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By admin: Jan. 2, 2023

Second Phase of Sari Festival “VIRAASAT”- Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India begins in New Delhi

Tags: place in news National Government Schemes

The second phase of the Sari Festival “VIRAASAT”- Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India will begin from 3- 17 January 2023 in New Delhi . The Union Ministry of Textile is organising the festival.

Over 90 participants from different parts of India  the will display a wide variety of sarees like handloom Saris of Jamdani, Ikat, Pochampally, Banaras Brocade, Tussar Silk (Champa), Baluchari, Bhagalpuri Silk, Tangail, Chanderi, Lalitpuri, Patola, Paithani etc

The first phase of “VIRAASAT”- Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India started on 16th December 2022 and concluded on 30th December 2022. The event was inaugurated by Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on 16th December 2022, along with Hon’ble Minister of State Smt. Darshana Jardosh and other women parliamentarians.

The event is likely to bring renewed focus on the age-old tradition of Sari weaving and thereby improve earnings of the handloom community.

Union Textile minister: Piyush Goel 

Himachal Pradesh government launches CM’s Sukhashray Sahayata Kosh

Tags: Government Schemes Person in news State News

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu launched CM’s Sukhashray Sahayata Kosh with an outlay of Rs 101 crore on 1 January 2023. 

All the Ministers and Congress MLA will contribute their first salary to the fund. The Congress party has 40 MLA in the 68 member Himachal Legislative Assembly. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government was sworn in on 11 December 2022.

Aim of the CM’s Sukhashray Sahayata Kosh 

The scheme will aim to provide the facility of higher education to needy children and destitute women.

The state government will bear the expenditure on skill development education, higher education, and vocational training of such children.  They will also be given financial assistance as per their requirement so that they can lead a respectable life.

There will be no requirement for any income certificate for availing these facilities.

The Chief Minister said that children living in childcare institutions, all children being benefited under foster care, destitute women living in Nari Seva Sadan, Shakti Sadan and residents of old age homes would be benefited under this scheme.

Himachal Pradesh 

Himachal Pradesh became a Union Territory on 1 November 1956. It became the 18th state of India on 25 January 1971. 

The State is bordered by Jammu & Kashmir on North, Punjab on West and South-West, Haryana on South, Uttarakhand on South-East and China on the East.

District in State: 12

State Governor: Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar 

Capital: Shimla 

State Icons 

State Animal: Snow Leopard

State Bird: Western Tragopan

State Flower: Pink Rhododendron

Hyderabad to become India’s first city with 100% sewerage facilities by May 2023

Tags: Environment State News

According to the Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, IT and Industries of Telangana, K. T. Rama Rao said that Hyderabad will become the first city in India to have hundred per cent sewerage facilities by next April-May. He made this statement on 1 January 2023 while inaugurating a flyover in Hyderabad.  

He said that 31 new Sewage treatment plants (STP) are being built in the city with an investment of Rs ₹3,866 crores.

Rao said, "Keeping the floods of October 2020 in mind, we have developed the Strategic Nala development program with around ₹1000 crores. We will finish the project by March-April 2023. Hyderabad will be the first city in India to have 100 per cent sewerage facilities by April-May",

Chief Minister of Telangana: K.Chandrashekhar Rao 

Governor of Telangana: Tamilisai Soundararajan

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurates Indian Library Congress in Kannur, Kerala

Tags: place in news State News

The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated Indian Library Congress at the Collectorate Ground in Kannur, Kerala on 1 January 2023.

The Indian Library Congress has been organized by the People’s Mission for Social Development and Library Council from 1 -3 January 2023 and hosted by Kannur University, Kerala. 

Representatives from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar and other states and foreign countries are participating in the Indian Library Congress. 

Earlier on 26 December 2022, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that his constituencyDharmadamhas become the first complete library constituency in India.

‘SMART’ program for Ayurveda professionals launched to regulate and boost R&D in Ayurveda

Tags: National Science and Technology

In order to regulate Ayurvedic medical education and boost the research and development in Ayurveda, the government has launched ‘SMART’ (Scope for Mainstreaming Ayurveda Research in Teaching Professionals) program on 2 January 2023.  

The SMART program has been jointly launched by the Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) and the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS). Both the Institutions come under the Union Ministry of Ayush.

The proposed initiative is conceptualized with an objective to identify, support and promote innovative research ideas in healthcare research areas through Ayurveda colleges and hospitals.

