NATIONAL NEWS

Traditional ‘Cherchera’ Festival in Raipur

• Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel organised the traditional festival 'Chherchera' at Dudhadhari Math in capital Raipur.
• It is meant to celebrate the joy of taking the harvest home after farming.
• On this occasion people from every class donate food grains.
• The amount donated in Chherchera is spent on public welfare. People of every class including farmers donate food grains.
• In 2023, there has been a good production of paddy in the state and 85 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been procured, which has been paid to the farmers immediately.

Punjabi will be Taught in Australian Schools

• Punjabi is all set to be the newest language to be taught in public schools of Western Australia. The Australian government has decided to include Punjabi language in schools.
• The number of Punjabi speakers in Australia is continuously increasing.
• Punjabi language has become the fastest growing language in this country.
• In comparison to the year 2016, there has been an increase of 80 percent in the number of Punjabi speakers in Australia in the year 2021.

Anti-Misinformation Project in India

• American multinational technology company, Google’s subsidiary Jigsaw is launching a new anti-misinformation project in India.
• It is to prevent the misleading information that has been blamed for inciting violence and deaths.
• The experiment in India will be bigger in scope as it will deal with multiple local languages Bengali, Hindi and Marathi and cover diverse sections of a country populated by over a billion people.
• The initiative will use ‘prebunking’ videos, designed to counter false claims before they become widely circulated on the company’s YouTube platform and other social media sites.

SPORTS

Welsh Footballer Gareth Bale Retires from Club Football

• Walsh legendary football player Gareth Bale announced his retirement. He was at the age of 33, has announced his retirement from club and international football.
• Bale is one of Wales' greatest ever players. He played record matches for his country and also made many records in terms of scoring goals.
• He was instrumental in helping Wales win two European Championships.
• With this, he led his team to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 and also to the World Cup for the first time since 1958.

Sania Mirza has Announced her Retirement

• India's star female tennis player Sania Mirza has announced her retirement in January 2023. In 2023, Australian Open and Dubai Tennis Championships will be her last tournaments.

• She will play in women's doubles at the Australian Open in January 2023 with Kazakhstan's Ana Danilina, which will be her last appearance at any Grand Slam.
• Sania Mirza has won many titles and honours in her career. She has been awarded the Arjuna Award in 2004, Padma Shri in 2006, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2015 and Padma Bhushan in 2016.

Khelo India Youth Games Theme Song and Mascot Unveiled

• State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the mascot and theme song for the fifth edition of Khelo India Youth Games to be hosted by Madhya Pradesh.
• The mascot of Khelo India Youth Games 2022 is 'Asha'. While the theme song is 'Hindustan Ka Dil Dhadka Do...' sung by famous singer Shaan.
• The torch of Khelo India Youth Games was named Amarkantak, on which the figure of Maa Narmada is also engraved.
• The Games will be hosted in Madhya Pradesh from 31 January 2023 to 11 February 2023.
• For the first time water sports namely Kayaking Canoeing, Canoe Salaam and Fencing will be part of this edition of Khelo India Games.

British Junior Open Tournament in Birmingham

• Indian squash prodigy Anahat Singh won the girl’s Under-15 squash title at British Junior Open tournament in Birmingham.

• The 14-year-old defeated Sohaila Hazem of Egypt, 3-1 in the final.

• Despite the first set being closely contested, she took the lead and won the tournament.

• The British Junior Open is held in January every year in the UK where all the best players from all over the world compete to win the coveted title.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Henley Passport Index 2023

• According to the latest Henley Passport Index, Japan has retained its position as the most favourable passport in the world, which allows visa-free entry to 193 global destinations.

• Japan is at the top for the fifth year in a row.

• Singapore and South Korea are joint second in the ranking, followed by Germany and Spain and then several other European nations.

• India, Mauritania, Uzbekistan secured the 85th position with 59 destinations.

• Mauritius and Uzbekistan passports are as powerful as India's passports.

• Compared to last year India's position has improved by two points. India is at 85th position in the ranking.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

MD and CEO of Paytm Payments Bank

• Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) has appointed veteran banker Surinder Chawla as its new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

• The appointment has been approved by the Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years.

• Chawla will replace Paytm Payments Bank CEO Satish Kumar Gupta.

• Prior to joining PPBL, Chawla was working with RBL Bank, where he served as Head of Branch Banking and focused on expanding CASA base, fee revenue and cross-selling across channels.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Successful Training Launch of Prithvi-2

• Prithvi-2 was successfully trained from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur off the Odisha coast.

• Prithvi-II is an indigenously developed surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a range of approximately 250-350 km and it can carry one ton payload.

• The Prithvi-II class is a single-stage liquid-fueled missile with a payload of 500–1000 kg.

• The state-of-the-art missile uses an advanced inertial guidance system with an efficient trajectory to hit its target.

DRDO Develops Unmanned Vehicle

• Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has developed an unmanned aerial vehicle with the aim of targeting logistics operations on the Himalayan border.
• This aircraft has been displayed by DRDO at the 108th Indian Science Congress held in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
• This UAV can fly with a load of 5 to 25 kg and is also capable of dropping bombs in enemy territory.
• The aircraft can conduct autonomous missions within a radius of five kilometres and automatically return to the origin after delivering the cargo to the designated location.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

A Book Titled 'Chief Minister's Diary No. 1'

• Former Chief Justice of India and Rajya Sabha member Ranjan Gogoi released the book 'Chief Minister's Diary No. 1', a diary of Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
• The diary has been written by the CM of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma himself.
• Complete details of the first year of CM Biswa's tenure have been given in this diary.
• The book describes day-to-day development activities as Chief Minister in this diary.
• Hemant Biswa Sarma would also bring out further editions of his diary in the next four years.

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

• National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is observed every year on 11 January.
• The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which was passed in 2000, was the first federal statute to address contemporary slavery.
• The resolution designating January 11 as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day was approved by the US Senate in 2007.
• The entire month of January 2010 was devoted by President Obama to raising awareness and preventing human trafficking.