DAILYGK 8-10 JAN

 DAILYGK 8-10 JAN 

1.      IMD: 2022 FIFTH WARMEST YEAR FOR INDIA SINCE 1901

·           The India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s Statement on Climate of India during 2022 stated that the year 2022 was the fifth warmest for India since 1901.

·           The annual mean land surface air temperature was 0.51 degrees Celsius above the long-term average, which is the mean temperature for the 1981-2010 period.

 

2.      NEW MEMBERS JOIN UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL

·           The United Nations (UN) Security Council officially welcomed Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, and Switzerland, who now hold the two-year seats that they won without opposition in June, in charge of preserving international peace and security.

·           Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland are the 5 countries replacing India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway, whose terms ended on 31st December 2022.

·           Mozambique and Switzerland marked their 1st-ever terms on the UN’s most powerful body.

·           Malta joined for a 2nd time, Ecuador a 4th and Japan a record 12th.

·           China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) are permanent UN members.

 

3.      RBI TO ISSUE ITS MAIDEN GREEN BONDS FOR RS. 16,000 CRORE

·           The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that the maiden Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs) for an aggregate sum of Rs. 16,000 crore will be issued in two tranches of Rs. 8,000 crore each in January and February 2023, with the intention of mobilizing resources for green infrastructure.

·           The proceeds would be used to fund public-sector projects that will help India reduce its carbon emissions.

·           Green bonds are financial instruments used by the government to raise funds from potential investors for programmes/schemes that promote environmental sustainability and climate adaptation.

·           Issuance Method: SGrBs will be issued through Uniform Price Auction.

 

4.      ASIA’S 1ST SEMI-HIGH-SPEED HYDROGEN TRAIN

·           China’s CRRC Corporation Limited has unveiled Asia’s 1st hydrogen-powered trains for the Urban Railways, which have a top speed of 160 kmph (kilometre per hour) and a range of 600 km on a single tank.

·           In September 2022, the Alstom Coradia iLint of Germany unveiled the world’s 1st hydrogen train.

 

5.      SANIA MIRZA ANNOUNCED 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.

·           She won her first grand slam in 2009 by winning Austraian Open Mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi.

·           The pair also won the French Open 2012. She won her 3rd mixed doubles title at the US Open in 2014 with Brazil’s Bruno Soares.

·           Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis of Switzerland won 3 women’s doubles – Wimbledon 2015, the US Open 2015 and the Australian Open 2016

·           She was ranked India’s No 1 in Singles from 2003 till her retirement from Singles in 2013.

 

6.      ASSAM CM’S BOOK “MUKHYAMANTRI DIARY 1”

·           Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) and former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi launched the book “Mukhyamantrir Diary 1” authored by Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister (CM) of Assam.

·           The book chronicles the daily activities of the Himanta Biswa Sarma, during the 1st year of his tenure as CM.

 

7.      KERALA BECOMES INDIA’S 1ST STATE WITH FULL DIGITAL BANKING SERVICE

·           Kerala has become the first state in India to go fully digital in its banking service.

·           Kerala also received three ‘Digital India’ awards for the advancement in the digital sector viz. silver medal for Ksheerashree portal, platinum award for Digital Workforce Management System, and gold medal for District Administration of Kottayam.

·           It should be noted that Kerala is the only State in India that has declared ‘the right to Internet’ as a basic right of its citizens.

 

8.      INDIA SURPASSES JAPAN TO BECOME THE WORLD’S 3RD LARGEST AUTO MARKET

·           After China and US, India becomes world's 3rd largest auto market

·           According to the Nikkei Asia report, India surpassed Japan as the world’s third-largest auto market in 2022.

·           According to preliminary results, India’s new vehicle sales were at 4.25 million units, surpassing Japan’s 4.2 million units.

·           China remained the global leader in automobile sales in 2021, with 26.27 million units, followed by the United States (US) in second place with 15.4 million vehicles

 

9.      CHETAN SHARMA - CHAIRMAN  MEN’S SELECTION COMMITTEE OF BCCI

·           Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has retained Chetan Sharma as the Chairman of the 5 members Senior Men’s Selection Committee of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

·           CAC has named Shiv Sundar Das(Central Zone), Subroto Banerjee(East Zone), Salil Ankola(West Zone) and Sridharan Sharath (South Zone) as the other members of the selection committee.

