1. Sudan’s Prime Minister resigns
Tags: International News
- Abdalla Hamdok Al-Kinani, Sudan’s 15th Prime Minister (2019-2022) resigned from his position after a major crackdown on protesters citing reasons of lack of political consensus, and conflict with the military.
- Hamdok played a major role during the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy following the transfer of power from the Transitional Military Council to the Sovereignty Council of Sudan.
- Hamdok also served as Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Republic of Sudan
It is Africa’s 3rd largest country by area
Capital - Khartoum
Currency - Sudanese Pound
Currently under a military junta.
2. ISRO gearing up for multiple missions in the year 2022
Tags: Science and Technology National News
One of the most anticipated launches of ISRO in 2022 is that of its first unmanned mission of Gaganyaan to Lower Earth Orbit(LEO). GSLV Mk III will be used for this mission. Glavkosmos, which is a subsidiary of the Russian space corporation Roscosmos is supporting ISRO in this mission.
Other notable launches include-
- Earth Observation Satellites EOS4 and EOS6 onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
- Earth Observation Satellite EOS02 on board the maiden flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)
- Chandrayaan 03 - It will be India’s third planned lunar exploration mission. It will be a mission repeat of Chandrayaan-2 but will only include a lander and rover similar to that of Chandrayaan-2 but will not have an orbiter. GSLV Mk III will be used for this mission.
Aditya Ll - First Indian mission to study the Sun. It is a planned coronagraphy spacecraft to study the solar atmosphere. Aditya-L1 will be placed in a ‘libration orbit’, which is about 1.5 million km from Earth. It is about 1% of the distance between the Sun and the Earth, where the gravity of the two celestial objects equalizes. Placing it in such an orbit allows the spacecraft to circle along with the earth, thereby constantly facing the Sun.
- XpoSat - The X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is a planned space observatory to study the polarization of cosmic X-rays. It will be launched on a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV). It will be a five-year mission, carrying a polarimeter instrument made by Raman Research Institute to measure cosmic radiation. The spacecraft will be placed in a circular 500-700km orbit
- IRNSS - Indian regional navigation satellite system
Other notable future missions of ISRO are-
- Venus mission,
- DISHA (Disturbed and quiet-type System at High Altitude) –twin aeronomy (uppermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere) satellite mission at an altitude of 450km.
- TRISHNA (Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural resource Assessment), an ISRO-CNES [Centre national d'études spatiales France] mission in 2024 for accurate mapping of land surface temperatures across the globe. It will be launched in sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 750km with a mission life of 5 years
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
Headquarters - Bengaluru, Karnataka
Chairman - Kailasavadivoo Sivan
Nodal authority - Department of Space under Prime Minister of India
Main launchpad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh
3. Most searched on internet by Indians in 2021
Tags: National News
- The data is released by Google Trends.
- As per Google search data, Indian Premier League is the most searched topic in India in 2021 followed by CoWIN and ICC T20 World Cup.
- Whereas sporting events garnered interest only when they were streamed live, CoWIN or Covid Vaccine related searches sustained interest throughout the year.
Highest Searches as per categories -
- Near Me - Covid Vaccine near me followed by Covid test near me
- How To - How to register for Covid Vaccine followed by How to download vaccine certificate
- What Is - What is black fungus followed by what is the factorial of hundred
- Movies - Jai Bhim followed by Shershah
- News Events - Tokyo Olympics followed by Black Fungus
- Personalities - Neeraj Chopra followed by Aryan Khan
- Recipes - Enoki Mushroom followed by Modak
- Sports events - Indian Premier League followed by ICC T20 World Cup.
4. Covid Vaccination for 15-17 age group starts in India
Tags: National News
- The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare rolled out the first dose of vaccination for teenagers in the 15-17 age group in India on January 3, 2022. Those born in 2005, 2006, and 2007 are eligible for getting jabbed in this group.
- Registration for this age group started on January 1, 2022.
- The only covid vaccine approved for inoculation in this age group is Covaxin by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech. This is an inactivated vaccine with the second dose after a gap of 28 days.
- Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D also received Emergency Usage Listing(EUL) from Drugs Controller General of India(DCGI) on August 20 for vaccination of children aged 12 and above, but this is not included in the government’s public immunization programme for children which started on the 3rd January. Zydus is India’s first needle-free DNA Vaccine.
- Beneficiaries can either take appointment online through the CoWin application or can directly walk-in at the notified centers for their dosage.
- Student-ID card is accepted as proof of identity.
- Parental Consent Form is also required for this age group.
- In many states, the vaccination programme is rolled out in collaboration with schools and pre-university colleges.
- As per CoWin dashboard, 4199584 youngsters were jabbed on the first day of the children’s mass vaccination programme.
