National Civil Services Day 2022 Observes 21 April
- India observes National Civil Services Day on April 21 every year to acknowledge the works of officers engaged in several public service departments in the country. The day also marks a reminder for civil servants, who collectively run the country’s administrative machinery and their dedication to serving the citizens of the country.
- Civil Services Day is celebrated on April 21 to commemorate the day when Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Home Minister of Independent India addressed probationers of Administrative Services Officers at Delhi’s Metcalf House in 1947. In his address, he called Civil Servants, the ‘Steel Frame of India’.
World Creativity and Innovation Day 2022 observed on 21st April
- World Creativity and Innovation Day is celebrated on April 21 every year. The day aims to raise awareness about the importance of creativity and innovation in problem-solving and encourage creative multidisciplinary thinking at the individual and group levels.
- The theme of World Creativity and Innovation Day 2022: Collaboration
- World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID) was founded on 25 May 2001 in Toronto, Canada. The founder of the day was the Canadian Marci Segal. Segal was studying creativity in 1977 at the International Center for Studies in Creativity.
- The United Nations on 27 April 2017 resolved to include World Creativity and Innovation Day on 21 April as a Day of observance to raise importance among people about the use of their creativity in problem-solving for all issues that may be related to achieving the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals.
India’s first pure green hydrogen plant commissioned in Assam
- India’s first 99.999% pure Green Hydrogen pilot plant has been commissioned by the Oil India Limited (OIL) at its Jorhat Pump Station in Assam. The plant has an installed capacity of 10 kg per day.
- The plant produces Green Hydrogen from the electricity generated by a 500kW Solar plant using a 100 kW Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) Electrolyser array. The use of AEM technology is being used for the first time in India.
- This plant is expected to increase its production of green hydrogen from 10 kg per day to 30 kg per day in future.
Government Officials to be trained in National Cyber Exercise
- To bolster India’s cyber posture, the National Security Council Secretariat is holding a National Cyber Security Incident Response Exercise (NCX India) for government officials and key sector organisations.
- The National Cyber Security Incident Response Exercise was kicked off by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
- According to a statement from the National Security Council Secretariat, more than 140 officials would be trained through training sessions, Live Fire, and Strategic exercises.
- Intrusion Detection Techniques, Malware Information Sharing Platform (MISP), Vulnerability Handling & Penetration Testing, Network Protocols & Data Flows, and Digital Forensics are among the topics covered by the attendees.
- The practise comes in the wake of recent power grid hacking incidents in Ladakh, as well as a number of incidents involving ministry Twitter accounts being hacked.
J&K launched ‘Jan Nigrani’ app to help people lodge complaints
- The Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Jammu and Kashmir, under the e-governance initiative has launched an app ‘Jan Nigrani’, intended to help people lodge their complaints related to various schemes online.
- The Jan Nigrani app is a 24×7 internet-based platform aimed at reporting and resolving the grievances of the residents of J&K, against various government schemes launched by the department.
Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurates a nationwide meeting on agriculture for the 2022 Kharif campaign
- Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Agriculture Minister, recently launched the National Conference on Agriculture for the Kharif Campaign 2022-23 at the NASC Complex in New Delhi.
- The Minister expressed his delight that, according to the 2nd Advance Estimates (2021-22), total food grain production in the country will reach 3160 lakh tonnes, a new high.
- The production of pulses and oilseeds will be 269.5 lakh tonnes and 371.5 lakh tonnes, respectively.
- Horticulture production is expected to reach 3310.5 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, the greatest level ever for Indian horticulture, according to third advanced projections.
Shanti Sethi appointed as Kamala Harris’s defence advisor
- Indian-American Navyveteran Shanti Sethi has been appointed as USA Vice President Kamala Harris’s Defence Adviser. Shanti Sethi is the first Indian-American commander of a major US Navy combat ship.
- Shanti Sethi commanded the guided-missile destroyer, USS Decatur, from December 2010 to May 2012. She joined the Navy in 1993. When she joined the Navy in 1993, the combat exclusion law was still in effect so she was limited in what she could do.
- However, when she was an officer, the Exclusion Act was lifted. Recently, US Senate has confirmed the appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson (the first Black woman) to Supreme Court Judge.
Lt Gen. Manoj Kumar Katiyar named as next DG of Military Operations
- Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Katiyar has been appointed as the next Director-General of Military Operations. He would take charge of the new office on May 1st.
- An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Lieutenant General Katiyar was commissioned in the 23rd Battalion of the Rajput Regiment in June 1986.
IFSCA signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the NIA
- The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Insurance Academy with the goal of creating capacity and establishing a qualified talent pool in the insurance sector in International Financial Services Centres.
- IFSCA aspires to build a strong worldwide connection and focus on the demands of the Indian economy, as well as function as a regional/global international financial platform.
- This Memorandum of Understanding aims to develop the necessary trained people for the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
Scorpene-class Submarine ‘VAGSHEER’ inaugurated at Mazagon Dock Limited
- The Indian Navy launched the sixth and last submarine, Yard 11880, of the French Scorpene-class under Project 75, at the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.
- The submarine has been named ‘Vagsheer’. The submarine will now undergo rigorous harbour trials and sea trials, before being commissioned in the Indian Navy. These submarines are designed by French naval defence and energy company ‘DCNS’ while Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai has manufactured them.
List of other submarines under Scorpene-class submarines:
- First submarine: INS Kalvari- commissioned on 14 December 2017.
- Second : INS Khanderi – September 2019
- Third: INS Karanj – March 2021
- Fourth: INS Vela – November 2021
- Fifth: INS Vagir- launched in November 2020 and is undergoing sea trials.
National Metallurgist Award 2021 would be awarded at the Union Steel Ministry
- The “National Metallurgist Award 2021” will be held here tomorrow by the Union Ministry of Steel. Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, the Union Minister of Steel, will host the event.
- The programme aims to recognise the outstanding contribution of metallurgists/engineers working in the field of iron and steel in the areas of manufacturing, research and development, design, education, waste management, and energy conservation, as well as their specific contribution to achieving Atmnirbhar Bharat’s objectives.
- The name of the award was changed from National Metallurgist Day Award to National Metallurgist Awards, the eligibility restrictions were relaxed to broaden the nomination pool, the number of awards was lowered to raise the award’s profile and emphasis, and so on.
