Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 27 January 2024 | Download PDF

• President Smt Droupadi Murmu to lead the 75th Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on January 26, 2024.
• French President Emmanuel Macron to be the Chief Guest at the parade.

Key Points:

• Twin themes: ‘Viksit Bharat’ and ‘Bharat – Loktantra ki Matruka’.

Women Empowerment in Parade:

• Over 100 women artists  herald the parade with Indian musical instruments.
• Maiden participation of an all-women Tri-Service contingent.
• Women pilots  showcased Nari Shakti during the Fly-past.
• Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) contingents  consisted of only women personnel.

Padma Awards:

• These awards are announced annually on the eve of Republic Day 
• 2024 list comprises 5 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 110 Padma Shri Awards.

PADMA VIBHUSHAN (5)

• Ms. Vyjayanthimala Bali – TN (Art)
• Ms. Padma Subramaniam – TN ( Art)
• Shri Konidela Chiranjeevi – AP (Art)
• Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu – AP (Public Affairs)
• Shri Bindeshwar Pathak (P) – Bihar ( Social Work)

Gallantry Awards:

• President Smt Droupadi Murmu has approved Gallantry awards to 80 Armed Forces personnel, including 12 posthumous, on the eve of 75th Republic Day. 
• They include Param Vir Chakra winners Subedar Major (Honorary Captain) Yogendra Singh Yadav (Retd) & Subedar Major Sanjay Kumar (Retd), and Ashok Chakra winners Major General CA Pithawalla (Retd), Colonel D Sreeram Kumar & Lt Col Jas Ram Singh (Retd).

Do you know?

• The Param Vir Chakra is awarded for the most conspicuous act of bravery and self-sacrifice in the face of the enemy, while the Ashok Chakra is awarded for similar acts of valour and self-sacrifice but, other than, in the face of the enemy.

India-France Defence Industrial Roadmap and Cooperation:

• India and France announce a “defence industrial road map” for collaboration in defence production.
• Emphasis on future cooperation in “co-design and co-development” of military hardware.

Key Agreements and Talks:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron sealed several agreements during talks in Jaipur.
• The agreements aim to bring parity with the India-U.S. defence production plan finalized last year.

Defence-Space Partnership:

• A new agreement for a defence-space partnership was signed, focusing on collaboration in “space situational awareness.”
• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on coordinating satellite launches to enhance space cooperation.

Diverse Collaborations:

• • Additional agreements signed on partnerships in energy, digital health, agriculture, and education.
  • No significant progress announced on big-ticket government-to-government deals for fighter jets, engines, and submarines.
• Airbus-TATA Joint Venture:

• • Despite no progress on major defence deals, a joint venture for local manufacture of civilian helicopters agreed between Airbus and TATA.

On National Tourism Day, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shared a captivating photograph of a golden tiger, taken by wildlife photographer Gaurav Ramnarayanan.

Key Points:

Golden Tiger Population in Kaziranga

• Gaurav Ramnarayanan suggests that there may be more than one tiger with a golden coat in Kaziranga, but the exact count is unknown. A previously shared golden tiger photograph, dated 2019, features a different tiger.
• Professor Uma Ramakrishnan and her team from the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, are conducting a study on the golden phenotype of tigers in Kaziranga using scat samples.
• According to Professor Ramakrishnan, the golden coloration in the tiger is due to a genetic variant or mutation. 
• The tiger lacks the typical black color, and even the orange hue appears faded, revealing a unique and captivating aspect of the tiger’s genetics.

• Aadhaar cards and PDF versions emphasize they are “proof of identity, not of citizenship or date of birth.”
• The inclusion of explicit disclaimers signals caution to government departments and organizations against using Aadhaar for citizenship or date of birth verification.

Historical Context:

• The invalidity of Aadhaar for determining date of birth and citizenship has been established since 2018.
• A 2018 memorandum clarified that Aadhaar is not a proof of date of birth per se, as it relies on a different document provided by applicants.
• A Bombay High Court judgment in the previous year reinforced this stance, cited in a December 2023 circular by UIDAI.

Key Points:

Aadhaar and Citizenship:

• Aadhaar has never served as proof of citizenship, as foreign nationals residing in India for 180 days are also eligible to obtain it.
• Government departments, despite this, have accepted Aadhaar for purposes typically reserved for citizens or adults.

