arts and culture - civilserviceindia · 2021. 1. 22. · kerala called the vadakkan pattukal, and...
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Arts and Culture
Makar Sankrati:
Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan or Maghi or
simply Sankranti has its own historical and
religious significance in India. It is a
festival day in the Hindu calendar,
dedicated to the deity Surya (sun). On this
auspicious day, the Sun enters the
Capricorn zodiac which corresponds with
the month of January as per the Gregorian
calendar. It marks the first day of the sun's
transit into Makara rashi (Capricorn),
marking the end of the month with the
winter solstice and the start of longer days.
Usually, the festival is celebrated on
January 14, but in some exceptions, it takes
place of January 15.
Makar Sankranti is one of the few ancient
Indian festivals that has been observed
according to solar cycles, while most
festivals are set by the lunar cycle of the
lunisolar Hindu calendar. It is the date
from which the northward movement of
the sun begins. The period from Karka
Sankranti to Makar Sankranti is known as
the Dakshinayan.
The harvest festival is celebrated
throughout India, although under different
names and traditions.
They are as follows:
❖ Magh Bihu in Assam,
❖ Maghi (preceded by Lohri) in Pun-
jab, Haryana and Himachal Pra-
desh, popular amongst both the
Hindus and Sikhs,
❖ Sukarat in central India,
❖ Thai Pongal in Tamil Nadu,
❖ Makar Sankramana in Karnataka,
❖ Uttarayan in Gujarat,
❖ Khichidi Sankranti in Uttarakhand
and Uttar Pradesh,
❖ Ghughuti in Uttarakhand,
❖ Makara Sankranti in Odisha, Kar-
nataka, Maharashtra, Goa,
❖ Paush Parbon in West Bengal (also
called Poush Sankranti),
❖ Sankranthi in Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana,
❖ Saen-kraat in Kashmir,
❖ Sukaraat in Madhya Pradesh.
On this day, devotees take a holy dip in
rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari,
Cauvery and Krishna. The bathing is
believed to result in merit or absolution of
past sins and it is also considered a time of
peace and prosperity and many spiritual
practices are conducted on this day.
Every 12 years, along with Makar Sankranti
celebrations, the Kumbh Mela also takes
place, which is one of the world’s largest
mass privileges.
Popularly referred to as til-gud, sesame and
jaggery ladoos or chikkis are distributed on
this day.The sweet signifies that people
must stay together in peace and harmony
despite their differences.
Making of a General A Himalayan Echo:
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Defence
National
50 New Kendriya
Vidyalaya to be setup
through the country
The Union Cabinet,
chaired by the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
has approved the setting
up of 50 new
KendriyaVidyalayas
It is a book titled “Making of a General-A
Himalayan Echo” authored by (Retd) Lt
General Konsam Himalaya Singh. Manipur
Governor, Dr Najma Heptulla recently
released a book virtually at Durbar Hall,
Raj Bhavan, Imphal.
The book is the memoir of Lt Gen (Dr)
Konsam Himalay Singh. In book features
his journey from a small village in Manipur
to becoming the first person from North
East India to hold the rank of a Three-Star
General of the Indian Army. The book has
also highlighted about Manipur, the “Land
of Emeralds”.
Kalaripayattu:
Kalaripayattu is also known as Kalari. It the
oldest surviving martial art of the country,
with a legacy, of more than 3,000 years. It
is an Indian martial art and fighting style
designed for the ancient battlefield (the
word "Kalari" meaning "battlefield"), with
weapons and combative techniques that
are unique to India. This style of martial art
originated in Kerala.
This martial art includes strikes, kicks,
grappling, preset forms, weaponry and
even healing methods.Practitioners of
Kalaripayattu also possess intricate
knowledge of pressure points on the
human body and healing techniques that
incorporate the knowledge of Ayurveda
and Yoga.
Unlike other parts of India, warriors in
Kerala belonged to all castes. Women in
Keralite society also underwent training in
Kalaripayattu, and still do so to this day.
Keralite women such as Unniyarcha are
mentioned in a collection of ballads from
Kerala called the Vadakkan Pattukal, and
are praised for their martial prowess.
Recently, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan
released the syllabus of the Kalaripayattu
Academy on January 16 during the
inauguration of the renovated Crafts
Village
The 3,500 sq ft academy in the village is
scheduled to be completed in two months.
Lessons in one of the most famous combat
styles in the world will now be taught at
Kerala Tourism’s Vellar Crafts Village en
route to Kovalam.
Armed Forces Veterans Day:
The Indian Army commemorates Armed
Forces Veterans Day on 14 January every
year as a mark of respect and recognition
of the services rendered by our veterans.
This day also coincides with the retirement
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date of Field Marshal KM Cariappa, OBE,
the first Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of
the Indian Army. He retired on 14 Jan 1953.
The main aim of observing the day is to
strengthen the bond between the Ex-
Servicemen and the serving personnel. This
is also a forum to enhance the satisfaction
levels pertaining to issues of pension and
welfare of veterans and their Next of Kin.
Recently, the fifth Indian Armed Forces
Veterans Day was celebrated to honour
services rendered by veterans of the Army.
This year is being celebrated as Swarnim
Vijay Varsh. It marks 50th Anniversary of
1971 Indo-Pak War.
Speaking on the occasion, Army Chief
General Manoj Naravane said, last year had
been very challenging for the nation and
the Armed Forces. He said, the Armed
Forces bravely stayed at the northern
borders while also battling the pandemic
efficiently. He exuded pride that the Army
had the support of veterans in carrying this
out.
Field Marshal Cariappa: He was the Chief
of Army Staff from 15 January 1949 to 14
January 1953. He was the first Indian
Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the
Indian Army. He led Indian forces on the
Western Front during the Indo-Pakistani
War of 1947. He was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
in 1949. He is one of only two Indian Army
officers to hold the Five-star rank of Field
Marshal; the other being Field Marshal
Sam Manekshaw. He had seen action in
Iraq, Syria, Iran and Burma winning many
laurels and accolades during his sterling
career.
Despite his advancing age, he made many
visits to the front line troops to boost their
morale and motivate them. He was active
till his last breath on 15 May 1993, at the
age of 94 years.
Army Day:
Army Day is celebrated on 15 January every
year in India, in recognition of Field
Marshal Kodandera M. Cariappa's (then a
Lieutenant General) taking over as the first
Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
from General Fransis Bucher, the last
British Commander-in-Chief of India, on 15
January 1949.
The day is celebrated in the form of
parades and other military shows in the
national capital New Delhi as well as in all
headquarters.
On 15 January 2021, India celebrated its
73rd Indian Army Day in New Delhi.
Army Day marks a day to salute the valiant
soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect
the country and its citizens. Gallantry
awards and Sena medals are also awarded
on this day. Param Vir Chakra and Ashok
Chakra awardees participate in the Army
Day parade every year.
