In a bid to revive the ailing telecom firm BSNL, the government on Wednesday(27th July 2022) approved its merger with Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL).

 

The Union Cabinet approved a revival package of Rs 1.64 lakh crore, telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The package has a cash component of Rs 43,964 crore and a non-cash component of Rs 1.2 lakh crore spread over 4 years.

 

Briefing reporters on the decision taken by the Union Cabinet, he said the government will make administrative allocation of spectrum BSNL needs to offer 4G services. The allocation of spectrum in 900/1800 MHz band at the cost of Rs 44,993 crore would be through equity infusion.

 

The package has three elements -- to improve services, de-stress balance sheet and expansion of fibre network.

 

To de-stress the balance sheet, Rs 33,404 crore statutory dues will be converted into equity, Vaishnaw said..

Source : Times of India

World Hepatitis Day is annually commemorated on July 28th to create awareness among people about the viral disease. The hepatitis virus has five primary strains, known as types A, B, C, D and E. They all cause liver disease, but there are key differences between them in terms of origin, transmission and severity.

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 354 million people in the world are living with hepatitis B and C. For most people testing as well as treatment is beyond reach.

 

World Hepatitis Day History : The World Health Organisation launched this campaign with an aim to make the world free of hepatitis. The World Hepatitis Alliance was founded in the year 2007 and the first community-organised World Hepatitis Day was observed in 2008.

 

In 1967 American Physician Baruch Samuel Blumberg discovered the Hepatitis B virus. In order to honour the Nobel Prize-winning scientist his birthday, July 28, was chosen as World Hepatitis Day. Samuel Blumberg discovered hepatitis B and invented a test as well as vaccination for the same.

 

Significance : The day is observed to spread awareness about the various forms of hepatitis and how they get transmitted. The day also aims to improve the management, detection, and prevention of viral hepatitis as well as related diseases. The day serves as a reminder of the importance of increasing hepatitis B vaccination rates. The day also advocates to build a collective global hepatitis action plan.

 

World Hepatitis Day 2022 Theme : This year’s theme for World Hepatitis Day is, ‘Bringing hepatitis care closer to you.’ The idea of this theme is to focus on raising awareness of the need to make hepatitis care more accessible..

Source : News18

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), India’s largest Central Armed Police Force, is observing its ‘84th Raising Day’ on 27 July 2022. The day celebrates the immense and unparalleled contribution of the force in upholding the unity, integrity, and sovereignty of the nation.

 

* CRPF is India’s largest Central Armed Police Force, which operates under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). 

 

* CRPF came into existence as the ‘Crown Representative’s Police’ on 27 July 1939. After Independence, it became the Central Reserve Police Force on the enactment of the ‘CRPF Act’ on 28 December 1949, which constituted CRPF as an armed force of the Union.

 

* After Independence, CRPF contingents were tasked to check infiltration and trans-border crimes in Kutch, Rajasthan, and Sindh borders. They were, subsequently, deployed on the Pakistan border in Jammu & Kashmir following Pakistan’s infiltration.

 

* CRPF personnel were also sent to Haiti, Namibia, Somali, Maldives, Kosovo and Liberia to deal with the law and order situation there, as a part of another UN Peacekeeping Mission.

 

* During the 1962 Indo-China war, the force once again assisted the Indian Army in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Further, in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, CRPF provided shoulder-to-shoulder support to the Indian Army, both on the Western and Eastern borders.

 

* CPRF was the first paramilitary force in India, which sent its forces in the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions. For the first time, 13 companies of CRPF including a detachment of women were airlifted to join the Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka to fight the militant cadres..

Source : News on Air

NEOM, this word will be synonymous with a new future in the coming time. Named NEOM, the new city being built in Saudi Arabia was first unveiled by Prince Mohammed in 2017, Saudi Arabia's flagship business and tourism development on the Red Sea coast and a significant project in the 2030 Vision that seeks to diversify the economy.

 

The multi-trillion dollar project will include smart towns, port and enterprise sectors, research centres, sports and entertainment venues and tourism centres. The project will cover 26,500 square kilometres and a range of sectors, including industrial and logistics sectors, planned for completion in 2025.

 

The word NEOM is derived from "NEO MSTACBEL," whose initials MSTACBEL signify core project areas such as media, sports, technology and energy. And then, the word is abbreviated, and the letter M is the symbol of the word "meem" in Arabic: it is the first letter of the Arabic word for the future (mustaqbal) and also the first letter of Prince's name M, Prince "Mohammed" bin Salman. The letter "M" was then merged with the word "NEO" from the Greek language, meaning new, and thus became the name of the city "NEOM", which is located on the Red Sea in northwestern Saudi Arabia, approximately Spread over an area of 26,500 square kilometres, and made up of 41 coastal islands.

