January 19 is celebrated by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as its raising day. The National Disaster Response Force Raising Day has been celebrated on this day since 2006 when the rescue force was officially formed.

The specialised, multi-skilled rescue force is made up of battalions from the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Assam Rifles.

 

The NDRF is the primary agency responsible for conducting rescue operations during disasters like drowning, building collapses, landslides, devastating floods, earthquakes and cyclones.

 

History : India saw a series of natural disasters in the later 1990s and early 2000s. These include the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, the Gujarat earthquakes in 2001, and the Mumbai floods in 2005 among others. While Indian Armed Forces were deployed for rescue and recovery missions, there was a need for a dedicated rescue operation-focused response force.

 

Therefore, the Disaster Management Act of 2005 was enacted. The act formulated the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as the apex body for natural disasters and the NDRF as the specialised rescue force under the NDMA’s mandate.

 

Significance : With 12 battalions and 13,000 NDRF personnel spread across the country, the NDRF has managed to save 1.44 lakh human lives and evacuated more than 7 lakh stranded individuals in its 17 years of service.

In 2021 alone, the NDRF saved 12,000 lives in various rescue operations.

The NDRF Raising Day is an important day as it provides an opportunity for the brave personnel of the rescue force to be recognised, honoured and awarded for their work.

On NDRF Raising Day 2022, 8 NDRF rescuers were given the ‘Union Home Minister’s Special Operation Medal’ for their extraordinary work in 2021..

Source : CNBC

Vedanta's Cairn Oil & Gas on Thursday (19th Jan 2023) announced the appointment of Nick Walker as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the company.

In a statement, the company said the appointment is effective January 5, 2023.

 

"Before this appointment, Walker was president and chief executive officer at Lundin Energy, one of the leading European independent E&P companies".

 

Having worked previously in companies like BP, Talisman Energy and Africa Oil, he has over 30 years of diverse international experience in technical, commercial and executive leadership roles.

 

He will be the sixth CEO of the company since mining billionaire Anil Agarwal-led group bought the company from Scottish explorer Cairn Energy plc, now known as Capricorn Energy plc, in 2011.

Walker comes into Cairn Oil & Gas after Prachur Sah quit the firm to join Indus Towers Ltd (formerly Bharti Infratel Ltd) as managing director and CEO effective January 3, 2023...

Source : Business Insider

Gambia's Vice-President Badara Alieu Joof has died (17th Jan 2023) of illness in India, President Adama Barrow said on Wednesday (18th Jan 2023).

 

Joof, 65, was appointed vice president of the West African country in 2022. He had previously served as education minister.

 

The vice president left Gambia about three weeks ago to seek medical treatment..

Source : Hindustan Times

The world’s oldest person, French nun Lucile Randon, has died 17th January 2023 at the aged 118. Randon, also known as Sister Andre, was born in southern France on February 11, 1904, a decade before World War I.

She was long regarded as the oldest European, but the death of Japan’s Kane Tanaka at the age of 119 last year made her the world’s oldest person.

The record for oldest confirmed age reached by a human belongs to Jeanne Calment, also of southern France, who died in 1997 at the age of 122. Guinness World Records had officially recognised her status in April 2022.

 

At the age of 26, she converted to Catholicism and was baptized.  Driven by a desire to “go further,” she entered the Daughters of Charity order of nuns at the rather late age of 41. Sister Andre was thereafter posted to a Vichy hospital, where she stayed for 31 years.

Spending most of her life dedicated to religious service, Sister André also held the record for the oldest nun living. Later in life, she relocated to Toulon on the Mediterranean coast. Prayer, mealtimes, and visits from residents and hospice personnel interrupted her days in the nursing home.

She also got letters on a regular basis, practically all of which she responded to. In 2021, she survived getting Covid-19, which infected 81 nursing home patients.

Guinness World Records works with lead consultant for gerontology, Robert D Young (USA), in the study of aging. Young has been the Director of the Supercentenarian Research Database Division for the Gerontology Research Group since 2015...


Source : The Guardian

Jammu and Kashmir has become the first Union Territory of India to go completely digital.

 

* Presently all government and administrative services in Jammu and Kashmir are being provided digitally only.

 

* Jammu and Kashmir is also emerging as a model of digital government in the country with a transparent and accountable governance system.

 

 

* The main objective of making government services online is to make people online.

 

* Through this, citizens can avail government services digitally without going to government office.

 

* With the digitization of government offices, now government offices will be in the pocket of the citizens. With this, citizens can take advantage of any government service anywhere and anytime without going to any office.

 

 

* Jammu and Kashmir was a state of India till August 2019, which was bifurcated on 31 August 2019 to form two union territories named Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

 

* Capital- Srinagar (May–October), Jammu (November–April)

 

* Lieutenant Governor - Manoj Sinha

 

* Legislative Council - 36 seats

 

* Legislative Assembly - 89 seats

The report said that Pakistan’s economic output was not only declining itself but also bringing down the regional growth rate as well. Forecasting Pakistan’s GDP growth rate to improve to 3.2 per cent in 2024, the report said, “Policy uncertainty further complicates the economic outlook” of Pakistan.

