1. India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Diesel supply to Bangladesh to start on trial basis from June this year
India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline- IBFPL will start supplying diesel to Bangladesh on a trial basis from June this year . Responding to a written question in Dhaka’s Jatiya Sansad, Minister of State for Power Nasrul Hamid said that about 131.5 kilometer long pipeline has been constructed to import diesel from India. 126.5 km of this pipeline is in Bangladesh and 5 km in India . This international pipeline will transport diesel from Siliguri Marketing Terminal of Numaligarh Refinery Limited to Parbatipur Depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation-BPC .Will reach The historic India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Ceremony was held in September-2018 between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina via video conference . The diesel supply capacity of this pipeline is one million metric tonnes per annum. This project is being constructed with a grant from the Government of India.
2. ‘Soul of Steel’ challenge launched in Uttarakhand
The ‘ Soul of Steel ‘ challenge has been launched in Uttarakhand on January 14, which aims to test a person’s endurance at high altitudes . The general area of this campaign will be Nanda Devi National Park . It is an initiative of CLAW Global and is supported by the Indian ArmySupport is provided by Soul of Steel’s concept is to combine skill sets and create challenges that will strengthen the human ability to survive, stabilize and thrive in high altitude environments. It is based on the ‘Ironman Triathlon’ system, modeled on the long-distance triathlon challenge in Europe, which tests a person’s grit and endurance. Apart from life skill training and development of youth, adventure tourism in Uttarakhand will get a boost globally.
3. CII released Business Confidence Index
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Business Confidence Index (for the October-December 2022 quarter) rose to its highest level in almost two years at 67.6 (from 62.2 in the previous quarter), placing India on the safe side amid rising global economic uncertainties. Indicates what is expected to happen. According to the OECD , a business confidence index provides information on future developments in an industry sector based on surveys of opinion on developments in finished goods production, orders and stocks. CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) is a non-governmental, non-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization. It was established in 1895 and its headquarter is in New Delhi.
4. Center to launch National Urban Technology Mission for municipal services and ULBs
The Center will launch a five-year National Urban Technology Mission for municipal services and urban local bodies . The mission will bring technological improvements in the municipal services and infrastructure of India’s 4,500 urban local bodies . The mission will be operated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs . The note prepared by the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) has fixed the outlay of this 5-year mission at ₹15,000 crore . The mission will identify six basic common citizen services that every urban local body will have to provide online. These would essentially include issuing birth and death certificates, providing water and electricity connections, calculation and collection of property tax, and grievance redressal.
5. Oxfam released Survival of the Richest report
According to a new study by Oxfam International , the richest 1% of people in India now own more than 40% of the country’s total wealth , while the bottom half own only 3% . The study titled “ Survival of the Richest ” was released on the first day of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum . Davos on the first day of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the context of IndiaReleasing its annual inequality report in 2015, Oxfam International said that a 5 per cent tax on India’s ten richest could provide enough money to put children back to school. It has been said in the report that only one billionaire Gautam Adani can be raised by taxing the profit of 1.79 lakh crore rupees between 2017 and 2021. Which is enough to provide employment to more than 50 lakh Indian primary school teachers for a year. The report further states that a one-time tax of 5 percent on the country’s 10 richest billionaires for the year 2022-23 ( 1.37 lakh crore) from the funds estimated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Rs 86,200 crore) and the Ministry of AYUSH (Rs 3,050 crore). 5 times more. Whereas Oxfam said that the total number of billionaires in India is expected to increase from 102 in 2020 to 166 in 2022. The report on gender inequality in terms of earnings states that for every Re 1 earned by a male worker, a female worker Only 63 paise is available. The gap is even greater for Scheduled Castes and rural workers. Oxfam has also said that the wealth of billionaires in India has increased in real terms by 121 per cent or Rs 3,608 crore per day till November 2022 since the corona pandemic began.
6. First meeting of G-20 Health Working Group to begin in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
The first meeting of the G-20 Health Working Group will be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala . Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharti Praveen Pawar and Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan will attend the meeting, besides representatives of G-20 member states, special invitees and relevant international organizations.
7. Archaeological Survey of India will start digging again in Old Fort of Delhi
Archaeological Survey of India-ASI will resume excavation at Purana Qila in Delhi . In the years 2013-14 and 2017-18This will be the third round of excavation in Purana Quila after the excavation done. The aim of the latest excavations is to unveil and preserve the trenches dug in previous years. In the last round of excavations, evidence of pre-Mauryan layers was found. The excavation this time will also focus on completing the discovery of the Gray Ware Ware. Identified as the ancient settlement of Indraprastha, Purana Quila has been continuously inhabited for two and a half thousand years, attested in earlier excavations. Artefacts found in earlier excavations include the Painted Slate Ware dating back to 900 BCE and pottery ranging from the Maurya to the Sunga, Kushan, Gupta, Rajput, Sultanate and Mughal periods. The objects found there were sickles, terracotta toys, burnt bricks, beads, terracotta figurines, The pieces are now displayed in the Archaeological Museum within the fort complex. The 16th century old fort was built by Sher Shah Suri and Humayun, the second Mughal emperor. But this fort is standing on a site covering thousands of years of history even before that.
