Current Affairs 23rd January 2019

Current Affairs 23rd January 2019 - Important Points

• President Ram Nath Kovind conferred Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019- 22nd January 2019
• PM Narendra Modi launched Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana on - 22nd January 2019
• Indian Navy commences largest-ever coastal defence exercise on - 22nd January 2019

Current Affairs 23rd January 2019 - Details

President Ram Nath Kovind conferred Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019- 22nd January 2019

The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019 on 22nd January  2019.  The awards were presented to 26 shortlisted awardees including one joint award towards National Child Award which is now renamed as Bal Shakti Puraskar under the category of innovation,  sports, scholastic, art and culture, social service and bravery. 

Under National Child Welfare Awards category , 2 individuals and 3 institutions were awarded.

Important Highlights

• There were total of 783 applications were received for the Bal Shakti Puruskar this year. 
• The awardees were finalised by the National Selection Committee under the Chairpersonship of Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi.

PM Narendra Modi launches Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana

Prime Minister Narendra Modi  launched the Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana on 22nd January  2019 under which a group of Indian diaspora will going to be taken on a government-sponsored tour of religious places in India twice an year.
The first batch of 40 Indian-origin people are at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and they would be starting their tour from there.

Important Highlight

• The group will take to the religious places of all major religions in India.
• The tour would be completely government sponsored, as the government will be  bearing all the expenses including the airfare from their country of residence.
• Under the eligibility criteria, all people of Indian-origin, aging between 45 years to  65 years can apply and a group will be selected out of them.
• 'Girmitiya countries' such as Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica will be given top preference.

Indian Navy commences largest-ever coastal defence exercise on - 22nd January 2019

The Indian Navy  commenced its largest-ever coastal defence exercise - ‘Sea Vigil’-off the Indian coast, ten years after the "26/11" attack on 22nd January  2019. 

The exercise, which is a first of its kind, is being undertaken along the entire  coastline which ranges to 7516.6 km and Exclusive Economic Zone of India and is involving all the 13 coastal States and UTs along with all maritime stakeholders, like  the fishing and coastal communities.

Key Highlights

• The seaward monitoring during the exercise will be involving patrolling off the coast, in offshore development areas and islands by the Indian navy, Indian coast guard, supported by the state marine police.
• It would also be including inputs from technical means, like intelligence sources.
• In addition to that, the closer coast, strategic assets, ports, Single Point Moorings (SPMs) will going to be patrolled by designated agencies. 
• The shore-based monitoring will be including enhanced vigil by the state police along the coast, monitoring of fish landing centres by state fisheries departments and monitoring of port areas by respective port authorities also.
• The exercise will be covering a wide frontage, covering for the first time the entire coast of India, including island territories.
• It will also be going deeper, being spread over seaward, coastal, and hinterland areas. 
• It will  be involving the evaluation of critical areas and processes, including inter-agency coordination, information sharing and technical surveillance.