Nobel Prize Day falls on December 10 every year. It honors the achievements of Alfred Bernhard Nobel, a Swedish engineer, chemist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

We have all heard of the Nobel Prize that recognizes outstanding achievements in various fields in the arts and sciences. Nobel Prize Day is a tribute to the person who instituted the prize.

 

Nobel Prize Day History : Alfred Nobel was born to impoverished parents in Stockholm, but his father was a descendant of a very highly regarded Swedish scientist and writer, Olaus, or Olof, Rudbeck.

His father was an engineer himself and Alfred Nobel expressed early interest in engineering, and explosives in particular. This of course bore results, with Nobel becoming interested in stabilizing the unpredictable explosive, nitroglycerin, as early as his teenage years.

Despite one of his brothers dying in a tragic accident involving this pursuit, Nobel continued with his work, shifting the factory base to a more isolated area, and ultimately succeeding in inventing dynamite as a superior and more stable version of nitroglycerin.

 

Alfred Nobel went on to invent an even better alternative to dynamite in the form of gelignite. This became a staple in mining operations and made Nobel financially successful.

Nobel also invented weaponry for military purposes and started companies to sell these. When a French newspaper carried a false obituary of Nobel, criticizing him for his role in warfare, he re-evaluated his life’s goals and decided to use his earnings to set up a prize that recognized the best in humanity.

The prizes in the different categories reflect his own interests in various fields. Apart from being an entrepreneurial engineer, he was also a writer.

 

While Nobel is still criticized for the role he played in furthering military technology, the Nobel Prizes, including the Prize for economics, which was added later, are considered the most prestigious achievement for practitioners in those fields..

Source : National Today

Jammu and Kashmir has been awarded 1st prize in the category for Ayushman Bharat health account ID generation and 2nd prize in the category for Teleconsultation conducted during the celebration of Universal Health Coverage Day 2022 which is being celebrated on 10th and 11th December at International Cooperation and Convention Centre, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

 

* Universal Health Coverage Day is celebrated every year to commemorate the significance of Universal health coverage which aims to ensure quality healthcare closer to the people without any financial hardships.

 

* The event was graced by the Governor of UP, Smt Anandiben Patel virtually, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare; Health Ministers of various states and UTs, senior officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, States, UTs and development partners.

 

* Dr. Mohammad Shafi Koka, State nodal officer NHM attended the function and received the awards from the Union Health Minister who personally congratulated the UT of J&K for achieving the milestones in the healthcare delivery system.

 

* Secretary, of Health & Medical Education, "Bhupinder Kumar" said that  J&K is set to achieve the best model of Health delivery in the country which is evident from the huge improvement in the Health indicators.

* He appreciated the role of the officers of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission J&K for such a robust implementation of the mission which was launched recently in J&K..

Source : AIR

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The UDHR is a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.

 

Human Rights Day 2022 Theme : Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All

 

 

* Join us for a year-long campaign to promote and recognise the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

* The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be celebrated on 10 December 2023.

Ahead of this milestone, starting on this year's Human Rights Day on 10 December 2022, we will launch a year-long campaign to showcase the UDHR by focusing on its legacy, relevance and activism.

 

* In the decades since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, human rights have become more recognised and more guaranteed across the globe. It has since served as the foundation for an expanding system of human rights protection that today focuses also on vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and migrants.

 

* However, the promise of the UDHR, of dignity and equality in rights, has been under a sustained assault in recent years. As the world faces challenges new and ongoing – pandemics, conflicts, exploding inequalities, morally bankrupt global financial system, racism, climate change – the values, and rights enshrined in the UDHR provide guideposts for our collective actions that do not leave anyone behind.

 

* The year-long campaign seeks to shift the needle of understanding and action towards greater knowledge of the universality of the UDHR and the activism associated with it..

Source : UN

The legendary former athlete P T Usha 10th Dec 2022 officially elected as the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association. 

 

* The 58-year-old Usha, a multiple Asian Games gold medallists and a fourth-place finisher in the 1984 Olympics 400m hurdles final. 

 

* In a tweet, P T Usha said, she is looking forward to uphold the olympic values and will ensure that India propels forward in becoming a global sporting powerhouse.

 

* Ajay H Patel has been elected as senior Vice President, Rajlaxmi Singh Deo and Gagan Narang as Vice Presidents of the Indian Olympic Association..

Source : AIR

CM of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan has dedicate to the nation the charter gateway for private chartered flights at Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) on 10th December 2022.

 

* This facility would be the country’s largest business jet terminal, helping the growth of tourism in the State and will be comparatively cheap.

 

* After this, CIAL will also become one of the five airports in the country serving private jets..

Source : The Hindu

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s foray into national politics after the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday(8th Dec 2022) approved the change of name of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

The decision is a major boost for the pink party which is aiming to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre.

 

Party supremo Chandrasekhar Rao will officially launch the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) at 1.20 pm (9th December 2022).

He will organise the formation programme of the freshly renamed party. With this, KCR’s efforts to launch a national outfit, which began in June 2022, will take a definite shape today.

 

The official communique from ECI senior principal secretary KN Bhar addressed to Rao read: “The Election Commission accepted your request for change in the name of your party from Telangana Rashtra Samithi to Bharat Rashtra Samithi. The necessary notification in this regard will be issued in due course”..

