Daily Current Affairs for Competitive Examinations: January 17, 2023

For competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, IAS, Railway-RRB, UPPSC, UGC NET, SBI, MPPSC, etc., a section of the question paper is dedicated to the Current Affairs section. If the aspirants have an effective preparation strategy, scoring high in this section is not difficult. The candidates can ace the current events section with the right study material and daily news analysis.

Motivation++

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him” 

– David Brinkley

Current Affairs: National

India’s First Centre of Excellence of Online Gaming to be Set Up in Meghalaya

• The Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar recently announced that India’s first Centre of Excellence (CoE) of online gaming would be set up in Shillong, Meghalaya, by March 2023.
• The CoE will be set up under Digital India Startup Hub through the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). 
• The STPI was set up in 1991 as an autonomous society in the field of Science and Technology under the MeitY.

Scope of Online Gaming Industry:

• India has one of the largest markets for the gaming business.  The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Sequoia India report suggest that the Indian mobile gaming industry will be worth $5 Billion in 2025. 

Draft Amendments to the IT Rules 2021:

• MeitY has recently circulated draft amendments to the IT Rules 2021 in relation to online gaming for public consultation. 
• According to the draft amendments, online games will be mandated to register and can legally operate in the country only after government clearance.

Question: 

India’s first Centre of Excellence (CoE) of online gaming will be set up in which of the following cities?

A. Bengaluru

B. Shillong

C. Hyderabad

D. Ahmedabad

Answer: B

Current Affairs: Science and Technology

Geospatial Hackathon Launched

• The Union Minister of Science and Technology recently launched a Geospatial Hackathon to promote Innovation and Start-Ups in India’s Geospatial ecosystem.
• This Hackathon is launched by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Ministry of Science and Technology in partnership with IIIT Hyderabad and Microsoft.
• The Geospatial Hackathon will conclude on March 10, 2023, with two sets of hackathon challenges to determine four winners for the “best solutions” to the geospatial select problem statements: the Research challenge and the Start-Ups challenge.

Aim:

• The aim of this hackathon is to promote partnerships not only among the public and private geospatial sectors but also to strengthen our country’s geospatial Start-Up ecosystem.

Hackathon details:

• Research Challenge: The Research Challenge is specific to the problem statements that were given by DST (Survey of India). DST (Survey of India) proposes a Geospatial Data Processing, Solution development, and Servicing Challenge to foster the adoption of geospatial technologies and promote innovation in India’s Geospatial ecosystem.
• Start-up Challenge: The Startup Challenge allows the participants to work on problems of their choice and solve them using geospatial technologies. 

Question:

Which of the following Ministries or Departments recently launched a Geospatial Hackathon?

A. Ministry of Earth Sciences

B. Ministry of Science and Technology

C. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

D. Ministry of Education

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: National 

Rajasthan Becomes the First State to Implement Blindness Control Policy

• Rajasthan has recently become the first State to implement a policy to control blindness, with the objective of ensuring the “right to sight”. 

Aim:

• The policy will also entail a drive for public awareness as well as technical improvement activities related to the cure of blindness.
• The Rajasthan Government has released the policy with the aim of bringing light to the lives of more than three lakh people suffering from visual impairment in the State of Rajasthan. 
• In 2020, the blindness rate in the country was 1.1%, and work would be done to bring it down to 0.3% through the implementation of this policy.

How Does This Policy Work?

• Under this policy, the Government will run Keratoplasty centres and Eye Banks at all the government medical colleges. 
• The government will also provide financial help to the NGOs and other private organisations working towards collecting corneas.
• The government will also carry out a campaign for eye donation on an extensive level along with private institutions. 
• Special training will also be imparted to eye experts, eye surgeons, postgraduate students, counsellors working for eye donation and eye assistants.

Question: 

Which of the following states/UT recently implemented a policy to control blindness, with the objective of ensuring the “right to sight”?

