Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 22 December 2023 | Download PDF

Award winners in news

• English language category : : Neelum Saran Gour for her novel Requiem in Raga Janki
• In Hindi, writer Sanjeev for his novel Mujhe Pahachaano.
• Mr. Rajasekaran for his novel Neervazhi Padooum
• Mr. Sastry for his short story collection Rameshwaram Kaakulu Marikonni Kathalu
• Mr. Ramakrishnan for his literary study Malayala Novelinte Deshakalangal.
• Scholar Lakshmisha Tolpadi for his collection of essays Mahabharatha Anusandhanada Bharathayatre in Kannada. 
• Bengali author Swapnamay Chakrabarti for his novel Jaler Upar Pani.
• Among the authors who will receive the honour for their poetry collections are Vijay Verma in Dogri, Vinod Joshi in Gujarati, Manshoor Banihali in Kashmiri, Ashutosh Parida in Odia, and Arun Ranjan Mishra in Sanskrit.

Did you know?

• Sahitya Akademi Award is given to the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the major Indian languages recognised by the Akademi. 
• The first Awards were given in 1955. 
• Sahitya Akademi ‘Yuva Puraskar’ was instituted in 2011, it recognises young writers under the age of 35.

• The Lok Sabha passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023
• The Bill had been passed by the Rajya Sabha already.

About

• The Bill replaces the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991.
• It addresses the appointment, salary, and removal of the CEC and ECs
• The legislation aims to bring transparency to the appointment process, responding to a directive from the Supreme Court of India in the Anoop Baranwal v Union of India case, 2023.

• After bird-life was badly hit by the recent Ennore oil spill, the TN state forest department has found close to 50 birds of different species completely ‘painted’ black with oil. 
• Experts from the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary (BMAD) are planning to establish feeding stations for birds at the Ennore creek. 

Key points

• TN State Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, the nodal agency for the oil spill clean-up, has roped in WTI to work with local volunteers and the Wildlife Warden, Chennai, to assess how the affected birds could be rescued and rehabilitated.
• The team is planning to strategically set up ‘cafeterias’ with nets to feed the birds with fresh fish and capture those that are sick.

• India Skills Report is published by talent assessment agency Wheebox in association with various agencies including All India Council for Technical Education, Confederation of Indian Industry and Association of Indian Universities.

According to the report,

• Kerala has emerged as the most preferred State to work in the India Skills Report 2024.
• Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram have come second and fourth respectively among cities where both men and women prefer to work regardless of their age.
• Kerala also secured the second position in overall employability among the 18-21 age group to reaffirm its status as a robust talent pool in the country.

For more – https://wheebox.com/india-skills-report.htm

• Parliament passed the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill to make the process of allotment of title and registration of periodicals simple through an online system without the requirement of physical interface. 
• It replaces the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867.

• India has received price bids from France for the purchase of 26 Rafale-M carrier-based fighters as well as three additional Scorpene-class conventional submarines.
• The 26 jets are meant to fill the gap in the numbers till the indigenous Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter is inducted into service.

Did you know?

• The Navy currently operates two aircraft carriers, the INS Vikramaditya and the indigenously built INS Vikrant.
• The major difference between the existing Scorpenes and the new ones is their integrated combat system (ICS).
• The earlier submarines had systems from France, while the new ones will have indigenous ICS, with significant localised solutions provided by Bharat Electronics Limited in collaboration with French suppliers.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) added the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine to its list of prequalified vaccines. 
• It is developed by Oxford University and manufactured by Serum Institute of India.
• In October 2023, the WHO had recommended its use for the prevention of malaria in children.
• The R21 vaccine is the second malaria vaccine prequalified by the WHO.

Key points

• The prequalification means larger access to vaccines as a key tool to prevent malaria in children, with it being a prerequisite for vaccine procurement by UNICEF and funding support for deployment by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
• It added that both vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective in clinical trials, for preventing malaria in children.

Did you know?

• Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, places a particularly high burden on children in the African region, where nearly half a million children die from the disease each year. 
• In 2022, there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases in the world, and 6,08,000 malaria deaths across 85 countries.

• A nocturnal flying squirrel has resurfaced in Arunachal Pradesh after going missing for 42 years.
• The Namdapha flying squirrel (Biswamoyopterus biswasi) was last described in 1981 based on a single individual found in the 1,985 sq. km. Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district.

About Namdapha Flying Squirrel

• IUCN Status: CR
• Wildlife Protection Act Status: Schedule II
• Found in Arunachal Pradesh in the Namdapha National Park
• It is among the 25 “most wanted lost” species that are the focus of Global Wildlife Conservation’s “Search for Lost Species” initiative.

Paradip Port achieved yet another 100 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) of cargo handling, in shortest time, in its history

About

• Paradip Port is a natural, deep-water port on the East coast of India in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha.
• It is situated at confluence of the Mahanadi river and the Bay of Bengal.
• The port is administered by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT), an autonomous corporation under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 functioning under Ministry of Shipping. 

•  A state-of-the-art smart Braille classroom will be set up in Odisha government-run school for the blind at Burla in Sambalpur district
• The Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) 

Key points

• Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) will provide the funds for developing the smart Braille classroom, while the corporation will execute the project. 
• The smart Braille classroom represents a cutting-edge, interactive learning approach equipped with an audio system and a distinctive feature designed to capture and analyse children’s usage patterns.
• ‘Annie’, a comprehensive Braille self-learning device, that makes learning fun, engaging, and intuitive for blind students will be used to teach the students in the smart classroom for the visually impaired.

• The Single Window Committee (SWC) of the state government’s Energy Department has approved investment proposals of Rs 1079.62 crore.
• This is to boost to sustainable energy in Odisha.

Key points

• The proposals include a 30-MW ground-mounted solar project by GMR Kamalanga and 19.53-MW rooftop solar initiative by JSL which will transform the region’s solar energy capacity.
• In hydroelectric power sector, the 63MW large hydro project by the state-run PSU Odisha Hydro Power Corporation Ltd (OHPC) has been approved 
• The fund is meant for setting up transformative green energy projects to achieve the NetZero target

• A Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train will run from Goinathpur railway station in Nilagiri to Balasore in Odisha soon.
• It will be taken up after modernisation work of the stations.

• The Chief Minister inaugurated the left canal of Baitarani river under Anandpur barrage in Keonjhar district.
• He also laid the foundation stone for second phase work of Subarnarekha project. 
• He also laid the foundation stone for a barrage over Khairi Bhandan river at Anlabani village in Mayurbhanj district.
• The 28-km canal connecting Baitarani and Salandi rivers will facilitate irrigation to 2,221 hectare (ha) of agricultural land in Hatadihi and Anandpur blocks of the district.

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