GUJARAT
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary: Unknown facts about Iron Man of India
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, popularly known as Sardar Patel, played a key role in the
Indian freedom movement. He united 562 princely states to build the Republic of India.
Sardar Patel worked with astonishing speed to dismantle the history of imperialism and create
the geography of unity with the spirit of nationalism. He saved India from Balkanisation and
integrated even the weakest of limbs into the national framework.
On the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel on October 31, 2018, PM Modi unveiled the 'Statue
of Unity' in Gujarat's Narmada district. His birthday is observed as National Unity Day.
With a height of 182 meters, the Sardar Patel statue is 100 times larger than the average
person. The total height of the Sardar Patel statue is double that of New York's Statue of
Liberty. The world’s tallest statue has been completed in the shortest time.
INTERNATIONAL
Mission Sagar II: Indian Naval Ship Airavat arrives at Port of Mombasa, Kenya
In continuation of the ongoing humanitarian mission ‘Sagar-II’, Indian Naval Ship Airavat
arrived at Port of Mombasa, Kenya.
The Government of India is providing assistance to Friendly Foreign Countries to overcome
natural calamities and COVID-19 pandemic, and towards the same INS Airavat is carrying
food aid for the people of South Sudan.
The Mission Sagar-II is aligned with Prime Minister’s vision of SAGAR -Security and
Growth for All in the Region.
It reiterates India’s position as a dependable partner in Indian Ocean Region with Indian
Navy as the principal maritime agency and first responder in the maritime domain.
Scottish writer Douglas Stuart wins Booker prize for novel Shuggie Bain
Scottish writer Douglas Stuart has won the 2020 Booker Prize for fiction with his debut novel
Shuggie Bain.
The novel described a boy growing up in Glasgow in the 1980s with a mother battling
addiction.
The Booker Prize shortlist also included Indian-origin writer Avni Doshi’s novel ‘Burnt
Sugar’.
First awarded in 1969, The Booker Prize is considered one of the leading prizes for literary
fiction written in English.
NATIONAL
Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge Launched for Many Cities
The Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the Safaimitra Suraksha
Challenge in 243 cities.
The Law on Prohibition of Hiring Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (2013)
and the Supreme Court’s decisions clearly prohibit dangerous cleaning, that is,
manual entry into septic tanks or sewers without protective equipment and following
operating procedures. Despite this, frequent fatal deaths among people cleaning
septic tanks and sewers are still a concern. Septic tanks and sewers usually belong to
economically disadvantaged and marginalized communities.
The challenge is to prevent the “hazardous cleaning” of sewers and septic tanks and
promote their mechanized cleaning. The challenge will be broadly focused on raising
citizens’ awareness of this key issue, as well as building infrastructure for mechanized
cleaning and labor capacity building. In addition, a special service hotline number has
been set up to register complaints and provide real-time solutions for sludge or sewer
overflow.
UMANG App Completes Three Years
UMANG App Completes Three Years
Online app UMANG completes three years. UMANG mobile application (a unified
mobile application for governance in the new era) is a single, unified, secure, multi-
channel, multi-language, and multi-service multi-purpose mobile application provided
by the Indian government, which can access high-impact service centres and Various
organizations of the country.
UMANG was developed by the National Electronic Governance Department (NeGD) of
the Ministry of Electronics and IT.
♦ It was launched in 2017 and offers 163 services.
♦ Currently, the app supports 2039 services including central and state government
services and utility bill payment.
♦ UMANG won four outstanding awards at the Sixth World Government Summit held
in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates in 2018, including the "Best Mobile Government
Service" award.
Sentinel -6 Satellite was Launched
The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite was launched aboard a SpaceX
Falcon 9 rocket.
The Objective of Sentinel -6 Satellite to monitor the ocean. And it is jointly developed
by European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, European Meteorological Satellite
Development Organization (Eumetsat), National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and European Union(EU)
♦ This is part of the next mission dedicated to measuring global sea-level changes.
♦ This task is called the "Jason Service Continuity" (Jason-CS) task, which aims to
measure the height of the ocean.
♦ The height of the ocean is a key factor in understanding the earth's climate change.
♦ The spacecraft consists of two satellites, one of which was recently launched, and
the other named Sentinel-6B, which will be launched in 2025.
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