Global Family Day
- Global Family Day is celebrated on January 1 as a day of peace and sharing. Global Family day was bringing out efforts for world peace at the end of the 20th century.
- Its aim is to unite and spread a message of peace by considering and promoting the idea that Earth is one Global Family so as to make the world a better place to live for everyone.
History of New Year’s Day Celebration
- New Year has been celebrated since about 4 thousand years ago. During the Babylonian reign, the New Year dates back to the equinox of March.
- Later, the Roman calendar was developed based on the sun. This Julian calendar was almost identical to the current Gregorian calendar. January 1st is celebrated as New Year’s Day in honour of the Roman god Janus.
MoU signed for the indigenously developed vaccine “Lumpi-ProVac”
- An MoU for producing the Goat Pox vaccine and “Lumpi-ProVac” vaccine was signed in Nagpur on 29th December 2022 in the presence of Shri Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries and the Chief Minister and Deputy CM of Maharashtra.
- Lumpi-ProVacind is used for the prophylactic immunization of animals against Lumpy Skin Disease, ICAR is involved in developing an indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVac for LSD.
Mobile workshops have been started in Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin today (31.12.2022) flagged off mobile workshops for inspection and maintenance of government vehicles in the places where there are no government automatic workshops on behalf of the Transport Department at the Chief Secretariat.
- The Chief Minister inaugurated 7 Government Mobile Workshops at Madurai, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Kanchipuram, Vellore, Salem and Tirunelveli at an estimated cost of Rs.1 Crore 2 Lakh 48 thousand.
“Chennai Sangam – Namma Ooru Festival-2023
- “Chennai Sangam – Namma Ooru Festival-2023” jointly organized by the Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu will be held from 14th to 17th January.
- Chief Minister M.K.Stalin will inaugurate it.
- Earlier in 2007 DMK in Tamil Nadu, the Chennai Sangam program was started during the regime.
- Now after ten years, on the occasion of the Pongal festival in 2023, it has been decided to hold Chennai Sangam in 16 places like parks, grounds and beaches in Chennai.
The interest rate on small savings schemes hiked to 1.1%
- The Union Finance Ministry revises the interest rate on small savings schemes including National Savings Certificates, Post Office Deposits every quarter (3 months) of the financial year.
- Accordingly, the Union Government has announced a 1.1 percent increase in the interest rate for small savings from January to March, the last quarter of the current financial year.
A new foreign minister was appointed in China
- Wang Yi, who served as China’s foreign minister, has been appointed a member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Political Bureau (Politburo), the top decision-making body in China.
- After that, Qin Gang (56), who is currently the country’s ambassador to the United States, has been appointed as the new foreign minister.
FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship Tournament
- The World Blitz Chess Championship was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where Norway’s Magnus Carlsen topped the men’s category with 16 points and was crowned the title for the 6th time.
- Bibisara Balabayeva of Kazakhstan won the gold medal in the women’s category with 13 points, and India’s Koneru Hampi finished second with 12.5 points and won the silver medal.
- Russia’s Shuvalova Palina won the bronze medal with 12 points.
Ranking Badminton Tournament 2022
- Akhilesh Das Gupta Memorial All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament was held from 23rd to 29th December 2022 at Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, in that tournament Ashmita Salika won the title in the women’s category.
- Also in the men’s final, Tamil Nadu’s Rithvik Sanjeev won the gold medal.
- 19-year-old Rithvik became the first player from Tamil Nadu to win the men’s singles title in this tournament.
RuPay card for vehicle charging facility was introduced
- Charging station company ‘Fortum Charge and Drive’ in association with financial institution ‘Pine Labs’ has launched a new ‘Rupay Prepaid’ card for vehicle charging facility.
- It is also informed that this card can be used at all charging stations across India from January 1, 2023.
- Also, electric vehicle customers can use this prepaid card at charging stations and at various public places like malls, shops and restaurants.
