PM Modi''s ''Panch Pran'' to make India a developed nation in next 25 years

• He spelled out "Panch Pran" (five resolves) to fulfil freedom fighters'' dreams for the country at India''s independence centenary by 2047.
• He said we should focus on the five pledges -- a resolve of developed India; removing any trace of the colonial mindset; taking pride in our legacy; our strength of unity; and fulfilling the duties of citizens with honesty, which should be done by the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers as well.

ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

• Experts have repeatedly raised an alarm over the plant being in an active combat zone. The International Atomic Energy Agency has underlined that the current situation poses a grave risk of a nuclear catastrophe.
• Located in southern Ukraine on the banks of Kakhovka reservoir on the Dnipro river, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant is Europe’s largest, and 10th biggest in the world. Before the war started, it produced half of Ukraine’s power with a total capacity of 5,700 MW. The plant has six reactors with a capacity of 950 MW each.
• Geographically, the plant is located 200-km from Russia-annexed Crimea, and 500-odd km from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.

Tension between Nicaragua and the Catholic Church

• Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the northwest, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest.
• Managua is the country''s capital and largest city.
• As of 2015, it was estimated to be the second largest city in Central America.

Women heroes of India’s freedom struggle, mentioned by PM in his I-Day speech

• Rani Laxmibai:  The queen of the princely state of Jhansi, Rani Laxmibai is known for her role in the First War of India’s Independence in 1857.
• Jhalkari Bai:  A soldier in Rani Laxmibai’s women’s army, Durga Dal, she rose to become one of the queen’s most trusted advisers.
• Durga Bhabhi:  A member of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, she helped Bhagat Singh escape in disguise from Lahore after the 1928 killing of British police officer John P Saunders.
• Rani Gaidinliu:  Born in 1915 in present-day Manipur, Rani Gaidinliu was a Naga spiritual and political leader who fought the British. She joined the Heraka religious movement which later became a movement to drive out the British.

DigiYatra soft-launched at Delhi Airport

• DigiYatra , the passenger processing system based on facial recognition technology, has been piloted at the Delhi airport and has had the required infrastructure set up at the airport’s Terminal 3.
• DigiYatra envisages that travellers pass through various checkpoints at the airport through paperless and contactless processing, using facial features to establish their identity, which would be linked to the boarding pass.

India-made howitzer gun ‘ATAG’ used for 21 gun salute

• Developed by the DRDO, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) was used alongside the traditional British-origin ’25 Pounders’ artillery guns.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi also referred to the gun while speaking about the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the Centre during his Independence Day speech.
• The ATAGS is an indigenous 155 mm x 52 calibre howitzer gun developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with its Pune-based facility Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) being the nodal agency.
• The ATAGS project was started in 2013 by DRDO to replace older guns in service in the Indian Army with a modern 155 mm artillery gun.
• Howitzers is an umbrella term for a category of long-range artillery guns.

Independence Day 2022: Postal Service''s PIN Code Turns 50

• According to the Department of Posts, there were 23,344 post offices, primarily in urban areas, in India at the time of Independence. But, the country was growing rapidly and the postal network had to keep pace.
• The PIN code was meant to ease the process of mail sorting and delivery in a country where different places, often, have the same or similar names, and letters are written in a wide variety of languages.
• The PIN is made up of six digits. The first number indicates the postal region — Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern; and number 9, which signifies the Army Postal Service.
• The second number denotes a sub-region, and the third represents the sorting district. The remaining numbers narrow the geography further to the specific post office making the delivery.

Partition Horrors Remembrance Day

• The commemoration was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this date last year. This date also marks Pakistan’s independence day.
• The Partition is acknowledged as one of the most violent and abrupt displacements in the recent history of the world.
• Estimates of the numbers of those killed vary; according to the official document, it could be between 500,000 to over a million, but “the generally accepted figure stands at around 500,000”.

Johnson & Johnson Ends Worldwide Sale of Talc-Based Baby Powder

• The announcement came amidst the tens of thousands of lawsuits from women who claim that the product caused them to have ovarian cancer, due to the alleged contamination of asbestos, a known carcinogen.
• Talc is the softest known mineral and is mined from underground deposits. Chemically, it is hydrous magnesium silicate, according to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and is used in a variety of cosmetic and personal care products, like baby powder, lipstick, eyeshadow and foundation.
• When reduced to a fine powder, it is able to absorb moisture and reduce friction which keeps the skin dry, helps prevent rashes, stops makeup from caking and generally helps improve the feel and texture of a product.
• Asbestos, the name for another group of naturally occurring silicate minerals, can also be found near talc deposits.
• There is the potential for contamination of talc with asbestos. Asbestos has been used in construction and manufacturing, and is known to cause lung cancer, ovarian cancer, mesothelioma and other health conditions.