National
First Internet Exchange in the state of Uttarakhand
⇒ Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, inaugurated the first Internet Exchange in the state of Uttarakhand, hosted at Dehradun, through a virtual inaugural ceremony from Delhi.
The inauguration of the 10th internet exchange of NIXI in India will help in enhancing and improving the quality of Internet and Broadband services in Uttarakhand.
- Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar also announced that the next Internet Exchange in Uttarakhand will be at Nainital District.
About NIXI:
National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is a not-for-profit organisation working since 2003 for spreading the internet technology to the citizens of India through the following activities:
- Internet Exchanges through which the internet data is exchanged amongst ISPs and between ISPs and CDNs.
- Selling, managing and operation of .IN country code domain and . भारत IDN domain for India.
- Selling, managing and operating Internet protocol (IPv4/IPv6) as authorised by APNIC, Australia.
NMCG won Guinness Book of World Records
⇒ Ganga Utsav 2021 – The River Festival was organised from 1st to 3rd November, 2021. This was the 5th edition of Ganga Utsav.
The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inaugurated ‘Ganga Utsav 2021 – The River Festival’.
On the inaugural day of ‘Ganga Utsav – The River Festival 2021’:
The union minister for Jal Shakti Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and other dignitaries launched the Continuous Learning and Activity Portal (CLAP).
About CLAP:
- CLAP has been developed by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in association with Tree Craze Foundation.
- CLAP is an initiative by Namami Gange, created and executed by TREE Craze Foundation under leadership of Ms Bhawna Badola, CEO of TREE Craze Foundation.
- CLAP is also funded and supported by World Bank.
- This is an interactive portal that is working towards initiating conversations and action around the rivers in India.
NMCG won Guinness Book of World Records during Ganga Utsav.
NMCG got registered in the Guinness Book of World Records on the first day of the Ganga Utsav – the River Festival 2021 for most photos of handwritten notes uploaded to Facebook in one hour.
Guinness Book of World Records activity was organised to raise awareness on Ganga Rejuvenation and to give impetus to the reach of Ganga Utsav – the River Festival 2021.
Ganga Atlas developed by IIT Kanpur was launched during Ganga Utsav.
Jal Shakti Minister, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the ‘Ganga Atlas: River of the Past’.
Ganga Atlas developed by Prof Rajiv Sinha, IIT Kanpur documents the changes in River Ganga over the past 5-6 decades in terms of channel morphology, land use & land cover, river dynamics and associated issues.
International
Health project for the state of Meghalaya
⇒ Government of India, the Government of Meghalaya and the World Bank signed a $40 million health project for the state of Meghalaya on 28th October 2021.
About Project:
» The project will improve the quality of health services and strengthen the state’s capacity to handle future health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
» The Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project will enhance the management and governance capabilities of the state and its health facilities; expand the design and coverage of the state’s health insurance program; improve the quality of health services through certification and better human resource systems; and enable efficient access to medicines and diagnostics.
» All 11 districts of the state will benefit from the project.
» It will also benefit health sector staff at the primary and secondary levels by strengthening their planning and management capabilities and building their clinical skills.
» The project will enable women to better utilize healthcare services at the community level.
Statement on behalf of the BASIC group of countries
⇒ Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, delivered the statement on behalf of the BASIC group of countries, comprising Brazil, South Africa, India and China at the UN Climate Change Conference at Glasgow.
Highlights of the statement:
» COP 26 must aim for higher global ambition on climate finance and adaptation as well, along with recognition of Parties’ differing historical responsibilities and the developmental challenges faced by developing countries, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
» With regard to the long-term temperature goal:
- The latest available science makes it clear that all Parties need to immediately contribute their fair share, and achieving this would require developed countries to rapidly reduce their emissions and dramatically scale-up their financial support to developing countries.
» He said that along with finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building are critical enablers of climate actions in developing countries.
» Decisions particularly on climate finance and Article 6 can significantly help enhance climate ambition.
» A market mechanism that facilitates private sector engagement in carbon markets could help further raise climate ambition, in addition to what is being achieved under the NDCs.
» At the end, on behalf of the BASIC group, he reaffirmed full commitment to fighting climate change and work constructively and progressively with the Presidency and all other Parties in ensuring that a successful outcome is reached at COP 26.
Important Day
National Ayurveda Day 2021
⇒ National Ayurveda Day or Dhanwantari Jayanti (Dhanteras) celebrated every year on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras.
- As this year, Dhanteras was on November 2, so Ayurveda Day 2021 was celebrated on this day.
- The Ministry of Ayush released the videos prepared by National Institute of Ayurveda on the occasion of ‘6th Ayurveda Day’.
Theme:
The theme of Ayurveda Day 2021 was ‘Ayurveda for Poshan’.
Background:
- This day has been marked every year since 2016 on the occasion of Dhanwantri Jayanti.
- The day is marked to spread awareness on the importance of Ayurveda in our daily lives.