National Milk Day is celebrated in India on November 26 to honour the memory of Dr Verghese Kurien, who is fondly known as the father of the White Revolution.

Kurien was also called the Milkman of India as his ideas and efforts to build a system of farmer cooperatives helped transform the country from an importer of dairy products to the world’s largest milk producer. National Milk Day also highlights the importance of milk in human life and its benefits.

 

Significance : National Milk Day is important as it raises awareness about the need for milk in human lives. According to the data available on the NDDB website, milk production in India has increased from 84.4 million tonnes in 2001-02 to 121.8 million tonnes in 2010-11 and 198.4 million tonnes in 2019-20.

 

 

In 2014, dairy majors of the country along with the Indian Dairy Association decided to celebrate National Milk Day in India on November 26 to pay tribute to Dr Verghese Kurien on his birth anniversary.

 

Kurien was deputed to a creamery in Anand, Gujarat, where he worked as an officer in the dairy division for five years. Kurien met Tribhuvandas Patel in Anand when the latter was trying to unite the farmers to form a cooperative movement in a bid to fight exploitation.

Kurien was inspired by Patel, who formed the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited in 1946. This later came to be known as Amul Dairy. Despite pressure from the competing dairy business, Polson Dairy, Kurien supported Patel’s movement.

 

It was Kurien’s friend and dairy expert HM Dalaya who introduced a way to make milk powder and condensed milk from buffalo milk. Till then these processed items were being made from cow’s milk only..

Source : Cnbctv18

The Constitution Day - or 'Samvidhan Divas' - is celebrated on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India. On this day, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26th January 1950.

 

Constitution Day 2022 : 

 

* The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on November 19, 2015, notified the decision of the government of India to celebrate the 26th day of November every year as 'Constitution Day' to promote values among citizens.

 

* The year 2015 marked the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, also known as the "Father of the constitution". As a tribute to the chairman of the drafting committee of the constitution, the Modi government planned for year-long celebrations, and during one such event in May 2015 in Mumbai, Prime Minister Modi announced November 26 as "Constitution Day", earlier known as 'Law day'.

 

* Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, was the President of the Constituent Assembly, which was established in 1946. It took almost three years (two years, eleven months, and seventeen days to be precise) to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India.

 

* On August 29, 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to prepare a draft. While deliberating upon the draft Constitution, the Assembly moved, discussed, and disposed of as many as 2,473 amendments out of a total of 7,635 tabled.

 

* During this period, it held eleven sessions covering a total of 165 days. Of these, 114 days were spent on the consideration of the Draft Constitution..

Source : Hindustan Times

The City of Lakes, Udaipur is gearing up to host the first G20 Sherpa Meeting in India from 4 to 7 December 2022.

* The meeting is aimed at fostering growth and  building bonds amongst the twenty nations. Among the highlights will be the depiction of Indian culture with wall paintings and illumination of heritage sites across the city.

* The G20 Sherpa meeting is expected to be held at the Darbar Hall at the City Palace Udaipur.  Arrangement is being made at Fateh Prakash Palace, Hotel Udai Vilas and Leela Palace to accommodate the delegates for this meeting.

* The Royal Dinner is expected to be held at Jag Mandir where the delegates will be treated to delicacies from the Indian cuisine as well as those of the member countries.

 

* The Sherpa Meeting of the G20 Summit is a preliminary meeting of the government representatives before the main G20 Summit.

 

* Here the representatives of the member nations hold discussions to firm up possible agreements. The final decisions are taken at the G20 summit by the Heads of States.

* Ahead of the main G20 Summit, the Sherpas meeting ensures that the time and resources required at the time of negotiations of the larger heads of state at the final summit are minimized. The former CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant is the G20 Sherpa from India...

Source : AIR

Veteran film and television star Vikram Gokhale has passed away at the age of 75. He breathed his last in Pune on 26 November 2022. Popularly known for his roles in films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, was hospitalised earlier.

 

On the work front, Vikram Gokhale was known for his on-screen roles in films like Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Parwana, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Agneepath, and Khuda Gawah. 

 

The prolific star, who has established himself in Indian cinema, is also a recipient of the National Award for Best Actor in 2010 for his performance in the Marathi film, Anumati. 

 

In television, he has worked in popular shows like Ghar Aaja Pardesi, Alpviraam, Jaana Na Dil Se Door, Sanjeevni, Indradhanush.

 

Gokhale was the son of Marathi theatre and film actor Chandrakant Gokhale, and following his stint in regional cinema, the actor made his directorial debut in 2010 with the film titled Aaghaat. 

 

His last outing was Abhimanyu Dassani and Shilpa Shetty-starrer Nikamma, which was released in theatres in June this year. Vikram Gokhale was also a social activist. His family's charitable foundation provides financial support for disabled soldiers, Children of lepers, and education of orphan children.

Born : 30 October 1947, Pune

Died : 26 November 2022, Pune


Source : India Today

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways "Shri Nitin Gadkari" informed 4-Laning of Bhiwani-Hansi road section of NH-148B under Bharatmala Pariyojana in Bhiwani and Hisar districts has been approved on HAM in the state of Haryana with a budget of Rs.1322.13 Crore.

He said the project would provide fast movement & good inter-district connectivity in Haryana.

