Daily Current Affairs: 01:03:2022
Important News: International
Operation Ganga
Why in news
- Recently, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Air India Express has joined ‘Operation Ganga’ to bring back Indian nationals who have been able to flee Ukraine.
About Operation Ganga
- It is the initiative launched by the government of India to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine.
- Under this, India has already successfully brought back more than 1,000 of its nationals from the country.
- It has also set up 24×7 control centres to assist in the evacuation of Indians through the border crossing points with Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Slovak Republic.
- A Twitter handle, ‘OpGanga Helpline’, has also been dedicated to the mission, where all information regarding the evacuation process and advisories of embassies are shared to keep everyone up-to-date.
Other Major Operation of India
Kuwait Airlift 1990
- In this operation nearly 2 lakh Indians were left stranded in Kuwait soon after one lakh Iraqi soldiers had marched into the country, leaving the general public helpless with no way out.
- Air India registered itself in the Guinness World Records for executing the largest-ever air evacuation mission
Operation Safe Homecoming 2011
- The Indian government launched Operation Safe Homecoming to rescue over 15,000 Indian nationals stranded in Libya, which was in the midst of a civil war.
- The operation was conducted through air and sea, bringing back all the citizens safe.
Operation Raahat 2015
- Operation Raahat was an operation of the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals from Yemen during the 2015 military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies in that country during the Yemeni Crisis.
Samudra Maitri 2018
- It was a massive humanitarian operation to provide assistance to earthquake and tsunami victims in Indonesia
Vande Bharat Mission 2020
- In this mission over 60 lakh, Indian students and citizens were left stranded in foreign countries when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, leading to the shutdown of all international travel services.
Operation Vanilla 2020
- It was the operation launched by the Indian Navy to assist the population of Madagascar affected by Cyclone Diane.
International Atomic Energy Agency
Why in news
- The International Atomic Energy Agency has recently decided to hold an emergency meeting regarding the war situation in Ukraine.
- It is because the country has four nuclear power plants that are operational and various waste facilities including Chernobyl.
These four active nuclear plants are
South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant
- It is also known as Yuzhnoukrainsk Nuclear Power Station.
- It is part of the South Ukrainian Energy Complex.
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
- The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Enerhodar, Ukraine.
- It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the top 10 largest in the world.
Khmelnytskyi
- The Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Netishyn, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine
Rivne
- The Rivne Nuclear Power Plant also called Rovno is a nuclear power plant in Varash, Rivne Oblast, Ukraine
About International Atomic Energy Agency
- It is an important United Nations agency working in the field of nuclear cooperation which was established in 1957.
- The Agency was set up as the world’s “Atoms for Peace” organization within the United Nations family.
- It aims is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy while prohibiting its use for military purposes, such as nuclear weapons.
- Its headquarter is located in Vienna, Austria.
About Chernobyl disaster
- The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
- The explosions occurred in the reactor, the core of which experienced a meltdown, and radioactive material was released into the atmosphere.
EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022
Why in news
- Recently, EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022 will be conducted at Foreign Training Node, Belagavi (Belgaum, Karnataka) from 27 February 2022 to 10 March 2022.
About EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022
- It is a joint military exercise between India and Japan which is being conducted in India since 2018
Significance
- Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN with Japan is crucial and significant in terms of security challenges faced by both nations in the backdrop of the current global situation.
- It will also help to enhance the level of defence cooperation between the Indian Army and Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces.
MRIYA- World’s largest Cargo Aircraft
Why in news
- Recently, the world’s largest cargo aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 or ‘Mriya’, was destroyed by Russian troops during an attack on an airport near Kyiv.
About Mriya
- It is a six-engine 84-metre-long behemoth, with its 32-wheel landing gear.
- It had its first flight on December 21, 1988, built mainly for the transportation of the Buran shuttle orbiter and components of the Energiya carrier rocket.
- It played an important role too in the COVID-19 fight, ferrying nearly 100 tonnes of medicines, laboratory kits, medical masks and personal protective equipment in various missions across Europe, Canada and Africa.
International Monsoons Project Office
Why in news
- Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh has launched the International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO) through a high-level virtual event on the occasion of National Science Day 2022.
About International Monsoons Project Office
- The International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO) will be hosted at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, an institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India.
Significance
- It reiterates the importance of monsoons for the national economy.
- It would encompass activities and connections related to international monsoon research that would be identified and fostered under the leadership of the World Climate Research Programme and the World Weather Research Programme.
- Setting up the IMPO in India would mean expanding an integrated scientific approach to solve the seasonal variability of monsoons, enhancing the prediction skill of monsoons and cyclones, strengthening monsoon research for better support operations and services.
- It also helps in promoting knowledge sharing and capacity building in areas of monsoon research crucial for agriculture, water resources and disaster management, hydropower and climate-sensitive socio-economic sectors.
Note:
- The World Climate Research Programme and World Weather Research Programme are international programmes coordinated by the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Important News: Awards and Honours
Boltzmann Medal
Why in news
- Recently the prestigious Boltzmann Medal for 2022 has been awarded to Prof Deepak Dhar from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune for his contribution in the field of ‘Statistical Physics’
- He became the first Indian to be awarded, Boltzmann Medal.
- He shared the award with American scientist John Hopfield.
About the Boltzmann Medal
- The Boltzmann Medal (or Boltzmann Award) is a prize awarded to physicists that obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics.
- It is named after the celebrated physicist Ludwig Boltzmann.
- The Boltzmann Medal is awarded once every three years by the Commission on Statistical Physics of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), during the STATPHYS conference.
Important News: Appointments
Madhabi Puri Buch appointed first woman chairperson of SEBI
- Former banker Madhabi Puri Buch has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
- She is the first woman chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
- She is also the first person from the private sector working at the regulator, has been appointed for a three-year term.
- She replaces bureaucrat Ajay Tyagi whose tenure as SEBI chairman ends recently.
Important News: Books and Authors
"Udaan Ek Majdoor Bachhe Ki"
- Recently, Bhajan Samrat Anup Jalota released the book "Udaan Ek Majdoor Bachhe Ki" by Captain AD Manek.
- The author of this book is Mithilesh Tiwari.
- This book is about the life journey of Captain AD Manek, how he travelled from zero to pinnacle in his career graph.
‘The Millennial Yogi’
- Recently, the former army captain Deepam Chatterjee, who had to quit the force due to a debilitating spinal injury, has come out with a book that mixes mysticism and music to take readers on a journey of awakening named “The Millennial Yogi”.
- The book talks about Jayshankar Prasad, or Jay, who has had a shady-yet-mercurial rise in his journey as an entrepreneur but has little idea as to what is around the corner.
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