National Science Day 2022: 28 February
The National Science Day is celebrated on 28 February each year in India to spread the message about the importance of science in the daily life of the people. On this day, Sir CV Raman had announced the discovery of the Raman Effect for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930. The government of India designated 28 February as National Science Day (NSD) in 1986.
The National Science Day theme for 2022: ‘Integrated Approach in S&T for Sustainable Future’. The day also commemorates the discovery of the Raman effect.
Significance of the day:
National Science Day is celebrated to raise awareness on the importance of science. Educational institutions celebrate National Science Day by organising public speeches, radio, TV, science movies, science exhibitions on themes and concepts, debates, quiz competitions, lectures and science model exhibitions.
- CV Raman, a gifted child, was born in 1888 in Thiruvanaikaval, Tiruchi, and completed his schooling in Visakhapatnam before enrolling in The Presidency College, which was part of the University of Madras, for a B.A. programme in 1903 when he was just 14 years old.
- While working in the laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Kolkata, physicist CV Raman discovered the Raman Effect.
- On February 28, 1928, Indian Scientist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman announced the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect.’
- CV Raman received the coveted Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery.
- To honour the renowned scientist, India has commemorated this day as National Science Day since 1987.
- In 1954, CV Raman was awarded the Bharat Ratna, which is the highest civilian honour in India.
- CV Raman was an expert in the field of light scattering and was always engaged in research.
- Professor Raman was a top student for most of his academic career, and he went on to make significant contributions to the fields of acoustics and optics.
- CV Raman was also a remarkable teacher, and in 1917 he was named the first Palit Professor of Physics at the Rajabazar Science College.
GoI launches mission named Operation Ganga to evacuate nationals from Ukraine
The government of India has launched an evacuation mission named Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine due to the Russia-Ukraine tension. Due to the ongoing tension between Ukraine and Russia, Ukraine has been declared as a no-fly zone by the authorities for the safety and security of the nations. Due to this many Indian nationals were left stranded in Ukraine. To help the Indian citizens come back to the country, the government of India decided to conduct a special evacuation mission named Operation Ganga. The government will bring back Indian nationals via flight.
Wushu Stars Championship: India’s Sadia Tariq wins Gold in Russia
Indian Wushu player Sadia Tariq has won a gold medal in the junior tournament at the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship 2022. The 15-year-old Sadia Tariq hails from Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir. The Wushu Stars Championship is being held in Moscow, Russia from February 22 to 28. From India, 38 players, including 23 junior and 15 senior participated in the championship.
Earlier in the day, former Sports Minister and Athens Olympics medalist Rajyavardhan Rathore took to social media and laud the gold-winning effort from Sadia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to social media to wish the young Wushu champion.
Mansukh Mandaviya launched the “ICMR/ DHR Policy on Biomedical Innovation
For medical professionals, scientists, and technicians in medical, dental, and paramedical institutes, the Union health ministry has launched the ICMR/ DHR Policy on Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship. By promoting the Government of India’s Make-in-India, Start-Up-India, and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives, it would assure multidisciplinary collaboration, promote start-up culture, and establish an innovation-led ecosystem at medical institutes across the country.”
“This Policy will ensure multi-disciplinary collaboration, promote start-up culture, and develop an innovation led ecosystem at Medical Institutes across the country by promoting Make-in-India, Start-Up-India, and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives,” said Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, speaking at the policy launch. This policy is in line with Prime Minister Harper’s motto of “Innovate, Patent, Produce, and Prosper.”
In comparison to engineering universities, most medical colleges lack an IP and entrepreneurial policy. Only 15% of medical schools have an IP policy in place, compared to 85% of engineering schools. From 2010 to 2020, medical institutes produced only 5% of patent filings. Engineering institutes filed the majority of the data.
According to the policy, innovators can work as a non-executive director, scientific advisor, or consultant in a corporation. They can work alone or through companies on inter-institutional and industrial projects/consultancy projects. They can licence technologies to businesses, which will result in commercialization, money generation, and societal gain. They could be a licensor. Sabbaticals for translational company work are allowed under the policy. Sponsored research/consultancy arrangements can be outsourced by innovators.
It also proposed a process for policy review. The ICMR-DHR will establish a standing subcommittee to examine the policy on a regular basis in order to resolve the problems that have arisen during implementation. It will be a consultative, evidence-based revision strategy.
