Current Affairs in English – January 30,31 – 2023

January 30-31, 2022

National Events:

Beating Retreat 2023:

• Beating Retreat 2023 ceremony concludes at Vijay Chowk, Delhi. To mark the formal end of this Republic Day 2023 celebrations, the Beating Retreat ceremony was held at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on 29 January 2023.
• President Droupadi Murmu, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces joined the ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony. The event witnessed the country’s biggest Drone Show comprising 3,500 indigenous drones.

G20:

• India’s G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant on 30 January 2023, inaugurated India’s first Model G-20 Summit. It was organized by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini’s Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership in Mumbai.
• Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Vice Chairman of Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini chaired the inaugural ceremony.

75th Death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi: 30 January 2023

• Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on this day in 1948 at Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti), New Delhi. He was assassinated by Nathuram Godse.
• The day is also observed as Martyrs’ Day. Mahatma or Mohandas Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, Kathiawar Agency, British Raj. Father: Karamchand Gandhi. Mother: Putlibai. Notable work: The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

NSE:

• According to the Forward Industry Association, National Stock Exchange (NSE) has emerged as world’s largest derivatives exchange in 2022 in terms of number of traded contracts.NSE has secured the top position for 4th consecutive year.
• NSE ranked third in terms of number of deals (Electronic Order Book) in the equity segment in 2022. Whereas in 2021, it was on fourth position.

Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd & Rolls Royce Solutions:

• Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd has signed an MoU with Rolls Royce Solutions of Germany. It was signed for manufacture of high-quality marine diesel engines at the GRSE’s plant in Ranchi.
• It deals with transfer of technology related to engine assembly, painting, parts sourcing and after-sales service for these engines that are to be assembled at GRSE’s Plant.

National Strategic Plan and Roadmap for Leprosy:

• National Strategic Plan and Roadmap for Leprosy 2023-2027 launched. It was launched on National Anti Leprosy day on 29 January 2023. Aim of the Plan is to eradicate Leprosy in the country by 2027.
• National Guidelines for Surveillance for Antimicrobial Resistance in Leprosy were also launched. India has nearly 52% of total cases of Leprosy worldwide. Prevalence rate of Leprosy cases has come down from 0.69% per 10,000 population in 2014-15 to 0.45 in 2021-22.

Sukhoi-30 and Mirage 2000:

• Two Indian Air Force fighter aircraft crashed in the Madhya Pradesh. Sukhoi-30 and Mirage 2000 aircraft of Indian Air Force have crashed in Madhya Pradesh.

Sukhoi 30:

• It is a twin-engine Fighter Jet manufactured by Sukhoi Aviation Corporation of Russia. Range 3000 Km. Maximum Speed-Mach 2.

Mirage 2000:

• Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation fighter jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation.

AISHE:

• All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-2021 released. It was released by Ministry of Education. Ministry is conducting it since 2011, covering all higher educational institutions located in Indian Territory.
• Total enrollment in higher education has increased to nearly 4.14 cr in 2020-21 from 3.85 cr in 2019-20. Female enrolment has increased to 2.01 cr from 1.88 cr in 2019-20. UP is top State in terms of number of student enrolled.

G20 Energy Transition Working Group meeting:

• Bengaluru to host first G20 Energy Transition Working Group meeting. First G20 Energy Transition Working Group (ETWG) Meeting under India’s Presidency will be held in Bengaluru, from Feb 5-7, 2023.
• The meeting will have 9 special invitee guest countries – Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, UAE and Spain along with G20 member countries. It will focus on Energy security, Energy efficiency, Fuels for Future etc.

G20 Financial Architecture Working Group meet:

• G20 Financial Architecture Working Group meet to begin on 30 January. The first G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group meeting under the G20 Indian Presidency will be held on 30 Jan 2023 in Chandigarh.
• The meeting will be jointly inaugurated by Minister of Agriculture, Narendra SinghTomar, and Minister of Food Processing Industries, Pashupati Kumar Paras. It aims to focus on strengthening the international financial architecture.

FIH President’s Award 2023:

• Odisha’s VK Pandian conferred with FIH President’s Award 2023. V Karthikeyan Pandian, an IAS officer, and private secretary to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik was conferred with FIH’s President’s award on 29 January 2023.
• He was awarded for successfully hosting the 2023 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Sundargarh. Previously, He successfully organized other hockey tournaments like the Champions Trophy, Hockey World League, and FIH Pro-League.

‘Amrit Udyan’:

• The Central government on 28 January, 2023 renamed the Mughal Gardens in New Delhi’s Rashtrapati Bhavan as ‘Amrit Udyan’.
• On the occasion of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the President of India has given a common name to Rashtrapati Bhavan Gardens as Amrit Udyan.
• The gardens will open for the general public on January 31, 2023 and will remain open till March 26, 2023, except on Mondays.

NMDC:

• National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has appointed the World Boxing Champion and gold medal winner of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Nikhat Zareen as its brand ambassador in January 2023.
• She also won the gold medal at the women’s boxing world championships on May 20, 2022, in Istanbul, Turkey. She became the fifth Indian woman to win a boxing world championships gold medal.

Petr Pavel:

• Petr Pavel, a former chairman of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) military committee, has become the new president of the Czech Republic on 28 January 2023. He will replace incumbent President Milos Zeman.
• During the election, General Pavel got 58.2 percent of the votes while Andrzej Babis got 42.8 percent. Czech Republic Prime Minister: Petr Fiala.

