Current Affairs in English – January 5 2023

January 5, 2023

National Events:

26th National Youth Festival:

• India’s 26th National Youth Festival Will Take Place at Hubballi-Dharwad in Karnataka. It will be celebrated from 12th to 16th January 2023.
• The youth festival will mark the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda which falls on 12 January. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 26th National Youth Festival.

2nd National Conference of Chief Secretaries:

• PM Modi will chair the 2nd National Conference of Chief Secretaries on January 6 and 7, 2023 in Delhi. The first conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022.
• The conference will focus on achieving rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the states .The best practices of the States/UTs will be presented so that the states can learn from each other.

Kolkata Book Fair & Spain:

• Spain is going to be 46th International Kolkata Book Fair’s theme country. The book fair will be organised by Publishers and Booksellers Guild.
• The fair will be held from Jan 31 to Feb 12, 2023 at the Central Park Mela Ground, which has been newly named Boimela Prangan, in Salt Lake near Kolkata.
• For the first time, rare ‘punthis’ (old handwritten manuscripts) of Bengal will be exhibited.

Education of Agniveers:

• Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and all three Services have signed MoUs with various stakeholders.
• They aim to facilitate the continued education of Agniveers while serving in the Armed Forces.
• Under these MoUs, suitable 12th Class certificates and Bachelor’s degrees will be awarded to the Agniveers.

Doda district administration:

• Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district administration launches e-library Doda district administration has launched e-library to benefit thousands of students of the district.
• It will provide them notes and study material prepared by the best subject matter specialists in the district.
• The feat has been achieved under the ADBHUT Doda campaign of the district. The library will help students clear their doubts / concepts when schools reopen after winter vacations.

382 MW Sunni Dam Hydro Electric Project:

• Union cabinet on 4 January 2023 approved the investment for the 382 MW Sunni Dam Hydro Electric Project. The project is being developed by Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam limited on Sutlej river in Shimla and Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh.
• The project, on completion, is expected to generate 1,382 million units of electricity annually. Foundation of project was laid on 27 December 2021.

BIND Scheme:

• Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development scheme launched. The Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development (BIND) scheme is worth over 2,500 cr.
• It will focus on expanding and upgrading the infrastructure of Prasar Bharati, improving digital content and distribution network.
• The BIND scheme will increase the coverage of AIR FM transmitters in the country to 66% by geographical area and 80% by population, up from 59% and 68%, respectively.

Wall of Peace Mural:

• Wall of Peace Mural opens in Kerala. The Wall of Peace is a great work of modern mural art on the 700 footlong compound wall of Government Vocational School at Cherpulassery.
• The mural, in dimmed golden shade done with cement and sand on the 10ft high wall, has won many accolades, including the Eurasia World Record for the largest public art project. The word ‘peace’ has been embossed on the Wall of Peace in 250 world languages.

‘Best Police Units’:

• Maharastra: Jalna and Nagpur Police win ‘Best Police Units’ award. Jalna district police and Nagpur city police have bagged the ‘Best Police Unit’ awards for 2021 in the state under different classes.
• They won award for maintaining law and order, use of modern technology, evolving community policing and administration.
• The Jalna police got the award in ‘Class A’ and the Nagpur police in ‘Class B’. In Class A, Raigarh police got 2nd best police unit award.

NGEL & HPCL:

• NTPC Green Energy Ltd (NGEL) signed an agreement with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for the development of renewable energy-based power projects for HPCL Refineries and other Business Units on 4 January 2022.
• This MoU marks the first step for NGEL and HPCL to collaborate and cooperate in the field of the development of Renewable Energy projects.

Manohar Parrikar:

• The Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for the naming of Greenfield International Airport Mopa in Goa after Manohar Parrikar.
• As Manohar International Airport is a mark of tribute to former Defence Minister and four-time Goa Chief Minister(Manohar Parrikar).
• He was awarded Padma Bhushan posthumously in Jan 2020. Manohar International Airport is the 2nd airport in Goa after Dabolim airport.

