Recently Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) found that Joha rice has the ability to lower blood sugar and prevent the onset of diabetes

• Joha is a short-grain winter paddy crop known for its significant aroma and noteworthy taste.
• It contains unsaturated essential fatty acids which includes linoleic acid (omega-6) and linolenic (omega-3) acid.
• It is an effective nutraceutical of choice in diabetes management.
• It is grown mostly in North East India.
• Joha rice got a GI tag in 2017.
• Unlike basmati, it has a sensitive texture and entails high antioxidants.
• It is an indigenous rice class of Assam, which is the largest producer of it.
• Joha rice has a more balanced ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in comparison to the widely consumed non-scented variety.
• Omega-3 fatty acid prevents several metabolic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.
• Joha rice can be used to make rice bran oil, a patented product that they claim to be effective in diabetes management.
• Joha rice is also rich in several antioxidants, flavonoids, and phenolics.

Recently Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy has released National Energy Data: Survey & Analysis, 2021-22 which aims to provide energy supply and consumption patterns across various sectors of Indian economy.

• The report aims to provide information about energy supply and consumption patterns across various sectors of the India economy.
• The report has been prepared by Ministry of Power through Bureau of Energy Efficiency in collaboration with NITI Aayog.
• This report also provides an overview of the impact of various energy conservation policies and their associated carbon dioxide emission reduction and monetary savings.
• Both energy supply and consumption have decreased for the last few years.
• Energy supply to economy during last six years is actually less by 18%.
• Lower energy consumption value by 8% in 2021-22.
• During 2021-22 industry sector stands highest and Transport sector stands lowest in electricity consumption pattern.
• Only the usage of Bitumen has been steadily increasing since 2016.
• Share of electrification on consumption increased by 20.9% during 2021-22.

Recently U.S. Department of Agriculture finalised the label “cell-cultivated chicken” for the product being sold, and provided a ‘grant of inspection

• Lab-grown or Cultivated Meat is meat grown from animal cells.
• It is not technically considered vegan because it contains cells, fat and muscle tissue derived from real animals.
• It has the same nutritional components as of real meat.
• Stem cells are being used in the process since it has the capacity to self-renewal and differentiation.
• Producing meat involving the setting of the bioreactor to support a particular biological environment is called Cellular Agriculture.
• According to U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) pork is the most widely consumed meat in the world.
• According to FAO global livestock is responsible for 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions.
• A recent report suggest that lab-cultivated meat would use 63% less land in the case of chicken and 72% in the case of pork.

Advantages of Lab-Grown Meat

• Reduction in carbon emission
• Prevention of animal slaughter
• Food security and customisation
• Reduced land use

Disadvantages of Lab-Grown Meat

• The production cost is expensive
• Complex process involved
• It may have a huge environmental impact in case of mass production

Recently Prime Minister Narendra Mod gifted lab grown diamonds in papier mache box known as kar-e-kalamdani to the U.S. First Lady Jill Biden

• kar-e-kalamdani is a Kashmir’s exquisite Papier Mache, a technique to make gift products
• Art of painted papier-mâché in Kashmir was originally confined to making Kalamdan or the pen-case only and got to be known as Kari-Kalamdani.
• The craft of Kari-kalamdani was popularly known as papier-mâché painting in Europe.
• It involves sakthsazi or meticulous preparation of Paper Pulp and Naqqashi.
• It has a GI (Geographical Indication) tag.
• The Mughals commissioned a large number of works made in Kari-kalamdani technique to make gifting products.
• The Mughals commissioned a large number of works made in Kari-kalamdani technique to make gifting products.

Recently India was inducted into us led Minerals security Partnership (MSP) to be resilient in critical mineral supply

• Minerals security Partnership (MSP) is also known as the Critical Minerals Alliance.
• MSP aims to catalyse public and private investment in critical mineral supply chains globally.
• It also aims to weaken China's grip on supplies of critical minerals worldwide.
• It is a US-led collaboration of 14 countries including India.
• Besides the US, the MSP includes Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, UK, the European Commission, Italy and India.
• It focuses on critical minerals that are inputs for electric vehicles and advanced batteries.
• A critical mineral is a mineral resource that is essential to the economy and has high economic vulnerability and high global supply chain risk.
• Countries develop their own list of critical minerals depending on the importance of particular minerals in the industrial sector and the strategic assessment of supply risks.
• Critical minerals have a supply chain at risk of disruption.
• It could focus on the supply chains of minerals such as cobalt, nickel, lithium and also the 17 “rare earth” minerals.
• Cobalt, nickel and lithium are required for batteries used in electric vehicles.

Rare Earth (RE) metals

• Rare earth (RE) comprises 17 elements which are classified as light RE elements (LREE) and heavy RE elements (HREE).
• Rare earth minerals are critical and in trace amounts being used in semiconductors and high-end electronics manufacturing.
• Some Rare Earth (RE) metals that are available in India such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium and samarium.
• China is one of the leading producers of RE with an estimated 70 % of the global production.