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- The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released six young bison into the wilds of the North Caucasus on 2 August as part of a program to restore wild populations in the region.
- The bison, all between two and three years of age, come from diverse backgrounds so as to increase the diversity of the gene pool. Two males and one female come from the Oka Nature Reserve in Russia's Ryazan Region, and another three were brought from Sweden.
- The efforts, which began in 1996 in collaboration with the North Ossetia ministry of natural resources, have seen the bison population increase threefold.
- The release comes days after the WWF released two unique mountain leopards into the wilderness nearby, but the director of WWF in the Russian Caucasus, Valery Schmunk, said that bison is too big a prey for the leopards and the two endangered populations will not stand in each others way to recovery.
- "This is done to diversify the genetic status of the population. As you know, at the beginning of the 20th century, they were practically extinct in nature," he said. "We can say that the program is working out successfully because in the beginning of the 2000's there was little more than 30 bison in the wild, and now there are almost 90.
- "The problem in the preservation of broad-leaved forests is that there are practically no large-hoofed fauna in this wilderness. This way, by reintroducing the bison, we help preserve and restore these broad-leaved forests," he added.
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- Loksabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan today handed over 5 croreth LPG connection under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in the Parliament House. The Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on 1st May, 2016 and it is implemented by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas through its Oil Marketing Companies i.e., IOC, BPCL and HPCL through their network of distributors across the country
- Through PMUY, initially, 5 crore BPL households were targeted for providing deposit free LPG connections to BPL households by 31st March,2019. In a record time of 28 months for its launch, PMUY achieved the initial target of providing 5 crores LPG connection to BPL households.
- In the current year, considering the huge success of the Scheme, target was revised to 8 crores with budgetary allocation of Rs 12,800 crore.
- States of Uttar Pradesh (87 lakh), West Bengal (67 lakh), Bihar (61 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (45 lakh), Rajasthan (37 lakh) and Odisha (30 lakh) have accounted for nearly 65% of the connections provided. 47% of the beneficiaries are from the weaker sections of the society i.e., SC/STs.
- PMUY has been recognised by World Health Organisation as one of the decisive intervention by the Government to address the Indoor Air Pollution which accounts for nearly 10 lakh deaths in a year in the country.
- PMUY aims at providing clean-cooking fuel to the poor households, which are otherwise vulnerable to various health hazards associated with indoor air pollution and bringing in qualitative charges in the living standards. PMUY is under implementation in the all the States/UTs.
- Beneficiaries are identified through Socio-Economic Caste Census List-2011 and in such cases where names are not covered under SECC list, beneficiaries are identified from seven categories which includes SC/ST households, beneficiaries of PMAY(Gramin), Antyodaya Anna Yojana, Most Backward Classes, Forest Dwellers, Resident of Islands/River Islands and Tea Garden & Ex-tea Garden Tribes.
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- Blockchain, the fledgling technology that promises to change the way people and businesses transact, providing convenience and security, is in for a big boost.
- While Tech Mahindra is setting up a Blockchain district in Hyderabad, Eleven01 Foundation is developing an exclusive Blockchain protocol to suit the country’s needs, and the Union Government is establishing a Centre of Excellence on Blockchain here.
- Besides, the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) will make part of its protocol development research to the virtual cluster of Blockchain district.
- Virtual cluster - Tech Mahindra and the Telangana government signed an agreement here on 3 August to establish the Blockchain district, a first-of-its-kind Centre of Excellence for Blockchain.
- Initially it would be a virtual cluster, connecting with the stakeholders working in the emerging technology. It would have a physical building at a later phase. Tech Mahindra Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer CP Gurnani termed it “a cluster of buildings”, which will house start-ups and other stakeholders working on the development of the platform.
- “Tech Mahindra, as a founding member of the Blockchain district, will provide platform and technology assistance to all the incubators in the district,” he said.
- He announced the establishment of the centre on the sidelines of the inaugural day of an international conference on Blockchain. The two-day conference is being attended by start-ups, IT majors, academicians, policy makers and regulators.
- On its part, the Telangana government would provide regulatory and policy support to promote the growth of Blockchain.
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- Apple Inc became the first $1 trillion publicly listed U.S. company on Thursday, crowning a decade-long rise fueled by its ubiquitous iPhone that transformed it from a niche player in personal computers into a global powerhouse spanning entertainment and communications.
- The tech company's stock jumped 2.8 percent to as high as $207.05, bringing its gain to about 9 percent since 31july when it reported June-quarter results above expectations and said it bought back $20 billion of its own shares.
- Started in the garage of co-founder Steve Jobs in 1976, Apple has pushed its revenue beyond the economic outputs of Portugal, New Zealand and other countries. Along the way, it has changed how consumers connect with one another and how businesses conduct daily commerce.
- The Silicon Valley stalwart's stock has surged more than 50,000 percent since its 1980 initial public offering, dwarfing the S&P 500's approximately 2,000-percent increase during the same almost four decades.
- During that time, Apple evolved from selling Mac personal computers to becoming an architect of the mobile revolution with a cult-like following.
- Jobs, who died in 2011, was succeeded as chief executive by Tim Cook, who has doubled the company's profits but struggled to develop a new product to replicate the society-altering success of the iPhone, which has seen sales taper off in recent years.
- In 2006, the year before the iPhone launch, Apple generated less than $20 billion in sales and net profit just shy of $2 billion. By last year, its sales had grown more than 11-fold to $229 billion – the fourth highest in the S&P 500 - and net income had mushroomed at twice that rate to $48.4 billion, making it the most profitable publicly-listed U.S. company.
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- India was on 3 August elected as the president of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, a regional inter-governmental organisation established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO, officials said.
- India got the presidency of the organisation, servicing countries of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) in the field of electronic media development, for the first time by defeating Iran in the election that took place in Sri Lanka, Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials said.
- Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) was established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO. It is hosted by Malaysia and its secretariat is located in Kuala Lumpur.
- The AIBD is mandated to achieve a vibrant and cohesive electronic media environment in the Asia-Pacific region through policy and resource development.
- The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) is a founding organisation of the institute and is a non-voting member of the general conference, the officials said.
- AIBD currently has 26 member countries, represented by 34 organisations, and 67 affiliate member organisations with a total membership of 101 representing 48 countries and regions and over 50 partners, the officials said.
- India's presidency is for two years and will help it in leveraging itself as the broadcasting and media hub in Asia Pacific region, they said.
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