Today's Current Affairs - 7th November 2022

NATIONAL

World's first Vedic clock to be installed in Ujjain (MP)

• Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, the city of Mahakal will soon boast the world’s first Vedic clock which will be synced with the position of the Sun. After laying the foundation stone at the 300-year-old Jiwaji Observatory in Ujjain, the state higher education minister Mohan Yadav said through this project, people will become familiar with the Vedic time calculation. The state government has allocated Rs 1.62 crore for this mega project as it is working to restore the ancient glory of Ujjain. The minister said the (Vikramaditya) Vedic clock will be divided into 24 muhurats (hours).
• This clock will be fixed on the basis of the principles of Vedic time calculation. Changes in the sunrise and sunset at different times in different places in the country and the world will also be synchronised.
• The application of the Vedic Clock will be for Vikram Panchang, Vikram Samvat month, planetary position, yoga, Bhadra position, moon position, festival, auspicious time, constellation, birth anniversary, fast, festival, Choghadiya, solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, major holidays, celestial planets, constellations and comets etc.

Education Ministry to celebrate Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas in a grand manner on November 15^th 2022

• The Ministry of Education announced that this year India will celebrate ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ in a grand manner in schools, and higher education institutions on 15 November 2022. The Janjatiya Gaurav Divas was a name given on 15 November 2021 by the Union Cabinet of the Government of India to remember the contribution of tribal freedom fighters, as part of the year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of Indian independence.
• The Government declared 15 November as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ dedicated to the memory of brave tribal freedom fighters.
• The initiative has been taken under the leadership of Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
• 15th November is the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda who is revered as Bhagwan by tribal communities across the country.

UIDAI introduces AI chatbot with enhanced features for grievance redressal

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) presented the brand-new AI/ML chatbot Aadhaar Mitra in order to facilitate citizens’ usage of the services. Both Hindi and English are available for the chatbot. For the purpose of teaching viewers, it also offers the option of viewing related videos on specific themes.
• Features of the new chatbot, Aadhaar Mitra include the capacity to monitor the status of Aadhaar PVC cards and confirm Aadhaar enrollment/update status.
• The bot can be used by locals to file complaints and follow up on them.
• The organisation is committed to strengthening its grievance redressal mechanism while also providing ease of life. A cutting-edge and futuristic open-source CRM solution is being gradually rolled out by UIDAI.
• To improve residents’ access to UIDAI services, a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system has been created with cutting-edge capabilities.

SCIENCE & TEHNOLOGY

ISRO plans to return to Mars, explore dark side of moon with Japan

• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has turned its attention to Venus and is collaborating with Japan to examine the moon’s dark side, following trips to the moon and Mars. ISRO‘s next mission at the Akash Tattva conference here was that the space agency also intended to send a probe to Mars.
• A Japanese rocket will launch an ISRO-built lunar lander and rover into orbit with a planned landing site close to the south pole of the moon.
• “The rover will then move to the area of the moon that is always in shadow and never receives sunlight.”
• The examination of the area was fascinating since anything that had persisted in the PSR zone was analogous to something that had been frozen for aeons.
• The Aditya L-1 will be a special mission in which a payload-carrying 400-kg class satellite will be deployed in an orbit around the Sun so that it may continually view the star from a location known as the Lagrange Point L-1.

 APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

Hockey: Macau's Tayyab Ikram elected as new FIH president

• Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) CEO, Mohammad Tayyab Ikram of Macau was elected as the new president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), succeeding India’s Narinder Batra as its full-time chief. Ikram defeated Marc Coudron of Belgium 79-47 in the 48th FIH Congress held virtually. Out of 129 national associations, 126 casted valid votes. The duration of Ikram’s term will be for two years, in order to complete the mandate of the previous chief, Batra, who resigned on July 18.
• Seif Ahmed was the acting president of the FIH following Batra’s resignation from the top post after the Delhi High Court asked him to stop functioning as the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief. Batra, who became the FIH president in 2016, resigned from the post in July. He also gave up his International Olympic Committee (IOC) membership which was directly linked with his IOA position.

