Prelims Factoids
PM greets People on the occasion of Hindu New Year

What's the NEWS

• April 2, this year marks the beginning of Hindu New Year and coincides with Chaitra Navratri Day 1 respectively.
• As India is a diverse land, different regions have different names for ushering in New Year celebrations as per the Hindu calendar.
• Ugadi, Cheti Chand, Navreh, and Gudi Padwa among others is are celebrated extensively in India

• The Prime Minister has conveyed his greetings to the people of Manipur on the occasion of Sajibu Cheiraoba.
• Sajibu Nongma Panba is celebrated in Manipur to mark the start of the traditional new year.
• This year, Sajibu Nongma Panba will be celebrated on 2 April.
• The festival of Sajibu Nongma Panba, which falls in April every year, is celebrated by the followers of the Sanamahism religion.
• The featival is also known as Meetei Cheiraoba or Sajibu Cheiraoba.
• Sajibu Nongma Panba is derived from the Manipuri words- Sajibu, meaning the first month of the year, that is April
• Sajibu Nongma Panba is celebrated on the same day as Gudi Padwa and Ugadi, which marks the start of the New Year according to the Hindu lunar calendar.
• The festival of Sajibu Nongma Panba is celebrated by the Meitei people, one of the major ethnic groups in Manipur.

• The Prime Minister has greeted people on Cheti Chand.
• Cheti Chand is a celebration of the birth of Varun Devta, Sindhi community calls him Sai Uderolal or Jhulelal.
• It's also a celebration of the Sindhi New Year and signifies the new moon in the month of Chaitra or the Sindhi Chet month (March-April).
• It is the second day of the Hindu Chaitra month, hence it is known as Chet-I-Chand (Moon of Chaitra).
• It is akin to the celebration of Gudi Padhwa, Yugadi in Maharastra, Andra Pradesh, and Telangana.
• Sindhi communities in India, Pakistan, and Sindh celebrate this festival with great pomp and gaiety
• The Jhulelal Jayanti or Cheti Chand festival commemorates the birth anniversary of their patron Saint Jhulelal.
• The festival is associated with the worship of Lord Jhulelal, the Godhead of the Sindhi community
• Lord Jhulelal is believed as an incarnation of Lord Varuna, the God of water who protects the Sindhis

• The Prime Minister has greeted people on Navreh.
• The first day of Chaitra (March-April) month is celebrated across Jammu and Kashmir as Navreh or Kashmiri New Year.
• It is widely celebrated by the Kashmiri Pandit community where people greet everyone they meet with a warm 'Navreh Mubarak' (Happy New Year)!
• Navreh is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nava-Varsha', meaning New Year.
• As per the Kashmiri Hindu calendar, the Saptarshi Era is believed to have started on the same day, about 5079 years ago.

• The Prime Minister has greeted people on Ugadi.
• Ugadi marks the New Year as per the Hindu calendar in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
• One of the most important rather significant preparations on this day is the Ugadi Pachchadi (made of jaggery, raw mango and neem leaves/ flowers) that tastes sweet, sour and bitter.

• The Prime Minister has greeted people on the auspicious occasion of Nav Samvatsar.
• He wished that Vikram Samvat 2079 bring new enthusiasm and new zeal in everyone's life.
• Every year, the month of Chaitra marks the beginning of the New Year (which falls in March or April in the Georgian calendar).
• The first day of the Hindu New Year, known as Nav Samvatsar, is celebrated on the Pratipada Tithi of the Shukla Paksha of the Chaitra lunar month.
• The Hindu New Year, also known as the Vikram Samvat, is celebrated in the month of April.
• The Hindu New Year 2079 or Vikram Nav Varsh Samvat in the traditional lunar Hindi calendars followed in North India
• In 2022, the Nav Samvat begins on April 2.
• The New Year is first day after the Amavasya (No moon) in the month of Chaitra.
• The current year is known as Rakshas Samvatsar

• The Prime Minister has greeted the people on the occasion of Navratri.

