1. India-Israel agree to further enhance cooperation in the agricultural sector
Tags: National News
Israeli ambassador to India Shri Naor Gilon called on the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar at Krishi Bhawan on 27th January 2022.
- India and Israel have completed 30 years of diplomatic relations.
- India and Israel signed a three-year work programme for cooperation in Agriculture.
- In the agriculture sector,India and Israel had bilateral relations since 1993.So far, 4 action plans have been completed and this one is 5th Indo-Israel Agriculture Action Plan(IIAP)
- The aim of the work programme is to grow existing Centres of Excellence(CoE) by.
- Establishing new centres
- Increasing CoE’s value chain
- Bringing the Centres of Excellence into self-sufficient mode
- Encouraging private sector companies and collaboration
INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence
- The “INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence”, is a new concept aimed at creating a model ecosystem in agriculture across 8 states,alongside 13 Centres of Excellence within 75 villages.
- 29 operational Centers of Excellence in 12 States of India are producing more than 25 million vegetable plants, over 387 thousand quality fruit plants and train more than 1.2 lakh farmers per year aboot the latest technology in the field of horticulture.
Union Minister Shri Tomar informed that it has been decided to convert 150 villages around the Centers of Excellence into Villages of Excellence with technical assistance from Israel.
Out of which 75 villages are being taken up to convert into 'Villages of Excellence' to commemorate the 75th year of India's independence.
2. Supreme Court judgement on reservation in Promotion
Tags: National News
The Supreme Court on 28 January 2022 delivered its judgement on the issue relating to the reservation in promotions for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes.
A three judge bench of Justice L Nageswara Rao, Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai gave its judgement on a petition by the Central and State government to settle the confusion regarding the norms for reservation in promotion for Scheduled Caste(SC) and Scheduled Tribes(ST) .
The main points of the judgement are as follows:
- The court cannot lay any yardstick to determine the inadequacy of representation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe in the services of the states.
- It is the duty of the State to collect the quantifiable data before providing for reservation in promotion for SC/ST employees.
- Cadre should be the unit for the collection of quantifiable data for reservation. The collection cannot be with respect to the entire class/group, but it should be relatable to the Grade/Category of post to which promotion is sought.
- It also held that collection of information regarding inadequacy of representation of SCs and STs cannot be with reference to the entire service or ‘class’/‘group’ but it should be relatable to the grade/category of posts.
- It also declared that the Supreme Court judgement in the M Nagaraj case 2006 , which had laid down conditions like collections of quantifiable data, adequacy of representation and overall impact on efficiency of administration, for granting reservations in promotion in government would be applied prospectively.
- The court also declared the judgement of the Supreme Court in the B K Pavitra II 2019 case, which had allowed the collection of data on the basis of groups not cadres, as null and void.
3. Release of a pictorial book on India’s Women Unsung Heroes of Freedom Struggle as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav
Tags: National News
Union Minister of State for Culture Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi released a pictorial book on India’s Women Unsung Heroes of Freedom Struggle as part of Azadi ka Mahotsav, in New Delhi on 27th January.
The book has been released in partnership with Amar Chitra Katha which is a household name in India.
The Ministry of Culture has decided to release pictorial books on 75 Unsung Heroes of the Freedom Struggle in partnership with Amar Chitra Katha.
The second edition will be on 25 unsung Tribal Freedom Fighters which is under process and will take some time.
The third and final edition will be of 30 unsung heroes drawn from other areas.
- This book celebrates the lives of some of the women who led the charge and lit the flame of protest and rebellion throughout the country.
- It contains the stories of queens who battled colonial powers in the struggle against imperial rule and women who dedicated and even laid down their lives for the cause of the motherland.
4. Supreme Court quashes the suspension of 12 BJP MLA from Maharashtra Assembly
Tags: National News
In a significant judgement the Supreme Court on 28 January 2022 has set aside the Maharashtra Assembly's decision to suspend 12 legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a one-year period beginning July 5, 2021.
- A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said the MLAs cannot be suspended beyond the session.The apex court held that the suspension beyond the remainder of the session of the Assembly was substantially unconstitutional and irrational.
- Reinstating them, the court held that the resolutions passed by the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly were illegal and it was beyond the powers of the assembly .
