FAQ

According to a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs on 14 September 2022,President  Droupadi Murmu will represent the government of India at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

She will be visiting  London, United Kingdom on 17-19 September 2022.

The 96 year old Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom died at her remote Highlands residence, Balmoral, in Scotland on 8 September 2022.

The Supreme Court on 13 September 2022 has ruled that the right to contest an election is neither a fundamental right nor a common law right but a right conferred by statute. It was giving its ruling on a Special Leave petition filed by Mr Vishwanath Pratap Singh challenging Delhi High Court judgment which had dismissed a similar petition.

Vishwanath Pratap Singh Vs Election Commission of India 2022

The petitioner Vishwanath Pratap Singh wanted to contest the Rajya Sabha election to be held in June 2022. He said he had collected the nomination form but was not allowed by the Election Commission to file his nomination without a proper proposer proposing his name.

The petitioner claimed that since his candidature without the proposer was not accepted, his fundamental right to free speech and expression and his right to personal liberty was infringed.

The Delhi High Court had in its Judgment dismissed his petition that his fundamental right was infringed.

Supreme Court Judgment 

A two judge bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia while  referring to earlier judgments viz Javed v. State of Haryana, (2003) and Rajbala v. State of Haryana (2016) , dismissing his plea observed that the right to contest election was neither a fundamental right nor a common law right. It is a right conferred by a statute."

The bench noted that the petitioner did not have any right to contest election to the Rajya Sabha in terms of the law made by Parliament.

 The Court said that "The Representation of People Act, 1950 read with the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 has contemplated the name of a candidate to be proposed while filling the nomination form,".

"Therefore, an individual cannot claim that he has a right to contest an election and the said stipulation violates his fundamental right, so as to file his nomination without any proposer as is required under the Act," the bench observed.

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition with a cost of ₹ one lakh and said the cost be paid to the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee within four weeks.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, issued a notification on 3 August 2022 to designate 10 more wetlands sites in India as Ramsar Sites of International Importance. Now the total Ramsar site in India is 64.

Earlier on 26 July 2022, the ministry had notified four new Ramsar site in india.

Wetlands are any land area that is saturated or flooded with water, either seasonally or permanently.

To protect these ecologically fragile areas an International Convention was organized in Ramsar, Iran in 1971.   Wetlands which needs to be protected are identified as Ramsar sites of International Importance. 

The newly designated 10 Ramsar Sites are as follows 

Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve (Tamil Nadu): 

• It is spread over 52671.88 hectares. Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, is located in the south-eastern coastline of India, and is a unique marine environment rich in biodiversity. 
• This is the first Marine Biosphere Reserve in South and South -East Asia.
• The Reserve is also home to several globally important and highly threatened species like the Dugong, whale shark, sea horses, Balanoglossus, 

Vellode Bird Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu): 

•  Spread over an area of 77.185 ha, this site forms part of the Central Asian Flyway.
•  Vellode Bird Sanctuary is located in the Vadamugam Vellode Village of the Perundurai Taluk, in the Erode District, Tamil Nadu, and India.
•  Vellode Bird Sanctuary provincially known as Periyakulam Yeri is one of the 141 Prioritized wetlands in Tamil Nadu. 

Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary (Tamilnadu):

• It is a man-made wetland which covers an area of 72.04 hectares. 
• It is situated in Nanguneri Taluk of Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. 
• This is the largest reserve for breeding resident and migratory water birds in South India.

Vembannur Wetland Complex (Tamil Nadu):

• Spread on 17.95 hectares, the Vembannur wetland in Tamil Nadu is a human-made inland tank. Vembannur wetland forms the southernmost tip of peninsular India. 
• The tank and the Therrakal canal were designed to take water from River Pazhayar for irrigation 
• This wetland forms part of the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) and hence part of BirdLife International Data Zone. 