 

10.    5TH KHELO INDIA YOUTH GAMES 2022

·           KIYG 2022 will be hosted by MP from January 30 to February 11, 2023, in MP’s Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Khargone (Maheshwar).

·           Mascots: Asha (Female Cheetah) and Mowgli

·           Torch: Amarkantak.It is named after the place where the Narmada River, considered the state’s lifeline, originates

·           This is the first smart torch in any game in the country. The torch is adorned with carvings of the renowned Mahakaleshwar temple, running cheetah and a lotus on top.

·           Theme Song: MP Shor Macha Do, Hindustan Ka Dil Dhadka Do. Well-known artist Shaan has rendered it.

 

11.    NOVAK DJOKOVIC WINS 2023 ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL 1 TITLE

·           Serbian Tennis Player Novak Djokovic won the 2023 Adelaide International 1 by defeating Sebastian Korda of America

·           In the women’s final Aryna Sabalenka won the women’s singles by defeating Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.

 

12.    TENNIS: TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA 2023

·           Dutch (Netherlands) Tennis player Tallon Griekspoor (World No.95) won the men’s singles title at the Tata Open Maharashtra 2023 defeating  Benjamin Bonzi (World No. 60) of France at the finals held in Balewadi Stadium in Pune, Maharashtra.

·           It is currently India’s only tour-level tennis event and South Asia ATP Tour professional tennis event.

·           N Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan Finish Second in Men’s Doubles.

·           They lost the finals against the Belgian pair of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen

 

13.    PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIWAS – 9TH JANUARY 2023

·           Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD), also known as the “Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Day” is annually celebrated across India on 9th January

·           The day, 9th January, commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India in 1915.

·           The first ever Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was observed on 9th January 2003.

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DAILY GK 6,7 JAN

 DAILY GK 6,7 JAN 

1.     PRESIDENT ASSENTS CRPC (GUJARAT AMENDMENT) BILL, 2021

●      The President of India Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Code of Criminal Procedure (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2021 which empowers the administration to register criminal cases against those who are staging protests in violation of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

●      Enacted in 1973, Section 144 empowers the magistrate of any state or union territory in India to prohibit the assembly of four or more people so that law and order can be protected in an area.

●      The CrPC (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2021 amended Section 195 (1) (a) (ii) which prohibits the jurisdictional courts from taking cognizance of the offences except on the complaint in writing of the public servant concerned.

●      This means public servant issuing such orders is mandated to become complainant against the violators due to which officials hesitate to enforce the law.

●      As per the law, the Section 144 can be directed against a particular individual or persons residing in a particular place or area or to the general public.

●      The order passed under Section 144 can remain in force only for two months from initiation of the order. It can be extended but not more than 6 months and have to reviewed thereafter.

●      Violation of Section 144 is liable for a maximum of 3 years imprisonment.

 

2.     WORLD’S FIRST PALM-LEAF MANUSCRIPT MUSEUM IN KERALA

●      Kerala Chief Minister(CM) Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Palm leaf Manuscript Museum with modern audio-visual technology at the renovated Central Archives, Fort area in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

●      The Museum, promoted as “World’s First Palm-Leaf Manuscript Museum” was set up by the Archives Department in association with the Kerala Museum of History and Heritage at a cost of Rs 3 crore.

 

3.     GST REVENUES RS 1.49 LAKH CRORE IN DECEMBER 2022

●      India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues increased 15% year-on-year to Rs 1.49 lakh crore (USD 18.07 billion) in December 2022, suggesting robust economic activity during the holiday season.

●      The gross GST revenue collected during December 2022 is Rs 1,49,507 crore, of which CGST is Rs 26,711 crore, SGST is Rs 33,357 crore, IGST is Rs 78,434 crore (including Rs 40,263 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 11,005 crore (including Rs 850 crore collected on import of goods).

