Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off the Vande Bharat express connecting Howrah and New Jalpaiguri. It is a railway station in Siliguri, West Bengal and is considered as the gateway to the northeast.
The Vande Bharat Express covers a distance of 564 km in 7.45 hours, will save three hours of travel time. The Vande Bharat express will be preferred by tea industry executives and tourists travelling to the Himalayas in North Bengal and Sikkim.

Notes:
Union Minister of Home and Cooperation, Amit Shah addressed the ‘Cooperative Beneficiaries Conference’ in Bengaluru, Karnataka
The first cooperative society in the whole country was established in Gadag district of Karnataka in 1905. The Minister announced that one cooperative society will be formed in every panchayat of the country. NABARD, NDDB and the Ministry of Cooperation have prepared an action plan to form 2 lakh new such cooperative societies in three years.

Notes:
Sweden has taken over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first six months of the year, on January 1, 2023,
It followed Czech Republic, which headed the Council in the second half of 2022. This is the third time that Sweden has taken over the Presidency of the Council. The EU Council Presidency rotates every six months between the Member States of the EU.

Notes:
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (3) of article 77 of the Constitution amended the rules governing E-sports.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Sports Ministry are asked to include ‘e-Sports as part of multi-sports events’.

Notes:
Government of India sponsored the proposal for International Year of Millets (IYM) 2023 which was accepted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Embassies of India across more than 140 countries will be participating in celebration of IYM during 2023. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, organized an opening ceremony for the International Year of Millets – 2023 at Rome, Italy.

Notes:
The gross Goods and Services Tax, GST revenue collected in December, 2022 is Rs 1.495 lakh crore. As per the Finance Ministry, the GST revenues are 15 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year.
During December, revenue from import of goods was eight per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transaction are 18 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

Notes:
Satyendra Nath Bose was a Mathematician and physicist from India. He was born on January 1, 1894, in Calcutta, India. The Government of India honoured him with the title Padma Vibhushan in 1954.
Bose became a Fellow of the Royal Society and was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1958. Bose was also appointed as the National Professor, which was the highest honour in India for any scholar.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that no rhinos were poached in Assam in the year 2022.
Since 2000, it is for the first time there were no incidents of rhino poaching in the state. Assam’s Kaziranga National Park is the biggest habitat for one-horned rhinos globally. In 2021, the Assam government established a 22-member task force for containing the act of poaching.

Notes:
Captain Shiva Chouhan, an officer from the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, became the first woman officer to be operationally deployed at Kumar Post in the Siachen Glacier.
The post is located at an altitude of 15,632 feet. Kumar Post is named after late Colonel Narinder Kumar, who was instrumental in the Indian Army launching ‘Operation Meghdoot’ and securing the Siachen Glacier in 1984.

Notes:
The Gaan Ngai festival of the Zeliangrong community is celebrated in Manipur. It is celebrated every year after harvesting.
During the festival, the Zeliarong community shows their gratitude by offering their harvest to the almighty. It is a custom to produce new fire by rubbing dry wood and split bamboo pieces and distribute them to other households. The Zeliarong community in Manipur comprises Rongmei, Liangmei, and Zeme tribes.