1. President unveils the Statue of Swarna Ramanujacharya
Tags: Person in news National News
President Ramnath Kovind visited Srirama Nagaram in Muchintal ,Hyderabad, Telangana on 13 February 2022. He inaugurated the 120-kg statue of Sri Ramanujacharya made of gold as part of the Sriramanuja Sahastrabdi Samaroh, marking the 1,000 years of the birth of the saint poet at Muchintal in Telangana.
Srirama Nagaram is a place in Muchintal, Hyderabad where 108 Vaishnavite shrines have been set up along with the Statue of Equality.
Statue of Equality was Inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 February 2022. (For Statue of Equality kindly see 5 February 2022 post)
Important for Exam
Place :
Srirama Nagaram: It is a temple complex in Muchintal, Hyderabad.
2. ISRO launches first satellite of the 2022
Tags: Popular Science and Technology National News
The Indian Space Research Organisation- (ISRO) successfully launched a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle -C52(PSLV-C52) on 14 February 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The PSLV-C52 rocket carried three satellites EOS-04 ,INSPIR Esat-1and INS-2TD)
Satellites carried by PSLV-C52
ESO-04 Satellite
It is a Radar Imaging Satellite designed to provide high quality images under all weather conditions for applications such as Agriculture, Forestry and Plantations, Soil Moisture and Hydrology and Flood mapping.
It is a 1,710 kg satellite which was built at the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru.
It will be deployed into a sun synchronous polar orbit of 529 km.
INSPIREsat-1
It is a micro satellite made by students of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology ,Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in association with Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at University of Colorado, Boulder, Nanyang Technology University (NTU), Singapore and National Central University(NCU),, Taiwan.
INS-2TD
It is a technology demonstrator satellite which is a forerunner to the India-Bhutan satellite INS 2-B
Fact about ISRO PSLV Mission
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is a four stage rocket of ISRO which was launched on 30 September 1993 for the first time .
This was the 80th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota;
It was the 54th flight of PSLV;
It was the 23rd flight of PSLV in the XL configuration (6 strap-on motors).
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
ISRO was set up on 15 August 1969
Chairman of ISRO: S Somnath
Headquarters of ISRO : Bengaluru, Karnataka
Space Station from where ISRO launches rockets
Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Full form for Exam
ISRO: Indian Space Research Organisation
PSLV : Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
EOS : Earth Observation Satellite
SDSC: Satish Dhawan Space Centre
- SHAR :Sriharikota Range
3. Government of India launches SMILE scheme
Tags: National News
Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar launched the Government of India scheme “SMILE: Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise” on 12 Feburary 2022 in New Delhi .
The scheme aims to provide welfare and rehabilitation facility to the Transgender community and the people engaged in the act of begging.
The SMILE scheme includes two sub schemes :
‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons’ and
Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of engaged in the act of Begging’
‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons
The main features of the scheme are :
It provides Scholarships for Transgender students studying in IX and till post-graduation to enable them to complete their education.
It has provisions for Skill Development and Livelihood under the PM-DAKSH(Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi) scheme.
Through Composite Medical Health it provides a comprehensive package in convergence with Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana ( PM-JAY) supporting Gender-Reaffirmation surgeries through selected hospitals.
The Housing facility in the form of ‘Garima Greh’ ensures food, clothing, recreational facilities, skill development opportunities, recreational activities and medical support etc. to the Transgender community and the people engaged in the act of begging.
The Provision of Transgender Protection Cell in each state will monitor cases of offences and to ensure timely registration, investigation and prosecution of offences.
The National Portal & Helpline will provide necessary information and solutions to the Transgender community and the people engaged in the act of begging when needed.
‘Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging’
It will focus on survey and identification, mobilisation, rescue/ shelter home and comprehensive resettlement of the persons engaged in the act of begging .
The Government of India has launched pilot projects on Comprehensive Rehabilitation in ten cities namely Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna and Ahmedabad.