 

The Minister said the development of this section would also improve the overall efficiency of the long route traffic and freight movement that would ensure smooth and safe traffic flow as well as substantial reduction in travel time and reduced Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC).

The project would give a boost to the basic infrastructure in Haryana that would give momentum to the overall economic development of the region..

Source : PIB

India has won the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Vice Presidency and Strategic Management Board (SMB) Chair for the 2023-25 term.

 

* By securing over 90 per cent of the votes cast by full members of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) during its General Meeting held recently in San Francisco, the US, India's representative, a member of the Indian National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and various technical committees of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS-India), was elected.

 

 

* Representation of BIS (India) in policy and governance bodies of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and IEC ensures that Indian viewpoints on the important strategic and policy matters are put forth and it also provides opportunities to align the national standardisation priorities with International best practices.

 

* International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is an international standard setting body that publishes international Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

 

* Standardisation Management Board (SMB) is an apex governance body of IEC responsible for technical policy matters..

Source : Business Standard

Thirty-nine(39) schools from across the country have been awarded the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar for the 2021-22 academic session, the Ministry of Education announced on Saturday(19th Nov 2022).

 

* The schools selected from among the total 8.23 lakh entries are 28 government and aided while 11 are private schools.

 

* The awarded schools include two Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, one Navodaya Vidyalaya and three Kendriya Vidyalayas.

 

* The Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar not only honours the schools that have taken exemplary work in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene but also provides a benchmark and roadmap for schools to make further improvements.

 

* For the award, schools are rated on six broad parameters of – water, toilets, handwashing with soap, operation and maintenance, behavioural change and capacity building and COVID-19 (Preparedness and Response).

 

* "Out of 39 schools, 17 are elementary and 22 are secondary/ higher secondary schools. Cash prizes of ₹60,000 to 34 schools (in overall category) and ₹20,000 (in sub-categories) were given to the awardee schools today," a Ministry of Education official said.

 

* The third edition of the award saw participation from 9.59 lakh schools, around 1.5 times more than the number of schools (6.15 lakh schools) which participated in SVP 2017-18.

 

* Out of the 9.59 lakh schools, more than 8.23 lakh schools submitted their applications for SVP 2021-22. The evaluation process of 4,27,718 eligible schools was undertaken at district and state level, out of which 606 schools at State and UT level awards were found eligible for national level awards..

Source : The Hindu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the world’s most popular leader with an approval rating of 77%. This was revealed in a Global Leader Approval Ratings released by a US based consulting firm Morning Consult.

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stands at second position followed by Australian Prime Minister "Anthony Albanese". In the approval rating, US President "Joe Biden" is placed at 9th position followed by UK Prime Minister "Rishi Sunak" among the 22 world leaders.

 

The latest approval ratings are based on data collected from 16th to 22nd November 2022. It is based on a seven-day moving average of adult residents in each country, with sample sizes varying by country. In the earlier rating too, Prime Minister Modi had topped the ranking..

Source : AIR

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi has been placed at the 28th position in the recently released Times Higher Education Global Employability University Ranking and Survey (GEURS) survey, making it the only Indian institute to rank in top 50.

* The varsity was ranked 27th last year. It is followed by IISc at rank 58 and IIT Bombay at rank 72. A total of seven Indian universities have made it to the top 250.

 

* Overall, three US institutes have taken the top 3 positions — Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology and Harvard University, respectively.

* The University of Cambridge and the Stanford University have retained their position of fourth and fifth, respectively. The University of Oxford has risen from eighth to sixth position this year while the University of Tokyo from Japan has slipped from sixth to seventh this time. Yale University which was ranked seventh last year has slipped to 10th position.

 

* 28 - IIT Delhi

* 58 - IISc

* 72 - IIT Bombay

* 154 - Indian Institute of Management

* 155 - IIT Kharagpur

* 225 - Amity University

* 242 - Bangalore University

 

 

1 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2 - California Institute of Technology

3 - Harvard University

4 - University of Cambridge

5 - Stanford University

6 - University of Oxford

7 - The University of Tokyo

8 - National University of Singapore

9 - Princeton University

10 - Yale University

Source : News18

India's Unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above in urban areas declined to 7.2 per cent during July-September 2022 from 9.8 per cent a year ago, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said on Thursday(24th Nov 2022).

 

* Joblessness or unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons among the labour force. Joblessness was high in July-September 2021 mainly due to the staggering impact of Covid-related restrictions in the country.

 

* The latest data based on a periodic labour force survey, underlining a decline in the unemployment rate amid an improved labour force participation ratio, point towards a sustained economic recovery from the shadow of the pandemic.

 

* The unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above in April-June 2022 was 7.6 per cent in urban areas, the 16th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).

 

* It also showed that the unemployment rate among females (aged 15 years and above) in urban areas declined to 9.4 per cent in July-September, 2022 from 11.6 per cent a year ago. It was 9.5 per cent in April-June, 2022.

 

* Among males, the unemployment rate in urban areas dipped to 6.6 per cent in July-September 2022 compared to 9.3 per cent a year ago. It was 7.1 per cent in April-June 2022.

 

* Labour force participation rate in CWS (Current Weekly Status) in urban areas for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 47.9 per cent in the July-September quarter of 2022, from 46.9 per cent in the same period a year ago. It was 47.5 per cent in April-June 2022..

Source : Business Today