Note: In 2020, Captain Tania Shergill
became the first female officer to command
an Army Day parade.
Asmi:
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It is the name of India’s first indigenous
9mm Machine Pistol meaning “Pride”,
“Self-Respect" & “Hard Work”. In a major
boost to the defence calibre of India and
further push to the Atmanirbhar Bharat
initiative of the Central Government,Asmi
has been jointly developed by DRDO and
Indian Army.
It has been designed and developed by the
Infantry School, Mhow and DRDO’s
Armament Research & Development
Establishment (ARDE), Pune. The pistol
has been developed in a record time of four
months.
The Machine Pistol fires the in-service
9mm ammunition and sports an upper
receiver made from aircraft grade
Aluminium and lower receiver from carbon
fibre.
Significance: The weapon has huge
potential in Armed forces as a personal
weapon for heavy weapon detachments,
commanders, tank and aircraft crews,
drivers/dispatch riders, radio/radar
operators, Closed Quarter Battle, counter
insurgency and counter terrorism
operations etc.
The weapon will also find huge
employability with the central and state
police organizations as well as VIP
protection duties and Policing.
The Machine Pistol is likely to have
production cost under rupees 50000 each
and has potential for exports.
Sea Vigil 21:
It is a major exercise to test military
readiness at sea along the coastline of the
country. The second edition of the biennial
pan-India, largest coastal defence exercise
‘Sea Vigil-21’ coordinated by te Indian Nave
kick started from 12 January 2021 and
continued till the 13th of January 2021.
The two-day exercise involving all
stakeholders, states and Central
government agencies set the tempo of
operations, including “transition from
peace to conflict”.
'Sea Vigil 21' is a build-up towards the next
step and level exercise called “Tropex”
(Theatre-level Readiness Operational
Exercise), which is conducted by the Indian
Navy every two years. Indian Navy’s assets,
Customs, Coast Guard, and other maritime
agencies also participated in the exercise.
Both, TROPEX and Sea Vigil together
covered the entire spectrum of maritime
security challenges, which includes the
transition from peace to conflict.
Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs,
Shipping, Petroleum and Natural Gas,
Fisheries and Customs, state governments
and other agencies of Centre and state
facilitated the exercise.
The inaugural edition was conducted in
January 2019
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Economics
ironment
The exercise by the Indian Navy was
undertaken along the entire 7,516 km
coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of
India. It also involved all the 13 coastal
states as well as UTs along with other
maritime stakeholders, which includes
coastal and fishing communities.
The entire coastal security set up was
reorganized after the 26/11 Terror attack at
Mumbai which was launched via the sea
route.
Exercise ‘Sea Vigil-21’ is expected to provide
a realistic assessment of India's strengths
and weaknesses and thus will help in
further strengthening maritime and
national security.
Amresh Kumar Chaudhary:
He is the Incumbent Chief Controller of
MiL Rail. He has recently been awarded the
prestigious "Chief of Army Staff
Commendation" for his outstanding
contribution to Armed Forces during
critical period of Covid19 pandemic and its
various operations.
Mil Rail: Mil Rail is an extension of Traffic
Directorate of Ministry of Railways, headed
by Executive Director (ED) level officer
with office at Army HQ. It works in close
coordination with Ministry of Defence for
Railway operations pertaining to their
requirements.
It is responsible for overall coordination,
strategic planning & execution of Railway
Logistics support to Defence forces during
peace & emergency situations.
A separate control room manages all these
Railway operations which is headed by a
Chief Controller.
RBI:
It refers to the Reserve Bank of India.
The RBI is India's central bank, which
controls the issue and supply of the
Indian rupee. It carries out India's
monetary policy and exercises
supervision and control over banks and
non-banking finance companies in
India. RBI was set up in 1935 under the
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. It is
headquartered in Mumbai. RBI plays an
important part in the Development
Strategy of the Government of India.
The current Governor of RBI is
Shaktikanta Das.
Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
constituted a working group on digital
lending including online platforms and
mobile apps.
The working group was constituted to
study all aspects of digital lending activities
in the regulated and regulated financial
sector. The group will ensure that an
appropriate regulatory approach is put in
the digital lending platform. RBI Working
Group on Digital Lending
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The working group consists of both
internal and external members and is
chaired by Jayant Kumar Dash, Executive
Director, RBI.
The move comes in the backdrop of the 3
borrowers in Telangana who committed
suicide over alleged harassment by
personnel of such digital lenders and also
as there were many more complaining of
being subjected to coercive methods after
defaulting on repayments.
Functions of the working group:
❖ It will evaluate digital lending activ-
ities in the country.
❖ It will assess the standards of out-
sourced digital lending activities in
RBI regulated entities.
❖ It will recommend measures to ex-
pand statutory perimeter in digital
lending.
❖ It will suggest regulatory changes to
promote orderly growth of digital
lending.
❖ It will identify risks to be faced by
the unregulated digital lending. It
will mainly focus on risks faced by
consumers and regulated entities
that are exposed to unregulated
digital lending.
❖ It will also recommend measures
for expansion of specific regulatory
or statutory perimeter and suggest
the role of various regulatory and
government agencies. It will also
recommend a robust fair practices
code for digital lending players.
The group will submit its report within
three months.
Benefits of digital lending:
❖ The Digital lending makes the fi-
nancial products and services more
efficient, inclusive and fair.
❖ Earlier digital lending played a pe-
ripheral supporting role. However,
currently, it is now at the core of
the design, delivery and pricing of
financial services and products.
Digital Lending: Digital lending is the
process of offering loans that are applied
for, disbursed, and managed through
digital channels, in which lenders use
digitized data to inform credit decisions
and build customer engagement. It consists
of lending through web platforms or
mobile apps, by taking advantage of
technology for authentication and credit
assessment.
Khadi Prakritik Paint:
It is an eco-friendly, non-toxic paint, called
“Khadi Prakritik Paint” is a first-of-its-kind
product, with anti-fungal, anti-bacterial
properties.
Recently, the Union Minister for Road
Transport & Highways and MSME, Nitin
Gadkari launched the first-of-its-kind and
innovative new paint developed by Khadi
and Village Industries Commission.
The paint has been certified by Bureau of
Indian Standards. Khadi Prakritik Paint
will be available in two forms. They are
distemper and plastic emulsion
Khadi Prakritik Emulsion paint meets BIS
15489:2013 standards; whereas Khadi
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Prakritik Distemper paint meets BIS
428:2013 standards.
The project was conceptualized by
Chairman KVIC in March 2020, and later
developed by Kumarappa National
Handmade Paper Institute, Jaipur (a KVIC
unit).
Benefits of Khadi Prakritik Paint:
❖ It is based on cow dung as its main
ingredient so the paint is cost-
effective and odorless.
❖ Utilization of cow dung will also
clean the environment and prevent
clogging of drains.
❖ It is eco-friendly and non-toxic,
with anti-fungal and anti-bacterial
properties.
