Current Affairs

25th January 2023

Top 17 Daily Current Affairs: National & International News:

Here is the Current Affairs 25th January 2023 covering the following news headlines: TROPEX 2023, Dr. Prabha Atre, Naatu Naatu, NASA, International Cricket Council, Banwari Lal Purohit, Balkrishna Doshi.

National News

1. After Co-Win, Govt Launches U-WIN To Digitise Universal Immunisation Programme

·      After the success of the Co-WIN platform, the government has now replicated it to set up an electronic registry for routine vaccinations. Named U-WIN, the programme to digitise India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) has been launched in a pilot mode in two districts of each state and Union Territory.

·      The platform will be used to register and vaccinate every pregnant woman, record her delivery outcome, register every newborn delivery, administer birth doses and all vaccination events thereafter.

·      The U-WIN is going to be the single source of information for immunisation services, updating vaccination status, delivery outcome, planning of RI sessions and reports like antigen-wise coverage, etc.

2. Low Carbon Cruise Flagged off by Union Petroleum Minister on Mahabahu Brahmaputra

·      India Energy Week 2023 is going to be hosted in Bengaluru from 6th to 8th February 2023. The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India Hardeep S. Puri inaugurated the demo run of an Inland Water Vessel powered by Methanol blended Diesel (MD15).

·      The Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Labour, and Employment, Government of India Rameswar Teki was also present during the inaugural ceremony.

·      The boat ride was done on a 50-seater motor launch marine vessel named ‘SB Gangadhar’.

·      The marine vessel is equipped with two Ruston make diesel engines (each engine of 105 hp). The boat will be run on MD-15 (15% methanol blended HSD).

·      Low Carbon Cruise Flagged off by Union Petroleum Minister on Mahabahu Brahmaputra.

States News

3. Himachal Pradesh Celebrated its 53rd Statehood Day, CM Greeted People of the State

·      Himachal Pradesh celebrates its 53rd Statehood Day with joy and enthusiasm across the state on 25th January 2023. In 1971, on this day, Himachal Pradesh became the 18th state of India.

·      The state-level function of Full Statehood Day was held at Hamirpur district, where Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu hoisted the national flag and took a salute from the march past presented by various contingents.

·      Himachal Pradesh is located in the northern part of India and is situated in the western Himalayas. It is one of the three mountain states in India featuring extreme landscapes, several peaks, and river systems. It shares its borders with Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

Appointments News

4. Tata Trusts names Siddharth Sharma CEO

·      The philanthropic arm of the Tata group and largest shareholder in the group holding company, Tata Trusts named Siddharth Sharma, as its CEO and Aparna Uppaluri, as chief operating officer.

·      The appointments of the new CEO and COO will come into “effect from April 1, 2023”.  Sharma, a former civil servant, will succeed N Srinath, who stepped down as the CEO of Tata Trusts last year following his retirement.

·      Uppaluri will be switching from Ford Foundation to Tata Trusts. The 48-year-old is currently serving as programme director for India, Nepal and Sri Lanka at the Ford Foundation. The COO post has been created by Tata Trusts to accommodate her.

Agreements News

5. AU Bank Launches Credit Card Offering Platform SwipeUp

·      AU Small Finance Bank, India’s largest Small Finance Bank, announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind platform in the credit card industry – the SwipeUp platform. With this platform, AU Bank will provide an opportunity to other bank Credit Cardholders to upgrade their card to one of AU Credit Cards.

·      The Bank has provided a platform to compare existing Credit Cards of customers within 2-3 seconds. Thereafter, within minutes they can upgrade credit limit, cashback, reward points with a quick end-to-end digital process so that the Card can match their current lifestyle.

·      The Credit Cards issued in SwipeUp platform are different from current Credit Cards offered by AU Small Finance Bank. While the new range of cards offer high value proposition to customers, the card plastic is biodegradable which is another step towards a better environment.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

·      AU small finance bank Headquarters: Jaipur, Rajasthan;

·      AU small finance bank MD & CEO: Sanjay Agarwal;

·      AU small finance bank Chairman: Raj Vikash Verma.

