Current Affairs search results for tag: national

1. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hold bilateral talks with Australian Deputy PM in New Delhi

Tags: International Relations

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held bilateral talks with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles in New Delhi on 22 June. 

• During the bilateral talks, the two ministers reviewed the defence cooperation between the two countries and discussed new initiatives to further strengthen bilateral ties.

• They also exchanged their views on regional and global issues of shared interest.

• India and Australia have been sharing a comprehensive strategic partnership since June 2020 and are a key pillar of this defence partnership.

• This partnership is based on a shared vision of a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

• Australia and India, along with America and Japan, are part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), which promotes a free and open Indo-Pacific.

• The four countries are also participants in the Malabar naval exercise.

• About Australia

• It is the smallest continent by area  on Earth after Asia, Africa, North America , South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. 

• It is the 6th largest country in the world after Russia, Canada, China, United States, and Brazil.

• Australia has been called “the Oldest Continent,” “the Last of Lands,” and “the Last Frontier.”

• Its unique flora and fauna include the only egg-laying mammals on Earth, the  Platypus and Echidna.  It is also famous for its Kangaroos,Koala bears. 

• It is the second driest continent after Antarctica.

• Its highest peak,  Mount Kosciuszko, rises to only 7,310 feet (2,228 meters).

• Capital : Canberra 

• Currency : Australian Dollar 

• Prime Minister : Scott Morrison 

• The United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the State of  Australia.

2. Juneteenth festival was celebrated in the U.S.

Tags: International News

Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the U.S. commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.

• Juneteenth is the oldest national commemoration to mark the end of the end of slavery in America, held annually on June 19.

• It is currently recognized as a holiday by 47 US states.

• It is also known as Liberation Day or Juneteenth Independence Day.

• History of Juneteenth

• On January 1, 1863, then-President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all persons 'held as slaves' within the states during the rebellion would now be free.

• However, many people continued to keep slaves even after this announcement. After this, on June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger Galveston announced the end of both the Civil War and slavery.

• Since then it has become a symbolic date representing independence for African-Americans.

3. International literary festival 'Unmesh' organised in Himachal Pradesh

Tags: State News International News

An International Literature Festival, Unmesh, was organised in Shimla as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Sahitya Akademi, Department of Art and Culture, Government of Himachal Pradesh.

• The festival was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for Culture, Arjun Ram Meghwal.

• UNMESHA is the country's largest literary festival representing over 60 languages and 64 events with over 425 writers, poets, translators, critics and distinguished personalities from different walks of life from 15 countries including India.

• Unmesh, the festival of expression, is the largest international literary festival in the country so far.

• Sahitya Akademi

• Sahitya Akademi was formally inaugurated by the Government of India on 12 March 1954.

• Sahitya Akademi functions as an autonomous organisation. It was registered as a society in January 1956 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

• The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is the central body for literary dialogue, publication and publicity in the country and the only organisation to conduct literary activities in 24 Indian languages, including English.

• It also conducts literary exchange programs with various countries around the world to promote Indian literature.

• The Sahitya Akademi Award is the second highest literary award given by the Government of India after the Jnanpith Award.

4. Israel, Haryana Government Sign Joint Declaration On Water Cooperation

Tags: International Relations

Recently, the Government of Israel and Haryana signed a Joint Declaration on Capacity Building and Integrated Water Resource Management.

• Under this agreement, Israel will share its most advanced and state-of-the-art water technologies, expertise and know-how with the Government of Haryana.

• Through this joint declaration, the Government of Israel and Haryana will endeavour to strengthen existing ties in the water management sector, improve public health in the region and conserve water resources in public water areas in Haryana.

• India-Israel Diplomatic Relations

• India officially recognized Israel in 1950, but the two countries established full diplomatic relations on January 29, 1992.

• India was one of the 164 members of the United Nations that had diplomatic relations with Israel.

• Economic relations

• During April 2020-February 2021, the bilateral trade between the two stood at $4.14 billion, with the balance of trade in favour of India.