The program was launched by Vaidya Jayant Deopujari, Chairman, NCISM and Prof. Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General, CCRAS in the presence of Prof. B. S. Prasad, President of Board of Ayurveda, NCISM and other senior officials.

Every year 23 October is observed as Ayurveda Diwas in India.

Union Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy)

• The Ministry of AYUSH was set up on the 9th of November 2014 to revive the knowledge of traditional Indian systems of medicine. 
• It focuses on education and research in the fields of Ayurveda, Yoga Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy. 
• Minister of AYUSH: Sarbananda Sonowal

DRDO celebrated its 65th foundation day

Tags: Important Days

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) celebrated its 65th foundation day on 1st January 2023.

Important facts

• DRDO Chairman Dr S V Kamat addressed the DRDO fraternity on the occasion.

• He reaffirmed DRDO's commitment towards R&D excellence and briefed about the development of cutting edge technologies for self-reliance in defence.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

• It is a premier defence research and development agency under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India.

• It is working on several cutting-edge military technology areas, including aeronautics, armaments, combat vehicles, electronics, instrumentation, engineering systems, missiles, materials, naval systems, advanced computing, simulation, cyber, hypersonic technology, quantum computing and communications

• DRDO's first project for the Indian military was in surface-to-air missiles (SAM) known as Project Indigo.

• Since inception, DRDO has made several breakthroughs in developing key systems and critical technologies such as aircraft avionics, UAVs, small arms, artillery systems, EW systems, tanks and armoured vehicles, sonar systems, command and control systems and missile systems

• It aims to make India self-reliant in critical defence technology and systems.

• It was set up in 1958.

• Headquarters - New Delhi

• Chairman - Samir V Kamat

RBI retains SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI bank in its Domestically Systemically Important Banks (D-SIB) list

Tags: Economy/Finance

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has retained SBI, ICICI bank and HDFC bank in the list of Domestically Systemically Important Banks (D-SIB) list for the year 2021. The list was released by the RBI on 2 January 2023. 

The concept of the D-SIB goes back to the failure of big financial institutions in 2008 which led to a global financial crisis.  D-SIBs are those interconnected entities, whose failure can impact the whole of the financial system and create instability.

Systemically important banks attract closer supervision and regulation from the country's central bank as these entities are considered to be too big-to-fail banking companies.

When it started in India 

• RBI started disclosing the name of the bank in the D-SIB list from 2015 and SBI was included in the list.
• ICICI Bank was included in 2016 and HDFC bank was included in 2017.

D-SIB (Domestic Systemically Important Banks)

• The concept behind D-SIB is that there are certain banks in India which cannot be allowed to fail as its failure may badly affect the Indian economy.
• RBI selects banks on their size and their overall contribution in the Indian economy.
• In addition to the usual capital conservation buffer, D-SIBs will need to maintain additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1).
•  SBI has to maintain an additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) of 0.60% as a percentage of their Risk Weighted Assets.
• HDFC Bank and ICICI banks have to maintain an additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) of 0.20% as a percentage of their Risk Weighted Assets.

Foreign Banks having branches in India are called Global-Systemically Important Banks (G-SIB).At present no foreign bank has been put in the G-SIB category by RBI.

RBI governor : Shaktikanta Das 

Coffee export increased by 1.66 % to 4 lakh tonne in 2022; Coffee Board of India

Tags: Economy/Finance

According to the Coffee Board of India data released on 2 January 2023 the total export of coffee from India rose by 1.66 per cent to 4 lakh tonnes in 2022 mainly due to the increase in instant coffee exports and re-exports. The total export in 2021 was at 3.93 lakh tonnes.

Main points of the data 

• In value terms, coffee export was higher at Rs 8,762.47 crore in 2022 as against Rs 6,984.67 crore in the previous year.
• Italy, Germany and Russia are the major export destinations for Indian coffee.
• India exports both Robusta and Arabica varieties of coffee and also instant coffee.  
• According to the Board's the export of Robusta coffee declined marginally to 2, 20,974 tonnes in 2022 from 2, 20,997 tonnes in the previous year.
• Similarly, export of Arabica fell 11.43 per cent to 44,542 tonnes from 50,292 tonnes.
• However, export of instant coffee increased 16.73 per cent to 35,810 tonnes in 2022 from 29,819 tonnes in the previous year.
• About 99,513 tonnes of coffee was re-exported in 2022, higher than 92,235 tonnes in the previous year.
• The unit per value realization remained higher at Rs 2, 18,923 per tonne as against Rs 1, 77,406 per tonne in the period.

