1. Third National Youth Parliament Festival held at New Delhi
Tags: National
The third National Youth Parliament Festival was held in New Delhi on 10th and 11th March 2022. The festival was inaugurated by Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Mr. Anurag Thakur and the valedictory address was given by the Lok Sabha Speaker Mr. Om Birla.
Ms. Rageshwari Anjana from Bhopal won the first position, Shri Siddharth Joshi from Dungarpur, Rajasthan got the second position and Ms. Amarpreet Kaur from Bathinda received the third position in National Youth Parliament 2022 national round competition.
National Youth Festival
The objectives of the National Youth Parliament are to provide a platform for the youth to voice their thoughts, opinions and dreams for the country and enable the youth to voice their concerns and local problems on a platform to be heard.
The 1st edition of National Youth Parliament was organised from 12th January to 27th February, 2019 with the theme “Be the Voice of New India and Find solutions and Contribute to Policy”.
2nd edition of National Youth Parliament was organised from 23rd December, 2020 to 12th January, 2022 with the theme “YUVAAH- Utsah Naye Bharat Ka” through virtual mode.
2. India ranked 4th on the Global firepower Index
Tags: Popular International News
The Global Firepower report 2022 has ranked India as the 4th most powerful military in the world in 2021. The Global Firepower ranks the countries on its potential war making capabilities across land, air and sea fought by conventional means. It means it does not take into account the country's nuclear capability.
The most powerful country in the world was the United States followed by Russia, China, India and Japan.
Iceland was ranked at 142 and was considered as the least military powerful country in the world,
The report has been released by Global Firepower since 2006.
3. NTPC to set up a solar plant in Sri Lanka
Tags: National
NTPC which was earlier called National Thermal Power Corporation has signed an agreement with Ceylon Electricity board of Sri Lanka to jointly set up a 100 MW solar power plant in Sampur, in the Trincomalee district of Sri Lanka .
NTPC
The National Thermal Power Corporation of India is owned by the Government of India. It was set up in 1975.
The company was mainly in the business of coal based power generation and transmission of electricity. Later it diversified into non renewable power generation business.
The total installed capacity of the company is 68,567.18 MW (including JVs) own stations include 24 coal based, 7 gas based, 1 Hydro 1 Wind 13 Solar and 1 Small hydro plant.
As on 31.03.2020 the company had 16.78% of the total national capacity and it contributes 20.96% of total power generation.
It operates India’s largest power plant in India,Vindhyachal Thermal Power Station, Madhya Pradesh.
The Vindhyachal Thermal Power Station in the Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh, with an installed capacity of 4,760MW, is currently the biggest thermal power plant in India. It is a coal-based power plant owned and operated by NTPC.
Headquarters : New Delhi
Source of Data : NTPC website .
4. OECD suspends Russia and Belarus
Tags: International News
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Economic development (OECD) has suspended Russia and Belarus from participating in any activities of the OECD due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Neither Russia nor Belarus is a member of the OECD.
Russia's application to join the OECD was postponed after the country annexed Crimea in 2014 and was cancelled in February 2022 as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Belarus has been punished for its role in supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine
The exclusion of Russia and Belarus will mean they're barred from participating in negotiations on issues including taxation, international business regulation and trade.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Economic development (OECD)
It is a group of the world’s most developed and rich countries. It discusses a wide range of global issues like trade, taxation, money laundering,international business regulation etc and sets the agenda for the world .
It was founded in 1961.
Headquarters : Paris, France
Total member countries 38
Costa Rica was the 38th country to join the OECD.
Russia, China, and India are not members of OECD .
Full Form for exam
OECD: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Economic development
Belarus
Belarus or also called Byelorussia is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.
It was once part of the Soviet Union and became independent after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Capital : Minsk
Currency : Belarusian ruble
President : Alexander Lukashenko
5. BJP poised to form government in 4 states and AAP sweeps Punjab polls
Bharatiya Janata Party is set to form governments in Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa while the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) swept away Punjab.
The general election to constitute a new legislative Assembly in the states of Manipur, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab was held by the Election Commission of India from 14 February 2022 to March 7 ,2022.
Uttar Pradesh voted in 7 phases from February 10 to March 7 to elect 403 vidhan sabha members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
The 40-member assembly of Goa went to polls in a single phase on February 14.
The 70 member assembly of Uttarakhand went to polls in a single phase on February 14.
The 117 member assembly of Punjab went to polls in a single phase on February 20.
The 60 member assembly of Manipur went to polls in two phases on 28 February and 5 March 2022.
State | Total Seats | Majority seats | Second place | Others |
Punjab | 117 | Aam Aadmi Party -92 seats | Congress(I)- 18 seats | Shiromani Akali Dal-3 seats |
Uttar Pradesh | 403 | BJP-255 seats | Samajwadi party-111 seats | Congress-2 seats |
Uttrakhand | 70 | BJP-47 seats | Congress-19 seats | Others - 2 seats |
Manipur | 60 | BJP-32 seats | National People’s Party -7 seats | Congress-5 seats |
Goa | 40 | BJP-20 seats | Congress-11 | AAP-2 seats |
In Uttar Pradesh,the alliance partners of BJP were Apna Dal(Sonelal) and NISHAD Party(Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal") .The alliance partner Apna Dal won 12 seats and the NISHAD party won 6. The total seats won by BJP and its alliances are 273.