A. Uttarakhand

B. Manipur

C. Delhi

D. Rajasthan

Answer: D

Current Affairs: Defence

Rajnath Singh Launches ‘Soul of Steel’ Alpine Challenge to Promote Tourism in Border Areas

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently kick-started the ‘Soul of Steel’ alpine challenge, an initiative to promote tourism in border areas, at an event in Dehradun coinciding with Veterans Day.

What Is the ‘Soul of Steel’ Alpine Challenge?

• The ‘Soul of Steel’ expedition will test one’s high-altitude endurance and adventure in Uttarakhand’s Garhwal Himalayas.
• It will initially have 12 Indian participants plus six international teams between the age group of 18 and 30 years.
• The challenge will be spread across three months.
• It is being organised by CLAW Global, an entity comprising a group of veterans.
• The Indian Army is supporting the adventure challenge.
• It is based on the lines of the ‘Ironman triathlon’, a long-distance triathlon held in Europe which tests an individual’s physical capabilities.
• Participants will be selected through a detailed screening and training model through traditional and modern standards.

Aim:

• The initiative is aimed at enabling life skill training and youth development.
• It is also expected to boost the global promotion of adventure tourism in Uttarakhand.

Question: 

The ‘Soul of Steel’ Alpine Challenge was recently launched to promote which of the following?

A. Use of steel equipment in Defence

B. Nurturing top-class athletes for Olympic

C. Tourism in border areas

D. Making India a global steel manufacturing country

Answer: C

Current Affairs: International

Sweden Finds Rare Earth Mineral Deposit

About the Findings:

• Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB recently announced that it had found more than one million tonnes of rare earth oxides in the northern area of the country. This is the largest known deposit in Europe.
• Currently, no rare earth metals are mined in Europe, and it mostly imports them from other regions. 
• According to the BBC report, 98% of rare earth metals used by the European Union were sent by China.

What Are Rare Earth Elements?

• Rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table — the 15 lanthanides, plus scandium and yttrium, which tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides, and have similar chemical properties.

• The 17 rare earths are cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and yttrium (Y).
• Despite their classification, most of these elements are not really “rare”. One of the rare earth materials, promethium, is radioactive.

Uses of Rare Earth Elements:

• These elements are important in technologies of consumer electronics, computers and networks, communications, clean energy, advanced transportation, healthcare, environmental mitigation and national defence, among others.
• Scandium is used in televisions and fluorescent lamps, and yttrium is used in drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.
• Rare earth elements are used in space shuttle components, jet engine turbines and drones; eg., Cerium is essential to NASA’s Space Shuttle Programme.

Question: 

Which of the following European countries recently discovered the biggest deposits of rare earth elements?

A. Finland

B. Sweden

C. Norway

D. Germany

Answer: B

Check out the Highlights of Union Budget 2023 by clicking on the link given below:
Union Budget 2023-24

Current Affairs: Art and Culture

Archaeological Survey Discovers Two 1200-Year-Old Miniature Stupas At Nalanda

• Patna circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has discovered two 1200-year-old miniature votive stupas during landscaping activities near Sarai Tila mound within the premises of ‘Nalanda Mahavihara’, a world heritage site in Nalanda district in the state. 
• The stupas, carved from stone, depict Buddha figures.
• These two votive stupas (offered in fulfilment of a vow) were discovered by ASI officials recently. These, carved from stone depicting Buddha figures, must be around 1200 years old. 

What Are Stupas?

• A Stupa is a hemispherical structure which symbolises the burial mound of Buddha. It rose to prominence after the advent of Buddhism and peaked during Ashoka’s reign. Stupas evolved as Chorten in Tibet and pagodas in East Asia.

What Is a Votive Stupa?

• The form of the stupa, with its distinctive domelike drum, originates in eight cylindrical structures in which the Buddha’s relics were placed after his death.
• Votive stupas were offered in fulfilment of a vow. Beginning in the 7th century CE in India, small miniature terracotta stupas became popular as votive offerings.

