Daily Current Affairs and GK | 5 January 2024

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

1. Government launched a procurement portal for tur dal-growing farmers.

• To register farmers for selling the dal and receiving payments directly into their bank accounts, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah launched a procurement portal for tur dal.
• This portal will help to streamline the entire process for tur dal growers in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka and Jharkhand.
• The portal was launched at a national symposium on 'self-reliance in pulses'.
• This will ensure that tur dal producers get better prices for their crops.
• Pulses will be purchased for buffer stock from the farmers registered on the portal and minimum support price or market price will be paid to farmers.
• Farmers can register on the portal directly or through Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) and Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO).
• The main aim of the portal is to reduce dependence on imports by purchasing 80 per cent of the buffer stock directly from farmers.

Topic: National Appointments

2. Shashi Singh became the new president of the All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA).

• Shashi Singh has been elected as the new president of the All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA).
• He will take the place of Ramesh Kejriwal as the President of AIRIA.
• The elections were held during the Annual General Meeting held on December 23, 2023, in Mumbai.
• Before assuming the role of President, Mr. Shashi Singh was the Senior Vice President within AIRIA.
• All India Rubber Industries Association:
  • It was established in 1945.
  • It is the largest not-for-profit non-government body for the rubber industry and trade.
  • Its main objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of the industry.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

3. PRERANA program launched by the Ministry of Education.

• The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education has launched ‘Prerana: An Education Program based on Experience'.
• It aims to provide a meaningful, unique and inspirational experience to all the participants, empowering them with leadership qualities.
• Prerna is a week-long residential program for selected students from classes IX to XII.
• It is an experiential and inspiring learning program for students with best-in-class technology where heritage and innovation meet.
• Every week a batch of 20 selected students (10 boys and 10 girls) from different parts of the country will participate in this program.
• The Prerana program will start from the Vernacular School established in 1888 in Vadnagar, Mehsana district of Gujarat, one of the oldest cities of India.
• IIT Gandhi Nagar prepared the curriculum of Prerana School.
• It is rooted in nine value-based themes -  Swabhiman and Vinay, Shaurya and Sahas, Parishram and Samarpan, Karuna and Sewa, Vividhta and Ekta, Satyanishtha and Shuchita, Navachar and Jigyasa, Shraddha aur Vishwas, and Swatantrata and Kartavya.
• The program based on the above themes will inspire the youth and promote respect for India's unity in diversity, embodying the spirit of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam".

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

4. In the first phase, 928 schools of Uttar Pradesh will be given a facelift under PM Shri Yojana.

• PM SHRI Schools have been launched in the state by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
• On January 4, participants from 928 locations virtually attended the launch ceremony held in Lucknow.
• Under the PM Shri Yojana, in the first phase, the upgrade and modernization work of 928 government schools of Uttar Pradesh is being done, including 81 Kendriya and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.
• The 928 schools of the state will be modernized with an amount of Rs 404 crore. In this, classes 1 to 12 will be upgraded.
• A total of 1753 schools have been selected for upgradation under PM SHRI Schools across the state.
• Infrastructure improvements such as Bal Vatika, smart classrooms, science laboratories, digital libraries, and sports facilities will be initiated in schools, resulting in the development of integrated campuses to provide holistic school education.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

5. Beach Games was inaugurated by Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur at Ghoghla Beach in the Diu on 4 January.

• The beach games, which started on January 4, will be played till January 11.
• Due to this festival, beach games will also be promoted in other beach states and union territories of the country.
• Organizing this festival will establish new dimensions and will also promote culture and tourism in the Union Territory.
• More than twelve hundred players are participating in these competitions from States and Union Territories.
• Beach Games includes a total of eight different sports.
• These include beach volleyball, pencak silat, beach boxing, beach soccer, and sea swimming along with traditional sports such as Malakhambah, beach kabaddi, and tug of war.
• Since its theme is dolphins, dolphins have also been featured in various game paintings and banners.
• The closing ceremony will be held at INS Khukri Memorial.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: personality in News

6. Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an Israeli drone attack in Beirut.

• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed to have killed the deputy leader of Hamas.
• Terrorist organization Hamas has also confirmed that Israel killed its deputy commander Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon on January 2.
• Lebanon's acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the killing of Saleh al-Arouri. Al-Arouri was a 57-year-old Lebanese resident.
• He served as deputy director of the political bureau for the terrorist group and was considered the de facto head of Hamas's military wing in the West Bank.
• He was freed from Israeli prisons in March 2010 as part of negotiations to secure a major prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit, an IDF soldier kidnapped by Hamas in 2006.
• Later, Arouri was instrumental in negotiating the 2011 release of Shalit in exchange for the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

7. All India Conference of Directors General and Inspectors General of Police 2023 started on 5 January at Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur.

• It is a three-day conference. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the conference on 6 January and 7 January.
• During the conference, policing and internal security issues such as cybercrime, technology in policing, counter-terrorism challenges, left-wing extremism, and prison reforms will be discussed.
• Deliberations on the roadmap for implementation of the new criminal laws are also included in the agenda of the conference.
• Discussion will also be held on the challenges posed by new technologies like AI, Deepfake, and ways to deal with them.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor, Minister of State for Home Affairs, and senior officials will attend the conference.

Topic: National News

8. India International Jewellery Trade Show -IIJS 2024 inaugurated by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in Mumbai.

