Current Affairs

18th January 2023

Top 19 Daily Current Affairs: National & International News:

Here is the Current Affairs 18th January 2023 covering the following news headlines: Archeological Survey of India, AD Damodaran, Federal Bank Literary Award, Padho Pardesh Scheme, Doppler Weather Radar Network, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

National News

1. NCERT Launched India’s First National Assessment Regulator “PARAKH”

·      The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has released India’s first national assessment regulator, PARAKH, which will work on setting norms, standards, and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognized school boards in the country.

·      The PARAKH regulator aims to set up assessment guidelines for all boards to help remove disparities in the scores of students enrolled with different state boards. PARAKH stands for The Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development. It is established within the education survey division of the NCERT.

·      PARAKH has been launched as a part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

·      It has envisaged a standard-setting body to advise school boards regarding the new assessment patterns and the latest research and promote collaboration between them.

·      PARAKH will work in three major assessment areas including large-scale assessments, school-based assessments, and examination reforms.

International News

2. IMF Bailout, India to back Sri Lanka’s Debt Restructuring Plan

·      India will support Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring plan as the island nation looks to trim its huge public expenditure to win approval for a crucial bailout from the International Monetary Fund. India formally notified that it would support Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring plan.

·      Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948, and policymakers have been grappling with multiple challenges over the past year including a shortage of dollars, runaway inflation and a steep recession.

·      Sri Lanka owes India around $1 billion that will come under the debt restructuring plan. New Delhi also separately provided Sri Lanka with about $4 billion in rapid assistance between January and July last year, including credit lines, a currency swap arrangement and deferred import payments.

·      The IMF has stressed the importance of joint talks involving three of Sri Lanka’s main bilateral creditors – China, Japan and India.

3. India announced the donation 12,500 doses of pentavalent vaccines to Cuba

·      India has announced donation of 12,500 doses of pentavalent vaccines to Cuba. Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi announced this during her official visit to Cuba. This was her first visit to Cuba.

·      During her visit, Meenakashi Lekhi held a meeting with Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel and discussed matters of bilateral importance and political and economic cooperation, according to the statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

·      Pentavalent vaccine provides protection to a child from 5 life-threatening diseases – Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

·      Cuba Capital: Havana;

·      Cuba Currency: Cuban Peso;

·      Cuba President: Miguel Díaz-Canel;

·      Cuba Continent: North America.

States News

4. Kollam becomes first constitution literate district in India

·      The Indian district of Kollam has become the country’s first constitution literate district. The announcement was made by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

·      The district’s success is the result of a seven-month campaign launched by the Kollam district panchayat, District Planning Committee, and the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) to educate citizens about the country’s laws and their rights.

·      The campaign aimed to provide constitutional literacy to 23 lakh citizens belonging to 7 lakh families in the district. To achieve this goal, awareness classes were organized for around 90% of the people in Kollam.

·      Around 16.3 lakh people above the age of 10 were educated by 2,200 trainers called “senators,” who visited schools, offices, auto stands, and tribal councils to create awareness.

·      The Constitution literacy campaign in Kollam district is expected to help in a number of ways. By providing education about the country’s laws and citizens’ rights, the campaign aims to create a more informed and aware citizenry.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

·      Kerala Capital: Thiruvananthapuram;

·      Kerala Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan;

·      Kerala Chief minister: Pinarayi Vijayan.

Agreements News

5. Gogoro, Belrise to Bet $2.5 bn on Battery-swapping Infra in Maharashtra

·      Taiwan-headquartered electric vehicle and infrastructure company Gogoro is advancing its plans to deploy battery swapping network in India. The company along with Belrise Industries (formerly known as Badve Engineering) has inked a strategic energy partnership with the Maharashtra government to establish a battery swapping infrastructure. This follows up to Gogoro’s earlier announced partnership with Hero MotoCorp and Zypp Electric among others.

·      As per the understanding, Gogoro and Belrise Industries are planning a 50-50 JV to invest around $2.5 billion (Rs 20,617 crore) over a course of eight years to build energy infrastructure across the state.

Appointments News

6. Retired DG of BSF Pankaj Kumar Singh appointed Deputy NSA

·      Retired director general of the Border Security Force (BSF), Pankaj Kumar Singh was appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser in National Security Council Secretariat for a period of two years. Singh, a 1988-batch IPS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed on a re-employment contract.

·      Singh had retired as the BSF chief on December 31, 2022. When Singh took charge of the BSF on August 31, 2021, he had created history of a son and a father holding the top post of a paramilitary force during their services. His father and retired IPS officer of the 1959-batch, Prakash Singh, had also headed the BSF from June, 1993 to January, 1994. Singh holds LLB and MPhil degrees, besides MBA from the IIM, Ahmedabad.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

·      5th and current National Security Advisor (NSA): Ajit Kumar Doval.

