1. CODA wins Best Film at Oscars 2022
Tags: National News
The 94th Academy Awards ceremony or Oscars, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honoured the best films released between March 1 and December 31, 2021, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 27, 2022.
Winners List -
Best picture - CODA. This is the first movie made by a streaming service (APPLE) to win Best Picture Oscar
Best actress - Jessica Chastain. She got the award for acting in the film The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Best actor - Will Smith. He got the award for acting in the film King Richard
Best director - The Power of the Dog. She got the award for directing the film Jane Campion
Best original song - Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell. They got the award for the title track of the film “No Time to Die”
Best adapted screenplay - CODA
Best original screenplay - Belfast
Best international feature - Drive My Car (Japan)
Best supporting actress - Ariana DeBose. She got the award for acting in the film West Side Story
Best supporting actor - Troy Kotsur. He got the award for acting in the film CODA
Best animated feature - Encanto
Best original score - Hans Zimmer. He got the award for the film Dune
Tamil film, Pebbles, directed by P S Vinothraj, was sent as India’s Official Entry at the 94th Academy Awards.
Indian Oscar winners till date-
Bhanu Athaiya in 1982 received the Oscars for the “Best Costume Design” for the movie “Gandhi”
Satyajit Ray received an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1992
A R Rahman won two Oscars in 2009 for the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” in the category of “Best Original Score” and “Best Original Song for Jai Ho”
Resul Pookutty in 2009 won the Oscars for “Best Sound Mixing” for the film “Slumdog Millionaire”
Gulzar in 2009 won the Oscars for “Best Original Song for Jai Ho” for the film “Slumdog Millionaire”
2. Normal International Flights resume from India
Tags: National News
Normal International flights from India resumed on 27 March 2022 after a gap of almost two years. International flights were suspended from March 2020 after the corona pandemic.
six Indian airlines will connect 27 countries and 60 international airlines could provide connectivity to 40 countries.
Until now, travel to and from India was confined to 37 countries with limited flights under “air bubble” agreements.
Important for Exam
The regulator of the Civil Aviation sector in India : DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation). It comes under the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation
Union Civil Aviation Minister : Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia
Also see the 17 March 2022 post
3. El Salvador declares state of emergency after gang killings
Tags: International News
The Central American country of El Salvador parliament has approved the state of emergency that temporarily suspended some constitutional protections in the country following a wave of killings attributed to criminal gangs.
At least 62 people were reported killed on 26 March in a gang war in the country.
The Parliament of the country approved the request of the President of El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele, to impose an emergency in the country.
El Salvador
It is the smallest of the Seven Central American countries of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize.
Capital : San Salvador
Currency : United States Dollar, Bitcoins.
President : Nayib Bukele
4. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Nepal after India Visit
Tags: International News
The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Nepal in the last leg of his South Asian tour. He first visited Pakistan and participated in the Summit of the Foreign Minister’s of the Organisation of Islamic Countries held in Islamabad, Pakistan. He then visited Afghanistan before making a surprise visit to India. From India, he visited Nepal on 26 March 2022.
This is the first visit of a high-ranking Chinese official to Nepal since Sher Bahadur Deuba became the Prime Minister of Nepal in July last year.
China and Nepal signed nine MOU(Memoranda of Understanding )
Under the economic and technical cooperation, China will increase its annual assistance to Nepal from Rs. 13 billion to Rs. 15 billion.
Another agreement is on cooperation on the feasibility study of China-Nepal Power Grid interconnection where China will finance the new alignment of the Ratamate-Rasuwagadhi- Kerung transmission line.
China will donate an additional 4 million doses of the Sinovac covid vaccine to Nepal.
Important for Exam
Nepal
It is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is located between India to the east, south, and west and the Tibet area of China to the north.
President of Nepal : Bidhya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister of Nepal : Sher Bahadur Deuba
Capital of Nepal : Kathnmadu
Currency : Nepalese rupee
It has the world's highest mountain peak: Mount Everest in the Himalayas.
