Daily Current Affairs 4th January 2023
National News
‘SMART’ programme launched to boost R&D in Ayurveda
- The Scope for Mainstreaming Ayurveda Research in Teaching Professionals (SMART) programme was launched by the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine and the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, the two prominent institutions under the Ayush Ministry was launched on 02/01/2023.
- A special government initiative aimed to boost scientific research in healthcare areas through Ayurveda colleges and hospitals.
CJI announces launch of electronic Supreme Court Reports (e-SCR) project to provide access to judgments
- In order to move a step towards digitalization, Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y.Chandrachud launched the electronic Supreme Court Reports (e-SCR) project to provide free access to its about 34,000 judgments to lawyers, law students and the common public on 02 January 2023.
- These verdicts will be available on the apex court website, its mobile app and on the judgment portal of the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).
NTPC started India’s first green hydrogen blending operation in PNG network
- The green hydrogen blending has been started in the piped natural gas (PNG) network of NTPC Kawas Township, Surat, The project is a joint effort of NTPC and Gujarat Gas Limited (GGL).
- This set-up is geared up to supply H2-NG (natural gas) to households of Kawas Township at Aditya Nagar, Surat.
This feat is achieved only by a few select countries like UK, Germany, and Australia etc, and this would bring India at the centre stage of the global hydrogen economy.
India takes over leadership of the Asian Pacific Postal Union
- Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) is an intergovernmental organization of 32-member countries of the Asian-Pacific region, having its Headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand.
- India will take over the leadership of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) from this January. Following the successful elections held during the 13th APPU Congress held in Bangkok during August- September 2022, Dr. Vinaya Prakash Singh, erstwhile Member (Personnel), Postal Services Board will take over the charge of Secretary General of the Union for tenure of 4 years.
- 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.
State news
President inaugurates Samvidhan Udyan in Jaipur
- President Droupadi Murmu on a two-day visit to Rajasthan,She inaugurated Samvidhan Udyan at Raj Bhavan in Jaipur.She will also grace the launch of a National Campaign on ‘RISE-Rising India through Spiritual Empowerment’, organized by Brahma Kumaris.
- And also inaugurate the Transmission System for Solar Energy Zones in Rajasthan and lay the foundation stone for one thousand MegaWatt Bikaner Solar Power Project virtually.
President to confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards at Indore
- The 17th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention was held from January 8-10 in Indore; Madhya Pradesh.The tradition of celebrating Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) began in 2003.
- President Droupadi Murmu will confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards at the PBD Convention in the valedictory session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations.
- The theme of the 17th Pravas Bharatiya Divas is “Diaspora: Reliable Partners for India’s Progress in Amrit Kaal,”
Virtual-friendly HIV testing & counseling centre started in Mumbai
- Mumbai In an attempt to bring more people from vulnerable communities into the Integrated Counseling and Testing Centers (ICTC) being run by the government, Mumbai District AIDS Control Society (MDACS) started virtual-friendly centers at three civic hospitals in December 2022.
- At these facilities, members of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) community, who counselors have already reached out to online, get fast-tracked services.
Odisha govt to provide 5 kg rice free of cost for 1 yr under SFSS
- Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed the distribution of five kilograms of rice per month free of cost to beneficiaries of the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) for the next one year on 03/01/2022, the total expenditure of Rs 185 crore.
- The state government has now decided to provide a 5-kg entitlement of rice under SFSS to the beneficiaries free of cost for a period of 12 months starting from January 23 to December 23, 2023.
Appointments
For the first time, a woman officer was appointed to the battlefield of Siachen Peak
- Siachen is the highest peak in the world at 15,632 feet in the Himalayan range in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. After the India-Pakistan army clashed at the Siachen Peak in 1984, Indian soldiers have been engaged in intensive security work in the area.
- In this case, Captain Siva Chelahan from the ‘Fire and Fury Corps’ unit of the Indian Army has been appointed as an officer in Siachen for the first time.
New York State’s first female governor is elected
- In the United States of America on November 8,2022, in the elections for parliament and provincial governors, Kathy Hochul, a female political leader, and Lee Seltin, a supporter of former President Trump, competed for the post of governor of New York province on behalf of the Democratic Party.
- Kathy Hochul was elected the 57th Governor of New York State in this election, by defeating Lee Seldin. With this, she became the first woman governor of New York State.
Mexico’s Supreme Court elects 1st female chief justice
- Mexico’s Supreme Court elected Norma Lucia Pina as the first female chief justice in its history on 02/01/2023.
- As chief justice, Pina will also head the entire judicial branch. And she was sworn in for her four-year term at the head of the 11-member court.
Awards
Mumbai world trade centre wins top WTCA recognition
- The MVIRDC World Trade Center, India’s first has been accorded premier accreditation from the World Trade Center’s Association (WTCA), New York “for providing and setting up the highest standards” of various kinds of business-related services.
- The iconic 53-year-old MVIRDC WTC Mumbai is situated in Cuffe Parade with the landmark twin towers, and was the tallest pair of buildings in South Asia till 2009.
Important day
World Braille Day
- World Braille Day was first celebrated on January 4th, 2019, the 210th anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth. and it is celebrated on the 4th of January every year.
- Day is celebrated to raise awareness of the significance of Braille as a means of communication for visually impaired and partially sighted people.
- Braille is a system of raised dots that blind or visually impaired people can read with their fingers; the system is named after the inventor Louis Braille.
Savitri Bhai Phule, the first female teacher of modern India, birth anniversary
- Determined to change the status of women in the country, Savitribai along with Jyotira opened a school for girls in Pune in 1848.
- She is India’s first woman teacher and was born on 3rd January 1831 in Naigaon, a small village in Maharashtra.
Rani Velunachiyar’s birth anniversary
- Rani Velunachiar was an eighteenth-century female freedom fighter from the Sivaganga region of Tamil Nadu who took up arms against the British East India Company and was born on January 3, 1730.
