1 Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani will be awarded the country’s highest civilian honor Bharat Ratna.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani will be honored with Bharat Ratna . Lal Krishna Advani is the 50th person to be awarded ‘Bharat Ratna’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called Shri Advani and congratulated him on being given this honour. In a post on social media, Mr Modi said Mr Advani is one of the most respected politicians of current times and his contribution to India’s development is unforgettable.
2 Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Union Territory Chandigarh Banwari Lal Purohit resigned from both the posts.
Punjab Governor and Union Territory Chandigarh Administrator Banwari Lal Purohit have resigned from both the posts. He has sent his resignation letter to President Draupadi Murmu and requested him to accept the resignation. In his resignation letter, he has stated that he is resigning due to personal reasons and some other commitments.
3 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023 released
Recently, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 has been released by Transparency International which shows that most countries have made little or no progress in tackling public sector corruption. The CPI scores 180 countries and territories around the world based on the perceived level of corruption in their public sector on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). India was ranked 93rd out of 180 countries in CPI 2023 . India’s overall score in 2023 was 39, down slightly from 40 in 2022. In 2022, India was ranked 85th. Denmark has topped the index for the sixth consecutive year with a score of 90 , with Finland and New Zealand in second place with scores of 87 and 85 respectively. Transparency International is an international non-governmental organization established in the year 1993 in Berlin (Germany).
4 Delhi extends property geotagging deadline
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has extended the deadline for property geotagging in Delhi till February 29, 2024 . This process was earlier to be completed by January 31. Geotagging refers to associating geographic information such as latitude and longitude with media such as photos. For assets, this means digitally mapping them to identify their location. The deadline had to be extended due to technical difficulties faced by people using the MCD app, especially iPhone users.
5 Karnataka government launches ‘Digital Detox’ initiative
The Karnataka government recently announced a new ‘ Digital Detox ‘ initiative in collaboration with the All India Game Developers Forum (AIGDF) . The event aims to spread awareness about the negative effects of excessive use of technology and encourage more conscious digital habits. The ‘Digital Detox’ initiative aims to reduce the time people spend on digital devices and social media. Speaking at the GAFX 2024 event, IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge said the program aims to address issues such as mental health problems, reducing attention span and weakening of personal relationships that can arise from digital dependency.
6 Defense Minister Rajnath Singh presides over the launching ceremony of Indian Navy’s Survey Ship Sandhyak at Naval Dockyard
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh presided over the launching ceremony of Indian Navy ‘s Survey Ship Sandhyak at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam . On this occasion he highlighted the strength and prowess of the Indian Navy in matters of security and trade. INS Sandhayak was built at GRSE Kolkata . More than 80 percent indigenous material has been used in it. This confirms India’s expertise in design and warship construction. INS Sandhyak is equipped with state-of-the-art hydrographic imaging equipment including deep and shallow water multi-beam echo-sounders, autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, side scan sonar, data acquisition and processing systems, satellite-based positioning systems, etc. The terrestrial survey equipment ship is powered by two diesel engines and is capable of achieving speeds of over 18 knots. ‘Sandhyaak’ means one who makes a special search.
7 Delivery of 25t Bollard Pull Tug Boat Mahabali
The 25t Bollard Pull (BP) tugboat Mahabali has been handed over to the Indian Navy on 02 February 2024 in the presence of Rear Admiral Subir Mukherjee , NM, ASY (Kochi) . This multipurpose boat is the proud flag bearer of the “Make in India” initiative of the Government of India. In line with the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative of the Government of India, a contract was signed with M/s Shaft Shipyard Private Limited (M/S SSPL), a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise, for construction of three 25T Bollard Pull Tug boats and handing over to the Navy.
8 Shri Rajiv Chandrashekhar inaugurated Digital India Future Labs at the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in New Delhi
Union Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology (IT), Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Jal Shakti, Shri Rajiv Chandrashekhar launched “ Digital India FutureLabs ” and delivered the keynote address at the ‘ Digital India FutureLabs Summit 2024 ’, Which focused on ‘ Catalyzing the Next-Generation Electronics System Design through Digital India FutureLabs’ . The summit also announced 22 MoUs signed by Center for Developing Advanced Computing (C-DAC) with industry for implementation of FutureLabs. Companies like NXP Semiconductor, Tenstorrent and Qualcomm India have signed MoUs in areas such as high performance computing space, design and innovation in compute space and Indian telecom stack.
9 MeitY Secretary S Krishnan inaugurates Center of Excellence (CoE) on e-waste management at C-MAT, Hyderabad
Center for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) is an autonomous scientific committee under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) , Government of India . It has three R&D laboratories located in Pune, Hyderabad and Thrissur focusing on various core topics on critical electronic materials. C-MET, Hyderabad laboratory is focusing on the development of electronic materials and warfare related materials including metals and alloys. One of the main themes of C-MET, Hyderabad is to develop environmentally friendly e-waste recycling technologies to promote resource efficiency and circular economy in the country. As reported in 2019, India generates around 3.2 million tonnes of electronic waste per year, which includes hazardous materials like lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury etc. along with many precious materials like gold, copper, palladium, silver etc. Which can cause irreparable danger to human health.
10 7th session of Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs held in Kochi
The 7th session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) was held in Kochi from January 29, 2024 to February 2, 2024 . For the first time after the Covid pandemic, the conference was held in the presence of the participants. The conference was organized virtually during the pandemic. 109 delegates from 31 countries participated in the session. The organization of the conference was successful. In this session, quality standards for five spices, small cardamom, turmeric, juniper berry, Jamaica pepper (allspice) and star anise were finalized. The Codex Committee has forwarded the five standards to the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), recommending them for adoption as full Codex standards in a final phase of eight. The strategy of grouping of spices was successfully implemented for the first time in this committee. The Committee finalized the first group standard on ‘Spices derived from fruits and berries’ (covering 3 spices, namely juniper berry, Jamaica pepper (allspice) and star anise) in the current session.
11 Sports Ministry suspends Indian Paralympic Committee with immediate effect
The Sports Ministry has suspended the Indian Paralympic Committee with immediate effect for failing to conduct elections on time and not following the guidelines. The Sports Ministry, in its order yesterday, said the tenure of the Executive Committee had ended on January 31 and the last elections to the Indian Paralympic Committee were held in September 2019. Notification of the election was stayed on 3 September 2019 due to an order of the Delhi High Court and the returning officer was also barred from declaring the results of the election. The ministry has said that the elections to constitute the new committee will now be held in Bengaluru on February 28.
12 February 2: World Wetlands Day
World Wetlands Day is celebrated on 2 February . It aims to spread awareness about the importance of wetlands such as swamps and mangroves in combating global warming. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change , in collaboration with the Government of Madhya Pradesh , through Indore Municipal Corporation and Environment Planning and Coordination Organization (EPCO) , Government of Madhya Pradesh , to celebrate the World Wetlands Day (WWD) 2024. Organized a national program at Sirpur Lake, Indore . The theme of World Wetlands Day-2024 is ‘ Wetlands and Human Well-being ‘ which underlines the important role of wetlands in improving our lives.