❖ The paint is free from heavy metals
like lead, mercury, cadmium,
chromium, arsenic and others.
❖ It will be a boost to local manufac-
turing and will create sustainable
local employment through technol-
ogy transfer.
❖ This technology will increase con-
sumption of cow dung as a raw ma-
terial for eco-friendly products and
will generate additional revenue to
farmers and gaushalas. This is esti-
mated to generate additional in-
come of Rs 30,000 (approx.) per
annum per animal to gaushalas and
farmers.
EBITDA:
It stands for Earnings Before Interest,
Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.
The State-owned undertakings Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL)
have turned EBITDA positive in first 6
months of this financial year 2020-21.
EBITDA is a metric used to evaluate a
company’s overall financial performance. It
is a measure of profits.It is now commonly
used to compare the financial health of
companies and to evaluate firms with
different tax rates and depreciation
policies.
Among its drawbacks, EBITDA is not a
substitute for analyzing a company's cash
flow and can make a company look like it
has more money to make interest
payments than it really does. It also ignores
the quality of a company's earnings and
can make it look cheaper than it really is.
Prarambh:
It is a Startup India International Summit.
The Union Minister of Commerce and
Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food and
Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal recently
inaugurated the two-day ‘Prarambh’,
Startup India International Summit in New
Delhi on 15 January 2021.
The Summit was organized by the
Department for Promotion of Industry and
Internal Trade (DPIIT), under M/o
Commerce & Industry.
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The inaugural event witnessed the
participation by The members of BIMSTEC
(Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral
Technical and Economic Cooperation)
countries.
The ‘Prarambh’ Summit aims to provide a
platform to the startups and young minds
from around the world to come together
and collaborate to work collectively to
come with new ideas, innovation and
invention.
The focus of the Summit was on enhancing
multilateral cooperation and engagement
with countries from around the globe to
collectively develop and strengthen the
startup ecosystems.
The Summit marks the fifth anniversary of
the Startup India initiative. It was launched
by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16
January 2016.
Mealworms:
Mealworms are the larval form of the
mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a
species of darkling beetle. Despite their
name, mealworms are beetle larvae rather
than worms.
Like all holometabolic insects, they go
through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa,
and adult.
Larvae typically measure about 2.5 cm or
more, whereas adults are generally
between 1.25 and 1.8 cm in length.
Mealworms are recently in news as they
may soon find their way into Europe’s
pasta bowls and dinner dishes, after
becoming the first insect approved in the
region as a human food.
The decision taken by the European Food
Safety Agency (EFSA) paves the way for the
yellow grubs to be used whole and dried in
curries and other recipes and as a flour to
make biscuits, pasta and bread.
As they are rich in protein, fat and fibre,
they are likely to be the first of many
insects to feature on European’s plates in
the coming years.
Lake Chad:
Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow,
endorheic freshwater lake in central Africa,
which has varied in size over the centuries.
The lake is located in the Sahelian zone of
West-central Africa. It is mainly in the far
west of Chad, bordering on northeastern
Nigeria.
This lake provides water to more than 30
million people living in the four countries
surrounding it (Niger, Nigeria, Chad and
Cameroon) on the central part of the Sahel.
It is the largest lake in the Chad Basin.
Environment
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The Chari River, fed by its tributary the
Logone, provides over 90% of the lake's
water, with a small amount coming from
the Yobe River in Nigeria/Niger.
Recently, India expressed serious concern
over the security situation in the Sahel and
Lake Chad region in West Africa.
India also condemned terrorist attacks by
Boko Haram in Nigeria and Lake Chad
region and by Islamic State in West Africa.
MEE-ZOO Framework:
It refers to the Management Effectiveness
Evaluation of Indian Zoos framework. The
Union Environment Minister Prakash
Javedkar recently launched the
Management Effectiveness Evaluation of
Indian Zoos (MEE-ZOO) framework.
Under the framework, the MEE of 146
National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries
(NP&WLS) in the country was released.
The report has been prepared by MoEFCC
with technical inputs from Wildlife
Institute of India (WII).
The assessment process of India's National
Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries was adopted
from International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World
Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)
framework of Management Effectiveness
Evaluation (MEE).
The framework proposes guidelines,
criteria and indicators for evaluation of
zoos of the country in a manner which is
discrete, holistic and independent. The
assessment criteria and indicators look
beyond the traditional concepts, include
issues of animal welfare, husbandry and
sustainability of resources and finance.
The MEE-ZOO exercise is moving towards
developing highest standards in Zoos
across India and adhering to core values of
accountability, innovation, transparency,
use of technology, collaboration and
integrity to achieve the mandate of
conservation of endangered species.
National Academies of Sciences:
The proceedings of National Academies of
Sciences were recently attended by the
entomologists from all over the world.
According to the entomologists, the insect
population is declining at rapid rate. The
scientists have named this as Insect
Apocalypse as the Earth is losing 2% of its
insects every year.
The main reasons of Insect Apocalypse is
due to insecticides, climate Change, light
Pollution,herbicides, invasive Species,
changes in land use and intensive
agriculture.
The two main examples are Honey Bees
and Butterflies. The main reason for their
decline is - lack of food, insecticides,
herbicides and parasites.
The insects are important as they are
essential for the proper functioning of the
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ecosystem as pollinators, food for other
creatures and as recyclers of nutrients.
Insects outweigh humanity by seventeen
times.
Insect decline is the worst in North
America and in parts of Europe. The first
Global Scientific review published in the
Biological conservation journal.
The insect decline discussed
internationally for the first time at the
United Nations Conference of Parties to
the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS
COP-13).
According to the Convention on Migratory
Species, insect extinction is to begin. A
draft resolution was prepared at the
convention. The resolution will help
understand die off of the insects and its
effects on migratory species.
India and UAE:
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi recently gave its
approval to the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on scientific and
technical cooperation between National
Centre of Meteorology (NCM) of the
United Arab Emirates and Ministry of
Earth Sciences (MoES) India.
Key Highlights of the MoU:
The MoU provides for sharing of
knowledge, data and operational products
for meteorological, seismological and
oceanic services, such as Radar, Satellite,
Tide gauges, seismic and Meteorological
stations between both the countries.
The pact will pave the way for both the
countries to exchange experience/ visits in
term of scientists, research scholars and
specialists for the purpose of research,
training, and consultation focused on
climatic information services.
They will also share experience on satellite
data utilization for tropical cyclones
forecasting, and exchange scientific and
technical information related to common
interest activities, deployment of
Meteorological observation networks over
ocean.
Organization of bilateral scientific and
technical seminars/ workshops/
conferences and training courses on
problems related to the fields of
cooperation mentioned in the MoU and of
interest to both countries.
Cooperation to support the Tsunami Early
Warning Centre (TEWC) in the form of
forecast modelling software, specifically
designed to support the Tsunami
forecasting operations.
