Current Affairs

10th January 2023

Top 20 Daily Current Affairs: National & International News

Here is the Daily Current Affairs of the 10th  January 2023 covering the following news headlines: Cherchera’ Festival, Sania Mirza, Novak Djokovic, The Voice of Global South, World Hindi Day, Startup India Innovation Week.

National News

1. PM Launches Aspirational Block Programme Aimed at Spurring Development Parameters

·      Prime Minister has launched the government’s Aspirational Block Programme (ABP), which is aimed at improving the performance of blocks lagging on various development parameters. The Aspirational Blocks Programme is on the lines of the Aspirational District Programme that was launched in 2018 and covers 112 districts across the country.

·      NITI Aayog in partnership with the states will release a quarterly ranking of these blocks based on their performance on development indicators covering sectors such as health, education and nutrition among others.

2. 120-feet-tall Polo Statue Inaugurated by Amit Shah in Manipur

·     Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a 120-foot-tall statue of a polo player riding a polo at Marjing Polo Complex in Imphal, Manipur. Manipur is known as the birthplace of the game polo.

·      Chief Minister of Manipur N Biren Singh was also present during the inauguration ceremony and gave a polo mallet and a painting of the game to Home Minister Amit Shah.

·      The projects to be inaugurated by Amit Shah includes Manipur Olympian Park at Sangaithel, a paid private ward at the state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS), Moreh Town water supply scheme, Nongpok Thong Bridge at the eastern side of Kangla Fort and Cave tourism project at Kangkhui Cave.

International News

3. No tsunami detected after 7.6 quake strikes eastern Indonesia

·      Indonesia issued a tsunami warning for almost three hours after a powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Tanimbar islands on Tuesday, but no significant changes in sea level were recorded and the warning was lifted.

·      At least four aftershocks were reported after the quake that was also felt in some parts of northern Australia, with initial reports by Indonesia’s disaster agency indicating mainly light to medium damage to buildings.

·      Indonesia experiences frequent seismic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic plates collide. Last November, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s most populated province, West Java, killing hundreds of people.

State News

4. Chhattisgarh CM Celebrated Traditional ‘Cherchera’ Festival in Raipur

·      Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel celebrated the Cherchera festival at Dudhadhari Math in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

·      The Cherchera festival of Chhattisgarh is celebrated on the full moon night of the ‘Paush’ Hindu calendar month. It is to celebrate the happiness and joy of taking crops to their homes after cultivation. Chief Minister Baghel extended warm wishes to all the citizens of Chhattisgarh on the auspicious occasion.

·      On the occasion of the Chercher festival, CM has demanded the Governor to sign the reservation bill for the young generation of Chhattisgarh as they have to get admission to college and government jobs.

·      Cherchera festival is celebrated in the month of Paush on the full moon night.

·      According to the mythological belief, on this day Lord Shankar begged Mata Annapurna.

Appointments News

5. RS Sodhi steps down as Amul MD, Jayen Mehta takes interim charge

·      Amul Federation’s managing director RS Sodhi, who has been leading the dairy giant since 2010, stepped down on January 9 as the board decided to end his tenure with “immediate effect”. He has been replaced for an interim period by Jayan Mehta, Amul’s incumbent chief operating officer.

·      The decision to replace Sodhi was taken at the board meeting of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the farmers’ cooperative that operates the Amul brand. Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL) is an Indian dairy state government cooperative society, based in Anand, Gujarat. Formed in 1946, it is a cooperative brand managed by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.

·      (GCMMF), which today is controlled jointly by 36 lakh milk producers in Gujarat and the apex body of 13 district milk unions, spread across 13,500+ villages of Gujarat. Amul spurred India’s White Revolution, which made the country the world’s largest producer of milk and milk products.

Banking News

6. Some Lenders still Continuing with Libor Contracts, says RBI

·      With the end near for the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told banks and other financial institutions to stop using the benchmark as soon as possible and mandatorily by December 31 and move to any Alternative Reference Rates (ARR).

·      Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) and Sterling Overnight Interbank Average Rate (SONIA) are the two popular alternatives, but are nowhere near as popular internationally as Libor, which is being phased out by this year’s end.

·      Libor had to be scrapped after a rate fixing scandal was unearthed a few years back. In August 2020, the RBI had advised banks to move away from Libor.

·      Almost all banks that deal in foreign exchange by now are ready with the transition to ARR, but they have not yet decided which one will be the most reliable ARR.