- The court held that the suspended 12 MLAs will now be entitled to all consequential benefits after the conclusion of the session in July, last year.
- The legislators were suspended for a year for allegedly misbehaving with Bhaskar Jadhav, the presiding officer in the Assembly.
Kindly also see 12 January 2022 post on the issue
5. EU launches WTO action against China over Lithuania disputes
Tags: International News
The European Union has filed a case against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for targeting Lithuania over its stance on Taiwan.
The move has angered China, which does not recognise Taiwan as a state and considers the self-ruled democratic island a rebellious territory of the mainland.
This European Union move comes after Lithuania complained that China is blocking its imports and putting up a number of restrictions on economic ties between the two countries.
Background to the issue
- In July 2021, Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a diplomatic mission in its capital Vilnius in Taiwan's name instead of Chinese Taipei which many countries do to avoid angering China.
- It enraged China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province of China and opposes any country which seeks to establish relations with Taiwan.
- In November 2021, China retaliated and downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania and stopped issuing visas there in protest at Vilnius' decision to allow Taiwan to open the representative office under its own name.
- The European Commission handles trade policy for the EU’s 27 member states and takes the lead on conflicts at the WTO in Geneva, even if they involve a single state.
- According to the WTO rules, both sides have 60 days to resolve the issue through talks and if they fail to resolve the issue then it will be taken up by the dispute panel of the WTO.
Lithuania
It is a European country and is the member of 27countries European Union bloc.
Capital: Vilnius
Currency: Euro
President: Gitanas Nauseda
6. India - Central Asia first Summit Meeting
Tags: National News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the first India Central Asian summit meeting in a virtual mode to commemorate the establishment of 30 years of diplomatic relationship on 27 January 2022.
The meeting saw the participation of the five Presidents of the Central Asian Republics namely; Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan’s Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan’s Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan.
Speaking on the occasion Prime Minister Modi outlined three main objectives of the summit;
First, the cooperation between India and Central Asia is vital for the security and prosperity of the region.
Secondly, to set up an effective structure of cooperation between the two for regular interactions at various levels
Thirdly, to create an ambitious roadmap for cooperation between India and Central Asia.
Important highlights of the meeting:
- The leaders agreed to hold such a summit meeting every two years.
- They also agreed on regular meetings of Foreign Ministers, Trade Ministers, Culture Ministers and Secretaries of the Security Council to prepare the groundwork for the Summit meetings.
- An India-Central Asia Secretariat in New Delhi would be set up to support the new mechanism.
To further cooperation between the two they agreed to:
- set up a Joint Working Groups at senior official level on Afghanistan and use of Chabahar Port of Iran
- To organise Buddhist exhibitions in Central Asian countries
- To commission an India-Central Asia dictionary of common words;
- To hold joint counter-terrorism exercises;
- To organise the visit of a 100 member youth delegation annually from Central Asian countries to India.
The Central Asian Presidents were to be the chief guest at the 73 Republic day celebration 2022 but due to covid pandmeic their visit was cancelled.
7. Many first at the 73rd Republic Day 2022
Tags: National News
President Ram Nath Kovind led the nation in celebrating the 73rd Republic day 2022 celebration at the Raj Path in New Delhi.
This year republic day celebrations are part of the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebration of the Government of India to commemorate 75 years of Indian Independence.
Highlights of the Republic day ceremony 2022:
- There were no foreign guests at the ceremony like in 2021 due to the corona pandemic.
- From this year the Republic day celebration started on 23 and will end on 30 January. Earlier it started on 24 and ended on 29 January. 23 January is celebrated as Parakram Day on the birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose and 30 January is the Martyr's day to mark the assassiantion of Gandhiji.
- This year construction workers, sanitation workers, frontline workers and auto rickshaw drivers were invited as a special guest.
- Eco-friendly invitation cards with seeds of medicinal plants such as Aloe Vera, Ashwagandha and Amla have also been sent to invitees
- For the first time 480 dancers performed on the Rajpath who have been selected through a nationwide Vande Bharatham dance competition.
- The parade saw the launch of 'Shaheedon Ko Shat Shat Naman' programme by National Cadet and a display of ten scrolls each of 75 metres prepared during the 'Kala Kumbh' event.
