Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Mahatma Jyotirao Phule on his birth anniversary.
About Jyotirao Phule
Birth: On 11th April, 1827 in Khatgun village which is today in the Satara district of Maharashtra.
Title: His family belonged to the ‘mali’ caste and their original title was ‘Gorhay’. On May 11, 1888, he was bestowed with the title of Mahatma by a Maharashtrian social activist Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar.
Ideology and influence: His ideology centered around liberty, egalitarianism, and socialism. He drew inspiration from Thomas Paine’s book The Rights of Man.
The draft master plan for developing the Great Nicobar Island (GNI) has proposed to focus on tourism as the “primary economic driver” of growth.
Great Nicobar Island project
The project received Stage-I clearance in 2022.
Implementing authority: The project is being implemented by the Port Blair-based Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation Ltd (ANIIDCO).
The Project involves developing an International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), an international airport, township development, and a 450 MVA gas and solar-based power plant on the island.
The “Soil Sakhis” initiative in drought-prone districts of western Maharashtra is empowering women while improving soil health and agricultural productivity.
About the Initiative
Launched in 2023 under the Mann Deshi Foundation’s Agriculture and Climate Action Programme.
Trains rural women as “Soil Sakhis” to promote soil testing and scientific farming practices.
The Centre has, for the first time, proposed dedicated rules to manage tar balls that cause on-shore and off-shore marine pollution.
About Tar Balls
Tar balls are fragments or lumps of oil weathered to a semi-solid or solid consistency, feel sticky, and are difficult to remove from contaminated surfaces.
They are formed through the combining of viscous hydrocarbons with debris that is present in the water column.
