Art and Culture
5th edition of ‘Ganga Utsav 2021- The River Festival’ begins
The 5th edition of 3-day long virtual Ganga Utsav 2021- The River Festival has been organized recently.
The festival has been organized under the leadership of Jal Shakti Minister by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) jointly with the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The festival will celebrate the glory of the river Ganga and all the rivers across India to promote the celebration of ‘Nadi Utsav’.
National Affairs
Dharmendra Pradhan launches ‘Bhasha Sangam’ initiative for schools
The Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has launched the Bhasha Sangam initiative for schools along with Bhasha Sangam Mobile App and Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Mobile Quiz.
Bhasha Sangam is an initiative of the Ministry of Education under ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha’ Bharat to teach basic sentences of everyday usage in 22 Indian languages.
The ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat Quiz’ is targeted towards children, youngsters for helping them learn more about different regions, states, and cultures.
Quick Facts: Dharmendra Pradhan is serving as the Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Environment
Critically endangered long tailed bat from New Zealand named as the Bird of the Year
A critically endangered New Zealand long-tailed bat has been named the New Zealand Bird of the Year 2021.
The long-tailed bat is the only land mammal of New Zealand and can fly at around 60 km per hour.
The competition has been organized by New Zealand-based independent organization ‘Forest & Bird’.
Quick Facts: The long-tailed wattled bat is also known as pekpeka-tou-roa.
International Affairs
‘Vax’ selected as the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2021 Word of the Year
‘Vax’ has been chosen as the word of the year by Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in 2021.
Vax is derived from the Latin word ‘vacca’ which means cow.
The word is used as a short form for vaccine and means a substance put into a person’s body to prevent them from getting a disease.
Quick Facts: The Oxford English Dictionary was first published on 30 March 1989.
India and the World
India signs MoU with World Bank to strengthen health systems in Meghalaya
The Government of India and Meghalaya have signed USD 40 million with World Bank to strengthen the health project agreement for the state of Meghalaya.
The Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project will improve the quality of health services in the state and strengthen the management to handle health emergencies in the near future.
The Project will also benefit health sector staff at primary and secondary levels.
Quick Facts: The World Bank is headquartered in Washington DC, USA.
Defense
Indian Navy stealth frigate Tushil launched in Kaliningrad, Russia
The seventh Indian Navy frigate of P1135.6 class has been launched at the Yantar Shipyard at Kaliningrad, Russia.
The ship has been formally named Tushil derived from a Sanskrit word that means protector shield.
The ship has been developed under the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between India and Russia in 2016.
Person in News
Australian cricket legend ‘Alan Davidson’ passes away at the age of 92
Australian and New South Wales cricket all-rounder Alan Davidson has passed away at the age of 92.
Davidson was the first player to achieve the feat of scoring 100 runs and taking 10 wickets in a single Test match.
Davidson was the legendary left-arm swing bowler who played 44 Tests for Australia in which he claimed 186 wickets and scored 1328 runs.
Quick Facts: Justin Langer is the current coach of the Australia National Cricket Team.
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