• Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurial Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched the Ramkrishna Mission ‘Awakening’ Program for students of classes I to V.
• During the occasion, Secretary of the Ramkrishna Mission Swami Shantatmanada, Chairperson CBSE, Smt Nidhi Chibber, and other officials of KVS, NVS, and the Ministry were present.

About Ramkrishna Mission ‘Awakening’ Program:

• Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said that NEP 2020 is inspired by the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda.
• Social transformation is one of the key goals of education, and values and wisdom are more important than material wealth.
• Ramkrishna Mission has a legacy of imparting applied education.
• NEP 2020 emphasizes on creating value-based educational programs for 9th and 12thin addition to creating programs for classes I to VIII.
• This initiative will ensure holistic personality development of a child aligned with the philosophy of NEP 2020.
• Shri Dharmendra Pradhan stressed on the point that our education system must be aligned to national priorities.
• CBSE will be an advisory framework for encouraging value-based education in schools from Balvatika to Class XII.

• In order to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers by incentivising states, the Union government plans to introduce a new scheme – PM PRANAM, which stands for PM Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management Yojana.

About:

• The proposed scheme intends to reduce the subsidy burden on chemical fertilisers, which is expected to increase to Rs 2.25 lakh crore in 2022-2023, which is 39% higher than the previous year’s figure of Rs 1.62 lakh crore.
• The scheme will not have a separate budget and will be financed by the “savings of existing fertiliser subsidy” under schemes run by the Department of fertilisers.
• Further, 50% subsidy savings will be passed on as a grant to the state that saves the money and that 70% of the grant provided under the scheme can be used for asset creation related to technological adoption of alternate fertilisers and alternate fertiliser production units at village, block and district levels.
• The remaining 30% grant money can be used for incentivising farmers, panchayats, farmer producer organisations and self-help groups that are involved in the reduction of fertiliser use and awareness generation.

• India and Egypt have agreed to identify proposals for expanding cooperation between the defence industries of the two countries in a time-bound manner.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held bilateral talks with his Egyptian counterpart General Mohamed Zaki in
• Both sides discussed steps to strengthen defence ties and reached a consensus to enhance conduct of joint exercises and exchange of personnel for training especially in the field of counter-insurgency.
• The two Ministers also exchanged views on regional security and acknowledged the contribution of India and Egypt to peace and stability in the world.
• Following Mr. Singh’s call on with President of Egypt Mr Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, both the Ministers agreed to consolidate and focus on enhancing security and defence aspects of bilateral cooperation.
• They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of defence to pave the way for enhancing defence cooperation across all sectors of mutual interest.
• Mr Singh said, the signing of the MoU adds new impetus and synergy to the India-Egypt relations.
• He also invited his Egyptian counterpart to the India-Africa Defence Dialogue and IOR Defence Ministers’ Conclave scheduled to be held as part of 12th Defence Expo in Gandhinagar next month.

India-Egypt Bilateral Relations

• India and Egypt, two of the world’s oldest civilizations, have enjoyed a history of close contact from ancient times.
• In modern times, Mahatma Gandhi and Saad Zaghloul shared common goals on the independence of their countries, a relationship that was to blossom into an exceptionally close friendship between Gamal Abdel Nasser and Jawaharlal Nehru, leading to a Friendship Treaty between the two countries in 1955.
• Egypt signed the ISA framework agreement as a founding member in March 2018 and ratified it in January
• India Business Forum (IBF) in Egypt was launched in 2012 by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

• All Class I officers of the state will adopt at least one anganwari centre in their area of jurisdiction.
• The initiative has been started to strengthen the efforts to ensure all-round well-being, with special focus on health and nutrition, of children in anganwari centres.
• “Through this initiative, officials will help out anganwari centres and children using their personal resources and influence.
• The officials will be expected to spend time with the children and develop a bond with them,” said Rupali Thakur, Director, Department of Women and Child Development.
• She has adopted two anganwari centres.
• The work of allotting centres to officials is underway and some adoptions have already happened.
• As it is a new initiative, we will hold orientation programmes to sensitise the officials about what the initiative entails and what would be expected of them,” said Aditya Negi, Deputy Commissioner, Shimla.
• Negi has adopted the anganwari centres in the district’s remote areas of Dodra Kwar and Rampur’s 15/20 area. “I chose these centres as there is a lack of infrastructure in these remote areas,” said the Deputy Commissioner.

• Kangra has been adjudged the best governed district in Himachal Pradesh, as per the criteria adopted by the state Department of Economic and Statistics for performance evaluation. Kangra Deputy Commissioner Nipun Jindal received the award from Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur at an event organised in Mandi.
• Thakur released the District Good Governance Index Annual Report-2021 at the Vipasha Sadan in Mandi.
• Kangra improved its position from seventh to first rank while Una improved from sixth rank in 2020 to third rank in 2021. Bilaspur maintained its position and was second in 2021 as well.
• Chamba district improved its rank to sixth in 2021 from 11th in 2020.
• The state government gives away rewards of Rs 50 lakh, Rs 35 lakh and Rs 25 lakh to the top three districts ranked on the basis of the Good Governance Index in order to promote competition among districts to perform better.
• As per the ranking for 2021, Kangra bagged the first prize (Rs 50 lakh), Bilaspur second (Rs 35 lakh) and Una got the third prize (Rs 25 lakh).