 

This pace reflects still robust growth in India, Maldives, and Nepal, offsetting the effects of the floods in Pakistan and the economic and political crises in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. The deteriorating global environment, however, will weigh on investment in the region,” the report said pointing to a “sharp, long-lasting slowdown” with the global growth expected at 1.7 per cent this year.

 

Devastating Floods, Biggest Reason : Floods in Pakistan in July last year was cited as the main reason for the faltering economic situation in the country by the World Bank. The report also cited devastating floods in 2022 as a reason for the precarious economic situation in the country. Floods deluged almost one-third of Pakistan and directly impacted about 15 percent of the country’s population. “Recovery and reconstruction needs are expected to be 1.6 times the FY2022-23 national development budget,” the report said.

 

Cost of food items touches sky : In Pakistan, soaring prices of basic food items have been burning hole in the pockets of people. Wheat, which is an essential staple food of Pakistanis, is barely in reach for many locals. Its prices have surged over 57 per cent, while the cost of wheat flour also saw an increase of 41 per cent, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said.

 

Pakistan’s forex reserves hit new low : Pakistan’s forex reserves have hit a new low of USD 4.6 billion that would be barely adequate to pay for foreign bills for three weeks. Analysts have put the country’s need for relief at USD 33 billion. The shortage of dollars has been drastically hurting the economy and diverting remittances from the legal banking channel to the grey market....

Source : First Post

 

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, a global figurehead of progressive politics, shocked the country today (19th Jan 2023) by announcing she would resign from office in a matter of weeks.

The 42-year-old -- who steered the country through natural disasters, the Covid pandemic, and its worst-ever terror attack -- said she no longer had "enough in the tank".

 

Ardern said she would step down no later than 7 February 2023, less than three years after winning a landslide election to secure her second term in office.

 

Ardern became the world’s youngest female head of government when she was elected prime minister in 2017 at 37.

She has led New Zealand through the Covid-19 pandemic, and a series of disasters including the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, and the White Island volcanic eruption...

Source : The Guardian

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has chosen Hyderabad for establishing its Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution focused on healthcare and life sciences.

 

The C4IR Telangana will be an autonomous, non-profit organisation and the only such of World Economic Forum in India with a thematic focus on healthcare and life sciences, Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao’s office said after Telangana government and WEF entered into a collaboration agreement at the Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday (16th Jan 2023).

 

In the presence of Telangana Industries and Commerce Minister K.T. Rama Rao, WEF President Borge Brende, and Chief Executive Officer Shakthi Nagappan of the Telangana Life Sciences Foundation, the collaboration agreement was signed by WEF Managing Director Jeremy Jurgens and Nagappan.

* One of Asia’s major centres for the biological sciences is Telangana.

* Telangana is known as the vaccine centre of the world and produces one-third of all vaccines produced globally.

* Additionally, the state is responsible for around 35% of India’s pharmaceutical output.

* The 18th centre of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Network, which spans four continents, is now C4IR Telangana.

* With the opening of this facility, Telangana will strengthen its position as a global leader and establish itself as a key node in the network of 4IR centres...

Source : The Hindu

 

Mastercard announced the expansion of its signature Girls4Tech, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education program in India.

The Girls4Tech is supported by Mastercard Impact Fund and in partnership with the American India Foundation (AIF).

 

* The expansion of the program aims to reach up to 1 lakh female students across the country by 2024 to encourage them to take up STEM Education.

* The program includes 14,400 students in Delhi and 40 additional government schools where STEM courses will be offered to girls aged 8 to 14.

* The Girls4Tech program reached over 1,12,482 girls in urban and rural locations across six states in India, including 10,000 across Delhi.

* According to the All-India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20, women comprised over 43 percent of STEM graduates in India, and only 14 percent pursued scientific research in universities and institutions.

* The situation becomes more concerning considering the skills gap in the workforce and the increasing necessity for businesses to attract, hire, and nurture a diverse workforce.

* Mastercard has partnered with the American India Foundation (AIF) to overcome the challenges and pique girls’ interest in science and technology fields and encourage girls to take up STEM education and prepare for jobs of the future, to narrow the gender gap.

* Girls4Tech was launched in 2014 and it is an award-winning education program aimed at creating future problem solvers, incorporating Mastercard’s deep expertise in technology and innovation...

Source : Times of India

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab is all set to launch its first major education project, ‘Schools of Eminence’, on Saturday (14th Jan 2023).

 

The launch programme will be held at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Mohali, said an official from the Punjab education department. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is expected to be the chief guest.

 

Sources said that School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains was also trying to ensure the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the launch but it has not been confirmed yet.

 

Under the project, the AAP government will upgrade existing government schools into ‘Schools of Eminence’ for classes 9 to 12. The government plans to upgrade nearly 110 government schools as ‘Schools of Eminence’ in Phase 1.

 

The AAP government in its first budget in June last year had set aside a fund of Rs 200 crore for ‘Schools of Eminence’ and said that these schools will be equipped with superlative infrastructure and will be at par with international standards.

 

The project is inspired by Delhi’s ‘Schools of Specialized Excellence’, which also conduct admissions at the Class 9 level...

Source : Indian Express