Uttarakhand Foundation Day is being observed on November 9. The day is celebrated annually to mark the formation of 27th state of India.
State of Uttarakhand is known as ‘Land of Gods’. It has very rich natural resources like glaciers, snow-clad mountain peaks, rivers and dense forests. It also has four most sacred and revered Hindu temples called as Char Dham of Uttarakhand namely Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. Dehradun is the capital Uttarakhand.
The name Uttarakhand was extracted from Sanskrit dialect. It literally means ‘northern city’. It was created by then Government of Uttar Pradesh following a long struggle by Uttarakhand Kranti Dal. The Kranti Dal was focussed on challenges faced by people in hilly regions & demanded separate statehood. Struggle continued for several years before Uttarakhand was created as Uttaranchal on November 9, 2000.
Uttarakhand is the amalgamation of culture, ethnicity and religion. It is one of the most visited tourist spots in India.
State of Uttarakhand share its border with Nepal, Tibet, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
In 2019, state government celebrated a week-long “Foundation Week” from November 3 to November 9.
The annual Leonids Meteor Shower has started and will be active between November 6 and 30, 2021.
The debris forming this meteor shower originates from small comet named “55P/Tempel-Tuttle” in the constellation Leo. It takes 33 years to orbit around the sun.
The Leonids are considered as a major shower, featuring the fastest meteors. The meteors usually travel at speeds of 71 km per second. The rates are usually as low as 15 meteors per hour. Leonids are also called as fireballs meteors, because of their bright colour and earth-gazer meteors because they streak close to the horizon. Friction between meteorite and molecule present in Earth’s atmosphere creates light. This is why a meteor is called shooting star.
A Leonid shower turns into a meteor storm, every 33 years. During Meteor storm, hundreds to thousands of meteors are observed every hour. A Leonid storm is called as meteor storm when around 1,000 meteors are visible per hour. Last meteor storm took place in 2002.
Such showers are visible on any cloudless night, when Moon is not that bright. In order to see showers, the viewing location should have no light pollution.
The inaugural Global Drug Policy Index was released by the Harm Reduction Consortium, on November 7, 2021.
The Global Drug Policy Index is a data-driven analysis of drug policies and their implementation across the world. The index comprises of 75 indicators and it run across five broad dimensions of drug policy namely- criminal justice, health & harm reduction, access to internationally controlled medicines, extreme responses, and development.
This project was developed by ‘Harm Reduction Consortium’. Other partners include- Eurasian Network of People who Use Drugs (ENPUD), Global Drug Policy Observatory (GDPO), European Network of People Who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD), Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), Harm Reduction International (HRI), Middle East & North Africa Harm Reduction Association (MENAHRA), International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), West African Drug Policy Network (WADPN), Women & Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN), and Youth RISE.
World Economic Forum (WEP) published its report titled “Mission 2070: A Green New Deal for a Net-Zero India” to provide a roadmap for India’s energy transition.
Energy, industry, mobility, agriculture and infrastructure & cities are the five pillars in India, contributing over 90 per cent emissions. India will require to curb this emission, along with four cross-sectoral enablers including-
The Logistics Ease Across Different States 2021 Index was recently published by Ministry of Commerce & Industry. This is the third edition of Index.
The Logistic Ease Across Different States (LEADS) index was launched in 2018. It was developed by the Commerce and Industry Ministry. The index ranks states in terms of logistical support to promote goods trade. Ranking is done on the basis of parameters like competitiveness of pricing, availability of infrastructure and services. It aims to encourage states for providing policy in order to improve their logistics-related infrastructure.
First edition of the report, LEADS 2018, focused on export-import trade. It assessed the efficiency of logistics ecosystem across state and UT. LEADS 2019 covered international as well as domestic trade. While, the third edition LEADS 2021 has analysed domestic and EXIM logistics ecosystem across the states.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launched the first-ever Mentorship programme on November 8, 2021.
This programme will help towards the concept of networking, outreach and hand holding. It seeks to organize workshops, handhold at colleges particularly in rural areas, meetings per month and conduct outreach activities in government schools. These activities will enable new colleges that have started their journey under the scheme to come up in line with the mandate of Star college scheme.
Star Status Colleges will help in incorporating the vision of DBT for strengthening UG Science Courses by mentoring new colleges through hand-holding and peer learning. It will bring these colleges under the aegis of Star College Scheme.
Mentorship Programme of the Star Status Colleges under Star College Scheme is being organised in line with Prime Minister’s vision that “roadmap for the next 25 years will be determined by scientific & technological innovations and scientific prowess” across all walks of life.
Currently, 278 undergraduate colleges in India are being supported under the DBT Star College Scheme. 55 colleges from rural areas and 15 colleges in Aspirational districts are being supported in just two years. Around 1.5 lakh students were supported in last five years.
Department of Justice launched the week-long “Tele-Law on Wheels” campaign, on November 8, 2021, joining the celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
These CSCs are branded as “Kanooni Salah Sahahyak Kendra” for this purpose.
The Tele-Law on Wheels Campaign is being organised with aid of “CSC e-Governance”. CSC e-Governance is a network of more than 4 lakh digitally enabled CSCs across India.
