National
Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
⇒ Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pushkar Singh Dhami was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on March 23, 2022. Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen (retd) Gurmit Singh administered the oath of office and secrecy to Dhami.
This is 46-year-old Dhami’s second consecutive stint as chief minister. He is the 11th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
Sujlam 2.0 - A Campaign for Greywater Management
⇒ Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the Sujalam 2.0 campaign for greywater management.
- The campaign was launched at a virtual event hosted by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti to mark the World Water Day, i.e. on 22 March 2022.
A Joint Advisory was also signed by 9 Ministries on how greywater management will be taken up at their level based on convergence model with all those who are directly associated in programme implementation.
The 9 ministries are- Ministry of (M/o) Jal Shakti, M/o Rural Development, M/o Women & Child Development, M/o Youth Affairs and Sports, M/o Tribal Affairs, M/o Health and Family Welfare, M/o Education, M/o Environment, Forest and Climate Change and M/o Panchayati Raj
Speaking at the launch of Sujlam 2.0 campaign, the Union Minister said:
- Ministry is launching “Sujlam 2.0” campaign with the objective to manage greywater through people’s participation.
- Under the campaign, we plan to mobilize communities, our institutions like panchayats, schools, anganwadi to undertake greywater management.
- Greywater can be best managed where it is generated and turns into a major management and infrastructure challenge, if it is allowed to accumulate and stagnate.
- Our PRIs would work with people to ensure that greywater is managed at the most appropriate local level through construction of household and community soak pits.
» Sujlam 1.0 campaign was started in August 2021. Under Sujlam 1.0 campaign, more than 1 million soak pits were built at household and community level across the country.
Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy Awards
⇒ Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy announced honorary and book awards for various categories of Konkani literature for the year 2021.
Honorary awards for 2021:
- Nagesh Anvekar for Konkani literature
- Dinesh Prabhu Kallotte for Konkani art
- Madhav Kharvi for Konkani Folk (Janapada)
Book awards for 2021:
- Fr Jovian Vishwas Sequeira for his poem Laranchem Geeth
- Gopalakrishna Pai for Konkani short story Love Letters Vajitalo Mataro
- Henry Mendonca Pernal’s essays on Modern Konkani Poetry -Konkani Kavyem: Rupam ani Rupakam
Coffee table book on wildlife photography
⇒ Cricketer Anil Kumble’s son, Mayas Kumble released his coffee table book on wildlife photography titled, ‘Safari Saga: Wild Encounters Of A Young Photographer’ in Bengaluru.
International
2022 EE British Academy Film Awards
⇒ The 75th British Academy Film Awards, also known as the BAFAs (or BAFTAs), were held in London on 13 March 2022. BAFTAs 2022 honors the best national and foreign films of 2021.
- The award was presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Important Winners:
Best Film: THE POWER OF THE DOG – Jane Campion, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman
Outstanding British Film: BELFAST – Kenneth Branagh, Laura Berwick, Becca Kovacik, Tamar Thomas
Best Director: Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog
Leading Actor: WILL SMITH – King Richard
Leading Actress: JOANNA SCANLAN – After Love
EE Rising Star Award: LASHANA LYNCH
Iran's Revolutionary Guard launches 2nd satellite
⇒ Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched a second reconnaissance satellite into space in March 2022.
The Guard said the Noor-2 satellite reached a low orbit of 500 kilometers (310 miles) above the Earth’s surface on the Ghased satellite carrier. It described the Ghased, or “Messenger” in Farsi, as a three-phase, mixed fuel satellite carrier.
- Noor means “light” in Farsi. The Guard launched its first Noor satellite in 2020, revealing to the world it ran its own space program.
Important Day
World Water Day
⇒ World Water Day is observed every year on March 22 to raise awareness about the importance of water and educate people to conserve it.
Theme:
The theme of World Water Day 2022 was ‘Groundwater: making the invisible visible’.
- A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
History:
- The idea for this international day goes back to 1992, the year in which the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro took place.
- In 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water. It was first celebrated in 1993.