25 Jun 2023: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Order of the Nile
2. Al-Hakim Mosque and Heliopolis War Cemetery
3. National Centre for Good Governance

1. Order of the Nile

Syllabus: GS02-International Relations

Prelims:  Order of the Nile

Context: PM Modi’s visit to Egypt

Key Details: 

• In a special ceremony at the Presidency in Cairo on 25 June 2023, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Mr. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, conferred Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with the ‘Order of the Nile’.
• It is the highest civilian award of Egypt. 
  • The Order of the Nile was established in 1915 and was one of the Kingdom of Egypt’s principal orders until the monarchy was abolished in 1953. It was then reconstituted as the Republic of Egypt’s highest state honour.
  • The award is presented to heads of states, crown princes, and vice presidents. Egyptians and foreigners who provide ‘invaluable services’ to the country or humanity may also be eligible for the honour. Those who receive the ‘Order of the Nile’ shall be saluted upon their death.
• Prime Minister Modi is the first Indian to receive the award.

Learn more on List of Awards in India

2. Al-Hakim Mosque and Heliopolis War Cemetery

Syllabus: GS01-History

Mains: Role of Indians in World War

Context:  PM Modi’s visit to Egypt

Key Details: 

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited the Heliopolis Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery and Al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo during his State Visit to Egypt.
• The Prime Minister paid homage to over 4300 valiant Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Egypt and Aden during the 1st World War. 

Al-Hakim Mosque:

• The Mosque of al-Hakim, also known as al-Anwar, is an esteemed mosque situated in Cairo, Egypt. 
• Its name honours Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (985-1021), the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili Imam. 
• The initial construction of the mosque commenced in 990 AD under the supervision of Caliph al-‘Aziz. It was completed in 1013 by al-Hakim leading to its current name.

Why is the mosque so significant? 

• The Bohra community, which is settled in India, originated from the Fatimids. 
• They renovated the mosque from 1970 onwards and have been maintaining it since then. 
• It is an  important religious and cultural site for the Dawoodi Bohra community.
•  The Dawoodi Bohra Muslims are a sect of followers of Islam who adhere to the Fatimi Ismaili Tayyibi school of thought. 
• They are known to have originated from Egypt and later shifted to Yemen, before establishing a presence in India in the 11th century. 
• Prime Minister Modi has a long-standing and warm relationship with the Dawoodi Bohras.

Heliopolis Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery:

• The Heliopolis War Cemetery in Cairo, Egypt, serves as a memorial and burial ground for Commonwealth (Colonial British Empire) personnel of the British Indian Army who lost their lives in World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII). 
• Within this cemetery, two memorials, namely the Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial and the Heliopolis (Aden) Memorial, have been relocated.
• The Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial commemorates 4,000 soldiers from the British Indian Army who served and died in Egypt and Palestine during WWI. 

3. National Centre for Good Governance

Syllabus: GS02-Governance

Prelims: National Centre for Good Governance

Mains: Capacity Building Programme (CBP) for civil servants

Context: NCGG successfully trains the 24th batch of civil servants from Maldives.

Key Details:

• The two-week Capacity Building Programme (CBP) for civil servants of Maldives was recently organised in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
• This programme aimed to enhance the skills and capabilities of 1,000 civil servants in the field of public administration and governance by 2024, as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between NCGG and the Government of Maldives.
• Under the agreement, NCGG has already provided training to 685 officers from Maldives, making significant progress towards the goal. 
• This partnership showcases the alignment of shared values and the spirit of cooperation, demonstrating India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ approach.

National Centre of Good Governance: 

• The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) was set up in 2014 by the Government of India as an apex–level autonomous institution under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. 
• The Centre traces its origin to the National Institute of Administrative Research (NIAR), which was set up in 1995 by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), the Government of India’s topmost training institute for civil services. 
  • NIAR was subsequently rechristened and subsumed into NCGG.
• NCGG deals with a gamut of governance issues from local, state to national levels, across all sectors. 
• The Centre is mandated to work in the areas of governance, policy reforms, capacity building and training of civil servants and technocrats of India and other developing countries. It also works as a think tank.
• Since its inception, the Centre has been extensively working in areas such as primary and elementary education, decentralised planning at district and block levels, capacity building of Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), participatory models of learning and action, rural development, cooperatives, and public sector management, etc. 
• In addition, it focuses on issues related to good governance, social accountability, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), among other sectors.

Read the previous PIB articles here.

June 25th, 2023, PIB:- Download PDF Here