NATIONAL NEWS

Meeting to Eliminate Kala-Azar

• Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting with four states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal governments to review the elimination of Kala Azar from the country by the year 2023.
• India is committed to eliminate Kala-azar from the country by 2023.
• All the activities related to this program are being implemented through the National Vector Borne Disease Control Program.
• India signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh and Nepal to eliminate Kala-azar from the South-East Asia region.

Government Approved Loan to Andhra Pradesh

• Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal has approved Rs 28.11 crore for giving a special interest-free loan of Rs 10,000 to each member of Tobacco Board's Grower Welfare Schemes.
• This will directly benefit over 28,000 tobacco farmers affected by Cyclone Mandus in Andhra Pradesh.
• FCV (Flu Cured Virginia) tobacco is a major commercial crop grown in 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh with an annual production of 121 million kg (2021-22) in an area of 66,000 hectares.
• The interest-free loan to eligible FCV tobacco farmers will be administered by the Tobacco Board, a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Separate Registration for Vintage Vehicles

• Odisha became the first Indian state to have a separate registration process for vintage vehicles (both two and four-wheelers) that are more than 50 years old.

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has made provision under CMV Rule, 1989 for the registration process of Vintage Motor Vehicles intending to preserve and promote the heritage of vintage.

• The new rules shall provide salient features such as the retention of old already registered vehicles with a new Vintage registration mark ‘VA’ series (Unique Registration Mark).
• As per the rule, two-wheelers and four-wheelers (personal use) that are more than 50 years old from the date of their first registration (including imported vehicles) shall be defined as Vintage Motor Vehicles.
• A vintage motor vehicle is allowed to run on Indian roads only for display.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

36th Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi

• India and France held the 36th Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi on 05 January 2023.

• The two sides discussed a wide range of bilateral and global issues.

• National Security Advisor Ajit Doval led the Indian delegation while the French delegation was led by Emmanuel Bonne, Diplomatic Advisor to the French President.

• The last edition of the Strategic Dialogue was to be held in Paris in November 2021.

• Both sides recognized the importance of discussing the India-EU Trade and Investment Agreement.

• There has been an agreement between the Government of France and India for 36 Rafale aircraft.

BANKING

HDFC Bank Collaborates with Microsoft

• India’s largest private sector bank- HDFC Bank partnered with Microsoft in the next phase of its digital transformation journey and unlocked business value by transforming the application portfolio, modernizing the data landscape and securing the enterprise with Microsoft Cloud.

• The solution is powered by its unified architecture, collaborative engineering environment, industry-leading security and ecosystem of AI/ML-based deep learning capabilities.

• The Bank will also leverage Microsoft Power Platform’s industry-leading low code, no code capabilities to set up an App Innovation and Automation Factory.

• The App Factory will enable the Bank to migrate, modernize and transform its application portfolio.

YES Bank Partners with Microsoft

• YES BANK has partnered with Microsoft to introduce a next-generation mobile application (app) to provide customers with a personalized banking experience.

• YES Bank will leverage Microsoft’s Azure platform to create the app which will offer customers a host of services such as online payments, shopping, rewards and offers, as well as customized dashboards.

• The new app will run on Microsoft’s enterprise-grade cloud platform.

• With the support of the app, Yes Bank aims to scale up various services by bringing merchants and ecosystem partners onto a common platform.

• This will empower the Bank to cater to the diverse financial needs of customers across loans, payments, deposits, investments and cards.

AWARDS & PRIZES

‘Eat Right Station’ with a 5-Star Rating Certification by FSSAI

• The Varanasi Cantt Railway Station of the Indian Railways has been awarded the 5-star ‘Eat Right Station’ certification for providing high quality nutritious food to the passengers.

• The 'Eat Right Station' certification is provided by FSSAI to railway stations which set the standard in providing safe and nutritious food to the passengers.

• This certificate is awarded based on the findings of an FSSAI-empaneled third-party audit agency with a rating of 1 to 5.

• The 4-star rating indicates full compliance by the station to provide safe and hygienic food to the passengers.

• This certification is part of the 'Eat Right India' initiative.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank

• The Centre has appointed Mr. Ajay Kumar Srivastava as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive officer (CEO) of the public sector Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) for 3 years.

• He started his banking career as a probationary officer in 1991 with Allahabad Bank.

• He also served as Director on the Board of Regional Rural Bank in Allahabad Bank.

• After serving for over 27 years, he joined IOB in October 2017.

• He was the only Executive Director in the Bank for about 14 months during 2020-2021.

Bihar’s State Icon

• Folk singer Maithili Thakur was appointed as the state icon for Bihar by the Election Commission (EC).

• She will create awareness among the voters for their participation in the electoral process.

• Recently, she was selected for the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar of the Sangeet Natak Akademi for her contribution to the folk music of Bihar.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Gaganyaan to be Launched by 2024

• Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is ready to launch India’s first Atmanirbhar human flight ‘Gaganyaan’ by the year 2024.
• Gaganyaan’ would be India’s first human flight and it will also be an excellent symbol of self-reliance as it will increase the confidence of the nation.
• The 1st launch will be unmanned, this experiment will be done to mark the routes because if the ‘Gaganyaan’ rocket goes into space then it should also return safely in the same way.
• In the 2nd launch also, there will be no humans instead, a robot will be there as a human replica.
• After the complete success of 2 tests, in the 3rd launch humans will be sent into space.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Breaking Barriers: The Story of a Dalit Chief Secretary

• ‘Breaking Barriers: The Story of a Dalit Chief Secretary,’ is a new book by former IAS officer Kaki Madhava Rao,

• The book examines the inner workings of the civil service at the grassroots level and throws insight into micro policies and governance.

• The book was written by Rao, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official from the 1962 batch who retired as the chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh.

• The book was published by Emesco Books Private Limited.

• Rao’s rural Andhra Pradesh background is covered in ‘Village Days,’ which summarizes the entire book.

• Rao’s exposure to the national stage and development into an adult is described in depth in chapters two through five.

OBITUTARY

NASA's Apollo 7 Astronaut Walter Cunningham

• Walter Cunningham, the last surviving astronaut from the first successful crewed space mission in NASA's Apollo program passed away. He was at the age of 90.

• Walter Cunningham was the last surviving astronaut of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Apollo mission, the first successful manned space mission crew.

• Cunningham was the lunar module pilot on the space flight, which launched from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Florida.

• Walter Cunningham was one of the crew members of the Apollo-7 mission sent to space by NASA in 1968.

• The mission was for a total of 11 days and its launch was telecast live.

Grammy-Winning Singer Anita Pointer

• Grammy-winning American singer and songwriter Anita Marie Pointer Passed away in Los Angeles. He was at the age of 74.

• She was best known as a founding member of the vocal group the Pointer Sisters.

• She was also the lead singer on many of their other hits, including ‘Yes We Can Can’, ‘Fire’, ‘Slow Hand’ and ‘I’m So Excited’.

• In 1987 Anita released her first solo album named, ‘Love for What It Is’, which got the single Overnight Success.

•  The Group’s first musical album was Fairytale which won a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance.