National
GI Tag for Nagaswaram
⇒ Tamil Nadu’s traditional wind instrument, Narasinghapettai Nagaswaram made by traditional village artisans of Kumbakonam has got the prestigious Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
Narasinganpettai, a small village located 15km away from Kumbakonam, Tanjore district, has traditional nagaswaram makers.
Even though nagaswarams are made in many other regions in the state, Barinagaswaram of Narasinganpettai alone makes the fluent Madhyamam Swara.
Project UNNATI
⇒ Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Shri Giriraj Singh felicitated 75 trained candidates of Project UNNATI under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA on 24th March 2022 at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi as part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
About Project:
- Project ‘UNNATI’, as a skilling project intends to upgrade the skill base of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries.
- Project ‘UNNATI’ is improving the livelihoods of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries. They can move from the current partial employment to full-time employment and thus reduce their dependence on Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.
- This project is meant for providing training for one adult member (of age 18-45 years old) of a household who has completed 100 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in the previous financial year from the year of commencement of the project.
- The candidate undergoing training are paid a stipend for a maximum period of 100 days and for one program per household as per the wage rate prevailing in the concerned State/UT as per the provisions of the project.
- Full expenditures towards a stipend, against wage loss compensation, are entirely borne by Central Government.
- As of now, a total of 2,00,000 beneficiaries shall be imparted training under this project in a span of three years in 26 States and 2 UTs.
- A total number of 18,166 candidates have been trained under Project UNNATI.
International
Chevalier award
⇒ The French government has honoured Pondicherry University professor (French) Nalini J Thampi with the prestigious Chevalier award recognizing her ‘commitment to promotion and dissemination of the French language and her outstanding contribution to Franco-Indian academic cooperation and promotion of women’s rights’.
Consul general of France in Puducherry and Chennai Lise Talbot Berré presented the honorary distinction of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques de la République française to Nalini during the launch of Francophonie festival.
About Nalini:
A doctorate in French from EFLU, Hyderabad, Nalini is the coordinator of a five-year integrated multi-disciplinary dual postgraduate programme on social and economic administration and law offered jointly by the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Pondicherry University.
» Some of the Indians, who were conferred with the Chevalier award by the French government were late film director Satyajit Ray, late actor Sivaji Ganesan, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan and actors Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Nandita Das and Shah Rukh Khan.
Sports
ICC Players of the Month for March 2022
⇒ Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Australia opener Rachael Haynes have been voted the ICC Players of the Month for March 2022.
- ICC Men’s Player of the Month, March 2022: Babar Azam
- ICC Women’s Player of the Month, March 2022: Rachael Haynes
Asia Cup T20 tournament
⇒ The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced that Sri Lanka will host the Asia Cup T20 tournament from August 27 to September 11, 2022.
All five Test teams of the continent — India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and hosts Sri Lanka — will feature in the tournament, along with one more Asian side that will be decided after a qualifier tournament which will be held from August 20.
The tournament usually alternates between ODI and T20I formats. It was last played in 2018 and was won by India. The 2020 edition was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sportstar Aces Awards 2022
⇒ The prestigious Annual Sportstar Aces Awards 2022 has been announced.
Reliance Foundation was conferred with the ‘Sports For Social Good (Chairperson’s choice)’ award at the prestigious Annual Sportstar Aces Awards 2022 on March 19, 2022 in Mumbai.
Important winners of Sportstar Aces Awards 2022:
- Sportstar of the Year (Female) Award: Mirabai Chanu
- Sportstar of the Year (Male): Neeraj Chopra
- National team of the Year: Indian men’s hockey team
- Best State for Promotion of Sports Award: Haryana
- Breakthrough Performance of the Year: India women’s hockey team, Aditi Ashok
- Best Grassroots Coach: Uday Pawar
- Para Athlete of the Year (Male): Sumit Antil
- Para Athlete of the Year (Female): Avani Lekhara
- Sportsman of the Year (Cricket): Ashwin
- Sportsman of the Year (Team Sports): Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh
- Sportswoman of the Year (Team Sports): Savita
- Sportsman of the Year (Individual sports): Ravi Dahiya
- Sportswoman of the Year (Individual Sports): Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain
- Sportswoman of the Year (Racquet Sports): PV Sindhu
- Sportsman of the Year (Track & Field): Neeraj Chopra
- Sportswoman of the Year (Track and Field): Kamalpreet Kaur
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Ajit Pal
- Special Recognition Award: Arif Khan
- Special Recognition Award: Pramod Bhagat