (UN) released the International Migration 2020 Highlights report. According to the report, Indian diaspora is the largest in the world. As of 2020, more than 18 million people from India are living outside India.

Other diaspora countries are Mexico, China, Russia, and Syria.

According to this report, Indian diasporas are distributed in many major countries, such as the UAE (3.5 million), Saudi Arabia (2.5 million) and the United States (2.7 million).

Some other countries that receive high numbers of immigrants from India are Oman, Australia, Kuwait, Canada, Qatar, Pakistan and the United Kingdom.

Between 2000 and 2020, the size of immigrant populations in all countries is increasing. During his tenure, India received the largest gain of nearly 10 million. India is followed closely by Syria, Venezuela, China and the Philippines.

The places where the immigrant population increased during this period were Ukraine, Pakistan, Tanzania, Armenia, India, and Ukraine. Immigration to India is for labor and family reasons.

NATIONAL

Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari Inaugurates National Road Safety Month 2021

The first-ever National Road Safety Month (January 18-February 17) was inaugurated by Union Minister for Defence Shri Rajnath Singh and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways & MSME Shri Nitin Gadkari.

It is the inaugural edition of the National Road Safety Month and is being held in place of National Road Safety Week, which was being observed since past few years.

The objective of the month-long programme is to build awareness about road safety and reduce road accidents in India.

It will be held till 17 February 2021.

During this period, nation-wide activities would be conducted throughout the country in association with State Govt./Union Territory administrations, NHAI, NHIDCL, OEMs and NGOs.

GI Tag for Gucchi Mushroom

Jammu and the Kashmir government sought a GI label for Gucci mushrooms. Gucchi mushrooms are expensive and good for health. The price of 500 grams of Gucchi mushrooms is 18,000 rupees. Recently, GI tags were provided to saffron in Jammu and Kashmir.

Gucchi mushroom is a fungus belonging to the Morchellaceae family. They are light yellow, with large ridges and pits on the hat. They grow on large white stems. Gucchi mushrooms are called “Thuntoo” locally.

Gucchi mushrooms prefer limestone-based soils. They also grow in acid soil. Gucci mushrooms are usually found in early spring.

They are called “May mushrooms” in North America. The fruiting time of mushrooms varies from February to July. In Canada, they only appeared after June.

Gucci mushrooms cannot be grown commercially. They grow in the coniferous forests of North Akanchar, Himalayas, Chamu and Kashmir. It takes villagers several months to collect these mushrooms, dry them and bring them to the market.

Gucchi mushrooms grow in clusters on rotting wood, humus soil and leaves of logs. They may not grow in the same place next season. This makes the collection process more cumbersome. For these reasons, Gucchi mushrooms are very expensive.

PM Modi unanimously chosen as next Chairman of Shree Somnath Trust

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was unanimously chosen as the next Chairman of Shree Somnath Trust.

Mr Modi was named to the top post during a virtual meeting of Shree Somnath Trust which was attended by the Prime Minister.

The post of chairman of the trust had fallen vacant following the death of Keshubhai Patel, former chief minister of Gujarat, in October 2020.

The Somnath temple (also known as the Deo Patan) located in Gujarat.

It is believed to be the first among the twelve jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva.

Srinagar’s first-ever snowshoe run organised to boost winter sports

A new snowshoe run and interaction programme was held in Srinagar for the first time.

The programme was held during the heavy snowfall season in the state.

The event was organised by the Snowshoe Federation of India to boost winter sports in the Kashmir region.

The game that is usually played in regions of Europe attracted athletes from various parts of Kashmir.

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