●      In December 2022, for the 10th consecutive month, the GST revenues exceeded Rs 1.40 lakh crore.

 

4.     ISRO, MICROSOFT JOIN HANDS TO EMPOWER SPACE-TECH STARTUPS IN INDIA

●      The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Microsoft India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support and promote the growth of space technology startups in India.

●      The MoU aims to empower Indian space tech startups with technology tools and platforms, go-to-market support, and mentoring to help them scale and become enterprise ready.

 

5.     ASSAM GOVT STATE CIVILIAN AWARD 2023

●      Assam Government decides to confer State’s highest civilian award, ‘Assam Baibhav,’ to Dr. Tapan Saikia

●      A total of 21 personalities were chosen for the Assam State Civilian Awards 2023.

●      Renowned doctor Dr TapanSaikia was honoured with the “Assam Baibhav” for his work in the healthcare (cancer treatment) and public service sectors, which included promoting early cancer detection in Assam and other northeastern regions.

●      The Assam State Civilian Award has 3 categories: Assam Baibhav Award, Assam Saurav Award and Assam Gaurav Award.

●      The 2023 awards includes, 1 Assam Baibhav; 5 Assam Saurav; and 15 Assam Gaurav.

 

6.     1ST WOMAN CRICKETER TO GET A BRONZE STATUE AT SCG

●      Belinda Clark, a former Australia captain, became the 1st female cricketer to get a Bronze statue unveiled at the Walk of Honour of the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney, Australia.

●      Belinda Clark is the 15th sportsperson and the 3rd woman to have a statue as part of the SCG sculpture project. The other two are sprinters Betty Cuthbert and Marlene Matthews.    

 

7.     HYDERABAD TO HOST INDIA’S 1ST FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

●      Hyderabad, Telangana is set to host the 2023 Hyderabad E-Prix, India’s 1st ever ABB FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) Formula E World Championship race, all-electric motorsports, on 11th February 2023.

●      Formula E is a showcase for the world’s most advanced e-mobility technologies that drive towards a more sustainable future.  The championship is the first Net Zero Sport since its inception.

●      The first 3 races will be held in Mexico City (1st) and Riyadh (2nd & 3rd).

 

8.     CYCLONE MANDOUS In ANDHRA PRADESH

●      Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, approved Rs 28.11 crore to provide immediate relief to over 28,000 flue-cured Virginia (FCV) Tobacco farmers affected by Cyclone Mandous in Andhra Pradesh (AP).

●      The name, ‘Mandous’, was suggested by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020 as a member of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

 

9.     NATIONAL GENOME EDITING & TRAINING CENTRE AT MOHALI, PUNJAB

●      DrJitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, inaugurated the “National Genome Editing & Training Centre” (NGETC) at the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), under the Department of Biotechnology,  Ministry of Science and Technology, in Mohali, Punjab.

●      DrJitendra Singh also launched a 4-day International Conference on Food and Nutritional Security 2023 (iFANS-2023), which takes place in Mohali.

●      The NGETC is one roof state-of-the-art facility that will serve as a national platform to meet regional demands for adapting various genome editing methods, including Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-Cas mediated genome modification.

●      Genome editing is a tool to cause site-specific gene changes or mutations to enable the development of critical crop features.

●      Bananas, rice, wheat, tomato, maize, and millet are just a few of the many crops that NABI has demonstrated its capacity to expand the use of its genome editing technologies.

 

10. INDIA’S BIGGEST HOCKEY STADIUM IN ROURKELA

●      Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister(CM) of Odisha, inaugurated the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, India’s biggest hockey stadium in Rourkela, Odisha.

●      The total capacity of the stadium is 21,000 and is the largest all-seater field hockey stadium in the world.

●      CM Naveen Patnaik also inaugurated the World Cup Village at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium Complex in Rourkela and announced a reward of Rs 1 crore for each player of the Indian hockey team if they win the World Cup Hockey.

●      CM also inaugurated the “Mo Bus” (my bus) services in Rourkela with 30 vehicles to ensure hassle-free movement during the hockey world cup.

