1.Plogging

Why in News?

• During his morning walk on a beach in Mamallapuram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen picking up plastic litter, bottles and other items. In a tweet shortly after, Modi announced: “Plogging at a beach in Mamallapuram”.

What is Plogging?

• ‘Plogging’ is a combination word formed from ‘jogging’ and ‘plocka upp’, which is Swedish for ‘pick up’.
• It refers to an emerging international trend, in which someone picks up trash while jogging or brisk walking as a way of cleaning up litter while also taking care of fitness.
• The trend was started in Sweden by Erik Ahlstrom in 2016. During his commute to work, Ahlstrom would frequently come across litter that would remain on the streets for weeks without anyone picking it up.
• This prompted him to pick up the trash during his commute and dispose of it. Eventually, he included the clean-up in his daily running and exercise routine.
• According to Ahlstrom, plogging for half an hour will burn at least 288 calories on an average as compared to 235 calories from regular Jogging.

2.DHARMA GUARDIAN – 2019

Why in News?

• Joint Military Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN-2019 between India and Japan will be conducted at Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte, Mizoram.

DHARMA GUARDIAN – 2019:

• Indian Army and Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF) will participate in the exercise with an aim to share experience gained during various Counter-Terrorism Operations in respective Countries.
• Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN is an annual training event which is being conducted in India since 2018.
• Notably, in the series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various countries Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN with Japan is crucial and significant in terms of security challenges faced by both the nations in the backdrop of global terrorism.
• The scope of this exercise covers joint training on counter-terrorism operations in the jungle and urban scenario.
• The joint military exercise will enhance the level of defence co-operation between the Indian Army and the Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF) which in turn will further foster the bilateral relations between the two nations.

3.Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav

• The 10^th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav is inaugurate at Mahakoshal Shaheed trust in the city of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
• It is organised by Ministry of Culture, under Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat initiative.
• It showcases rich cultural heritage of India. It includes classical and contemporary handicrafts, painting, arts-folk, sculpture, etc.
• It covers the fushion of folk-art forms from 22 states and will offer the best chance to experience the emerging virtuosity.

4.Baul music:

• It is a UNESCO-recognised folk music form found in the rural pockets of West Bengal and Bangladesh.
• A three-day long festival of Baul songs named Indo Bangla Baul Music Festival ended recently with spell binding performances by Bauls from India and Bangladesh.
• The program was organised to observe the 129^th death anniversary of Baul saint Fakir Lalon Shah. Been recognised on the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages in 2005.

5.mHariyali

Why in News?

•  Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has launched the mobile app, “mHariyali,”.

mHariyali:

• The app is aimed to encourage Public engagement in planting trees and other such Green drives.
• People can now upload information/photos of any plantation done by them, which is linked to app and will be displayed on the website epgc.gov.in.
• The App provides for automatic geo-tagging of plants. This app will also enable nodal officers to periodically monitor the plantation.
• The App is user friendly and works on any android mobile phone.

6.Agatti Island:

Why in News?

• Recently Indian Navy conducted casualty evacuation from Agatti Island.

About:

• Agatti Island is a 7.6 km long island, situated on a coral atoll called Agatti atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.
• It is an atoll and it has a lagoon area.