SCERT:

• Delhi State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is organizing a 5-day Jeevan Vidya Shivir’ for the teachers of Delhi government schools at Thyagaraja stadium in New Delhi.
• Nearly 4,000 teachers from Delhi government schools are participating in the workshop from January 28 to Feb 1, 2023. Jeevan Vidya Shivir is a co-existence workshop based on the Coexistential philosophy of A Nagraj.

IPS officer Gyanendra Pratap Singh:

• IPS officer Gyanendra Pratap Singh appointed the next Director General of Police (DGP) of Assam with effect from 1st February 2023. He was promoted to the post on superannuation of the current DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta.
• IPS Mahanta is a 1988 batch (41RR) IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He is a 1991- batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IPS officer.

‘Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan’:

• Uttar Pradesh government has launched a campaign, ‘Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan’ to make daughters of the underprivileged classes capable and self-reliant.
• The campaign will work in association with an NGO, under the Aarohini Initiative Training Program for the safety and security of girls in all 746 Kasturba Gandhi Residential Girls Schools in the state. It will be implemented in three phases.

NCW:

• President Droupadi Murmu will address the 31st Foundation Day of the National Commission for Women (NCW) in New Delhi on 31 January 2023. The theme of the programme is ‘Sashakt Nari Sashakt Bharat.’
• The theme is aimed at acknowledging the stories of women who have excelled their journey to leave a mark. NCW was founded in January 1992 as a statutory body under the NCW Act, 1990.

Gujarat Ports Infrastructure Company Limited:

• Gujarat Ports Infrastructure Company Limited was appointed Madhvendra Singh as the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Gujarat Maritime Cluster in January 2023.
• The Gujarat Maritime Cluster (GMC) is the first of its kind Commercial Maritime Cluster in the country aimed at creating a hub for maritime services of international standards. It is the first and only maritime cluster in India.

FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023:

• Germany won the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 title. Germany defeated Belgium 5-4 in a shootout in the final played at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on 29 January 2023.
• Niklas Wellen of Germany was awarded the Best Player of the tournament award. While Vincent Vanasch of Belgium was awarded the Best Goalkeeper award. Maximum Team Goals Award: Netherlands.

Vision for All School Eye Health program:

• Government of Goa has launched the Vision for All School Eye Health program in partnership with OneSight Essilor Luxottica Foundation and Prasad Netralaya on 30 January 2023.
• It will focus on training 2000 teachers on basic visual acuity tests for the children in their respective schools, followed by detailed refraction by qualified professionals from Prasad Netralaya.

Tamil Nadu Events:

Education Working Group:

• Tamil Nadu will host the first meeting of the Education Working Group on January 31, February 1, and 2, 2023 at IIT Madras.
• It will focus on four priorities and those are ensuring foundational literacy and numeracy, especially in the context of blended learning. Over 60 delegates from the G20 member, guest countries and invited organizations will participate at the event.

International Events:

World Leprosy Day 2023: 29th January

• The day is celebrated on last Sunday of January. It is celebrated to praise people who have experienced leprosy, raise awareness and end leprosy-related stigma and discrimination.
• This date was chosen by French humanitarian, Raoul Follereau as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who did much work with persons affected by leprosy and died at the end of January in 1948. Theme: Act Now. End Leprosy.

BioAsia 2023:

• The United Kingdom has been named Country Partner for BioAsia 2023. It is the annual series of healthcare and life sciences event of Telangana government that will be held in Hyderabad from 24-26 February 2023.
• It aims to enhance newer innovations, and effective solutions in the biotechnology industry. The theme of BioAsia 2023 is “Advancing for ONE: Shaping the next generation of humanized healthcare.”

World’s first international clinical guidelines:

• The world’s first international clinical guidelines for preventing and treating heart problems in cancer patients’ children have been developed.
• The guidelines would be an indispensable tool for clinicians to significantly reduce the harmful impact of cancer drugs on children’s hearts. The guidelines was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

Sports Events:

Khelo India Youth Games:

• Government launches special mobile application for Khelo India Youth Games. Ministry of Sports has launched the application. Through this app, the participating athletes, coaches, support staff, and officials from all states participating can get all information about the Games.
• This is the first time that a dedicated app has been launched for Khelo India Youth Games. For sports fans, the app gives access to match schedules, medal tally, photo gallery etc.

Fifth Khelo India Youth Games 2022:

• Fifth Khelo India Youth Games 2022 to begin in Madhya Pradesh. 5th edition of Khelo India Youth Games 2022 is commencing on 30 January 2023. Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and CM of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh will inaugurate it at TT Nagar Stadium in Bhopal.
• They were started in 2018 with the name ‘Khelo India School Games’. Its purpose is to find and groom sports talent at local level and nurture them for national-international sports events.

FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup:

• Netherlands beat Australia to win bronze at FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup. Netherlands clinched the bronze medal at the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 after defeating Australia 3-1 on 29 Jan 2023.
• Jeremy Hayward played his 200th match for Australia during the event. This is the fourth medal for the Netherlands in the men’s World Cup as they had finished runners-up in the last two editions in 2014 and 2018 and were third in the 2010 World Cup played in New Delhi.

Novak Djokovic:

• Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of men’s singles match of the Australian Open 2023. Djokovic won 10th Australian Open and 22nd grand slam. He levelled Rafael Nadal with his 22nd Grand Slam title.
• While in the Women’s Singles category, Aryna Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina in the final, to win the women’s singles tennis title at the 2023 Australian Open.

Usman Khawaja:

• Australia opening batsman Usman Khawaja won the inaugural Shane Warne Award as the men’s Test player of the year in January 2023.
• It is named in honour of the legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne, who passed away March 2022. Khawaja has been Australia’s top run-scorer in test cricket with 1020 runs at 78.46 during the voting period.