Current Affairs in English – January 18 2023

January 18, 2022

National Events:

KVP:

• The KVP interest rate applicable in the first quarter of 2023 (January-March) was announced on December 30, 2022. The new interest rate is 7.2%.
• The previous interest rate was 7%.The Union Government revises the Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) interest rate on a quarterly basis. At 7.2% interest, the amount invested in the KVP account will double in 10 years.

Equity fundraising:

• India was among top 5 markets, globally, in terms of equity fundraising. According to a report by Kotak Investment, funds to the tune of $16.4 bn were transacted via equity capital market (ECM) activity in India in 2022.
• Traditionally, India has rarely featured in top 10 in terms of ECM activity. Interestingly, in 2022, India also broke into top-5 league in terms of market capitalisation.

PPBL:

• Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) has received final approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU).
• A BBPOU is allowed to facilitate bill payment services of electricity, phone, DTH, water, gas insurance, loan repayments, FASTag recharge etc.
• With this, users can make convenient payments and benefit from automatic payment and reminder services.

‘Golden Kailasha’:

• Naanera, a Rajasthani film, has bagged the ‘Golden Kailasha’ award for the best movie at the Ajanta-Ellora film festival.The movie was directed by Deepankar Prakash.It also bagged awards for best director, best screenplay, best editor.
• The festival, currently in its eighth edition, took place in Aurangabad from Jan 11-15, 2023. The award included a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.

‘Oranweshananthinte Katha’:

• Writer K Venu won first-ever Federal Bank Literary Award 2022 for his autobiography ‘Oranweshananthinte Katha’. This is the first-ever literary award constituted by the Federal Bank.
• By constituting the award, Federal Bank aims to celebrate the diversity of contemporary literature and recognise writers for their cultural contributions.

Think-20:

• Bhopal Declaration was released after discussions in the meeting of Think-20 in Bhopal. It made an appeal to all the stakeholders to focus more on inclusive development and care for the welfare of every section of society in comparison to GDP.
• It emphasized promoting traditional medicine systems like AYUSH. Importance of localization in achieving sustainable goals was acknowledged in this.

School of Logistics, Waterways, and Communication:

• India’s 1st School of Logistics, Waterways, and Communication launched. The school was launched in Agartala (Tripura). It is set up under State Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development.
• It aims to enable the rich pool of talent in the region to become world-class experts in the transportation and logistics sector. It will facilitate in conducting studies/ research, training, workshops/seminars for stakeholders like businesses, exporters, etc.

Saansad Khel Mahakumbh:

• Prime Minister Modi inaugurated 2nd phase of Saansad Khel Mahakumbh 2022-23 in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh on 18 January 2023. It is being organised in Basti by Lok Sabha MP from the constituency Harish Dwivedi since 2021.
• It organises diverse competitions in both indoor and outdoor sports like wrestling, Kabaddi, Kho Kho, Basketball etc. The 1st phase was organised from 10 to 16 December 2022.

Merchandise exports:

• India’s merchandise exports decreased 12.2% from a year earlier to $34.5 billion in December 2022. In October 2022, exports of goods had decreased by 16.65% on a yearly basis.
• India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to $36.4 billion and 4.4 per cent of GDP, in the September 2022. While India’s goods exports increased by 7.7 per cent in December 2022.

PARAKH:

• The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has notified India’s first national assessment regulator, PARAKH in January 2023.
• PARAKH will work on setting norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognized school boards in the country. PARAKH stands for Performance Appraisal, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.

PARAKH- Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.

‘Nalanda Mahavihara’:

• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has discovered two 1200-year-old miniature stupas within the complex of the world heritage site ‘Nalanda Mahavihara’ in Nalanda district of Bihar in January 2023.
• The figures of Buddha are shown on the stupa carved out of stone. Nalanda was a Mahavihara, a large Buddhist monastery in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern Bihar) in India.

Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972:

• The Environment Ministry has listed Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) in the list of protected plants under Schedule III of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 in January 2023.
• As per the Ministry, those who uproot or destroy the plant will be fined Rs 25,000 and imprisoned for three years. Neelakurinji is a tropical plant species and is native to the shola forests in the Western Ghats.

Janani Ramachandran:

• Indian-American attorney, Janani Ramachandran has become the youngest and the first LGBTQ woman of color to take oath as the Oakland City Council member in the US state of California on 17 January 2023.
• She currently serves on the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. She has previously served as a Commissioner at the City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission.

Kerala Literature Festival:

• The 6th edition of the Kerala Literature Festival concluded in Kozhikode, Kerala on 16 January 2023. The event was included in the World Tourism Calendar.
• The Thrissur Pooram and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale are other events in Kerala that have found a place in the World tourism calendar. The 7th edition would be held at the same venue from January 11 to 14, 2024.

MPL:

• Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the top location for mobile gamers, followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, and West Bengal, according to the India Mobile Gaming Report 2022 issued by the gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) in January 2023.
• Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Himachal Pradesh saw the most increases in mobile gaming in 2022 compared to 2021.

Odisha Government:

• Odisha Government has announced the development of the famous Vedvyas Shrine in the Sundargarh district of the state in January 2023.
• The Vedvyas temple is situated on the confluence of the river Sankha and Koel, which thereafter form the river Brahmani. In the development plan, the focus would be given to the improvement of Swargadwar, and the improvement of the riverfront.

International Events:

LHS 475b:

• NASA’s Telescope has discovered a new exoplanet named LHS 475b. It is roughly the same size as Earth, with a diameter of 99% that of Earth. It is a rocky planet located approximately 41 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Octane.
• It differs from Earth in two respects, first that it completes one orbit in only two days and second it is hundreds of degrees hotter than Earth.

India & South Korea:

• The dialogue between India and South Korea was held in Seoul on 16-17 January 2023. Both agreed to work to make global supply chains more resilient and robust.
• They agreed to take concrete steps to take bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030 from current all-time high of $28 billion. Both agreed to deepen cooperation in areas like trade and investment, security and defense etc.

Shah Rukh Khan:

• As per a recent list released by the World of Statistics in January 2023, Shah Rukh Khan is the third richest actor in the world with his net worth at $770 million.
• The list is led by Seinfeld star Jerry Seinfeld and Tyler Perry with $1 billion. They are followed by Dwayne Johnson, with $800 million. Shah Rukh Khan is the only Indian on the list.

China’s population:

• China’s population has fallen for the first time in 60 years, with a national birth rate of 6.77 births per 1,000 people. The death toll in China is more than the number of children born.
• According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, China’s population declined by roughly 850,000 to 1.41175 billion at the end of 2022. Negative population growth has now started in China.