5. China constructing bridge on pangong lake
Tags: International News
- Continuing with infrastructure build-up on its side of the area near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, China is building a new bridge on Pangong Tso.
- However, the construction of the bridge is taking place in China and is 25 to 30 kilometers away from India’s claim of Line of Actual Control.
- The bridge connects the North and South banks of the lake which will provide an additional axis to deploy troops faster and closer to the LAC.
Pangong Tso, an endorheic lake, is 135 km long, of which more than two-thirds is under Chinese control. Khurnak Fort, close to where China is building the new bridge, is near the halfway mark of the boomerang-shaped lake. Historically a part of India, Khurnak Fort has been under Chinese control since 1958. From Khurnak Fort, the LAC is considerably west, with India claiming it at Finger 8 and China claiming it at Finger 4
6. Ayush Minister lays foundation stone for Heartfulness International Yoga academy
Tags: National News
The Union Ayush Minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone for the Heartfulness International Yoga academy at Hyderabad on 3rd January 2022.
- The Heartfulness International Yoga Academy comprises:
- Yoga halls that can accommodate 100 Yoga students in each hall,
- therapeutic Yoga rooms for consultation,
- one to one training spaces or small group classes;
- prenatal Yoga rooms;
- a lecture hall with 200 seating capacity;
- a full-fledged recording studio with editing suites for pre-recorded wellness programs;
- a recording Yoga hall fully equipped for Live online Yoga Classes;
- a Yoga library with books from every Yoga Institutions and access to Yoga research articles.
The “75-crores Suryanamaskar” Initiative as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mhotsav was also inaugurated at Kanha ShantiVanam the world headquarters of Heartfulness Meditation by Mr. Sonowal.
- It aims at creating the largest congregational Surya Namaskar event.
7. Fiji tops the NewsOnAir Radio Live-stream Global Rankings
Tags: National News
In the latest rankings of top countries in the world (excluding India) where All India Radio live-streams on NewsOnAir App are most popular, Fiji has toppled the United States to take the first position.
- The top three countries where the News on Air app are most popular are Fiji, United States and Australia
- More than 240 Radio Services of All India Radio are live-streamed on NewsOnAir App, Prasar Bharati’s official App.
8. Defence Minister inaugurates Kalpana Chawla Research Centre at Chandigarh
Tags: National News
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated Kalpana Chawla Centre for Research in Space Science & Technology (KCCRSST) at Chandigarh University on January 03, 2022.
- The state-of-the-art KCRESST would be the Ground Control Station for the Chandigarh University's Student Satellite (CUSat), an in-house developed nano-satellite being designed by the students of the university and a Geo-Spatial Centre for research, besides other projects.
- The CUSat will be among the 75 student-built satellites to be launched into space on the eve of the 75thIndependence Day in 2022.
- The Chandigarh University has joined the list of 13 institutes like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, IIT Bombay and became the first university in North India to design and develop its own satellite.
Kalpana Chawla
- She was an American Indian who was born at Karnal, Haryana.
- She was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space in 1997 on board the Columbia space shuttle.
She died in a space disaster when her space shuttle Columbia crashed in 2003.
9. Fire ravages South African parliament
Tags: International News
A massive fire in South Africa’s Parliament in Cape Town has completely destroyed its lower house , the National Assembly on 2 January 2022.l
- The name of South Africa’s Parliament is: “The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa ''.
- The South African Parliament consists of two houses
- The lower house is called the National Assembly and the Upper House is called the National Council of Provinces .
South Africa
President: Cyril Ramaphosa
Capitals: Cape Town (Legislative), Pretoria (Executive), Bloemfontein (Judicial)
Currency : Rand
10. Vice President’s visit to Lakshadweep and Kerala
Tags: National News
- The Vice President is on a 5 days state visit to Lakshadweep and Kerala from 31st December 2021 to 4th January 2022.
Important highlights of his Lakshadweep visit:
- He visited Lakshadweep on 31st December, 2021.
- He inaugurated two Colleges of Arts & Sciences in the Kadmat and Andrott islands of Lakshadweep on 1st January, 2022.
He then visited Kerala on 2nd January 2022:
- He visited Kochi, where India’s Indigenous Naval Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant is under construction at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
- Addressing an event later at Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), a DRDO facility in Kochi he unveiled Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial.
- He also laid the foundation stone of a Towed Array Integration Facility and handed over an Automated Sonar Trainer to the Navy.
INS VIKRANT :
The motto of the ship is "Jayema Saṁ Yudhi Spr̥dhaḥ", which is taken from Rigveda and means "I defeat those who fight against me".
- INS Vikrant, also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC-1) is the first aircraft carrier to be built in India, it is being constructed by the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) for the Indian Navy.
- It is named 'Vikrant' as a tribute to India's first aircraft carrier, Vikrant (R11).
