Why in news?

• The festival of Byanjana Dwadashi ended recently in Odisha’s temple town of Puri.
• It is celebrated by adherents of Vaishnavism, the largest sect within Hinduism, which considers Vishnu and his incarnations such as Krishna as the Supreme Godhead.
• The festival celebrates a variety of food (Byanjana in Odia) on the 12th day (Dwadashi) of the Sukla Paksha or waxing phase of the moon in the month of Margashira (mid-December to mid-January).
• Vaishnavites, through this festival, commemorate an episode of the Mahabharata where Yashoda observes that her son Krishna is pale and weak. 
• It is believed that on this day Mother Yasoda used to prepare hundreds of dishes for Lord Krishna.
• This episode was re-enacted in the Vaishnava mutts of Puri by the medieval seer and mystic, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu after he reached Puri around 500 years ago.
• This tradition of celebrating varieties of traditional food and sharing them has been going on since then and is prevalent in the Vaishnava mutts of not only Puri and other parts of Odisha, but throughout the country.
• The special feature of Byanjan Dwadashi at Gourbihar mutt is that every year more items are added to the menu.

Why in news?

• World Thinking Day(WTD) is annually observed across the globe on 22nd February by the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 150 countries across the world to speak up on gender equality and climate change.
• The day is annually celebrated and organised by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).
• World Thinking Day, celebrated since 1926, is a day of international friendship.
• The theme for World Thinking Day 2022 is “Our World, Our Equal Future: The Environment & Gender Equality”.
• WTD 2022 starts a 3-year journey for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to become environmentally conscious leaders.
• World Thinking Day theme 2022-2024:
• The World Thinking Day theme from 2022-2024 will be ‘Our World, Our Future.’
• Each year will build on the environmental theme and explore the relationship between the environment and other global concerns.
• 2022: Our World, Our Equal Future; The Environment and Gender Equality.
• 2023: Our World, Our Thriving Future; The Environment and Global Poverty.
• 2024: Our World, Our Peaceful Future; The Environment, Peace and Security.

About World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS):

• WAGGGS is the World’s largest voluntary movement dedicated to girls and young women.
• WAGGGS was formed at the fifth International Conference, Hungary in 1928.
• It is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Why in news?

• On 17th February 2022, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the ” 4th edition of Frontiers report titled “Frontiers 2022: Noise, Blazes and Mismatches -Emerging Issues Of Environmental Concern” which predicts that wildfires will worsen in the upcoming years and decades. The report states that wildfires are becoming more frequent, larger, and more intense due to climate change.
• The report has attributed this to climate change and human activities.

About Frontiers

• The Frontiers reports of UNEP identify and draw attention to the emerging issues of environmental concern.
• The Frontiers report was first published in 2016.
• The Frontiers 2022 report has identified the 3 most important environmental issues that have emerged due to climate change: wildfires, noise pollution, and shifts in the biological life cycles of plants and animals.
• The 3 chapters of Frontiers 2022 are,
• Listening to Cities: From Noisy Environments to Positive Soundscapes
• Wildfires Under Climate Change: A Burning Issue
• Phenology: Climate Change Is Shifting the Rhythm of Nature
• Wildfire affected region:
• Between 2003 and 2016, a total of 13 million individual fires (lasting for 4-5 days) have occurred. The Savannah (mixed woodland – grassland) ecosystem accounts for 77% of these.
• Between 2002 and 2016, an average of about 423 million hectares (4.23 million square km) of the earth’s land surface was burnt every year.
• According to the report, around 67% of the annual global area burned by all types of fires was in Africa.

Why in news?

• India has won the Bid to Host 2023 IOC Session in Mumbai after 40 Years.
• During the 139th International Olympic Committee’s session (IOC) in Beijing, China, India won the bidding rights to host the 2023 IOC session in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• India will host for the first time in 40 years since 1983.
• The IOC session is the general meeting of the Members of the IOC.
• The session will be hosted at the state-of-the-art, Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai.
• IOC session was last held at New Delhi in 1983.

About International Olympic Committee (IOC)

• Established in 1894 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• The IOC has a total of 105 member’s active members.
• Additionally, it consists of 45 honorary members, 1 honour member who do not have the right to vote and 206 individual National Olympic Committees.
• In addition to the members, senior Representatives (President & Secretary-General) from more than 50 International Sports Federations (summer and winter sporting disciplines) attended the session.
• From which, Mumbai received a historic 99% of the votes in favour of its bid from the delegates, with 75 members endorsing its candidature in the session held in Beijing.
• An ordinary Session of IOC is held once a year, while Extraordinary Sessions may be convened by the President or upon the written wiliest of at least one-third of the Members.
• Activities of International Olympic Committee(IOC) Session:
• The IOC session discusses the global Olympics movement including adoption or amendment of the Olympic Charter.
• Election of IOC members and office bearers.
• Election of the host city of the Olympics.

Why in news?

