1. “Abide With Me” dropped from the Beating Retreat event this year
Tags: National News
The Centre decided to drop one of Mahatma Gandhi's favourite hymns "Abide With Me" from this year's Beating Retreat ceremony on January 29 as playing more Indian tunes would be appropriate in view of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', which celebrates the 75th year of India's Independence.
- "Abide With Me", written by Scottish Anglican poet and hymnologist Henry Francis Lyte in 1847, had been part of the Beating Retreat ceremony since 1950.
- For this year's ceremony, the hymn has been replaced by the popular patriotic song "Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon", which was written by Kavi Pradeep to commemorate the supreme sacrifice made by Indian soldiers during the 1962 Indo-China war.
- Beating Retreat marks the end of nearly week-long festivities of Republic Day, which used to begin on January 24. But this year, the celebrations will begin on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
- The brochure released by the Indian Army on Saturday listed 26 tunes that will be played at this year's ceremony by 44 buglers, 16 trumpeters and 75 drummers at Vijay Chowk.
- This year, a Kumaoni tune from Uttarakhand, Channa Billauri, has made it to the list.
2. 90 days Environmental Emergency in Peru
Tags: International News
The Peruvian Government on 22nd January declared a 90 days environmental emergency after crude oil spilled into the sea following a freak wave caused by a volcanic eruption in Tonga.
- The wave hit the Italian-flagged “Mare Doricum'' tanker when it was unloading the oil at a refinery owned by Spanish company Repsol.
- The oil spill has caused immense environmental damage to the coast of Peru with beaches and natural reserves being affected.
About Peru:
Peru is the third-largest country in South America after Brazil and Argentina.
- The world’s largest rainforest Amazon covers nearly half of Peru.
- Capital: Lima
- President: Pedro Castillo
- Currency: Nuevo Sol
- Official Language(s): Spanish, Quechua
For information about earthquake in Tonga see the post of 16th January 2022.
3. Rangoli Utsav on occasion of Girl Child Day
Tags: National News
As part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, the Ministry of Culture is organizing a rangoli-making event ‘Umang Rangoli Utsav’ on 24th January 2022. The day is celebrated as ‘National Girl Child Day’ every year.
- In the event, it is proposed that the participating teams will make Rangoli decorations for about one kilometer of length on the roads and squares that have been named after the female freedom fighters or the female role models of the country.
- The rangoli decorations are being done at more than 50 locations across the country. It will be a great opportunity to celebrate the ‘Girl Child Day’ and ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ through this event.
4. Operation Snow Leopard to continue: Army
Tags: National News
Northern Army Commander Lt General Y K Joshi on 22 January 2022, described 2021 as a “watershed year” for the armed forces, which stood up to aggression on the Line of Control (LoC) and the Line of Actual (LAC), and said troops are on alert to meet any eventuality even talks are in focus to resolve the ongoing standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
·He said that Operation “Snow Leopard” is continuing and our soldiers are alert and fully prepared.
·Operation Snow Leopard was launched by the Indian Army in September 2020 to control key heights along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh after the Chinese refused to vacate the area in Ladakh.
The occupation of the key strategic heights identified along the LAC by the Indian Army after the Galwan clash strengthened India’s bargaining position with China.
5. Fourth Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation
Tags: International News
The 4th Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation was organized jointly by the Government of Malaysia and the Global Tiger Forum (GTF).
- India is one of the Founding members of the intergovernmental platform of Tiger Range Countries – Global Tiger Forum
- The Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation is an important event for reviewing progress towards the Global Tiger Recovery Programme and commitments to tiger conservation.
- Shri Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, represented India at this conference.
- India hosted the 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference (3 AMC) in New Delhi from 12th to 14th April 2016.
- India appreciated the efforts of the Government of Malaysia in creating a role model through its “Central Spine and landscape-level planning.”
- The proposed New Delhi declaration is expected to be finalized in the Global Tiger Summit, 2022 to be held at Vladivostok, Russia.
- India’s budgetary allocation for tiger conservation has increased from Rs 185 crore in 2014 to Rs 300 crore in 2022.
- 14 Tiger Reserves in India have already been awarded international CA|TS accreditation
- The government of India has extended Rs 2 lakh life cover to each frontline staff of tiger conservation under e-Sharm, an initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Employment and Rs 5 lakh health cover under Ayushman Yojana.
- Approximately 4.3 million man-days of employment are being generated by 51 Tiger Reserves in India.
- Funds from Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) are being utilized for promoting voluntary village resettlement from core areas of the Tiger Reserves.
