By: D.K Chaudhary
1. All about National Youth Day- 12 January
i. The National Youth Day has been celebrated every year on 12 January. This is the day when Swami Vivekananda, one of the greatest social reformers, thinkers, and philosophers of India, was born. The Indian government had declared back in 1984 that Swamiji’s birthday would be celebrated as the National Youth Day.
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the National Youth Festival in Greater Noida through Video conferencing. The Theme of the Festival is ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’. Culture Minister Dr Mahesh Sharma will be the guest of honour on the occasion.
- The first National Youth Day was celebrated on 12 January 1985.
- He founded the Ramakrishna Math and Mission on 1 May 1897.
- In 1898, he established Belur Math.
2. All You Need to Know about ISRO’s Successful Launch of 42nd PSLV
i. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched its 42nd Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The PSLV-C40 is to place 31 satellites, originating from seven countries, across two orbits.
ii. Its primary payload was the fourth satellite in the advanced remote sensing Cartosat-2 series. The satellite’s design life is five years. ISRO successfully sent up a rocket carrying India’s 100th satellite along with 30 others.
- Rocket scientist Sivan K was recently appointed as the 9th chairman of ISRO.
- ISRO was established in 1969.
- Founder and 1st Chairman of ISRO- Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, Headquarters in- Bengaluru, Karnataka.
3. India Tops Domestic Air Traffic Demand at 16.4% in November: IATA
i. India’s domestic air passenger traffic grew by 16.4 percent in November 2017, topping the growth chart worldwide, according to the global aviation body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
ii. Globally, the total revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) increased 8 percent compared to November 2016. The available seat kilometres (ASKs) or capacity grew by 6.3 percent. The ASK for India was at 10.4 percent, second only to China where capacity grew by 12.9 percent, according to the IATA’s monthly data.
- IATA’s Director General and CEO– Alexandre de Juniac, Headquarters- Montreal, Canada.
4. 5th Bilateral Meeting Between India and Malaysia Held in New Delhi
i. The 5th Bilateral Technical Meeting on cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine between Govt. of India and Malaysia was held in New Delhi.
ii. The Meeting had discussed the following agenda:-
- Establishment of Ayurveda Chair in University of UTAR, Malaysia,
- Professional training in Panchakarma therapy for Malaysian experts in India,
- The evaluation of safety and efficacy of combination Ayurvedic/ traditional products for clinical trials.
- Safety evaluation of Ayurvedic products based on Good Laboratory Practices (GLP)
- Bilateral MoU between National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH and Malaysia for Cooperation in the field of Medicinal Plants.
- AYUSH- Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.
- AYUSH Minister- Shripad Yesso Naik.
