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By admin: Jan. 24, 2022

24th January: International Day of Education

Tags: Important Days

The theme of the fourth “International Day of Education 2022” is ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education’.

• The International Day of Education is annually celebrated on January 24.
• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 3rd December 2018 proclaimed the celebration of this day to mark the importance of education in ensuring peace and development.
• This year, the celebration took place at the UN Headquarters in New York, Expo 2022 in Dubai, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and Global Minnesota.

Meanwhile, India celebrates its own National Education day celebrated on November 11 to mark the birth anniversary of India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

United Nations Secretary General: António Guterres

$300 billion Service sector export target for 2022-23

Tags: Economics/Business

The Service Export Promotion Council (SEPC) under the ministry of Commerce and Industry has set a target of $300 billion for export of services from India in 2022-23 .

• The target for 2021-22 export was $250 billion.
• The total service sector export in the current financial year for the first nine month (April to December 2021) was $178 billion. 

World Bank $125 million loan to West Bengal

Tags: Economics/Business

The World Bank has approved a $125 million (approx Rs 1000 crore) loan to West Bengal to support the state’s effort to help the poor and vulnerable groups access social protection services.

•  The loan will be used by the government to help vulnerable groups  such as women, tribal and scheduled caste households and the elderly, as well as households in the state’s disaster-prone coastal regions.

Legendary Footballer Subshash Bhowmick is no more

Tags: Person in news

Former India footballer Subhas Bhowmick,popularly known as ‘Bhombolda' , died on 22 January 2022 in Kolkata  following a prolonged illness.

·He was a part of the Indian team that won a bronze medal in the 1970 Asian Games held at Bangkok, Thailand.

·He also had a successful career as a coach. He helped the East Bengal football club to win the ASEAN Club cup in 2003.

Operation Snow Leopard to continue: Army

Tags: National News

Northern Army Commander Lt General Y K Joshi on 22 January 2022, described 2021 as a “watershed year” for the armed forces, which stood up to aggression on the Line of Control (LoC) and the Line of Actual (LAC), and said troops are on alert to meet any eventuality even talks are in focus to resolve the ongoing standoff with China in eastern Ladakh. 

·He said that Operation “Snow Leopard” is continuing and our soldiers are alert and fully prepared.

·Operation Snow Leopard was launched by the Indian Army in September 2020 to control key heights along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh after the Chinese refused to vacate the area in Ladakh.

The occupation of the key strategic heights identified along the LAC by the Indian Army after the Galwan clash strengthened India’s bargaining position with China.

Books and Authors

Tags: Books and Authors

1. Book:

The Art of Bitfulness: Keeping Calm in the Digital World

Author: Nandan Nilekanei and Tanuj Bhojwani .

2. Book:

Mamta: Beyond 2021

Author: Jayanta Ghosal 

3. Book:

The New BJP 

Author: Nalin Mehta 

Koozhangal (Pebbles) wins best film award at 20th Dhaka International Film Festival

Tags: Awards

Indian movie Koozhangal(Pebbles in English) won the best film award in the Asian Film category  at the recently concluded 20th Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh.

The Koozhangal (or Pebble in English)  is a Tamil movie directed by Vinothraj PS . This movie was also India's  official entry in the international feature film category at the 2022 Academy Awards(oscar).

Other Indians to get the award are as follows :

The Best actor Award: Jayasurya for the Ranjith Sankar-directed film ‘Sunny’.

Special audience award: It was given to Indian film Semkhor, which was directed by noted Assamese actor Aimee Baruah.

The best script writer award: It was given to Indranil Roychowdhury and Sugata Sinha for India-Bangladesh film Mayar Jonjal. The movie was directed by Indranil Roychowdhury.

24th January: National Girl Child Day

Tags: Important Days

Every year 24th January is celebrated as National Girl Child Day to spread awareness about the gender-based discrimination that girls face in the society.

• The day was observed for the first time in 2008 as an initiative taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Government of India.
• The objective of the day is to spread awareness among the public about inequities faced by girls in Indian society, to promote awareness about the rights of the girl child and the importance of female education, health, and nutrition.

Rangoli Utsav on occasion of Girl Child Day

Tags: National News

As part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, the Ministry of Culture is organizing a rangoli-making event ‘Umang Rangoli Utsav’ on 24th January 2022. The day is celebrated as ‘National Girl Child Day’ every year. 

• In the event, it is proposed that the participating teams will make Rangoli decorations for about one kilometer of length on the roads and squares that have been named after the female freedom fighters or the female role models of the country.
• The rangoli decorations are being done at more than 50 locations across the country. It will be a great opportunity to celebrate the ‘Girl Child Day’ and ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ through this event.

German Navy Chief Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schonbach Resign

Tags: Person in news

The German Navy Chief Vice Admiral Kay Achim Schonbach resigned from his post on 22 January 2022 for his comments made by him during his official visit to India.

• During his speech at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, New Delhi he said that Ukraine would never get back the Crimean peninsula which Moscow annexed in March 2014 and the Russian President Putin deserves respect.
• This was in direct contradiction of the German government policy which considers the Russian annexation of Crimea as illegal and it opposes the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

90 days Environmental Emergency in Peru

Tags: International News

The Peruvian Government on 22nd January declared a 90 days environmental emergency after crude oil spilled into the sea following a freak wave caused by a volcanic eruption in Tonga.

• The wave hit the Italian-flagged “Mare Doricum'' tanker when it was unloading the oil at a refinery owned by Spanish company Repsol.
• The oil spill has caused immense environmental damage to the coast of Peru with beaches and natural reserves being affected. 

