1. PM Modi to launch world’s longest river cruise from Varanasi to Assam on 13 January
Tags: National Economy/Finance
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the world's longest river cruise, which will travel from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh on 13 January 2023. This will be the single largest river journey by a single river ship in the world.
The cruise, which has been named ‘Ganga Vilas cruise will cover 4000 Kilometers along 27 river systems, including Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly, Brahmaputra, and West Coast Canal in 50 days.
Route of the river cruise
The Ganga Vilas cruise will start from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh. In Bangladesh it will cover an 1100 Kilometers route before entering India again.
This will be possible under the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route, which has already opened trade and transit channels connecting the two countries on Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers.
50 significant tourist destinations will be visited throughout the journey, including some historical monuments, the iconic Varanasi Ganga Aarti, and protected areas like Kaziranga National Park, Assam and the Sundarbans Delta in West Bengal during the cruise.
Who will operate the cruise?
The Varanasi-Dibrugarh cruise is expected to be run on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. The government’s Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has signed an agreement with Antara Luxury River Cruises and JM Baxi River Cruises for the initiative. The ticket price would be decided by the operators without Centre’s intervention.
Union Minister for Port, Shipping and Waterways: Sarbananda Sonowal
2. 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.
3. 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
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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
7. ‘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
8. 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.
9. 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%).
10. 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.