Department of Justice has also rolled out “Special Mobile Vans” for displaying the message of this campaign. These vans will travel for a distance of 30-40 kilometres daily for distributing Information Leaflets on Tele-Law, Radio jingle and broadcast films about the Tele-Law Services etc. Apart from that, SMS in Hindi and English will be sent for sensitizing villagers to register their cases under Tele-Law for legal consultations and advice.
Under the campaign, Ministry will launch “Citizens’ Tele-Law Mobile App” on November 13. This App will help in connecting the beneficiaries directly with Panel Lawyers who are offering legal advice and consultation.
The Ganga Mashaal started its journey, formally from Rishikesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand on November 8, 2021.
Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju and Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, flagged off the Ganga Mashaal from New Delhi, during Ganga Utsav on November 3, 2021.
Ganga Mashal was welcomed at Triveni Ghat in Rishikesh. It was followed by lighting of the lamp, Saraswati Vandana, Nukkad Natak on Swachhta, Ganga Aarti, and other cultural performances by school children & youth from National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS).
Ganga Mashaal was welcomed by WAPCOS and Wildlife Institute of India, in Haridwar.
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) celebrated Ganga Utsav every year, on November 4. The day marks the anniversary of announcement of River Ganga as ‘National River’. The Utsav is organised with the objective of promoting stakeholder engagement and ensuring public participation. It highlights the significance of public participation in revival of River Ganga.
Ganga Utsav 2021 was the 5th edition of the event. It was held in New Delhi from November 1 to November 3, 2021.
Manika Batra and Archana Girish Kamath from India have won the women’s doubles title at World Table Tennis Contender Lasko 2021.
World Table Tennis Championships were started in 1926. Tournament have been held biennially since 1957. Under this, five individual events namely, men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s double and mixed doubles, are currently held in odd numbered years. The World Team Table Tennis Championships, consisting of men’s team events and women’s team events, were first held in 2000. The Team Championships are organised in even numbered years.
In earlier tournaments, Hungary’s men’s team was a dominant force. They won championships 12 times. During 1950s, Japan was the dominating force. However, 1960s onwards, China emerged as the new dominant power. China’s men’s team is holding a record 20 world team championship titles.
She is an Indian table tennis player. She is the top-ranked female table tennis player from India. As of July 2021, she has been ranked 62nd in the world. In 2020, she was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the Tribal Pride Day Mahasammelan in Madhya Pradesh on November 15, 2021.
Birsa Munda was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, folk hero and a religious leader. He belonged to the Munda tribe. He led the tribal religious millenarian movement, arising from Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) during the British Raj, in the late 19th century. This movement made him a significant figure in the history of Indian independence movement. This revolt was mainly concentrated in the Munda belt of Khunti, Sarwada, Tamar and Bandgaon. His portrait has found place in Indian Parliament Museum, making him the only tribal leader to get this much honour.
Birsa Munda was born on November 15, 1875, at Ulihatu village in Lohardaga district of Bengal Presidency. It is now in Khunti district of Jharkhand. He was born on a Thursday. Thus, he had been named after that day in accordance with Munda custom.
On November 8, 2021, Srinagar has joined the UNESCO’s network of creative cities.
49 new cities worldwide have joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN). These cities were included in the list in recognition of their commitment of placing culture & creativity at the heart of their development as well as for sharing knowledge & good practices.
With the inclusion of 49 new cities this year, total numbers of cities in this network stands at 295 from across 90 countries. These cities have been included to the list as they invest in culture & creativity like crafts & folk art, film, design, literature, gastronomy, music and media arts, in order to advance sustainable urban development.
By joining UCCN, cities commit for sharing their best practices and developing partnerships among public sectors, private sectors and civil society for strengthening the creation, production and distribution of cultural activities, goods & services. Cities also pledge for developing hubs of creativity & innovation.
Google unveiled a new doodle on October 8, 2021 to celebrate the 104th birthday of cell biologist Dr Kamal Ranadive.
The Google Doodle, honoring Dr Kamal Randive, was illustrated by India-based guest artist Ibrahim Rayintakath.
Kamal Jayasing Ranadive was an Indian biomedical researcher. She is known for her research in cancer regarding links between cancers and viruses. She was also a founding member of Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA). She established India’s very first tissue culture research laboratory in 1960s, at the Indian Cancer Research Centre in Mumbai.
Kamal Ranadive was born on November 8, 1917 to Dinkar Dattatreya Samarath and Shantabai Dinkar Samarath, in Pune. She started her college education at Fergusson College with Botany & Zoology. She completed her Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree with distinction in 1934 and moved to Agriculture College at Pune for master’s degree (M.Sc.) in 1943 with cytogenetics.
The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs has amended the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, by which companies are now required to print ‘unit sale price’ on packaged commodities.
Amendment has been made on the way MRP is printed on the packaged commodities. Currently, MRP is printed in “maximum or max retail price Rs xx.xx” format. If a company mentioned only in “Rs xx” format, it was considered as violation. Now new amendment has been made under which companies are required to give MRP in Indian rupees and they are now free from any set format.