- National:
- The centre has increased duty on the import of gold and silver finding and coins of precious metals to 15% and from the existing 10%. This includes basic custom duty of 10% and Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) of 5%.
- The first Airbus A350-900 flight by Air India from Bengaluru to Mumbai was launched on 22nd January 2024. The flight, AI 589, operates every day of the week except Tuesdays, departing Bengaluru at 7:05 a.m. and landing in Mumbai at 8:50 a.m. This is part of Air India’s ambitious order for 470 new aircraft, with a planned delivery rate of one new plane every six days throughout 2024.
- On January 23, 2024, the Indian Government expanded the financial services at the IFSC in GIFT City, Gandhinagar. The expansion includes four additional services: bookkeeping, accounting, taxation, and financial crime compliance. These services will be offered to non-residents and are expected to attract the Big Four firms.
- CoRover.ai has introduced BharatGPT, India's first Large Language Model (LLM), with the goal of transforming AI interactions across 22 Indian languages. As a homegrown Generative AI platform, BharatGPT seamlessly integrates with both voice and text, offering a unique solution to language diversity challenges.
- The 14th All India Police Commando Competition began in Visakhapatnam on January 22, 2024. It’s hosted by the Andhra Pradesh Police and includes elite commando forces from 16 states and seven paramilitary forces. The competition tests skills like navigation, bomb detection and defusing, and more. It’s set to end on January 30, 2024.
- Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated the ‘Hamara Samvidhan, Hamara Samman’ campaign on 24 January 2024. This year-long pan-India campaign was launched to commemorate the 75th Year of India as a Republic. The campaign was inaugurated at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre and aims to reaffirm our collective commitment to the principles enshrined in the Constitution of India and celebrate the shared values that bind our nation.
- International:
- Canada’s Immigration Minister announced a 2-year cap on international student visas on January 22, 2024. This rule applies to applications received on or after January 1, 2024. The cap aims to reduce the number of new study permits by 35% in 2024. The decision was made to address concerns about the housing market and certain institutions. The cap will be reassessed for 2025.
- On January 23, 2024, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) signed a $1.2 billion contract in Brussels for 220,000 rounds of 155-millimeter ammunition to aid Ukraine. This move aims to replenish the dwindling stocks of NATO’s member countries as they supply ammunition to Ukraine to help it counter Russia’s invasion.
- Banking:
- Aye Finance, an NBFC backed by Alphabet, disbursed ₹10,000 crore in loans to micro enterprises on January 23, 2024. This milestone was achieved within ten years of its existence. The company’s assets under management stood at ₹3,600 crore as of the end of December 2023.
- Economy:
- The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) has requested an increase in the basic customs duty on paper and paperboard imports. This comes in response to a 43% rise in import of paper and paperboard in the first half of FY24 and a 25% increase in volume terms in FY23. The IPMA has suggested increasing the basic customs duty on paper and paperboard imports from the current 10% to 25%, as India’s WTO-bound rate is 40%.
- The direct tax-to-GDP ratio in India for FY23 indeed reached a record high of 6.11%. This is the highest it has been in 15 years. The net direct tax collections increased by 160.52% from Rs. 6,38,596 crore in FY13-14 to Rs. 16,63,686 crore in FY 22-23. The number of income tax returns filed in FY23 was 77.8 million, more than double the 38 million returns filed in FY144.
- The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index reached a 4-month high of 61.0 in January 2024, indicating a sharp growth in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and service sectors. The data was released on 24th January 2024.
- Science & Technology:
- NASA and Lockheed Martin have recently unveiled the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST). This experimental supersonic aircraft is being developed at Skunk Works for NASA’s Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator project. The X-59 is designed to reduce the sound of sonic booms, which occur when an aircraft flies at supersonic speeds, to a quiet sonic "thump".
- Scientists at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) in Jammu discovered that a compound from the cannabis plant, tetrahydrocannabinol (THCBD), has strong antibiotic properties against Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria responsible for many deaths due to antibiotic resistance.
- Sports:
- On 21st January 2024, India’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the silver medal in the India Open 2024 badminton tournament. They lost in a hard-fought final to the reigning World Champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae from Korea.
- Rohit Sharma, the skipper of the Indian cricket team, was indeed named as the captain of the ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year 2023. This team also featured other prominent Indian players such as Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, and spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
- Important Days:
- National Girl Child Day was celebrated on 24th January 2024. The event was organized by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, at the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD). The celebration included a painting competition on the theme “Mere Viksit Bharat Ka Sapna”, a tree plantation campaign, and a cultural program presented by children from Child Care Institutions (CCIs).
- Books:
- The book ‘Conversations with Aurangzeb’ is authored by Charu Nivedita. It’s a novel that presents a contemporary, young, seamless, and witty fusion of satire and amusement. The book was translated by Nandini Krishnan.
- Obituaries:
- Shawn Barber, the Canadian pole vault record holder and 2015 world champion, has sadly passed away. He was just 29 years old. The cause of his death is reported to be medical complications.
Questions:
Q.1 Who inaugurated the ‘Hamara Samvidhan, Hamara Samman’ campaign?a. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
b. President Ram Nath Kovind
c. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar
d. Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana
Q.2 Who won the silver medal in the India Open 2024 badminton tournament?
a. Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae
b. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
c. Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong
d. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo
