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- They will be exposed to newer farming methods Eight women farmers have been selected to visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines to learn about new rice farming techniques, as part of an initiative by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), a Science Ministry body, to raise the profile of women farmers.
- “Women farmers are an extremely significant contributor to the agricultural economy and yet aren’t adequately recognised,” said Dr. Shailja Gupta, a senior official in the DBT.
- The eight women farmers were whittled down from a set of 35 farmers who were selected for a workshop at the IRRI’s centre in Bhubaneshwar. At the forthcoming workshop in the Philippines from 6-10 August, 2018, the women are expected to be exposed to “advanced farming experiences and technological advancements.” The women who will make it to the Philippines span five States: Uttarakhand, Assam, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
- During the workshop in India, the women were taught about crop planning, stages of rice cultivation, pest and weed management, use of crop calendar, land selection, crop monitoring, post-harvest management and seed management.
- According to the Census 2011, 55% of women workers were agricultural labourers and 24% were cultivators. However, only 12.8% of the operational holdings were owned by women, and 25% this land belonged to the “marginal and small holdings categories.”
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- NASA's latest planet hunting probe - the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) - has started its search for new worlds around nearby stars, the US Space agency said.
- TESS is expected to transmit its first series of science data back to Earth in August, and thereafter periodically every 13.5 days, once per orbit, as the spacecraft makes it closest approach to Earth.
- The TESS Science Team will begin searching the data for new planets immediately after the first series arrives."I'm thrilled that our planet hunter is ready to start combing the backyard of our solar system for new worlds," said Paul Hertz, NASA Astrophysics division director at Headquarters, Washington.
- "With possibly more planets than stars in our universe, I look forward to the strange, fantastic worlds we're bound to discover," said Hertz.
- TESS is NASA's latest satellite to search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets.
- The mission will spend the next two years monitoring the nearest and brightest stars for periodic dips in their light. These events, called transits, suggest that a planet may be passing in front of its star.
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- IndianAmerican Seema Nanda who took over as CEO of the opposition democratic national committee last week, has vowed to fight for the "soul of the country" and help elect Democrats in every corner of the US.
- "We are fighting now for the soul of our country - for our democracy and for opportunity," Nanda, the first Indian-American ever to be CEO of either the DNC or Republican national committee the took over reigns of the main opposition party last week on July 23.
- In this capacity, she is be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the powerful DNC. "Democrats are offering the positive solutions so desperately needed right now - solutions forged by the strength of our diversity, the rigour of our ideas, and the decency of our values.
- Since Trump took office, it's been clear that the number one best way for us to set our country back on track is to elect Democrats in every corner of our country. That's why I took this job," Nanda said in her first message to Democratic supporters.
- Nanda said supporting the Democratic party is synonymous with building a future for the children that they can be proud of. "My promise to my two teenage boys is to do all I can to create an America that is bright, fair, and that works for everyone - where opportunity for all means something," she said.
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