National
Mascot of Namami Gange Programme
⇒ At the 37th Executive Committee meeting of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, chaired by Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, NMCG, ‘Chacha Chaudhary’ was declared as the mascot of the Namami Gange Programme.
NMCG ties-up with Diamond Toons:
NMCG has tied-up with Diamond Toons to develop and distribute comics, e-comics and animated videos. The content will be designed with the objective of bringing about behavioral change amongst children towards Ganga and other rivers.
The total estimated budget for the project is Rs 2.26 Cr. Initially, the comics will be launched in Hindi, English and Bengali.
World’s Largest Khadi National Flag
⇒ Khadi paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi with world’s largest Khadi National Flag displayed at Leh on 02 October 2021.
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) prepared the Monumental Khadi National Flag to pay the highest respects to Mahatma Gandhi, who gifted Khadi, the most eco-friendly fabric to the world.
About Monumental Indian National Flag:
» The Monumental National Flag measured 225 feet long, 150 feet wide and weighs (approx) 1400 kg.
» Making of this monumental National Flag has created nearly 3500 man hours of additional work for Khadi artisans and allied workers.
» A whopping 4600 meters of hand-spun, hand-woven Khadi cotton bunting has been used in making the flag which covers the total area of 33,750 square feet.
» The Ashok Chakra in the flag measures a diameter of 30 feet. It took 49 days for 70 Khadi artisans to prepare this flag.
The Army had prepared a frame to display the flag so that it did not touch the ground.
- The flag has been divided into 9 equal parts weighing 100 kg each and each part measures 50 x 75 feet.
- Nefa has been provided on all four sides that contains 12 mm rope. A total of 12 high quality nylon ropes – i.e., 3 ropes each on top & bottom sides and 3 ropes on left & right sides have been provided with the breaking load capacity of approx 3000 Kgs.
‘The State Nutrition Profiles” for 19 States and Union Territories
⇒ NITI Aayog, in a joint effort with International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Indian Institute of Population Sciences, UNICEF and Institute of Economic Growth launched “The State Nutrition Profiles” for 19 States and Union Territories on 30 September 2021.
Released by:
The State nutrition profiles were released by Dr. Rakesh Sarwal, Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog in a webinar titled “Towards progress on nutrition in India: Insights from National Family Health Survey (Phase -1)” organized by IFPRI.
About State Nutrition Profiles:
- The ‘State Nutrition Profiles’ (SNPs) give insights on nutrition outcomes, immediate and underlying determinants and interventions based on NFHS-rounds 3, 4 and 5.
- The SNPs include a comprehensive compilation of crucial data that can positively affect policy decisions and facilitate research in the area.
- The trend analysis of key indicators such as wasting, stunting, anemia, underweight and overweight and NCDs (Diabetes and High blood pressure) showcase the variability of performance across districts.
- The SNPs are based on the headcount-based analyses and use of data from NFHS-5 to provide evidence that helps identify priority districts and number of districts in the state with public health concern as per WHO guidelines.
- The reports highlight the best and worst performing districts, highest burden districts and top coverage districts of the country.
India Today Healthgiri Awards 2021
⇒ The India Today Healthgiri Awards 2021 were presented in Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti to salute the invincible spirit of corona warriors who have led the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The India Today Healthgiri Awards were given away by Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, and Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group.
Some Award Winners:
- Best Government Hospital Combating COVID-19: Lok Nayak Hospital, Delhi
- Best Private Hospital Combating COVID-19: Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar
- Best State Combating COVID-19: Karnataka
- Celebrity Who has Done Exemplary Work During COVID-19: Akshay Kumar & Twinkle Khanna
- Best Ambulance Service: HelpNow, Mumbai
- Best Vaccination Drive by a State: Gujarat
- Best Vaccination Drive by a State: Kerala
- Best Districts in Combating COVID-19: Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh
- Best Districts in Combating COVID-19: Faridabad, Haryana
- Unsung Heroes: Guruprasad Mohapatra, Delhi
- Special Award for Vaccine Manufacturing: Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad
- Special Award for Vaccine Manufacturing: Serum Institute of India, Pune
Web Portal- ‘Wetlands of India Portal’
⇒ On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, launched a web portal- ‘Wetlands of India Portal’ to give details on wetlands of the country. The portal is a single point access to all information relating to wetlands.
Developed by:
The portal has been developed under a Technical Cooperation project “Wetlands Management for Biodiversity and Climate Protection” (Wetlands Project) of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
The project is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
International
US- India Strategic Partnership Forum’s 4th Annual Leadership Summit
⇒ Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship addressed US- India Strategic Partnership Forum’s 4th Annual Leadership Summit on 30 September 2021.
The Summit was organized under the leadership of John Chambers, Chairman, USISPF and Dr. Mukesh Aghi, CEO & President, USISPF.
Focus:
The Summit touched upon resilience in the face of adversity and strengthening the US-India strategic partnership through trade, commerce, diplomacy, technology and healthcare in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the meeting:
» Shri Chandrasekhar talked about Geo-Politics, ICT Trade, Data Governance and Cross-Border Data Flows.
» Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar also highlighted the importance of collaboration in regulatory issues regarding new technologies, open internet, collaboration and data sharing among nations, in conversation with Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer, Youtube and SVP Google.