Current affairs 08 July 2023

India’s first Vedic-themed park unveiled in Noida.

• India’s first Vedic-themed park has been opened to the public at Sector 78, Noida, inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.
• This park is also known as Ved Van Park.
• It will also highlight excerpts from the four Vedic literature pieces- Rig Veda, Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda, and Sama Veda- via laser shows, wall paintings, and sculptures.
• The place is home to over 50,000 plants, such as banyan, kalpavriksha, and coconut, which have been mentioned in Vedic literature.

J&K launches India’s first chatbot for people in mental distress.

• India’s first Tele-MANAS (Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States) chatbot was launched in Jammu & Kashmir on July 5, 2023.
• The service was launched by J&K LG Manoj Sinha.
• This chatbot will start an instant conversation with people in distress.
• Tele-MANAS is a two-tier system - Tier 1 comprises State Tele MANAS cells and Tier 2 comprises specialists at District Mental Health Programme /Medical College resources for physical consultation.

Odisha announces state forest rights scheme.

• Odisha government has launched the Mo Jungle Jami Yojana to saturate recognition of rights pertaining to the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and speed up the post-rights recognition activities within the prescribed time frame.
• Under the scheme, designed by the ST & SC Development department, it has been decided to constitute forest rights cells at the tehsil and district level with human resources to ensure and assist in the effective implementation of FRA, 2006.

Bihar overtakes Tamil Nadu to become India's largest MFI market.

• According to a report, published by Crif High Mark, Bihar has overtaken Tamil Nadu to become the state with the highest microlending borrowings in India as of March 2023.
• It highlighted Bihar's impressive growth with a 13.5% increase in the gross lending portfolio during the March quarter compared to the previous quarter.
• NBFC holds the largest share in the market (37.3% of the overall MFI loans), while Banks at 33.1% and small finance banks at 16.6%

Justice Sheo Kumar Singh appointed as acting chairperson of NGT.

• The Central government has appointed Justice Sheo Kumar Singh as Acting Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), till further order.
• He has replaced Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, who retired on July 6, 2023.
• He was appointed as Judicial Member of the NGT on March 11, 2020.
• He worked as a district judge in various districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP), as Registrar (Judicial) at the Supreme Court of India, and as Registrar General, Allahabad High Court.