NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Manipur celebrates Gaan Ngai
festival: Zeliangrong community of Manipur has celebrated the Gaan Ngai festival on
4th Jauary 2023. This
festival also marks the end of the year when the farmers have stored their foodgrain in their
ganeries. They
show their gratitude by offering to the almighty a good harvest and
praying for a better life. It is a
custom to produce new fire by
rubbing dry wood and split bamboo pieces and distributing them. The Zeliangrong community comprises Rongmei,
Liangmei, and Zeme tribes. In Manipur, the Gaan Ngai festival of the Zeliangrong
community will be celebrated tomorrow. The Gaan Ngai festival is one of the
major festivals of Manipur which is celebrated every year after harvesting.
2. MoD, MoE, MSDE and all three
Services sign MoUs for education of Agniveers: The Ministry of
Defence (MoD), Ministry of Education (MoE), Ministry of Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), and all three Services have signed MoUs
to facilitate the continued education of Agniveers while serving in
the Armed Forces. National Institute of Open School and IGNOU will
awarded 12th Class certificates and Bachelor’s degrees to Agniveers. This
will enable Agniveers to complete education in a timely manner and
develop additional qualities and skills The Ministry of
Defence, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship, and all three Services have signed MoUs with various
stakeholders to facilitate the continued education of Agniveers while serving
in the Armed Forces.
3. Shashi Tharoor’s latest book
Ambedkar: A Life launched: A book titled 'Ambedkar: A
Life', authored by Shashi Tharoor has been launhced at the Kitaab
Kolkata event. Prabha Khaitan Foundation (PKF) at the ITC Sonar presented by
Shree Cement organized the event. The event was attended by bibliophiles young
and old, members of Ehsaas Women and FICCI FLO. Other notable books of Shashi
Tharoor: Riot (2001), Why I Am A Hindu (2018), The Paradoxical Prime
Minister (2018), India: From Midnight to the Millennium (1997)
4. BharatPe appoints Nalin Negi as
interim CEO: BharatPe has appointed current chief financial officer (CFO),
Nalin Negi as the interim chief executive officer (CEO). He has replaced
Suhail Sameer, who stepped down from the position. He will take on the
role of strategic advisor, effective January 7, 2023. Negi has previously
worked at GE Capital and SBI Card. He was the CFO of SBI Card for over ten
years. BharatPe was founded in March 2018. BharatPe Board Chairman: Rajnish
Kumar
5. President Murmu inaugurated
Samvidhan Udyan in Jaipur: President Droupadi Murmu has
inaugurated Samvidhan Udyan at Raj Bhavan in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The
President also inaugurated the Transmission System for Solar Energy Zones
in Rajasthan and lay the foundation stone for one thousand Mega Watt
Bikaner Solar Power Project virtually.
She also launched a National Campaign
on ‘RISE-Rising India through Spiritual Empowerment’, organized by
Brahma Kumaris. Murmu also inaugurated the 18th National Scout-Guide Jamboree,
at Rohat in Pali district Rajasthan. Over 35,000 scouts – guides from all over
the country will participate in this mega-event scheduled to be held from the
4th to the 10th of January. Rajasthan is hosting it after 66 years.
6. PM Modi to launch world’s longest
river cruise from Varanasi to Assam: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off
the world’s longest luxury river cruise – ‘Ganga Vilas’ – from Uttar Pradesh’s
Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Assam on January 13. The cruise will
cover 3,200 kilometres in 50 days. Passing through the rivers of India and
Bangladesh, the cruise will be covering 27 different river systems and will
stop at over 50 tourist sites, including world heritage. This will be the
largest river journey by a single river ship in the world and would put both
India and Bangladesh on the river cruise map of the world. The Ganga Vilas
cruise, which will start from Varanasi, will pass through prominent cities like
Kolkata and Dhaka before reaching Bogibeel in Dibrugarh district of Assam on
March 1. Private players Antara Luxury River Cruises and JM Baxi River Cruises
along with the governmental partnership from the Inland Waterways Authority of
India (IWAI) will operate the river cruise. The luxury river cruise vessel,
Ganga Vilas, have 18 cabins/suites and all other associated facilities.
