18 January 2022 Daily Current Affairs With Video Lecture [DOWNLOAD PDF]

Zaheer Hussain
January 18, 2022
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DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 18 January 2022

‘State of the World’ Special Address at WEF by PM Modi

PM Modi Virtually delivered the ‘State of the World’ address at the World Economic Forum, Davos Summit.
Highlights of his Speech:
He has expressed confidence that in the times to come India will fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the world., India is moving forward with great strength and vigor.
India is celebrating its 75^th year of Independence and the administration of 160 crore vaccine doses in the country.
India showcased its strength by providing free food to more than 80 crores of its citizens.
In this time of the Corona pandemic, India followed the vision of One Earth, One Health, and saving crores of lives by giving essential medicines, vaccines to many countries.
Today India is the world’s third-largest pharma producer and pharmacy to the world.
During the event, several leaders will share their outlook, insights, and plans relating to the most urgent global issues such as climate change, social contracts, and vaccine equity.
The five-day online Davos Agenda summit will kick off from today. During the event, several Heads of State and Government will address the forum. These include Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida, President of the European Commission Ursua von der Leyen, Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett, President of China Xi Jinping, among others. The event will also witness the participation of top industry leaders, international organizations, and civil society. They will deliberate on critical challenges being faced by the world today and discuss how to address them.

R-day Celebrations to Begin Every Year From Jan 23

Republic Day Celebrations will now begin every year from 23rd January instead of 24th. According to the Government of India’s sources, the step was taken to include the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subash Chandra Bose. The birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose is celebrated as Parakram Divas across the country. This is in line with Modi’s Government’s focus on celebrating and commemorating important aspects of the country’s rich history and culture.
Earlier, the Government decided to mark 14th August as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day and 31st October as Ekta Divas-National Unity Day which is the Birth anniversary of Sardar Patel. The government had also decided to commemorate 15^th November as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas which is the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. Constitution Day will be celebrated across the country on 26th November and 26th December will be commemorated as Veer Baal Divas to pay tribute to four Sahibzadas.

10th Century Stone Idol Returning to India

Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy announced that a 10th century stone idol of Goat Head Yogini that had been illegally removed from a temple in Lokhari, Banda, Uttar Pradesh is being returned to India.
Earlier, the High Commission of India in London announced the recovery and repatriation of the 10th century stone idol that had been illegally removed.
The sculpture is of a goat-headed Yogini that originally belonged to a group of stone deities in sandstone and was installed in Lokhari temple. The sculpture had briefly surfaced in the art market in London in 1988. In October last year, the High Commission of India received information about the finding of a goat-headed Yogini Sculpture that had matched the description of the Lokhari set, in the garden of a private residence near London.

Commemorative Postal Stamp to Mark 1 Year Of Vaccination Programme

Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya today released a commemorative Postal Stamp on COVID-19 Vaccine to mark the first anniversary of India’s National Covid-19 Vaccination program.
This stamp signifies the remarkable work done by the frontline healthcare workers and scientific community across the country in protecting the people against the COVID pandemic. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mandaviya said, today is an important day for everyone as the country has completed one year of vaccination drive.
He said, India has encountered various challenges along the journey, but it is the resolve and dedication of more than 135 crore people that we could overcome every challenge.
He said the world is amazed by India’s vaccination drive. The Minister said, 93 percent of people above 18 years are vaccinated with 1st dose and 70 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive was launched by Prime Minister Modi on 16 January last year.
This is the world’s largest vaccination program covering the entire length and breadth of the country.
Vaccination was made free for everyone above 18 years of age on 21st June 2021.
The current vaccine production capacity of Covishield in India is approximately 25 crore doses per month, and that of Covaxin is around six crore doses per month.

Open Data Week Being Conducted

To encourage the adoption of open data and promote innovation across India’s urban ecosystem, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs today announced the initiation of the Open Data Week. The Open Data Week is being conducted from today till the 21^st of this month. It is a part of a series of pre-event initiatives leading up to the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav – Smart Cities: Smart Urbanization’ conference to be held next month.
The Open Data Week aims to show the benefits of open data such as increased efficiency, transparency, a spur in innovation, and economic growth. It is divided into two segments. The first segment involves uploading datasets, visualizations, APIs, and data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal from today till the 20th of this month. The second segment involves the celebration of Data Day by all smart cities on the 21st of this month.

Chips to Startup Programme

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has sought applications from 100 academia, Research and Development organizations, start-ups, and MSMEs under its Chips to Startup Programme. The Chips to Startup, C2S Programme aims to train 85 thousand high-quality and qualified engineers in the area of Very-large-scale integration and Embedded System Design. This will be a step towards leapfrogging in the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing space.
The program would be implemented at about 100 academic institutions across the country, including IITs, NITs, and IIITs. The online applications are open until 31st January.

Kathak Dancer Birju Maharaj Dies At 83

Brij Mohan Nath Mishra, (4 February 1938), was an exponent of the Lucknow “Kalka- Bindadin” Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers. He also practiced Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist.
After working along with his uncle, Shambhu Maharaj at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, later the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, he remained head of the latter, for several years, till his retirement in 1998 when he opened his dance school, Kalashram, also in Delhi. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1986 & Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1964.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

“Open Data Week” is being conducted by
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
Ministry of Electronics & IT
Ministry of Rural Development.
Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

ANSWER: A

Kathak Dancer Birju Maharaj was awarded by ____ in 1986.
Padma Shri
Padma Bhushan
Padma Vibhushan
Bharath Ratna

ANSWER: C

______ is a dance of Tamil Nadu in southern India.
Kuchipudi
Bharatanatyam
Kathak
Mohiniyattam

ANSWER: B

_____ is ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’
August 15
August 14
December 26
September 15

ANSWER: B

_____ is ‘Ekta Divas’/ ‘National Unity Day
Sept 15
Oct 31
Aug 15
Oct 21

ANSWER: B

____ is ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’
Nov 10
Nov 15
Nov 20
Nov 25

ANSWER: B

____ is ‘Constitution Day’
Nov 10
Nov 15
Nov 20
Nov 26

ANSWER: D

_____ is ‘Veer Baal Divas’
1 Jan
10 Jan
25 Dec
26 Dec

ANSWER: D

_____ is ‘Good Governance Day
1 Jan
10 Jan
25 Dec
26 Dec

ANSWER: C

HQ of World Economic Forum
Geneva
Davos
Cologny
Zurich

ANSWER: C

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Zaheer Hussain

Senior Lecturer General Studies, SSBCrackExams, Passionate Teacher, Masters in Public Administration, Expertise in Polity, History and Current Affairs. Loves Food and traveling Solo.