24th January, 2023 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL

Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar-2023 announced

For the year 2023, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) and Lunglei Fire Station (LFS), Mizoram, both in the Institutional category, have been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar-2023 for their excellent work in Disaster Management.
The Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has instituted an annual award known as Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar to recognize and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organizations in India in the field of disaster management. The award is announced every year on 23rd January, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual. Under the guidance of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah, the country has significantly improved the disaster management practices, preparedness, mitigation and response mechanisms resulting in significant reduction in casualties during natural calamities.
For the award of year-2023, nominations were solicited from 1st July, 2022 onwards. The award scheme for the year 2023 was given wide publicity through print, electronic and social media. In response to the award scheme, 274 valid nominations were received from institutions and individuals.

President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, to be Chief Guest at Republic Day Celebrations

President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, will arrive in New Delhi today, January 24, on a three-day visit to India.
President Sisi will be the Chief Guest on India’s 74th Republic Day. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including five Ministers and senior officials. This is for the first time that the President of Egypt has been invited as Chief Guest on Republic Day. A military contingent from Egyptian Army will also participate in the Republic Day parade.
The Egyptian President previously visited India in October 2015 to participate in the third India Africa Forum Summit and in September 2016 on a State Visit. India and Egypt are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year. Egypt has also been invited as a ‘Guest Country’ during India’s Presidency of G-20 in 2022-23.
President Sisi will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan tomorrow. President Droupadi Murmu will host a State Banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary in the evening.

INTERNATIONAL

US President Biden nominates Julie Turner as special envoy for human rights in North Korea

US President Joe Biden has nominated Julie Turner as special envoy for human rights in North Korea. White House said that the move is to fill a post that has been empty since 2017 amid debate over how rights issues fit with efforts to counter Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
She is a long-time diplomat and current director of the Office of East Asia and the Pacific in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the Department of State. She speaks Korean and has previously worked on North Korean human rights as a special assistant in the envoy's office.
Biden vowed repeatedly after taking office in 2021 that human rights would be at the centre of his foreign policy, but the position had remained vacant.

Brazilian Government Declares Medical Emergency in Yanomami

Recently in Brazil, the government has declared a medical-emergency in the Yanomami region amid reports of child deaths from diseases caused by illegal gold mining and malnutrition-related conditions.

An overview of the news

The purpose of the state of emergency declaration is to restore health services for the Yanomami people that had come to a standstill during the previous government's tenure.
In the four years of Bolsonaro's presidency, 570 Yanomami children died from preventable diseases, mainly from malnutrition as well as malaria, diarrhoea, and mercury used by wildcat gold miners.
The government announced food packages to the Yanomami, where about 26,000 Yanomami live in an area of rainforest and tropical savanna.
The Yonomami area has been a victim of illegal gold mining gangs for decades.

About Yanomami tribes

They are also called South American Indians.
They live in the remote forests of the Orinoco River Basin in southern Venezuela and the northernmost part of the Amazon River Basin in northern Brazil.
They live in small, scattered, semi-permanent villages, speak the Ziriana language, and hunt.
Their population is about 26,000.
Davi Copenava, a Brazilian leader who secured the land rights of the Yanomami people, has been awarded the Right Livelihood Award-2019, also known as Sweden's alternative Nobel Prize.

ECONOMY

Brazil and Argentina to Begin Preparations for Common Currency

Argentina and Brazil will begin preparations to create a common currency, Argentina’s economy minister has said. Sergio Massa said that the two countries would soon decide to start “studying the parameters needed for a common currency”.
The currency would initially be a joint Argentine-Brazilian endeavour, which other Latin American countries could later adopt. In an interview with the Financial Times, the economy minister said the two countries would first study fiscal.

Somalia plans to introduce new notes by 2024

The Central Bank of Somalia is planning the first new issue of 1,000 shilling ($1.76) banknotes for more than three decades. The last 1,000 shilling note entered circulation in 1990, the year before Somalia’s central government collapsed.
The pre-civil war paper currency had continued to circulate, but over time the notes have worn out and counterfeits have driven out genuine pieces.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

JUICE Space Mission of Europe

The European Union is to launch the JUICE Spacecraft in April 2023. The spacecraft is to explore the moons of Jupiter. Specifically, the mission is to study the three major moons of Jupiter namely Ganymede, Europe, and Callisto. Out of the 80 moons of the planet, these three were selected for their large oceans. The satellite is to be launched from French Guiana. Ariane 5 will carry the satellite. JUICE is the first satellite from the earth to enter the orbit of Ganymede.
NASA is to launch this mission in 2024. And the satellite will enter the giant planet orbit by 2030.
Scientists are curious to study Jupiter as the planet has one of the largest moon systems in the universe.

Israeli Astro Physics Mission: ULTRASAT

NASA and Israel will soon sign an agreement on a space mission. Under the agreement, the United States will help Israel in its upcoming Astrophysics Mission called ULTRASAT. The mission is currently being developed by Israel Space Agency and Germany. ULTRASAT will operate in Geo Stationary orbit. It is to carry a UV telescope. The main objective of ULTRASAT is to look for UV signatures in space. Precisely it will look for UV emissions from mergers (collision of neutron stars) and supernova explosions.
The weight of the satellite is 1,100 kg
To be launched in2026
Operational time: three years
Purpose: To look for gravitational waves
Total Cost: 110 million USD.
The objectives of ULTRASAT match with the Astro 2020 survey of NASA. Under this, the US is looking for gravitational wave emissions from stellar and galactic clouds. UV is also a gravitational wave. The Astro 2020 is a decadal survey. It will track the course of Astronomy in the US and the world in 10 years. The mission will identify earth-like planets and is often called the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope. It has a Large UV – IR surveyor. It also looks for habitable zones in the outer space.

Published date : 25 Jan 2023 12:29PM