9th January, 2023 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
2022 is India's 5th warmest year since 1901

The year 2022 was the fifth warmest for India since 1901 when India Meteorological Department (IMD) started keeping weather records, the weather office said in an official statement on Climate of India during last year.
The annual mean land surface air temperature was 0.51 degrees Celsius above the long-term average which is the mean temperature for the 1981-2010 period.
This was lower than the highest warming observed in India in 2016 when the average temperature was 0.71 degrees Celsius.
The IMD predicted that in the next 24 hours, dense to very dense fog conditions will be persistent over many parts of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh.

Joshimath crisis: PMO asks experts to devise short, medium and long term plans

Jyotir Math, the Shankaracharya Math in Joshimath, has developed cracks in numerous places over the past 15 days, which has caused concern among the sacred institution. These cracks have gotten worse over the past 15 days, according to the Jyotir Math administration. The chief of Math, Swami Vishwapriyananda, has pinpointed "development" as the root of the crisis.
Every winter, the idol from the primary Badrinath temple is moved to the Joshimath Vasudeva temple, where Lord Badrinath spends the winter. Joshimath is revered by Hindus as a sacred location and a prominent national centre for pilgrimage.

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INTERNATIONAL
India, Japan to hold joint exercise to promote air defence cooperation

India and Japan are set to hold a joint air exercise, ‘Veer Guardian-2023’ at Hyakuri Air Base, Japan from January 12 to 26, to promote air defence cooperation.
To promote Air Defence cooperation between the countries, India and Japan are all set to hold the joint Air Exercise, ‘Veer Guardian-2023’ involving the Indian Air Force and Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) at Hyakuri Air Base, Japan from 12 January 2023 to 26 January 2023.
The Indian contingent participating in the air exercise will include four Su-30 MKI, two C-17s & one IL-78 aircraft. Meanwhile, the JASDF will be participating with four F-2 & four F-15 aircraft.

G20 leaders to discuss reducing remittance cost for workers outside India to 3% by 2027

Ahead of the first Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion meeting of the G20 which is scheduled from 9 to 11 January at Kolkata, the G20 leaders on Sunday, discussed the high remittances cost workers have to bear and steps to reduce this cost from the current levels.
Currently, the average remittance cost stands at around 6% and discussions are on to reduce this cost to around 3% by 2027.
The aim is to bring it down to an average of 3 percent by 2027.
Remittance costs generally include the commission charged by the sending agent and the currency conversion fee charged by the local converter while transferring the amount to the beneficiary.

ECONOMY
After China and US, India becomes world's 3rd largest auto market: Report

For the first time, India surpassed Japan in auto sales last year and became third largest auto market in the world, Nikkei Asia reported on Friday. The country's sales of new vehicles totaled at least 4.25 million units, topping the 4.2 million sold in Japan.
According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, new vehicle delivered in India totaled 4.13 million between January and November 2022.
It is expected that India's sales volume will further rise with the inclusion of pending fourth-quarter sales figures for commercial vehicles, along with year-end results yet to be released by Tata Motors and other automakers.
China continued to lead the global auto market in 2021 with 26.27 million vehicles sold. The US remained second at 15.4 million vehicles, followed by Japan at 4.44 million units.

RBI to auction Sovereign Green bonds

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will auction ₹16,000 crore of sovereign green bonds (SGrBs) in two tranches, the central bank announced on Friday. The RBI will auction 5-year and 10-year green bonds worth ₹4,000 crore each on 25 January and on 9 February, and this would be a uniform price auction.
The Reserve Bank of India, in consultation with the Government of India, has decided to notify the indicative calendar for issuance of SGrBs for the fiscal year 2022-23.
In line with the ambition to significantly reduce the carbon intensity of the economy, the Union Budget for 2022-23 had mentioned about SGrBs.
Green bonds are financial instruments that generate proceeds for investment in environmentally sustainable and climate-suitable projects.

ENVIRONMENT
Silent Valley bird species goes up to 175

A bird survey conducted at the Silent Valley National Park in the last week of December identified 141 species, of which 17 were new. So far, 175 species of birds have been spotted in Silent Valley.
The survey held on December 27, 28 and 29 marked the 30 th anniversary of the first bird survey in Silent Valley. Although the first survey was held in the last week of December 1990, the anniversary could not be celebrated in 2020 December because of COVID-19 restrictions. Veteran birders such as P.K. Uthaman and C. Sushant were the only members in the 7 th survey team who had attended the first survey held in 1990.
As many as 30 birders and forest staff took part in the bird survey by staying in seven camps inside the core area of the Silent Valley. Wildlife Warden S. Vinod said that another bird survey would soon be held in the buffer zone of the national park.
The survey was held in association with the Kerala Natural History Society.

AWARDS
Odakkuzhal Award for Ambikasuthan Mangad

Writer Ambikasuthan Mangad has been selected for Odakuzhal Award 2022 for his collection of short stories titled Pranavayu.
The award consists of ₹30,000, citation, and plaque. Instituted by the Guruvayurappan Trust, the award is being given for the best collection of short stories in Malayalam.
In its evaluation, the judging committee for 2022 said Pranavayu included stories that are contemporary and filled with modern vision and outlook. The stories Neeraliyan and Pranavayu, which are based on the topic of climate change, offer a unique reading experience in Malayalam.
The award will be presented on the occasion of the 45th death anniversary of Mahakavi G. Sankara Kurup, who established the Guruvayurappan Trust, on February 2 at the Ernakulam Samastha Kerala Sahithya Parishad building here. Literary critic Dr. M. Leelavathi will present the award to Ambikasuthan Mangad.

Published date : 09 Jan 2023 05:20PM