Economy News

7. India’s Fiscal Deficit for FY23 Estimated at Rs 17.5 lakh crore, FY24 Rs 17.95 lakh crore: SBI

·      The upcoming Indian budget for 2023-24 will be a challenging one for the government to follow the roadmap for fiscal consolidation amidst a global environment of declining inflation, said a top economist of State Bank of India in a report.

·      For India, this could make things difficult to set a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) number significantly higher than 10 per cent, with a deflator about 3.5 per cent. But this could also mean a higher GDP growth than anticipated at about 6.2 per cent.

·      The fiscal deficit of the Indian government for FY23 will be about Rs.17.5 lakh crore. For FY23, total receipts of the Government would be higher than the budget estimates (BE) by around Rs 2.3 lakh crore, on account of higher direct tax receipts (about Rs 2.2 lakh crore), higher GST receipts (Rs 95,000 crore) but lower dividends (about Rs 40,000 crore), lower fuel tax net of cess (Rs 30,000 crore) and lower disinvestment receipts (about Rs 15000-20,000 crore).

Banking News

8. Paytm Bank Gets RBI nod to Operate as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit

·      Paytm Payments Bank said it has received final approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU).

·      Under Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), a BBPOU is allowed to facilitate bill payment services of electricity, phone, DTH, water, gas insurance, loan repayments, FASTag recharge, education fees, credit card bill and municipal taxes.

·      PPBL has got the final approval from RBI to operate as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. As an entity under Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), PPBL has got the final authorization to conduct bill payment and aggregation business as a BBPOU.

Business News

9. Adani Enterprises to Deploy Hydrogen-Powered Trucks for Mining

·      Adani Enterprises has an agreement with Ashok Leyland, India, and Ballard Power, Canada to launch a pilot project to develop a hydrogen fuel cell electric truck (FCET) for mining logistics and transportation. The collaboration between Adani Enterprises and Ashok Leyland, India, and Ballard Power, Canada marks Asia’s first planned hydrogen-powered mining truck.

·      The demonstration project will be led by AEL, which is a company focused on both mining operations and developing green hydrogen projects for sourcing, transporting, and building out hydrogen refueling infrastructure.

·      The hydrogen-powered mining truck will weigh 55 tons, have three hydrogen tanks, a 200-km working range, and be powered by Ballard’s 120 kW PEM fuel cell technology.

·      The Adani Group has announced its plan to invest more than $50 billion over the next ten years in green hydrogen and associated ecosystems corresponding to a capacity of up to 3 million tons of green hydrogen annually.

·      The pioneering and ambitious green hydrogen project holds a strong promise for India’s future energy self-reliance and is consistent with the vision of Gautam Adani.

Science and Technology News

10. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Discovers New Exoplanet Named LHS 475b

·      The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the James Webb Space Telescope has discovered its first new exoplanet. Researchers have labelled the planet as LHS 475 b, and it’s roughly the same size as Earth.

·      Located just 41 light-years away, the planet orbits very close to a red dwarf star and completes a full orbit in just two days. Researchers hope that in the coming years, owing to the Webb telescope’s advanced capabilities, they will be able to detect more Earth-sized planets. So far, most of the discovered exoplanets are similar to Jupiter as Earth-sized planets are much smaller in size and harder to discover with older telescopes.

·      LHS 475b, It is roughly the same size as Earth, with a diameter of 99% that of Earth. It is a celestial, 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 secondly it is hundreds of degrees hotter than Earth.

11. Entire Country to be Covered by Doppler Weather Radar Network by 2025

·      The entire country will be covered by Doppler Weather Radar Network by 2025 to help predict extreme weather events more accurately, union minister Jitendra Singh said, speaking at the foundation day of India Meteorological Department.

·      Four new radars were added recently taking the number from 33 to 37. They include two at Murari Devi and Jot in Himachal Pradesh, and one each at Banihal Top in Jammu and Kashmir and Surkandaji in Uttarakhand covering a radius of 100 km.

·      Doppler Effect refers to the change in wave frequency during the relative motion between a wave source and its observer. 

·      It was discovered by Christian Johann Doppler who described it as the process of increase or decrease of starlight that depends on the relative movement of the star.

Schemes News

12. Padho Pardesh scheme discontinued by Ministry of Minority Affairs

·      The Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) has discontinued the scheme of interest subsidy on education loans for overseas studies for students belonging to minority communities (Padho Pardesh).

·      All banks were notified by the Indian Banks’ Association last month about the discontinuation of the Padho Pardesh Interest Subsidy Scheme from 2022-23. The scheme so far was being implemented through Canara Bank, the designated nodal bank.

·      The existing beneficiaries as on March 31, 2022, will continue to receive the interest subsidy during the moratorium period of the loan, subject to compliance with the extant guidelines, according to the Association’s communication to Banks.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

·      Canara Bank Headquarters: Bengaluru;

·      Canara Bank Founder: Ammembal Subba Rao Pai;

·      Canara Bank MD and CEO: L V Prabhakar;

·      Canara Bank Founded: 1 July 1906.

