Prelims Factoids
Shakuntala Choudhary

What's the NEWS

• Freedom fighter and social worker Shakuntala Choudhary passes away at 102, PM Modi offers condolences
• Shakuntala Choudhary, a 102-year-old Gandhian social worker and freedom fighter, passed away on Monday.
• Hailing from Assam's Kamrup, she worked for the wellbeing of villagers, especially women and children, and was popularly known as 'Shakuntala Baideo'.
• Earlier this year, she was named a Padma Shri award recipient by the Government of India.
• Her noble work at the Sarania Ashram positively impacted many lives.
• The Sarania Ashram is located in Guwahati in Assam.

Prelims Factoids
International Mother Language Day

What's the NEWS

• Under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, Ministry of Culture, Government of India is organizing a two-day event for 21st - 22nd February 2022 at Indira Gandhi National Center of Arts, New Delhi.

International Mother Language Day

• It is observed worldwide on 21^st February every year to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism.
• The Day is part of a broader initiative to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by people of the world.
• The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day first came from Bangladesh.
• The general conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decided to celebrate February 21 as International Mother Language Day in 2000.
• Every year a unique theme is chosen by UNESCO to celebrate this special day.
• The theme of 2022 is: "Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities", it focuses on potential role of technology to advance multilingual education and support the development of quality teaching and learning for all.

What's the NEWS
India being chosen the host for 2023 International Olympic Committee Session

What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed happiness over India being chosen as the host for 2023 International Olympic Committee Session.
• Mumbai has been officially elected as the host for the 2023 International Olympic Committee (IOC) session, which could possibly see the election for the host country for the 2030 Winter Olympics and sports programme for LA 2028 Olympic Games.

Know! about the session

• The session will be held in May or June next year. An IOC session is the annual meeting of the members of the IOC, comprising 101 voting members and 45 honorary members.
• It discusses and decides on the key activities of the global Olympics movement including adoption or amendment of the Olympic Charter, the election of IOC members and office bearers and election of the host city of Olympics.
• The decision confirms India will be hosting this prestigious IOC meeting for the first time since 1983.

Know! about the hosts of upcoming Olympic Games

• Four cities have been chosen by the IOC to host upcoming Olympic Games: Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics, and Brisbane for the 2032 Summer Olympics.

Prelims Factoids
Cyrtodactylus exercitus

What's the NEWS

• A new species of lizard discovered by a team of researchers in Umroi Military station in Meghalaya has been named in honour of the valour of Indian army.

Know! about the species

• The new species discovered as part of the research team's efforts to uncover herpetofaunal diversity of North East India was given scientific name as Cyrtodactylus exercitus (In Latin exercitus means army).
• The English name of the species was given as Indian army's bent-toed gecko.
• The name was given to honour Indian army for their services to our motherland.
• The genus Cyrtodactylus is represented by around 320 species worldwide and is the third most speciose vertebrate genus in the world.
• The members of the genus range from South Asia to Melanesia with high diversity in south Asia. North East India is now home to 16 species of bent-toed gecko,"
• The team discovered another species of bent-toed gecko from Siaha district in Mizoram and was named after the district.
• The new species from Mizoram has been given a scientific name as Cyrtodactylus siahaensis and English name as Siaha bent-toed gecko
• These lizard specialists had in a separate study recorded the Cyrtodactylus lungleiensis, a new species of bent-toed gecko named after Mizoram's Lunglei town.
• India is now home to 40 species of the bent-toed gecko with the northeast accounting for 16 of them.

Prelims Factoids
Great Backyard Bird Count

What's the NEWS

• The first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) began on a high note with citizens recording 251 bird species across Karnataka.
• These included sightings of a green sandpiper, intermediate egret, Indian pond herons, and mottled wood-owl.
• Seventy bird species were spotted on the GKVK campus and along Saul Kere, while 66 species were observed at Lalbagh Botanical Garden.

Know! about GBCC

• The GBCC is a global event entailing backyard bird count and is being held for four days across the world from February 18 to 21, and the data uploaded will be harnessed for conservation.
• It is being coordinated in India by e-bird India and Birdcount-India.
• It is being held at Kukkarahalli Lake, Hebbala Lake, Karanji Lake, Muganahundi Lake, Lingambudhi lake and Thippaiayana Kere.
• The exercise helps to provide a "snap shot" of the bird population and throws light on the ecosystem supporting it.

Internal Security/GSIII
Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS)

What's the NEWS

• The Government of India has approved the implementation of the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) project by the Ministry of Home Affairs at a total cost of Rs.3,375 crore during the period from 2022-23 to 2025-26.

Know! about ICJS

• Phase II of the ICJS project will be a step towards ensuring effective and modern policing. The project will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme.
• The ICJS system would be made available through a dedicated and secure cloud-based infrastructure with high speed connectivity.
• National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will be responsible for the implementation of the project in association with National Informatics Center (NIC).
• The project will be implemented in collaboration with the States and Union Territories.
• Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) is a national platform for enabling integration of the main IT system used for delivery of Criminal Justice in the country by five pillars namely

1. Police (Crime and Criminal Tracking and Network Systems),
2. e-Forensics for Forensic Labs,
3. e-Courts for Courts,
4. e-Prosecution for Public Prosecutors and
5. e-Prisons for Prisons.

• In Phase-I of the ICJS project, individual IT systems have been implemented and stabilized; also search of records have been enabled on these systems.
• Under Phase-II, the system is being built on the principle of ‘one data one entry' whereby data is entered only once in one pillar and the same is then available in all other pillars without the need to re-enter the data in each pillar.

Agriculture/GSIII
REWARD Project

What's the NEWS

• The Government of India, the State Governments of Karnataka and Odisha and the World Bank have signed a loan agreement of $115 million for implementation of "Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development" (REWARD) Project.

Know! about the project

• The Government of India has committed to restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 and doubling farmers' income by 2023.
• Effective watershed management can help enhance livelihoods in rainfed areas, while building a more resilient food system.
• In this context, the new program will help the participating state governments in their efforts to transform watershed planning and execution and adopt science-based planning that could be replicated across the country.
  It will also help the participating and others states to adopt new approaches to watershed development.
• The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) financing will support Karnataka with $60 million (INR 453.5 crore), Odisha with $49 million (INR 370 crore), and the remaining $6 million (INR 45.5 crore) will be for the central government's Department of Land Resources.
• The $115 million (INR 869 crore) loan has a maturity of 15 years, including a grace period of 4.5 years.

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