• The Prime Minister has greeted People on Gudi Padwa.
• This auspicious festival will be celebrated today this year in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as people welcome the New Year by placing a Gudi outside their door or window.
• The occasion is usually observed on the first day of the month of Chaitra and in Konkani communities, it is celebrated as Samwatsara.
• On the other hand, in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it is known as Ugadi.

• India and Australia on Saturday signed the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) in a virtual ceremony.
• India and Australia on Saturday signed an economic cooperation and trade agreement under which Australia would provide duty free access in its market for over 95 per cent of Indian goods such as textiles, leather, jewellery and sports products.

• The IndAus ECTA, encompassing trade in goods and services, is a balanced and equitable trade agreement, which will further cement the already deep, close and strategic relations between the two countries
• It will significantly enhance the bilateral trade in goods and services, create new employment opportunities, raise living standards and improve the general welfare of the peoples of the two countries.
• It is expected that the bilateral trade would grow from the existing $27 billion to nearly $45-50 billion over the next fiveyears.
• There is huge potential in areas like textiles, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, gem and jewellery and IT amongst others, creating huge employment in both countries.
• Australia is offering zero duty access to India for about 96.4 per cent of exports (by value) from day one.
• This covers many products which currently attract 4-5 per cent customs duty in Australia.
• Labour intensive sectors which would gain immensely include textiles and apparel, few agricultural and fish products, leather, footwear, furniture, sports goods, jewellery, machinery, electrical goods and railway wagons.
• Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India, while New Delhi is Canberra's 9th largest partner.
• Bilateral trade in goods and services stood at USD 27.5 billion in 2021.
• India's goods exports were worth USD 6.9 billion and imports aggregated to USD 15.1 billion in 2021.
• Major exports by India to Australia include petroleum products, textiles and apparels, engineering goods, leather, chemicals and gems and jewellery.
• Imports mainly include raw materials, coal, minerals and intermediate goods.

• With space junk posing increasing threat to Indian assets in space, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is building up its orbital debris tracking capability by deploying new radars and optical telescopes under the Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project.

• A space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted as part of establishing an effective surveillance and tracking network under NETRA.
• The government has given the go-ahead for the deployment of the radar, which will be capable of detecting and tracking objects 10 cm and above in size
• It will be indigenously designed and built.
• Radars and optical telescopes are vital ground-based facilities for keeping an eye on space objects, including orbital junk.
• Space junk or debris consists of spent rocket stages, dead satellites, fragments of space objects and debris resulting from ASAT.
• Hurtling at an average speed of 27,000 kmph in LEO, these objects pose a very real threat as collisions involving even centimetre-sized fragments can be lethal to satellites.
• For protecting its space assets, ISRO was forced to perform 19 collision avoidance manoeuvres (CAM) in 2021, of which 14 were in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and five in the geostationary orbit.
• The number of CAMs jumped from just three in 2015 to 12 in 2020 and 19 in 2021.

Polity and Governance/GSII
Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022

What's the NEWS

• The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed by Lok Sabha.

• The Bill seeks to amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 passed by Parliament.
• The Act was amended in 2011 by Delhi Legislative Assembly to trifurcate the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi into: (i) North Delhi Municipal Corporation, (ii) South Delhi Municipal Corporation, and (iii) East Delhi Municipal Corporation.
• The Bill seeks to unify the three corporations. The Bill replaces the three municipal corporations under the Act with one Corporation named the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
• The Act as amended in 2011 empowers the Delhi government to decide various matters under the Act such as total number of seats of councillors, delimitation of wards etc. The Bill instead empowers the central government to decide these matters.
• The Act provides that the number of seats in the three corporations taken together should not be more than 272. The Bill states that the total number of seats in the new Corporation should not be more than 250.
• The Act provides for a Director of Local Bodies to assist the Delhi government and discharge certain functions. The Bill omits the provision for a Director of Local Bodies.
• The Bill provides that the central government may appoint a Special Officer to exercise powers of the Corporation until the first meeting of the Corporation is held after the commencement of the Bill.

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