Today's Current Affairs 26th January 2023

NATIONAL 

Republic Day 2023

• The 74th Republic Day Parade begins at 10:30 AM from Vijay Chowk and head towards Lal Quila. The Parade ceremony commence with the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the National War Memorial.
• He lead the nation in paying solemn tributes to the brave hearts by laying a wreath. After that, the national flag unfurled followed by the national anthem with a 21-gun salute using 105-mm Indian Field Guns.

Sh. Banwari Lal Purohit inaugurates North India’s largest floating Solar project of 2000kWp at Water Works in Chandigarh

• Banwari Lal Purohit inaugurated North India’s largest floating Solar project of 2000kWp at Water Works in Chandigarh. He also inaugurated a 500kWp floating Solar Project with Fountains at Dhanas Lake in Chandigarh.
• Both projects have been designed and executed by CREST (Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society).

President approves conferment of 106 Padma Awards

• President Droupadi Murmu approved conferment of 106 Padma Awards including three duo cases for 2023.
• The list comprises six Padma Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri awardees. A total of 19 awardees are women and the list also includes two persons from category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and seven Posthumous awardees.

 INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Indian And Australian Scientists Develop Artificial Synapse For Brain-Like Computing

• A team of Indian and Australian scientists have developed brain-like computing using scandium nitride (ScN), a semiconducting material that is highly stable and compatible with Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technology.
• In the current era of artificial intelligence, brain-like computing can help meet the increasing computational demands.

SPORTS

Suryakumar Yadav creates history, becomes first Indian men's player to clinch T20I Player of the Year Award

• Suryakumar Yadav has etched his name in the history books and become the 1st-ever Indian cricketer to be bestowed with the ICC Men's T20 Cricketer of the Year award. Suryakumar pipped the likes of Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran and Mohammad Rizwan to bag the top honour.
• The right-handed batsman piled up 1164 runs in 31 matches last year. He batted with a strike-rate of 187.43.

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

UN slashes India's economic growth forecast by 20 bps to 5.8% for 2023

• The United Nations pared down India’s growth forecast by 20 basis points to 5.8 per cent for 2023 calendar year, citing higher interest rates and risks of recession in the developed world weighing on investment and exports. The report has projected global trade to contract 0.4 per cent and the world economy to grow at 1.9 per cent in 2023.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

For ISRO’s Aditya L1 project, IIA handed over Visible Line Emission Coronagraph payload

• The Visible Line Emission Coronagraph (VELC) payload for the Aditya-L1 mission was handed over to ISRO by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) on January 26, 2023.
• The event was organized at the Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST) Campus at Hosakote, near Bengaluru. 
• The VELC payload was conceived and built on the CREST site. At URSC, the payload would be integrated with the satellite.

International Customs Day

• The World Customs Organisation (WCO) marks International Customs Day on 26th January every year. The occasion commemorates the WCO’s maiden session held in 1953.
• The day is dedicated to spreading awareness about the role Customs authorities play in the seamless movement of goods across borders and their importance in the cross-border regulatory apparatus.
• Every year, such authorities of WCO’s member administrations organise events to celebrate International Customs Day