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By admin: Jan. 27, 2022

27th January: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Tags: Important Days

In 2022, the theme guiding the United Nations Holocaust remembrance and education is “Memory, Dignity and Justice”. 

Every year on 27th January, United Nation Educational Scientific and Educational Organisation (UNESCO) pays tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to counter antisemitism, racism, and other forms of intolerance that may lead to group-targeted violence.

•  Holocaust refers to  the mass killing of the Jews or genocide of the Jews by Adolf Hitler  led Nazi Germany between 1941 to 1945. An estimated sixty lakhs Jews were killed in concentration camps  set up by Hitler across German occupied Europe .
• United Nations General Assembly officially proclaimed in November 2005 to commemorate this day as  International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

China -Central Asian summit meeting

Tags: International News

China hosted a virtual summit meeting with the leaders of the five Central Asian Countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on 25 January 2022.  It was hosted by China just two days before the same Central Asian leaders were to be hosted by India in a virtual summit meeting on 27 January 2022.

• The Chinese President Xi Jingping hosted the meeting to commemorate 30 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Central Asian countries.
• China’s President Xi Jinping offered $500 million in assistance to the region for its livelihood programme and pledged to increase bilateral trade.
• The total trade between the two in 2018 was $40 billion and the Chinese president pledged to increase it to $70 billion by 2030.
• He announced that China will provide 5 crore free corona vaccine doses to these five countries.

Noted Kathakali dancer Milena Salvinii passes way

Tags: Person in news

Noted Kathakali dancer Ms. Milena Salvini passed away in Paris on 25th January 2022 at the age of 85. 

• Milena Salvini was an Italian-born French exponent and teacher of Indian classical dance,especially known for her services to Kathakali.
• She obtained her Kathakali training at the Kerala Kalamandalam.Upon her return to France,she established a tour by the Kathakali  troupe of the Kalamandalamunder the auspices of UNESCO.
• In 2019 she was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.  
• Kathakali is one of the eight classical dances of India and is associated with the State of Kerala.

Andhra Pradesh announces creation of 13 new Districts

Tags: State News

The Andhra Pradesh government announced the creation of 13 new districts in Andhra Pradesh on the Republic day. This was announced by the state Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan in his republic day speech at Vijayawada.  

The new districts will come into being on the Telugu new year Ugadi. The total number of districts in the state will be 26.

PM writes Personal letters to foreigners on Republic Day

Tags: National News

On the occasion of the 73rd Republic Day on 26 January 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written personal letters to foreigners known to be friends of India acknowledging their role in strengthening people to people relations between India and their country.

The notable person who acknowledged the PM letter are as follows:

Jonty Rhodes

He is a former cricketer of South Africa who has also named his daughter India.

Chris Gayle 

He is a West Indies Cricketer and also plays for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Ashley Rindsberg

He is a noted Israeli author.

Gad Saad

He is a Lebanese born Canadian Prof. of Marketing and is a renowned Behavioural scientist.

Machel Montano

He is from Trinidad and Tobago. He is a famous singer, producer, songwriter and actor.

Many first at the 73rd Republic Day 2022

Tags: National News

 President Ram Nath Kovind led the nation in celebrating the 73rd Republic day 2022 celebration at the Raj Path in New Delhi.

This year republic day celebrations are part of the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebration of the Government of India to commemorate 75 years of Indian Independence.

Highlights of the Republic day ceremony 2022:

