Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 25 January 2024 | Download PDF

• Turkiye’s Parliament ratified Sweden’s NATO membership after more than a year of delay.
• It has become the 32nd member of the security alliance

About NATO

• • Formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington Treaty, NATO is a security alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe.
  • Recently, Finland joined the alliance as 31st member.
  • NATO’s fundamental goal is to safeguard the Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means.
  • It is a system of collective defence where independent member states agree for mutual defence in case of any attack by external party.
  • Article 5 of the Washington Treaty states that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all.
  • This article forms the core of the Alliance, a promise of collective defense.
• Headquarter – Brussels, Belgium.

• A ‘shobha yatra’, or public procession, in Jaipur is expected to be the high point of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the pink city.
• Jaipur has been chosen by the Indian hosts as the first stopover for the French President
• He will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi.

• The Union government has approved a new treatment regimen for leprosy, aiming at stopping its transmission at the sub-national level by 2027.
• The WHO says leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. 
• The bacteria are transmitted via droplets from the nose and mouth during close and frequent contact with untreated cases. 
• Leprosy, reported from all the six WHO regions, is curable with multi-drug therapy (MDT). 
• The WHO’s recommended treatment regimen consists of three drugs — dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine. The combination is referred to as MDT. The duration of treatment is six months for PB and 12 months for MB cases. MDT kills the pathogen and cures the infection.
• The majority of new cases detected are from Southeast Asia.

Top U.S. diplomats will travel to Delhi to discuss bilateral issues, energy cooperation and possible dates for the Quad Summit with U.S.-Australia-Japan-India leaders 

About QUAD

• The Quad is aimed at promoting regional security and economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. 
• The four countries share a common interest in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and countering China’s expanding influence in the region. 
• The Quad has held several meetings at the ministerial and leaders’ level to discuss issues such as maritime security, infrastructure development, and supply chain resilience. 
• The Quad is seen as a mechanism for balancing China’s influence in the region, although its members have stressed that it is not a military alliance and is open to other countries who share their values and interests.

• • The National Voters’ Day is celebrated every year in India on January 25 to encourage the country’s voters to participate in the electoral process.
  •  It not only encourages the youth to participate in the electoral process but also focuses on the fact that the right to vote is a basic right.
  • This day also marks the foundation day of the Election Commission of India, i.e. 25th January 1950.
  • This year, it is the 14th edition which is being celebrated.
• Theme 2024 – ‘Nothing Like Voting, I Vote For sure’ 

Did you Know?

• The first-ever National Voters’ Day was celebrated on January 25, 2011

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved two major projects to be taken up by Coal India Ltd (CIL) involving a total investment of Rs 24,834.86 crore.
• The first proposal relates for equity investment by CIL for setting up of Coal-to-SNG (Synthetic Natural Gas) Project at ECL command area through a JV with public sector gas major GAIL 
• The second proposal is for setting up of a Coal-to-Ammonium Nitrate Project at MCL command area through a joint venture between CIL and public sector giant BHEL.

• The state government is now setting up an exclusive melanistic tiger safari near Similipal in Mayurbhanj district.
• The Forest department will shift three melanistic or black tigers and two other big cats from Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar to the safari near Similipal.
• Melanistic tigers have been recorded only in Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha. 
• As per the 2022 cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation, a total of 16 tigers were recorded in Similipal, out of which 10 were melanistic.

• Eminent scientist Subodh Kumar Nayak has joined as Director of Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Odisha’s Chandipur.
• Nayak has decades of experience as a scientist in the manufacturing and development of warhead systems.

• Sanjeeb Panda has been appointed as the new Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack
• The 1994-batch IPS officer will replace 1995-batch officer Soumendra Kumar Priyadarshi, who has been posted as Director Intelligence

• A fresh study report was released by Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) recently. 
• According to it, Odisha’s per capita CO2e emission – carbon dioxide equivalent of having the same global warming potential as any other greenhouse gas – will record a five-fold rise in next two and half decades and the state will remain on a path of high emission in the ‘business-as-usual’ scenario unless corrective policy interventions are undertaken.

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