GK Snapshots on 24 December 2021

Kisan Diwas or National Farmers’ Day 2021 – December 23

The Kisan Diwas or National Farmers’ Day is annually observed across India on 23rd December to commemorate the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh, the 5th Prime Minister(PM) of India (1979-1980). He was born on 23rd December 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh(UP).

He is popularly known as the “champion of India’s peasants”.

• The day also celebrates and honours the contribution of the farmers and their importance in the development of the country.

• The Kisan Diwas 2021 marks the 119th birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh.

About Chaudhary Charan Singh:

i.Chaudhary Charan Singh, a member of the Indian National Congress(INC), was first elected to the UP Legislative Assembly in 1937 from Chhaprauli and represented the constituency in 1946, 1952, 1962 and 1967.

ii.He served Uttar Pradesh in various capacities such as Minister for Justice and Information and Minister for Revenue and Agriculture and others.

iii.He became the first non-congress (Bharatiya Kranti Dal) Chief Minister(CM) of Uttar Pradesh in 1967, and later in 1970.

iv.He has also served as the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister of India in 1979 and later became the 5th PM of India in 1979.

Reforms:

i.He was the chief architect of land reforms in UP.

ii.He also played a major role in the formulation and finalisation of the Debt Redemption Bill in 1939 which brought great relief to rural debtors.

iii.He was also instrumental in bringing about the Land Holding Act 1960, which aimed to lower the ceiling on land holdings to make them uniform throughout the State.

Emma Raducanu named as BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021

2021 US Open Women’s Singles Champion, Emma Raducanu(World Rank: 19), a British professional tennis player has been voted as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021. The award ceremony was broadcasted from MediaCityUK, Salford, England.

• Winning her first major title at the 2021 US Open, Emma Raducanu became the 1st qualifier in the open era to win a grand slam tennis tournament.

India Wins Bronze in Men’s Hockey Asian Champions Trophy 2021

On 22nd December 2021 Indian Men’s Hockey team under the Captaincy of Manpreet Singh won a bronze medal in the Men’s Asian Champions Trophy Hockey tournament 2021 in Dhaka, Bangladesh after defeating Pakistan.Tournament Held at – Mawlana Bhashani Hockey Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh

• Harmanpreet Singh scored from the penalty corner, who was adjudged as the Player of the Match, where India defeated Pakistan in 4-3 game, to win Bronze.

• The Men’s Asian Champions Trophy Hockey Trophy 2021 was won by South Korea and silver for Japan.

Highlights:

i.Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Varun Kumar and Akashdeep Singh scored the goals for India while Arfraz, Abdul Rana and Nadeem were the scorers for Pakistan in the third-place playoff in Dhaka.

ii.India won the Men’s Asian Champions Trophy in 2016 and secured joint winners with Pakistan in 2018 which was held at Muscat, Oman.

Agri Minister Narendra Singh Tomar Released the Book Titled ‘Spices Statistics at a Glance 2021’

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has released the book titled “Spices Statistics at a Glance 2021”. The book is a compilation of all the spices statistics such as area, production, productivity, export, import, price and value of the output of various spices produced in the country. The book was published by the Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development(DASD), Under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare(MoAFW).

• DASD is the nodal agency for the collection and compilation of area and production estimates of spices at the National level.

About the book:

i.The book highlights the growth achieved in the spices sector in the past 7 years (2014-15 to 2020-21).

ii.The book will benefit policymakers, stakeholders, scientists, researchers, and farmers.

iii.The book states that spices production in India has increased from around 67 lakh tonnes in 2014-2015 to more than 106 lakh tonnes in 2020-2021 with an annual growth rate of 7.9%.

• The growth in spices production in India is due to the development programmes of the ministry such as Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), etc.

PM Modi Launches Multiple Development Initiatives in Varanasi, UP

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi inaugurated or laid the foundation stones of 27 development projects worth Rs 2,095 crore in his Varanasi parliamentary constituency of Uttar Pradesh (UP).

• PM reviewed the development projects along with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

List of Development initiatives launched:

i.Banas Dairy Sankul: Foundation stone was laid for ‘Banas Dairy Sankul’ at UP State Industrial Development Authority Food Park, Karkhiyaon, Varanasi. The dairy which was spread across 30 acres of land will be built at a cost of about Rs 475 crores and will have a facility for processing 5 lakh litres of milk per day.

• The project will strengthen the rural economy and help the farmers of the region by creating new opportunities.
• PM Modi digitally transferred about Rs 35 crore bonuses to the bank accounts of more than 1.7 lakh milk producers associated with Banas Dairy.

ii.Electricity generation plant: The foundation stone was laid by PM for the Biogas based Electricity generation plant for the Milk Producers Cooperative Union Plant, Ramnagar, Varanasi, UP.

iii.Portal and Logo Launch: PM Modi launched a portal and logo which was dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the help of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

• The unified logo which is featuring both the BIS logo and the NDDB quality mark will simplify the certification process for the dairy sector and reassure the public about dairy product quality.
• This is a novel and first of its kind certification scheme considering the perishable nature and short shelf-life of milk and milk products, as well as the extensive cold-chain involved in the production and supply of milk and milk products. This has brought ‘Product–Food Safety Management System–Process’ certification under one umbrella with a unified logo featuring the earlier respective logos BIS-ISI mark & NDDB-Quality Mark and Kamdhenu Cow.

iv.PM virtually distributed the rural residential rights record ‘Gharauni‘ under the Swamitva scheme of Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj, to over 20 Lakh residents of UP.

v.Education Sector: PM inaugurated Union Education Ministry’s Inter University Centre for Teachers Education, built at a cost of around Rs 107 crore, and a teachers’ education centre at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, built at a cost of over Rs 7 crore.

vi.Urban Development Projects: 6 projects of the redevelopment of Old Kashi wards, a parking and surface park at Beniabag, beautification of 3 ponds, 1 sewage treatment plant at village Ramna and provisioning of advanced surveillance cameras at 720 locations under Smart City Mission.

vii.Health Sector: PM Modi laid the foundation of Government Homeopathic Medical College costs around Rs 49 crore in tehsil Pindra under the Ayush Mission. He also inaugurated a 50-bed Integrated Ayush Hospital at Bhadrasi.

viii.Road Sector: PM laid the foundation stone of two ‘4 to 6 lane’ road widening projects for the Prayagraj and Bhadohi roads. The projects would improve the connectivity of Varanasi and solve the city’s traffic congestion.

ix.Tourism: PM inaugurated the 1st phase of the tourism development project related to the Shri Guru Ravidas Ji Temple, Seer Govardhan, Varanasi.

x.Other Projects: Speed Breeding Facility at International Rice Research Institute, South Asia Regional Centre Varanasi, a Regional Reference Standards Laboratory at village Payakpur and an Advocate building at Tehsil Pindra.

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