Daily Current Affairs- 18 January

Today's Current Affairs 18th January 2023

INTERNATIONAL

Sri Lanka Closer to IMF Bailout as India Said to Back Debt Plan

• India will support Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring plan as the island nation looks to trim its huge public expenditure to win approval for a crucial bailout from the International Monetary Fund. India formally notified that it would support Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring plan. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948, and policymakers have been grappling with multiple challenges over the past year including a shortage of dollars, runaway inflation and a steep recession.
• Sri Lanka owes India around $1 billion that will come under the debt restructuring plan. New Delhi also separately provided Sri Lanka with about $4 billion in rapid assistance between January and July last year, including credit lines, a currency swap arrangement and deferred import payments.
• New Delhi’s backing comes at a critical time for Sri Lanka as it has to put its massively indebted public finances in order to unlock a $2.9 billion IMF loan that was agreed in September.

Janani Ramachandran becomes first LGBTQ of color city council

• Janani Ramachandran, a 30-year-old IndianAmerican attorney, has emerged as the youngest and the first queer woman of colour to take oath as the Oakland City Council member in the US state of California.
• Ramachandran took the ceremonial oath wearing a saree as the Oakland City Council member for District 4 in an inauguration ceremony held on January 10.
• "WE WON! Honored to be the next City Councilmember for Oakland District 4!! I will officially be the youngest Council member in Oakland's history, the 1st #LGBTQ woman of color & 1st South Asian to serve on Oakland City Council," the public interest attorney tweeted.

 NATIONAL

Union Govt included 'Neelakurinji' in the list of protected plants

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) has listed Neelakurinji under Schedule III of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, including it on the list of protected plants. Neelakurinji has been included in the list after the Center increased the earlier protected list of six plant species to 19.
• As per the order, those uprooting or destroying the plant will be fined Rs 25,000 and imprisoned for three years, furthermore, cultivation and possession of Neelakurinji are not permitted.
• Neelakurinji is a shrub found in the Western Ghats in the Shola forests in the Southern part of India. It is peculiar that it blooms only once in twelve years. It has also given the name Nilgiris to the mountains of the region owing to its blue color. Neelakurinji usually grows at an elevation of 1300 – 2400 m and a height between 30 – 60 cm.

1200-yr-old Miniature Stupas Found In Nalanda District

• The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) of the Patna circle has unearthed 1200 years old two miniature votive stupas near the Sarai Tila mound on the “Nalanda Mahavihara” grounds in the Nalanda district. The stupas found in Nalanda are carved from stones and depict Buddha figures.
• The Superintendent Archeologist, ASI Patna circle, Goutami Bhattacharya informed that at the beginning of the 7th century CE, small miniature terracotta stupas became popular as votive offerings. Devout pilgrims visiting various holy sites and temples throughout Asia would either purchase small votive offerings or make their own.
• The Nalanda Mahavihara site comprises the archeological remains of a monastic and scholastic institution dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th Century CE.
• It includes stupas, shrines, viharas, and important artwork in stucco, stone, and metal.
• The archaeological remains of Nalanda Mahavihara were systematically unearthed and preserved simultaneously.

 Odisha Govt to revamp Vedvyas Shrine in Sundargarh

• Odisha Government will develop the famous Vedvyas Shrine, which is located near Rourkela in Sundargarh district, the temple is not only a place of natural beauty but is also considered a pilgrimage.
• On the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Secretary to CM VK Pandian on Saturday visited Vedvyas Peetha and after holding a discussion with the members of the Trust Board, and local people, Pandian asked the district Collector to prepare a detailed development plan within 15 days for Vedvyas Peetha in line with 5T initiatives of the State Government.
• The development plan will be presented before the Chief Minister for approval.
• Vedvyas Peetha is one of the major pilgrimage sites in the State. Many visitors from across the State and outside come to this famous Peetha every day. Hence, the State Government is making constant efforts for the overall development of this Peetha, the 5T Secretary said.

