1. PM to chair second National Conference of Chief Secretaries in Delhi
Tags: Summits National News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the 2nd National Conference of Chief Secretaries on January 6 and 7, 2023 in Delhi.
An overview of the news
This will be an important step towards further enhancing the partnership between the Central and State Governments.
The first conference of Chief Secretaries was to be held in Dharamshala in June 2022.
The conference will focus on achieving rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the states.
It will see participation from representatives of the Central Government, Chief Secretaries and senior officers from all States/UTs and more than 200 domain experts.
The conference will lay the groundwork for achieving a developed India with emphasis on growth and employment generation and inclusive human development.
The best practices of the States/UTs under each theme will also be presented in the conference so that the States can learn from each other.
Six identified themes of the conference
Thrust on MSMEs
Infrastructure and Investments
Minimising Compliances
Women's Empowerment
Health and Nutrition
Skill Development
Three special sessions
Viksit Bharat: Reaching the Last Mile
Five Years of Goods and Services Tax (GST) – Learnings and Experiences
Global Geopolitical Challenges and India’s Response
Besides, focused deliberations would be held on four topics, viz Vocal for Local, International Year of Millets, G20: Role of States and Emerging Technologies.
2. 1st All India Annual State Ministers Conference on Water
Tags: Summits National News
1st All India Annual State Ministers Conference on Water to be held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on 5th & 6th January, 2023.
Important facts
The Government is deliberating on the preparation of the Action Plan and Vision Document of India@2047.
Water Vision@2047 is part of PM’s India@2047 plan.
Thematic sessions will be organised at the conference to focus on water security, water use efficiency, water governance, water infrastructure and water quality.
Ministers of State for Water Resources, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and Irrigation of all States/Union Territories of the country will participate.
The participants will have to prepare a blueprint of Water Vision @ 2047 and prepare a road map to overcome the water problems of the country.
Objectives of the conference
To collect inputs for India@2047 and 5P vision from various water stakeholders of the states as water is a state subject.
Improving engagement and partnership with states and sharing of initiatives and schemes of the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
5 thematic sessions of the conference
Water Security in Water Deficit, Water Surplus and Hilly Regions
Water Use Efficiency including Reuse of Waste Water/ Grey Water
Water Governance
Climate Change Resilient Water Infrastructure, and
Water Quality
Union Minister of Jal Shakti - Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
3. PM Modi presides over annual general meeting of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library society
Tags: National National News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2nd January chaired the Annual General Meeting of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society in New Delhi.
Important facts
He underlined the need to widen the scope of research on modern Indian history by involving individuals and institutions to create awareness about the country's past.
He stressed the need for institutions in the country to record research work for the benefit of present and future generations.
He also expressed satisfaction over the design and contents of the Prime Minister's Museum and described the museum as truly nation-centric and not individual-centric.
The Prime Minister's Museum is a tribute to every Prime Minister of India since independence.
It is a descriptive record of the contribution made by each PM to the development of the country in the last 75 years.
The PM mentioned that the 200th birth anniversary of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj, is in 2024.
About Nehru Memorial Museum and Library
It was established in 1964 in the memory of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964).
It is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
It is located in Teen Murti House, the official residence of the first Prime Minister of India.
It has four major components, a Memorial Museum, a Library on Modern India, a Center for Contemporary Studies and the Nehru Planetarium.
It is a specialised library designed and developed as an exclusive research and reference centre on colonial and post-colonial India. It has a rich manuscript section.
4. Dr. Vinay Prakash Singh takes over as the Secretary General of the Asian Pacific Postal Union
Tags: Person in news International News
Dr Vinay Prakash Singh assumed the charge as the Secretary General of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) on 1 January 2023. . This is the first time that an Indian is leading an international organization in the postal sector. Dr Singh will remain in office for 4 years.
Former Member (Personnel), Postal Services Board, Department of Post Dr Vinay Prakash Singh was elected as the Secretary General during the 13th APPU Congress held in Bangkok during August- September 2022.
Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) is an intergovernmental organization of 32-member countries of the Asian-Pacific region. APPU is the only Union of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in the region, which is a specialized agency of the United Nations.
The headquarters of the Asian Pacific Postal Union is in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Secretary General leads the activities of the Union and is also the Director of the Asian Pacific Postal College (APPC) which is the largest intergovernmental postal training institute in the region.
The Asia Pacific region generates around half of the global mail volume and has around one-third of the global postal human resource.
5. MOIL registers record production in December
Tags: Economy/Finance National News
MOIL has registered its best December production of 1,41,321 tonnes of manganese ore in December, 2022.
Important facts
MOIL has registered an increase of 18 percent in production as compared to November 2022.
Along with this, sales of 1,64,235 tonnes have also been done for the month of December with an increase of about 91 percent as compared to November 2022.
Besides this, the company has increased prices in an effective range of 2.7-15%.
About MOIL
It is a Schedule-A, Miniratna category-1 Company under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel, Government of India.
It is the largest producer of manganese ore in the country with about 45% market share, operating eleven mines in the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
The company aims to almost double its production to 3 million tonnes by 2030.
It is also looking for business opportunities in the state of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha apart from other regions of the state of Madhya Pradesh.