8. Bharatiya Janata Party President Jagat Prakash Nadda’s term extended till June next year
The tenure of Bharatiya Janata Party President Jagat Prakash Nadda has been extended till June next year . The National Executive of the party unanimously decided to extend the tenure of Shri Nadda during its meeting held in New Delhi.
9. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on a visit to Kenya
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has said that innovation and research is the currency of today’s information age, therefore cooperation with like-minded nations facing similar challenges is important. Shri Birla held discussions with the President of Kenya , Dr. William Samoyi Ruto at the State House in Kenya . He also congratulated Dr. Ruto on being elected as the President. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is leading a delegation to Kenya and Tanzania from 16th to 21st of this month .
10. Indian Army organizes Cyber Threat Seminar cum Workshop Military Rankshetram 2.0
The Indian Army , under the Headquarters Army Training Command (RTRAC) , organized the second edition of Hackathon – “Sainiy Rankshetram 2.0 ” from October 2022 to January 2023 . It aims to address operational cyber challengesTo find solutions to cyber security, to quickly introduce innovative solutions in the field of cyber security and to reduce the time taken for its development. Army Chief General Manoj Pandey felicitated the award winners of the event during a virtual ceremony on 17 January 2023. The objective of the event is to provide a platform to identify indigenous talent in the field and to set standards of training in the areas of cyber countermeasures, security software coding, Electro Magnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML). had to increase
11. National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) team on 6 countries cycling expedition
A 4-member team from Dirang – based National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) is all set to start a 6-nation cycling expedition from Hanoi, Vietnam on January 18, 2023, to celebrate the ” Amrit Mahotsav of Independence “. The team will cover about 5300 kms via Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia in 50 days before ending their journey at Esplanade Park (INA War Memorial) in Singapore on March 8, 2023Will cover the distance. The expedition team is acclimatising in Hanoi after departure from New Delhi on 16 January 2023. Defense Minister Shri Rajnath Singh had approved the campaign in the Executive Council meeting of the Institute held under his chairmanship last year (18/4/2022). The campaign was flagged off from New Delhi by the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Defense on 16 January in the presence of the Nimas Secretary. The four-member team was headed by Col. R.S. Jamwal is doing. This is the first of its kind cycling expedition of the 6 South East Asian nation corridor. In Singapore, he will pay homage at the INA Memorial to all the warriors who laid down their lives for the country’s freedom from British colonial rule.
12. Harvard and Smithsonian create 3D magnetic map of cavity called Local Bubble
Recent new studies on the vast cosmic void around the Solar System have the potential to unlock the secrets of the universe and the origin of stars. Researchers at the Center for Astrophysics (CfA) at Harvard and the Smithsonian have created a 3D magnetic map of a cavity called the Local Bubble . The Local Bubble is a 1,000 light-year-wide cavity or superbubble. Other super bubbles also exist in the Milky Way. The Local Bubble is a large, low-density region in the interstellar medium (ISM) of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The interstellar medium is the substance that fills the space between the stars. It is a cavity thought to have been created by a series of supernova explosions that occurred about 30 to 50 million years ago.
13. State EIA Authority of Delhi asked to take steps to prevent and destroy invasive tree species
The State EIA Authority of Delhi has obtained 3 fast growing invasive tree species from the State Forest Department – Vilayati Keekar (Prosopis Juliflora), Subabul (River Tamarind) and EucalyptusIt has been asked to take steps to stop and destroy them as they are adversely affecting the local ecology. The most damaging is the Mexican invasive species introduced by the British in the 1930s. It is the only form of vegetation seen on the Delhi Ridge. Eucalyptus from Australia is not aggressive in nature but uses a lot of water as it is a fast growing tree. It also shows allopathic effects (releases compounds that inhibit the growth of other native species nearby). Subabul also came from Mexico and was introduced by the forest department for fuel and fodder. All three species are depleting the ground water level.
14. Celebrating the success of Womania on GeM
On January 14, 2023, a celebration was held in New Delhi to mark the success of Womania on Government e-Marketplace- GeM , a government website related to online shopping . Government e-Marketplace has taken several steps to develop and introduce new business processes and functionalities for the enhancement of ‘Womania’. The number of women entrepreneurs registered on this website is more than 1 lakh 44 thousand whoIt is called These women entrepreneurs are registered as vendors and service providers in the field of micro and small enterprises and have sold products worth more than Rs 21,000 crore so far. Womania was started in the year 2019. The “Womaniya” initiative aims to encourage participation of women entrepreneurs from the informal sector and self-help groups on the GeM portal and facilitate sale of their products with various public buyers, negating the role of middlemen. Also the “Womaniya” initiative seeks to address the triple challenges of “Access to Markets”, “Access to Finance” and “Access to Value-Addition” faced by women entrepreneurs.
