Table of Contents:
1. Jnanpith Award 2023 Laureates - Jagatguru Shri Rambhadracharya and Gulzar 
2. India's First Helicopter Emergency Medical Service to be Launched from Uttarakhand 
3. Henley Passport Index 2024 
4. World’s First Wooden Satellite - LignoSat probe 
 

Jnanpith Award 2023 Laureates - Jagatguru Shri Rambhadracharya and Gulzar 

58th Jnanpith Award for the year 2023 has been awarded to the eminent writers: Jagatguru Shri Rambhadracharya for Sanskrit and famous lyricist Gulzar for Urdu respectively. 

Jagatguru Shri Rambhadracharya is a poet and writer in many languages including Sanskrit, Hindi, Awadhi, and Maithili. He has authored more than 240 books and texts, including four epics (two in Sanskrit and two in Hindi), a Hindi commentary on the Ramcharitmanas, a poetic Sanskrit commentary on Ashtadhyayi and Sanskrit commentaries on Prasthanatroyi (Brahmasutra, Bhagavad Gita and Pradhan Upanishads). He is considered among lndia's best known experts on Tulsidas and is the editor of an authentic copy of Ramcharitmanas, published by Tulsi Peeth. ln 2015, the Government of lndia honored him with Padma Vibhushan. 

Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 1934), popularly known as Gulzar, is a famous lyricist of Hindifilms. Apart from this, he is a poet, screenwriter, film director, playwright and famous poet. His works are mainly in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. Gulzar has also been awarded the Sahitya Academy Award in2OO2 and the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award given by the Government of lndia, in 2004. ln the year 2009, he received the Oscar Award for Best Songfor Joi Ho written by him in the film Slumdog Millionoire directed by Danny Boyle. He has also been honored with a Grammy Award for the same song. Along with his long film journey, Gulzar has been setting new milestones in literature. ln poetry, he invented a new genre "Triveni" which is a non-mukaffa poem of three lines. 

India's First Helicopter Emergency Medical Service to be Launched from Uttarakhand 

India’s first Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) will be started from Uttarakhand. he HEMS will be stationed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh and will be able to airlift accident victims within a radius of 150 km to the medical facility. 

 The HEMS is part of the government's initiative to expand medical outreach and trauma care services using helicopters. This service aims to provide timely transportation for accident victims and patients from hilly terrains to AIIMS, ensuring they receive critical care during the 'golden hour' after an accident. 

• Capital of Uttarakhand – Dehradun 

• Governor of Uttarakhand - Gurmit Singh 

• Chief Minister of Uttarakhand - Pushkar Singh Dhami 

Henley Passport Index 2024 

The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. The index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – the largest, most accurate travel information database – and enhanced by Henley & Partners’ research team. 

France leads the 2024 Henley Passport Index, with its passport holders enjoying visa-free entry to 194 nations. India's passport ranking has dropped one place from the previous year, descending from 84th to 85th spot. Pakistan retains its 106th position from last year, while Bangladesh has slipped from 101st to 102nd. Maldives, India's neighbour, holds its strong 58th position, with visa-free travel to 96 countries for its passport holders. 

World’s First Wooden Satellite - LignoSat probe 

NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are considering launching the LignoSat probe - the world's first wooden satellite into space, to make spaceflight operations sustainable. 

It is built from magnolia wood, which tests on the ISS have shown to be exceptionally resistant to cracking in the harsh environment of space. The wooden probe is designed to solve two important problems. Firstly, it will significantly reduce the cost of satellite production, because wood is an accessible and cheap material. Secondly, LignoSat will be a step towards cleaner space exploration. Burning up when returning to the atmosphere, it will not pollute it with aluminum particles, as traditional satellites do.