7. Rajnath Singh inaugurated steel arch
Siyom Bridge in Arunachal Pradesh: Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the 100 metre-Siyom
Bridge in Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. It is a state-of-the-art
Class 70 steel arch superstructure bridge. He also inaugurated 27 other
infrastructure projects in Arunachal Pradesh. All these projects have been
prepared at a cost of Rs. 724 crore in seven border states and union
territories. He also inaugurated three VSAT-based telemedicine nodes in Ladakh
and Mizoram. The Siyom Bridge is one of the 28 projects completed by the Border
Roads Organisation at a cost of Rs 724 crore to strengthen border
infrastructure. Of the 28 projects inaugurated by the Defence Minister, eight
are in Ladakh, five in Arunachal Pradesh, four in Jammu and Kashmir, three each
in Sikkim, Punjab and Uttarakhand and two in Rajasthan. In addition, three
telemedicine nodes were inaugurated, two in Ladakh and one in Mizoram.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. India to take charge of APPU in
Bangkok, Thailand: India will take
charge of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) in Bangkok, Thailand
from January 2023. Dr. Vinaya Prakash Singh will take over the charge
of Secretary General of the Union for a tenure of four years. The APPU is
an intergovernmental organization of 32-member countries of the
Asian-Pacific region. Aim of APPU: To extend, facilitate and improve
postal relations between member countries and to promote cooperation in the
field of postal services. The goal of APPU is to
extend, facilitate and improve postal relations between member countries and to
promote cooperation in the field of postal services. Dr. Vinaya Prakash Singh,
erstwhile Member (Personnel), Postal Services Board will take over the charge
of Secretary General of the Union for a tenure of four years.
2. China becomes the first country in
Asia to launch Hydrogen powered Train: China has become
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. The
hydrogen train gets a top speed of 160 km/h, and the operational range without
refueling is 600 km. The German Coradia iLint serial train developed by French
company Alstom has set a record 1175 Km range without refueling. 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. France’s rail transport company Alstom has made the hydrogen
train in Germany. Fuel cells have been installed in this train, which generates
energy by mixing hydrogen with oxygen and in return, only water and steam are
emitted. This eco-friendly train can travel up to 1000 kilometres in one go and
its maximum speed is 140 km/h. China began manufacturing hydrogen trams in
2010.
3. India takes over leadership of the
Asian Pacific Postal Union: India will take
over the leadership of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) having its
Headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand from this month. 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.
4. IIT-M collaborated with DRDO to
develop defence technology: IIT Madras Centre of Excellence
(CoE) has collaborated with the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) to develop Advanced Defence Technologies. Both DRDO and IIT
Madras are working together on Advanced Defence Technologies including Combat
Vehicle Technologies. It is an important milestone in bringing together the
Academia, Industry and DRDO to collaborate and develop Atmanirbhar technologies
for critical needs of our country. Specifically, this will provide a
first-of-its-kind opportunity for Startups and MSMEs to participate in this
critical Nation Building activity. IIT Madras CoE- ‘DRDO Industry Academia-
Ramanujan Centre of Excellence’ (DIA-RCoE) will be conducting a directed
research process to meet the national defence and security needs of the nation.
5. 4 January – World Braille Day: World
Braille Day is celebrated every year on 4 January around the
world and it also marks the birth anniversary of Braille’s inventor Louis
Braille. Objective – To promote awareness about Braille and the contributions
of Louis Braille. The United Nations has been commemorating the day since 2019.
Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809. He lost his vision at an early age
following an accident. An educator for the visually impaired, Braille developed
his eponymous writing and reading system in order to help others. His writing
system used six tactile dots in order to represent alphabetic, numerical,
musical, mathematical, and scientific symbols. He had received a scholarship to
the National Institute for Blind Children, where he taught later.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1. Koustav
Chatterjee becomes 78th Grandmaster of India: 19-year-old Koustav Chatterjee became India’s
78th Grandmaster in MPL 59th National Senior Chess Championship in New
Delhi. He is also the tenth GM from West Bengal. Koustav earned his first GM
norm in October 2021 at a Grandmasters’ chess tournament in Bangladesh. He
crossed FIDE rating 2500 in August. Koustav is in the joint-lead with GM
Abhijeet Gupta at the National Senior Chess Championship with a score of 8/10
after 10 rounds.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. India and ADB sign loan agreements
to boost infrastructure sector in India: India has signed various loan agreements with
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to boost the infrastructure
sector in the country. A loan agreement of 350 million US dollars was
signed to improve connectivity in Maharashtra. Govt also signed agreement
worth 300 million US dollars to upgrade over 300 Km of State
highways and district roads in Assam. A 220 million dollar loan agreement was
signed to improve energy security, and resilience of the power sector
in Tripura. Several loan agreements have been signed
today by the Government and the Asian Development Bank to boost the
infrastructure sector in the country. The Finance Ministry said, a loan
agreement was signed worth 350 million US dollars to improve connectivity in
Maharashtra, and a loan agreement worth 300 million US dollars will be utilised
to upgrade over 300 kilometres of State highways and major district roads in Assam.