 

There are plans to set up a network of airports in NEOM, including an international airport. The first, called Nom Bay Airport in the northern region of Sharma, opened last year and operated regular flights for investors and employees on the Neom project..

Source : Weather

Former Northern Irish first minister David Trimble, a pro-British leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his role as a key architect in ending three decade of bloodshed in the region, has died aged 77, his family said on July 25, 2022.

 

"It is with great sadness that the family of Lord Trimble announce that he passed away peacefully earlier today following a short illness," Trimble's family said in a statement published by his Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

 

Trimble and John Hume, former leader of the Catholic Social Democratic and Labour Party, jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for their roles in helping end the sectarian violence that claimed some 3,600 lives.

 

"David Trimble was a man of courage and vision. He chose to grasp the opportunity for peace when it presented itself and sought to end the decades of violence that blighted his beloved Northern Ireland," UUP leader Doug Beattie said in a statement.

Rajasthan Grameen Aajivika Vikas Parishad (RGAVP) and Stree Nidhi-Telangana on Monday(25th July 2022) signed an agreement to set up a financial institution for women in Rajasthan.

 

'Rajasthan Mahila Nidhi' is being set up in the state on the lines of Telangana's Stree Nidhi model. 

 

The agreement was signed by RGAV Mission Director Manju Rajpal and Stree Nidhi managing director G Vidhyasagar Reddy in the presence of rural development minister Ramesh Chand Meena, according to a release.

 

Chief minister "Ashok Gehlot" had announced in the state budget 2022-23 for setting up a bank run by women..

Source : Deccan herald

An app-based system for police attendance and real-time monitoring of patrolling by personnel was launched by Haryana Chief Minister "Manohar Lal Khattar" on Monday(25th July 2022) in Gurugram.

 

The CM launched the 'Smart E-Beat' system at an event at the office of the Commissioner of Police and flagged off 119 motorcycle police riders connected with it.

 

Khattar said this app-based system has been introduced in Gurugram under the 'Smart Policing Initiative' (SPI) and it will help these policemen to mark their attendance, and in monitoring of their rides.

 

Till now, the policemen deployed at the beat used to mark their attendance manually and there was no system for their monitoring.

 

But, this GIS-based system would enable more effective monitoring and the location of riders can be easily tracked.

 

The minister said the Gurugram Police has identified 2,056 sensitive locations in the city, which mainly include ATMs, petrol pumps, residences of senior citizens, schools, colleges, religious places, and crime affected areas for monitoring..

Source : India Today

Mastercard would replace Paytm as the title sponsor for all international and domestic cricket matches, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

 

The board has accepted the plea of Paytm for the reassignment of its title rights.

 

Since 2015, Paytm has been the title sponsor of  BCCI and renewed the contract in August 2019.

 

The current agreement between Paytm and the BCCI runs from September 2019 to March 31, 2023..

Source : Theweek

Sushovan Bandyopadhyay famous as Bengal’s ‘one rupee doctor’ passed away on Tuesday(26th July 2022) in a Kolkata hospital. Bandyopadhyay was 84.

 

He had been suffering for about two years from kidney related ailments.

 

A doctor and a politician, Bandyopadhyay treated patients for close to 60 years. He had treated people for just one rupee and is fondly known as ‘Ek Takar Daktar’ (one rupee doctor).

 

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2020. The same year his name was recorded in the Guinness World Records for treating the maximum number of patients. 

 

He is an ex-MLA from Bolpur seat and had contested on Congress ticket in 1984. He was a member of Trinamool Congress in the past and was its Birbhum district president but had later quit the party..

Source : The Print

India has designated five(5) new wetlands of international importance, taking the total number of Ramsar sites in the country to 54.

 

The new sites are :

* Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest & Pichavaram Mangrove in Tamil Nadu,
* Pala wetland  in Mizoram
* Sakhya Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.

 

On the occasion of World Wetlands Day on 2 February, India added Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat and Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh to the list of Ramsar sites in India.

 

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav had then said the government is taking affirmative action, involving communities and citizens, in halting and reversing wetlands degradation and loss.

 

Before the addition of Bakhira and Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh’s Haiderpur wetland made it to the list of Indian wetlands of international importance.

 

As per the Ramsar Convention on wetlands report, the wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests, with 35% of the wetlands lost from 1970-2015.

 

The alarming situation demands urgent attention as 40% of the world’s plant and animal species breed in wetlands. The wetlands are also vital feeding and breeding grounds for migratory birds.

 

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty, aims at the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. Named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, the convention was signed in 1971..

Source : Mint