• On 21 February 2022, Israel successfully test fired its “C-Dome or Protective Dome” naval defence system based on Iron Dome which was tested against rockets, cruise missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).
• The C-Dome was successfully tested for the first time from Saar-6 Corvette INS Magen, Israel’s Naval Warship.
• The C-Dome is installed in corvette ships to protect Israel’s coastline and offshore natural gas assets in the Mediterranean.
• The defence system has been upgraded to defend against the threat of Iranian proxies, which targeted natural gas assets of Israel.

About The “C-Dome or Protective Dome” Missiles: 

• The C-Dome is a multilayer missile defence system, alongside the Arrow and David’s Sling systems which is capable of intercepting everything from long-range missiles to short-range rockets.
• The C-Dome has the speed of mach 2.2 (2716.56 kmph).
• The command and control system was developed by the mPrest software company.
• The Multi-Function Surveillance, Track and Guidance Radar (MF-STAR) was developed by IAI’s Elta Systems.

Why in news?

• India has been elected for the Chairmanship of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), an Inter-governmental organisation of natural rubber (NR) and synthetic rubber (SR) producing and consuming countries.
• India succeeds Cote’d Ivoire as the chairman of IRSG.
• KN Raghavan, Executive Director of Indian Rubber Board and the Head of the Indian delegation to IRSG will officiate as the Chairman of IRSG for the next 2 years.

About International Rubber Study Group(IRSG):

• Members- Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, European Union, Indi, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka
• Formed in 1944, IRSG is headquartered in Singapore.

Roles of IRSG:

• IRSG is the only forum for NR and SR producers and consumers to discuss matters affecting the world rubber industry and act as an interface between government and the Industry.
• IRSG will collect and share the statistics on the production, consumption and trade in NR and SR across the globe.
• It is the only International commodity body which is approved by the Common Fund for Commodities for development financing in rubber sector.

Why in news?

• A 6th edition of 5-day bilateral air exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) namely ‘Eastern Bridge-VI’ commenced at Jodhpur Air Force Station in Rajasthan.
• Objective: This exercise is an opportunity to enhance operational capability and interoperability between the two Air Forces.
• Participants:
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed a fleet of Sukhoi-30MKIs, Jaguar and Mirage-2000 fighter jets for the sixth edition of the exercise ‘Eastern Bridge.
• The Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) has deployed its F-16 jets.
• Eastern Bridge promotes professional interaction, exchange of experiences and enhancement of operational knowledge, and strengthening of bilateral relations.
• Exercise Eastern Bridge V was held in October 2019 at the Air Force Base Masirah, Oman.

Why in news?

• The Central Government has approved the continuation of the Central Sector Umbrella Scheme of ‘Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM)’ over the 15th Finance Commission Cycle from 2021-22 to 2025-26, at a cost of Rs 13,020 crore.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is responsible for the implementation of BIM.
• This continuation will strengthen the border infrastructure for improving border management, policing and guarding the borders.
• The BIM scheme will help in the creation of infrastructure such as construction of border fence, border flood lights, technological solutions, border roads and Border Outposts (BOPS)/Company Operating Bases (COBs) to secure the Indian borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
• India’s border with Pakistan is 3,323 km long, including about 775 km of the Line of Control (LoC). The length of the border is 4,096 km with Bangladesh, 3,488 km with China, 1,751 km with Nepal, 699 km with Bhutan, 1,643 km with Myanmar.
• In pursuance of Group of Ministers recommendations on Border Management, the Department of Border Management was created in the Ministry of Home Affairs in January, 2004.

Why in news?

• Chief Minister (CM) of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma launched India’s first Night Navigation mobile application (app) for ferry services on the Brahmaputra river in Guwahati, Assam.
• It was developed by the State Transport Department in association with K Raju, the principal scientist of Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
• Highlights:
• The first night journey of the IWT (Inland Water Transport) ferry between Guwahati and North Guwahati was started on 19 February 2022.
• The CM also launched ten Aadhar-based contactless services of the State Transport Department to make public service delivery time efficient and budget friendly.
• The CM also launched an e-ticketing system for Dhubri and Silchar ferry services.
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between the Common Service Centres (CSCs) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and State Transport Department to provide online services at the panchayat level.

Why in news?

• The Padma Shri recipient Shakuntala Chowdhary passed away at the age of 102 years due to age related ailments.
• Shakuntala Choudhary was born on 25 June 1920 in Guwahati, Assam. She was also known as Shakunthala Baideo (elder sister), was an Indian social worker known for her commitment and devotion to the popularization of the Gandhian way of life.
• In 1947, she joined the Assam branch of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust (KGNMT).
• This branch of the Trust in Guwahati, known as the Kasturba Ashram or the Sarania Ashram. It was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1946.
• She was also closely associated with Vinoba Bhave who initiated the ‘Bhoodan Movement’ in India. She worked with him in translating his lectures from Hindi to Assamese, and was an active participant in Padayatra undertaken by Vinoba Bhave in Assam during the Bhoodan movement.
• Awards-
• Jamnalal Bajaj Award ( 2010) for the Development and Welfare of Women And Children.
• Padma Shri award (2022), for distinguished service in the field of social work.
• Vavoshestha Samman – National Awards For Senior Citizens 2021.