- Due to Covid restriction only 21 tableaux were allowed at the parade. 12 tableaux were of State and Union Territories and nine of the Ministries and Department. The tableaux of Meghalaya, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra participated in the parade.
- Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, the country’s first Rafale pilot, was a part of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that featured in the Republic Day parade.
- The finale of the Republic day parade was the spectacular 75 aircraft fly past by the Indian Air Force. It included Rafale, Sukhoi-30s, Jaguars etc. fighter jets and helicopters of the Indian Air Force. 17 Jaguar fighter jets formed 75 formations to commemorate the 75th Independence Day of India.
- The military horse Virat retired after the parade. It was the 13 and final appearance of the Virat on the rajpath as the commandant of the President Bodyguard cavalry. The President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister personally patted the horse as a mark of respect.
- The beating retreat ceremony will be held on 29 January which will feature 1000 drones developed by IIT Delhi startup “ Botlab Dynamics”, and supported by the Department of Science and Technology. India will become the fourth country in the world after China, US and Russia to conduct a drone show on such a scale.
- A number of new tunes have been added to the ceremony to celebrate ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. These include ‘Kerala’, ‘Hind ki Sena’ and ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’. The event will come to a close with the ever-popular tune of ‘Sare Jahan se Acha’.
- The parade was commanded by Parade Commander, Lieutenant General Vijay Kumar Mishra.
8. PM writes Personal letters to foreigners on Republic Day
Tags: National News
On the occasion of the 73rd Republic Day on 26 January 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written personal letters to foreigners known to be friends of India acknowledging their role in strengthening people to people relations between India and their country.
The notable person who acknowledged the PM letter are as follows:
Jonty Rhodes
He is a former cricketer of South Africa who has also named his daughter India.
Chris Gayle
He is a West Indies Cricketer and also plays for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Ashley Rindsberg
He is a noted Israeli author.
Gad Saad
He is a Lebanese born Canadian Prof. of Marketing and is a renowned Behavioural scientist.
Machel Montano
He is from Trinidad and Tobago. He is a famous singer, producer, songwriter and actor.
9. China -Central Asian summit meeting
Tags: International News
China hosted a virtual summit meeting with the leaders of the five Central Asian Countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on 25 January 2022. It was hosted by China just two days before the same Central Asian leaders were to be hosted by India in a virtual summit meeting on 27 January 2022.
- The Chinese President Xi Jingping hosted the meeting to commemorate 30 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Central Asian countries.
- China’s President Xi Jinping offered $500 million in assistance to the region for its livelihood programme and pledged to increase bilateral trade.
- The total trade between the two in 2018 was $40 billion and the Chinese president pledged to increase it to $70 billion by 2030.
- He announced that China will provide 5 crore free corona vaccine doses to these five countries.
10. Padma Awards 2022
Tags: Awards National News
Ahead of Republic Day 2022, the Government of India on 25th January 2022 announced the Padma Awards. Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian awards of the country which is conferred in three categories, i.e. Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
- A total of 4 Padma Vibhushans, 17 Padma Bhushans and 107 Padma Shri awards have been conferred this year. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees.
- These awards are conferred by the President of India at the ceremonial functions which are held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March / April every year.
Padma Vibhushan (4):
This award is awarded for exceptional and distinguished services.
- Former Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, India’s first CDS General Bipin Rawat, Hindustani Classical vocalist Prabha Atre and Radheshyam Khemka of Gita Press have been named for the Padma Vibhushan.
- Apart from Gen. Rawat, Singh and Khemka have been conferred the award posthumously.
Padma Bhushan (17):
This award is awarded for distinguished service of a high order.
Name | Field - State/Country |
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad | Public Affairs - Jammu and Kashmir |
Shri Victor Banerjee | Art - West Bengal |
Ms. Gurmeet Bawa (Posthumous) | Art - Punjab |
Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee | Public Affairs - West Bengal |
Shri Natarajan Chandrasekaran | Trade and Industry - Maharashtra |
Shri Krishna Ella and Smt. Suchitra Ella* (Duo) | Trade and Industry - Telangana |
Ms. Madhur Jaffery | Others-Culinary - United States of America |
Shri Devendra Jhajharia | Sports - Rajasthan |
Shri Rashid Khan | Art - Uttar Pradesh |
Shri Rajiv Mehrishi | Civil Service - Rajasthan |
Shri Satya Narayana Nadella | Trade and Industry - United States of America |
Shri Sundararajan Pichai | Trade and Industry - United States of America |
Shri Cyrus Poonawalla | Trade and Industry -Maharashtra |
Shri Sanjaya Rajaram (Posthumous) | Science and Engineering - Mexico |
Ms. Pratibha Ray | Literature and Education - Odisha |
Swami Sachidanand | Literature and Education - Gujarat |
Shri Vashishth Tripathi | Literature and Education - Uttar Pradesh |
Padma Shri (107):
This award is awarded for distinguished service in any field.
