National
Bharat Darshan Park
⇒ The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, inaugurated the ‘Bharat Darshan Park’ built on the concept of ‘Waste to Wealth’ model in South Delhi on 25 December 2021.
Built by:
Built by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation at Punjabi Bagh in the capital, the park has cost around Rs 20 crore. Bharat Darshan Park has been built on 8.5 acres of land.
- The theme of the park is ‘Unity and Diversity’.
» The park consists of 21 famous historical monuments from different states and a banyan tree model made of iron scraps, electric poles, old cars, trucks, park grills, automobile parts and pipes, etc.
» Replicas of several monuments installed at the park include- Qutab Minar, Taj Mahal, Charminar, Gateway of India, Konark Temple, Nalanda ruins, Mysore Palace, Meenakshi Temple, Hampi, Victoria Memorial Hall, Sanchi Stupa, Gol Gumbaz, Ajanta and Ellora Caves, Hawa Mahal, Rameswaram, Dwarkadhish temple.
» These artifacts have been prepared by 8 artists, 22 assistant artists and about 150 artisans, in about 22 months during the Corona period.
» 21 replicas of the park have been built using 350 tonnes of scrap, which brings together the whole of India in a way.
Lifetime Achievement Award of IMA
⇒ Indian Medical Association’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ has been conferred on Duvvuru Dwarakanatha Reddy, an ENT specialist from Telangana. He is the first person from the Telangana to achieve this honour.
The award was presented at the 82nd annual meeting of the Central Council of IMA on December 27 and 28 in Patna, Bihar.
100 days Reading Campaign 'PADHE BHARAT'
⇒ Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched a 100 days reading campaign ‘Padhe Bharat’ on 01 January 2021.
The launch of 100 Days Reading Campaign is in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which emphasises on promotion of joyful reading culture for children by ensuring availability of age-appropriate reading books for children in local/mother tongue/regional/tribal Language.
- Children studying in Balvatika to grade VIII are part of this campaign.
- The reading campaign is being organised for 100 days (14 weeks) starting from 1st January 2022 to 10th April 2022.
Aim:
The reading campaign aims to have participation of all stakeholders at national and state level including children, teachers, parents, community, educational administrators etc.
The 100 days reading campaign will also focus on Indian languages including mother tongue/local/regional languages.
Major Dhyan Chand Sports University
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, laid the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh on January 02, 2022.
- The University will be established at Salawa and Kaili villages of Sardhana town in Meerut at an estimated cost of about Rs 700 Crore.
About Sports University:
- The Sports University will be equipped with modern and state of the art sports infrastructure including synthetic Hockey ground, Football ground, Basketball / Volleyball / Handball / Kabaddi ground, Lawn tennis court, Gymnasium Hall, Synthetic running stadium, Swimming pool, Multipurpose Hall and a Cycling velodrome.
- The university will also house facilities for Shooting, Squash, Gymnastics, Weightlifting, Archery, Canoeing and Kayaking, among other facilities.
- The University will have the capacity of training 1080 sportspersons including 540 female and 540 male sportspersons.
New Director General for the National Mission for Clean Ganga
⇒ Shri G Asok Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti took over as the new Director General for the National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti. He belongs to the Indian Administrative Services Telangana Cadre 1991 batch.
Shri Asok Kumar is the recipient of several awards such as the SKOCH Award for Public Services 2021, Jal-Mitra award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the first Telangana Excellence Award by the Government of Telangana for outstanding work done in Public Administration.
Important Day
64th DRDO Day
⇒ Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) celebrated 64th DRDO Day on January 01, 2022.
About:
- The DRDO was formed in 1958 from the amalgamation of the then already functioning Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organisation (DSO).
- DRDO was then a small organisation with 10 establishments or laboratories.
- The DRDO is working on multiple cutting-edge military technology areas, which include aeronautics, armaments, combat vehicles, electronics, instrumentation, engineering systems, missiles, materials, naval systems, advanced computing, simulation, etc. for defence.