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January 2018 Important Days (National / International)
1st January 2018
- 51st World Day of Peace
- The World Day of Peace is a feast day of the Roman Catholic Church dedicated to universal peace.
- This day was first observed on 1 January 1968.
- Theme of World Day of Peace 2018 : ‘Migrants and Refugees: Men and Women in search of Peace’
- Important Note : Don't be confused between this day and International Day of Peace. The International Day of Peace is observed annually on 21 September.
- World Braille Day
- World Braille Day celebrates the 208th Birth anniversary of French Innovator Louis Braille (4 January 1809 – 6 January 1852).
- He was a French educator and inventor of a system of reading and writing for use by the visually impaired.
- His system remains known worldwide simply as braille.
- 351st birth anniversary of the 10th and last Prophet-teacher of the Sikh faith, Guru Gobind Singh.
- 70th Independence Day of Myanmar.
- World Day for War Orphans.
- This day was initiated by the French organisation, SOS Enfants en Detresses.
- Held on 6th January each year, this special day enables the International Community to recognise the plight of a particularly vulnerable group.
- Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
- This day is observed to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community towards the development of India.
- The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915.
- Theme for this year : “Ancient Route, New Journey”.
- World Hindi Day
- The World Hindi Day is commemorated every year with the objective to promote use of Hindi language abroad.
- The first World Hindi Conference was organized on 10 January 2006 in Nagpur and since then every 10 January is observed as the World Hindi Day.
- At present Hindi as a language is spoken in more than 20 countries around the world and is being taught in 150 Universities of the world.
- Important Note :
- World Hindi Day and Hindi day are different.
- Hindi Day is celebrated on September 14.
- The Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as the Official Language of the Union on this day (14 September) in the year 1949.
- National Youth Day
- National Youth Day is celebrated every year on 12th of January, the birth anniversary of social reformer, philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda.
- Since 1985 onwards, National Youth Day is being celebrated all over the country.
- To celebrate this day, the 21st National Youth Festival was held in Rohtak, Haryana.
- 70th Indian Army Day
- It was on this day in 1949 when Lt. General (later Field Marshal) KM Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army post Independence.
- This day inspires the troops to continue to enrich the glorious traditions of the Indian Army with their dedication and sacrifice.
- This Day also marks a day to salute the valiant soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the country and the people living in it.
- Important Names to Remember :
- Chief of Army Staff - Bipin Rawat
- Chief of Naval Staff - Sunil Lanba
- Air Chief Marshal - Birender Singh Dhanoa
- Religious Freedom Day
- 46th Statehood Day of 3 states Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya.
- The three states attained statehood in 1972 under the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act, 1971.
- While Meghalaya was a part of Assam before becoming a full-fledged state, Manipur and Tripura were Union Territories before 1972.
- Squirrel Appreciation Day
- 120th birth anniversary of Indian Nationalist and Freedom Fighter Subhash Chandra Bose.
- Bose was born on January 23, 1897, in Cuttack, which was then a part of Bengal province.
- An advocate of complete freedom, Netaji went to jail 11 times during the independence struggle.
- Netaji, the founder of the Indian National Army, was chosen President of the Congress twice when Mahatma Gandhi was also nominated.
- 11th National Girl Child Day.
- This day has been started as a national girls development mission by the Government of India.
- This mission raises the awareness among people all over the country about the importance of girl’s promotion.
- It enhances the meaningful contribution of the girls in decision making processes through the active support of the parents and other community members.
- 8th National Voters’ Day.
- The date (25th January) was declared as the National Voters' Day in the year 2011 as the Election Commission of India was founded on 25 January 1950.
- The day aims at increasing the enrolment of voters, especially encourage participation of newly eligible young voters and ensure universal adult franchise.
- National Tourism Day
- Note : World Tourism Day is observed on 27th September.
- International Customs Day
- This day recognizes the role of custom officials and agencies in maintaining border security.
- 69th Republic Day
- The Constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950, replacing the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India.
- To commemorate this, January 26 is celebrated as Republic Day every year.
- This day was also chosen as the Republic Day because, on January 26, 1930, the declaration of complete independence was proclaimed by the Congress.
- Important Note :
- The leaders of all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries will be chief guests at the Republic Day Parade.
- This includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
- International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust (International Holocaust Remembrance Day).
- This day commemorates the genocide that resulted in the death of an estimated 6 million Jewish people, 2 million Romani people, 250,000 mentally and physically disabled people, and 9,000 homosexual men by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
- Data Privacy Day (Data Protection Day).
- The purpose of this day is to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices.
- National Immunization Day.
- Anti Leprosy Day.
- Anti Leprosy Day is observed internationally on January 30 or its nearest Sunday to increase the public awareness of the Leprosy or Hansen's Disease.
- This day was chosen in commemoration of the death of Gandhi, who understood the importance of leprosy.
- Pakistan was named on this day (28th January) in the year 1933.
- Muslim nationalist Choudhry Rahmat Ali, who is also known as the Founder of Pakistan National Movement, used 'Pakistan' in his pamphlet 'Now or Never' explaining reasons to establish a separate nation.
- 'Pakistan' referred to the five northern units of India- 'P'unjab, North-West Frontier ('A'fghan) Province, 'K'ashmir, 'S'ind, and Baluchis'tan' (PAKSTAN).
- National Martyrs' Day.
- This day is also known as Sarvodaya day / Shaheed Diwas.
- We observe this day to commemorate 69th death anniversary of Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
- Note : On this day in 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse at a prayer meeting.