Name | Field - State/Country |
Shri Prahlad Rai Agarwala | Trade and Industry - West Bengal |
Prof. Najma Akhtar | Literature and Education - Delhi |
Shri Sumit Antil | Sports - Haryana |
Shri T Senka Ao | Literature and Education - Nagaland |
Ms. Kamalini Asthana and Ms. Nalini Asthana* (Duo) | Art - Uttar Pradesh |
Shri Subbanna Ayyappan | Science and Engineering - Karnataka |
Shri J K Bajaj | Literature and Education - Delhi |
Shri Sirpi Balasubramaniam | Literature and Education - Tamil Nadu |
Srimad Baba Balia | Social Work - Odisha |
Ms. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay | Science and Engineering - West Bengal |
Ms. Madhuri Barthwal | Art - Uttarakhand |
Shri Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat | Literature and Education - Ladakh |
Dr. Himmatrao Bawaskar | Medicine - Maharashtra |
Shri Harmohinder Singh Bedi | Literature and Education - Punjab |
Shri Pramod Bhagat | Sports - Odisha |
Shri S Ballesh Bhajantri | Art - Tamil Nadu |
Shri Khandu Wangchuk Bhutia | Art - Sikkim |
Shri Maria Christopher Byrski | Literature and Education - Poland |
Acharya Chandanaji | Social Work - Bihar |
Ms. Sulochana Chavan | Art - Maharashtra |
Shri Neeraj Chopra | Sports - Haryana |
Ms. Shakuntala Choudhary | Social Work - Assam |
Shri Sankaranarayana Menon Chundayil | Sports - Kerala |
Shri S Damodaran | Social Work - Tamil Nadu |
Shri Faisal Ali Dar | Sports - Jammu and Kashmir |
Shri Jagjit Singh Dardi | Trade and Industry - Chandigarh |
Dr. Prokar Dasgupta | Medicine - United Kingdom |
Shri Aditya Prasad Dash | Science and Engineering - Odisha |
Dr. Lata Desai | Medicine - Gujarat |
Shri Malji bhai Desai | Public Affairs - Gujarat |
Ms. Basanti Devi | Social Work - Uttarakhand |
Ms. Lourembam Bino Devi | Art - Manipur |
Ms. Muktamani Devi | Trade and Industry - Manipur |
Ms. Shyamamani Devi | Art - Odisha |
Shri Khalil Dhantejvi (Posthumous) | Literature and Education - Gujarat |
Shri Savaji Bhai Dholakia | Social Work - Gujarat |
Shri Arjun Singh Dhurve | Art - Madhya Pradesh |
Dr. Vijaykumar Vinayak Dongre | Medicine - Maharashtra |
Shri Chandraprakash Dwivedi | Art - Rajasthan |
Shri Dhaneswar Engti | Literature and Education - Assam |
Shri Om Prakash Gandhi | Social Work - Haryana |
Shri Narasimha Rao Garikapati | Literature and Education - Andhra Pradesh |
Shri Girdhari Ram Ghonju (Posthumous) | Literature and Education - Jharkhand |
Shri Shaibal Gupta (Posthumous) | Literature and Education - Bihar |
Shri Narasingha Prasad Guru | Literature and Education - Odisha |
Shri Gosaveedu Shaik Hassan (Posthumous) | Art - Andhra Pradesh |
Shri Ryuko Hira | Trade and Industry - Japan |
Ms. Sosamma Iype | Others - Animal Husbandry - Kerala |
Shri Avadh Kishore Jadia | Literature and Education - Madhya Pradesh |
Ms. Sowcar Janaki | Art - Tamil Nadu |
Ms. Tara Jauhar | Literature and Education - Delhi |
Ms. Vandana Kataria | Sports - Uttarakhand |
Shri H R Keshavamurthy | Art - Karnataka |
Shri Rutger Kortenhorst | Literature and Education - Ireland |
