Disaster Management/GSIII
Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2022

What's the NEWS

• To recognize and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organizations in India in the field of disaster management, Government of India has instituted an annual award known as Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar.

• The award is announced every year on 23rd January, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
• The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual.
• For the year 2022, (i) Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (in the Institutional category) and (ii) Professor Vinod Sharma (in the Individual category) have been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for their excellent work in Disaster Management.
• They will be conferred with the Award, alongwith the awardees of the year 2019, 2020 and 2021, by Prime Minister at the investiture ceremony, to be held to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

• The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, paid homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 125^th birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (January 23, 2022)

• He was one of the most prominent leaders of Indian freedom struggle.
• He founded Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) to overthrow British Empire from India and came to acquire legendary status among Indian masses.
• Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa.
• He went to England in 1919 to compete for Indian Civil Services.
• In England he appeared for the Indian Civil Service competitive examination in 1920, and came out fourth in order of merit.
• However, Subhas Chandra Bose was deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre, and left his Civil Services apprenticeship midway to return to India in 1921.
• After returning to India Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and joined the Indian National Congress.
• On Gandhiji's instructions, he started working under Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, whom he later acknowledged his political guru.
• In 1928 the Motilal Nehru Committee appointed by the Congress declared in favour of Domination Status, but Subhas Chandra Bose along with Jawaharlal Nehru opposed it, and both asserted that they would be satisfied with nothing short of complete independence for India.
• Subhas also announced the formation of the Independence League.
• Subhas Chandra Bose was jailed during Civil Disobedience movement in 1930.
• He was released in 1931 after Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed.
• He protested against the Gandhi-Irwin pact and opposed the suspension of Civil Disobedience movement specially when Bhagat Singh and his associates were hanged.
• He was elected President of the Haripura Congress Session in 1938.
• Subhas Chandra Bose was re-elected, defeating Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya who had been backed by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Working Committee.
• He resigned from the post of president and formed a progressive group known as the Forward Block.
• In January 1941, Subhas Chandra Bose disappeared from his home in Calcutta and reached Germany via Afghanistan.
• He sought cooperation of Germany and Japan against British Empire.
• In January 1942, he began his regular broadcasts from Radio Berlin, which aroused tremendous enthusiasm in India.
• In July 1943, he arrived in Singapore from Germany. In Singapore he took over the reins of the Indian Independence Movement in East Asia from Rash Behari Bose and organised the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) comprising mainly of Indian prisoners of war.
• He was hailed as Netaji by the Army as well as by the Indian civilian population in East Asia.
• Azad Hind Fauj proceeded towards India to liberate it from British rule.
• Enroute it liberated Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• The I.N.A. Head quarters was shifted to Rangoon in January 1944.
• Azad Hind Fauj crossed the Burma Border, and stood on Indian soil on March 18 ,1944.
• However, defeat of Japan and Germany in the Second World War forced INA to retreat and it could not achieve its objective.
• Subhas Chandra Bose was reportedly killed in an air crash over Taipeh, Taiwan (Formosa) on August 18, 1945.

• The final blast for the 980-metre long Sela Tunnel (Tunnel 1) was conducted by Director General Border Roads (DGBR) through an e-ceremony from New Delhi on January 22, 2022.
• This marks the culmination of the excavation works on the complete Sela Tunnel Project.
• This feat has been achieved by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) amidst inclement weather and heavy snowfall.

• The Sela Tunnel Project is located in the West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh. Once completed, it will be a lifeline as it will provide all weather connectivity to Tawang.
• The project comprises of Tunnel 1, which is a 980 m long single tube tunnel and Tunnel 2, which is a 1555 m long twin tube tunnel.
• Tunnel 2 has one bi-lane tube for traffic and one escape tube for emergencies. It will also be one of the longest tunnels to have been constructed above altitude of 13,000 feet.
• The project also includes construction of an approach road of seven kilometres to Tunnel 1, which takes off from BCT Road and a link road of 1.3 kilometres, which connects Tunnel 1 to Tunnel 2. The foundation stone of the Sela Tunnel Project was laid by the Prime Minister in 2019.

What's the NEWS

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will display two tableaux during the forthcoming Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2022.
• The tableaux are ‘Suite of Indigenously Developed Sensors, Weapons and Electronic Warfare Systems for LCA Tejas' and ‘Air Independent Propulsion System (AIP)' developed for the submarines of Indian Navy.

