Daily Current Affairs 14th January 2023
National News
Overall Development List of the country was Published
- Care Edge, a company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, recently conducted a study based on seven factors at the state level including social, economic, infrastructure and environment.
- Among the big states, Maharashtra has the highest score in terms of overall development; Gujarat ranks 2nd place and Tamil Nadu in the third place.
- Similarly in the list of small states Goa ranks tops, and Sikkim is in 2nd place and Himachal Pradesh ranks 3rd place.
“Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train” to be launched by Indian Railways
- Indian Railways is going to run its Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train on a very special tour “Shri Ram-Janaki Yatra: Ayodhya to Janakpur” covering two most significant pilgrimage sites Ayodhya and Janakpur from the neighboring countries India and Nepal.
- The tourist train will start from Delhi on 17th Feb 2023 and this initiative will strengthen the bilateral relations and also promote the cultural relations between the two countries.
International news
New York Times list of places to go in 2023
- The New York Times has published a list of 52 places to visit in 2023, in that list the Asian destinations were Vietnam, Japan, Bhutan and India.
- In India, Kerala is the only Indian State– home of the famed backwaters, beaches and the winner of several responsible tourism awards.
- Kerala won the three international tourism honors in 2022, the Global Vision Award 2022 for experiential and environment-friendly tourism.
State news
PM Modi inaugurates Tent City in Varanasi
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Tent City in Varanasi and also laid foundation stones for several inland waterways projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore on 13th January 2023.
- The Tent City, developed on the banks of the Ganga opposite the famed Ghats of the holy city, aims to tap the tourism potential of the region.
International Balloon Festival
- An international balloon festival is being organized in Pollachi, Coimbatore, on behalf of the Tourism Department of the Tamil Nadu Government to promote the tourism industry.
- In the year 2023 International Balloon Festival is scheduled to be held from 12th to 15th January at Achipatti near Pollachi. 12 balloons brought from 8 countries including France, Germany and Netherlands were flown in this 3-day balloon festival.
A transgender has been appointed to the post of village assistant for the first time in Tamil Nadu
- The examination for the post of Village Assistant was held recently by the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management. Shruti, a transgender from Ettayapuram area of Thoothukudi district, was selected in this examination.
- She is the first transgender to be selected for the post of Village Assistant in Tamil Nadu. District Collector K. Senthil Raj gave him the appointment order for the post of Melakaranthai Village Assistant.
A bill to amend the Tamil Nadu Government Servants Act was passed in the Assembly
- As per the Ordinance issued on 1st December 2021, Tamil language has been made compulsory in all competitive examinations conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.
- In order to implement this, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan tabled a bill in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on January 13, 2023 to amend the TNPSC Act to state that candidates can work in government jobs only if they pass the Tamil language test. This amendment bill was passed by voice vote.
India’s First Centre of Excellence in Online Gaming to be set up in Shillong
- Digital India Startup Hub through the Software Technology Parks of India shall set up India’s first Centre of Excellence in Online Gaming at Shillong by March 2023, said The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
- The Centre of Excellence in Shillong is expected to catalyze startups and entrepreneurs from the entire North East Region to build the Next Gen Online Gaming ecosystem.
PM Modi will flag off Eighth Vande Bharat Express train
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will flag off Vande Bharat Express train connecting Secunderabad with Visakhapatnam on 15th January, 2023 via video conferencing.
- The train will be the eighth Vande Bharat Express to be introduced by Indian Railways and will be the first one connecting the two Telugu speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, covering a distance of around 700 km.
- It will have stoppages at Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry and Vijayawada stations in Andhra Pradesh and at Khammam, Warangal and Secunderabad stations in Telangana.
Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel inaugurates wildlife rehabilitation centre
- Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel inaugurated online a wildlife rehabilitation Centre at Daskroi’s Bilasia village in Ahmedabad on 13th January 2023, as part of the state’s Karuna Abhiyan (campaign for compassion), launched during Uttarayan to save birds injured by sharp kite strings.
- The rehabilitation centre provides all kinds of facilities for the treatment of injured animals as well as their rehabilitation. The Centre is spread over an area of 23,000 square meters, prepared at an estimated cost of Rs 2.72 crore.
Economic news
India’s retail inflation rate eased down to 5.72%
- The central government has released the details related to retail inflation for the month of December 2022. Accordingly, retail inflation fell to a one-year low of 5.72 percent in December.
- The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation rate eased to 5.88% in November, and 6.77% in October 2022.The government has mandated the RBI to maintain retail inflation at 4% with a margin of 2% on either side for a five-year period ending March 2026.
Appointments
Santhi Kumari takes charge as first woman Chief Secretary of Telangana
- A Santhi Kumari, a 1989 batch IAS officer, became the first woman Chief Secretary of Telangana, and the government has appointed Shanti Kumari as the state’s sixth Chief Secretary, succeeding Somesh Kumar from the DoPT Telangana cadre and will hold the post till April 2025.
- Santhi Kumari hails from Andhra Pradesh and was the special chief secretary (Forest) before her elevation. She has extensive experience in a wide range of areas including poverty alleviation, inclusive development, education and health, skill development and forestry.
Cognizant Appoints Ravi Kumar S as Chief Executive Officer
- A leading MNC organization called Cognizant announced the appointment of former Infosys president Ravi Kumar as its new chief executive officer on January 12, 2023.
- Ravi Kumar succeeds the CEO Brian Humphries, who will be departing from the company on March 15, 2023.
Indian-American Usha Reddi takes oath as Kansas state Senator in US
- Indian American Democratic Party politician Usha Reddi has been sworn in as State Senator for District 22 in Kansas State of the US.
- She succeeds Manhattan Senator Tom Hawk, who announced his retirement last month. Reddi, who has served on the Manhattan City Commission since 2013, was appointed by Democratic precinct leaders in Riley, Geary and Clay counties.
Science and Technology
A comet appears in the sky after 50 thousand years
- In March 2022, US space explorers discovered that a very rare green comet is approaching Earth after 50,000 years. And this rare comet has been named as ‘C/2022 E3 (ZDF)’ by the American space agency ‘NASA’.
- This green comet is predicted to make its closest approach to Earth in late January and February 1st and 2nd in 2023.
Awards
Indian peacekeepers were honored with prestigious UN medals
- The ceremony, which was held in Upper Nile, in that ceremony Over 1,000 Indian peacekeepers serving with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) were honored with prestigious UN medals at an award ceremony, where a female officer of the Indian Army, Major Jasmine Chattha, led the parade for the first time.
- UNMISS Force Commanders Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian presented the medals to the peacekeepers at the ceremony. Of the 1,171 troops honored with UN medals, five are women, peacekeepers.
Important day
International Kite Day
- International Kite Day begins every year on January 14 during Makar Sankranti and ends on January 15.
- International Kite Day originated in India, where it is most popularly observed in the city of Ahmedabad in the northern state of Gujarat. In Hindi, the festival is known as Uttarayan, while in other regions of India, it is known as Makar Sankranti.