IMPLEMENTATION:
Medical institutes will be able to implement IP management policies after the policy is implemented. It will make it possible for medical experts to start their own businesses. In addition, through the PPP model, it will stimulate inter-institutional and industrial collaborations. Medical schools have been requested to establish an office of licencing of innovation ventures and enterprises (OLIVEs) to encourage medical practitioners to learn about, participate in, and start their own businesses. OLIVEs will assist inventors with IP management, startup firm formation/incubation, business development, and techno-legal assistance. OLIVEs will also supply chartered accountants, company secretaries, and patent attorneys to innovator-led enterprises in exchange for 2-10% equity in incubated companies.
ICMR/DHR:
“The ICMR/DHR policy on Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Medical Professionals is a game-changer,” said Prof. Balram Bharagava, Secretary, DHR and Director General, ICMR.
Singapore Weightlifting International 2022: India secures 8 medals
India concluded its campaign at the Singapore Weightlifting International 2022 with eight medals, including six golds and a silver and bronze each. Each of the eight Indian lifters who registered for Singapore International won medals and secured their spots at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, scheduled to be held in July-August. India now has total of 12 weightlifters qualified for the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
Indian weightlifters qualified for Commonwealth Games 2022
| Name | Category |
| Mirabai Chanu | women’s 55kg |
| Bindyarani Devi | women’s 59kg |
| Popy Hazarika | women’s 64kg |
| Usha Kumara | women’s 87kg |
| Purnima Pandey | women’s +87kg |
| Sanket Mahadev | men’s 55kg |
| Chanambam Rishikanta Singh | men’s 55kg |
| Jeremy Lalrinnunga | men’s 67kg |
| Achinta Sheuli | men’s 73kg |
| Ajay Singh | men’s 81kg |
| Vikas Thakur | men’s 96kg |
| Ragala Venkat Rahul | men’s 96kg |
Rafael Nadal wins Mexican Open 2022
In tennis, Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat British number one Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4 to win the singles title of Mexican Open 2022 (also known as Acapulco title). This is the 91st ATP title of his career and the third title of the season. This is the fourth time that Rafael Nadal has won the Mexican Open title, after winning the previous ones in 2005, 2013 and 2020. Men’s double title winners are Feliciano Lopez (Spain) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece).
Ministry of Education launches Bhasha Certificate Selfie campaign
The Ministry of Education has launched a campaign titled ‘Bhasha Certificate Selfie’. The aim of this campaign is to promote the Bhasha Sangam mobile app, launched by the Ministry under the aegis of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat to encourage cultural diversity and promote multilingualism. Bhasha Sangam mobile app was launched on October 31, 2021, by Minister of Education and Skill Development Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, to lay emphasis on the promotion of Indian languages.
About the app:
The app has been developed by the Ministry of Education and MyGov India and allows users to learn 100+ sentences of daily use in as many as 22 scheduled Indian languages. The ‘Bhasha Certificate Selfie’ initiative is encouraging people to upload their selfie with the certificate using the hashtag #BhashaCertificateSelfie.
Cochin Airport to become power-positive with new solar plant
The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) is set to commission a 12 MWp solar power plant on March 6 near Payyannur in Kannur district of Kerala. With the commissioning of the new solar power plant, CIAL will get the status as a power positive airport, from its current status of being a power-neutral airport. In 2015, CIAL became the world’s first airport to be fully powered by solar energy.
About the power plant:
The power plant boasts of 12 megawatt capacity on a 35-acre land where CIAL introduced a concept of terrain-based installation where the geographical characteristics of the area are retained and no changes are made in the gradient of the land.
IAF pulls out of multilateral air Exercise ‘Cobra Warrior 22’ in UK Amid Ukraine Crisis
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided not to send its aircraft in the multilateral air exercise ‘Cobra Warrior-22’ in the United Kingdom, due to the deepening crisis in Ukraine, arising out of the Russian military attack in that country. The exercise is scheduled to take place from March 6 to 27, 2022, at Waddington in the United Kingdom. The announcement by the IAF comes just three days after it confirmed its participation in the drills.
Why does this happen?
The announcement by the IAF came hours after India abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution on the Russian military aggression against Ukraine. India retained the option of reaching out to all relevant sides to find a middle ground and foster dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the crisis.
Polio National Immunization Day 2022 observed on 27th February
In 2022, the Government of India has organised the Polio National Immunization Day 2022 (NID) (also known as ‘’Polio Ravivar”) on February 27, 2022, to give two drops of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to every child in the country under the age of five. Over 15 crore children will be covered under the drive across all 36 States and UTs in 735 districts. The National Polio Immunization Drive for 2022 was launched by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandavia on February 26, 2022.
