Daily Current Affairs 20th January 2023
National News
1st Global Tourism Investors Summit to be organized by Ministry of Tourism
- 1st Global Tourism Investors Summit from 10th to 12th April 2023 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi has been organized by the Ministry of Tourism.
- The aim of the summit is to bring together global business leaders, and policymakers to understand and explore Tourism Business opportunities in India.
- And also MoT organized a Road show for the Northern region in Chandigarh.
The Network Planning Group (NPG) held its 41st session in New Delhi
- The Network Planning Group (NPG) held its 41st session in New Delhi on 18 January 2023, Chaired by the Special Secretary of various Departments for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
- In that session three projects were evaluated by the NPG and recommended for implementation and these include intermodal infrastructure, creation of multi-modal logistics park facilities and other terminal infrastructure related to railways and roadways.
Indian Army Organizes Sainya Ranakshetram 2.0-A Cyber Threat Seminar cum Workshop
- The Indian Army under the aegis of HQ Army Training Command (ARTRAC) organized the second edition of Hackathon aptly named “SAINYA RANAKSHETRAM 2.0” from October 2022 to January 2023 with an aim to seek solutions to operational cyber challenges.
- The event was aimed at providing a platform to identify indigenous talent in niche domains and enhance the standard of training.
| Domain name | Prize Winners |
| Secure Software Coding | Mr Aravindha Hariharan M from Coimbatore |
| Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) | Colonel Nishant Rathee, Commandant, Army HQ Computer Centre |
| Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning | Master Mithil Salunkhe, a 15 year old class 10 student at Gyan Mata Vidya Vihar, Nanded, Maharashtra |
| Cyber Deterrence | Mr Shaksham Jaiswal, BE (CS) from MVSR Engineering College in Hyderabad. |
International news
NASA Awards for Greener, More Fuel-Efficient Aircraft of the Future
- Boeing’s sustainable flight demonstrator project won an award from NASA, as the company aims to roll out green single-aisle airliners by the end of the decade.
- The NASA space agency will invest $425 million to help Boeing build a more fuel-efficient airline. The new Boeing aircrafts could go into use by the 2030s. The United States is currently aiming to achieve net-zero carbon aviation emissions by 2050.
Amazon ranks as World’s Most Valued Brand
- Amazon has become the most valued brand by overtaking Apple Company.
- Amazon has reclaimed the top spot as the world’s most valuable brand despite its brand value falling 15 per cent this year from $350.3 billion to $299.3 billion.
- Top 10 World’s Most Valued Brand
| Organization | Value |
| Amazon | $299.3 billion |
| Apple | $297.5 billion |
| $281.4 billion | |
| Microsoft | $191.6 billion |
| Walmart | $113.8 billion |
| Samsung Group | $99.7 billion |
| ICBC | $69.5 billion |
| Verizon | $67.4 billion |
| Tesla | $66.2 billion |
| TikTok/Douyin | $65.7 billion |
State news
16th edition of Jaipur Literature Festival
- The 16th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival held from 19th-23rd January, 2023 in 20 Indian and 14 international languages and More than 250 speakers from the field of Art, literature, and culture across the world are participating in the festival.
- This year’s themes of the festival include the climate crisis, G20, economics, geopolitics, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Indo-China relations, agriculture, health, and energy.
Assamese poet Nilamani Phookan passed away
- A famous Assamese poet and Jnanpith awardee Nilmani Phookan passed away on 19th january 2023 and he was 89 years old,The poet was born in Dergaon in Golaghat district on September 10, 1933.
- He won the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary award for the year 2021,
- He was also awarded the 1981 Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese for his poetry collection,’Kobita’,
- He received the Padma Shri in 1990, and the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest literary honour in India, in 2022.
Economic news
World Bank reported that Pakistan is South Asia’s Weakest Economy
- The World Bank forecast Pakistan’s economic growth to slow further to two percent during the current year (2023). This will mark a drop of two percentage points from its June 2022 estimate.
- Floods in Pakistan in July (2022) was cited as the main reason for the faltering economic situation in the country by the World Bank. Almost one-third of Pakistan was devastated by floods which directly impacted about 15 percent of the country’s population.