●      The stadium is inaugurated ahead of the 15th Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH) Hockey World Cup – FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 which is scheduled to be held from 13th to 29th January 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, Odisha.

●      Rourkela is the 2nd venue for the international event after the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar,

 

11. INDIA GETS ITS 1ST IVF MOBILE UNIT FOR ANIMALS

●      India received its 1st In vitro fertilization (IVF) mobile unit for animals in Amreli, Gujarat. Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, inaugurated the mobile IVF lab.

●      The Government of India and Amar Dairy jointly dedicated the IVF mobile van.

●      Notably, IVF is a complex series of procedures used to support fertility and child conception.

●      It is an advanced reproductive technology used in animals to multiply superior female germplasm at a higher rate.

 

12. ILO REPORT ON WORKFORCE

●      According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) report “Working Time and Work-Life Balance Around the World”, more than half of the world’s workforce doesn’t typically work a nine-to-five schedule.

●      As per the report, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the average number of hours per week in paid work globally was around 43.9 hours (2019 or the latest available year).

●      The report examines the two main aspects of working time: working hours and working time arrangements (also called work schedules), as well as their effects on business performance and workers’ work-life balance.

●      The report examines implications on work-life balance, such as shift work, on-call work, compressed hours, and hours-averaging schemes.

●      More than one-third of all workers work more than 48 hours per week on a regular basis, whereas one-fifth of the global workforce works short (part-time) hours of less than 35 per week.

●      ILO is the only tripartite United Nations (UN) agency that brings together governments, employers, and workers from 187 member countries. India is a founder member of the ILO.

●      Director-General – Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland

 

13. RBI LAUNCHES MEDIUM-TERM STRATEGY FRAMEWORK “UTKARSH 2.0” FOR 2023-2025

●      The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shaktikanta Das, has launched the “Utkarsh 2.0” Medium-Term Strategy Framework for the period 2023-2025.

●      Utkarsh 2.0 would enable the RBI to respond to socioeconomic challenges in both a proactive and reactive manner.

●      The first strategy framework, “Utkarsh 2022”, covering the period 2019-2022, was launched in July 2019.

●      It evolved into a medium-term strategy document that guided the RBI’s work toward the achievement of the defined milestones.

●      Utkarsh’s core purpose is to promote monetary and financial stability

●      Utkarsh 2.0 will include the adoption of tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for data analysis and information generation.

 

14. TOP 10 PERFORMING GLOBAL AIRPORTS OF 2022

●      According to the On-Time Performance Review 2022 released by CIRIUM, the aviation analytics company, Kempegwoda International Airport, Bengaluru, Karnataka, and Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Delhi, were listed among the top 10 in the Top Performing Global Airports of 2022.

●      Kempegowda International Airport is ranked 2nd and Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport is ranked 7th on the list.

●      The list is topped by Haneda Airport in Japan.

●      Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai (Maharashtra) stood at the 11th spot.

●      Cirium’s Most On-Time Airlines:Delta Air Lines of the US was honoured with the Cirium Platinum Award for global operational excellence, for the 2nd consecutive year.

●      Azul Airlines was the global leader in on-time performance.

●      Star Flyer of Japan was the leading low-cost carrier.

 

15. VARANASI CANTT RAILWAY STATION BAGS ‘EAT RIGHT STATION’ CERTIFICATION

●      The Varanasi Cantt railway station has been awarded a 5- star ‘Eat Right Station’ certification by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)

●      The certification is part of the ‘Eat Right India’ movement- a large-scale effort by FSSAI to transform India’s food system to ensure safe, healthy and sustainable food for all Indians.

 

16. INDIA’S 79TH CHESS GRANDMASTER

●      M Pranesh (16-year-old) from Tamil Nadu (TN) became India’s 79th Grandmaster (GM) after winning the Rilton Cup 2022/2023 held in Stockholm, Sweden.

●      The Rilton Cup is the first tournament of the FIDE circuit.

●      Grandmaster (GM) is the highest title a chess player attain and it is awarded by the world chess organisation FIDE (FédérationInternationale des Échecs–  International Chess Federation).

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