When was Indian Red Cross Society formed and came into existence?

• Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) was established in 1920 under the Indian Red Cross Society Act and incorporated under Parliament Act XV of 1920.
• Honourable President of India is the President and Hon’ble Union Health Minister is the Chairman of the Society.
• IRCS is a voluntary humanitarian organization to protect human life and health based in India.
•  It is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
• Mission – providing relief in times of disasters/emergencies and promoting health & care of vulnerable people and communities. It has a network of over 700 branches throughout India.
• Programmes conducted by the Red Cross Society can be broadly categorised into four parts including the promotion of humanitarian principles and values; disaster response; disaster preparedness; and health and care.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

• Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) Signs MoU with IIT, Delhi.
• The Agreement was signed for the tribal entrepreneurs working under the Van Dhan programme of TRIFED to access 2600+ research works of several institutions that are part of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan.
• The tribal forest dwellers engaged in Minor Forest Produces will get an exposure to newer processing technologies, product innovation, mentorship, transformational digital systems, and handholding.  The MoU opens gates for the best of brains in the country to attend to the problems of sustainable tribal livelihoods.
• Unnat Bharat Abhiyan – It is a flagship program of the Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD).
• It aims to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least (5) villages, so that these institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base. So far 13,702 villages have been adopted by 2,474 institutes.

India extends medical assistance worth about USD 1 million to North Korea

• This medical assistance is provided as a part of ongoing WHO’s anti-tuberculosis programme in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
• This medical assistance is under ongoing WHO anti-tuberculosis programme in North Korea and hence exempted from the sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Global Forest Resources Assessment

• It is released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• The assessment is done in every five years since 1990.
• The report assesses the state of forests, their conditions and management for all member countries.
• According to the report, India ranked third among top 10 countries where forest cover has increased in the last decade.
• The top 10 countries that have recorded the maximum average annual net gains in forest area during 2010-2020 are China, Australia, India, Chile, Vietnam, Turkey, the United States, France, Italy, and Romania.
• India accounts to 2% of total global forest area.
• During the decade, India accounted to 0.38% of annual gain in forest cover. This is around 266,000 hectares of forest cover every year.
• The forest area managed by local, indigenous communities and tribal in India increased from zero in 1990 to about 25 million hectares in 2015.

July 26: Kargil Vijay Diwas

• India emerged victorious in the war against Pakistan at the Kargil in Kashmir on 26th July 1999. Since then every year, on this day is celebrated as Kargil Vijay Diwas.
• The Indian Armed Forces gave their full effort in such an unbearable climate and heights to get back our land which was occupied by the Pakistani troops. The Indian Army was successful after a three-month conflict.
• The Kargil War was prompted by the Pakistan Army intruding into India across the Line of Control and capturing strategic mountain peaks. The intrusion was first detected in May 1999, but at that time it was assumed that the intruders were militants or terrorists and not regular Pakistan Army troops.
• Kargil is located very close to Line of Control.

President of India donates to Army Hospital on Vijay Diwas

• As a tribute to soldiers who fought valiantly and made supreme sacrifice in the Kargil war, the President of India, presented a cheque of Rs 20 lakh to the Army Hospital Delhi, to buy equipment that will help doctors and paramedics to combat the Covid-19 pandemic effectively.
• Funds to be used to procure Air Filtering Equipment for Corona Warriors

Current COVID19 Situation in India

QUIZ TIME

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is an initiative of which ministry?

1. Ministry for Human Resource Development
2. Ministry of Home Affairs
3. NITI Ayog
4. Ministry of Tribal Affairs

Answer – A

Global Forest Resources Assessment is done by?

1. WHO
2. WTO
3. FAO
4. UN

Answer – C

Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated on?

1. 25 July
2. 26 July
3. 27 July
4. 28 July

Answer – B

Question of the Day

What is Van Dhan Scheme?

Answer in next session…