• India is Israel's third largest trading partner in Asia, while the 7th largest worldwide partner.

• Defence relations

• India is the largest buyer of military equipment from Israel. Israel is India's second largest defence supplier, Russia's largest defence supplier.

• Agriculture relations

• India and Israel signed a three-year work program agreement for agricultural cooperation in May 2021.

• The program seeks to develop existing Centres of Excellence, bring Centres of Excellence into self-sustaining mode and encourage private sector companies and collaborations.

• About israel

• Israel is a country located in Southwest Asia.

• Capital - Jerusalem,

• Israel's Tel Aviv city is the most expensive city in the world

• President- Isaac Herzog

• Prime Minister- Naftali Bennett

• Currency- Israeli shekel

5. Qatar's Hamad International Airport named best airport in the world

Tags: International News

Qatar's Hamad International Airport has been named the best airport in the world for the second year in a row. This was announced at the Skytrax 2022 World Airport Awards held at the Passenger Terminal Expo in Paris, France.

• Airports Winners in Other Major Categories

• Top 5 airports in the world in 2022

1. Hamad International Airport

2. Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)

3. Singapore Changi Airport

4. Narita International Airport

5. Incheon International Airport

6. Prime Minister’s Awards for Development and Promotion of Yoga for the Year 2021

Tags: National News

The Prime Minister's Award for the year 2021 has been announced for outstanding contribution to the promotion of Yoga.

• The winners will be awarded a trophy, certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh.

• The award was announced by the Prime Minister on the occasion of the 2nd International Day of Yoga celebrations in Chandigarh in 2016.

• Name of the awardees

1. Bhikkhu Sanghasena from Ladakh

2. Marcus Vinicius Rojo Rodrigues from Brazil

3. The Divine Life Society from Uttarakhand

4. British Wheel of Yoga from the United Kingdom

7. UNDP lauds Aspirational District Program

Tags: National News

A report released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) lauded the Aspirational District Program (ADP) as a very successful model of local area development.

• About Aspirational Districts Programme

• It was launched by NITI Aayog in 2018.

• The program aims to transform districts that have made relatively little progress in key social areas.

• Aspirational districts are those districts of India which are affected by poor socio-economic indicators.

• Under this, 115 districts from 28 states have been transparently identified.

• NITI Aayog coordinates and manages the program with the support of Central Ministries and State Governments.

• 5 broad socio-economic indicators - Under the programme 5 broad socio-economic indicators are included -

1. Health & Nutrition (30%)

2. Education (30%)

3. Agriculture & Water Resources (20%)

4. Financial Inclusion & Skill Development (10%)

5. Infrastructure (10%)

• Significance of the programme

• The government is committed to raising the standard of living of the citizens and ensuring inclusive growth for all "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas".

• Districts are also encouraged to develop and replicate best practices that improve socio-economic issues.

• The objective of the program is to localize the Sustainable Development Goals, so that the nation can progress.

• About NITI Aayog

• It is the premier policy think tank of the Government of India, it provides directional and policy inputs.

• It designs strategic and long-term policies.

• It also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre, States, and Union Territories.

• The Governing Council of NITI Aayog is chaired by the Prime Minister and includes the Chief Ministers of all the States and Union Territories and the Lieutenant Governors of other Union Territories. 

• It was constituted on January 1, 2015.

• NITI stands for National Institution for Transforming India.

• The Government of India constituted the NITI Aayog to replace the Planning Commission, which was set up in 1950.

• This step was taken to better meet the needs and aspirations of the people.

8. Govt declares ICICI, HDFC, NPCI's IT resources as critical information infrastructure

Tags: National News

The government has declared the IT resources of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and UPI managing entity NPCI as 'critical information infrastructure' under Section 70 of the IT Act, 2000.

• Damage to them will have implications for national security and any person who tampers with or accesses them unauthorizedly can be jailed for up to 10 years.

• About Critical Information Infrastructure (CII)

• According to the Information Technology Act of 2000, 'critical information infrastructure' as a computer resource means its inability or loss to have a disastrous effect on national security, economy, public health or security.