• The first tableau displays an indigenously-developed Advanced Electronically Scanned Array Radar called ‘Uttam'; five different aerial launched weapons and an Electronic Warfare (EW) Jammer to further enhance the capabilities of fourth generation LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Tejas.
• The ‘Uttam' radar is highly compact and modular state-of-the-art sensor to provide situational awareness to the pilot. The radar is developed by Bangalore-based electronics laboratory.
• The five aerial launched weapons include air-to-air missile ‘Astra' which is an all-weather, active radar homing missile with beyond visual range striking capabilities; ‘Rudram', a new generation anti-radiation missile with a capability to destroy adversary's radar and communication systems; ‘Smart Anti Airfield Weapon, meant to destroy the ground targets and airfields; a long range guided glide bomb ‘Gaurav' and ‘Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation', an advanced precision strike weapon meant for ground targets.
• These weapons are developed using complex technologies by Hyderabad-based DRDO laboratories.
• Tejas is fitted with ‘Advanced Self Protection Jammer' designed to provide protection from acquisition radars, fire control radars, anti-aircraft artillery and airborne multirole radars.
• Developed by electronic laboratory at Hyderabad, it provides the electronic warfare capability for the LCA.
• Integration of these weapons, radar and EW systems with LCA is an important step towards increasing the indigenous content of systems and makes the LCA mission ready.

• The second tableau showcases indigenously-developed AIP System for propelling the Indian Naval submarines underwater.
• The AIP System is powered by indigenously-developed fuel cells with a novel onboard hydrogen generator.
• It is one of the most advanced AIP Systems in the world where Fuel Cell Technology is used to generate onboard power.
• The AIP allows a submarine to be submerged for longer periods compared to conventional diesel-electric submarines and makes the sub-surface platform more efficient by making it quieter than even a nuclear submarine.
• At present, the AIP is customised for P-75 class of submarine. Once fitted, it will allow the submarine to stay under water for longer time without the need to surface frequently.
• This will substantially enhance the underwater endurance of the submarine. This niche technology is available only with very few countries in the world.
• The DRDO has developed this technology with the collaboration of academia and industry.

• The Union Minister of Home and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah virtually release India's First "District Good Governance Index", prepared by DARPG in collaboration with Government of Jammu & Kashmir

• The index measures the diversity of governance model in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
• It provides a roadmap for similar benchmarking of Governance at District level for all States and Union Territories of India.
• The Union Minister of Home and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah had released the National Good Governance Index on December 25, 2021.
• The Good Governance Index 2021 indicated that Jammu and Kashmir had registered an increase of 3.7 percent in Good Governance Indicators over the 2019 to 2021 period.
• The District Good Governance Index has helped identify the impact of various governance interventions at district level and provide a futuristic roadmap for improving district level governance with targeted interventions.
• The District Good Governance Index of Jammu & Kashmir represents a significant milestone in realizing this vision of Prime Minister for Next Generation Administrative Reforms during the Amrit Kaal period.

• A joint forum of apple dealers from Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand chapters has written a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture to stop "the illegal sale of Iranian apples which is posing quarantine pest threat" to local apple producing regions of the country.
• The import of Iranian kiwis via Afghanistan to India has triggered a new concern for apple growers after a contagious quarantine pest was discovered in the cheap imported fruit
• Recently Iran Kiwi has been banned due to incidence of Aspidiotus Neri and Aonidella Auranti in many shipments.
• Iran is exporting apples to India from orchards which have been affected by these pests along with others like codling moth, which have the potential of destroying and damaging our orchards

• According to apple dealers of these three regions, fresh fruit traders have started to import Iran's fresh apples unlike last year and have started to dump them in the Indian market "at unexpected prices".
• This, according to dealers, in spite of Iranian apples posing "a greater threat to our country's apples after quarantine pest Aspidiotus Nerii detected from kiwi consignments from Iran in December last year."
• The experts at the Sher-i-Kashmir Agriculture University and Science Technology (SKUAST), Srinagar have made it clear that if such pests enter the territory of any apple producing State it would be a catastrophe.

Prelims Factoids
Living root bridges

What's the NEWS

• Meghalaya CM pitched for UNESCO recognition as the hill State marked its 50th year of creation.
• The Zoological Survey of India has underlined some green rules for the living root bridges of Meghalaya to get the UNESCO World Heritage Site tag.

• A living root bridge is like a suspension bridge formed by guiding the pliable roots of the rubber fig tree (Ficus elastica) across a stream or river and allowing the roots to grow and strengthen over time.
• They are common in the southern part of the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya.

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