Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 04 January 2024 | Download PDF

• Classical dancer and choreographer Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari was presented with the ‘Nritya Kalanidhi’ award at the 17th Dance Festival of the Music Academy
• The festival stands as a testament to the Academy’s commitment to musical education and cultural preservation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kochi–Lakshadweep submarine optical fibre cable project.

Key points

• It was implemented at a cost of ₹1,072 crore
• It will connect the islands to high-speed internet for the first time, after years of relying on limited satellite bandwidth.
• The undersea cable link “will ensure 100 times faster Internet for the people of Lakshadweep
• Kavaratti, Lakshadweep’s capital, will be connected along with the islands of Agatti, Amini, Kadmat, Chetlet, Kalpeni, Minicoy, Androth, Kiltan, Bangaram and Bitra
• The cables have been laid by the state-owned telco BSNL, while the project was executed by the Japanese firm NEC.

• The martial dance of Tamil Nadu is called Silambattam. 
• The dancers do mock combat with various weapons, such as sticks, clubs, sword, horns, daggers etc, one kind of weapon at a time. 
• The mock combat is done in pairs. 
• The drum music for the dance is provided by Sendai Melam, i.e. group of three to four drummers playing the drum Sendai in unison.

• A Health Ministry survey was released.
• It highlights that Over half of the almost 10,000 patients surveyed recently were given antibiotics to prevent infection, rather than to treat it, amid growing concerns about the rise in resistance to antibiotics
• As much as 94% of the patients surveyed were given antibiotics before the confirmation of a definitive medical diagnosis of the precise cause of infection.

About Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the top threats to public health. 
• It is a natural phenomenon as bacteria evolve, making drugs used to treat infections less effective.
• One of the main drivers for the development of antibiotic resistance is the excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics.

About National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)

• The NCDC is the nodal agency for India’s national programme on AMR containment, of which one of the key components is the surveillance of antibiotic usage.
• To achieve this goal, it has established the National Antibiotic Consumption Network (NAC-NET) through which network sites compile data on antibiotic consumption in their respective health facilities and send it to the NCDC.

NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, will launch GSAT-20 (renamed GSAT-N2), on board SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket

Key points

• The GSAT-20 is a high-throughput Ka-band satellite (HTS), which will be fully owned, operated and funded by the NSIL.
• GSAT-20 offers Ka-Ka band HTS capacity with 32 beams having pan-India coverage, including the Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands. 
• The satellite, weighing 4,700 kg, offers an HTS capacity of nearly 48 Gpbs and has been specifically designed to meet the demanding service needs of remote and unconnected regions.

Odisha Regional Specific News

Odisha Chief Minister launched Lower Suktel Irrigation Project in Balangir district.

Key points

• The project is worth Rs 2,723 crore
• It is considered to be a major leap of development for the agrarian community in the drought-prone district.
• It is expected to facilitate irrigation in over one lakh acre farmland in 203 villages of Balangir and Sonepur districts while benefiting around 80,000 farmers. 
• It will also provide drinking water facility in the area to over 70,000 people.

The famous Lanjia Saura painting, also widely regarded as IDITAL, from Odisha received a geographical indication (GI) tag from the Centre.

Key points

• The Idital art form belongs to the Lanjia Saura or Lanjia Sabara tribe, one of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Rayagada district. 
• These paintings were originally in the form of exterior murals (wall paintings) of the tribal homes. 
• The original pattern was white paintings over a crimson maroon background.

• Odia film “Dear Purusha” has become the first Odia film to grace the prominent Times Square billboard in New York City.
• It is directed by renowned director Jiit Chakraborty and produced by Jhilik Motion Pictures.
• “Dear Purusha” intricately delves into the intricacies of the lives of six couples, offering a compelling portrayal of men as they navigate the intricate web of societal expectations and familial challenges.

• The three-day-long, first-of-its-kind ‘Biswa Odia Bhasa Sammilani’ will be held in Bhubaneswar
• This conference aims to promote the Odia language in the state and outside, including foreign countries.

• Odisha is all set to have its very own reliable intranet network soon. 
• The fibre-based network OdishaNet will connect the state headquarters with the districts in the first phase and expand to villages subsequently to connect all government institutions, including schools and hospitals.

Key points

• As part of the OdishaNet Phase 1.0, the state government has planned to provide internet protocol multiprotocol label switching (IPMPLS) connectivity to all districts for G2G services by utilising the optical ground wire (OPGW) network of Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (OPTCL). 
• It will offer ‘enter anywhere, exit anywhere’ facilities for service providers with points of presence at district level.

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