Production of Coffee in 2022 

• Coffee was introduced by a Sufi saint Baba Budan who brought the coffee beans  from Arabia and  planted them in his garden in  Chikmagalur ,Karnataka during the 17th Century.
• Karnataka is the largest coffee producing state in India followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These states are called traditional coffee growing areas in India.
• The other areas where coffee is grown are Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and North Eastern region. These states are called non-traditional coffee growing areas in India.
• India is the third largest producer and exporter of coffee in Asia. Vietnam is the largest producer of coffee in Asia followed by Indonesia. 
• Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee, followed by Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia.
• In India coffee is mainly produced in the shaded region of Eastern and Western Ghats regions.

 Coffee Board of India 

The Coffee Board is a statutory organization constituted under Section (4) of the Coffee Act, 1942 and functions under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

The Board has a Central Coffee Research Institute at Balehonnur (Karnataka) with a Sub-Station at Chettalli (Karnataka) and Regional Coffee Research Stations at Chundale (Kerala), Thandigudi (Tamil Nadu), Narasipatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Diphu (Assam).

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. K.G. Jagadeesha, IAS

Headquarters: Bengaluru

Government starts process to buy 100 more K9-Vajras

Tags: Defence

The Defense Ministry has initiated the process to procure 100 more K-9 Vajra self-propelled howitzers, which are made in India by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) using technology transferred from South Korean defence major Hanwha Defence.

Important facts

• The 100th cannon was handed over to the army in 2021.

• In the 2020 standoff in eastern Ladakh, the Army deployed a regiment of these howitzers to augment its long-range firepower in a massive move by China across the Line of Actual Control.

• Encouraged by its improved performance, the Army is looking to eventually buy an additional 100 guns.

• The induction of Dhanush, K9-Vajra and M777 Ultra Light Howitzers has increased the artillery firepower on the northern frontiers.

About K9-Vajra

• The K-9 Vajra is a 155 mm, 52-calibre tracked self-propelled howitzer manufactured by L&T.

• It is based on the K-9 Thunder with technology transferred from South Korean defence major Hanwha Defence.

• The K-9 Vajra was primarily procured for use in the desert, but the standoff with China has prompted them to be deployed in the mountains as well.

Elon Musk becomes first person ever to lose $200 billion

Tags: Person in news International News

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index Tesla Chief Elon Musk became the only person in history to lose $200 billion from their net worth.

Important facts

• Musk, who recently acquired the micro-blogging platformTwitter for $44 billion, was the second person to amass over $200 billion after Jeff Bezos.

• After the acquisition, Musk had a takeover of Twitter, resulting in a loss of Tesla shares.

• According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk's wealth declined to $137 billion. Musk also sold several Tesla shares throughout the year.

• Currently, Musk's stake in his Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is valued at $44.8 billion, which is higher than his roughly $44 billion position in Tesla stock (he still has options worth an estimated $27.8 billion).

• Elon Musk became the richest person in the world when his wealth reached $340 billion on November 4, 2021.

• He lost the title to French fashion and cosmetics magnate Bernard Arnault in early December 2022.

Who is Elon Musk?

• He is the charismatic chief executive officer (CEO) of electric car maker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX.

• Musk completed the deal to buy Twitter in October 2022, becoming the owner of the social media company.

• Born and raised in South Africa, Musk spent time in Canada before moving to the United States.

Centre to launch the Digital India Innovation Fund for catalyzing deep tech start-ups

Tags: Science and Technology National News

Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar on 30th December 2022 said that the central government is going to launch a Digital India Innovation Fund that will support deep-tech startups.

What is Deeptech?

• Technology that is based on tangible engineering innovation or scientific advances and discoveries are known as Deep tech. 

• It is a term used to describe technologically based companies or enterprises that develop innovative solutions and approaches to address major societal challenges such as climate change, food production, chronic diseases, waste recycling and others.

• As for the technologies, deep tech involves the vast utilization of advanced solutions, including Artificial intelligence & Machine learning, Big data, Nanotechnologies, Blockchain, Quantum computing, Robotics etc.

India’s Deeptech ecosystem

• India's deep-tech ecosystem has grown by 53% in the last decade and is now at par with developed economies such as the US, China, Israel and Europe.

• From drone delivery and cold chain management to climate action and clean energy, deep-tech start-ups are making their presence felt in all sectors.