• The government has the power, under the Act, to declare any data, database, IT network or communication infrastructure as a CII for the protection of that digital asset.

• Why is CII classification and protection necessary?

• Governments around the world are moving quickly to protect their critical information infrastructure.

• IT resources are the backbone of many important functions in a country's infrastructure, and given their interrelationship, any disruption can have cascading effects across sectors.

• For example, failure of information technology in power grids can lead to prolonged disruptions in other sectors like healthcare, banking services.

• In October 2020, as India grappled with the pandemic, Mumbai's electricity grid supply suddenly snapped, affecting hospitals, trains and businesses in the big city.

• It was caused by a cyber attack.

• National Critical Information Infrastructure Sectors- National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) has identified the following critical information infrastructure-

• Electricity and Energy

• Banking, Financial Services & Insurance

• Telecom

• Transport

• Government

• Strategic & Public Enterprises

• National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC)

• It is the nodal agency for taking all measures to protect the nation’s critical information infrastructure.

• It was established in January 2014. 

• It guards CII from unauthorised access, modification, use, disclosure, disruption, incapacitation or distraction.

9. West Seti power project

Tags: International News

India will take over the ambitious hydroelectric project in Nepal nearly four years after China pulled out of the West Seti project.

• The Government of Nepal has decided to hand over the West Seti Hydropower Project and 308 MW SR6 Storage Hydroelectric Project to India's National Hydro Power Company Limited (NHPC).

• West Seti hydropower project 

• West Seti is a 750MW hydro power project.

• It is planned to start this project on Paschim Seti river/basin in Nepal.

• Specifically, it is a storage project designed to produce and export large amounts of electrical energy to India.

• The project is envisaged to provide 31.9% of electricity to Nepal free of cost.

• No work has progressed on this for the last six decades.

• The project was earlier awarded to a Chinese company.

• China's Three Gorges Corporation informed the Nepal government in August 2018 that it would not be able to execute the 750 MW West Seti hydroelectric project.

• India -Nepal Power Relations

• Nepal is rich in power sources with approximately 6,000 rivers and an estimated capacity of 83,000 MW.

• India has formally approached Nepal on several occasions.

• India is seen as a viable market for Nepal, but there remains some uncertainty in Nepal over India's inability to complete projects on time.

• India has expressed its intention to use the major rivers in the north.

• An ambitious Mahakali treaty was signed in 1996 to generate 6,480 MW, but India is yet to submit a detailed project report.

• West Seti has the potential to become a defining model for Nepal-India power relations in the future.

10. India, Bangladesh - Teesta Water Sharing Issue

Tags: National News

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said during the seventh round of the India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission on June 19 that India and Bangladesh should work together for comprehensive management of rivers.

• The Foreign Minister of Bangladesh is on a visit to India.

• The two ministers discussed the long-running disputes over Teesta river water sharing.

• About Teesta River

• It is a tributary of the Brahmaputra, flowing through India and Bangladesh.

• It is also known as Jamuna in Bangladesh.

• It originates in the Himalayas near Chunthang, Sikkim and flows to the south through West Bengal before entering Bangladesh.

• It is a 315 km long river.

• It is the fourth largest transboundary river shared between India and Bangladesh after the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna river systems.

• Teesta is the lifeline of North Bengal and about half a dozen districts of West Bengal depend on the water of Teesta.

• What is the dispute?

• The river is perhaps the most contentious issue between two friendly neighbours, India and Bangladesh.

• The river covers almost the entire floodplains of Sikkim, while controlling the lives of thousands of people living in 2,800 square kilometres of Bangladesh.

• Teesta is equally important for West Bengal, which is considered the lifeline of half a dozen districts of North Bengal. 

• Bangladesh demanded an "equitable" distribution of Teesta water from India on the lines of the 1996 Ganges Water Treaty, but to no avail.

• The failure to sign an agreement had an impact on the country's politics, putting PM Sheikh Hasina's ruling party in trouble.

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