6. OPPO India and Common Services Centres to Train 10000 Women as ‘Cyber Sanginis’

·      Oppo India and the Government’s Common Service Centre (CSC) Academy have announced training 10,000 women in cybersecurity and cyber wellness in the country.

·      The initiative of the partnership between Oppo India and CSC is to empower rural and semi-urban women through the ‘Cyber Sangini’ Programme, which is supported by the Ministry of Electronics and IT. It aims to equip the women with the skills and knowledge needed to become certified ‘Cyber Sanginis’.

·      The partnership of Oppo India and CSC will empower individuals to become Cyber Security Ambassadors who are continuously trained and supported.

·      After the completion of the 45-day course participants will receive a certificate from the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT).

Economy News

7. India’s Services Exports to Cross the Goal of 300bn $ in this Financial Year

·      The country’s services exports are doing “extremely well” and going by the current trend these outbound shipments would register about 20 per cent growth in this fiscal and cross the USD 300 billion target despite global economic uncertainties.

·      With all these stress, where every global leader is talking of “very” tough times, India’s exports rose 9 per cent year-on-year during April-December 2022-23.

·      The Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that it is working on a plan to reach a services export target of USD 1 trillion by 2030.

·      During April-December 2022-23, overall exports rose 9 per cent to USD 332.76 billion while imports increased 24.96 per cent to USD 551.7 billion. Trade deficit during the nine-month period widened to USD 218.94 billion as against USD 136.45 billion in April-December 2021-22. In last fiscal year, the country’s merchandise shipments touched an all-time high of USD 422 billion.

8. Union Budget 2023: Halwa ceremony to be held on January 26

·      Halwa Ceremony: On January 26, a traditional “Halwa” ritual will be held to commemorate the completion of the Budget planning process. The Halwa ceremony occurs five days before Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, delivers the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2023–2024 on February 1.

·      The preparation and serving of the traditional dessert, known as halwa, to representatives and employees of the finance ministry who worked on the Budget is a yearly rite known as the Halwa ceremony. The finance minister and other senior officials attend it every year, which is held at the Finance Ministry’s offices in the basement of the Secretariat building in New Delhi, the nation’s capital.

Defence News

9. Indian Navy’s “TROPEX 2023” maritime exercise held in the Indian Ocean

·      The 2023 edition of Indian Navy’s major maritime exercise Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX), is currently underway in the Indian Ocean Region.

·      This operational level exercise is conducted biennially and witnesses participation not only by all Indian Navy units but also of Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Coast Guard assets. The first exercise of maritime surveillance was held in January 2019. It is also called the biggest war game of the Indian Navy.

·      TROPEX 23 is being conducted over a duration of three months from Jan – Mar 23. As part of the exercise, all surface combatants of the Indian Navy including Destroyers, Frigates, Corvettes as well as submarines and aircraft are put through complex maritime operational deployments to validate and refine the Navy’s Concept of Operations including operational logistics and interoperability with other Services.

Awards News

10. Dr. Prabha Atre honoured with Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia Lifetime Achievement Award

·      Hindustani vocalist Padma Vibhushan, Dr. Prabha Atre was conferred with the the Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia Lifetime Achievement Award at the hands of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

·      The award was presented to her by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at Thane near Mumbai. The Chief Minister felicitated Dr Atre at a function at Ram Ganesh Gadkari Rangayatan. Shinde presented Dr Atre with a citation and Rs 1 lakh at the program, during which a symphony of 90 flutists was performed to mark her 90th birthday.

11. Song ‘Naatu Naatu’ and two documentaries from India nominated for this year’s Oscar

·      The Song ‘Naatu Naatu’ from India’s blockbuster film RRR and two documentaries from the country  ‘All That Breathes’ and ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ have made it to the final nominations list at the 95th edition of the Academy Awards.

·      However, India’s official entry Chhello Show (Last Film Show), Gujarati language coming-of-age drama did not score a nomination in the Best International Feature category at the 95th Academy Awards.

·      The Academy Awards ceremony will be held 13th of March at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles with American TV host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel as the host. Nominations in all 23 categories were announced in a global livestream by Hollywood actors Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams hosted the announcement from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater at Beverly Hills in California.

