Current Affairs

Vishnu Saravanan qualifies for Tokyo

Subedar Vishnu Saravanan was enrolled into Boys Sports Company, MEG & Centre in 2015 as a Boys Sports Cadet. His father Subedar Saravanan is a Madras Sappers Sailor.

In a very short period after joining MEG Boys Sports Company, with his self-determination and support from MEG he participated in Junior National & Youth National Championships and won medals. His performance has been consistently improving and he participated in the Hongkong Sailing Week-2016 (ASAF Series - 2) and won silver medal in Laser Class. He has till now participated in thirty international events with thirteen ‘top three’ finishes. He participated in ten Senior & Youth National championships and won Gold medals in all the categories. Based on the outstanding performance he was enrolled into Madras Engineer Group (MEG) as a direct entry Naib Subedar (Junior Commissioned Officer) in the year 2017.

 
After enrolment into the Army, Naib Subedar Vishnu Saravanan won his first Gold Medal in Senior National championship 2018 and since then he has participated in several international championships. He participated in the Laser Youth U-21 World Sailing Championship 2019 held at Croatia, Europe from 26 Oct to 02 Nov 2019 and won Bronze Medal in Laser Under-21 category where a total of 144 sailors from 41 countries participated.



PM Modi releases Hindi Version of Odisha Itihaas by Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab

Prime Minister Narendra Modi releases the Hindi translation of the book ‘Odisha Itihaas’ written by ‘Utkal Keshari’ Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab from Ambedkar International Center, Janpath, New Delhi.

The book, available in Odia and English so far, has been translated into Hindi by Shankarlal Purohit.The event marking the release of the Hindi version has been organised by Harekrushna Mahtab Foundation.

 Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab was a notable figure in the Indian Independence Movement. He also served as Chief Minister of Odisha from 1946 to 1950 and from 1956 to 1961. He wrote the book ‘Odisha Itihaas’ in Ahmednagar Fort Jail, where he was imprisoned for more than two years during 1942-1945.



NRAI announces Team for Tokyo Olympics

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the governing body of the Olympic sport of Shooting in the country, today announced a 15-member Indian contingent for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July.

The Selection Committee after a meeting on Sunday afternoon which lasted over five hours, also announced a set of 14 reserve shooters for each of the eligible events, particularly with an eye on the raging Covid-19 pandemic, as had been suggested last month by the NRAI President, Mr Raninder Singh. Reigning world number one in Women’s 10M Air Rifle Elavenil Valarivan, was the only athlete to have been picked in the team, who had not won, one of the 15-quotas won by the National Team. She would avail of the quota won by Anjum Moudgil in the event.

It was also decided by the National Selection Committee that the quota won by Chinki Yadav in the Women’s 25M Pistol would be swapped in favour of Anjum Moudgil, to enable her to compete in the Women’s 50M Rifle 3 Positions event as India’s second entry alongside former World Champion Tejaswini Sawant.The quota won for the nation can only be swapped within the same gender.



Hubert Hurkacz of Poland clinches Miami Open title defeating Jannik Sinner of Italy

In Tennis, 26th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland won the biggest title of his career beating 19-year-old Jannik Sinner of Italy in the Miami Open final last night. Hurkacz, 24, improved to 10-0 in Florida this year, including the Delray Beach title in January.

Ranked 37th, he beat two top-10 opponents in the same tournament for the first time, and he is projected to climb to a career-high 16th in next week's rankings.

Hurkacz was poised playing his first final in the top-level ATP series, the Masters 1000. Sinner, playing in just his third Masters 1000 tournament, wobbled serving at 6-5 in the first set and was broken at love. Hurkacz became Poland’s first Masters 1000 champion.



Rajnath Singh, South Korean Defence Minister inaugurate Indo-Korean Bilateral Friendship Park in Delhi Cantt

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and South Korean Defence Minister Suh Wook inaugurated the Indo-Korean Bilateral Friendship Park in Delhi Cantt today.
 
