Daily Current Affairs for Competitive Examinations: January 19, 2023
This article covers the Current Affairs MCQs on National Affairs, International Affairs, Economy, Banking Affairs, Polity, Geography, Environment, Sports, etc., for competitive examinations viz. UPSC, SSC, Bank PO, Bank Clerk, IBPS, Railways, Government Jobs, UPPSC, MPSC, and other state exams. Follow Embibe to enhance your preparation for the Current Affairs section and ace the examination.
Motivation++
“If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever”
—Thomas Aquinas
Current Affairs: Defence
Indian Army Organises Sainya Ranakshetram 2.0
The Indian Army, under the aegis of HQ Army Training Command (ARTRAC), organised the second edition of Hackathon aptly named “SAINYA RANAKSHETRAM 2.0” from October 2022 to January 2023
The prize winners of the event were felicitated by Gen Manoj Pande, Chief of the Army Staff, during a virtual function on 17 January 2023.
Aim:
The major aim is to seek solutions to operational cyber challenges and jump-start and telescope the development time for innovative solutions in the field of Cyber Security.
It also aims to provide a platform to identify indigenous talent in niche domains and enhance the standard of training in domains of-
Cyber Deterrence
Security Software Coding
Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO)
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (AI/ML)
Activities to be held under “Sainya Ranakshetram”:
Secure Software Coding
ESMO: Customised Indian Army-Specific Stack for Wi-Fi 6
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning: NLP Processing and Decoding of Radio Intercepts
Cyber Deterrence: Capture the Flag (CTF)
Question:
Which of the following domains is associated with the Indian Army’s most recent second edition of Hackathon, aptly named “SAINYA RANAKSHETRAM 2.0”?
A. Weapons Procurement
B. Cyber Security
C. High Altitude challenges
D. Sports in services
Answer: B
Current Affairs: National
Uttar Pradesh Tops Charts for Mobile Gaming in India
According to the India Mobile Gaming Report 2022 published by the gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL), Uttar Pradesh (UP) has emerged as the top destination for mobile gamers, followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, and West Bengal.
Details:
The most famous games for the players included Ludo Dice, Snakes and Ladders, Carrom, Fruit Dart, Block Puzzle and Poker, among the top played games.
The report claimed that Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad and Allahabad in UP comprised a total of 36% of the total games in the state. 2022 was the second year, with Lucknow being one of the top cities and also outpacing all metros.
A report from Lumika reveals that India became the world’s largest consumer of mobile games last year. With over 15 billion downloads, the gaming market in India had a value of $2.6 billion in the fiscal year 2022, and with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27%, it would expand to $8.6 billion by 2027.
Question:
According to the India Mobile Gaming Report 2022, which of the following states tops the charts for mobile gaming in India?
A. Karnataka
B. Uttar Pradesh
C. Maharashtra
D. Andhra Pradesh
Answer: B
Check out the Highlights of the Economic Survey 2022-23 by clicking on the link given below: Economic Survey 2022-23
Current Affairs: Science and Technology
ISRO Is Pushing Venus Mission ‘Shukrayaan’ to 2031
Recently authorities of the space science programme said that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is yet to receive approval from the Indian government for the Venus mission and that the mission could, as a result, be postponed to 2031.
ISRO’s Venus mission, called Shukrayaan I, was expected to be launched in December 2024.
The idea was born in 2012; five years later, ISRO commenced preliminary studies after the Department of Space received a 23% hike in the 2017-2018 budget.
What Is Shukrayaan I?
The Shukrayaan I mission will be an orbiter mission, also called the Venus Mission.
Its scientific payloads currently include a high-resolution synthetic aperture radar and a ground-penetrating radar.
The mission is expected to study Venus’s geological and volcanic activity, emissions on the ground, wind speed, cloud cover, and other planetary characteristics from an elliptical orbit.
Optimal launch windows from Earth to Venus occur once every 19 months.
Important Facts:
Venus is often called “Earth’s twin” because they’re similar in size and structure, but Venus has extreme surface heat and a dense, toxic atmosphere.
It rotates very slowly on its axis – one day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days.
Unlike the other planets in our solar system, Venus spins clockwise on its axis.
Question:
Shukrayaan I, which is recently in the news, will be an orbiter mission of ISRO associated with which of the following planets?
A. Mercury
B. Venus
C. Mars
D. Saturn
Answer: B
Current Affairs: National
PARAKH-India’s First National Assessment Regulator Notified
The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has notified India’s first national assessment regulator, PARAKH, which will work on setting norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognised school boards in the country.
Aim:
The regulator aims to set up assessment guidelines for all boards to help remove disparities in scores of students enrolled with different state boards.
What Is PARAKH?
PARAKH has been launched as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020, which envisaged a standard-setting body to advise school boards regarding new assessment patterns and the latest research and promote collaborations between them.
It will act as a constituent unit of the NCERT.
It will also be tasked with holding periodic learning outcomes tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.
It will work on three major assessment areas: large-scale assessments, school-based assessments, and examination reforms.
Objectives:
Uniform Norms and Guidelines
Enhance Assessment Pattern
Reduce Disparity in Evaluation
Benchmark Assessment as envisaged by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020
Significance:
Removes Disparity in College Admission
Innovative Evaluation
Holistic Approach
Progressive Shift
Question:
What is the name of India’s first national assessment regulator that the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) recently notified?
A. PRAKASH
B. JYOTI
C. IEDSS
D. PARAKH
Answer: D
Current Affairs: Economy
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Released the State Finance Report 2022-23
Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the Report titled “State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2022-23”, an annual publication that provides information, analysis and an assessment of the finances of State governments for 2022-23 against the backdrop of actual and revised/provisional accounts for 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.