• There were no foreign guests at the ceremony like in 2021 due to the corona pandemic.
•  From this year the Republic day celebration started on 23 and will end on 30 January. Earlier it started on 24 and ended on 29 January. 23 January is celebrated as Parakram Day on the birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose and 30 January is the Martyr's day to mark the assassiantion of Gandhiji. 
• This year construction workers, sanitation workers, frontline workers and auto rickshaw drivers were invited as a special guest.
• Eco-friendly invitation cards with seeds of medicinal plants such as Aloe Vera, Ashwagandha and Amla have also been sent to invitees
•  For the first time 480 dancers performed on the Rajpath who have been selected through a nationwide Vande Bharatham dance competition. 
• The parade saw the launch of 'Shaheedon Ko Shat Shat Naman' programme by National Cadet and a display of ten scrolls each of 75 metres prepared during the 'Kala Kumbh' event.
• Due to Covid restriction only 21 tableaux were allowed at the parade. 12 tableaux were of State and Union Territories and nine of the Ministries and Department. The tableaux of Meghalaya, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra participated in the parade. 
• Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, the country’s first Rafale pilot, was a part of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that featured in the Republic Day parade.
• The finale of the Republic day parade was the spectacular 75 aircraft fly past by the Indian Air Force.  It included Rafale, Sukhoi-30s, Jaguars etc. fighter jets and helicopters of the Indian Air Force. 17 Jaguar fighter jets formed 75 formations to commemorate the 75th Independence Day of India.
• The military horse Virat retired after the parade. It was the 13 and final appearance of the Virat on the rajpath as the commandant of the President Bodyguard cavalry.  The President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister personally patted the horse as a mark of respect.
• The beating retreat ceremony will be held on 29 January which will feature 1000 drones developed by IIT Delhi startup “ Botlab Dynamics”, and supported by the Department of Science and Technology. India will become the fourth country in the world after China, US and Russia to conduct a drone show on such a scale.
• A number of new tunes have been added to the ceremony to celebrate ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. These include ‘Kerala’, ‘Hind ki Sena’ and ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’. The event will come to a close with the ever-popular tune of ‘Sare Jahan se Acha’.
• The parade was commanded by Parade Commander, Lieutenant General Vijay Kumar Mishra.

INS Khukri converted to be into a museum in Diu

Tags: Defence

The decommissioned Indian Naval Ship Khukri has been handed over to the Diu administration to convert it into a museum. The ship was built by Mazagon Dock, Mumbai and was commissioned in the Navy in 1983.

• It was decommissioned in 2019. The ship was named after the INS Khukri which was hit by a Pakistani torpedo and sank near Diu coast in the 1971 war.
•  The present ship will be added to the INS Khukri memorial set up in Diu in 1999 to honour the INS Khukri of 1971.

TCS is the second most valuable IT brand in the world

Tags: Economics/Business

 Tata Consultancy Service company has become the second most valuable brand in the Information Technology sector after Accenture of US, according to the Brand Finance of United Kingdom.

• Brand Finance report titled Brand Finance IT Services 25 2022 says TCS’ brand value grew 12% year-on-year and 24% since 2020 to $16.8 billion.
• It has released the list of top 25 IT companies list 
• Apart from TCS, there are five more Indian IT brands in the list , Infosys (3rd ) Wipro (7th), HCL (8th), Tech Mahindra (15th), and LTI (Larsen and Toubro Infotech) at 22nd in the list.

Joint Maritime exercise Paschim Lehar (XPL-2022) conducted in the Arabian Sea

Tags: Defence

A joint maritime exercise Paschim Lehar (XPL-2022) was conducted by the Indian Navy under the aegis of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Western Naval Command was concluded on 25 January 2022.

• The objective of this exercise was to validate operational plans of the Western Naval Command and enhance Inter-Service synergy among the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army and Coast Guard.
• The IAF deployed SU 30 MKI & Jaguar maritime strike aircraft, Flight Refuelling Aircraft and AWACs, alongside the Indian Navy’s maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8i, Dorniers, IL 38 SD, unmanned aerial systems and MiG 29K strike aircraft.
• After a long gap, many Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) and Air Cushion Vessels of the Coast Guard also participated in exercise Paschim Lehar.

Hockey legend Charanjit Singh dies

Tags: Person in news

Padma Shri and Arjuna Awardee Charanjeet Singh, former Indian Hockey Captain for 1964 Olympics passed away on 27th January 2022, at his home in Una, Himachal Pradesh after suffering a cardiac arrest.

• Besides captaining the Olympic gold-winning team in 1964, he was also a part of the silver-winning side in the 1960 edition of the Games.
• He was also a part of the 1962 Asian Games silver-winning team.

Tata Takes Over Air India after 69 years

Tags: Economics/Business

The Tata Group on 27th January 2022, announced the completion of a strategic disinvestment transaction for the purchase of Air India from the Government of India.

• The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded with the transfer of 100 percent shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control.
• A new Board, led by the Strategic Partner, takes charge of Air India.
• In October 2021, the Government of India sold Air India to Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata groups holding company for ₹ 18,000 crores.

Tatas had set up Tata Airlines in 1932, which was later in 1946 was renamed as Air India. The government had taken control of the airline in 1953, but JRD Tata continued to be its chairman till 1977. The handover will be the homecoming of Air India to Tatas after 69 years.