Current affairs 20 April 2023

Utsa Patnaik selected for Malcolm Adiseshiah Award 2023.

• A renowned economist of national and international repute, Utsa Patnaik has been selected for the Malcolm Adiseshiah Award 2023.
• It is granted for outstanding contributions to Development Studies.
• The award consists of a citation and a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh.
• The award is given every year by the Malcolm & Elizabeth Adiseshiah Trust.
• It is annually given to an outstanding social scientist selected from nominations received by a specially constituted national jury.

Country’s first Mangrove Pitta Bird census undertaken in Bhitarkanika.

• The first-ever census of Mangrove Pitta Bird was conducted by the Odisha forest officials in the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary.
• In the first census, 179 mangrove pitta birds were sighted.
• The habitats of these beautiful birds are confined to mangrove forest areas in Odisha’s Bhitarkanika and Sundarban in West Bengal.
• Mangrove pitta is a colorful bird that has a black head with a brown crown.
• It feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, and insects.

Kerala adopts Water Budget to tackle summer water shortage.

• Kerala has become the first state to adopt a water budget in a bid to come up with a solution to water scarcity in certain regions.
• The first phase would cover 94-gram panchayats and 15-block panchayats.
• CM Pinarayi Vijayan released Public Water Budget.
• The third phase of the Ini Njan Ozhukatte (Let me flow now) project for the rehabilitation of irrigation networks in the Western Ghats was also launched.
• The idea of a water budget was first mooted by the state in 2019.

Karnataka Bags National Award For Fasal Bima Yojana.

• Karnataka has bagged the national award for the best implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in the country.
• The state has recorded a 47.74% increase in the enrolment of farmers under the scheme, between the Kharif season 2021 and 2022.
• While the area covered under the scheme increased by 41.80%.
• The common service centers have also seen an enrolment of 4.66 lakh non-loanee farmers over the last six years.

India contributes $500,000 to UN entity for women empowerment.

• Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj has handed over the cheque of USD 500,000 (Rs 4.09 crore) to the UN Women - United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
• he cheque was received by Sima Sami Bahous, Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women.
• The Indian government is committed to the goals of gender equality, the empowerment of women, and gender mainstreaming.