Theme:
The theme of this year’s Report is “Capital Formation in India – The Role of States”.
Key Findings of Report:
The State’s Gross fiscal deficit (GFD) is budgeted to decline to 3.4 per cent of GDP in 2022-23 from 4.1 per cent in 2020-21.
GFD is an excess of total expenditure, including loans net of recovery over revenue receipts (including external grants) and non-debt capital receipts.
States’ debt is budgeted to ease to 29.5 per cent of GDP in 2022-23 as against 31.1 per cent in 2020-21.
In 2022-23, states have budgeted higher capital outlay than in the previous three years.
Recommendations:
Increase allocations of capital expenditure for sectors like health, education, etc.
Create a capex buffer fund during good times to smoothen and maintain expenditure quality and flow through the economic cycle.
Strengthen timely devolution mechanisms to local bodies through State Finance Commissions.
Encourage and facilitate higher inter-state trade and business
Question:
What is the theme of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released Report titled “State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2022-23”?
A. Capital Formation in India – The Role of States
B. Balance of Payment – A Long Recovery
C. Monetary policy Dilemma – Indian Economy State
D. Inflation and unemployment – Real state of the Indian economy
Answer: A
Check out the Highlights of Union Budget 2023 by clicking on the link given below: Union Budget 2023-24
Current Affairs: Science and Technology
Indian Scientists Make a Unique Discovery on Mars
A team of Indian scientists have found the first evidence of the presence of solitary waves around Mars.
These solitary waves are distinct electric field fluctuations in the Martian magnetosphere that control particle energization, plasma loss, and transport through wave-particle interactions.
With the help of high-resolution electric field data recorded by the Langmuir Probe and Waves instrument on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft of NASA, researchers identified the solitary waves.
What Are Solitary Waves?
Solitary waves are distinct electric field fluctuations (bipolar or monopolar) that follow constant amplitude-phase relations.
Their shape and size are less affected during their propagation.
The magnitude and duration of these pulses are found to be 1-25 millivolts/metre and 0.2–1.7 milliseconds, respectively.
These pulses are dominantly seen in the dawn and afternoon dusk sectors at an altitude of 1000–3500 km around Mars.
Through simulations, it is found that the spatial extent of these structures is very small (30-330 metres). As these waves are known to be responsible for the plasma energisation and its transport in Earth’s magnetosphere
What Is the MAVEN Spacecraft?
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, which launched in 2013
It is the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere
The goal of this spacecraft is to determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time
Question:
Recently a team of Indian scientists have found the first evidence of the presence of solitary waves around which of the following planets?
A. Mercury
B. Venus
C. Mars
D. Saturn
Answer: C
Fact Book – 18 January 2023
India Ranked Second-Largest Tourist Market for Singapore in 2022
India was ranked the second-largest tourist market for Singapore in 2022, behind Indonesia, with 686,000 Indian arrivals, according to recent data provided by the country’s tourism authority.
Tourists from Indonesia, India and Australia were among the top spenders in the first nine months of 2022, with spending of 8.96 billion Singapore dollars (SGD), as reported by Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
Singapore is a small island city-state located in Southeast Asia, consisting of one main island and 63 smaller islets. It is bordered by Malaysia to the north and Indonesia to the south. The official languages are English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil.
Russia Becomes India’s Fourth-Largest Trading Partner
Russia has become India’s fourth-largest trading partner, with imports from the country spiking five-fold to $32.9 billion during the April-December period, according to a report in The Times of India.
Two main contributors to India’s higher imports from Russia are crude oil and fertilisers.
After the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, the West slapped sanctions on Moscow, limiting its trade opportunities.
The fertiliser imports from Russia increased by 371 per cent to a record 2.15 million tonnes in the first six months of the year that started on 1 April.
Sri Lanka to Release Stamp to Honour Jawaharlal Nehru on Its Independence Day
As part of its 75th National Independence Day celebrations, Sri Lanka has decided to release a commemorative stamp that includes a portrait of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, according to a press release issued by the President’s Media Division of Sri Lanka.
The country, which is in the grip of a financial crisis, will commemorate its 75th anniversary of independence on 4 February 2023.
The theme of this year’s Independence day celebration will be “Namo Namo Matha – A Step towards a Century”.
The UN Designates Pakistan’s Abdul Rehman Makki as a Global Terrorist
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) listed Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist under its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee recently.
The development came months after China put a hold on India and the United States’ joint bid to name the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader a global terrorist.
Abdul Rehman Makki is the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, who, with the help of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Pakistan deep state planned and orchestrated the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Mexico Imposes One of the World’s Strictest Anti-Smoking Laws
One of the World’s strictest anti-tobacco laws has been imposed in Mexico, setting in force a total ban on smoking in public places, including hotels, beaches and parks.
The new law, which is part of the country’s General Law for Tobacco Control reform, came into force recently.
It will also see a total ban on the promotion, advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products.
The sale and use of e-cigarettes and vapes are also due to face new restrictions.
Bhavin Rabari of the Oscar-nominated Gujarati film Chhello Show bags International Press Academy (IPA) Award
Bhavin Rabari, the lead child actor in Pan Nalin’s Oscar-nominated Gujarati film Chhello Show (The Last Film Show), bagged the International Press Academy (IPA) award in the ‘Best Breakthrough Performance’ category at the 27th Satellite Awards held in the United States recently.
The film is the first Indian film to be shortlisted for the Oscars in the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category after 21 years.
The film has also bagged top honours in other international festivals like Tribeca, Busan, Mill Valley, and Seminci.
Rabari, 13, the child actor who played the character of the protagonist named Samay, is among the youngest recipients of the prestigious award, joining the list of former recipients such as Edward Norton, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Russel Crowe, and Hale Berry.
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