Daily Current Capsules
26th and 27th December 2022

Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS)

 

 

What's the NEWS

• Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), an independent New Delhi based think tank, is conducting a two-day Seminar on the theme of "Civil Military Integration: The Way Forward", at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi Cantt.

 

Know! about CLAWS

• The Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi, is an independent think tank on strategic studies and land warfare in the Indian context.
• CLAWS is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and is a membership-based organisation.
• It is governed by a Board of Governors and an Executive Council.
• The mandate of CLAWS covers national security issues, conventional military operations and sub-conventional warfare.
• The Centre also focuses on conflicts in the region and military developments in countries within India's strategic frontiers, particularly those in the Southern Asian region.
• The vision of CLAWS is "To be a leading International Think Tank in development and promotion of strategic culture and futuristic thinking on security issues across the continuum of conflict affecting Land Warfare.
• CLAWS has been ranked 48th amongst World Top Defence and National Strategic Think Tanks as per ‘2013 Global Go To Think Tank Report' published by University of Pennsylvania, USA.
• CLAWS aspires to attract leading strategic thinkers, defence analysts, scholars and academics and media persons to deliberate on all facets of land warfare up to the strategic level.

 

Ladakh celebrates Losar Festival to mark Ladakhi New Year

 

What's the NEWS

 

• Ladakh is celebrating Losar Festival, December 24, to mark the Ladakhi New Year.
• This festival marked the beginning of the Tibetan new year
• Ladakhi New Year is the major socio-religious festival of Ladakh celebrated in winter.
• The Losar festivities continue for nine more days from the new year with the offering of prayers in the name of God and Goddess, dances and songs in honour of Ibex and the pilgrimage of Mount Kailash.
• The new year is welcomed with dough Models of Ibex Sun and Moon and flour-painted lucky signs on the walls of the kitchen.
• The third day of the new year is celebrated with the sighting of first moon of the year with a prayer for bumper crops in the coming year.
• A procession called Metho on the eve of Losar is carried out through the streets, markets, and lanes where people chant sacred slogans and carry flaming torches believing that the chant and the fire will ward off all the evil spirits.

 

 

First Veer Bal Diwas

 

 

What's the NEWS

 

• Prime Minister participated in a historic programme marking Veer Bal Diwas at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi
• On the day of the Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Gobind Singh on 9th January this year, Prime Minister had announced that 26th December will be observed as Veer Bal Diwas to mark the martyrdom of Sri Guru Gobind Singh's sons Sahibzadas Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh.
• During the programme, Prime Minister attend a Shabad Kirtan performed by about three hundred Baal Kirtanis.
• The Prime Minister also flag off a march-past by about three thousand children in Delhi.

 

PM says, soon India will completely eradicate Kala Azar disease

 

What's the NEWS

 

• In his Mann Ki Baat programme on All India Radio, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised that India has eradicated diseases like Smallpox, Polio and 'Guinea Worm'.
• He spoke about Kala Azar, another disease which is about to be eradicated.
• This disease is confined to only four districts of Bihar and Jharkhand at present.

 

Know! about Kala Azar

 

• Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar or black fever, is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality.
• Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania.
• In India, the only parasite that causes this disease is Leishmania donovani.
• The parasite mainly infects the reticuloendothelial system and can also be found in abundance in bone marrow, liver and spleen.
• The condition when Leishmania donovani invades skin cells, stays and develops and shows dermal lesions is known as Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL).
• Signs and symptoms include fever, weight loss, fatigue, anemia, and substantial swelling of the liver and spleen.
• VL is the second-largest parasitic killer in the world (after malaria), responsible for an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 deaths each year worldwide.
• Kala-azar is curable by the use of medicines. But it can reinfect if the immune system is not strong enough.
• There are no vaccines available for preventing kala-azar.

 

 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to inaugurate 28 different BRO infrastructure projects

What's the NEWS

 

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate 28 different Border Roads Organisation, BRO, infrastructure projects
• Out of 28 projects, four are in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Eight in Ladakh, Two in Rajasthan and Three each in Punjab and Uttarakhand.

 

Know! the strategic locations

 

• Among the new projects, five bridges of various spans are on the strategic Durbuk -Shyok -Daulat Beg Oldie Road and 240 feet Jhula Suspension Bridge on Ramban Old Alignment and a telemedicine node in the remotest location close to DBO in Ladakh.
• At an altitude of 14000 feet, bridges constructed in Ladakh are strategically important on D-S-DBO Road.
• They will facilitate speedy induction of troops, heavy equipment and mechanised vehicles to forward areas of Ladakh up to Karakoram Ranges including the important Galwan valley.
• Similarly, a 240 ft Jhula Bailey Suspension Bridge on Ramban Old Alignment Road will also be opened to vehicular traffic in just 31 days, two months ahead of its scheduled date of completion.
• This bridge would benefit more than fifteen thousand people between Maitra and Bowli Bazaar area and shorten the route nearly 12 Kilometers.

 

Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGC) Task Force

 

What's the NEWS

• The Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGC) Task Force has called for a National AVGC-XR Mission with a budget outlay to be created for integrated promotion & growth of the AVGC sector.
• In a detailed report submitted to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Task Force headed by Secretary I&B has also recommended launching a ‘Create in India' campaign with exclusive focus on content creation, In India, For India & For World.

The main recommendations of the Task Force categorized broadly under 4 categories are as under:

1. Domestic Industry Development for Global Access
2. Developing Talent ecosystem to realize Demographic Dividends
3. Enhancing Technology & Financial Viability for Indian AVGC Industry
4. Raising India's soft power through an Inclusive growth

 

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