Current Affairs – 26 January 2023

Republic Day

On 26 November, 1949 the Indian Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution the supreme law of the land and replaced the Government of India Act 1935. It came into effect on 26 January 1950 with a democratic government system. This day marks the largest parade that took place at Rajpath, Delhi every year.

26 January – International Customs Day

International Customs Day (ICD) is celebrated every year on 26 January by Customs Organisation to recognise the role of custom officials and agencies in maintaining border security. It also focuses on the working conditions and challenges that customs officers face in their jobs.

Visakhapatnam Railway Station awarded ‘Green Railway Station Certificate’

• Visakhapatnam railway station of East Coast Railway has been awarded the ‘Green Railway Station Certification with the highest rating of Platinum’ by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) for adopting green concepts.
• Visakhapatnam is one of the few railway stations to get this prestigious certificate. Visakhapatnam secured 82 out of 100 points in six environmental categories.

Indian Railways launches ‘Ideal Train Profile’

• Indian Railways has introduced the ‘Ideal Train Profile’ for maximum capacity utilization and income generation by regularly analyzing the movement of demand in each train in reserved express trains.
• The pilot project was started on seven zonal railways – Eastern, Central, Northern, Southern, South Central, Western, and West Central Railway.

North India’s largest floating Solar project was inaugurated in Chandigarh

• The Governor of Punjab, Banwari Lal Purohit has inaugurated North India’s largest floating Solar project of 2000kWp worth Rs 11.70 crore in Chandigarh.
• He has also inaugurated a 500kWp floating Solar Project with Fountains at Dhanas Lake in Chandigarh. It was constructed at a cost of Rs 3.34 crore.
• These projects were designed and executed by CREST (Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society).

SCO Film Festival to be organized in Mumbai

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Film Festival will be organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting through the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) in Mumbai from 27 to 31 January 2023.
• The SCO Film Festival is being organized during the Presidency of India in the SCO.
• The opening ceremony will be held at Jamshed Bhabha Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, NCPA, Mumbai on 27th January.

Ayush Ministry signed MoU with India Tourism Development Corporation

• The Ayush Ministry has signed an MoU with India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) to work together for the promotion of medical value travel in Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine.
• The Ministry of Ayush will provide training to the officials of ITDC to sensitize them about Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine.

Hardeep S Puri flagged off low carbon cruise on Mahabahu Brahmaputra

• Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri has inaugurated the demo-run of an Inland Water Vessel powered by Methanol blended Diesel (MD15).
• The boat ride was conducted on a 50-seater motor launch marine vessel named ‘SB Gangadhar’.

ECI hosted the 2nd International Conference in New Delhi

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) has hosted the 2nd International Conference in New Delhi.
• Theme 2023 – Use of Technology and Elections Integrity
• The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Rajiv Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, inaugurated the two-day international conference.

Siddharth Sharma appointed as the new CEO of Tata Trusts

• Tata Trusts, one of the country’s oldest public charitable foundations, has appointed Siddharth Sharma as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Trusts and Aparna Uppaluri as the Chief Operating Officer (COO).
• Their appointment will come into effect from 1 April 2023.