Cooperate at the field of Seismology which
includes the study of Seismic activities
having the potential to generate Tsunami
waves in Arabian Sea and Oman Sea.
Sharing the real-time seismic data and
cooperation in early warnings of sand and
dust storms are the other key elements of
the MoU.
PMFBY:
National
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It refers to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima
Yajana. The PMFBY is a Crop Indurance
Scheme that has successfully completes 5
Years of operations on 13th January 2021.
The PMFBY was launched in 2016 by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi. It is an insurance
service scheme for farmers for their yields.
The main objective of this scheme is to
reduce the premium burden on farmers
and ensure early settlement of crop
assurance claim for the full insured sum.
It was formulated in line with One Nation–
One Scheme theme by replacing earlier
two schemes Modified National
Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS)
and National Agricultural Insurance
Scheme (NAIS).
The scheme is being administered by
Ministry of Agriculture and is implemented
by empanelled general insurance
companies.
The scheme is compulsory for loanee
farmers availing Crop Loan /KCC account
for notified crops and voluntary for other
others.
The Scheme covers all Food & Oilseeds
crops and Annual
Commercial/Horticultural Crops for which
past yield data is available and for which
requisite number of Crop Cutting
Experiments (CCEs) are being conducted
under General Crop Estimation Survey
(GCES).
National Youth Day:
The day is also called the “Yuva Diwas”.
The National Youth Day is celebrated on
the 12th of January every year to
commemorate the birth anniversary of
Swami Vivekananda . The day aims to
create awareness about rights of people in
India. It educates people to behave
properly in the country.
The National Youth Day being observed by
the Nation in 2021 is the 158th birth
anniversary of Swami Vivekanand. The
theme for National Youth Day 2021 is
‘Channelizing Youth Power for Nation
Building‘.
In 1984 the Government of India (GoI)
declared this day as National Youth Day
and since 1985 the event is celebrated in
India every year. The GoI quoted that ' the
philosophy of Swamiji and the ideals for
which he lived and worked could be a great
source of inspiration for the Indian Youth
Day.
Swami Vivekananda: Born on January 12,
1863, in Kolkata was one of India's greatest
leaders and believers of youth power. He
played significant role in the growing
Indian nationalism of the 19th and 20th
century, reinterpreting and harmonizing
certain aspects of Hinduism. He
participated a lot during major movements
against the British. His teachings and
philosophy applied this reinterpretation to
various aspects of education, faith,
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character building as well as social issues
pertaining to India, and was also
instrumental in introducing Yoga to the
west.
Swami Vivekananda's famous speech at the
World's Parliament of Religions in 1893 at
Chicago had changed the way the world
looked at India. He introduced Indian
Vedanta and philosophies of Yoga to the
world which put India on the world's
spiritual map.
He founded the Ramakrishna Math and
Mission on 1 May 1897. In 1898, he
established Belur Math.
Some of the inspirational quotes by Swami
Vivekananda:
• "Talk to yourself once in a day, oth-
erwise you may miss meeting an in-
telligent person in this world."
• "You cannot believe in God until
you believe in yourself."
• "We are what our thoughts have
made us; so take care about what
you think. Words are secondary.
Thoughts live; they travel far."
• "Our duty is to encourage everyone
in his struggle to live up to his own
highest idea, and strive at the same
time to make the ideal as near as
possible to the Truth."
• "Arise! Awake! and stop not until
the goal is reached."
2nd National Youth Parliament
Festival:
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi
addressed the valedictory function of the
second National Youth Parliament Festival
(NYPF) on 12th January 2021 via video
conferencing. The Event took place in the
Central Hall and the Prime Minister also
heard the views of the three young national
winners of the Festival.
NYPF is celebrated every year from January
12 to 16. January 12 is the birth anniversary
of Swami Vivekananda and is also observed
as National Youth Day. The first NYPF was
organised from January 12 to February 27,
2019, with the theme 'Be the Voice of New
India and Find solutions and Contribute to
Policy', in which 88,000 youngsters
participated.
The purpose of the NYPF is to hear the
voices of youngsters aged 18 to 25 and are
set to join various professions in coming
years, including public services
NYPF is based on the ideas presented by
the Prime Minister in his Mann Ki Baat
Address on New Year's Day Eve, 2017.
The 2nd NYPF was launched on December
23, 2020 through a virtual mode.
India and Surinam:
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International
The Indian-origin President of the Republic
of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi,
will be the chief guest at India’s Republic
Day parade on January 26.
India had initially invited Boris Johnson to
be the chief guest but the British PM had
to cancel his visit in view of the grim
coronavirus situation back home.
Earlier this week, Santokhi was the chief
guest at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Convention, held by the Ministry of
External Affairs and he delivered the
keynote address.
Chandrikapersad Santokhi was sworn in as
the president of Suriname in July 2020,
when his party, the Progressive Reform
Party, won 20 of the 51 seats in the
elections.
Surinam: Suriname officially known as the
Republic of Suriname is a country on the
northeastern Atlantic coast of South
America. It is one of the smallest countries
in South America. It is bordered by the
Atlantic Ocean to the north, French Guiana
to the east, Guyana to the west and Brazil
to the south. It is considered to be a
culturally Caribbean country, and is a
member of the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM). It is the only sovereign nation
outside Europe where Dutch is the official
and prevailing language of government,
business, media, and education. The captal
of Suriname is Paramaribo. The currency
used here is Surinamese Dollar (SRD). The
current President of Suriname is Chan
Santokhi.
USA:
The United States of America (USA),
commonly known as the United States
(U.S. or US) or America, is a country
consisting of 50 states, a federal district,
five major self-governing territories, and
various possessions. The 50 states covers a
vast swath of North America, with Alaska
in the northwest and Hawaii extending the
nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean.
The currency used in USA is United States
dollar - USD also abbreviated US$. The
capital of US is Washington, D.C. The
current President of US is Joe Biden.
Recently, President Donald Trump became
the first US president to be impeached
twice. The House of Representatives voted
to charge him with inciting last week's mob
attack on the US Congress.
Trump was impeached for a historic
second time on January 13 by 232 - 197 vote
by the US House on a single charge of
incitement of insurrection that left five
dead and the Capitol ransacked.
It was supported by all Democrats and 10
Republicans, including Liz Cheney.
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The Senate will not hold a trial before the
20th of January when Democrat Joe Biden
assumes the presidency, meaning Mr
Trump will escape the risk of being forced
to leave early.
France:
France officially the French Republic is a
country consisting of metropolitan France
in Western Europe and several overseas
regions and territories. It is historically and
culturally among the most important
nations in the Western world. France has
also played a highly significant role in
international affairs, with former colonies
in every corner of the globe. The capital of
France is Paris. The currency of France is
Euro, CFP franc. The current President of
France is Emmanuel Macron. The current
Prime Minister is Jean Castex.