Source : New Indian Express

The UAE has got the first position in the rating of passports for 2022, while India was ranked 87 in the list of the strongest passports in the world.

* The Passport Index 2022, published by Arton Capital, ranks the world's strongest and weakest passports. The passport rankings indicate how many countries you can visit without a visa.

 

* After the UAE, European nations dominated the list's top ten positions.

 

* While UAE topped the list, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain, and France were next. Pakistan was 94th, while Afghanistan was last.

 

* Japan is easily accessible from 171 countries and is ranked 24 on Arton's index. This year's list by Henley & Partners ranked the nation's travel document as the best in the world.

 

* A passport is a travel document that confirms the identity and nationality of the holder for the purpose of international travel. Passports are issued by governments to their citizens.

 

* Travelers can enter 180 nations without hassle with a UAE passport, which is seven more than European nations like Germany and Sweden and nine more than Japan.

 

* The Passport Index methodology is based on the 139 United Nations members, with six territories considered for the list. The information is based on official information provided by governments, updated in real-time with crowdsourced intelligence, and strengthened with exclusive research from incredibly reliable sources.

 

* A three-tier method is used to determine the individual rank of each passport: mobility score (MS) - includes visa-free (VF), visa on arrival (VOA), eTA and eVisa (if issued within 3 days), VF portion of their score vs VOA, and United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index 2018 (UNDP HDI) is used as a tiebreaker. The UNDP HDI is an important indicator of a country's international perception..

Source : Business Today

The government on Thursday(8th Dec 2022) said the rooftop solar programme has been extended till March 31, 2026, and therefore, subsidy under the programme will be available until the target for the scheme is achieved.

 

* The statement from the ministry of new and renewable energy said all residential consumers are hereby advised not to pay any additional charges to any vendor on account of fee for application on the National Portal or any additional charges for net-metering or testing which are not prescribed by the respective distribution company.

 

* In case such charges are demanded by any vendor or agency or person, the same may be intimated to the respective distribution company and to this ministry at email rts-mnre@gov.in.

 

* On the National Portal, any consumer willing to install rooftop solar from any part of the country can apply and track the complete process starting from registration to release of subsidy directly into his bank account, according to the ministry’s statement.

 

* According to the statement, the subsidy under National Portal has been fixed at Rs 14,588 per kW (for a capacity up to 3 kW) for the entire country and residential consumers have to install rooftop solar plant from any one of the vendors registered by the respective distribution company of their locality.

 

* The list of registered vendors is also available on the National Portal. To safeguard the interest of consumers, format of agreement to be signed between the vendor and the consumers has been given on National Portal, the ministry said..

Source : The Print

National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has appointed Meenesh C Shah as its Managing Director with effect from November 15.

* Union Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala informed that the Gujarat-based NDDB does not have regular chairman since December 2020. 

 

* Varsha Joshi, the then Joint Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, held the additional charge of the post of Chairman, NDDB, from December 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021.

 

* Meenesh C Shah has been functioning as the Executive Director, NDDB, and holding the additional charge of the Chairman NDDB from June 1, 2021 to November 14, 2022.

* On the basis of the decision taken by the NDDB Board, Shah has been appointed as Managing Director (MD) with effect from November 15, 2022.

 

 

* National Dairy Development Board was set up in 1966 as a society under the Societies Act 1860. The first chairman of NDDB was Verghese Kurien. Kurien is also called as the father of White Revolution in India.

 

* NDDB was merged with Indian Dairy Corporation by the NDDB Act 1987 with effect from 12 October 1987. NDDB has been given Institution of national importance status. It comes under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

 

* It launched operation flood in India which has made India, largest producer of milk in the world. The massive increase in the production of milk and dairy products in India is called as White revolution.

Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of the Hinduja group and India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer, on Thursday(8th Dec 2022) announced the appointment of Shenu Agarwal as its new Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO).

 

* Shenu joins Ashok Leyland from Escorts Kubota Ltd, where he was president.

* He was chief executive for the agribusiness for more than seven years and associated closely with the transformation of Escorts into a leadership position by ushering in contemporary global standards of design, quality, and manufacturing.

 

* Assuming charge, Agarwal will drive the technology development, growth, and future strategy for the company towards achieving our vision to be among the top 10 Commercial Vehicle players globally.

 

* Dheeraj Hinduja, executive chairman, Ashok Leyland observed “Shenu has a proven track record as a leader from a business conglomerate and is an allrounder having worked in different capacities in many disciplines.

* Our focus on reliability, ambition to achieve global scale, and our constant pursuit of enhancing stakeholder value at Ashok Leyland all will get further strengthened with Shenu at the helm.

* I am optimistic that the company will carve new niches in the mobility sector soon under his stewardship and I wish him the very best for the future."

 

* “I am honoured and feel privileged to be part of Ashok Leyland, an institution with a rich 75-year legacy of pioneering technology leadership. I look forward to working closely with all the stakeholders and employees to help achieve in an accelerated manner Ashok Leyland’s Vision to be among the Top 10 CV manufacturers globally.” said Shenu Agarwal..

Source : Business Standard