26 May 2016 Current Affairs
Union HRD Ministry Launches Bharatavani Portal
The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Zubin
Irani on 25 May launched the multilingual knowledge portal www.bharatvani.in at
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Bharatavani is the first knowledge portal of its kind
in India which focuses on becoming a single point source for multiple language
learning, content and technology. Bharatavani is the largest online repository
of dictionaries in India consisting more than 130 dictionaries, glossaries and
terminology books. It will ensure universalization of education and also
towards creation of a knowledge society in the digital age.
Frances Arnold Won 2016 Millennium Technology
Prize
“Bioengineer Frances Arnold from United States (US) has won the
prestigious 2016 Millennium Technology Prize. The 1 million euro prize is
awarded biennially and Arnold is the first female winner in its 12-year
history. Biochemical engineer Arnold received the 2016 Millennium Technology
Prize in recognition of her discoveries that launched the field of directed
evolution, which mimics natural evolution to create new and better proteins in
the laboratory. Frances Hamilton Arnold is an internationally recognized
American scientist and engineer. She pioneered methods of directed evolution to
create useful biological systems, including enzymes, metabolic pathways,
genetic regulatory circuits and organisms.”
India Fifth Largest Producer of E-waste
“India emerged as the fifth largest producer of e-waste in the
world, but the second largest mobile market with 1.03 billion subscribers as
per the ASSOCHAM-KPMG joint study that was published on 25 May 2016. The study
has highlighted the concern of rising levels of e-waste generation in India in
recent years. India discards roughly 18.5 lakh metric tonnes of electronic
waste each year with telecom equipment alone accounting for 12 percent of the
e-waste. Over 100 million handsets have been manufactured last year. The
unorganised sector in India is estimated to handle around 95 percent of the
e-waste produced in the country. In the last 15 months alone, operators have
invested over 30 percent of the cumulative investment made in 20 years prior.”
Rishi Nair Won National Geographic Bee
Competition
Indian American student Rishi Nair on 26 May 2016 won the
prestigious National Geographic Bee competition 2016. As National Geographic
Bee champion, Nair received a 50000 US dollars college scholarship and a
lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. He also won a trip to
Alaska and Glacier Bay National Park. This is the fifth consecutive year that
an Indian- American has won the prestigious national tournament. Last year
Karan Menon had won the competition.