This Friendship Park has been built to commemorate the contribution of Indian peacekeepers during the Korean War from 1950 to 53.
 
Mr. Suh Wook also laid a wreath and paid homage to the martyrs at the National War Memorial in the National Capital. South Korea's National Defence Minister Suh Wook is on a three day visit to India.



Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman conferred Gandhi Peace Prize 2020

The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2020 is being conferred on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 

The jury for the prize Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi  and comprising the Chief Justice of India and the leader of the single largest opposition party in Lok Sabha unanimously selected the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the award.


Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla and founder of the social service organisation Sulabh, Bindeshwar Pathak were the other eminent members of the jury. 


The Committee selected the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in recognition of his outstanding contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods.


Prime Minister Modi has said that Bangabandhu was a champion of human rights and freedom, and is a hero to Indians as well.



PM Modi launches Catch the rain campaign on the occasion of World Water Day; Calls for water security & effective water management

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India’s development and self-reliance is dependent on water security and water connectivity. 

Launching Jal Shakti Abhiyan : Catch the Rain campaign virtually on the occasion of World Water Day, Mr Modi said water security and water management is crucial for the future of coming generations. 

He noted that the challenge of the water crisis is increasing equally with India’s development. 

Prime Minister said it is the responsibility of the present generation of the country to fulfill its responsibility for the generations to come. He asserted that the government has made water governance a priority in its policies and decisions. 

In the last 6 years, many steps have been taken in this direction. He talked about Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna, water campaign to every farm - Har Khet ko Paani, 'Per Drop More Crop' campaign and Namami Gange Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission and Atal Bhujal Yojana. Mr Modi said, work is being undertaken rapidly on all these schemes.



PM inaugurates curtain raiser activities of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ India@75

rime Minister, Narendra Modi flagged off the ‘Padyatra’ (Freedom March) from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad and inaugurated the curtain raiser activities of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ (India@75).

He also launched various other cultural and digital initiatives for the India@75 celebrations. Governor of Gujarat Acharya Devvrat, Union MoS (I/C) Prahalad Singh Patel and Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani were present on the occasion.

Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav is a series of events to be organised by the Government of India to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence. The Mahotsav will be celebrated as a Jan-Utsav in the spirit of Jan-Bhagidari.

Addressing the gathering at Sabarmati Ashram, the Prime Minister noted the launch of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ 75 weeks before 15 August 2022 which will continue till 15 August, 2023. He paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi and great personalities who laid down their lives in the freedom struggle.



Nearly four crore water connections provided to rural households since the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission

al Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said that the government is committed to provide quality water supply to every rural household by the year 2024. He said, three crore 80 lakh rural families have been provided tap water connection since the launch of the Jal Jeevan Mission. Chairing a Conference of States and Union Territories' Ministers on Jal Jeevan Mission today through video conferencing, Mr. Shekhawat said, over seven crore rural families are getting quality water in their homes. He said, the coverage reached to 37 per cent from 17 percent within the span of one and a half year. 
 
Appreciating the objectives of mission, the Minister said, targets have been set to provide three crore water connections to households within this year. He said, several states and union territories have accomplished the targets in a significant way under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Minister also released drinking water quality testing, monitoring and surveillance and also launched the Jal Jeevan Mission-Water Quality Management Information System. The system will showcase data related to quality water supply to households. Mr. Shekhawat said, the system will ensure quality water supply and set a new benchmark. 



First Meeting of BRICS CGETI held under India’s Chairship

The first Meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) was held under India’s Chairship from 9th till 11th of this month. The theme of BRICS this year is -"BRICS at 15: Intra BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus”.

India presented the calendar of events for BRICS CGETI 2021, which included the priority areas for deliverables, schedule and scope of the MSME roundtable conference workshop on Services Statistics, and the BRICS Trade Fair.
Till September, inter sessional deliberations will be carried out to reach consensus amongst the BRICS countries.