Today in History (January 15th, 1949)
On this day, the first Commander-in-Chief of India General K.M. Cariappa took over the rule of British Army Official General Sir Francis Roy Bucher. Since then, this historic moment has been celebrated as Bhartiya Sena Divas.
Summary of Today’s News
Swachh Survekshan (SS) awards 2023
What is this?
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- Swachh Survekshan, conducted by MoHUA since 2016, is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey.
- Conducted under the ambit of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban)
- Among the big cities Indore and Surat have jointly won the cleanest cities Award.
- By Union Urban Affairs Ministry’s annual clean city awards 2023.
- Swachh Survekshan, initiated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in 2016,
- Swachh Survekshan has grown to become the world’s largest urban sanitation survey.
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- The survey assesses cities on dedicated indicators addressing issues such as
- ‘Open Urination’ (Yellow Spots)
- ‘Open Spitting’ (Red Spots).
- Indore’s Continued Success: Remarkably, Indore has maintained its status as the cleanest city for the seventh consecutive year.
- Cleanest Ganga Towns: Varanasi and Prayagraj (UP)
- Themes: The 2023 survey focused on the theme “Waste to Wealth,”
MILAN 24 Exercise
- It is a biennial multi-national naval exercise.
- It was first conceived by Indian Navy in 1995 at Andaman and Nicobar Command
- Participation of four countries (Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand).
Henley Passport Index 2024 (HPI)
- HPI was released by Henley & Partners, a global leader in residence and citizenship planning.
- HPI ranks different passports according to number of destinations their holders can visit without a prior visa.
- Rankings are based on data provided by International Air Transport Association.
- Key findings India stands at 80th rank in list of most powerful passports.
- Its passport has visa-free access to 62 nations.
| COUNTRY | RANK | ACCESS |
| Singapore | 1 | 193 |
| Japan | 2 | 192 |
| Finland | 3 | 191 |
| France | 3 | 191 |
| Germany | 3 | 191 |
| Italy | 3 | 190 |
| South Korea | 3 | 191 |
| Spain | 3 | 191 |
| Sweden | 3 | 191 |
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
- National Youth Day (12th January) has been celebrated on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
- He was a philosopher and social reformer.
- His childhood name was Narendra Nath Datta.
- He popularised the Vedanta, the ancient system of religious philosophy.
- Established Ramakrishna Mission in 1887, named after his Guru Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
- Also, set up Belur Math (aka Ramakrishna Math).
- Gave speech at the World Religion Conference in Chicago (US) in 1893.
- Literary work: Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga etc.
Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS)
- It is an ongoing Indian Railways mission launched in February 2023 by the Ministry of Railways to redevelop 1,309 stations nationwide.
- The scheme aims to transform railway stations into modern, well-equipped hubs with improved passenger amenities, better traffic circulation, inter-modal integration, and enhanced signage.
Congo River
- The Congo River has risen to its highest level in more than 60 years, causing flooding throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Congo Republic that has killed more than 300 people recently.
- It is a River in west-central Africa.
- It is also called the Zaire River.
- With a length of 2,900 miles (4,700 km), it is the continent’s second-longest river, after the Nile, and the ninth-longest in the world.
- Its course through the rainforest causes it to cross the equator twice.
- It is the deepest river in the world. It reaches depths of over 750 feet (230 meters).
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