Namath Basai: Kerala

• The Kerala State government is carrying out a unique programme called “Namath Basai” of teaching tribal children in their mother tongue.

News:

• The programme is being implemented by the Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK).
• SSK is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12.
• It aims at improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes.
• It has succeeded in retaining hundreds of tribal children in their online classes using their mother tongue as language of instruction.
• Teaching in the tribal language has to a good extent stopped students from dropping out, which is quite usual in hamlets
• It offers pre-recorded classes through a YouTube channel in three tribal languages in Attappady valley in Palakkad District Kerala.
• These languages belong to the Irula, Muduka and Kurumba tribes.
• It is being introduced in the tribal belts of Wayanad and Idukki as well. Classes are offered in the Oorali, Muthuvan and Paniya languages in Idukki.
• Wayanad has the highest number of tribals in Kerala followed by Idukki.

Participatory Notes

• P-notes are Offshore Derivative Instruments (ODIs) issued by registered Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be a part of the Indian stock markets without registering themselves directly.
• P-notes have Indian stocks as their underlying assets.
• Though P-note holders have less stringent registration requirements, they have to go through a proper due diligence process of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

SEBI:

• SEBI was established in 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the SEBI Act, 1992.
• Its functions include protecting the interests of investors in securities and promoting the development of, and regulating the securities market and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

About Foreign Portfolio Investors

• FPIs are non-residents who invest in Indian securities like shares, government bonds, corporate bonds, etc.
• SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019 are related to FPIs.
• Foreign Portfolio investment is different from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as it does not give investors direct ownership of a company’s assets.

Capital Market

• Financial markets are classified on the basis of the maturity of financial instruments traded in them.
• Instruments with a maturity of less than one year are traded in the money market. E.g. Treasury Bills, Commercial Papers, etc.
• Instruments with longer maturity are traded in the capital market. E.g. shares, debentures, etc.

Harit Path Mobile App

Context

• Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has developed a mobile App, ‘Harit Path' to facilitate creation of Green Highways across the country.

About Harit Path Mobile App

• The App will help to monitor location, growth, species details, maintenance activities, targets and achievements for each and every plant.
• In order to track the growth and health of the plants, photographs along with data of the plants captured using Harit Path App shall be uploaded every 3 months on NHAI’s Artificial Intelligence powered Big Data Analytics platform – Data Lake.
• Highway contractors shall be accountable for proper upkeep and maintenance of the plantation and liable to replace the missing/dead plants.
• Payment: Performance and growth of the plants shall be linked to the payment to the contractors for this work.
• Recently, NHAI has completed 25 years of its service, to commemorate this it has undertaken ‘Harit Bharat Sankalp’ a nation-wide plantation drive.
• Under this initiative, NHAI planted over 25 lakh plants in 25 days along the stretches of the National Highways between 21st July to 15th August 2020.

Synthetic Flavanoids

Context

• Recently, scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune have found the first synthetic route for producing flavonoid molecules related to the treatment of tuberculosis and chikungunya.
• ARI is an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

About Flavonoids:

• It is for the first time that scientists have been able to synthesize the flavonoid molecules such as rugosa flavonoids, podocarp flavone and isoflavone in a lab.
• These three molecules have so far been isolated from plants only and are found to inhibit tuberculosis and chikungunya.
• Flavonoids are part of the polyphenol class of phytonutrients (plant chemicals) found in almost all fruits and vegetables. Along with carotenoids (organic pigments), they are responsible for the vivid colours in fruits and vegetables.
• Polyphenols have historically been used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine and are associated with skin protection, brain function, blood sugar and blood pressure regulation.
• These are powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory and immune system benefits as well.
• A diet rich in flavonoids can protect from diseases related to heart, liver, kidney, brain and other infectious diseases.