Daily Current Affairs for UPSC Exam 2 January 2023 | Prelims Bits

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC Exam

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC: Daily Current Affairs for UPSC article covers important articles of the day which is important for various competitive exams like UPSC, State PCS, SSC and various Bank Exams.

List of Prisoner Exchange and Nuclear Facilities b/w India and Pakistan

India-Pakistan Prisoner Exchange in News

• Recently, Indian External Ministry in an Official Communication said that India is committed to addressing “all humanitarian matters, including those pertaining to prisoners” with Pakistan.

India-Pakistan Prisoner Exchange 2023

• India and Pakistan exchange Prisoners in accordance with the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access every year on January 1 and July 1.
• The Indian Government has called for early release and repatriation of civilian prisoners, missing Indian defence personnel, and fishermen along with their boats, from Pakistan’s custody.
• India also asked to fast-track the release and repatriation of 631 Indian fishermen and two Indian civilian prisoners “who have completed their sentence and whose nationality has been confirmed and conveyed to Pakistan.
• The Ministry said that the Indian side had sought “immediate” consular access to the “remaining 30 fishermen and 22 civilian prisoners in Pakistan’s custody, who are believed to be Indian”.
• Delhi has shared lists of 339 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 95 Pakistani fishermen who are in India’s custody.
• Pakistan was also asked to confirm “nationality status” of 71 Pakistani prisoners, including fishermen, whose repatriation is pending as Islamabad has not yet confirmed their citizenship status.

Exchange of List of Nuclear Facilities

• India and Pakistan also exchanged lists of their nuclear facilities as part of a 1988 pact that is aimed at preventing attacks targeting nuclear installations in each other’s territory.
• The exchange of the list took place under the provisions of the agreement on the prohibition of attack against nuclear installations and facilities.
• It was done simultaneously through diplomatic channels in New Delhi and Islamabad.
• The exchange of the Nuclear Facilities list came amid continuing strain in ties between the two countries over the Kashmir issue as well as cross-border terrorism.

India’s ‘2023 Science Vision’

‘2023 Science Vision’ in News

• In a media interaction on the first day of the New Year, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh said, 2023 Science Vision will define India at 2047.
• Dr Jitendra Singh added that the year 2023 also happens to be the first of the last 25 years or the last quarter of the calendar before independent India turns 100 at 2047 and realizes its century dreams.

‘2023 Science Vision’

• India under PM Narendra Modi reiterates its stature in the international fora as the host of G20 as well as the Nation on whose proposal the world is observing International Year of Millets.
• Government Departments: Departments dealing with Science and Technology have already outlined their focus and thrust areas for the year 2023.
• ISRO: ISRO, after the opening up of Space Sector to private participants on the intervention of PM Modi, today has more than 100 StartUps in a short span of time.
  • At the same time, its focus is on scientific exploration missions, Technology Demonstration missions and Human spaceflight programme “Gaganyan” in 2024.
• Department of Biotechnology: The department of Biotechnology (DBT) would take forward the successes of COVID-19 vaccine mission by investing in improvement of vaccines for the existing and emerging diseases.
  • Significantly, major missions would also be launched on millets and patho-genomics of plant viruses in the International Year of Millets.
• CSIR: CSIR in 2023 will also focus on Green Hydrogen as it has already made a headway in Green Hydrogen indigenous as part of clean energy mission.
• Ministry of Earth Sciences: The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will focus on Deep Sea mission & technologies which will add value to India’s economy in the years to come.
  • 2023 will also witness further headway in Blue Economy.
  • Significantly, PM Modi referred to Deep Ocean Mission twice in his Independence Day address, first in 2021 and then again in 2022.
• Department of Atomic Energy: DAE in its contribution to India’s Electoral Management will deliver about 21.00 lakh equipment for the Election Commission of India which includes Ballot Units (BU), Control Units(CU) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) to be completed by ECIL by Sept/Oct 2023.

108th Indian Science Congress 2023

Indian Science Congress 2023 in News

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will address the 108th Indian Science Congress (ISC) on 3rd January, 2023 via video conferencing.

Indian Science Congress 2023

• About: The first session of the Congress was held in 1914. The 108th annual session of ISC will be held at Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, which is also celebrating its centenary this year.
• Theme: The focal theme of this year’s ISC is “Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment”.
• Focus on Women Empowerment: It will witness discussions on issues of sustainable development, women empowerment and the role of science & technology in achieving this.

Indian Science Congress 2023 on Women Empowerment

• The participants will discuss and deliberate on ways to increase the number of women in higher echelons of teaching, research and industry, along with trying to find ways to provide women with equal access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education, research opportunities and economic participation.
• A special programme to showcase the contribution of women in science and technology will also be held, which will also witness lectures by renowned women scientists.
• Several other programmes will also be organised alongside ISC.

Other Focus Areas of Indian Science Congress 2023

• Children’s Science Congress will also be organised to help stimulate scientific interest and temperament among children.
• Farmer’s Science Congress will provide a platform to improve the bio-economy and attract youth to agriculture.
• Tribal Science Congress will also be held, which will also be a platform for scientific display of indigenous ancient knowledge system and practice, along with focusing on the empowerment of tribal women.

Daily Current Affairs For UPSC 31 December 2022, Prelims Bits

Daily Current Affairs For UPSC 31 December 2022, Prelims Bits

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