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu):

• Spread over 40.35 hectares, the Vedanthangal wetland is one of the oldest bird-protected areas located in Maduranthagam Taluk of Chengalpattu District of Tamil Nadu. 
• This freshwater wetland is a people-protected water bird area. 
• This site is also recognized internationally, as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area. 

Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu): 

• Spread over 43.77 heaters, the  Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary is located in the Tiruthuraipoondi Taluk of Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu.
•  The site is an important staging and breeding ground for several species of waterbirds. 

Satkosia Gorge (Odisha):

• Satkosia is the meeting point of two biogeographic regions of India; the Deccan Peninsula and the Eastern Ghats.
•  It is spread in 98196.72 hectares along the Mahanadi river gorge in Odisha. 
•  It is located in the Satkosia Tiger reserve.
• Established in 1976 as a wildlife sanctuary, Satkosia supports a rich ecosystem, representing a diverse population of floral and faunal species.

Nanda Lake (Goa): 

• It is spread in 42.01 hectares in Curchorem. 
• The majority of the area is intermittent freshwater marshes that lie adjacent to one of the major rivulets of the Zuari River. 
• This lake is a breeding ground for various birds.

Sirpur Wetland (Madhya Pradesh):

•  Spread over 161 hectares the Sirpur wetland is a significant historical wetland situated in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
•  The diverse flora & fauna provides ideal habitat in the form of food and shelter for a large number of migratory birds during the winter season. 

Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary (Karnataka):

•  It is spread over 517.70 hectares.
• Ranganathittu bird sanctuary is located in Mandya district, of the state of Karnataka, India.
•  The site has been enlisted as one of the Important Bird Areas in Karnataka and India by Bombay Natural History Society. It is an ecologically important riverine wetland of India, rich in biodiversity,

For details about wetlands and Ramsar sites kindly see 26 July 2022 post also.

The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has announced the winners of the 68th National Film awards 2022 on 22 July 2022.

The 10 member jury was headed by the noted filmmaker Vipul Shah.

Feature film category 

Best Feature Film: 

Soorarai Pottru. The film has been made in Tamil language and is partly based on the events in the life of Simplify Deccan founder, G Gopinath.

The film has been directed by Sudha Kongara.

Best Direction:

K R Sachidanandan, known professionally as Sachy won Best Director posthumously for the film Ayyappanum Koshiyum .Sachy died of a cardiac arrest in 2020 at the age of 47.

Ayyappanum Koshiyum is a Malayalam language film.

Best Actor: 

Ajay Devgn for Tanhaji and Suriya for Soorarai Pottru

This is Suriya's first National Award and Ajay Devgn's third - he won Best Actor for his 1998 film Zakhm and 2002's The Legend Of Bhagat Singh.

Best Actress: 

Aparna Balamurali for her film Soorarai Pottru

Best Supporting Actress:

Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli for her work in Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengalum film. It is a Tamil film.

Best Supporting Actor: 

Biju Menon for his work in the Ayyappanum Koshiyum film.

Best Popular film: 

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior.

Best Female Playback Singer:

Nanchamma for, AK Ayyappanum Koshiyum

Best Male Playback Singer: 

Rahul Deshpande, Mi Vasantrao(Marathi language song)

Best Music Director: 

Thaman S for the film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo(Telugu film)

Best Lyrics: 

Manoj Muntashir for Saina film (Hindi film)

Best Costume: 

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior

Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: 

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (Hindi film) directed by OM Raut

Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director: 

Mandela(Tamil film), Directed by Madonne Ashwin

Best Film on Social Issues:  

Funeral(Marathi), Directed by Vivek Dubey

Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation: 

Taledanda (Beheading a Life) in Kannada. Directed by Praveen Krupakar.