Full form for exam
SMILE : Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise;
PMJAY : Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana;
PM DAKSH : Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi;
4. Freedom Convey in France to protes Covid Restrictions
Tags: International News
Inspired by the truckers that shut down the Canadian capital Ottawa, thousands of demonstrators from across France made their way to Paris in a “freedom convoy” of cars, trucks and vans.
This is a latest protest which rocked many countries where people are protesting the covid related restriction.
People have protested in the Australian capital of Canberra and New Zealand capital Wellington against the government rules of compulsory vaccination against covid.
Important for exams
France
It is a North Western European country
Capital : Paris
Currency: Euro
President: Emmanuel Macron
India has bought Rafale fighter aircraft from France for its Air Force .
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.
Its Capital : Canberra
Currency : Australian Dollar
Prime Minister : Scott Morrison
New Zealand
It is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean .
Capital : Wellington
Currency : New Zealand Dollar
Prime Minister : Miss Jacinda Ardern
5. WFP will handle Indian wheats in Afghanistan
Tags: International News
The Indian Government has signed an agreement with the United Nations World Food Programme((WFP)) for the distribution of 50,000 tonnes of wheat ,which will be supplied by India to Afghanistan as a humanitarian assistance .
India has committed to supply 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan free of cost through Pakistan’s land route.
Last year on October 7, India proposed to supply wheat to Afghanistan through the Pakistan road route and Pakistan agreed to it .
India has also committed to provide Rs 200 crore for development assistance to Afghanistan.
Earlier, India has also supplied six tonnes of medicine and 5 lakh doses of Covid vaccine out of the total 10 lakh vaccines promised by India to Afghanistan.
India does not recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan which came to power after the Ashraf Ghani government fled from Kabul on 5 August 2020. Whatever assistance is provided by the Indian government to Afghanistan is through a neutral partylike the UN or its agencies.
WFP
The World Food Programme(WFP) is the largest humanitarian agency of the United Nation.
It provides food to people displaced by conflicts and made destitute by disasters.
It provides food to children in poor countries through school feeding programmes
It helps countries and communities to prepare and cope with climate related changes.
It helps the small farmers in improving productivity.
WFP headquarters : Rome
It was founded in 1961
It won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020.
Chairman : David Beasley
6. Australia and India signed an MOU on Tourism
Tags: International News
Australian minister of Trade, Tourism and Investment, Dan Tehan visited India on 10-11 February 2022.
He signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tourism cooperation in the field of Tourism with Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles on behalf of the Tourism ministry on 11 February 2022.
7. Atal Innovation Mission and UNDP India launches Community Innovator Fellowship
Tags: National News
Atal Innovation Mission of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Ayog, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has introduced a Community Innovator Fellowship to mark the ‘International Day of Women and Girls in Science’. 11 February is celebrated in the world as the “ International Day of Women and Girls in Science”.
The fellowship is developed as a pre-incubation model which will provide youth with an opportunity to establish their social enterprise focusing on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) based solutions for solving community issues.
UNDP
The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) was set up in 1965 by the United Nation .
Its headquarters is in New York , United States .
UNDP helps countries in eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities, and building resilience so countries can sustain progress. As the UN’s development agency, UNDP plays a critical role in helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
NITI Ayog
National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Ayog was set up on 1 January 2015 to replace the Planning Commission.
Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairman of NITI Ayog
Current Vice-chairman : Rajiv Kumar
Its headquarters : New Delhi
8. Diesel to be replaced by renewable energy in Agriculture by 2024
Tags: National News
The Government of India has set a target to replace the use of diesel by renewable energy in the agriculture sector by 2024.
Agriculture sector after transportation sector is the second largest consumer of diesel in India.
Diesel is used by farmers for running pumps for irrigation purposes , harvesters, threshers , and running tractors.
Diesel is the most-popular fuel, accounting for about 40% of India’s petroleum sales.
Green Energy Target
According to the Union Power Minister R.K.Singh ,the Government of India has set a target of 500 GigaWatt(GW) of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030 .
It has also set a target that by 2030 the contribution of the non -renewable source of energy in total energy production shall be 50 %.
