Today's Current Affairs 4th January 2023

NATIONAL

Second Phase of Sari Festival “VIRAASAT”- Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India begins

• The second phase of the Sari Festival “VIRAASAT”-Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India will begin from 3rd to 17th January 2023 at Handloom Haat, Janpath, New Delhi. The Sari Festival VIRAASAT is organized by the Ministry of Textile. In the second stage phase, there are 90 participants from different parts of the country.
• There are several Handcrafted varieties of Saris to be displayed in the festival including Tie and Dye, Chikan embroidered Saris, Hand Block Saris, Kalamkari printed Saris, Ajrakh, Kantha, and Phulkari. There is an addition to the exclusive handloom Saris of Jamdani, Ikat, Pochampally, Banaras Brocade, Tussar Silk (Champa), Baluchari, Bhagalpuri Sik, Tangail, Chanderi, Lalitpur, Patola, Paithani, etc.

Prime Minister Virtually Inaugurates Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation in Kolkata

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation (SPM-NIWAS) at Joka in Kolkata via video conferencing. SPM-NIWAS has been set up with a budget of Rs 100 crore, on 8.72 acres of land at Joka, Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata, West Bengal.
• The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) aims to bridge the knowledge and capacity-building gap in the field of public health engineering, sanitation & hygiene, through short, medium, and long-term courses which are not just related to engineering but also cover aspects of management, health, accounting, law, and public policies.
• The conference was chaired by the Union Minister for Kal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
• The Union Minister reiterated the Prime Minister’s vision of cooperative federalism and states that under Swachh Bharat Mission, Namami Gange, and Jal Jeevan Mission, the combined efforts are being recognized around the globe.

Capt Shiva Chouhan becomes first woman officer to be deployed at Siachen, world’s highest battlefield

• Captain Shiva Chauhan from the Corps of Engineers has been posted at a frontline post in Siachen Glacier, in first such operational deployment of an woman Army officer at the world’s highest battlefield. The officer was posted at the Kumar post, located at an altitude of around 15,600 feet in Siachen, on Monday for a three-month stint after she underwent rigorous training. The training included endurance training, ice wall climbing, avalanche and crevasse rescue and survival drills.
• Capt Shiva Chouhan, who hails from Rajasthan, is a Bengal Sapper Officer. Chouhan lost her father at the age of 11 and her mother, a housewife, took care of her studies. She did her schooling from Udaipur and graduated from NJR Institute of Technology, Udaipur, in civil engineering. Covering a distance of 508 kms, Capt Chouhan successfully led the Sura Soi Cycling Expedition from Siachen War Memorial to Kargil War Memorial conducted on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas in July 2022. She then took up the challenge of leading the men of Sura Soi Engineer Regiment at Siachen and, based on her performance, was selected to undergo training at the Siachen Battle School.

Government starts process to buy 100 more K9-Vajras self-propelled howitzers

• The Defence Ministry has started the process for the procurement of 100 more K9-Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzers which are built in India by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) using technology transferred from South Korean defence major Hanwha Defence. At the height of tensions in eastern Ladakh in 2020, the Army deployed one regiment of K-9 Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzers there to augment its long-range fire power in the backdrop of a massive build-up of forces by China across the Line of Actual Control. Buoyed by their performance, the Army is looking at eventually procuring 200 additional guns. The induction of Dhanush, K-9 Vajra and M777 Ultra Light Howitzers has enhanced the reach of artillery firepower on the northern borders.
• The K9 Vajra is a 155 mm, 52-calibre tracked self-propelled howitzer built by L&T with technology transferred from South Korean defence major Hanwha Defense based on its K9 Thunder.
• The K9 Vajra was mainly bought for use in deserts, but the standoff prompted them to be deployed in the mountains as well, officials had stated earlier.

Himachal Pradesh: CM donates first salary to Chief Minister Sukhashray Sahayata Kosh

• Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced to set up of Rs 101 crore CM’s Sukhashraya Sahayata Kosh for the destitute in the state. Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh informed that 40 Congress MLAs agreed to contribute Rs one lakh each from their first salary for the fund and also requested the MLAs from BJP and other parties to contribute.
• The collected fund will be spent on the higher education of destitute children to encourage them to pursue courses such as engineering, medicine, management, and other streams from reputed institutions like IIT, IIM, AIIMS, and NIT.
• CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced that there are 6,000 destitute children in Himachal Pradesh.
• The CM’s Sukhashraya Sahayata Kosh with an expenditure of Rs 101 crore would provide the facility of higher education to needy children.
• Through the CM’s Sukhashraya Sahayata Kosh other than bearing the educational expenses, the government would also provide Rs 4000 monthly pocket money to the destitute children and women pursuing higher education.