KISHOR K BASA APPOINTED AS CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL MONUMENTS AUTHORITY

• Professor Kishor Kumar Basa has been appointed as the chairman of the National Monument Authority (NMA). The Department of Culture of the Government of India issued an official notification in this regard. He will have a tenure of three years. Basa is the vice chancellor of Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo University in Baripada and also the chairman of the Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists (INCAA), which is the largest anthropological association in India. He had been teaching archaeological anthropology and museum studies since 1980 and was the former head of the department of Anthropology at Utkal University.
• Basa was the recipient of the Surajmal Saha Memorial Gold Medal for securing the 1st position in the whole of Odisha in the HSC Exam in 1973 and Professor Ghanshyam Dash Memorial Gold Medal for 1st Class 1st in BA History (Honours) exam in 1977 at Utkal University. He secured his PhD from the University of London in 1991.

 IMPORTANT DAYS

National Cancer Awareness Day 2022: 7^th November

• National Cancer Awareness Day 2022 is celebrated every year on 7th November in India. This day is important because it educates people about the serious risk of cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second most deadly disease that causes death among people.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second most deadly disease that causes death among people. The condition of people dying of cancer is a serious threat to India. In the year 2020, 8.5 lakh people in India died of cancer. For this reason, National Cancer Awareness Day 2020 is celebrated every year on 7 November to raise awareness about this type of cancer.
• In India, the need for awareness about this condition arises from the fact that a large number of cancer cases are detected at a later stage, thus reducing the chances of survival. The objective of celebrating this day at the national level is to increase education and awareness among the people regarding cancer disease and to sensitize all the stakeholders including the government to take action.

CV Raman's 134th birthday: Remembering India's first Nobel Prize-winning physicist

• CV Raman was born on 7th November 1888, in Trichinopoly, Tamil Nadu, and died on 21st November 1970, in Bangalore. CV Raman was one of India’s greatest scientists. Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was a physicist who made discoveries that were broader than modern science and were called the Raman Effect, the phenomenon of change of wavelength of light when a beam is scattered in a medium.
• CV Raman was born on 7th November 1888, in Tamil Nadu’s Trichinopoly. He completed his Master’s degree in Physics from the Presidency College, University of Madras, in 1907, and worked as an accountant in the finance department of the Indian government. In 1917, he joined the University of Calcutta as a professor of Physics. Raman initially worked as a student in the field of optics and acoustics. Raman continued his research at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in Calcutta while he worked as a professor at the university. He later became an honorary scholar at the association.

 SUMMIT'S & MOU's

Guyana President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali to be chief guest at 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention at Indore

• Guyana President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali will be the chief guest at the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention. It will be held from 8th to 10th January next year in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The theme of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is Diaspora: Reliable Partners for India’s Progress in Amrit Kaal. Member of Parliament of Australia, Zaneta Mascarenhas will be the guest of honour at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which will be held on 8th January next year.
• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention is the flagship event of the Ministry of External Affairs and provides an important platform to engage and connect with overseas Indians. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated once in every two years to strengthen the engagement of the overseas Indian community with the Government of India and reconnect them with their roots. The 9th of January was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion because it was on this day in 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa.

Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference & Expo 2022 inaugurated in Kochi

• The 15th iteration of Kerala’s Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference, which is taking place in Kochi, comes to an end. Among those attending the farewell event are Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, State Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore, and State Transport Minister Antony Raju.
• The UMI-2023 will be introduced during the event, and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and MOS Housing & Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore will present the Awards for Excellence in Urban Transport.
• The conference is attended by senior officials from the federal and state governments, decision-makers, managing directors of metro rail companies, chief executives of transportation companies, and foreign experts.
• “Azadi @ 75 — Sustainable Aatmanirbhar Urban Mobility” will be the main emphasis of the meeting.
• The event places a lot of attention on developing state and local capacity to deal with issues related to urban transportation.

 AWARDS & RECOGNITION

NSA Ajit Doval, late CDS Gen Rawat to be awarded with Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman

• The Uttarakhand government announced that this year’s Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman would be given to National Securtiy Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval, poet Prasoon Joshi, and three other individuals for their notable achievements. On November 9, the recipients will be honoured with the Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman.
• Every year, the government of Uttarakhand honours individuals with the Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman in recognition of their accomplishments in their various disciplines.
• Prasoon Joshi serves as the Central Board of Film Certification’s chairperson.
• Films like Fanna, Bhag Milkha Bhag, Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, Black, and Delhi-6 among others have included writing by Prasoon Joshi.
• He has penned lyrics for other national initiatives, like the Dettol Swach Abhiyan, Tata Jagriti Anthem, Poshan Anthem, etc.