1. Union Rural Development Ministry to focus on rural women contribution for its Iconic week celebration
Tags: National News
The Union Rural Development Ministry is celebrating its Iconic week under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav from 7th to 13th March, 2022.
The theme of the Iconic week is “Naye Bharat ki Naari”. It will focus on the contribution of rural women in India .
Union Minister of Rural Development : Giriraj Singh
Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements.
The official journey of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav commenced on 12th March 2021 which started a 75-week countdown to our 75th anniversary of independence and will end post a year on 15th August 2023.
Following are the five themes of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Freedom Struggle
Idea at @75
Resolve @75
Action @75
Achievement @75
2. Union Minister Narayan Rane launches “SAMARTH” for women entrepreneur
Tags: National News
On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022, Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Shri Narayan Rane, launched a Special Entrepreneurship Promotion Drive for Women -"SAMARTH" on 7th March 2022 at New Delhi.
The Scheme will provide Skill Development and Market Development Assistance to women and more than 7500 women candidates from rural and sub- urban areas in 2022-23.
The aim of the scheme is to provide them an opportunity to be self-reliant and independent by undertaking self-employment opportunities.
Under the Samarth initiative of the Ministry, following benefits will be available to aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs:
20% Seats in free Skill Development Programs organised under skill development schemes of the Ministry will be allocated for Women. More than 7500 women will be benefitted.
20% of MSME Business Delegations sent to domestic & international exhibitions under the schemes for Marketing Assistance implemented by the Ministry will be dedicated to women-owned MSMEs.
20% Discount on annual processing fee on National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Commercial Schemes.
Special Drive for registration of women-owned MSMEs under Udyam Registration.
For Understanding the concept of MSME kindly see our 26 February 2022 post
3. Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav launched to bring girls to formal education
Tags: National News
The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), in partnership with the Union Ministry of Education and United Nations Children Funds,(UNICEF), has launched a campaign Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav to bring back out of school adolescent girls in India to the formal education or skilling system at New Delhi on 7 march 2022.
The main aim of the campaign is to increase the enrolment and retention of girls between 11-14 years of age in school.
The Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav campaign will be under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) initiatives of the Ministry of Women and Child Development , targeting more than 400,000 out of school adolescent girls as primary beneficiaries.
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
The scheme was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Panipat, Haryana on 22 January 2015.
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao is a joint scheme of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, Union Ministry of Education and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare .
The main aim of the scheme is to ;
Prevention of gender biased sex selective elimination
Ensuring survival and protection of the girl child
Ensuring education and participation of the girl child
UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is a successor to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, which was set up on 11 December , 1946 by the United Nation .
It was later renamed as United Nation Children Funds in 1953 but the acronym is still UNICEF.
It works for the welfare of women and children's especially in developing countries .
Headquarters : New York, United States of America
Head : Catherine Russel of the United States of America
Important for Exam
Union Minister of Women and Child Development : Smt Smriti Irani
Union Minister of Education : Dharmendra Pradhan
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare : Mansukh Mandviya
4. Hansa-NG completes its sea trial successfully
Tags: National
The country’s first indigenous Flying Trainer HANSA-NG (New Generation) designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, has successfully completed the sea level trials at Puducherry from 19th February to 5th March. Hansa-NG is said to be one of the most advanced flying trainers.
Hansa-NG is designed to meet the Indian flying club needs and it is an ideal aircraft for Commercial Pilot Licensing (CPL) due to its low cost and low fuel consumption.
Full Form for Exam
CSIR : Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
Headquarters of CSIR : New Delhi
5. Coal Ministry to celebrate “Iconic Week” from 7th March, 2022
Tags: National News
The Union Minister of State for Coal, Mines and Railways, Shri Raosaheb Patil Danveon inaugurated the “Iconic Week” celebration organised by the Union Ministry of Coal on 7 March 2022 at New Delhi.
The Union Ministry of Coal is celebrating “7 to 11 March 2022” as an”Iconic Week”, to celebrate and commemorate the 75 years of Independence, as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
The Government of India is celebrating 75 years of Indian Independence “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” to mark 75 years of progressive India and its elegant history.
The Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav was started on 12th March, 2021 and will end on 15 August 2023.
6. Prime Minister Inaugurates Pune Metro
Tags: National News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 12 Km stretch of the 32.2 km Pune metro rail project on 6 March 2022. The Foundation stone of the project was laid down by the Prime Minister on December 24, 2016.
The Rs 11,420-crore-31.25 km Pune Metro Phase 1 comprises a 16.58-km Corridor-1 from Pimpri Chinchwad to Swargate with 14 stations and a 14.66-km Corridor-2 from Vanaz to Ramwadi with 16 stations.
Pune Metro project is a joint venture between Government of India and Maharashtra government. The project is funded through a loan of 600 million euro from European Investment Bank and 245 million euro from AFD (French Development Agency) of France.
Mula-Mutha River Projects
PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of rejuvenation and pollution abatement of Mula-Mutha river projects in Pune.
Rejuvenation would be done in a 9 km stretch of the river at a project cost of more than Rs 1,080 crore.
(for detail about this project kindly see 23 February 2022 post)
RK Laxman Art Gallery
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the R K Laxman Art Gallery-Museum constructed at Balewadi, Pune.
The main attraction of the Museum is a miniature model based on the village of Malgudi which will be made alive through the audio-visual effects. Cartoons drawn by cartoonist R K Laxman will be showcased in the Museum.
R K Laxman was a famous cartoonist who created a character of common man which was published daily in the Times of India newspaper “You Said It” column.
Malgudi Days was a short story collection written by his brother R.K.Narayan, which was made into a famous TV serial on Doordarshan .
Important for Exams
The first metro rail system in the world was started in London on 10 January 1863 .
First metro in India; Kolkata Metro which started its operation 24 October 1984 between Dum Dam to Tollygunge . It was started with the help of the Soviet Union .
Largest metro rail in operation in India : Delhi Metro (390.14 km:Source DMRC as on 7 March 2022). It started operation on 24 December 2002.
Smallest Metro: Ahmedabad metro, 6 km;
The metro rail systems in operation in India are in the cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru,Chennai, Delhi,Gurugram,Hyderabad, Jaipur,Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai,Nagpur, Noida ,Pune. (total 14 cities )
7. India abstains in UN Human Rights council vote on Ukraine -Russia Conflict
Tags: International News
India again abstained on the United Nation Human Rights Council resolution on 4 March 2022, calling for an investigation of alleged human rights violation and international humanitarian law by Russia during its invasion of Ukraine .
So far India has abstained from three votes at the UN Security Council, two at the UN General Assembly in New York, two at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and one at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on resolution which has condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine .
Only Eritrea and Russia voted against the resolution while 13 countries including India abstained from the vote. .
The resolution was passed by two-third majority and it asked the Un Human Rights Council President to appoint a three member panel .
Russia has rejected all the allegations of human rights violation or targeting civilians during the conflict .
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council was set up by the United Nation General Assembly in 2006. It replaced the United Nations Commission Human Rights which was set up in 1946.
Main Functions
As it names suggest it was set up to ;
Strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe;
for addressing situations of human rights violations and makes recommendations on them.;
It discusses human rights issues and situations around the world .
Members
It has 47 members who are elected for three years by the United National General Assembly . The membership is distributed among regions. 13 members come from Asia and 13 from Africa , 6 come from East Europe, 7 from Western Europeand other groups and 8 from South America and Caribbean countries .
Headquarters : Geneva, Switzerland
President : Federico Villegras of Argentina .
8. 117th meeting of Indus Water Commission held in Pakistan
Tags: International News
The 117th Meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) comprising of Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan was held from March 1-3, 2022 in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The Indian delegation was led by Shri PK Saxena, the Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters.
Under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty (Treaty), signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, the two Commissioners are required to meet at least once every year, alternately in India and Pakistan.
The last meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) was held from March 23-24, 2021 in New Delhi.
During the meeting, technical discussions were held regarding on-going projects including Pakal Dul, Kiru and Lower Kalnai.
Both sides discussed the issue of the Fazilka drain, and Pakistan assured that all necessary actions will continue to be taken to ensure the free flow of Fazilka drain into the river Sutlej.
Indus Water Treaty 1960
It was signed between India and Pakistan in 1960. It divided Indus and its tributaries between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan was given the right to use the waters of Indus, Chenab and Jhelum while India was to use Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers for irrigation, power projects etc..
The Indus Water Treaty was mediated by the World Bank.
9. Russia Captures, Ukraine’s Nuclear Complex
Tags: Popular International News
Russian troops have taken control of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex is the largest nuclear plant in Europe and fifth largest in the world.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has an installed capacity of 6,000MW.
It provides one-fifth of Ukraine's electricity needs.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex is in southeastern Ukraine near the city of Enerhodar.
Russia has already captured the Chernobyl nuclear plant of Ukraine , which was the site of a major nuclear accident in 1986.
Important for Exam
The largest Nuclear Power plant in the world is Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Japan with an installed capacity of 7,965MW.
India’s largest nuclear power plant is at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu with an installed capacity of 2000 MW and additional 2000 MW is under construction . It is being built with the help of Russia .
Note-Update on Russian -Ukrainian war Click Here
10. Indian Air Force joins Operation Ganga
Tags: Popular National News
To accelerate the pace of evacuation from war torn Ukraine, the Government of India has pressed the Indian Airforce in the operation Ganga .
The Indian Air Force transport plane C-17 Globemaster was pressed into service and sent to Romania, Hungary, and Poland from the Hindon airbase.
All the aircraft carry tents, blankets, and other humanitarian aid for Ukraine.The Aircraft has a seating capacity of 158.
India bought the C-17 Globemaster from America and the first C-17 Globemaster was inducted in 2013 in the Indian Air Force . Presently the IAF has a fleet of 11 C-17 Globemaster IIIs.
Outside the United States, India has the largest fleet of C-17 Globemaster aircraft in the world.
The Indian Air Force had deployed its C-17 Globemasters aircraft for evacuation operations of Indians stuck in Afghanistan when the country fell into the hands of Taliban under operation Dev Shakti.
Note- 28 feb news to be update Click Here