• Bengaluru accounts for 25-30% of India's deep-tech start-ups, followed by Delhi-NCR (15-20%) and Mumbai (10-12%).

In 4:1 majority verdict, Supreme Court finds no flaw in demonetisation process

Tags: Economy/Finance National News

On January 02, 2023, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court by a 4:1 majority upheld the central government's decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations six years ago in 2016.

Judgement of the Court

• Justices S Abdul Nazeer, BR Gavai, AS Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian held that the Centre's notification dated November 8, 2016 was valid and satisfied the test of proportionality.

• Justice BV Nagaratna, in his dissenting opinion, said that though demonetisation was well-intentioned, it should be declared illegal on legal grounds (and not on objective grounds).

• Justice Nagaratna said the decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 100 notes should have been made through legislation and not through notification.

• The Supreme Court dismissed 58 petitions challenging demonetisation, saying that this decision related to the economic policy of the government cannot be withdrawn.

• Along with this, the Supreme Court said that there was no flaw in this entire process of decision making.

• The Supreme Court accepted the government's view that there were consultations between the Center and the RBI before demonetisation.

About demonetization

• Demonetization refers to the decision of the government to revoke thelegal tender status of a currency note.

• All the currencies issued by RBI are used as a legal tender because the value they bear is assured by the RBI.

• Once a currency note is demonetised, it cannot be used.

• On 8 November 2016, the Government of India announced the demonetisation of all 500 and 1,000 notes.

• The government also announced the issuance of new 500 and 2,000 banknotes in exchange for the demonetised notes.

Objective of 2016 demonetisation

• Curb Corruption- Corruption can also be controlled by reducing cash circulation.

• Tackle Terrorism- High denomination notes like Rs 500 and Rs 1000 are often used in terrorist/naxalite activities, drug and human trafficking.

• Eliminating Fake Currency - According to the annual report of RBI, during the year 2016-'17, fake notes worth Rs 41.5 crore were detected in the banking system in the form of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

• Eradicate Black Money- Black money refers to cash that is not accounted for in the banking system or cash for which tax has not been paid to the state.

Election Commission's launches 'Mission-929' to take voter turnout in Tripura to over 90

Tags: National State News

The Election Commission of India(ECI) has started ‘Mission 929’ in Tripura .It will focus on 929 polling booths across Tripura with a target to increase the voter turnout to 92 percent in the next assembly elections. However the ECI has yet to announce the poll schedule of Tripura.

According to the ECI, these booths recorded a voter turnout of less than 89 percent in the 2018 assembly polls. Except for these booths almost all the booths in the state recorded a voter turnout of 91 % or more .The voter turnout was 89.5% in the 2018 Tripura assembly election. 

The Election commission plans to launch an awareness campaign, poll officials will visit senior citizens and persons with disability, and appeal to them to cast their votes.

The ECI will make requisite arrangements such as ramps, wheelchairs and separate queues will be arranged at every polling station to felicitate senior citizens and persons with disability.

The ECI is also working on Mission Zero Poll Violence' to make the assembly elections peaceful. This will also ensure that voters can cast their votes peacefully in the assembly election to be held in 2023. 

Tripura Assembly Election 

The Tripura Legislative Assembly has 60 seats. The election to constitute the 12th Legislative Assembly of Tripura was held on 18 February 2018. The 12th legislative assembly term will end on 22 march 2023. 

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party with 36 seats and it formed the government for the first time in Tripura.

Chief Minister of Tripura: Manik Saha

Nitin Gadkari Inaugurates Zuari Bridge, India’s Second-Largest Cable Bridge In Goa

Tags: State News

Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the first phase of the new Zuari bridge in Goa on 29th December, 2022.

Important facts

• This bridge is the second largest cable-stayed bridge in India. The bridge is built over the famous Zuari riverin the state and is eight lanes wide.

• The new bridge in Goa is expected to improve connectivity between North Goa and South Goa.

• Located on NH-17/NH-66 on Panjim-Mangalore section in the state of Goa, the bridge will reduce the travel time between North and South Goa by minimising the traffic blockades between the Bambolim-Agasaim-Cortalim-Sancoale to Verna Junction.

• This 640 meter long bridge is being built in three phases.

Top 5 longest Cable-Stayed Bridges in India

• Kacchi Dargah Bidupur Bridge, Bihar - It connects Kacchi Dargah in Patna and Bidupur in Hajipur.