Recently, the Government of France
organized the fourth ‘One Planet Summit’,
through videoconferencing. The summit is
aimed at protecting the world’s
biodiversity.
The Summit was organized in cooperation
with the United Nations (UN) and the
World Bank (WB). The theme of the
Summit was “Let’s act together for nature!”
It was inaugurated by the Secretary-
General of the United Nations António
Guterres, French President Emmanuel
Macron, and President of the World Bank
Group David Malpass.
The summit is an international event that
focused on biodiversity to mobilize
commitments to protect the ecosystems
and make links to human health.
The main aim of the Summit is to promote
worldwide ecological transformation. The
One Planet summit will measure
environmental and climate protection
combined with innovation and economy.
The Summit focused mainly on 4 topics.
They are:
1. The protection of terrestrial and
marine ecosystems,
2. The promotion of agroecology,
3. The mobilization of funding for bi-
odiversity,
4. The link between deforestation,
species and human health.
Kyrgystan:
Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic
and also known as Kirghizia, is a country in
Central Asia. It is a landlocked country
with mountainous terrain. It is bordered by
Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the
west and southwest, Tajikistan to the
southwest and China to the east. The
Capital of Kyrgyzstan is Bishkek. The
national drink is horse milk which is
known as kumyz there. The 40 sun rays on
the flag represent the country's original 40
tribes. The currency of Kyrgyzstan is
Kyrgyzstani som.
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Recently, Kyrgyzstan's politician Sadyr
Japarov won a landslide victory in
Kyrgyzstan's snap presidential election.
According to the Central Election
Commission, Mr Japarov had won 79% of
votes cast. Mr Japarov, who served time in
jail for taking a rival hostage, will also have
sweeping new presidential powers after
voters by a similar margin opted to amend
the constitution in a referendum.
Kyrgyzstan has been in crisis since
parliamentary elections last October. The
results of those elections were disputed,
leading to protests and the resignation of
then-President Sooronbay Jeenbekov.
Supreme Court:
The Supreme Court of India is the highest
judicial forum and final court of appeal
under the Constitution of India, the
highest constitutional court, with the
power of constitutional review. It was
established on 26 January 1950. It’s
headquartered in New Delhi. The current
CJI of the Supreme Court is Sharad Arvind
Bobde.
Recently, the Supreme Court suspended
the implementation of three farm laws to
end the disagreement between the farmers
and Government of India.
The Indian farmers are protesting against
these three acts as they fear that they
might lose more than they could gain
thereby taking the protest to the streets.
The Farm Laws which were recently
enacted by the Union Government are as
follows:
1. The Farmers' Produce Trade and
Commerce (Promotion and Facili-
tation) Act. The act permits inter-
state and intra-state trade of farm-
ers produce beyond the premises of
Agricultural Produce Market Com-
mittee (APMC). The act abolished
market fee. It allows electronic
trading. It also facilitates lucrative
prices for the farmers through al-
ternative trading channels to pro-
mote barrier free inter-state and in-
tra-state trade of agricultural pro-
duce.
2. Farmers (Empowerment and Pro-
tection) Agreement on Price Assur-
ance and Farm Services Act, 2020.
This act creates a national frame-
work for contract farming between
farmer and buyer.
3. Essential Commodities (Amend-
ment) Act, 2020.
The farmers are protesting against the
Farm Laws because the laws lay the
framework to sell the produce directly to
the corporates. The farmers do not trust
the corporates. According to the farmers,
this might end the Minimum Support Price
(MSP) system in the country.
The protests are high in Haryana and
Punjab because the agriculture in Haryana
and Punjab is high as Green revolution was
India Polity
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first introduced in these states, so are the
MSP procurement in these states. Around
89% of rice produced in Punjab and 85%
produced in Haryana are procured by the
Government.
Karnataka Cabinet:
Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa
recently expanded his 17 month old
cabinet, inducting seven ministers.
The oath of office and secrecy to the
ministers were administered by Governor
Vajubhai Vala at a ceremony at the Raj
Bhavan. The new ministers are MLAs MLAs
Umesh Katti (Hukkeri), Murugesh Nirani
(Bilgi), Umesh Katti (Hukkeri) and Arvind
Limbavali (Mahadevapura), and MLCs C. P.
Yogeshwar, M.T.B. Nagaraj and R. Shankar.
Excise Minister H. Nagesh is being
requested to step down.
This is the third expansion since Mr
Yediyurappa took over as CM in July 2019.
In August 2019, 17 ministers were inducted,
while in February 2020, ten newcomers to
the BJP were inducted into the Cabinet.
Turlapaty Kutumba Rao:
He is a renowned journalist and Padma
Shri awardee who passed away on 11
January 2021 in Vijayawada.
Born in 1933, Turlapaty Kutumba Rao
entered journalism at the age of 14 and
went on to become an expert in politics,
history and governance. He was an Indian
journalist and orator known for his service
to journalism in Telugu language.
He is reported to have written over 4000
biographies and delivered over 16000
public speeches which has been recorded
by the Telugu Book of Records as a world
record.
He was a secretary to T. Prakasham, former
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and was
known to have mooted the idea of
demarcating states on the basis of language
in 1947, when India became independent.
He was also a chairman of the Andhra
Pradesh Grandhayala Parishad, a policy
making body of the Government of Andhra
Pradesh.
He was a recipient of the title of Guardian
of Telugu from C. Rajagopalachari, then
Governor of Andhra Pradesh. He was
honored in 2002, with the Padma Shri
making him the first journalist from the
state of Andhra Pradesh to receive the
award. He was also a nominee for Padma
Bhushan for the year 2014.
RS Sharma:
Persons in News
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He is a former Trai chief who has been
appointed as the chairperson of an
empowered committee for the
administration of Covid-19 vaccine.
A ten-member team has been constituted
to be headed by Sharma. This has come
days ahead of the mega vaccination drive is
to start in India.
He has also been included as a member of
the National Expert Group on Vaccine
Administration of Covid-19 that was
formed in August 2020.
Dushyant Dave:
He is the Supreme Court Bar Association
(SCBA) president. He recently resigned
from his post with immediate effect. His
resignation was confirmed by the acting
SCBA Secretary Rohit Panday.
SCBA: It refers to the Supreme Court Bar
Association. SCBA is an Indian bar
association, comprising the practicing
lawyers of the Supreme Court of India.
Hisar Airport:
Hisar Airport belongs to the Civil Aviation
Department, Haryana. It is a public
licensed airport that is suitable for 18 seat
type aircraft. The development of the Hisar
airport was undertaken by the MoCA
(Ministry of Civil Aviation) as it aligns with
the dual objectives of the UDAN scheme;
"letting the common citizen of the country
fly" & make air travel affordable and
widespread in the country.
Recently, Government of India (GoI),
under the Regional Connectivity Scheme –
Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN),
flagged off the first flight to the newly
constructed Hisar airport in Haryana from
Chandigarh to Hisar.
