Current Affairs

4^th January 2023

Top 15 Daily Current Affairs: National & International News:

Here is the Daily Current Affairs of the 4th January 2023 covering the following news headlines: Samvidhan Udyan in Jaipur, online betting, Hydrogen Blended PNG Project, abolishes revenue police system.

National News

1. President Droupadi Murmu Inaugurates Samvidhan Udyan in Jaipur

The President of India Droupadi Murmu inaugurated Samvidhan Udyan, Mayur Stambh, National Flag Post, Statue of Mahatma Gandhi, and Maharana Pratap at Raj Bhavan, Jaipur on 3rd January 2023.

The President of India virtually inaugurated the Transmission System for Solar Energy Zones in Rajasthan and laid the foundation stone for the 1000 MV Bikaner Solar Power Project of SJVN Limited.

On the occasion, President Droupadi Murmu appreciated the artists for a description of the historical journey of three years of Constitution making displayed in the Udyan.

2. Govt seeks to ban social media sites’ promotion of online betting

The Government of India is proposing the ban on promotion of Online Betting on the Social Media platforms.

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, have recently been recommended for revision by the Central government to control the Indian online gaming market. The suggestion was made to protect consumers from any harm that skill-based games might cause.

The fact that between 40 and 45 percent of gamers in India are female makes maintaining the security of the gaming industry even more crucial.

State News

3. Hydrogen Blended PNG Project Starts Operation at NTPC Kawas Gujarat

India’s first green hydrogen blending operation in the piped natural gas (PNG) network at NTPC Kawas, Gujarat. The project is a joint effort of NTPC and Gujarat Gas (GCL). The power generation company stated that the first molecular of green hydrogen from the project was set in motion by P Ram Prasad, Head of Project, Kawas in presence of other senior executives of NTPC Kawas and GCL.

After the start of blending and operation, NTPC Kawas held an awareness workshop for township residents with help of GCL officials. The foundation stone of the project was laid by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 30th July 2022.

The set-up is geared up to supply H2-NG (Natural Gas) to households of Kawas township at Surat.

Green hydrogen in Kawas is made by electrolysis of water using power from an already installed 1 megawatt (MW) floating solar project.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), the regulatory body has approved 5% vol./vol. blending of green hydrogen with PNG to start with and the blending level would be scaled phase-wise to reach 20%.

4. Uttarakhand Govt decide to abolishes revenue police system

The Uttarakhand government has decided to abolish the revenue policing system in the state. The Pushkar Singh Dhami government has also announced that revenue villages will be brought under the regular policing system. Law and order in 1,800 revenue villages of Uttarakhand will now be handled by the state police, according to a statement by the Chief Minister’s Office.

The demand to replace the revenue police system in Uttarakhand gained traction during the investigation into the Ankita Bhandari murder case in September 2022.

5. Himachal Pradesh Government Launched Chief Minister Sukhashray Sahayata Kosh

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced to set up of Rs 101 crore CM’s Sukhashraya Sahayata Kosh for the destitute in the state. Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh informed that 40 Congress MLAs agreed to contribute Rs one lakh each from their first salary for the fund and also requested the MLAs from BJP and other parties to contribute.

The collected fund will be spent on the higher education of destitute children to encourage them to pursue courses such as engineering, medicine, management, and other streams from reputed institutions like IIT, IIM, AIIMS, and NIT.

CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced that there are 6,000 destitute children in Himachal Pradesh.

The CM’s Sukhashraya Sahayata Kosh with an expenditure of Rs 101 crore would provide the facility of higher education to needy children.

Through the CM’s Sukhashraya Sahayata Kosh other than bearing the educational expenses, the government would also provide Rs 4000 monthly pocket money to the destitute children and women pursuing higher education.

Economy News

6. India’s International Financial Assets Drop by $56.5 bn in Q2

India’s international financial assets declined by $56.5 billion during July-September 2022 with valuation losses accounting for a major part.

Reserve assets remained the dominant component (62.9% share) of India’s international financial assets. The net claims of non-residents on India increased by $34.3 billion during Q2 of FY23 and stood at $389.6 billion in September.

The fall in India’s foreign liabilities during Q2 was attributed primarily to direct investment (net) outflows.

Portfolio and other investments also recorded marginal decline on a net basis, barring trade credit which increased by $5.1 billion.

Variation in the exchange rate of rupee vis-a-vis other currencies also impacted the change in liabilities, when valued in U.S. dollar terms.

7. India’s Unemployment Rate Rises to 8.30% in Dec 2022

Unemployment rate in India rose to 8.30 per cent in December 2022, the highest in 16 months, according to data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). It was 8 per cent in the month of November. While urban unemployment rose to 10.09 per cent in December, from 8.96 per cent in November, rural unemployment moved to 7.44% from 7.55%, the data revealed.

The urban unemployment rate rose to 10.09% in December from 8.96% in the previous month, while the rural unemployment rate slipped to 7.44% from 7.55%.

The rise was “not as bad as it may seem,” as there was a simultaneous increase in the labour participation rate, which rose to 40.48 per cent in December, the highest in 12 months.

Most importantly, the employment rate has increased in December to 37.1%, which again is the highest since January 2022.

