General Awareness

DAYS AND EVENTS - December 2018

Dec 2018

Oct 09, 2020

World Postal Day

World postal Day is celebrated each year on October 9, the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which started in 1874 in Switzerland. The UPU was the start of the global communications revolution, introducing the ability to write letter to others all over the world. World Post Day started in 1969.
Since then, countries all over the world take part in celebrations to highlight the importance of the postal service. Many things happen on this day. Post offices in some countries hold special stamp collection exhibitions; there are open days at postal measures and there are workshops on postal history. The UPU organises an international letter writing competition for young people.
October 9th was first declared World Post Day at the 1969 UPU Congress in Tokyo, Japan. The proposal was submitted by Shri Anand Mohan Narula, a member of the Indian delegation. Since then, World Post Day has been celebrated all over the world to highlight the importance of the postal services.

Oct 08, 2020

World Sight Day

World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October, to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. This year, World Sight Day will take place on 8th October 2020 with the theme: Hope In Sight.
It was originally initiated by the SightFirstCampaign of Lions Club International Foundation in 2000.
One billion people around the world have a preventable vision impairment or one that has yet to be addressed. Reduced or absent eyesight can have major and long-lasting effects on all aspects of life, including daily personal activities, interacting with the community, school and work opportunities and the ability to access public services.
Reduced eyesight can be caused by several factors, including diseases like diabetes and trachoma, trauma to the eyes, or conditions such as refractive error, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration or glaucoma.
The majority of people with vision impairment are over the age of 50 years; however, vision loss can affect people of all ages.

Indian Air Force Day

The Indian Air Force celebrated its 88th Air Force Day on 8th October. The day is marked by the main event comprising a parade and flypast at Hindon Air Force Base along with events at IAF establishments across the country — this time with many restrictions due to the pandemic.
A look at why the day is celebrated, the traditions attached with it and its significance.
October 8 is celebrated as the Air Force Day because on this day, the Air Force in India was officially raised in 1932 as the supporting force of the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom. The first operational squadron came into being in April 1933. After participation in World War II, the Air Force in India came to be called the Royal Indian Air Force in the mid 1940s. In 1950, after the republic came into being it became the Indian Air Force. From six officers and 19 Hawai Sepoys back in 1933, the Air Force now is the fourth largest in the world.
For several decades until 2005-06, the Air Force Day used to be marked by the main event, parade and flypast at Palam. But due to the increasing air traffic issues, it was shifted to Hindon Air Force Base in Ghaziabad.

Oct 05, 2020

World Teachers' Day

World Teachers' Day, also known as International Teachers Day, is an international day held annually on October 5. Established in 1994, it commemorates the signing of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which is a standard-setting instrument that addresses the status and situations of teachers around the world. This recommendation outlines standards relating to education personnel policy, recruitment, and initial training as well as the continuing education of teachers, their employment, and working conditions. World Teachers' Day aims to focus on "appreciating, assessing and improving the educators of the world" and to provide an opportunity to consider issues related to teachers and teaching.
To celebrate World Teachers' Day, the UNESCO and Education International (EI) mounts a campaign each year to help give the world better understanding of teachers and the role they play in the development of students and society. They partner with the private sector such as media organisations to achieve this purpose. The campaign focus on different themes for every year.
The theme for World Teachers' Day 2020 is "Teachers: Leading in Crisis, Reimagining the Future".

First Monday of October (October 5)- World Habitat Day

The World Habitat Day is observed on the first Monday of October every year. The United Nations General Assembly had declared in 1985 the first Monday in October as World Habitat Day. The day is celebrated to recognise the basic right of all humanity to have a adequate shelter and to encourage grassroots action in order to end poverty housing. The day is being celebrated under the theme - 'Housing for All-A better Urban Future'.
The day was first celebrated in 1986 at Nairobi under the theme "Shelter is My Right".
World Habitat Day is celebrated in countries including India, China, Poland, Mexico, Uganda, Angola and the United States.
Several activities are organised on the occasion in order to examine and investigate the problems of rapid urbanization and its impact on the environment and human poverty.
A new theme is selected every year for this day celebration as decided by the United Nations based on ongoing issues on the topic of habitat.

National Wilflife Week

Every year National Wildlife Week is celebrated in India between October 2nd and October 8th. It is being celebrated since 1954. The main objective of celebrating the day is to save the lives of Indian animals by taking critical steps.
Though the day is celebrated by several organisations all over India, the celebrations are mainly organised by National Board of Wildlife.
The forest departments organise bird watching in wetlands. Conferences, Workshops, symposiums, education trainings and lectures are organised.
The National Wildlife Week is celebrated in the country under the following objectives
To make people aware of the protection and conservation of wildlife
To implement services that preserve wildlife
The discuss and identify issues related to wildlife preservation.
India is one of the 17 mega diversities of the world. Therefore, it is important for India to conserve and protect its biodiversity. The GoI has launched several programmes to conserve its wildlife.