Kuldeep Singh Pathania:

• Senior Congress leader and five time MLA Kuldeep Singh Pathania from Bhatiyyat is all set to be the next speaker of the Himachal Assembly. He will be the 18th Speaker of the Himachal Legislative Assembly.
• He was elected to the Assembly in 1985, 1993, 2003, 2007, and 2022. The first session of the 14th Himachal Pradesh legislative Assembly started on 4 Jan’23 in the state capital Shimla.

 ‘Ganga Vilas’:

• PM Modi will launch the world’s longest river cruise, “Ganga Vilas” from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh to Dibrugarh (Assam) on 13 January 2023.
• It will make stops at more than 50 significant architectural locations including World Heritage Sites, as it will travel through rivers of India and Bangladesh.
• The Uttar Pradesh government was striving to improve the amenities for visitors to Varanasi.

National Green Hydrogen Policy:

• The Union Cabinet headed by PM Modi on 4 January 2023 approved the National Green Hydrogen Policy, which aims to make India a Global Hub for producing, utilizing, and exporting Green Hydrogen and its derivatives.
• The initial outlay for the Mission is Rs.19,744 crores. The aim of the National Hydrogen Mission is to enable India to meet its climate change target of net zero carbon emission by 2070.

FAME India:

• 50 electric buses launched in Delhi with support under the FAME India Phase II scheme of the Ministry of Heavy Industries on 2 January, 23. In 2019, the government approved Rs 10,000cr for a period of 3 years.
• The Government formulated a Scheme FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) in 2015, to improve the infrastructure required for the large – scale use of electric vehicles.

FAME India-Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-India).

“VIRAASAT”:

• The second phase of the Sari Festival “VIRAASAT”-Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India is being held from 3rd to 17th January 2023 at Handloom Haat, Janpath, New Delhi.
• The Sari Festival VIRAASAT is organized by the Ministry of Textile. A social media campaign has also been launched under a common hashtag #MySari My Pride to support the Indian handloom weavers.

UN – Habitat’s World Habitat Awards 2023:

• Odisha government’s slum improvement and land titling program, JAGA (Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission) Mission has won the UN – Habitat’s World Habitat Awards 2023.
• This award is given by World Habitat, a United Kingdom-based organization, in partnership with UN-Habitat every year. It aims to make Odisha the first state in India to be slum – free by the end of 2023.

SFSS:

• Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik directed the distribution of 5kg of rice per month free of cost to beneficiaries of the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) for the next one year, on 4 January 2023.
• The Odisha government launched its own State Food Security Scheme on 2 October 2018 for those poor people who were not covered under the National Food Security Act 2013.

Tamil Nadu Events:

Green Climate Fund:

• Tamil Nadu is setting up Green Climate Fund worth Rs 1000 crore with a greenshoe option of another Rs 1000 crores. Fund will be created for a period of 10 years, subject to extension of another 2 year.
• It will support climate change initiative, mitigation and greening projects. The fund will mobilize necessary resources from development finance institutions, international climate funds etc.

International Events:

 ‘Virovore’:

• The first known “virovore” -an organism that eats viruses, has been found. The breakthrough has been made by John DeLong and his team.
• Scientists found that a species of Halteria-who are microscopic ciliates that populate freshwater throughout the world. It can eat huge numbers of infectious chloroviruses that share their aquatic habitat.

India & France:

• India and France took stock of their overall security cooperation during a high-level dialogue on Jan 5, 2023.
• National Security Advisor Ajit Doval led the Indian delegation while the French delegation was led by Diplomatic Advisor to the French President, Mr. Emmanuel Bonne. The last edition of the Strategic Dialogue was held in November 2021 in Paris.

EU:

• Sweden will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) for the next 6 months on 1 January 2023.
• The Swedish presidency will be the last in the French, Czech Republic, and Sweden trio that holds the presidency for the 18-month period from 2022 to mid-2023.
• Since joining the EU in 1995, Sweden has held the presidency in 2001 and 2009. It is one of the members of the EU.