Uttarakhand govt abolishes system of revenue police

• The Uttarakhand government has decided to abolish the revenue policing system in the state. The Pushkar Singh Dhami government has also announced that revenue villages will be brought under the regular policing system. Law and order in 1,800 revenue villages of Uttarakhand will now be handled by the state police, according to a statement by the Chief Minister’s Office.
• The demand to replace the revenue police system in Uttarakhand gained traction during the investigation into the Ankita Bhandari murder case in September 2022. Ankita, a 19-year-old who worked as a receptionist at a resort run by Pulkit Arya, the son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, was found dead in the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24 after going missing for six days. The area was under the jurisdiction of the revenue police. Allegations were raised against the revenue police for not registering a complaint on time and even siding with the accused.

 IMPORTANT DAYS

World Braille Day 2023: 4^th January 

• World Braille Day, marked on January 4, emphasises the significance of Braille as a form of communication for the partially sighted and blind. The United Nations has been commemorating the day since 2019. World Braille Day also commemorates the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, who was born on January 4, 1809. After losing his sight during childhood, the French educator devised the Braille technique.
• The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the braille language, which attempts to bridge the gap among normal and differently-abled individuals. Coupvray, France, gave birth to the creator of an extensively adopted touch device enabling blind persons to read and write. Braille created a system of writing that employed, paradoxically, an awl-like instrument to punch symbols on a sheet that can be sensed and read by blind people after himself being irreparably blinded at the age of three in his father’s saddle-making factory.

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

Election Commission's 'Mission-929' to take voter turnout in Tripura to over 90%

• The Election Commission (EC) is focusing on 929 polling booths across Tripura, setting a target of 92 per cent voter turnout in the assembly elections due early this year. These booths recorded a voter turnout of less than 89 per cent, which was the average across 3,328 booths in the 2018 assembly polls. The EC is also working on ‘Mission Zero Poll Violence’ to make the assembly elections peaceful.
• According to the ECI, these booths recorded a voter turnout of less than 89 percent in the 2018 assembly polls. Except for these booths almost all the booths in the state recorded a voter turnout of 91 % or more .The voter turnout was 89.5% in the 2018 Tripura assembly election.
• The Election commission plans to launch an awareness campaign, poll officials will visit senior citizens and persons with disability, and appeal to them to cast their votes.
• The ECI will make requisite arrangements such as ramps, wheelchairs and separate queues will be arranged at every polling station to felicitate senior citizens and persons with disability. This will also ensure that voters can cast their votes peacefully in the assembly election to be held in 2023.

India's unemployment rate rises to 8.30% in December, highest in 16 months: Report

• Unemployment rate in India rose to 8.30 per cent in December 2022, the highest in 16 months, according to data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). It was 8 per cent in the month of November. While urban unemployment rose to 10.09 per cent in December, from 8.96 per cent in November, rural unemployment moved to 7.44% from 7.55%, the data revealed.
• The urban unemployment rate rose to 10.09% in December from 8.96% in the previous month, while the rural unemployment rate slipped to 7.44% from 7.55%.
• The rise was “not as bad as it may seem,” as there was a simultaneous increase in the labour participation rate, which rose to 40.48 per cent in December, the highest in 12 months.
• Most importantly, the employment rate has increased in December to 37.1%, which again is the highest since January 2022.
• The unemployment rate had declined to 7.2% in the July-September quarter compared to 7.6% in the previous quarter, according to separate quarterly data compiled by state run National Statistical Office (NSO) and released in November.

Overseas financial assets of Indian residents declined by USD 43.9 bn during Jul-Sep 2022: RBI

• India’s international financial assets declined by $56.5 billion during July-September 2022 with valuation losses accounting for a major part. Reserve assets remained the dominant component (62.9% share) of India’s international financial assets. The net claims of non-residents on India increased by $34.3 billion during Q2 of FY23 and stood at $389.6 billion in September.
• The fall in India’s foreign liabilities during Q2 was attributed primarily to direct investment (net) outflows.
• Portfolio and other investments also recorded marginal decline on a net basis, barring trade credit which increased by $5.1 billion.
• Variation in the exchange rate of rupee vis-a-vis other currencies also impacted the change in liabilities, when valued in U.S. dollar terms.
• Debt and non-debt liabilities continued to have equal share in total external liabilities. The ratio of international assets to international liabilities moderated to 68.5% in September from 71.5% a quarter ago.