Appointments
Dev Raj Kimire elected as Speaker of Nepal Assembly
- The election to elect the new Speaker of the Parliament of Nepal was held on 19 January 2023. 2 candidates participated in this election.
- Dev Raj Khimire was duly elected while elections held between CPN-UML candidate Dev Raj Khimire and Nepali Congress candidate Ishwari Newpane contested.
Archaeological studies
350-year-old inscription discovered in Ramanathapuram -Tamilnadu
- Archaeologists have discovered a 350-year-old inscription in the Kadganir Balamurugan temple complex at Se.Kodikulam, near Chatrakudi near Ramanathapuram, which states that King Sethupathi donated a village for food.
- The inscription is on two sides of a beach rock pillar 4½ feet high and 1½ feet wide, with a scepter, sun and moon inscribed on one side. The inscription has a total of 26 lines.
A 300-year-old Nayak period monument was discovered in Salem-Tamilnadu
- A team from the Salem District Historical Research Center has discovered a 300-year-old Nayaka period stone monument from a cult on the banks of the Vashishta River in Belur.
- In this monument there are sculptures of a man and a woman as a couple worshiping the Shivalinga with both hands folded. Researchers have found that the couple on this memorial may be Palaiyakars of Chinnamanayakar descent.
Sangam period flint dolls found on the banks of Tenpenna River- Tamil Nadu
- In a study conducted by Villupuram Government Art College, broken parts and circular chips of Sangam era flint dolls were found on the banks of Tenpenna River near Panruti, Cuddalore district.
- When looking at the artifacts that can be found in the study, it can be known that ancient people are living in these areas. It is noteworthy that such clay toys have been found maximum in Tamilnadu excavations.
Book Publications
A Book called “Come! Let’s Run” Authored by Tamil Nadu Health Minister was published
- The English version of the book titled ‘Come! Let’s Run’ authorized by Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ma. Subramanian was released by Krishnamachari Srikkanth, former Captain of the Indian Cricket team. The Tamil version of the same book titled ‘Odalam Vanga’ was released on March 8, 2021.
- This book is a fascinating account of the physical, emotional, and historical journey taken by Thiru.Subramanian during the course of running his marathons in Tamil Nadu, in India, and all over the world.
Awards
Bahrain’s ISA Award for Service to Humanity
- Himalayan Cataract Project Co-Founder Dr Sanduk Ruit has won the ISA Award for Service to Humanity, a top civilian award of Bahrain,Dr Ruit is pioneer in delivering high-quality microsurgical procedures in remote eye camps in affordable and accessible.
- The award carries a cash prize of USD 1 million, a certificate of merit and a gold medal. And also he is fondly called as “God of Sight”.
TMB bank won the ‘Best Small Bank Award’
- Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has bagged ‘Best Small Bank Award’ in the ‘Best Banks Survey for the year 2022’ done by Business Today-KPMG (BT-KPMG Best banks survey) for the past 27 years with 37 parameters for declaring a bank as an awardee.
- The bank has won this award under the category of banks with the book size of less than ₹1 lakh crore.
Sports news
ICC ODI Rankings list published
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the ODI Ranking List.
- In this, batsmen ranking list.
- Pakistani player Babar Azam is ranked 1st place.
- Rassie van der Dusen (South Africa) 2nd place
- De Kock (South Africa) ranked 3rd place.
- India’s Virat Kohli moved up to the 4th spot (Virat Kohli scored 283 runs including 2 centuries in the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka)
- Ranking of ODI bowlers
- Trend Boult also ranked first
- Hazlewood (Australia) at 2nd position
- Indian player Siraj is also at 3rd position.
- Ranked ODI All-rounders
- Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) at ranked first,
- Muhammad Nabi (Afghanistan) in 2nd position.
- Mehdi Hasan (Bangladesh), also at 3rd position.
Important day
Penguin Awareness Day
- Penguin Awareness Day is observed on January 20 every year.
- Penguin Awareness Day is a great initiative to raise awareness shrinking population of penguins every year goes mostly unnoticed because their natural habitat is usually where humans don’t live on this crucial matter, and also enjoy fun penguin-themed activities.