Polio history in India:
- In India, one nationwide NID and two Sub-National Immunization Day (SNIDs) for polio is held every year to maintain population immunity against wild poliovirus and to sustain its polio-free status.
- India was removed from the list of polio-endemic countries in 2012 and in 2013 the entire Southeast Asia Region was declared Polio free.
- The last case of wild poliovirus reported in India was on 13th January 2011.
Madhabi Puri Buch named as first woman chief of SEBI
Former ICICI Banker, Madhabi Puri Buch has been appointed as the new Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman, replacing Ajay Tyagi. She is the first woman chief of SEBI and also the first non-IAS to head the regulatory body. She has over three decades of experience in the financial markets and was SEBI whole-time member (WTM) between April 5, 2017, and October 4, 2021. During her tenure at SEBI, she handled portfolios such as surveillance, collective investment schemes and investment management.
About the Madhabi Puri Buch
- Buch is an alumna of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad and has a graduate degree in mathematics from St Stephen’s College, New Delhi. She has nearly three decades of financial market experience.
- She started her career in 1989 with ICICI Bank where she worked in corporate finance, branding, treasury and loans, before moving to ICICI Securities. She was also a consultant to the New Development Bank, set up by the BRICS bloc of nations.
NSE, BSE starts T+1 Stock Settlement From February 25
India has become the second country after China to implement the T+1 stock settlement mechanism in a phased manner from 25 February. The system will be starting with select stocks and then gradually adding others to the fold. Instruction regarding this was issued by SEBI on January 01, 2022. Before this, the settlement period of stocks in India was T+2, i.e. two days after the actual buy/selling of stock.
T means the trade/transaction day i.e. the day on which stock is brought/sold. and here T+1 means that the actual stock settlement will happen on the next day i.e +1 day. Ex: You buy a stock on Monday, you will get it in your Demat account Tuesday.
Important Info:
- SEBI introduced the present T+2 settlement in April 2003. Before that settlement of T+3 was followed by stock exchanges.
- Stock exchanges like BSE and NSE have selected, the bottom 100 stocks based on market cap that will be settled using the T+1 mechanism starting February 25.
- Thereafter, 500 more stocks will be added every last Friday of subsequent months, until every stock is placed under the new settlement system.
27th Chief of the Army Staff: M M Naravane
In April, 2022, General Manoj Mukund Naravane will be retiring from the post of 27th chief of the Indian Army. General M M Naravane will be leaving behind a strong legacy that would be clear only with time. He worked as an Army Chief without any showoff or publicity, even though he was directly responsible for many important strategic decisions and tactics that will be changing the shape of the Army’s outlook in the coming years.
Career of General MM Naravane:
General MM Naravane (PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC) has done his schooling from Pune’s Jnana Prabodhini Prashala. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA). Gen. Naravane was commissioned in the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in June 1980. He is also an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and Higher Command Course. He has a Master’s Degree in Defence Studies, M.Phil Degree in Defence and Management Studies, and is at present pursuing his Doctorate.
Journey of General MM Naravane:
- In a excellent and glorious military career spanning over four decades, General Naravane has the distinction of tenanting key command and staff appointments in Peace and Field, both in the North – East as well as in Jammu and Kashmir and has been an important part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force that was sent to Sri Lanka.
- He has with him a large amount of experience in doing his duty in the most difficult and challenging areas.
- He has also commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, and also has raised an Infantry Brigade.
- General Naravane was Inspector General at the North Assam Rifles and has commanded a prestigious group of Strike Corps.
- His staff assignments include his services as a Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade, a Defence Attaché at Yangon which is in Myanmar, instructional appointment as Directing Staff at the Army War College in the Higher Command Wing, besides two service tenures at the Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (MoD) (Army) which is in India’s capital, New Delhi.
- General M M Naravane also had the prestigious experience of commanding the Republic Day Parade of the year 2017 in his capacity as GOC of the Delhi Area.
- After his successful command at both, the Army Training Command as well as at the Shimla and the Eastern Command which is in Kolkata, he was appointed as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff before getting appointed as the Army chief on 31 Dec 2019.
Delhi Cabinet approved India’s first’ e-waste eco-park
The Delhi Cabinet has approved setting up India’s first of its kind electronic-waste eco-park. It has also agreed to devise ‘Delhi Film Policy 2022’, as a thrust to promote tourism. The electronic waste eco-friendly park is to be built on 20 acres of land in Delhi. Nearly, 2 lakh tonnes of e-waste are thrown by Delhi every year. This eco-park will recycle, refurbish and dismantle e-waste in a scientific and safe way.