- India is now replicating the model of doubling the tiger population with other animals such as lions, snow leopards and dolphins.
6. Koyla Darpan Portal
Tags: National News
Union Ministry of Coal has launched the “Koyla Darpan” Portal to share Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to the Coal Sector
It was launched by Dr. Anil Kumar Jain, Secretary, Union Ministry of Coal.
As an initial step, the portal has the following KPIs -
- Coal/Lignite Production
- Coal/Lignite Offtake
- Exploration Data
- Central Sector Schemes
- Status of Coal Stock in Thermal Power Plants
- Infrastructure Projects
- Allocation of Blocks (CMSP/MMDR)
- Monitoring of Major Coal Mines(CIL)
- Coal Price.
Pralhad Joshi is the Minister in Charge, Union Ministry of Coal.
7. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand statue to be installed at India Gate
Tags: National News
In order to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of the great freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and as part of the year-long celebrations, the government has decided to install a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.
- The statue will be made of granite.
- The statue would be the symbol of the country’s indebtedness to him.
- Till the work for the statue is completed, a hologram statue of Netaji will be present at the same place. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will unveil the hologram statue of Netaji at India Gate on 23rd January 2022 (Parakram Diwas)
- The 3D hologram statue will be powered by a 30,000 lumens 4K projector and it will be projected on an invisible, high-gain, 90% transparent holographic screen which will not be visible to visitors.
- The size of the hologram statue is 28 feet in height and 6 feet in width.
- On Parakram Diwas 2022, Prime Minister will also confer the Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars, for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
- A total of seven awards will be presented during the ceremony.
- Union government has instituted the annual Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar to recognize and honor the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organizations in India in the field of disaster management.
- The award is announced every year on 23rd January. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual.
8. Agri Nutri Garden Week
Tags: National News
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) has observed ‘Agri Nutri Garden Week’ from 10th to 17th January, 2022 through awareness campaign and encouraging establishment of ‘Agri Nutri Gardens’ in the rural households.
- It is the Mission’s agenda to support every rural poor household to have Agri Nutri Garden to fulfill the need of the family’s nutrition and any excess production can also be sold for income generation.
- This is in line with Prime Minister’s vision of enhancing strength of Rural Economy and his clarion call of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
- A total of 76,664 ‘Agri Nuti Gardens’ were established in this week against the target of 7500.
- The initiative is also helping in promoting nutritional awareness, education and behavioral change in rural areas involving farm women and school children.
- It is also helping to harness traditional knowledge through the local recipe to overcome malnutrition and implementing nutrition-sensitive agriculture.
9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and launched development projects in Mauritius
Tags: International News
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Mr. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, jointly -
- Inaugurated the Social Housing Units Project in Mauritius
- Layed the foundation stone for
- Construction of a state-of-the-art Civil Service College and
- 8 MW Solar PV Farm
- The event was held via video-conference.
- All the projects are undertaken as part of India’s development support
- PM Modi also offered to share learnings of Mission Karmayogi.
- The 8 MW Solar PV Farm project involves the installation of 25,000 PV cells to generate approximately 14 GWh of green energy annually, to electrify approximately 10,000 Mauritian households with an estimated avoidance of 13,000 tons of CO2 emissions every year,
- The Civil Service College project, located in Reduit, is being financed through grant support of US$ 4.74 million, under an MoU signed in 2017 during the visit of Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth to India.
- The social housing project is developed with a grant of US$ 353 mn, which the Government of India extended to the Government of Mauritius in May 2016 as a Special Economic Package (SEP).
- The ceremony also included the exchange of two key bilateral agreements:
- Agreement for the extension of USD 190 million Line of Credit from the Government of India for the Metro Express and other infrastructure projects and
- MoU on the Implementation of Small Development Projects.
Mauritius
Capital - Port Louis
President - Prithvirajsing Roopun
Prime Minister - Pravind Jugnauth
Legislature - National Assembly
Currency - Mauritian Rupee
Official Language - English and French
10. Spice Xchange: India's first virtual platform for spice exporters launched
Tags: National News
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Shri Som Parkash launched the country’s first virtual platform for spice exports Spice Xchange India at a hybrid event held in Kochi
- Launched by the Spices Board, spicexchangeindia.com is a 3D virtual platform aimed at connecting India’s spice exporters with buyers from around the world.
- The portal uses artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology to connect spice buyers with exporters in India.
- The buyers and sellers can access the database to find potential customers.
- The portal works as an extended office enabling the subscribers to conduct virtual meetings.