15. Jallikattu 2023 celebrations begin in Madurai
Jallikattu 2023 has started from January 15 in Avaniyapuram village of Madurai , Tamil Nadu . It is to be organized in three villages of Madurai. Jallikattu was played on January 16 at Palamedu and on January 17 at Alanganallur. Earlier on January 7, the Madurai district administration had issued guidelines for ‘Jallikattu’ to be held this month. During the festival of Pongal, especially in Tamil Nadu, cattle are worshipped, with an event known as Jallikattu. In the sport of Jallikattu, a bull is released into the crowd. In this game, the players present there try to control the bull by holding its hump for as long as possible.
16. Wholesale inflation eases to 4.95 per cent in December
Inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) to come down to 4.95 per cent in December 2022 . The decline was mainly due to lower food prices and crude oil prices. WPI based inflation was 5.85 per cent in November 2022 and 14.27 per cent in December 2021. The commerce and industry ministry said in a statement that food articles inflation was negative 1.25 per cent and fuel and power inflation was 18.09 per cent in December 2022. Inflation in manufactured products stood at 3.37 per cent during the month under review. According to the statement, the decline in the rate of inflation in December 2022 was mainly due to the decline in the prices of food articles, mineral oils, crude oil and natural gas, food products, textiles and chemicals and chemical products.
17. SEBI allows AIFs to participate in credit default swap transactions
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) amended the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds-AIF) Regulations, 2012 to allow AIFs to undertake credit default swaps (CDS)To allow participants to participate in the market as security buyers and sellers. Regulations 16(1)(aa), 17(da), 18(ab) and 20(11) of the AIF Regulations enable AIFs to participate in CDS. This permit will facilitate deepening of the domestic corporate bond segment, and enable trading entities to hedge the risks associated with the bond market. CDS is a specific type of counter-party agreement that allows the transfer of third party credit risk from one party to another. In 2012, capital markets regulator SEBI permitted mutual funds to participate in credit default swap transactions, which allow business entities to hedge risks associated with the bond market.
18. ‘RRR’ wins Best Foreign Language Film Award
Filmmaker SS Rajamouli ‘s ‘ RRR ‘ has won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Song for ‘ Naatu Naatu ‘ at the Critics’ Choice Awards 2023 . Apart from Ram Charan and Jr NTR, ‘RRR’ also stars Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody and Olivia Morris. The film is centered around the friendship of two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, and their fight against the British Raj.
19. Environment Ministry included Neelakurinji in the list of protected plants
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) has included Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) in the list of protected plants under Schedule III of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 . According to the order, those who uproot or destroy this plant will be imprisoned for three years along with a fine of Rs 25,000.will be imposed. Cultivation and claiming of Neelakurinji is not allowed. The blooming of Neelakurinji is one of the main attractions for tourists, who visit the places where it blooms. However, this has also led to the destruction of the plant, which is a major threat to the fields of this flower. Neelakurinji is a tropical plant species and is native to the shola forests in the Western Ghats. It is also found in Shevaroy Hills in the Eastern Ghats, Annamalai Hills in Kerala and Sanduru Hills in Karnataka.
20. Virat Kohli is the fifth highest run scorer in ODI cricket
During the third match of the series being played against Sri Lanka , India’s legendary batsman Virat Kohli has made another big record of ODI cricket . Kohli has overtaken Mahela Jayawardene to become the fifth – highest run – scorer in ODIs . In the third ODI against Sri Lanka, Kohli scored an unbeaten 166 off 110 balls. Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for scoring the most runs in ODI cricket. He has scored 18426 runs in 463 matches. During this, Sachin has scored 49 centuries and 96 half-centuries. Kumar Sangakkara is at number two in this matter. He has scored 14234 runs. Ricky Ponting is in third place. Ponting has scored 13704 runs. Jayasuriya is in fourth place with 12430 runs.
21. thiruvalluvar day
The Union Home and Cooperation Minister greeted people on the occasion of Thiruvalluvar Day . In present times the day is usually celebrated on 15 or 16 January in Tamil Nadu and is a part of Pongal celebrations. Tiruvalluvar, also spelled Valluvar , was a Tamil saint-poet . There is a difference of opinion regarding their life span. As for their religious identity, they are believed to be associated with Jainism. However Hindus have also claimed that Thiruvalluvar belonged to Hindu religion. The Thirukkural has been compared to the great books of the world’s major religions.
22. National Startup Day: 16 January
National Startup Day is celebrated annually in India on 16 January to recognize and promote the country’s vibrant startup ecosystem . The day is marked by a week-long Startup India Innovation Week organized by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The event focuses on highlighting the contribution of startup businesses and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. The event provides a platform for startup business owners to connect with investors and other entrepreneurs and share their ideas and experiences.