6. China becomes the first country in Asia and second in the world to launch Hydrogen powered Train
Tags: International News
China became the first country in Asia and second in the world to launch Hydrogen powered urban trains. Germany was the first country to introduce hydrogen powered trains in September 2022.
Chinese company CRRC Corporations ltd built a train that has a top speed of 160 KM per hour and can run without refuelling for 600 Km . The German Coradia iLint serial train developed by French company Alstom has set a record 1175 Km range without refuelling.
According to the Chinese officials, the operation of the train will reduce CO2 emissions compared to diesel traction by 10 tons per year.
Hydrogen powered Trains
Hydrogen is considered to be the green fuel of the future. The Hydrogen fuel cell is environment friendly and it does not emit any greenhouse gasses. The hydrogen fuel cell uses hydrogen and air to generate electricity. The combination of air and hydrogen will produce water as a by-product which will be released by the Train.
India is committed to achieve zero net carbon emission by 2070.
Hydrogen Train in India
As per Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, India will most likely get its first-ever indigenous Hydrogen trains by December 2023. As per the minister, like Vande Bharat Express, the Indian Railways is working on the new environment-friendly trains and the engineers are designing it. "The design process is already going on and we should be able to roll out the first hydrogen train in the country by December 2023," he added.
7. Croatia adopts Euro currency, also included in Europe's free passport club
Tags: International News
On January 1, 2023, Croatia adopted the euro currency and also joined Europe's free passport club (Schengen area), nearly a decade after joining the European Union.
Important facts
On January 1, 2023, Croatia with a population of about 4 million said goodbye to its Kuna currency and became the 20th member of the Eurozone.
It will be the 27th country in the world's largest passport-free Schengen zone, which enables more than 400 million people to move freely within its member states.
Adoption of the euro will help Croatia's economy at a time when global inflation has been rising since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which has pushed up fuel and food prices.
It will also boost Croatia's major tourism industry, which accounts for 20 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
The Eurozone consists of 19 members of the European Union (EU), which uses the Euro as their official currency.
What is the Schengen Zone?
The border-free Schengen Area guarantees visa-free movement for over 400 million EU citizens, as well as tourists, students living in the EU and visiting the EU.
Free movement of persons enables every EU citizen to travel, work and live in an EU country without special formalities.
The Schengen provision eliminates checking at the EU's internal borders, while providing a set of rules for controls at external borders.
About Croatia
Croatia is a country located in the northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula.
Prime Minister: Andrej Plenković
President: Zoran Milanović
Capital: Zagreb
Currency :euro
8. India's manufacturing output reaches 13-month high in December
Tags: Economy/Finance National News
India's manufacturing sector activity rose to a 13-month high in December, supported by healthy inflows of new business and strong demand conditions, according to a monthly survey.
Important facts
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 57.8 in December from 55.7 in November.
The reason for this is that the fastest improvement is now being seen in business activities in the last 2 years.
The December data showed that overall operating conditions improved for the 18th consecutive month.
Meaning of PMI Index
In the language of Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a score above 50 means expansion, while a figure below 50 indicates contraction.
The beginning of 2022 was very good, since then the performance of the manufacturing sector has remained consistently good.
The S&P Global India Manufacturing PMI is prepared by S&P Global on the basis of responses received from purchasing managers of 400 manufacturers.
9. 50 Electric Buses launched in Delhi with support under FAME India Phase II scheme
Tags: Government Schemes National News
On 3 January 2022, 50 electric buses were launched in Delhi with support from the government under the FAME India Phase II scheme of the Ministry of Heavy Industry.
Important facts
In 2019, the government approved Rs 10,000 crore for a period of three years.
Out of the total budgetary support, about 86 per cent of the funds have been allocated for incentives to generate demand for electric vehicles.
Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said that the government has placed an order for 3,538 electric buses. Of these, a total of 1,716 buses have been deployed so far.
The Union Territory of Delhi had sanctioned 400 electric buses – 300 to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) for intra-city operations and 100 to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for last-mile connectivity – in August 2019.
A total of 250 buses have already been deployed by DTC and now the remaining 50 buses have been launched fulfilling MHI's commitment of providing 300 electric buses to DTC.
FAME India Scheme
To improve the infrastructure required for the large-scale use of electric vehicles, the Government formulated a Scheme namely FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) in 2015.
Under this scheme, by the year 2022, 60-70 lakh hybrid and electric vehicles are targeted to be put on the roads across the country.
This will reduce the consumption of about 950 crore litres of petrol and diesel, which will also save Rs 62 thousand crores spent on this.
The main objective of this scheme is to reduce pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Phase-II of FAME India Scheme is being implemented for a period of 3 years from April 1, 2019.
The Phase-I of this Scheme was launched for a period of 2 years from 1st April 2015, which was extended from time to time and the last extension was allowed up to 31st March 2019.
What are Electric Vehicles?
Electric Vehicles are vehicles that are partially or fully powered on electric power.
They have low running costs and are also very environmentally friendly as they use little or no fossil fuels (petrol or diesel).
These vehicles can solve the problems of increasing pollution, global warming, depleting natural resources etc.
10. 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.