India's first air taxi services in Haryana
from Chandigarh to Hisar were
inaugurated by Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar.
The flight was flagged off by Manohar Lal
Khattar, Chief Minister, Haryana. The
flagging off marks the operationalization of
the 54th airport under the UDAN scheme.
To date, 307 routes and 54 airports
including 5 heliports and 2 Water
Aerodromes have been operationalized
under the UDAN scheme.
The airline Aviation Connectivity &
Infrastructure Developers Pvt. Ltd (Air
Taxi) was awarded the Hisar – Chandigarh
– Hisar route under the UDAN 4 bidding
process.
The airline has become the first start-up
airline of the country to assist the nation
with Air Taxi services.
UDAN: The full form of UDAN is ‘Ude
Desh ka Aam Nagarik’. UDAN is a regional
connectivity scheme spearheaded by the
Government of India (GoI). This scheme
Places in news
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aims to develop smaller regional airports to
allow common citizens easier access to
aviation services.
UDAN was launched under the Ministry of
Civil Aviation in 2016.The first flight under
the UDAN scheme was flagged in 2017 from
Bhubaneswar to Varanasi route.
Objectives of the Regional Connectivity
Scheme:
• To provide connectivity to un-
served and under-served airports of
the country through the revival of
existing airstrips and airports.
• To make travel affordable and ac-
cessible to all.
• To boost inclusive national eco-
nomic development, job growth
and air transport infrastructure for
development of all regions and
states of India.
Due to this yojana many underserved and
un served regional airports have received
regular passenger air service. Prominent
amongst these regional airports are
Bhatinda, Bikaner, Agra, Porbandar,
Kadappa, Pondicherry, Kandla, Nanded,
Shirdi.
Hisar: Hisar is the administrative
headquarters of Hisar district of Hisar
division in the state of Haryana in
northwestern India. It has been identified
as a counter-magnet city for the National
Capital Region to develop as an alternative
center of growth to Delhi. The place is
India's largest galvanized iron
manufacturing city.
History of Hisar: The city of 'Hisar', was
originally called 'Hisar Firoza (also Hisar-e-
Firoza) or in other words the 'Fort of Firoz'.
But as the days rolled by, the very word
'Firoza' was dropped from its original
name.
Manipur:
Manipur is a state in northeastern India.It
is bounded by the Indian states of
Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the
south, and Assam to the west; Myanmar
lies to its east. Manipur literally means,
“The jeweled land”. It was formed on 21
January 1972. Its Capital is Imphal. The
current Governor and the Chief Minister of
Manipur are Najma Heptulla and Biren
Singh respectively.
Recently, Manipur has become the 4th
State in the country to successfully
undertake “Urban Local Bodies (ULB)”
reforms stipulated by the Department of
Expenditure, Ministry of Finance in its
letter to the States dated 17th May, 2020.
The state has now joined the three other
States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh and Telangana, who have
completed this reform.
The State has now become eligible to
mobilize additional financial resources of
Rs.75 crore through Open Market
Borrowings.
Reforms in the Urban Local Bodies and the
urban utilities reforms are aimed at
financial strengthening of ULBs in the
States and to enable them to provide better
public health and sanitation services.
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Economically rejuvenated ULBs will also be
able to create good civic infrastructure.
The reforms stipulated by the Department
of Expenditure to achieve these objectives
include:
• The State will notify (a) floor rates
of property tax in ULBs which are
in consonance with the prevailing
circle rates (i.e. guideline rates for
property transactions) and (b) floor
rates of user charges in respect of
the provision of water-supply,
drainage and sewerage which re-
flect current costs/ past inflation.
• The State will put in place a system
of periodic increase in floor rates of
property tax/ user charges in line
with price increases.
Nubra:
Nubra is a subdivision and a tehsil in the
union territory of Ladakh. Its inhabited
areas form a tri-armed valley cut by the
Nubra and Shyok rivers.
The Shyok River meets the Nubra River (or
Siachan River) to form a large valley that
separates the Ladakh and Karakoram
Ranges. The Shyok River is a tributary of
the Indus River.
Recently, the first ever Ice climbing festival
was celebrated in Nubra valley of Leh.
The Seven Day event was organized by
Nubra Adventure Club.
Ice climbing is a popular winter sport
abroad. Taking the cue, local adventure
sports lovers have explored several ice
climbing spots in Nubra valley to attract
the adventure tourists to the region.
To promote winter tourism in Nubra
valley, Nubra Adventure Club, with the
help of Social activist Dr. Nordan Otzer
organized the Seven Day Ice Climbing
festival.
Leh:Leh is the joint capital and largest
town of the union territory of Ladakh in
India. Leh was an important stopover on
trade routes along the Indus Valley
between Tibet to the east, Kashmir to the
west and also between India and China for
centuries. The Ladakh Autonomous Hill
Development Council (LAHDC) is in
charge of governance in Leh. It has 30
councillors, 4 nominated and 26 elected.
The Chief Executive Councillor heads and
chairs this council. The 'Deputy
Commissioner, Leh' also holds the power of
'Chief Executive Officer of the LAHDC'.
The Current Deputy Commissioner of Leh
district is Sachin Kumar Vaishya.
Health Ministry Kayakalp Awards:
The Kayakalp awards for the year 2019-20
were recently presented to the Public and
Private Health Facilities for high standards
of Sanitation and Hygiene by the Union
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Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr
Harsh Vardhan.
The awardees are:
District Hospital Reasi of J&K won First
prize under the Kayakalp scheme.
1. Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Post-
graduate Medical Education and
Research (JIPMER) won Second
Prize under the Kayakalp scheme.
2. AIIMS Bhubaneswar was awarded
best central government hospital
under Category B of Kayakalp
Awards for the third consecutive
time.
3. Rairangpur Sub Divisional Hospital
of Mayurbhanj district was awarded
best Sub-divisional hospital com-
munity health centre category of
Kayakalp Awards.
About the Awards:
The government had launched a National
Initiative ‘Kayakalp’ on 15th May 2015 to
ensure hygiene, sanitation and cleanliness
in Public Health Facilities in India.
Health Ministry had collaborated with
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
and launched Swachh Swasth Sarvatra
programme, under which, one community
health centre (CHCs) situated within ODF
block receives one-time grant of 10 lakh
rupees for undertaking improvement
activities, so that the CHC becomes
Kayakalp CHC.
The factors considered to present Kayakalp
Awards are - Waste Management, Hospital
Upkeep, Sanitation and Hygiene, Infection
Control, hygiene promotion, support
services and beyond hospital boundary.
The main objective of the scheme is to
incentivize public health care facilities that
show high performance in following
protocols, infection control, cleanliness
and sanitation.
It inculcates a culture of peer review of
performance related to sanitation, hygiene,
and infection control.
It shares and creates sustainable practices
related to improving cleanliness in public
health facilities.
