Troops of India and Japan conduct a mock drill during joint military exercise 'Dharma Guardian 2022' at the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Center in Belagavi, Karnataka.

This annual military exercise between the armies of India and Japan began on 27 February and ended on 10 March 2022.

Dharma Guardian is an annual military exercise that is being conducted in India since 2018.

The exercise involves platoon level joint training on operations in semi-urban or urban areas and jungle.

The exercise lays special emphasis on enhancing the tactical skills required to combat global terrorism. It seeks to enhance inter-operability between the two armies and promote military-to-military relations.

Participant

Indian Army's 15th Battalion Maratha Light Infantry Regiment and 30th Infantry Regiment of Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces (JGSDF) are participating in this 12-day joint exercise.

Other joint exercises with Japan

SHINYUU Maitri

It is a bilateral exercise conducted between the Japanese Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) and the Indian Air Force.

JIMEX

It is a bilateral maritime exercise conducted between Japan and India.

Cooperation Kaijin (Sahayog-Kaijin)

A joint bilateral exercise between the Japan Coast Guard and the Indian Coast Guard.

To commemorate International Women's Day 2022, India's first 100% female-owned industrial park was opened in Hyderabad, Telangana. Telangana Industries Minister K. T. Rama Rao inaugurated this park.

With 25 women-owned and operated green projects, this industrial park has started its operations.

The FLO Industrial Park is named after the FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO), which is promoting it in collaboration with the Government of Telangana.

FLO Industrial Park is spread over 50 acres and it has cost Rs 250 crores to build it.

Expansion of 100 acres of FLO Women Industrial Park has also been promised by the Industries Minister.

This is the first project of its kind.

The park has also set up facilities like crches and playschools to provide a home-like environment for women keeping in mind the needs of working women entrepreneurs.

FICCI Ladies Organization

The women's wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is named FICCI Ladies Organization. FICCI is the apex body of commerce and industry in India. FLO was established in 1983. Its members include corporate executives, professionals and entrepreneurs.

FLO, with its head office located in New Delhi, is a pan India organization and is located in New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Jaipur, Indore, Coimbatore, Pune, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Amritsar, It has 18 chapters across the country including Uttarakhand and Northeast.

Apart from successful COVID-19 vaccination, Odisha has the highest coverage of complete immunization in the country with 90.5% coverage.

Odisha tops the list nationally in complete immunization coverage, with 90.5% coverage, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5.

During the review meeting on Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 4.0 launched across the state on March 7, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, R.K. Sharma mentioned this.

Twenty districts of Odisha were above 90 per cent in complete immunization, while the remaining 10 districts were below 90 per cent.

What is included in full vaccination?

Full immunization includes preventive doses against 12 different types of diseases. The disease includes tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, jaundice, tetanus, whooping cough, meningitis, HIV, measles, pneumonia, diarrhea, rubella, Japanese fever, and others.

vaccination campaign

The vaccination campaign under IMI will be conducted in three rounds, with different doses of different vaccines in each round. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated pregnant women as well as children below two years of age will be targeted first. The vaccination will take place in three rounds, the first starting from March 7, the second from April 4 and the third from May 2 this year, with each round lasting seven days.

Mission Indradhanush

Mission Indradhanush is a healthcare initiative of the Government of India. It was first launched on December 25, 2014. The scheme seeks to achieve 90% full immunization coverage in India and maintain it till the year 2022.

Vaccination is being provided against whooping cough, diphtheria, polio, tetanus, severe forms of childhood tuberculosis, measles, and pneumonia and meningitis caused by hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b as well as Japanese in selected states and districts Vaccination against encephalitis and rotavirus diarrhea is also being done.

Intensified Mission Indradhanush

In order to further accelerate the vaccination program, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) in October 2017. The government hopes to reach every child under the age of two, as well as all pregnant women left out of the routine immunization programme. The goal of this special campaign was to boost vaccination coverage in some districts and cities with a target of reaching 90% coverage by December 2018 instead of 2020.