About the eco-park:
- This eco-park will act as an Integrated Facility, by engaging in dismantling, segregating, refurbishing, material-wise storage, testing and plastic recycling. It will also have precious metal extraction facilities, especially from Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) through high-end technologies.
- The Delhi Film Policy 2022 is to promote tourism in Delhi, making the National Capital- a Brand. It will also make it a hub for modern film-making, meeting European Standards.
- The government is to create an ‘e-Film Clearance Portal’ and provide aid of Rs 3 crores for film production. It has also decided to incentivize hiring locals in the cinema industry.
Canada approved world’s 1st plant-derived COVID-19 vaccine
Canada became the first country in the world that has authorized the use of a plant-based COVID-19 vaccine. The two-dose vaccine of Medicago Inc. (a biopharma company owned by Mitsubishi Chemical and Philip Morris), can be given to adults who are aged between 18 to 64, but little data is available on the shots received by people aged 65 and above.
The decision to authorize the vaccine was based on a study conducted on 24,000 adults that showed the efficacy rate of the vaccine is 71% at preventing COVID-19 – although the tests were conducted before the omicron variant emerged. Covifenz is the name given to this vaccine. Canada agreed to buy 20 million doses of this plant-based vaccine, with an option to purchase 56 million additional doses.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Canada Capital: Ottawa;
- Canada Currency: Canadian dollar;
- Canada Prime minister: Justin Trudeau.
New Development Bank 1st multilateral agency to open office in Gift City
New Development Bank (NDB) will become the first multilateral agency to open an office in the Gujarat International Finance Tech City (Gift). New Development Bank (NDB) has received the approval for the same and will open the office in May 2022 in GIFT City. The Indian office will help identify suitable projects and try to create a pipeline of potential financing for the bank. NDB also expects to partner with the newly launched National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NBFID) to support crucial infrastructure projects in India.
About the New Development Bank:
NDB was set up by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) with the objective of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the BRICS as well as other emerging markets in 2014. It became operational in 2015 and is headquartered in Shanghai, China. All the founding members equally own the bank.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- New Development Bank Headquarters Location: Shanghai, China;
- New Development Bank President: Marcos Prado Troyjo;
- New Development Bank Founder: BRICS;
- New Development Bank Founded: 15 July 2014.
The 2nd LG Cup Ice Hockey Championship 2022 won by the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre
The finals of the 15th CEC Cup Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, 2022 were played between the teams of ITBP and Ladakh Scouts at the Ice Hockey Rink which us at NDS Sports Complex in Leh. It was a very competitive game and full effort was put in by both the teams, but there’s only one winner. The Ladakh Scouts won in the end and they lifted the 15th CEC Cup Men’s Ice Hockey Championship 2022.
About the tournament:
Ladakh Lieutenant Governor RK Mathur has presented the trophies to the finalists in both men’s and women’s categories of this edition of LG Cup Ice Hockey Championship. Prizes were presented, and the chief guest praised the players and officials at the end. The tournament was organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports in Leh in collaboration with the Leh-based “Ladakh Winter Sports Club.”
Samiran Gupta to head public policy for Twitter in India
Samiran Gupta will lead microblogging platform Twitter’s public policy and philanthropy efforts in India and South Asia. Prior to joining Twitter, Gupta was the head of stakeholder engagement in South Asia for ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).
Gupta was associated with The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organisation. He served there for seven years. He was also briefly the firm’s head of stakeholder engagement for the South Asia market. The news of the appointment comes almost a year after the former Public Policy Director for India and South Asia Mahima Kaul resigned.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Twitter CEO: Parag Agrawal;
- Twitter formed: 21 March 2006;
- Headquarters of Twitter: San Francisco, California, United States.
COVID-19 Reports via ICMR approved Laboratories 2022
- Covid-19 tests should only be done at ICMR-approved laboratories, as cyber fraudsters are exploiting the pandemic by impersonating workers of lesser-known labs and issuing false reports.
- The ICMR has released the list of the laboratories that are approved for the testing procedure. You can find the details of the ICMR approved laboratories here ICMR approved laboratories.
- As many residents are opting for private labs for various COVID-19-related tests due to excessive traffic at civic and state-run hospitals.
- Many of them use their mobile phones, laptops, and computers to make appointments at neighbouring private labs online, allowing cyber thieves to take advantage of them.
BEWARE OF CYBER FRAUDS
- Cyber criminals take advantage of the circumstance by offering house visits to collect samples and then defrauding patients by emailing them false or negative test results.
- Because of the scams, only visit or arrange appointments with labs that have been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