5. Anurag Thakur launches TEJAS Skilling Project at Dubai Expo
Tags: National
Union minister Anurag Thakur, who is in Dubai to participate in the India Pavilion in Dubai Expo 2020, launched Training for Emirates Jobs And Skills (TEJAS) on 27 March 2022. He was visiting the Indian Pavilion at theExpo 2020 Dubai, being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The TEJAS project is aimed at skilling, certification and overseas employment of Indians. Tejas is aimed at creating pathways to enable Indian workforce to get equipped for skill and market requirements in UAE.
Tejas aims at creating a 10,000 strong Indian workforce in UAE during the initial phase.
Expo 2020 Dubai
World Expos are one of the oldest and largest international events on the Earth which take place every five years and last for six months.
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo ever hosted in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region.
Expo 2020 Dubai will run for six months from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.
The Theme of the Expo 2020 Dubai is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”
Kindly Also see 19 February 2022 post
6. PMGKAY extended till September 2022
Tags: National News
The Government of India has extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) scheme for another six months, till September 2022 (Phase VI). The phase V of the scheme was to end on 31 March 2022.This will cover nearly 80 crore beneficiaries across India.
PMGKY is the world's largest food security programme which was launched in April 2020 to provide relief to the poor and migrant population suffering due to the corona -19 induced lockdown and the consequent hardship faced by them.
Features of the PMGKAY
PMGKAY is a part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) to help the poor fight the battle against Covid-19.
Its nodal Ministry is the Ministry of Finance.
Under this scheme, the government Provides additional free of cost 5 kg per person per month food-grains (rice/wheat) to around 80 crore beneficiaries of National Food Security Act (NFSA) including the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) beneficiaries.
The scheme is fully funded by the government of India
The Government has spent approximately Rs. 2.60 Lakh Crore so far and another Rs. 80,000 Crore will be spent over the next 6 months till September 2022 taking the total expenditure under PM-GKAY to nearly Rs. 3.40 Lakh Crore
The Government of India had allocated about 759 Lakh Million Tonnes (LMT) of free foodgrains under the PM-GKAY till Phase V. With another 244 LMT of free foodgrains under this extension (Phase VI), the aggregate allocation of free foodgrains under the PM-GKAY now stands at 1,003 LMT of foodgrains.
The PMGKAY has now been linked withOne Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) plan where migrant workers can get the benefit of the scheme through any ration shops in India.
Phases of the PMGKAY Scheme
Phase I from April to June 2020
Phase II from July to November 2020
Phase III from December 2020 to May 2021 to June 2021
Phase IV from July 2021 to November 2021
Phase V from December 2021 to March 2021
Phase VI from April 2022 to September 2022
Important Government Scheme
National Food Security act (NFSA)
The Public distribution system in India is covered under the National Food security act 2013. It covers 75% of the rural population and 50% Urban areas.
Food Grains are provided to beneficiaries in two categories,Antodaya Anna Yojana(AAY) and Priority Household (PHH).
The Antodaya Anna Yojana beneficiaries get 35 kg of foodgrains per month and the Priority Household gets 5kg per person per month .
The beneficiary gets rice/wheat or coarse cereals at a highly subsidised price .
For One Nation One Ration Card scheme kindly see 2 February 2022 post
7. Defence Ministry approves setting up of 21 new Sainik Schools for 2022-23
Tags: National
The Union Defence Ministry has approved setting up of 21 new Sainik Schools in partnership with NGOs, private schools and State Governments for the academic session 2022-23. These schools will be set up as part of the Government India’s initiative of setting up of 100 new Sainik schools across the country in partnership mode.
They will be distinct from the existing Sainik Schools.
These new Sainik Schools, besides their affiliation to respective education boards, will function under the aegis of Sainik Schools Society and will follow the Rules and Regulations for new Sainik schools in partnership mode prescribed by the Society.
The entry to the new Sainik School pattern in these schools will be at class six level only.
Sainik Schools
Sainik Schools Society (SSS) is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Defence, Govt of India.