Swachh Swasth Sarvatra: Swachh Swasth
Sarvatra scheme was launched in 2016. The
Swachh Swasth Sarvatra aims to strengthen
community health centres in open
defecation blocks, especially in the region
of those Public Health Centres or hospitals
that have received the Kayakalp Awards.
The three main objectives of Swachh
Swasth Sarvatra isto enable Gram
Panchayats where the Kayakalp awarded
Public Health Centres are located to
become Open Defecation Free, to
strengthen the Public Health Centres to
reach the Kayakalp standards through
support of Rs 10 lakhs under the National
Health Mission and to build capacity
through training in sanitation, water and
hygiene.
New Foreign Trade Policy:
India Policy
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The Union Ministry of Commerce and
Industry recently announced that the new
Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2021-2026, is to
come into effect from April 1, 2021 and will
strive to make the country a leader in
international trade. The policy will be
implemented for 5 years. The goal of this
policy is to make India a 5 trillion USD
economy.
As per the statement by the Commerce
Ministry, the Parliamentary Consultative
Committee of the Ministry of Commerce
and Industry held a meeting on the subject
''New Foreign Trade Policy 2021-26''. The
meeting was chaired by the Minister of
State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep
Singh Puri, and attended by Members of
Parliament (MPs) and senior officers of the
ministry.
The Key Highlights of the new Foreign
Trade Policy:
❖ The District Export Hubs Initiative
will be forming a significant com-
ponent of the new Foreign Trade
Policy.
❖ The policy will aim to boost exports
in both merchandise and services.
❖ It will enhance ease of doing busi-
ness.
❖ It will bring improvements in the
operations of domestic manufactur-
ing and services sector through in-
frastructure support.
❖ The policy will not only bring
changes to regulatory and opera-
tional framework but also lower
transactional costs.
The ministry's arm Directorate General of
Foreign Trade (DGFT) will be formulating
the policy.
Note: The previous foreign trade policy was
implemented between 2015 and 2020. This
policy aimed to boost “Make in India”
initiative.
The policy merged 5 different schemes
under “Merchandise Export from India
Scheme” (MEIS).
The five different schemes were:
1. Market Linked Focus Product
Scheme
2. Focus Product Scheme
3. Focus Market scheme
4. VKGUY
5. Infrastructure Incentive Scrip
Also, the Served from India scheme was
replaced with Service Exports from India
Scheme.
CollabCAD:
It is Collaborative CAD Software software
that is being jointly launched by the
National Informatics Centre (NIC), MeitY
along with Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE), Ministry of Education.
CollabCAD is a collaborative network,
computer-enabled software system,
providing a total engineering solution from
2D drafting & detailing to 3D product
design.
This main objective of this initiative is to
provide a great platform to students across
the country to create and modify 3D digital
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designs with a free flow of creativity and
imagination.
CollabCAD software will be used for
Practical assignments as part of the subject
curriculum for making different types of 3D
designs and 2D Drawings.
CBSE under the leadership of Chairman,
Shri Manoj Ahuja, IAS will introduce
CollabCAD Software for Engineering
Graphics (Subject Code 046) at the Senior
School Level for Class XI and XII.
Students from around 140 plus schools
across the country and the schools in the
Middle East (affiliated with CBSE, New
Delhi) will have access to this software
which can be used for practical projects
and understanding concepts of
Engineering Graphics.
National Informatics Centre, NIC, CBSE,
and Atal Innovation Mission also jointly
released a comprehensive e-book on
CollabCAD 3D modeling.
NIC and CBSE will be signing an MOU for
‘CollabCAD Software Support and Training
for Students and Faculty of Engineering
Graphics in CBSE affiliated Schools’ for a
period of 10 (ten) years in the august
presence of Sh Ajay Sawhney, Secretary,
Ministry of Electronics & Information
Technology.
This MOU aims to develop human
resources and skills around CollabCAD
software and popularize CollabCAD among
the students and faculty.
NECA:
It refers to the National energy
Conservation Awards. The Ministry of
Power, in association with Bureau of
Energy Efficiency (BEE), recently organised
the 30th National Energy Conservation
Awards (NECA) 2020 function. The Chief
Guest at the event was R.K Singh Minister
of State (Independent harge) for Power and
New & Renewable Energy.
The awards were presented to round 57
units from 5 sectors for their energy
conservation and energy efficiency efforts.
During the event, the Standards and
Labelling Programme for Air Compressors
and Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV was
launched on a voluntary basis.
The event also witnessed the launch of the
SAATHEE (State-wise Actions on Annual
Targets and Headways on Energy
Efficiency) Portal.
Standards and Labelling Programme for Air
Compressors and UHD TV: The initiative
launched on a voluntary basis is is expected
to save around 8.41 Billion Units of
electricity for Air Compressors and 9.75
Billion Units for UHD TV till 2030. The
energy consumption standards will be
effective from 01st January 2021.
SAATHEE Portal: It is a Management
Information System (MIS) portal developed
by BEE for facilitating real-time monitoring
of the progress of implementation of
various Energy Conservation endeavours at
State level.
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Science and Technology
At the event, R.K Singh also highlighted
the PAT (Perform, Achieve & Trade)
scheme being implemented by BEE. It is
being implemented under the National
Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
(NMEEE). NMEEE is one of the eight
national missions under which the NAPCC
(National Action Plan on Climate Change)
was launched in the country in 2008.
PAT is a regulatory instrument to reduce
specific energy consumption in energy
intensive industries. It is an associated
mechanism to enhance the cost
effectiveness through certification of excess
energy saving which can be traded.
BEE: Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is a
statutory body under Ministry of Power
which is mandated to implement policy
and programmes in energy efficiency and
conservation. The objective of such
initiatives is to reduce energy intensity in
our country by optimizing energy demand
and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases
(GHG) which are responsible for global
warming and climate change. The current
Director-General of BEE is Abhay Bakre.
Atal Tinkering Lab Handbook 2.0:
Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog
recently launched its new edition of Atal
Tinkering Lab handbook named ‘The Atal
Tinkering Lab Handbook 2.0’. The
handbook reinforces detailed
establishment and operational processes of
the Atal Tinkering Labs and its journey
towards an innovative ‘Aatmanirbhar
Bharat’.
The ATL Handbook outlines a practical
guidance on structural, selection,
establishment and celebration aspects of
the AIM’s flagship ATL programme. It also
encompasses work done by the AIM team
in a framework using 4 key pillars of the
ATL initiative – Selection, Establishment,
Enablement, and Celebration.
ATLs: It refers to Atal Tinkering
Laboratories. ATLs is one of the flagship
schemes proposed under the Atal
Innovation Mission (AIM). AIM an
initiative of the National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI Aayog),
Government Of India, is establishing Atal
Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools
across India.
The main idea behind setting up of ATLs is
encouraging the young students to
understand STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math) concepts
practically and creatively using the specific
tools and equipment.