EPFO’s Decision:

• Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has stopped accepting Aadhaar as proof of date of birth.
• EPFO circular issued on January 16 removes Aadhaar from the list of acceptable documents for proving date of birth.

Recent Warning Update:

• The warning initially only mentioned Aadhaar not being a proof of citizenship last year but now clarifies that it is not a proof of date of birth either.
• The warning is now visibly imprinted on all Aadhaar cards and digital copies issued to Indian residents.

• Airbus Helicopters and Tata Group collaborate to establish a Final Assembly Line (FAL) for civil helicopters in India.
• This marks India’s first private-sector helicopter assembly facility, with a focus on Airbus’ popular H125 single-engine civil helicopter.

Key Points:

Key Details of the Partnership:

• Tata Advanced Systems Limited, a Tata Group subsidiary, will join forces with Airbus Helicopters to set up the assembly facility.
• The facility’s primary purpose is to manufacture the H125 helicopter for the Indian market and export to neighboring countries.
• Airbus and Tata are concurrently working on a FAL in Vadodara for the C-295 military transport aircraft, part of a larger contract with the Indian Air Force.
• Airbus specifies that the FAL in India will handle critical tasks such as integration of major components, avionics, and mission systems.

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the Samaleswari Temple Area Management and Local Economy Initiatives (SAMALEI) project.

Key Points:

• The project includes peripheral development of the shrine, construction of a heritage corridor, amenities for pilgrims, improved access to the temple, and development of the Mahanadi riverfront.

About:

• Samaleswari Temple is a Hindu temple in Sambalpur, Odisha, India, dedicated to the goddess known as ‘Samaleswari’, also known among the natives as samalei maa, meaning Mother Samaleswari,the goddess of fertility and prosperity.
• The 16th-century temple is situated on the Mahanadi’s banks.

Do you know?

• Nuakhai is a festival celebrated in the western districts of Odisha where the first produce of the field is offered to the goddess.
• The festival is mostly celebrated in Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Deogarh, and Sundergarh.

• Jyoshna Saber hails from Bhubaneswar Odisha ,after winning bronze at the World Youth Championships in Albania last year, she shattered the national snatch record on her way to the gold medal in the 40kg category at the 6th Khelo India Youth Games in Chennai.
• Jyoshna lifted a total of 130 kgs, including 60 kg in Snatch (a new national record) and 70 kg in Clean and Jerk.

Shri Bhagabat Padhan,Shri Binod Kumar Pasayat,Shri Gopinath Swain,Shri Binod Maharana are the 4 awardees from Odisha in the Art field for the year 2024.

Key Points:

• • Gopinath Swain, the 105-year-old artist from Ganjam district, who has been performing Krishna Leela for over 9 decades received Padma Shri in recognition for dedicating his life to preserve and promote the tradition.
  • Bhagabat Padhan, an exponent of Sabda Nrutya folk dance from Bargarh was chosen for the prestigious award for ‘expanding the scope of Sabda Nrutya dance(linked to the dance of Mahadev) to wider platforms and imparting training to diverse groups in the art.”
  • Binod Kumar Maharana, a master painter from Bhubaneswar, has been honoured for his contribution to preserving the Pattachitra art form.
• Binod Kumar Pasayat, from Sambalpur town, is a renowned lyricist, playwright, and poet. The 88-year-old Pasayat has been a prolific writer for the past seven decades.

• A 123-foot-tall statue of Lord Shiva is set to be inaugurated in Odisha’s Jajpur district on the occasion of Mahashivratri March 8.

Key Points:

• The statue is being built near Barahanath temple on the banks of Baitarani river as part of the Baraha Khetra development project.
• The statue on the banks of the sacred Baitarani river will be a valuable addition to the district’s tourism.
• Jajpur has significant tourism potential, with attractions such as Dashwamedha Ghat, Baraha Temple, Baruni ghat, and Maa Biraja Temple drawing tourists to the area.

• The annual dolphin census in Odisha’s Chilika lake has been postponed because of adverse weather conditions over the last few days, divisional forest officer (DFO).

Key Points:

• According to the 2023 census, the lake had a total of 173 dolphins of two species — Irrawaddy (154) and Bottlenose (19).
• Dolphins have been included in Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and categorised as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list.

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