Best Children's Film:

Sumi (Marathi), directed by Amol Vasant Gole

Best Film of  States  award category

Best Telugu Film

Colour Photo ;The film has been directed by  Angirekula Sandeep Raj

Best Tamil Film

Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengallum (Engagement is on Monday): The film has been directed by  Vasanth S Sai

Best Malayalam Film

Goshta Eka Paithanichi (Tale of a Paithani).The film has been directed by Shantanu Ganesh Rode

Best Kannada Film 

Dollu;  The film has been directed by  Sagar Puranik

Best Hindi Film

Toolsidas Junior : The film has been directed by Mridul Toolsidass

Best Bengali Film

Avijatrik ( The Wanderlust of Apu);The film has been directed by

Subhrajit Mitra

Best Assamese Film  

Bridge: The film has been directed by Kripal Kalita

Other Awards 

Best Book on Cinema: The Longest Kiss’ by Kishwar Desai 

Most Film Friendly State award: Madhya Pradesh

The once popular Internet Explorer web browser will no longer be supported by Microsoft from 15 June 2022 and it will be discontinued.

Last year Microsoft announced that it will no longer provide technical support to the Internet explorer from 15 June 2022. 

• Microsoft wants the user to shift to Microsoft Edge web browser launched in 2015.
• Microsoft released the first version of Internet Explorer in 1995 for web browsing. It was later bundled with the Microsoft Windows operating system.
• At one time the Internet Explorer commanded over 90 % of the internet browser usage market in the world in 2003.
• However Internet explorer had significant shortcomings. Users complained about it being slow, prone to crashing and vulnerable to hackers.
• Later it started losing ground to other new browsers with better user interface and faster internet speed. 
• Today, the Google Chrome browser dominates the market with roughly a 65% share of the worldwide browser market, followed by Apple’s Safari with 19%. 
• Microsoft Edge is way behind with a market share of about 4%.

Microsoft 

It is an American multinational technology company  which was set up in 1975 in the United States  by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

It is best known for its computer operating system Windows and gaming console XBox. 

CEO: Satya Nadela 

Headquarters : Redmond, Washington, United States of America .

The first privately operated train under the Indian Railways theme based tourist train “Bharat Gaurav “started its service on 14 June 2022.  The first train from Coimbatore North (Tamilnadu) to Sainagar Shirdi (Maharashtra) was flagged off from Coimbatore North station.  

• The Southern Railway became the first Railway zone to start this privately operated train service in the country.
• The Coimbatore North railway station comes under the Salem division of the Southern Railway Zone.
• The Bharat Gaurav Train from Coimbatore North to Sainagar Shirdi will stop at Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Yelahanka, Dharmavaram, Mantralayam Road and Wadi station enroute to Sainagar Shirdi.

 First International Bharat Gaurav Train 

• The first international Bharat Gaurav train will start on 21 June 2022 from Safdarjung Station, Delhi to Nepal.  It will be operated by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) of Indian Railway.
• It will cover major destinations associated with Ramayana in 8 states/union territories enroute to Nepal.

Kindly also see 10 June 2022 post for details  

Bharat Gaurav Train 

• Bharat Gaurav Trains are a new segment of tourist trains launched by the Indian Railway in November 2021. 
• It will be a theme based tourist train which can be operated by private operators or Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) of Indian Railway.
• The objective of this theme is to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and historical places to the people of India and the world, through Bharat Gaurav Trains.
• It is expected to give a boost to the tourism sector in India.
• Any private operator or service provider can lease trains for two years from Indian Railways to operate theme-based trains for special tourism packages. 
• The operator is also free to decide on the routes, the halt points and the tariff for the service. 

Southern Railway Zone 

It is one of the 18 Railway Zones in India.

It was founded on 14 April 1951

Headquarters: Chennai 

Railway Division under Southern Railways

• Chennai
• Tiruchirapalli
•  Madurai
• Palghat
• Trivandrum
• Salem

The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced a new Guinness World Record created by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in laying 75 km of bituminous concrete in a single lane on NH53 in 105 hours and 33 minutes.