Shri P Narayana Kurup | Literature and Education - Kerala |
Ms. Avani Lekhara | Sports - Rajasthan |
Shri Moti Lal Madan | Science and Engineering - Haryana |
Shri Shivnath Mishra | Art - Uttar Pradesh |
Dr. Narendra Prasad Misra (Posthumous) | Medicine - Madhya Pradesh |
Shri Darshanam Mogilaiah | Art - Telangana |
Shri Guruprasad Mohapatra (Posthumous) | Civil Service - Delhi |
Shri Thavil Kongampattu A V Murugaiyan | Art - Puducherry |
Ms. R Muthukannammal | Art - Tamil Nadu |
Shri Abdul Khader Nadakattin | Others - Grassroots Innovation - Karnataka |
Shri Amai Mahalinga Naik | Others - Agriculture - Karnataka |
Shri Tsering Namgyal | Art - Ladakh |
Shri A K C Natarajan | Art - Tamil Nadu |
Shri V L Nghaka | Literature and Education - Mizoram |
Shri Sonu Nigam | Art - Maharashtra |
Shri Ram Sahay Panday | Art - Madhya Pradesh |
Shri Chirapat Prapandavidya | Literature and Education - Thailand |
Ms. K V Rabiya | Social Work - Kerala |
Shri Anil Kumar Rajvanshi | Science and Engineering - Maharashtra |
Shri Sheesh Ram | Art - Uttar Pradesh |
Shri Ramachandraiah | Art - Telangana |
Dr. Sunkara Venkata Adinarayana Rao | Medicine - Andhra Pradesh |
Ms. Gamit Ramilaben Raysingbhai | Social Work - Gujarat |
Ms. Padmaja Reddy | Art - Telangana |
Guru Tulku Rinpoche | Others - Spiritualism - Arunachal Pradesh |
Shri Brahmanand Sankhwalkar | Sports - Goa |
Shri Vidyanand Sarek | Literature and Education - Himachal Pradesh |
Shri Kali Pada Saren | Literature and Education - West Bengal |
Dr. Veeraswamy Seshiah | Medicine - Tamil Nadu |
Ms. Prabhaben Shah | Social Work - Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu |
Shri Dilip Shahani | Literature and Education - Delhi |
Shri Ram Dayal Sharma | Art - Rajasthan |
Shri Vishwamurti Shastri | Literature and Education Jammu and Kashmir |
Ms. Tatiana Lvovna Shaumyan | Literature and Education - Russia |
Shri Siddhalingaiah (Posthumous) | Literature and Education Karnataka |
Shri Kaajee Singh | Art - West Bengal |
Shri Konsam Ibomcha Singh | Art - Manipur |
Shri Prem Singh | Social Work - Punjab |
Shri Seth Pal Singh | Others - Agriculture - Uttar Pradesh |
Ms. Vidya Vindu Singh | Literature and Education - Uttar Pradesh |
Baba Iqbal Singh Ji | Social Work - Punjab |
Dr. Bhimsen Singhal | Medicine - Maharashtra |
Shri Sivananda | Others - Yoga - Uttar Pradesh |
Shri Ajay Kumar Sonkar | Science and Engineering - Uttar Pradesh |
Ms. Ajita Srivastava | Art - Uttar Pradesh |
Sadguru Brahmeshanand Acharya Swami | Others - Spiritualism - Goa |
Dr. Balaji Tambe (Posthumous) | Medicine - Maharashtra |
Shri Raghuvendra Tanwar | Literature and Education - Haryana |
Dr. Kamlakar Tripathi | Medicine - Uttar Pradesh |
Ms. Lalita Vakil | Art - Himachal Pradesh |
Ms. Durga Bai Vyam | Art - Madhya Pradesh |
Shri Jyantkumar Maganlal Vyas | Science and Engineering - Gujarat |
Ms. Badaplin War | Literature and Education - Meghalaya |
Note:
- Former West Bengal Chief Minister buddhadeb Bhattacharjee turned down the Padma Bhushan.
- Veteran singer Sandhya Mukherjee refused to accept the Padma Shri.