An ATL provides a makerspace where
young minds can give shape to their ideas
through hands on do-it-yourself mode; and
learn innovation skills.
To foster entrepreneurship and innovation,
Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog has
established over 7000 ATLs across the
country.
NIP:
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It refers to the National Innovation Portal.
The Union Minister for Science &
Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan recently
dedicated an Innovation Portal, developed
by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) -
India, an autonomous body of the
Department of Science and Technology
(DST), Government of India (GoI), to the
nation.
NIP is currently home to about 1.15 lakh
innovations scouted from common people
of the country, covering Engineering,
Agriculture, Veterinary and Human
Health.
At present, in terms of domain areas, the
innovations cover Energy, mechanical,
automobile, electrical, electronics,
household, chemical, civil, textiles, Farm /
cultivation practice, storage practice, plant
variety, plant protection, poultry, livestock
management, nutraceuticals etc.
Innovation Portal is a step towards
Atmanirbhar Bharat and an excellent
resource for students, entrepreneurs,
MSME’s, Technology Business Incubators
(TBI’s) and common people engaged in a
variety of occupations.
CSIR-NIScPR:
The Union Minister of Science &
Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan recently
inaugurated a new institute of Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
i.e. CSIR-National Institute of Science
Communication and Policy Research
(CSIR-NIScPR), in New Delhi.
The new institute has been established
consequent to the merger of two
prestigious institutes of CSIR namely,
CSIR-National Institute of Science
Communication and Information
Resources (CSIR-NISCAIR) and CSIR-
National Institute of Science, Technology
and Development Studies (CSIR-
NISTADS).
CSIR-NIScPR will serve the society with its
core areas of science communication and
policy research which has proved to be so
important during the Covid19 pandemic.
The VISION of the institute is to become a
globally respected Think Tank and
Resource Centre for understanding
Science, Technology & Innovation (STI)
Policy Research and Communication. It
aims to promote STI policy studies and
science communication among diverse
stakeholders.
Vanadium:
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Sports
Arunachal Pradesh is likely to become
India’s prime producer of vanadium. The
Geological Survey of India (GSI) found
promising concentrations of vanadium in
the palaeo-proterozoic carbonaceous
phyllite rocks in the Depo and Tamang
areas of Papum Pare district in Arunachal
Pradesh.
This was the first report of a primary
deposit of vanadium in India, with an
average grade of 0.76% V2O5 [vanadium
pentoxide].
Vanadium mineralization in Arunachal
Pradesh is geologically similar to the “stone
coal” vanadium deposits of China hosted in
carbonaceous shale. This high vanadium
content is associated with graphite, with a
fixed carbon content of up to 16%.
Indian scenario: India is a significant
consumer of vanadium, but is not a
primary producer of the strategic metal.
According to data provided by the GSI,
India consumed 4% of about 84,000 tonnes
of vanadium produced across the globe in
2017.
Global scenario: The largest deposits of
vanadium of the world are in China,
followed by Russia and South Africa.
China, which produces 57% of the world’s
vanadium, consumed 44% of the metal in
2017.
Vanadium: Vanadium is a by-product
obtained from the processing of
Vanadiferous magnetite ores. In its pure
form, Vanadium is soft, ductile and grey in
colour. It is a chemical element with the
symbol V and atomic number 23.
It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable
transition metal which is rarely found in
nature. It is recovered as a by-product from
the slag collected from the processing of
vanadiferous magnetite ores (iron ore).
Vanadium is a high-value metal used in
strengthening steel and titanium. The
addition of the alloy improves the tensile
strength of steel and of the reinforcing bars
that are used for tunnels, buildings, and
bridges. The alloys made of vanadium are
durable in extreme environments and
temperatures and are also corrosion-
resistant.
Khelo India Zanskar Winter Sports &
Youth Festival 2021:
It is a 13-day Zanskar Winter Sports &
Youth Festival 2021 that is being organized
from 18th to 30th January 2021 by the Dept.
of Sports & Youth Services under the Khelo
India banner in collaboration with the
Ladakh Tourism Department.
The UT administration is promoting far-
flung and snowbound Zanskar as winter
tourism destination. The main attractions
of the first-ever Zanskar Winter Sports &
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Youth Festival are Chadar Trek on Zanskar
river, meditation, yoga, ice skating,
Hockey, snow skieing, climbing, traditional
Archery, snow scooter, biking, Yak and
horse riding, Snow sculpturing and food
and cultural festivals.
Zanskar: Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or
Zangskar is also known as Janskar or
Jangskar. It is a subdistrict or tehsil of the
Kargil district, in the union territory of
Ladakh. The administrative centre is
Padum.
Zanskar Range: The Zanskar Range is a
mountain range in the union territory of
Ladakh that separates Zanskar from
Ladakh. Geologically, the Zanskar Range is
part of the Tethys Himalaya, an
approximately 100-km-wide synclinorium
formed by strongly folded and imbricated,
weakly metamorphosed sedimentary series.
The average height of the Zanskar Range is
about 6,000 m. Its eastern part is known as
Rupshu.
Dhaka Marathon 2021:
The marathon was organized on the 10th
January 2021 to commemorate the return of
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
from Pakistan jail to Bangladesh in 1972.
Home Minister of Bangladesh
Asaduzzaman Khan inaugurated the event
at Dhaka Army Stadium. As many as 200
runners took part in the marathon,
organised by the Bangladesh Army.
Jigmet Dolma, an SPO of Ladakh police
from India recently secured the fourth
position in the Dhaka Marathon 2021.
Hicham Lakohi of Morocco came first in
the elite competition of the marathon in
men’s category while Angela Jim Asunde
from Kenya won the women’s category in
the same event.
Two more women runners from India and
a total of 8 athletes participated in the
marathon. In the full marathon, among the
SAARC and local runners, Bahadur Singh
of India became the champion in the men's
category and Pushpa Bhandari of Nepal
became the champion in the women's
category.
The full marathon covered 42.19
kilometres while the half marathon
covered 21.09 kilometres. Athletes from all
over the world including India, Morocco,
Nepal, Kenya, France, Ethiopia among
others participated in various categories of
the event.
BCCI:
It is an acronym of the Board of Control
for Cricket in India. BCCI is the national
governing body for cricket in India. The
board was formed in December 1928 as a
society, registered under the Tamil Nadu
Societies Registration Act. Its headquarters
are in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Grant
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Govan was its first president and Anthony
De Mello its first secretary. The current
President of BCCI is Sourav Ganguly.
Recently, Jay Shah has been named as the
official representative of BCCI for the
International Cricket Council (ICC) Board
meetings. He is the Secretary of the BCCI.
He will be replacing BCCI president Sourav
Ganguly, who was currently representing
India at the ICC Board, but he suffered a
heart condition recently and had to be
admitted to hospital where he underwent
primary angioplasty.