SAMARPAN DIWAS: PT. DEENDAYAL’S DEATH ANNIVERSARY
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays floral tribute to former Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on his 53rd death anniversary as part of ‘Samarpan Diwas’, in New Delhi on Feb. 11, 2021.
Deendayal Upadhyaya was an Indian politician and thinker of right-wing Hindutva ideology espoused by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and leader of the political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Upadhyaya started the monthly publication Rashtra Dharma in the 1940s, while involved with the RSS, to spread Hindutva ideology.
He was briefly president of the BJS from December 1967 into 1968. He contested the Lok Sabha election in 1963 and lost. He died under mysterious circumstances near Mughalsarai Junction railway station in February 1968 .
After 50 years of his death, that railway station was renamed after him as “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction” by the government in 2018
‘JALABHISHEKAM CAMPAIGN’ LAUNCHED IN MP
The state government of Madhya Pradesh has launched a water conservation campaign called ‘Jalabhishekam’, under which more than 57,000 water structures has been constructed.
The campaign was inaugurated by the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually.
Water conservation work is being undertaken with public participation and will be helpful in achieving the goal of building self-reliant Madhya Pradesh.
The Campaign will also fulfil the intention of ‘water for every farm and work for every hand’. The water structures were created during COVID era by linking the work with the MNREGA scheme.
These water structures cost over Rs. 2,000 crore and will irrigate 2.50 lakh hectares of land without submerging an inch of land.
MARIO DRAGHI SWORN IN AS NEW PM OF ITALY
The former European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi has been sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Italy on 12 February 2021. The 73-year-old had served as President of the European Central Bank from 2011 until 2019.
He replaces Giuseppe Conte, who resigned recently after losing majority support from his coalition government over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Here Italy goes again, with its 67th government since World War II.
The politics of Italy are conducted through a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system.
Italy has been a democratic republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum and a constituent assembly was elected to draft a constitution, which was promulgated on 1 January 1948.
PETER MUKERJEA RELEASED HIS MEMOIR
Former media baron Peter Mukerjea has come out with his memoir ‘Starstruck: Confessions of a TV executive’. The book is presented as a recollection of his experiences in the satellite television industry in India and the changes it has gone through over the years.
Mukerjea is the former chief executive of Star India. Through this book, he has shared his journey, to highlight and showcase the plenty of mistakes made and the plenty of lessons learnt over almost three decades.
It must be remembered that Mukerjea was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in November 2015 in connection with the Sheena Bora murder case.
NEW START TREATY EXTENDED B/W RUSSIA & US
The United States has extended the “New START” nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia for a period of five years.
The New START, which stands for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation.
The new strategic arms reduction treaty was formally signed on April 8, 2010, and after ratification, entered into force on 5 February 2011.
The New START treaty was set to expire on February 5, 2021, but both the parties have further extended it for five more years, till February 2026.
President of United States: Joe Biden
Russia President: Vladimir Putin.
ODISHA GOVT. TO INAUGURATE COVID WARRIOR MEMORIAL
In order to recognize the sacrifice and services rendered by the Covid warriors who lost their lives fighting the pandemic, the government has decided to construct a Covid Warrior Memorial in Odisha.
The Biju Patnaik Park in Bhubaneswar has been selected for this purpose.
Odisha Health and Family Welfare Department to the Works Department it was also said that the Works Department has been declared as the Nodal Department for construction of the Covid Warrior Memorial.
They will engage an architect to finalise the design and structure of the said memorial and take approval from the competent authority.
ISRO LAUNCHED SATELLITE TESTING FOR PRIVATE ONES
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has opened its UR Rao Satellite Centre for testing satellites developed by the private sector for the first time in its history.
Two satellites, developed by the Indian startups SpaceKidz India and Pixxel (incorporated as Sygyzy) were tested at the UR Rao Satellite Centre.
ISRO also helped these two companies in fixing problems with the solar panels on their respective satellites. So far in its history, the space agency has only taken help in manufacturing and fabrication of various parts of satellites and rockets from the Indian industry.
Both these two companies will also test their engines at the Sriharikota spaceport and Thiruvananthapuram rocket centre in coming days.
- ISRO Chairman: K.Sivan.
- ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka.
- ISRO established: 15 August 1969.