Awards News

13. Writer K Venu received Federal Bank Literary Award 2023

·      Noted writer K Venu was conferred with Federal Bank Literary Award 2022 for his autobiography ‘Oranweshananthinte Katha.’ Venu received the award from Balagopal Chandrasekhar, Chairman and Independent Director of Federal Bank, at a special event held as part of the Kerala Literature Festival.

·      ‘Oranweshananthinte Katha’ was chosen by the judging panel comprising writer and literary critic KC Narayanan, Sunil P Ilayidom and PK Rajashekharan.  Judging panel member P K Rajashekaran commented that the essence of the book brought back the memory of the most intense political timeline in the modern history of Kerala.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

·      Federal Bank Headquarters: Aluva;

·      Federal Bank CEO: Shyam Srinivasan (23 Sept 2010–);

·      Federal Bank Founder: K.P Hormis;

·      Federal Bank Founded: 23 April 1931, Nedumpuram.

14. ‘Naanera’ bagged ‘Golden Kailasha’ Award in Ajanta-Ellora Film Festival

·      Rajasthani film, Naanera, directed by Deepankar Prakash bagged the ‘Golden Kailasha’ award for the best movie at the Ajanta-Ellora Film Festival. Naanera (Grandfather’s House) revolves around Manish (Main Character). After the death of his father, Manish’s uncle starts taking his life’s decisions.

·      The character’s journey leads him to a questionable point when he begins a secret love affair with a cousin and the family finds itself in the middle of another death. Naanera has also bagged awards for best director, best screenplay, and best editor. 

·      The Best Picture award was announced by FIPRESSCI India Jury N Vidyashakar. The award included a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.

·      The Ajanta-Ellora Film Festival is currently in its eighth edition, and it took place in Aurangabad from 11th January to 15th January 2022.

Sports News

15. Indian Opener Shubhman Gill hits double century off 149 balls

·      India Vs New Zealand: Indian batter Shubman Gill has smashed three sixes on the trot to reach his double hundred (208 off 149 with 4s-19 and 6s-9) and become only the eighth and the youngest player (23 years) in ODI history.

·      Gill also broke the record for the highest score at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium set by Sachin Tendulkar (175) against Australia in 2009.

·      He also became the fastest Indian to complete 1000 runs in ODIs as he reached the mark in 19 innings, surpassing the likes of Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan.

·      Books and Authors News

16. A Book Come! Let’s Run Authored by Tamil Nadu Health Minister Released

·      The English version of the book titled ‘Come! Let’s Run’ by Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ma. Subramanian was released by Krishnamachari Srikkanth, former Captain of the Indian Cricket team.

·      The Tamil version of the same book titled ‘Odalam Vanga’ was released on March 8, 2021. The book was published by Emerald Publishers and the English translation was done by Geeta Padmanaban (a teacher) along with J. Joicy and Sharon.

·      This book is a fascinating account of the physical, emotional, and historical journey taken by Thiru. Subramanian during the course of running his marathons in Tamil Nadu, in India, and all over the world.

Obituaries News

17. Leading Scientist A.D. Damodaran passes away

·      AD Damodaran, leading scientist and former director of the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), passed away in Thiruvananthapuram at the age of 87. He also served as the Chairman of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.

·      A renowned material scientist, he had a stint with the Nuclear Fuels Complex, Hyderabad, and was visiting scientist at both the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, and the Indian Institute of Metals. Damodaran joined CSIR-NIIST as director in May 1985 and served in that capacity for 12 years.

Miscellaneous News

18. ASI Patna Circle Discovered Two 1200-Year-Old Miniature Stupas at Nalanda

·      The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) of the Patna circle has unearthed 1200 years old two miniature votive stupas near the Sarai Tila mound on the “Nalanda Mahavihara” grounds in the Nalanda district. The stupas found in Nalanda are carved from stones and depict Buddha figures.

·      The Superintendent Archeologist, ASI Patna circle, Goutami Bhattacharya informed that at the beginning of the 7th century CE, small miniature terracotta stupas became popular as votive offerings. Devout pilgrims visiting various holy sites and temples throughout Asia would either purchase small votive offerings or make their own.

19. Government Declared Jammu and Kashmir as ‘Free Area’ for PCICDA 2009

·      Jammu and Kashmir’s governments have declared the union territory as a “Free Area” for purposes of the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act 2009. According to the notification issued by the government, the declaration has been made in the exercise of the power conferred by sub-section (5) of section 6 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals (PCICDA) Act 2009.

·      The Notification has been issued after the Government on being satisfied that no cases of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) have been reported from any district of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

·      The Lumpy Skin Disease Outbreak in India resulted in massive deaths of cattle in India with the number going above 90,000. The Lumpy Skin Disease Outbreak in India started in Gujarat and Rajasthan and in three months cattle in 15 states across India were affected.