PV Edge 2020 by NITI Aayog

On October 6, 2020, NITI Aayog, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Invest India will organise a Global symposium called the "India PV Edge 2020".
The summit aims to unveil and promote cutting edge technologies in solar manufacturing in India. India has set an ambitious target of achieving 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. Of this, 300 GW is to be of solar.
India aims to increase solar deployment in order reduce prices of solar manufacturing. The cutting edge solar manufacturing stands on three pillars namely
Disruptive Photo-Voltaic Chemistries
Utilisation of Build of Material components such as special coatings and glasses
Manufacturing of custom-engineered advanced production equipment.
The Summit will hold sessions on "Wafers and Cells" and also sessions on "Modules and Production Equipment" and "Supply Chain".
Currently, India has installed solar power of 35 GW as of August 2020. This is 34% of renewable energy sources. India has proposed International Solar alliance and has put forward the concept of "One Sun One World One Grid" and also World Solar Bank.
India also held the first World Solar Technology Summit in September 2020.

Oct 04, 2020

Rafale Fighter Aircraft to Feature in Air Force Day Parade

As per reports, the newly inducted Rafale fighter aircraft would feature in the Air Force Day parade on October 8.
The Air Force Day is celebrated to mark the day the IAF was established in 1932. The force will celebrate its 88th anniversary this year with the annual parade at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad which includes air display of various aircraft.

World Space Week 2020

The World Space Week is celebrated between October 4, 2020 and October 10, 2020. The week is being celebrated under United Nations resolution that was passed in 1999.
The week celebrates contributions of space science and technology. This year the week is being celebrated under the theme Satellites Improve Life
In 2021, the week is to be celebrated under the theme "Women in Space".
This year, the theme of the World Space Week shows the importance of satellites in daily life. This includes environmental monitoring, communications, transportation, telemedicine, weather forecasting, and science.
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is responsible for promoting peaceful uses of outer space.
The World Space Week begins on October 4 every year. This is because, the first man-made satellite, Sputnik was launched from the earth on October 4, 1957.
The World Space Week celebrations end on October 10. This is because, the Treaty on Principles governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and use of outer space was signed on October 10. The treaty is also called the Magna Carta of Space. It is also called the Outer Space Treaty, 1967.

Oct 03, 2020

PM Modi Ingurates VAIBHAV Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated VAIBHAV Summit. VAIBHAV is Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik. The summit is to be held between October 2, 2020 and October 31, 2020.
The summit will bring together Indian origin experts from various foreign academic institutes, resident counterparts and Research and Development luminaries. The submit will enable focused thought process on problem solving approach.
The Summit is held under the following theme
Strengthening aatma nirbhar Bharat initiative
Bringing together diverse academic cultures from all over the world
Bringing Indian luminaries spread all over the world to debate and discuss about collaboration mechanism with their counterparts
The main objective of the summit is to bring together the Indian academic experts spread all over the world to discuss and bring out mechanism that will help strengthen Science and Technology base in India. This will provide a new dimension to Atal innovation mission.

German Unity Day

The German Unity Day is the National Day of Germany, celebrated on 3rd October as a public holiday. It commemorates the anniversary of German reunification in 1990 when the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) were unified, so that for the first time since 1945 there existed a single German state. The German Unity Day on 3rd October has been the German National Holiday since 1990, when the reunification was formally completed.
An alternative choice to commemorate the reunification could have been the day the Berlin Wall came down: 9 November 1989, which coincided with the anniversary of the proclamation of the German Republic in 1918, and the defeat of Hitler's first coup in 1923. However, 9 November was also the anniversary of the first large-scale Nazi-led pogroms against Jews in 1938, so the day was considered inappropriate as a national holiday. Therefore, 3rd October 1990, the day of the formal reunification, was chosen instead and replaced the "Day of German Unity" on 17th June, the national holiday of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1954.

PM Modi to Inaugurate Global Summit on AI- "RAISE 2020"

As per the ministry of electronics and information technology, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a global virtual summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI) named RAISE 2020 – 'Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020' on October 5.
The summit is scheduled to be held from October 5 to 9, 2020.
It is being organised by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) and NITI Aayog
The inauguration will take place in the presence of minister of electronics & IT, communications and law & justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, eminent global AI expert Professor Raj Reddy, , IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani.
Professor Raj Reddy will also hold a session on October 6, 2020 about developing voice-enabled AI that removes linguistic barriers.
Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, and Brad Smith, president & legal head, Microsoft Global will also participate in the session.
Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) 2020 is a virtual global summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI). To keep with the theme of "Responsible AI for Social Empowerment", RAISE 2020 will host an exciting line-up of leaders, policy designers, innovators and other stakeholders, who contribute on the potential of artificial intelligence in order to promote public good across domains including the health, education, mobility and agriculture.
RAISE 2020 will have a dedicated session on building an inclusive AI which will empower one billion-plus Indians. In the session Jenny Lay Flurrie, the Chief Accessibility Officer of Microsoft will be sharing her views. Anita Bhatia who isan assistant secretary-general, deputy executive director, UN Women will also deliver a keynote in this session. So far, more than 15,000 stakeholders from across academia, the research industry and government representatives from across the world have registered to participate in RAISE 2020.

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