Suchitra Durai receives King Bhumibol World Soil Day - 2020 Award for ICAR

• He is the Ambassador of India to Thailand

• He received the award on behalf of Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR)
• The award is given by Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and was
announced by World Soil Day 2020 observed on 5 December every year.
• Theme of World Soil Day 2020: Stop soil erosion, save our future
About FAO
Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) founded on 16 October 1945
Headquarter: Rome
Director General: Qu Dongyu
About ICAR
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) founded on 16 July 1929
Headquarter: New Delhi
Director General: Trilochan Mohapatra
About Award
Launched in 2018, the King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award acknowledges
individuals or institutions that raise public awareness of soils by organising
successful and influential World Soil Day celebrations.
The award, sponsored by the Kingdom of Thailand, is named after King Bhumibol
Adulyadej of Thailand
Former winners: Practical Action in Bangladesh in 2018 and the Costa Rican Soil
Science Society (AACS) in 2019
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) celebrates its 36th Inception Day
• NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home
Affairs.
• Founded on 11 March 1986.
• Director: Ramphal Pawar (IPS)
1st Quad Leaders’ Summit to be held virtually
• The First Quad Leaders’ Summit will be held virtually on March 12, 2021.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison,
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joseph R Biden
will participate.
ISRO, JAXA review their cooperation to launch LUPEX mission
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA) reviewed their cooperation to launch LUPEX Mission
• LUPEX stands for Lunar Polar Exploration.
• The mission aims to send a lander and rover to the Moon's south pole around
2024.
• ISRO Chairman K Sivan and JAXA President Hiroshi
17 States complete implementation of One Nation, One Ration Card System
(ONORCS)
• The Finance Ministry announced that 17 states have successfully
implemented ‘one nation, one ration card system’ (ONORCS).
• Uttarakhand is the latest state to complete the operationalization of
reforms.
• 17 States: Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan,
Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh
One Nation, One Ration Card System (ONORCS)
Launched on a pilot basis in four states in 2f019 by Union minister Late Ram Vilas
Paswan.
Aim: provide ration and food security to migrant workers and their families under
the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other schemes.
Four citizen-centric reforms
Department of Expenditure in 2020 linked additional borrowings of 1% of Gross
State Domestic Product (GSDP) to four-citizen centric reforms. These are:
Power Sector Reforms – 0.25%
One Nation, One Ration Card – 0.25%
Ease of Doing Business – 0.25%
Urban Local Body/ Utility Reforms – 0.25%
IAF to raise second Rafale squadron at Hasimara
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) will raise the second Rafale squadron at Hasimara
the in West Bengal by mid-April 2021.
• This will bring the fourth-generation fighters closer to the Sino-Indian
boundary in the eastern sector.
• The French-origin aircrafts are currently being flown by the 17 'Golden
Arrows' Squadron from its home-base at Ambala.
• Out of the 36 jets contracted by India, French aviation major Dassault has
delivered 11 so far, while the rest would come by 2022.
About Hasimara Air Base
It was established in the sub-Himalayan region of West Bengal after the Sino-Indian
War of 1962
It is also the closest Indian air base to the Chumbi Valley - the tri-junction between
the Indian state of Sikkim, Bhutan, and the Tibet Autonomous Region
EU 'freedom zone' for LGBT as European Parliament adopts resolution
• The European Parliament overwhelming adopted a resolution declaring the
entire 27-member European Union a “freedom zone” for LGBT people.
• This is an effort to push back on rising homophobia in Poland and Hungary.
• Recently, two member states — Malta and Germany — have banned
“conversion therapy,” a controversial and potentially harmful attempt to
change a person’s sexual orientation.

One Liners
• These countries received 'Made in India' Covid-19 vaccines under Vaccine
Maitri initiative - Iran, Bahamas, and Benin
• He was confirmed as US Attorney General by the US Senate - Merrick
Garland
• The prime minister of this country Hamed Bakayoko passed away - Ivory
Coast (Capital: Yamoussoukro, President: Alassane Ouattara; Currency: CFA
Franc)
• This state saw the launch of “Vote Vandi" set up as part of the Election
Commission's SVEEP (SYSTEMATIC VOTER EDUCATIONAL AND ELECTORAL
PARTICIPATION) – Kerala