2. HDFC Bank partners with Microsoft
for digital transformation: HDFC
Bank has partnered with Microsoft in the next phase of
its digital transformation. Aim: To unlock business value by
transforming the application portfolio, modernising the data landscape, and
securing the enterprise with Microsoft Cloud. The bank is developing
in-house intellectual properties (IP) as well as partnering with several
companies. The bank has leveraged Microsoft Azure to consolidate and
modernise its enterprise data landscape by Federated Data Lake. The private sector lender is developing in-house IPs as well
as partnering with several companies, including FinTechs, to co-create
technology IPs, the lender said in a statement.
3. India Accelerator, ICICI Bank and
Infosys Finacle join hands: India
Accelerator has launched a program created to nurture and co-innovate
with the startup ecosystem in India named 'i3 Launchpad'. This has
been developed in collaboration with ICICI Bank and Infosys Finacle. Objective: To
support a community of entrepreneurs who are on a mission to create brands that
can have a global impact. The program is open to startups across all
industries and will onboard two cohorts a year, with a target
of 12-18 startups in each cohort. The program is
open to startups across all industries and will onboard two cohorts a year,
with a target of 12-18 startups in each cohort. Sectors in focus for the first
cohort include fintech, enterprise tech & SaaS, proptech, wealthtech,
sustainability & greentech, and insurtech.
4. Niva Bupa and Sundaram Finance signs
corporate agency agreement: Niva Bupa
Health Insurance Company (formerly Max Bupa Health Insurance Company) has
signed a corporate agency agreement with Sundaram Finance Limited. Sundaram
Finance will use its network across the country to reach out to
customers as part of this partnership Niva Bupa’s select range of
indemnity plans would be offered to Sundaram Finance’s growing customers Sundaram
Finance Limited MD: Rajiv Lochan Niva Bupa Health Insurance MD &
CEO: Krishnan Ramachandran
5. Bandhan Bank launched ‘Jahaan
Bandhan, Wahaan Trust’ campaign: Bandhan Bank has launched its campaign ‘Jahaan Bandhan, Wahaan
Trust’, featuring cricketer Sourav Ganguly as its brand ambassador. The
campaign was conceptualised by Leo Burnett Orchard. Bandhan
was constituted in 2001 as a not-for-profit entity. The RBI had
accorded ‘universal banking licence’, following which the Bank has started
operating on August 23, 2015. Objective: To bring in financial inclusion
and women empowerment
Bandhan Bank
headquarters: Kolkata
DEFENCE
1. Captain Shiva Chouhan becomes first
woman officer to be deployed at Siachen: Captain Shiva Chauhan (Indian Army's Fire and Fury
Corps) has become the first woman officer to be operationally deployed
in Kumar Post (height: 15,632 feet) at the highest battlefield in the
world-Siachen. She hails from Rajasthan. She led an arduous 508-km
long `Sura Soi’ Siachen Sappers cycling expedition from the Siachen War
Memorial to Kargil War Memorial in July 2022. She got inducted to the
Siachen Glacier on January 2 after an arduous climb. Before this, no women officer was ever deployed at Siachen
glacier at such an altitude in the past 40 years after India launched Operation
Meghdoot to secure the world’s highest and coldest battleground.
OBITUARIES
1. Noted Rabindra
Sangeet exponent Sumitra Sen passes away: Noted Rabindra Sangeet exponent, Sumitra Sen has
been passed away at the age of 89. Her rendition of songs inlcude Jokhon Porbe
Na Mor, Sokhi Vabona Kahare Bole and Mone Ki Dwidha. In 2012, she was
honoured with the Sangeet Mahasamman award by West Bengal government. Rabindra
Sangeet also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian
subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore. Noted Rabindra Sangeet exponent Sumitra
Sen passed away in Kolkata Monday. She was 89. Her daughter Srabani Sen took to
the social media platform Facebook to inform of her death.
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