• Kota Chambal Bridge- total length 1.5 km across Chambal river. The 6 lane bridge crosses the Chambal river just outside the kota city.

• 3rd Narmada Bridge, Bharuch- also known as New Narmada Bridge is a 1.4 km long four-lane bridge built over river Narmada and known as longest extra dosed bridge in India.

• Vidyasagar Setu - The Second Hooghly Bridge is known as Vidyasagar Setu, A Cable-Stayed toll bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal. 

• Bandra–Worli Sea Link - It connects Bandra with Worli and part of the proposed Western Freeway. 

DEXA: BCCI introduces new selection criteria for Team India

Tags: Sports Sports News

The BCCI announced a major change in the selection criteria of players on 1st January.

Important facts

• To review the team's performance in 2022, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Roger Binny and secretary Jay Shah met India captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Chetan Sharma on January 1.

• The future of Indian cricket was discussed in the meeting, which was also attended by National Cricket Academy (NCA) director VVS Laxman.

• The new criteria have been brought in to ensure the fitness of players before their selection as the team has been facing a serious injury crisis for the last one year.

• The fitness of Indian cricketers has been a matter of concern with players like Deepak Chahar not playing regularly.

• Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is also out for a long time due to a back injury.

What are the new selection criteria?

• The new rule brought back the Yo-Yo test and made it mandatory for players to be selected for the national team.

• Players must take a 'DEXA' before being selected for the Indian team across all formats.

• Emerging players have to play enough domestic seasons to be eligible for selection in the national team.

What is a Yo-Yo test?

• The Yo-Yo test is an aerobic endurance fitness test that involves running between markers placed 20 metres apart at increasing speed.

• The test was introduced during Virat Kohli's tenure as India captain and initially the passing score was 16.1, which was increased to 16.5.

What is Dexa?

• DEXA, also called 'bone density test', is an X-ray technique used to measure bone strength.

• From this it can be ascertained whether there is any risk of breaking or losing bones of the test taker or whether a player is at risk of fracturing any part of the body.

• It also helps measure body composition and record body fat and muscle mass.

10th edition of Dhaka Literary Festival

Tags: Festivals International News

After being cancelled for three consecutive years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 10th edition of Dhaka Lit Fest (DLF), Bangladesh's biggest international literary festival, is all set to take place on January 5-8, 2023.

Important facts

• The event will be held on the historic grounds of the Bangla Academy in Dhaka.

• More than 500 literary personalities across the globe including Nobel Prize Winner Abdulrazak Gurnah will be taking part in the festival. 

• The four-day event will feature internationally acclaimed authors including Amitav Ghosh, Hanif Qureshi, Alexandra Pringle, Gitanjali Shree, Daisy Rockwell, Esther Freud, Joy Goswami, Kaiser Haque, among others.

• It will feature over 175 sessions with discussions on science and technology, activities for children and young adults, film screenings, theatre, music and cultural performances.

• The organisers of DLF have termed it as a 'festival of ideas'.

• Films, OTT, science and other topics of public interest will also be discussed in this programme.

• There will be performances for children as well as for women. The Dhaka Lit Fest will also host discussions on health, food and cooking, among other topics.

About Dhaka Lit Fest

• Sadaf Saaz, Ahsan Akbar and Kazi Anis Ahmed are the directors of the Dhaka Lit Fest (DLF).

• It began in 2011 with the commitment to promote Dhaka, and Bangladeshi literature and culture to the world.

• Dhaka Lit Fest has been a popular annual event in the winter calendar of Bangladesh. 

• About 30,000 people participated in the ninth Dhaka Lit Fest last held in 2019.

India, Austria to sign 5 agreements

Tags: International Relations International News

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India and Austria will sign five agreements on January 2, 2023 and two of them are in the interest of the Indian community living in Austria.

Important facts

• The two agreements would be in the interest of the Indian community.

• There is an agreement on 'Migration and Mobility' for people who want to work in Austria and who want to come to India for business, or who come here as students and professionals.

• Another agreement is on the ‘Working Holiday’ program that will enable Indian students in Austria to work for 6 months.

• S Jaishankar is on an official visit to Austria where he held a meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.

• This is the first India-Austria EAM-level visit in the last 27 years which is taking place in 2023 against the backdrop of 75 years of diplomatic relations.

About Austria

• It is a largely mountainous landlocked country of south-central Europe.

• Chancellor: Karl Nehammer

• President: Alexander Van der Bellen

• Capital: Vienna

• Currency :  euro

• Official Language    : German