• In Wrestling, ace Indian wrestler and Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia captured a bronze medal in the men’s 65 kg category at World Wrestling Championships yesterday.
• He defeated Puerto Rico’s Sebastian C Rivera by 11-9. This is Punia’s fourth medal at the Championships, starting his journey with bronze in 2013.
• He went on to win silver in the 2018 Championships and followed it with another bronze in 2019. Now, he has four championship medals.
• This is India’s second medal at the ongoing edition of the World Wrestling Championships.
• Indian wrestler and Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist Vinesh Phogat captured a bronze medal in the women’s 53 kg category at the ongoing World Wrestling Championships 2022 in Belgrade.

• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineering Limited (GRSE),Kolkata, has been awarded with the ‘Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar’ by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. GRSE was awarded by the Government of India for the best implementation of official language under public sector undertakings in region ‘C’ for the year 2021-22.

GRSE 

• The ‘Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar’ was presented to Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Home.
• The award was presented during the Hindi Diwas Celebration organized at Surat.
• The Hindi Diwas Celebration was organized under the chairmanship of Shri Amit Shah, Hon’ble Union Minister of Home Affairs and Corporation.
• The event was facilitated by Shri Bhupendra Bhai Patel, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Nishith Pramanik, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, and other Union and State Cabinet Ministers, MPs, and MLAs were also present.
• GRSE has received the ‘Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar’ for the best official language Implementation during2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017.
• The ‘Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar’ is the highest award given by the government of India in the field of official Language Implementation.
• GRSE is the only Defence, and public sector undertaking in Kolkata to receive this award.

• IAF’s Project Cheetah: The Israeli Heron drones would be equipped with strike capabilities as part of the Indian Air Force’s Project Cheetah under the Make in India programme.
• The Project Cheetah aims to improve the Indian Air Force’s fleet of Israeli-made Heron unmanned aerial vehicles with stronger communication capabilities and long-range missiles that can hit enemy sites.

IAF’s Project Cheetah:

• The project was supposed to be finished with Israeli armament makers, as planned.
• The Israeli Air Force (IAF) is the key driving force behind the project that will also see the Israeli Navy and Army’s drones upgraded with strike capabilities and enhanced surveillance and reconnaissance pods.
• The three services have relied for years on Searcher II and Heron UAVs from the Israeli Air Force for surveillance and reconnaissance.

IAF’s Project Cheetah: Benefits of the Project

• The forces on the ground would be able to gather precise intelligence regarding hiding places in regions where men must participate in operations with the improvement in surveillance capabilities.
• The modifications would also make it possible for the ground stations to fly these planes from afar and control them via a satellite communication network.
• The surveillance capabilities of the UAVs that are expected to be enhanced would be comparable to those that the Indian Army and IAF have already acquired.
• As a result, the emergency acquisition powers that the government provided to the forces in response to the continuing military standoff.

• Varanasi city has been nominated as the first cultural and tourism capital during 2022-2023at the 22nd meeting of the SCO council in Samarkand.
• The 22nd meeting of the SCO council in Samarkand was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization 2022 was the first in-person meeting of the regional group after the Covid-19 pandemic which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Key Points related to Varanasi

• Varanasi will get a boost in tourism and cultural and humanitarian exchanges between India and SCO member countries after it is nominated as the first SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital.
• It will emphasize India’s ancient civilizational links with member states of SCO.
• Various events will also be organized under the framework of a major cultural outreach program in Varanasi during 2032-2023.
• During the culture several guests will be invited to participate from the SCO Member State.

About Varanasi

• Varanasi is also known as Banaras or Kashi. It is one of the oldest cities in the world. The city is known for Hindu mythology and history. The city is linked with spiritualism, yoga, Hindu mythology, culture, and the Sanskrit language.

• Typhoon Nanmadol has recorded furious winds and rainfall in several parts of Japan. Typhoon Nanmadol is one of the biggest storms to hit Japan in years. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has delayed his departure to New York, where he is due to deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), has advised people to be highly vigilant and prepared for heavy rains, high waves, gales, and storm surges.

About Typhoon Nanmadol:

• Typhoon Nanmadol is the14th typhoon in Japan.
• Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall near Kagoshima city and later the typhoon took over the western island of Kyushu and the main island of Honshu.
• Till now, the death of one person is recorded due to a flooded river in the typhoon Nanmadol, and 69 people were injured.
• About 3,40,000 households were without electricity during the typhoon.
• The Kyushu Railway Co halted operations in Kyushu.
• Japan Airlines Co Ltd and ANA Holdings canceled about 800 flights.