About Peru:

Peru is the third-largest country in South America after Brazil and Argentina.

• The world’s largest rainforest Amazon covers nearly half of Peru.
• Capital: Lima
• President: Pedro Castillo
• Currency: Nuevo Sol
• Official Language(s): Spanish, Quechua

For information about earthquake in Tonga see the post of 16th January 2022.

“Abide With Me” dropped from the Beating Retreat event this year

Tags: National News

The Centre decided to drop one of Mahatma Gandhi's favourite hymns "Abide With Me" from this year's Beating Retreat ceremony on January 29 as playing more Indian tunes would be appropriate in view of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', which celebrates the 75th year of India's Independence.

• "Abide With Me", written by Scottish Anglican poet and hymnologist Henry Francis Lyte in 1847, had been part of the Beating Retreat ceremony since 1950.
• For this year's ceremony, the hymn has been replaced by the popular patriotic song "Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon", which was written by Kavi Pradeep to commemorate the supreme sacrifice made by Indian soldiers during the 1962 Indo-China war.
• Beating Retreat marks the end of nearly week-long festivities of Republic Day, which used to begin on January 24. But this year, the celebrations will begin on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
• The brochure released by the Indian Army on Saturday listed 26 tunes that will be played at this year's ceremony by 44 buglers, 16 trumpeters and 75 drummers at Vijay Chowk.
• This year, a Kumaoni tune from Uttarakhand, Channa Billauri, has made it to the list.

Environment Ministry notice to Telangana on Dindi lift irrigation project

Tags: State News

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has recently issued a show cause notice to the Telangana government seeking explanation on the execution of the Sri Ramaraju Vidyasagar Rao Dindi lift irrigation project without taking appropriate environmental clearance from the ministry.

•  This was done by the Ministry after the Andhra Pradesh  government lodged a complaint with the National Green Tribunal.
• Dindi is a tributary of River Krishna and the  Dindi lift irrigation project is located in Nalgonda, Telangana. 
• It was aimed to lift 30 tmcft (one thousand million cubic feet) water from the reservoir of Palamuru­ Rangareddy at Vattem to provide drinking water to fluorosis affected villages of Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, and Khammam areas and to irrigate about 3.40 lakh acres.

Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)

•  Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) was introduced in India in 1976-77 with respect to river development projects.
• Developmental activities like building of dams, power plants, setting up of Industries etc has a negative impact on the environment. To assess the damage done to the environment EIA was introduced.
• On 27 January 1994 the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest ,under the Environment (Protection) act 1986 promulgated an EIA notification making environment clearance mandatory for any projects mentioned in schedule I category A from the ministry. There are around 30 projects which need Environment Clearance form the Union Ministry  after the EIA has been done .
• Andhra Pradesh complained that Telangana government has not sought environment clearance from the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment for river projects under schedule 1 .
•  The projects mentioned in category B are to be cleared by the state government.

Former Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe awarded Netaji award 2022

Tags: National News

Former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was conferred with the Netaji Award 2022 by Netaji Research Bureau, Kolkata. 

• Consul General of Japan in Kolkata Nakamura Yutaka received the honour on behalf of Mr. Abe at a function at the Elgin Road residence of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary.
• In January 2021, Government of India bestowed the country’s second-highest civilian honour “Padma Vibhushan” on former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Government of India announces Subhash Chandra Bose Awards For Disaster Management 2022

Tags: National News

The Union Home Ministry every year announces Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar on 23 January on the occasion of the birth day of Subhash Chandra Bose which is also celebrated as Prakram Diwas in India .

The Award is given in two categories, Institutional and Individual. It honours institutions and individuals who provide exemplary services in the field of disaster management.

Institutional Category award 2022.

Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM),

The Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GID M) was set up in 2012 with its headquarters at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

It got a cash prize of Rs 51 lakhs and a certificate.

Individual Category award 2022 

Professor Vinod Sharma 

He is a senior professor at the Indian Institute of Public Administration and Vice-Chairman of the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority, was the founder co-ordinator of the National Centre of Disaster Management, now known as the National Institute of Disaster Management.

 He received a cash prize of Rs 5 lakhs and a certificate.

P.V. Sindhu wins Syed Modi International Badminton Title

Tags: Sports News

P. V. Sindhu, without a Badminton World Federation (BWF) title since the world crown in 2019, ended the title drought by winning Syed Modi International Badminton title.

• $ 150,000 Syed Modi International Badminton Championships is an international badminton tournament, which is held annually in India.      
• World No.7 Sindhu defeated Malvika Bansod  of India in the final match held in Lucknow at the Baba Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium.
• The all-French men’s final was a non-starter after Arnaud Merkle tested positive for Covid.Since the other finalist,compatriot Lucas Claerbout was also his roommate,he was also withdrawn from the final for being a primary contact of Merkle.
• As per the BWF guidelines,the final was declared a ’ No match.’The finalist will get the ranking points and the prize money assigned for reaching the final.

The results

Men:

Arnaud Merkle(France) versus Lucas Claerbout(France)- No match

Doubles: Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee(Malaysia) beat Krishna Prasad and Vishnuvardhan Goud (India).

Women: P.V.Sindhu (india) beat Malvika Bansod (India).

Doubles:Anna Ching Yik Cheong and Teoh Mei Xing(Malaysia) beat Treesa Jolly and P.Gayatri (India).

Mixed Doubles: Ishan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto(India) beat Nagendra Babu and G.Srividya (India) .