The Society runs Sainik Schools. Sainik Schools are English medium residential schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE).
Sainik Schools prepare Cadets to join the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla (Pune), Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala,Kerala and other Training Academies for officers.
At present there are a total of 33 Sainik Schools across the country.
Sainik Schools offer admission at the level of Class VI and Class IX.
8. WHO Global centre for Traditional medicine in India
Tags: Popular National News
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has signed an agreement with the government of India to set up a WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The Agreement was signed on 25 March 2022 in Geneva by the Secretary, Ministry of Ayush Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, and Director General, WHO Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The Government of India will invest $250 million in the center .
The primary objective of GCTM is to harness the potential of traditional medicine from across the world through modern science and technology and improve overall health of the communities’ world over.
The WHO centre will be under the Ministry of AYUSH.
It is the only such centre on traditional medicine of WHO in the world.
Traditional Medicine
According to the WHO, Traditional medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.
AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy)
The Ministry of AYUSH was set up on the 9th of November 2014 to revive the knowledge of traditional Indian systems of medicine.
It focuses on education and research in the fields of Ayurveda, Yoga Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy.
Minister of AYUSH: Sarbananda Sonowal
World Health Organisation (WHO)
The World Health Organisation is a specialised agency of the United Nations which was founded on 7 April, 1948.
Every year 7 April is celebrated as “World Health Day”.
Headquarters of WHO : Geneva, Switzerland
Director General of WHO : Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia .
He was elected as WHO director General in 2017 and later re-elected in 2022 for a period of 5 years.
9. 4.1 million Indian brought to India under Vande Bharat Mission
Tags: National
The Government of India has informed a Parliamentary panel that under the Vande Bharat Mission a total of 4.1 million Indians were brought back to India.
The Vande Bharat Mission was launched by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India to bring back Indian’s stranded across the world due to Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The Vande Bharat mission is the largest ever civilian repatriation exercise by any country in recent history.
Highlights of the government data
Around 4.1 million Indians were brought back to India .
The government repatriated Indian citizens from more than 100 countries under the mission.
Of the total arrived passengers, 39.2 percent were workers, 39.1 percent were professionals, 5.9 per cent were students, 7.8 per cent visitors and 4.8 per cent Indian tourists stranded in foreign countries.
The maximum number of people were brought from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 2.54 million Indians were brought from the UAE.
Saudi Arabia, USA, Qatar and Oman ranked behind the UAE.
Maximum people brought to India were from Kerala( 1.41 million) followed by Delhi (1.33 million).
Both Air India and private carriers operated a total of more than 88,000 inbound flights and more than 87,600 outbound flights for the mission for which tickets had to be purchased by the passengers.
1 Million = 10 lakhs
Vande Bharat Mission
It was launched by the Government of India on 7 May 2020 to bring back Indian’s stranded in foreign countries due to covid -19 pandemic.
Initially the flights were operated by Air India, but later Private Air Lines also joined the operation.
The operations under Vande Bharat Mission were commercial operations by the airlines and air fares were paid by passengers. The Centre has not provided any subsidy or grant for the mission.
10. 48th Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC held in Islamabad
Tags: International Relations
The 48th Council of Foreign Ministers meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was held in Islamabad, Pakistan on 22 -23 March 2022. The session coincides with the 75th-anniversary celebrations of Pakistan's Independence Day.
The theme of the conference was :"Building Partnerships for Unity, Justice, and Development."
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan raised the Kashmir issue at the conference, saying the 57-member body has not been able to make any impact at all as it’s a "divided house".
China, though not a member of the OIC, was represented by its foreign minister Wang Yi who supported Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir .
India rejected the reference to Kashmir in the OIC declaration issued after the conference saying Kashmir was an integral part of India .
Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC)
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference was established by the First Islamic Summit Conference held in Rabat, Morocco, in September 1969.
It was set up to protect the interest of Muslims in the world.
Total Members : 57 countries
Headquarters : Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
India which has the third largest muslim population in the world after Indonesian and Pakistan is not the member of OIC.