 SPORTS

Denmark Viktor Axelsen wins Men's singles at Malaysia open 2023

• Danish ace Viktor Axelsen stormed to victory in the final of badminton's Malaysia Open on Sunday, successfully defending his title by outgunning Japan's Kodai Naraoka.
• The world number one only needed 40 minutes in Kuala Lumpur to secure his first trophy of the year, displaying top form to walk away with the match 21-6, 21-15.
• Wasting no time in the first game, Axelsen immediately went on the offensive, raining his signature pinpoint smashes on a defenceless Naraoka.
• He then kept up the pressure in the second game against a visibly exhausted opponent to clinch the win.

 OBITUARY

Italian film legend Gina Lollobrigida passes away at age 95

• Italian film legend Gina Lollobrigida, the diva who came to represent Italy's vibrant rebirth after World War Two during the 1950s has passed away at the age of 95. Lollobrigida was dubbed as “the most beautiful woman in the world" after the title of one of her movies.
• The agent, Paola Comin, didn't provide details. Lollobrigida had surgery in September to repair a thigh bone broken in a fall.
• A drawn portrait of the diva graced a 1954 cover of Time magazine, which likened her to a “goddess" in an article about Italian movie-making. More than a half-century later, Lollobrigida still turned heads with her brown, curly hair and statuesque figure, and preferred to be called an actress instead of the gender-neutral term actor.

 APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

Centre appoints Pankaj Kumar Singh as deputy national security advisor

• Retired director general of the Border Security Force (BSF), Pankaj Kumar Singh was appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser in National Security Council Secretariat for a period of two years. Singh, a 1988-batch IPS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed on a re-employment contract. Singh had retired as the BSF chief on December 31, 2022.
• When Singh took charge of the BSF on August 31, 2021, he had created history of a son and a father holding the top post of a paramilitary force during their services. His father and retired IPS officer of the 1959-batch, Prakash Singh, had also headed the BSF from June, 1993 to January, 1994. Singh holds LLB and MPhil degrees, besides MBA from the IIM, Ahmedabad.
• Currently, retired IPS officer Dattatray Padsalgikar, former R&AW chief Rajinder Khanna and retired IFS officer Pankaj Saran also served as Deputy National Security Advisors.

 SUMMITS AND MOU’S

Taiwan’s Gogoro, India’s Belrise to invest $2.5bn in Maha for battery swapping infra

• Taiwan-headquartered electric vehicle and infrastructure company Gogoro is advancing its plans to deploy battery swapping network in India. The company along with Belrise Industries (formerly known as Badve Engineering) has inked a strategic energy partnership with the Maharashtra government to establish a battery swapping infrastructure. This follows up to Gogoro’s earlier announced partnership with Hero MotoCorp and Zypp Electric among others.
• As per the understanding, Gogoro and Belrise Industries are planning a 50-50 JV to invest around $2.5 billion (Rs 20,617 crore) over a course of eight years to build energy infrastructure across the state. The non-binding MoU agreement was signed at the Maharashtra pavilion, World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The battery swapping infrastructure expects to begin deploying across the State of Maharashtra in 2023 which will leverage Gogoro’s smart energy ecosystem including smart battery stations, swapping technologies, network management solutions.

  AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Press Trust of India: Federal Bank Literary Award for writer

• Noted writer K Venu was conferred with Federal Bank Literary Award 2022 for his autobiography ‘Oranweshananthinte Katha.’ Venu received the award from Balagopal Chandrasekhar, Chairman and Independent Director of Federal Bank, at a special event held as part of the Kerala Literature Festival.
• ‘Oranweshananthinte Katha’ was chosen by the judging panel comprising writer and literary critic KC Narayanan, Sunil P Ilayidom and PK Rajashekharan. Judging panel member P K Rajashekaran commented that the essence of the book brought back the memory of the most intense political timeline in the modern history of Kerala.
• This is the first-ever literary award constituted by the Federal Bank. By constituting the award, Federal Bank aims to celebrate the diversity of contemporary literature and recognise writers for their cultural contributions.