Ranks and Reports News

12. India Among Top 3 Nations in Expanding Organic Farming in 2020

·      India has emerged as one of the top three countries in the world where the area under organic agriculture expanded the maximum in 2020. The total increase under organic cultivation globally in 2020 was 3 million hectares (mh), out of which Argentina accounted for 7,81,000 hectares (up by 21 per cent), followed by Uruguay at 5,89,000 hectares (28 per cent) and India at 3,59,000 hectares.

·      Of the world’s total 74.9 mh under organic farming, Australia has the highest at 35.7 mh. Whereas India has 2.8 mh. In contrast, out of total 34 lakh organic producers in the world, 16 lakh farmers in India are into certified organic farming.

·      Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic.

·      The top three states, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, & Maharashtra — account for about half the area under organic cultivation.

Science and Technology News

13. NASA to Test Nuclear-Powered Rocket by 2027 that will Make Space Travel Faster

·      The United States space agency NASA has said the country plans to test a spacecraft engine powered with nuclear fission by 2027, an advancement seen as key to long-haul missions including a manned journey to Mars.

·      NASA will partner with the US military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop the nuclear thermal propulsion engine and launch it into space, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said.

·      The project has been named the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations or DRACO. 

·      With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever – a major capability to prepare for crewed missions to Mars. Using a nuclear thermal rocket allows for faster transit time, reducing risk for astronauts.

Sports News

14. International Cricket Council’s most followed international sports federation on social media

·      The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) 92.2 million followers across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube makes it the most followed international sports federation on social media, according to a study from BCW Sports.

·      The ICC’s dominance can be attributed to having a huge fanbase in markets that are highly active on social media. The ICC will hope this study supports its case to be included at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. It has reportedly recommended six-team Twenty20 events for men and women to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

·      The ICC increased its following by 16 per cent, putting it a massive 40.8 million followers ahead of second-placed Fifa (51.4 million).

Important News

15. 13th National Voters Day celebrates on 25th January 2023

·      Election Commission of India is celebrating 13th National Voters’ Day on 25th January 2023. This day is celebrated on 25 January to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India.

·      Voters’ day is dedicated to raising young people’s awareness of the importance of voting in their country. It is celebrated every year with a particular theme. It not only encourages the youth to participate in the electoral process but also focuses that the Right to vote as the basic right.

·      The theme for this year’s NVD, ‘Nothing Like Voting, I Vote for Sure’ is dedicated to voters which conveys individual’s feeling and aspiration towards participation in the electoral process through power of their vote.

·      Since 2011, National Voters’ Day has been celebrated on January 25 every year, all across the country to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India, i.e. 25th January 1950. The main purpose of the NVD celebration is to create electoral awareness amongst citizens and encourage them to participate in the electoral process.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

·      Election Commission of India Formed: 25 January 1950;

·      Election Commission of India Headquarters: New Delhi;

·      Election Commission of India First Chief Election Commissioner: Sukumar Sen;

·      Election Commission of India Current Chief Election Commissioner: Rajiv Kumar.

Obituaries News

16. Balkrishna Doshi, pioneer of modernist architecture in India, passes away

·      Dr Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, who is widely revered for his contribution in the field of architecture, has passed away. He was 95. For his outstanding contribution to the field of architecture, he was conferred with Pritzker Prize in 2018 and the coveted Padma Shri in 1976.

·      The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi will be the recipient of the 2022 Royal Gold Medal.

·      A Padma Bhushan awardee, Doshi was known for designing the buildings of the Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environment and Planning Technology (CEPT) and Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute. His style of architecture — an amalgam of European modernist, brutalist architecture with Indian sensibilities — won many hearts.

Miscellaneous News

17. Banwari Lal Purohit inaugurates North India’s largest floating Solar project in Chandigarh

·      Union Territory Administrator, Banwari Lal Purohit has inaugurated northern India’s largest floating solar power project of 2000kWp worth Rs 11.70 crore at waterworks, Sector 39, Chandigarh. The inauguration was held in the presence of MP Kirron Kher. He also inaugurated a 500kWp floating solar project with fountains at Dhanas Lake.