Defence News

8. Captain Shiva Chauhan becomes the 1st women officer to be operationally deployed in Siachen

Captain Shiva Chauhan from the Corps of Engineers has been posted at a frontline post in Siachen Glacier, in first such operational deployment of an woman Army officer at the world’s highest battlefield.

The officer was posted at the Kumar post, located at an altitude of around 15,600 feet in Siachen, for a three-month stint after she underwent rigorous training. The training included endurance training, ice wall climbing, avalanche and crevasse rescue and survival drills.

Capt Shiva Chouhan, who hails from Rajasthan, is a Bengal Sapper Officer. Chouhan lost her father at the age of 11 and her mother, a housewife, took care of her studies. She did her schooling from Udaipur and graduated from NJR Institute of Technology, Udaipur, in civil engineering.

Banking News

9. HDFC Bank collaborates with Microsoft as part of its digital transformation

HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, is partnering with Microsoft in the next phase of its digital transformation journey and unlocking business value by transforming the application portfolio, modernizing the data landscape and securing the enterprise with Microsoft Cloud.

HDFC Bank as a part of its Future Ready strategy is developing in house IPs as well as partnering with several companies including FinTechs’ to co -create technology IPs. HDFC Bank as a part of its Future Ready strategy is developing in house IPs as well as partnering with several companies including FinTechs’ to co -create technology IPs.

10. Banks Report High Credit Growth with Indian Economy Showing Stability

It is estimated that the Indian economy grew by 9.7% in the first half of 2022-23, significantly higher than China’s 2.2%, the UK’s 3.4% and the USA’s 1.8%. The local banking sector is often a proxy to the trends in India’s economy.

Take the latest round of a survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). Conducted over the first half of 2022 across 25 lenders in India that account for three-quarters of the sector’s assets, it reveals a fair degree of comfort. Unlike last year’s majority, only a small fraction of surveyed banks reported rising requests for loan rejigs.

Summits And Conferences News

11. 108th Indian Science Congress inaugurated by PM Modi

Indian Science Congress’s 108th edition was officially inaugrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University is hosting the five-day 108th session of ISC.

 He emphasised the nation’s expanding energy requirements and urged the scientific community to develop any advances in the area that would help the nation. 

The scientific community in India should try to make India a “aatma nirbhar,” according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on Tuesday (self reliant).

In his speech to the Indian Science Congress, the speaker emphasised that scientific advancement should be motivated by meeting India’s needs.

Schemes News

12. Second Phase of Sari Festival “VIRAASAT” Begins in New Delhi

The second phase of the Sari Festival “VIRAASAT”-Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India will begin from 3rd to 17th January 2023 at Handloom Haat, Janpath, New Delhi. The Sari Festival VIRAASAT is organized by the Ministry of Textile. In the second stage phase, there are 90 participants from different parts of the country.

There are several Handcrafted varieties of Saris to be displayed in the festival including Tie and Dye, Chikan embroidered Saris, Hand Block Saris, Kalamkari printed Saris, Ajrakh, Kantha, and Phulkari. There is an addition to the exclusive handloom Saris of Jamdani, Ikat, Pochampally, Banaras Brocade, Tussar Silk (Champa), Baluchari, Bhagalpuri Sik, Tangail, Chanderi, Lalitpur, Patola, Paithani, etc.

The first phase of VIRAASAT- Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India started on 16th December 2022 and was concluded on 30th December 2022.

The event was inaugurated by Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman on 16th December along with Minister of State Darshana Jardosh.

In the first phase of VIRAASAT, there were 70 participants.

Important News

13. World Braille Day 2023 celebrates on 4th January

World Braille Day, marked on January 4, emphasises the significance of Braille as a form of communication for the partially sighted and blind. The United Nations has been commemorating the day since 2019. World Braille Day also commemorates the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, who was born on January 4, 1809. After losing his sight during childhood, the French educator devised the Braille technique.

The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the braille language, which attempts to bridge the gap among normal and differently-abled individuals. Coupvray, France, gave birth to the creator of an extensively adopted touch device enabling blind persons to read and write.

Miscellaneous News

14. 50 Electric Buses launched in Delhi under FAME India Phase II scheme

50 electric buses were launched in Delhi with support under the FAME India Phase II scheme of the Ministry of Heavy Industries. In 2019, the government approved Rs 10,000 crore for a period of three years.

Out of total budgetary support, about 86 percent of the fund has been allocated for incentives so as to create demand for electric vehicles.

Electric Vehicles are vehicles that are partially or fully powered on electric power. They have low running costs and are also very environmentally friendly as they use little or no fossil fuels (petrol or diesel). These vehicles can solve the problems of increasing pollution, global warming, depleting natural resources etc.

15. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates Siyom bridge in Arunachal Pradesh

Defence minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the Siyom bridge in Arunachal Pradesh, along with 27 other infrastructure projects completed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

Built at a cost of 724 crore rupees, these projects will hugely augment India’s border infrastructure, mostly along the Chinese border, from Ladakh to Arunachal. 21 other bridges, three roads and three additional infrastructure projects in Arunachal Pradesh, J&K, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Punjab and Rajasthan, were virtually inaugurated by Rajnath Singh from the Siyom bridge site.

Singh also virtually inaugurated the 27 other projects of the BRO. Out of these, eight have been constructed in Ladakh, four in Jammu and Kashmir, five in Arunachal Pradesh, three each in Sikkim, Punjab and Uttarakhand and two in Rajasthan.