Notable winners of the Poll
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of BJP won from Gorakhpur Urban seat by defeating Samajwadi Party’s Subhawati Upendra Dutt Shukla. This was the first time he contested an Assembly poll.
Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav won the Karhal seat by defeating the Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Satya Pal Singh Baghel.
Manipur Chief Minister N.Biren Singh of BJP defeated Congress's P Sharatchandra from Heingang seat.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant won the Sanquelim assembly constituency seat as he defeated Congress leader Dharmesh Saglani.
Notable losers
- Uttarakhand Chief Minister and BJP leader, Pushkar Singh Dhamilost the election from Khatima to the Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri.
- Punjab Chief Ministerand Congress Party (I) candidate Charanjit Singh Channi contested from two constituencies and lost both . He was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) candidate Labh Singh Ugoke in the Bahadaur assembly seat. He also lost his traditional Chamkaur singh sahib seat to his name sake ,Chanranjit singh Channi of Aam Aadmi Party.
- Former Chief Minister of Punjab ,Captain Amrinder Singh who formed a new party, Punjab Lok Congress lost his Patiala Urban constituency to AAP's Ajit Pal Singh Kohli.
- Congress Party Punjab chief , Navjot Singh Sidhu lost the Amritsar East seat to AAP candidate Jeevanjyot Kaur
- Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was defeated by Pallavi Patel of Samajwadi Party in Sirathu constituency .
Pushkar Singh Dhami and Charanjit Singh Channi have resigned from their post .
Chief Election Commissioner of India : Sushil Chandra .
6. 5th NSA meeting of Colombo Security Conclave held in Maldives
Tags: International News
The 5th National Security Advisor’s meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave was held at Male, Maldives on 9 March 2022.
The Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval represented India at the meeting.
India, Sri Lanka and Maldives are the members of the Colombo Security Conclave.
At the meeting, Mauritius was included as the fourth member. Bangladesh and Seychelles participated as Observers.
NSAs discussed the significance of close cooperation between member and observer countries in maritime safety and security and countering terrorism and radicalisation.
These countries agreed that they shall play the role of the first responders for the region.
7. Government of India to set up Land Monetisation Corporation
Tags: National News
The Union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the creation of National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC). It will pool together and monetise the land owned by the government of India and its companies/corporations.
The NMLC will be owned by the government of India and under the Ministry of Finance. The Corporation will have a paid-up capital of Rs 150 crores and authorised capital of Rs 5000 crore.
In the 2021-22 Union Budget, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the setting up of a special purpose vehicle for this purpose.
Last September, the Government had put out a four-year National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) worth an estimated Rs 6 lakh crore. Roads, Railways and power sector assets will comprise over 66 per cent of the total estimated value of assets to be monetised.
Concept Clearing
What is Monetisation
It refers to the process of turning non-revenue generating assets into cash.
The Government of India and its various companies like railways, defence, telecommunications etc have surplus lands, buildings which are not being used or are generating less revenue than it is capable of.
Under the monetisation plan these land or buildings can be sold, or used for commercial purposes in partnership with private companies so that optimum revenue can be generated.
8. 4 million students shifted to government school during Covid
Tags: National News
Around 40 lakh students shifted to government school during the 2020-21 academic season due to the corona pandemic which made millions of people jobless and teaching shifted to online mode.
According to the government‘s Unified District Information System for Education (UIDSE+), overall enrollment in the pre-primary to higher secondary schools declined by 77,585.
The UDISE+ 2020-21 report covers data reported by private and government schools.
According to the data , nearly 75% of schools in India still did not have internet facilities and 59% had no computer facilities in the year 2020-21.
The overall enrolment of students from the pre-primary grades to class 12 in more than 15 lakhs schools across the country was 2645 lakhs in 2019-20, declining to 264 lakhs in 2020-21.
The data shows that the number of students enrolled in private schools decreased from 9.80 crore in 2019-20 to 9.5 crore in 2020-21 while enrolment in government schools rose by 39.7lakhs during the same period.
The Unified District Information System for Education (UIDSE+) report is released by the Union Ministry of Education.
Important for Exam
Union Education Minister : Dharmendra Pradhan
9. Government removes upper age limit for NEET-UG
Tags: Popular National News
In a major decision the government of India has decided to remove the upper age limit for aspirants appearing for the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) for Undergraduates medical courses.
The National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), formerly the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT), is the qualifying test for MBBS and BDS programmes in Indian medical and dental colleges. It is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
As per the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997 the upper-age limit for candidates appearing for National Eligibility Entrance Test and seeking admission to MBBS programme shall be 25 years as on the date of examination and 30 years for SC/ST/OBC category and persons entitled for reservation under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
There is no change in the minimum age criteria of 17 years for appearing in the exam.
According to the government of India there were 51,348 MBBS seats in India in 2014 and now it is 88,120 seats. Nearly half of these seats are in government medical colleges.
This move of the government can be seen as a response to the fact that many Indian students go to places like Ukraine for medical study and one of the reasons cited was the low number of medical seats in India, high fees in private medical colleges in India and also NEET. Increasing the age limit will offer more chances to the candidate to clear the medical exam for MBBS.
10. WHO Global centre for Traditional medicine in India .
Tags: National
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has signed an agreement with the government of India to set up a WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
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 .