·      Bankers say it is unlikely that Indian banks will take a lead on this issue. Instead, they will follow the international practices that evolve.

·      Certain US dollar Libor settings will continue to be published till June 30, 2023, the extension of the timeline for cessation is primarily aimed at ensuring roll-off of USD Libor-linked legacy contracts, and not to encourage continued reliance on Libor.

·      Any Libor contract after December should be done only for hedging against other remaining Libor-linked contracts.

Defence News

7. DRDO Develops Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Operations in Himalayan Frontier

·      The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has developed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to carry out logistic operations in the Himalayan frontier. The DRDO-developed UAV is capable of flying in the Himalayan Environment with 5kg of payload and even dropping bombs in the areas required.

·      The UAV was displayed at the 108th Indian Science Congress by DRDO.

·      The organization has carried out successful trials of the multi-copter conducted at Sikkim at an altitude of 14,000 feet.

·      The UAV will be ready for induction into the Armed forces after two remaining trials.

·      The UAV developed by DRDO has been developed with a payload capacity of 5 kg to 25 kg and it is working on increasing the capacity up to 30 kg.

·      The Multi-copter can carry out the autonomous mission with waypoint navigation within up to a 5 km radius.

·      It can also travel to a designated location in auto mode and release payload and return to the home location.

·      It can be used to drop a bomb at an enemy site without any risk of human loss.

Awards News

8. Kerala University won ‘Overall Championship’ at youth festival

·      University of Kerala bagged the ‘Overall Championship’ at Padma Tarang, the 36th Inter University South Zone Youth Festival at Sri Padmavati Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (SPMVV) in Tirupati. Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, came the runners-up. With more than 700 registered participants from universities across South India converging on the campus.

·      The SPMVV is hosting the event for the third time in collaboration with the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). In all, there will be 27 competitive events during the five-day festival. Of the eighteen universities that deputed student contingents to the event, Kerala ranked first with seven varsities.

Sports News

9. Indian Tennis star Sania Mirza announced her retirement

·      Indian Tennis Player Sania Mirza (36-year-old), the former doubles World No. 1 , has confirmed her retirement from professional Tennis. She announced that the Dubai Tennis Championships, a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 event in Dubai in February 2023 will be her last match.

·      Prior to her last appearance, she is going to play in women’s doubles at the Australian Open in 16 to 29 January 2023 alongside Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina.

10. South Africa cricketer Dwaine Pretorius Announces International Retirement

·      Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed that Proteas all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius has retired from international cricket with immediate effect. Since making his international debut in 2016, the 33-year-old has represented South Africa across all three formats in 30 T20 Internationals (T20I), 27 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and three Tests.

·      He has also featured in two World Cups. Pretorius showed his prowess both with the bat and ball in the international arena, aggregating 1895 runs and scalping 77 wickets across formats.

·      Announcing his retirement, the 33-year-old expressed his desire to play more franchise cricket around the world ‘to have a better balance in my career and family life.’ The all-rounder will be seen in the IPL this year as he is part of the Chennai SuperKings squad.

11. Gareth Bale announces retirement from professional football

·      Gareth Bale has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 33. It brings an end to a career that saw Bale excel for Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid and LAFC, while also establishing himself as one of the greatest players in Welsh football history.

·      Bale, who made his Wales debut in May 2006 in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago, broke the previous Wales record of 28 goals set by Ian Rush. He has won Wales’ player of the year award six times.

·      Bale played a Wales record of 111 games for his country and was a five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid. He helped the Welsh reach the 2016 and 2020 Euros before leading them in their first World Cup since 1958 at Qatar 2022.

12. Novak Djokovic saves championship point to beat Korda to Adelaide title

·      Novak Djokovic has defeated America’s Sebastian Korda in a nerve-wracking final to win the Adelaide International men’s singles title.

·      Djokovic also equalled Rafael Nadal’s tally of 92 ATP singles titles in the Open Era. Nadal and Djokovic are joint-fourth in the list after Jimmy Connors (109), Roger Federer (103) and Ivan Lendl (94).

13. Under SPRINT Scheme Indian Navy to Get Autonomous Weaponised Boat Swarms

·     iDEX has signed its 50th SPRINT contract with Sagar Defence for Autonomous Weaponised Boat Swarms for the Indian Navy. Autonomous Weaponised Boat is one of the technologies introduced out of the 75 challenges by the Indian Navy under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in 2022.

