30-31-10-22 Daily-Odisha-OPSC Current Affairs

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday launched a common credit portal SAFAL, a simplified application for agricultural loans, which he said, can revolutionise the credit provisions for farmers and agri-entrepreneurs.

He said the application is a one-stop solution for farmers and agri-entrepreneurs to avail formal sector credit from public and private-sector banks, , State Cooperative banks and small finance banks. Farmers and agri-entrepreneurs would have access to more than 300 term-loan products being offered by 40 plus partner banks.

Besides, he added, it has been integrated with Krushak Odisha as well as access to 70 plus model project reports. It would ease the loan application process benefiting both the farmers and banks significantly. The portal would also reduce information asymmetry by sending farmers real-time notifications at every stage of their loan application, he assured.

He hoped the SAFAL would be a facilitator of credit to spur the <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and allied sectors and increase the economic prowess of farmers in the long run.

Agni Prime ballistic missile was successfully tested off the coast of Odisha recently.

The recent test is the third consecutive test flight of the Agni Prime missile. It marks the completion of development trial.

It confirmed the accuracy and reliability of the indigenous missile system.

The first flight test of the Agni Prime was conducted in June 2021, with the second one taking place six months later in December.

These two tests also saw the missile successfully meeting the mission objectives with high level of accuracy.

Two more beaches, both in Lakshadweep, have been accorded the Blue Flag tag, putting them in an elite list of the worlds cleanest and most eco-friendly beaches, marinas and sustainable boating tourism operators.

The Blue Flag is an exclusive eco-label or certification that is given to coastal locations around the world as a badge of environmental honour. The Blue Flag programme is run by the Copenhagen, Denmark-headquartered Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), a nonprofit which, through its work, contributes to the Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

The Blue Flag programme started in 1987, initially in Europe. Certification is awarded annually. A total 5,042 beaches, marinas, and tourism boats in 48 countries have been awarded the label so far. A marina is a small harbour where mainly pleasure boats and yachts dock.

The certification is given by an international jury comprising members of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), and International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), besides FEE.

Recently, government notified amendments to theInformation Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.

These areaimed at making Internet-open, safe & trusted and accountable,for the digital nagriks of the country.

The with Indian Constellation (NaVIC) uses seven satellites to provide real-time positioning and timing Services in India and an area extending up to 1,500 km from the country’s borders.

NASA is commissioning a study team to start early in the fall to examine unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) that is, observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective. The study will focus on identifying available data, how best to collect future data, and how NASA can use that data to move the scientific understanding of UAPs forward.

The study is expected to take about nine months to complete. It will secure the counsel of experts in the scientific, aeronautics, and data analytics communities to focus on how best to collect new data and improve observations of UAPs.

China’s third and final module docked with its permanent space station to further a more than decade-long effort to maintain a constant crewed presence in orbit, as its competition with the U.S. grows increasingly fierce.

The name of China’s final space station module, Mengtian, translates to dreaming of the heavens. The roughly 18-meter-long module will link to the Tianhe core module and the Wentian experiment module to complete China’s Tiangong space station.