Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 19 December 2023 | Download PDF

• International Migrants Day is celebrated on 18 December.
• On this International Migrants Day, IOM aims to position migration as one of the solutions to global challenges, such as adapting to the impacts of climate change or providing better economic opportunities for communities.
• The theme for the 2023 is “Act today for a better tomorrow for all: Improving the health of migrants to unleash the power of migration”

• There has been a significant increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting India in 2023 with a footfall of 7.24 million till October compared with 6.44 million for the corresponding period in 2022.
• This is an increase of 55.6%
• The numbers though are still below the pre-pandemic levels.
• In 2018 and 2019, India saw 10.56 million and 10.93 million foreign tourist arrivals, respectively, which dipped to 2.74 million in 2020 and further to 1.52 million in 2021, majorly due to the COVID-induced lockdown.

Schemes for Financial assistance

• Swadesh Darshan 2 is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Tourism which provides financial assistance to the State governments and Union Territories and Central agencies for the development of tourism infrastructure at various destinations.
• The Prasad (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive) scheme focuses on developing and identifying pilgrimage sites across India to promote religious tourism.
• It aims to integrate pilgrimage destinations in a prioritised, planned and sustainable manner to provide a complete religious tourism experience.
• The growth of domestic tourism hugely depends on pilgrimage tourism.

• The Raman Research Institute (RRI) is participating in the first winter Indian expedition to the Arctic region.
• The institute researchers would examine the characterisation of the radio frequency environment in the Svalbard region of the Arctic in Norway. 
• The survey will help astronomers assess the suitability of this uniquely located region for carrying out precision astronomy measurements.

Key points

• India has been running its own research station, Himadri, in Svalbard since 2008. 
• The winter expedition is a bid to maintain a year-long presence at the station.
• The month-long scientific expedition is being funded by the Earth Sciences Ministry. 
• The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa, is the nodal agency spearheading the expedition

• The Union Health Ministry has asked all States to maintain a constant vigilance over the COVID-19 situation in the country in view of the upcoming festive season and the recent surge in cases in some parts of the country. 
• The alert comes following the detection of the country’s first case of the new JN.1 variant of COVID-19 in Kerala.

• CRISIL report on E-bus penetration in India was released recently
• The share of electric buses in new bus sales across India is expected to double to 8% next fiscal from 4% in the last fiscal.
• It is driven by the central government’s focus on decarbonising the public transport sector and favourable total cost of ownership (TCO) for an e-bus vis-à-vis buses run on other fuels

Key points

• Efforts were underway to deploy e-buses via tenders already awarded under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles, or FAME, scheme and the National Electric Bus Programme (NEBP)
• Growth in e-buses is also supported by favourable ownership economics
• TCO for e-bus is estimated to be 15-20% lower than ICE and CNG bus, over an estimated life span of 15 years with breakeven in 6-7 years.

• A report prepared by the global accounting/consulting firm, EY highlighted that by fully capitalising Gen AI technology and its applications across sectors, the country can potentially add $359-438 billion in FY2029-30 alone, reflecting a 5.9% to 7.2% increase over and above baseline GDP.
• Generative AI (Gen AI) has the potential to add a cumulative $1.2-1.5 trillion to India’s GDP over seven years to 2030
• Approximately 69% of the overall impact is expected to be derived from sectors such as business, services, financial services, retail and healthcare.

• Mansi Joshi and Thulasimathi Murugesan emerged champions in women’s doubles
• Tokyo Paralympics champion Pramod Bhagat got two silver medals

• The highest dropout rate in Class X in 2021-22 was recorded in Odisha, where 49.9% students discontinued their studies
• Odisha was the worst performing state followed by Bihar at 42.1% and they were among the ten states where dropout rate was more than the national average, which decreased from 28.4% in 2018-19 to 20.6% in 2021-22.
• Odisha has had a downward trend over the past four years with its dropout rate rising from 12.8% in 2018-2019 to 49.9% in 2021-22. 
• The dropout rate in the state was 38.35% in 2019-20 and 39.4% in 2020-21.

• Chief Minister approved Rs 2 crore for drinking water project in a Dargarh in Odisha’s Bhadrak district.
• As part of the project, a water tank and supply facility will be constructed at the Huzoor Mujahid-e-Millat Dargah, Khanwa in Dhamnagar for the benefit of the devotees.
• The Dargah of Hazrat Huzoor Mujahid Millat Maulana is visited by over 2 lakh devotees on the occasion of Urs festival every year.

• Ganjam district has registered the highest number of road accident deaths in the state this year. 
• There has been a sharp rise in road mishap deaths.
• Despite a 13.42 per cent decline in the number of road accidents for the period January to September in comparison to the same timeframe last year, the deaths have increased by 4.58 per cent.

CV Raman Global University in Odisha capital has been selected as a nodal centre for the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) Software Edition of 2023.

Key points

• Smart India Hackathon (SIH) is a nationwide initiative by Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell to provide students a platform to solve the pressing problems of the government, ministries, departments, industries and other organisations.
• The SIH has been acclaimed as the world’s biggest open innovation model and it inculcates the culture of product innovation and problem-solving among students.
• The hackathon is conducted annually in two formats–SIH Software and SIH Hardware Editions–for higher education students.

• It is the largest freshwater lake of Odisha situated in Banki sub-division of Cuttack district.
• The wetland is an oxbow lake formed by River Mahanadi.
• It provides a safe habitat to:
• Three threatened bird species- Rynchops albicollis (EN), Sterna acuticauda (EN) and Sterna aurantia (VU)
• Three threatened fish species- Clarias magur (Clariidae) (EN), Cyprinus carpio (Cyprinidae) (VU) and Wallago attu (VU).

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