Intensive Mission Indradhanush 2.0

Intensive Mission Indradhanush 2.0 was launched in December, 2019 to reach out to the unreached with all available vaccines and to accelerate the coverage of children and pregnant women in specified blocks as well as districts from 2019 December to 2020 March. It also aims to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing the avoidable deaths of children by 2030.

Intensive Mission Indradhanush 3.0

Intensive Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 3.0 scheme was implemented to cover children and pregnant women who have missed out on routine vaccination due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intensive Mission Indradhanush 4.0

Intensive Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 4.0 was recently launched by the Ministry of Health. It will ensure that non-vaccinated and partially vaccinated children as well as pregnant women receive regular immunization services. Children up to two years of age will be covered under this campaign.

On March 7, 2022, 100 years of Pal-Dadhav massacre were completed.

Pal-Dadhvav Massacre

The Pal-Dadhav massacre refers to the killing of around 1,200 tribal revolutionaries (Bhils) by the British. It took place on 7 March 1922 in the villages of Pal-Chitaria and Dadhav in Sabarkantha district, which was then part of Idar State (present-day Gujarat State).

On Amalaki Ekadashi, villagers gathered on the banks of the Heer river as part of the 'Eki movement'. The Eki movement was led by Motilal Tejawat and aimed to oppose the land revenue tax imposed on them by the British and the feudatories.

Earlier, Udaipur State (Rajasthan) had outlawed Motilal Tejawat and declared a reward of Rs 500 on his head. The Mewar Bhil Corps (MBC) of the British was looking for Motilal Tejawat.

MBC got information about the gathering of tribals and they went to the spot. As the tribals raised slogans against the land revenue tax, British soldiers opened fire on them.

The exact number of tribals killed is not known. The British claim that 22 people were killed. But tribals believe that around 1,200 of them died.

According to the Gujarat government, the Pal-Dadhav massacre is bigger than the Jallianwala Bagh incident. In the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, 500-1,000 people were killed after General Dyer's army opened fire.

Memorial and Republic Day tableau

In 2003, Motilal Tejawat's memorial was erected at the massacre site. The monument is surrounded by a 'Shaheed Smriti Van', which has 1200 trees planted in the memory of the tribals. The Pal-Dadhav massacre was also featured in the tableau of the 2022 Republic Day of Gujarat.

Karevas are highly fertile alluvial soil deposits found in the Kashmir Valley.

Kareva

In the Kashmiri dialect, Kareva means "raised land." Godwin-Austin (1859) was the first to use the term karewa.

Kareva sediments are found over the Paleozoic-Mesozoic sediments of the Kashmir Basin and are in the form of terraces, plateaus and mounds. Generally, they can be located in the foothills of mountains such as the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas.

The Kareva sediments contain the remains of human civilizations, fossils, and fertile soils. Thus they hold immense archaeological and agricultural importance.

Creation of Kareva

During the formation of the Pir Panjal range in the Pleistocene period, mountain ranges blocked the natural drainage in the region and created a lake of 5,000 km. Later, the water receded and this led to the formation of Kareva in the valleys between the mountains.

farming in karewa

Kareva is best suited for the cultivation of saffron, almond, apple and other cash crops. This is because the Kareva is composed of highly fertile alluvial soils and other sediments such as sandstone.

Kareva Kashmiri is most famous for saffron. In May 2020, Kashmiri saffron was given a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for its unique characteristics like deep red colour, high aroma and taste.

Kareva's destruction

Kareva is being destroyed in the name of development mainly for mining of soil. Between 1995 and 2005, the Kareva was dismantled to facilitate the construction of the 125-kilometre-long Qazigund–Baramulla railway line.

Damodar Kareva in Budgam was dismantled for the construction of Srinagar airport. Last year, the Baramulla administration had allowed the excavation of Kareva to obtain soil for the construction of the Srinagar Ring Road.

Destruction of Kareva will result in huge loss of archaeological heritage, siltation in rivers like Jhelum which eventually leads to floods. Hence it is necessary to save Kareva.