Current Affairs in English – January 14 2023

National Events:

Makar Sankranti: 15 January:

Makar Sankranti is a major harvest festival celebrated by Hindus across India. People worship the Sun God during it.
It is called Sukarat in central India, Magh Bihu by Assamese, Khichdi in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Uttarayanan in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and Thai Pongal or Pongal in Tamil Nadu.
Since 1989, the day has been observed as International Kite Festival at Gujarat’s Ahmedabad.

Armed Forces Veterans Day:

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh presided over the Armed Forces Veterans Day celebrations on January 14, 2023, at Dehradun. He also launched a car sports initiative ‘Soul of Steel Alpine Challenge’ from Dehradun to Gamshali located in Niti Valley.
He dedicated to the nation the Shaurya Sthal developed by the Uttarakhand War Memorial Trust. The day was first celebrated on 14 January 2016.

Jindal Steel & Power:

Leading steelmaker Jindal Steel & Power has been awarded the prestigious Golden Peacock Award 2022 for its excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility activities in the Steel Sector, on 13 Jan 2023.
The steelmaker was selected by the Award Jury headed by Former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachaliah. The company is now aligned with 16 out of 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).

Vande Bharat Express train:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Vande Bharat Express train connecting Secunderabad with Visakhapatnam on 15 January 2023. The train will be the eighth Vande Bharat Express to be introduced by Indian Railways.
The indigenously designed train set of Vande Bharat is equipped with advanced safety features including an indigenously developed Train Collision Avoidance System-KAVACH.

EPFO:

Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the Regional Office of Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) at Alwar, Rajasthan on 13th January 2023.
The opening of the regional office will benefit around 2 lakh workers, 12,000 establishments, and 8500 pensioners in Alwar and neighboring districts of Bharatpur and Dholpur.

IG Drones:

Tech startup firm IG Drones has developed India’s first 5G enabled drone capable of vertical take-off and landing on 11 Jan 2023. This drone has been named Skyhawk and can be used in other areas apart from defense and medicine.
It can fly for about five hours with a payload of 10 kg, which is also equipped with capabilities like artificial intelligence and thermal imaging.

Captain Surabhi Jakhmola:

Captain Surabhi Jakhmola, an officer of the 117 Engineer Regiment of the Indian Army, has become the first woman officer the Border Roads Organization (BRO) to be posted on a foreign project in January 2023.
She has been deployed by BRO under Project Dantak in Bhutan. In order to improve border connectivity, BRO was transferred entirely to the Ministry of Defence in 2015.

Alibaba Group company Ant Financial:

Alibaba Group company Ant Financial has sold 2 crore shares of Indian Digital Payment and Financial Services Company Paytm at Rs 536.95 per share on 12 Jan 2023.
Block deal refers to a trade in which 5 lakh shares or shares of a particular company listed on the exchange are traded for a value of more than Rs 5 crore. Block deals can only be conducted during a particular trading window.

e-BG:

State Bank of India (SBI) launched e-Bank Guarantee (e-BG) facility in association with National e-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) on 12 January 2023. Currently, the bank issues these guarantees with physical stamping and wet signatures.
The e-Bank Guarantee procedure will be made easier by NeSL’s Digital Document Execution (DDE) technology, which offers e-Stamp and e-Sign features.

India’s first center of excellence for online gaming:

Union government announced, on 13 Jan 2023, to set up India’s first center of excellence for online gaming in Shillong, Meghalaya. It is expected to catalyze startups from India’s Northeast to build the next-generation online gaming ecosystem.
The Ministry of Electronics (MeitY) will also set up a state-of-the-art facility under the National Institute of Electronics and IT (NIELIT) in Shillong.

A.Santhi Kumari:

Senior IAS Officer A.Santhi Kumari was appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Telangana in January 2023. She took charge from IAS Somesh Kumar, who was relieved from the Telangana government in January 2023.
Santhi Kumari is a 1989 batch officer who hails from Andhra Pradesh. She previously served the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for two years.

Gangasagar Mela:

The annual Gangasagar Mela will be held on 14 January 2023 to celebrate Makar Sankranti in West Bengal. It is the second largest fair in India after Kumbha lela.
Gangasagar is an island in the Ganges delta located on the continental shelf of the Bay of Bengal. Although Sagar Island is a part of the Sundarbans, it does not have a tiger habitat or mangrove forests, or small river tributaries.

International Events:

Sybil:

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed and successfully tested an Al tool called “Sybil” that effectively predicts lung cancer risk.
Sybil can look at an image and predict the risk of a patient developing lung cancer within 6 years. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

EU’s first mainland orbital launch complex:

European officials and Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf inaugurated the EU’s first mainland orbital launch complex in Sweden in Jan 2023.
The new facility inaugurated at the Esrange Space Center near the city of Kiruna will complement the EU’s current launching capabilities in French Guiana. The total number of satellites could reach 100,000 by 2040 as compared to the current 5,000.

UNMISS:

Over 1,000 Indian peacekeepers serving in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan ( UNMISS ) were awarded, in Jan 2023, the prestigious United Nations Medal for their exceptional service.
For the first time, a woman officer of the Indian Army, Major Jasmine Chatha, led the parade of the Indian contingent. India is one of the largest troop – contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions.

Ebola disease:

In a statement released by the World Health Organization (WHO), Uganda declared the end of the Ebola disease outbreak caused by the Sudan ebolavirus on Jan 11, 2023.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a rare, severe, and fatal disease in humans. The Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in the Congo. The virus is transmitted from wild animals to people.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva:

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced Sônia Guajajara as the first minister of the new Ministry of Indigenous People in January 2022.
Sônia Guajajara is widely known as the leader of the main group of Brazil’s indigenous tribes and is a member of the Amazon Guajajara.
She was also featured in Time Magazine’s annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2022.