About Nalanda University:

• Nalanda University (427 CE to 1197 CE)  stands out as the most ancient university of the Indian Subcontinent. 
• It engaged in the organised transmission of knowledge over an uninterrupted period of 800 years. 
• It was the leading centre for the teaching of Mahayana Buddhism, but other topics were also taught there. It was destroyed in 12th CE by Bakhtiyar Khilji.

Fact Book – 16 January 2023

Captain Surbhi Jakhmola, the first woman officer posted on foreign assignment at BRO

• Captain Surbhi Jakhmola of the Indian Army’s 117 Engineer Regiment will be the first woman officer to be posted on a foreign assignment at the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
• The officer will be sent to Bhutan as part of Project Dantak. 
• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is an executive road construction force in India that supports the Indian armed forces.
• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) builds and maintains road networks along India’s borders and in friendly neighbouring countries.
• BRO was established on 7 May 1960.
• DG-Director General Border Roads Organization is Lt Gen Rajeev Chowdhary.

Miss USA R’Bonney Gabriel wins Miss Universe 2022

• Miss Universe 2022 was the 71st Miss Universe pageant, held at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, on 14 January 2023. 
• Harnaaz Sandhu of India crowned R’Bonney Gabriel of the United States as Miss Universe 2022. It is the United States’ first victory in 10 years and the ninth victory of the country – the most by any country in the pageant’s history.
• From India, Diviti Rai of Karnataka represented the country. 
• The top 3 Miss Universe 2022 Pageants were from the USA, Venezuela and Dominican Republic.
• This was the first edition of the pageant to be held under the ownership of Thailand-based JKN Global Group. 
• This marks the first time in a 70-year history to have an all-female presenting panel.

Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni wins Bangkok Open tennis title

• In Tennis, the top-seeded Indian team of Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni came from behind to win the Bangkok Open title, as they beat Christopher Rungkat and Akira Santillan at Nonthaburi, Thailand,  recently.
• Playing their seventh final together, the Indians beat the Indonesian-Australian combo 2-6, 7-6, 14-12 in an exciting and close final that lasted one hour and 50 minutes.
• They will next compete in the Australian Open-the season’s first Grand Slam, where they have been given a wild card entry.

India made history during the third ODI against Sri Lanka in international cricket

• The Indian Cricket Team on Sunday registered a World Record when they defeated Sri Lanka in the 3rd ODI by 317 runs. 
• The Indian team outplayed Sri Lanka in both departments at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram. 
• Kohli hits his third century in four ODIs and breaks Tendulkar’s record of most home hundreds. 

List of highest victories by runs in ODIs-

1. 317 – India vs Sri Lanka, 2023
2. 290 – New Zealand vs Ireland, 2008
3. 275 – Australia vs Afghanistan, 2015
4. 272 – South Africa vs Zimbabwe, 2010
5. 257 – India vs Bermuda, 2007

EU inaugurates first mainland satellite launch port

• European officials and Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf inaugurated the EU’s first mainland orbital launch complex recently during a visit to Sweden by members of the European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm.
• The new facility at Esrange Space Center near the city of Kiruna should complement the EU’s current launching capabilities in French Guiana.
• The European Union is looking to boost its ability to launch small satellites into space with a new launchpad in arctic Sweden.
• The total number of satellites could reach 100,000 by 2040 as compared to the current 5,000 operational satellites.

HELINA to be deployed at LAC

• The Indian Army has decided that it will deploy the anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) HELINA at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) against the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China.

• The HELINA missile is also called Dhruvastra. Earlier it was known as the Nag Missile.
• The HELINA or Dhruvastra missile made in India travels at a speed of 230 metres per second or 828 kilometres per hour.
• It is 6 feet one inch in length. Its diameter is 7.9 inches. With an 8 kg warhead, it is one of the most dangerous anti-tank missiles in the world.

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