Concept
Fossil Fuels
It is a hydrocarbon fuel which is formed due to decomposition of organic materials like tree, animals over a period of time . Petroleum, Natural Gas, Coal are examples of fossil fuels. They are burned for energy production.
Renewable Energy
The energy derived from natural processes that are replenished at a rate that is equal to or faster than the rate at which they are consumed. For eg Sun(solar energy,), river (hydel energy). Wind, hot springs (geothermal energy), biomass(bio-fuels), Tides(tidal energy ).
Non-Renewable Energy
The energy source which cannot be replenished during human lifetime is called non-renewable energy . Eg. Fossil fuels If we use 1 kg coal for producing power then the formation of new 1kg of coal by nature will take millions of years to form to replace the consumed coal.
FACTS
The total renewable energy installed capacity in India as on 30 September 2021 was 150.54 GW.of which
Solar energy was 48.55 GW,
Large Hydroelectric energy was 46.51 GW
Wind energy was 40.03 GW,
Biomass energy was 10.62 GW. and
Small Hydroelectric energy was 4.83 GW,
India has the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world after China, U.S and Germany.
9. Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting
Tags: Popular International News
Australia hosted the third in- person foreign minister’s meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue also known as QUAD in Melbourne on 11 February 2022. Earlier in person foreifn ministers’ meetings were held in Tokyo in October 2020 and the inaugural meeting in New York in September 2019.
The Melbourne meeting was attended by the Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken , Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and the Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payn.
A joint statement was issued after the end of the meeting .The main highlights of the statement were as follows :
For the first time the QUAD mentions the terrorist incident of 2008 Mumbai attack of 26/11 and the attck on Pathankot air base 2016 and called for bringing the prepartotrs to justice .
The foreign ministers of India, Australia, Japan and the US reviewed the Quad Vaccine Partnership, which was launched in March last year, during their meeting in Melbourne. The partnership envisages the production of at least 1 billion doses of US-developed vaccines in India with American and Japanese funding.
Indian company Biological E is producing corona vaccine developed by U.S Texas Children’s Hospital scientists Drs Peter Hotez and . Maria Bottazzi. The vaccine is called Corbevax. This vaccine will be supplied to poor countries through Quad Vaccine Partnership.
Australia will hold an Indo-Pacific Clean Energy Supply Chain Forum meeting in mid-2022 to establish responsible and resilient clean-energy supply chains
QUAD
Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is a group of four countries US, Japan, Australia and India. The concept of QUAD was given by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007 for maritime cooperation between these countries after the Indian ocean Tsunami disaster in 2004.
Now the group is mainly seen as a group to counter the Chinese influence in the region .
The first virtual summit meeting of the leader of QUAD was held in March 2021.
The First in person summit meeting of the leaders of the four countries was held by the United States in September 2021 in Washington attended by the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga
The next summit meeting will be held in Japan in 2022.
10. Government of India to set up two Centre for excellence in Carbon capture facility in India
Tags: National News
The Government of India is setting up two National Centres of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilisation for long-term research, design development, collaborative and capacity-building hubs for state-of-the-art research and application-oriented initiatives in the field of Carbon capture.
The two centre s are:
National Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilisation (NCoE-CCU) at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay,
National Centre in Carbon Capture and Utilisation (NCCCU) at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru
Concept clearing
Carbon Capture and Storage and Utilisation
Carbon Capture and Storage is the process of capturing the carbon dioxide which is released due to industrial activities/power generation using fossil fuels, before it is released in the atmosphere .
The captured carbon- dioxide can be used to make commercially marketable products . This is called Capture Capture Storage and Utilisation (CCSU). Normally it is used in enhanced oil extraction where carbon dioxide is injected in oil fields to increase their extraction efficiency.
The first large-scale CCSU project began operating at Sleipner in Norway in 1996.
Important full form for EXAMS :
NCoE-CCU: National Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization
National Centre in Carbon Capture and Utilisation.
NCCCU: National Centre in Carbon Capture and Utilisation
CCSU.: Carbon Capture Storage and Utilisation
JNCASR: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