• He said India’s workforce must focus on making India world’s design destination for fashion and jewellery.
• He also said that fashion and jewellery combination can make India a preferred wedding destination for the world.
• He said investments are being made to develop a world-class infrastructure including the 20-acre India Jewellery Park in Navi Mumbai.
• It is expected that India’s domestic gem & jewellery market will grow from the current 44 billion to 134 billion dollars by 2030.
• Chairman of, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Mr. Vipul Shah said that gem & jewellery sector will work to take exports to 75 billion dollars by 2030 and 100 billion dollars by 2047.
• This is the 16th edition of the India International Jewellery Trade Show.
• This edition will have 1,500 exhibitors occupying 3,000 stalls. 
• The exhibition is being organized at JIO World Convention Centre, BKC from 4th to the 7th of January.
• It is being held at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon from the 5th to the 8th of January.

Topic: MoUs /Agreements

9. NHAI joined hands with ISRO's NRSC to develop the "Green Cover Index" for National Highways.

• The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to develop the “Green Cover Index” for the extensive network of National Highways.
• Greening highway corridors has been the main focus of the Green Highways Policy for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and NHAI.
• The Green Cover Index will be a robust and reliable mechanism. It will provide a time-saving and cost-effective solution to generate a macro-level estimate of the greenery along National Highways.
• In the first assessment cycle, the Green Cover Index region-wise for National Highways will be covered.
• In the subsequent annual cycles, the focus will be on estimating the growth patterns of green cover for National Highways using scientific techniques.
• This initiative is part of the NHAI's commitment to playing a key role in fostering the green transformation of highways.

Topic: India and its Neighbours

10. India and Nepal signed an agreement for cooperation in renewable energy.

• As per the agreement, Nepal will export 10,000 MW of power to India in the next 10 years.
• India’s Energy Secretary Pankaj Agrawal and his Nepal counterpart Gopal Sigdel signed the bilateral agreement.
• The power agreement was signed during the 7th meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission.
• The Nepal Electricity Authority and National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, India also signed an MoU for cooperation in the field of renewable energy.
• Jaishankar and Saud also inaugurated 3 cross-border transmission lines- 132 kV Raxaul-Parwanipur, 132 kV Kushaha-Kataiya and New Nautanwa-Mainahiya lines.
• Jaishankar was on a two-day visit to Nepal.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. One District One Product Awards 2023 presented in Aatmanirbhar Bharat Utsav 2024 in New Delhi.

• On January 3, 2024, Chief Guest Union External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar inaugurated the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Utsav 2024' in New Delhi.
• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry hosted Aatmanirbhar Bharat Utsav 2024.
• The objective of the ODOP initiative is to promote the socio-economic development of all the districts of the country to realize the vision of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of Self-reliant India.
• The ODOP Awards recognize significant efforts and successes in promoting ODOP initiatives.
• There are a total of 24 awards in 3 categories–for districts, states, union territories, and Indian missions abroad.
• List of Awardees for ODOP Awards 2023:

Topic: State News/ Assam

12. 'Gunotsav 2024' has been launched by the Assam Government for holistic assessment of students' performance.

• It has been launched for holistic assessment of the performance of about 40 lakh students of 43,498 government schools in 35 districts of the state.
• Gunotsav, an initiative of the Government of Assam, is covering all government primary and secondary schools in the state.
• The services of 18,098 external evaluators will be used for this evaluation process, starting in all the primary and secondary schools of the state.
• The evaluators include state Chief Ministers, MLAs, Chief Secretaries, college teachers, and government officials.
• This evaluation process in schools will continue in three phases till February 8, which started on 3 January 2024.
• The first phase will cover 12 districts from January 3 to 6, the second phase will cover 13 districts from January 10 to 12, and the final phase will cover the remaining 10 districts from February 6 to 8.
• 'Gunotsav 2024' will identify learning gaps in each child and ensure quality education with grade-specific outcomes.
• 'Gunotsav' was organized for the first time in 2017.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National Appointments

13. Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi assumed the charge of Vice Chief of the Indian Navy.

• Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi has taken the place of Vice Admiral Sanjay J Singh, who became Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command.
• Dinesh K Tripathi joined the Indian Navy on 1 July 1985. He was serving as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command.
• He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla.
• He has served on the frontline warships of the Navy as a signal communication officer and electronic warfare officer.
• Vice Admiral Sanjay J Singh, who became Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of Western Naval Command, was the lead drafter for the Indian Navy's Maritime Doctrine of 2009.

Topic: State News/ Himachal Pradesh

14. Hatti community of Himachal Pradesh got ST status.

• The Himachal Pradesh government issued a notification to grant Scheduled Tribes (ST) status to the Hatti community of Sirmaur district.
• Members of the Hatti community were demanding to implement the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Act, 2023, and notifying the community as ST.
• The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023 was notified by the President on 4 August 2023.
• Hatti Community:
  • The Hattis are a close-knit community. Their main occupation is to sell homegrown crops, vegetables, meat and wool.
  • Hattis live in 154 panchayat areas and members of the community numbered 2.5 lakh in the 2011 Census. The present population of the Hattis is around 3 lakh.
  • The Hattis are governed by a traditional council called ‘khumbli’.
  • The Hatti community lives in the basin of the Giri and Tons rivers.