·      Sagar Defence has developed the country’s first Autonomous Weaponised unmanned boat with the capability for swarming. The contract was signed under an Indian Navy project of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 7) SPRINT initiative.

·      DRDO has tested 3 remote unmanned weaponized boats in Pune ahead of Defence Expo.

·      The Autonomous Weaponised Boats were developed in collaboration with Sagar Defence Engineering, a private start-up.

·      The vessel is capable of relying on the video feed to the ground control station and can be very useful for surveillance and patrolling.

Summits and Conferences News

14. India to Host Virtual Summit of 120 Countries of Global South

·      India will host ‘The Voice of Global South’ Summit on January 12-13, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said. As many as 120 countries will participate in the summit.

·      The virtual summit is significant as India currently holds the presidency of the G20 group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier indicated that priorities would be shaped in consultation with developing countries.

·      The ‘Voice of Global South Summit’ under the theme ‘Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose’ envisages bringing together countries of the Global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform.

Books and Authors News

15. A book titled “Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking” by Tamal Bandyopadhyay

·      Journalist Tamal Bandyopadhyay has released his latest book “Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking” with permission from Jaico Publishing House. Roller Coaster is a string of such stories and revelations from the country’s foremost banking journalist’s affair with the industry—even though banks were not ideal partners for such liaisons.

·      The book brings to light the lives of India’s commercial and central bankers. But it does not discuss their successes, failures, or the ever-evolving dynamics of monetary and fiscal policies. It’s about their persona, warts and all—how they are as leaders, how they evolved, and how they changed the culture and ethos of the Indian banking sector.

16. Cricket legend M S Dhoni Releases Autobiography of Prof. K.K. Abdul Gaffar

·      Techno-educationalist, Professor K.K. Abdul Gaffar’s autobiography, ‘Njaan Sakshi’ (me as the witness), was released by cricket legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The book was introduced by senior journalist T.A. Shafi.

·      The first copy was received by Marwan Al Mulla, the CEO of Dubai Health Authority (DHA), from M S Dhoni. He also presented copies of the book to dignitaries including actor Tovino Thomas present at the occasion.

17. Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi released book titled ‘Chief Minister’s Diary No.1’

·     Former Chief Justice of India and member of the Rajya Sabha Ranjan Gogoi has released a book titled ‘Chief Minister’s Diary No.1’ containing the account of events of the first year in office of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

·      The book featured accounts of daily activities he undertook as a chief minister. Assam Chief Minister said that without bringing his personal life into the limelight, the book featured accounts of daily activities he undertook as a Chief Minister. His diary essentially featured the growth initiatives that Assam witnessed over the last 11 months.

Important Days

18. World Hindi Day 2023 observed on 10th January

·      World Hindi Day or Vishwa Hindi Diwas is celebrated on 10th January every year to promote awareness about the language across the world.  It is also the day when Hindi, India’s national language, was spoken for the first time in the United Nations General Assembly.

·      It was on this day in 1975 that the first World Hindi Conference was held in Nagpur. Since then, such conferences are organised in different parts of the world every year.

·      The theme this year is “Hindi – Traditional Knowledge to Artificial Intelligence”. This year, the 12th World Hindi Conference will be organised in Fiji by the Foreign Ministry in collaboration with the Fiji government from February 15 to 17. The location for the 2023 event was decided during the 11th World Hindi Conference held in Mauritius last year.

19. DPIIT to Organize Startup India Innovation Week from 10th to 16th January 2023

·      The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry is organising Startup India Innovation Week from 10th January 2023 to 16th January 2023 to celebrate the Indian Startup Ecosystem as well as National Startup Day (16th January 2023).

·      Startup India Innovation Week 2023 aims to engage startup ecosystem stakeholders across the nation during 10th January-16th January 2023 and spur the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation in India.

Obituaries News

20. Padma Awardee Dr Tehemton E Udwadia “Father of laparoscopic surgery” passes away

·      Padma Awardee Dr Tehemton Erach Udwadia, an Indian Surgeon and Gastroenterologist, who was known as the ‘father of laparoscopic surgery in India’ passed away, at the age of 88. He was born on 15th July 1934 in the Bombay Presidency, British India (now Mumbai, Maharashtra, India).

·      In 2004, he has conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Association of Gastrointestinal Endo-Surgeons.

·      He was honoured with the Padma Shri, India’s 4th highest civilian award, in 2006 and Padma Bhushan, India’s 3rd-highest civilian award, in 2017, for Medicine.