• He said the record has been made for laying 75 km of bituminous concrete in a single lane on NH 53 between Maharashtra’s Amravati to Akola Districts in 105 hours and 33 minutes.
• The total length of the 75 km of single lane continuous bituminous concrete road is equivalent to 37.5 km of two-lane paved shoulder road and the work started on 3rd June 2022 at 7:27 am and completed on 7th June 2022 at 5 pm..
• The Minister said the bituminous mix of 36,634 MT consisting of 2,070 MT of bitumen was used. He said the project was implemented by 720 workers of Raj Path Infracon Pvt. Ltd including a team of independent consultants.  
• Before this, the Guinness World Record for the longest continuously laid bituminous was for building 25.275 km that was achieved in Doha, Qatar in Feb 2019. The task took 10 days to complete

National Highway 53

• It connects Hajira in Gujarat and Paradeep port in Odisha. It passes through Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
• Length of the Highway: 1795 Kilometers.

National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)

• National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1988 under the administrative control of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
•  NHAI has been set up as a Central Authority to develop, maintain and manage the National Highways entrusted to it by the Government of India.
• The authority, however, became operational in February, 1995.
• Headquarters: New Delhi 

The United Nation has accepted the request of the Turkish government and changed the name of the country from Turkey to Turkiye.

Last year the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a campaign to change the name to Turkiye as it is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people's culture, civilization, and values.

It is not uncommon for countries to change their names.

• In 2020, The Netherlands dropped Holland in a rebranding move. 
• Macedonia changed its name to North Macedonia due to a political dispute with Greece.
• Swaziland became e-Swatini in 2018.
• Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972.
• Further back in history, Iran used to be called Persia, Siam is now Thailand, and Rhodesia was changed to Zimbabwe. 

Turkey or Turkiye

Turkey lies partly in Asia and partly in Europe.

It's currency:  Turkish Lira

Capital: Ankara 

President: Tayyip Erdogan

In a research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological, a seagrass, Posidonia australis, which  has been found near Western Australian coast  has been recognised as the world's largest plant. 

• Using genetic tests the scientists have discovered that a large underwater meadow in Shark Bay, Western Australia is one plant. 
• The sea grass covers about 200 sq km and has grown from a single seed at least 4,500 years ago.
•  That's a much larger area than the Pando quaking Aspen trees in Utah, United States which is considered as the world's largest plant. 
• The Pando Aspen tree consists of more than 40,000 trees with a shared root system. It is spread over 106 acres.
• According to Elizabeth Sinclair, a senior research fellow at the School of Biological Sciences and Oceans Institute at The University of Western Australia the plant is also remarkable for its hardiness.
• It appears to be really resilient, experiencing a wide range of temperatures and salinities plus extreme high light conditions. The species generally grows at a rate of up to 35cm a year.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur inaugurated the India Pavilion at Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2022.

During the event, Mr. Thakur along with I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra, Indian Envoy to France Jawed Ashraf and CBFC Chairman Prasoon Joshi, joined an interactive session.

•  Actors Deepika Padukone, R Madhavan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tamannaah Bhatia, Pooja Hegde and Urvashi Rautela, film director Shekhar Kapur, music maestro AR Rahman, singer Mame Khan also participated in the session.
• The Rajasthani singer Mame Khan became the first folk artist from India to walk the red carpet at the 75th Cannes Film Festival and he sang the “Ghoomar” song at the ceremony.  
• This year, six Indian films will premiere at Cannes film festival 2022 ,R Madhavan's Rocketry The Nambi Effect, Nikhil Mahajan's Godavari, Achal Mishra's Dhuin, Biswajeet Bora's Boomba Ride, Jayaraj's Tree Full of Parrots and Shankar Shrikumar's Alpha Beta Gamma.
• India has been made an official Country of Honour at the 75th Cannes film festival.
• For the first time, the Cannes film festival has an official country of honour. 
• Bollywood star Deepika Padukone has been made a part of the eight-member jury which will select one of the 21 films in competition with the coveted Palme d’Or during the closing ceremony on May 28.
• As one of the highlights of India’s status as the Country of Honour, a special screening of a restored Indian classic film Pratidwandi, directed by Indian director Satyajit Ray will be screened.