* In the next 2 years: Cost of living; Natural disasters and extreme weather events; Geoeconomic confrontation

* In the next 10 years: Failure to mitigate climate change; Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse

* Major risks to India: Digital inequality; geopolitical confrontation for resources, the rising cost of living, debt crisis, natural disasters and extreme weather events

* Technologies such as AI, Quantum and Biotechnology are going to exacerbate the inequalities and digital divide ( if no action is taken to mitigate it)

* Covid-19 and Ukraine war has resulted in rising inflation, rapid normalization of monetary policies, low-growth and low-investment era

* A miscalibration between monetary and fiscal policies will raise the likelihood of liquidity shocks, signalling a more prolonged economic downturn and debt distress on a global scale.

* Geopolitical fragmentation will drive geoeconomic warfare and heighten the risk of multi-domain conflicts

* g. data regarding Russia’s boreal forests –the biggest land-based carbon store on the planet – is no longer available for international scientific research because of the war in Ukraine.

* Concurrent shocks, deeply interconnected risks and eroding resilience are giving rise to the risk of polycrises ( one crisis leading to another and the overall impact far exceeds the sum of each part)

Food, fuel and cost crises exacerbate societal vulnerability while declining investments in human development erode future resilience

As volatility in multiple domains grows in parallel, the risk of polycrises accelerates

Miss USA, "R'Bonney Gabriel" has been crowned as the Miss Universe 2022. Gabriel took the crown ahead of Amanda Dudamel from Venezuela and Andreína Martínez from the Dominican Republic.

 

Aged 28, R'Bonney Gabriel is a model, fashion designer, and sewing instructor who prioritizes the environment in her work. She is also the first Filipino American to win Miss USA.

 

The 71st Miss Universe pageant was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Saturday (14th Jan 2023) night with 84 women from around the world competing for the crown...

Source : AIR

Odisha Chief minister "Naveen Patnaik" on 15th January 2023 inaugurated Dotfest, the grand cultural extravaganza that is being organised in the wake of the men's hockey World Cup.

The second edition of 'Dot Fest,' a part of city festivals commemorating the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023, will be held in Odisha from January 15 to 29, 2023.

With a slew of activities including Bollywood superstars and international storytellers. As part of the festival, six main festivals and activities will be held, including Bhubaneswar live, an international cuisine festival, the story-telling festival BhuFesto, Ekamra walks, a night flea market, and the 'Sebe-O-Ebe' picture show.

 

* This feat was achieved through The Citizen, a Constitution literacy campaign jointly launched by the Kollam district panchayat, District Planning Committee and Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA).

* This ambitious campaign aimed to educate people(above the age of 10) in the district on the Constitution, and the impact it has on their daily lives.

* The campaign was a remarkable success in educating citizens, who were unaware of the Constitution, on their rights and the importance of the document. 

* It is an ongoing effort to ensure that all citizens are aware of the Constitution and their rights as citizens.

* As part of the campaign, the entire population of Kollam above the age of 10 were briefed on the preamble of the Constitution and the historical background of the document, its basic principles, fundamental rights of citizens, and legal remedies.

* Everyone, including government institutions, private establishments, socio-cultural organisations, and educational institutions.

* Around 20 to 25 individuals from each municipality and 10 to 15 persons from each grama panchayat were selected for training and they are called senators. The Kollam Corporation will have 100 to 150 senators.

A 63-year-old Italian man, Michele Santelia has achieved a world record by typing copies of 81 books backwards, a technique that he calls ‘mirror writing’, as per a report by the Guinness World Records (GWR).

For the purpose of this record, the books must be typed using ‘mirror writing’, such that the result is the mirror image of any given language’s normal writing.

 

Michele’s latest book, Das Nibelungenlied Backwards, a medieval German heroic epic, was typed in 2022. Michele dedicated it to “the disabled people of the whole world; to all those who suffer daily in a bigoted and clumsy society.”

 

* Santaglia types books using four completely blank keyboards without looking backwards.

* He types each book in its original language whether it be hieroglyphs, Old Hebrew, Traditional Chinese, Mayan, Etruscan, Cuneiform or Voynich glyphs.

* He reverse-typed the Bible, the Code of Hammurabi, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Book of the Dead from ancient Egypt, the writings of Leonardo da Vinci.

* He is able to type using 16 computer keyboards simultaneously located at different heights.

* He credits Leonardo da Vinci who inspired him to do mirror typing.

* Santaglia has given several books to various world figures over the years, including former US Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and former Italian Presidents Carlo Ciampi and Giorgio Napolitano.

* Also, he has compiled all the four Indian Vedas in a single book by reverse typing.

* He types every book in its original language whether it is Hieroglyphs, Old Hebrew, Traditional Chinese, Mayan, Etruscan, Cuneiform or Voynich glyphs....

Source : NDTV

The 53rd edition of the  World Economic Forum (WEF) will begin today (16th Jan 2023) at Davos in Switzerland. The meeting will continue till 20th January 2023.

The theme for this year (2023) WEF meeting is 'Cooperation in a Fragmented World'. 

The congregation of experts, academics, investors, and political and business leaders will discuss some of the pressing issues the world is facing today, such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis, global inflation and climate change and promote innovative solutions.

 

World leaders are expected to share their insights on the prevalent economic conditions across the globe. According to the WEF's annual Global Risks Report, recession threat, cost-of-living crisis and debt distress is likely to dominate the outlook for at least two years.

Global leaders taking part in the meeting include, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, South Africa President Cyril M Ramaphosa, Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Swiss President Alain Berset and Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Strong participation of leaders from India is expected at the summit.

 

WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said, they see the manifold political, economic and social forces creating increased fragmentation on a global and national level.

He said, to address the root causes of this erosion of trust, they need to reinforce cooperation between the government and business sectors, creating the conditions for a strong and durable recovery..

Source : AIR

The annual wholesale price index-based inflation for December 2022 eased to a 22-month low of 4.95 percent on the back of a favourable base effect and an easing off supply side pressures of items such as fruits and vegetables, the government data showed on Monday.

 

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was 5.85 per cent in November 2022 and 14.27 per cent in December 2021.

 

At the broad-segments level, while the primary articles’ inflation declined to a 23-month low of 2.4 per cent, the manufacturing inflation edged down to a 25-month low of 3.4 per cent in December 2022.

 

However, the fuel and power inflation rose to 18.1 per cent in December 2022 from a 20-month low of 17.4 per cent in the previous month.

 

“The decline in the rate of inflation in December 2022 is primarily contributed by fall in prices of food articles, mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, food products, textiles and chemicals & chemical products,” the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement...

Source : Indian Express

Regional carrier Flybig on Sunday (15th Jan 2023) started service from Itanagar to Guwahati.

 

The carrier has commenced flight from Hollongi in Arunachal Pradesh to Guwahati in Assam.

 

"Itanagar is the 10th destination on Flybig network; while the third destination in Arunachal Pradesh alone.

Flybig also flies six days a week to Tezu and seven days to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh from Guwahati," it said in a release.

 

The direct morning flight from Itanagar to Guwahati will be operated on all days except Wednesday.

 

Flybig started its operations in January 2021 with ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 planes...

Source : Business Standard

India is celebrating the 75th Indian Army Day on Sunday (15th January 2023). It is observed every year (January 15).

* The Army Chief pointed out that Army Day is observed in Bengaluru is special as Field Marshal K M Cariappa, the first Commander in Chief of the Indian Army after Independence hails from Madikeri in Karnataka.

* On this day in 1949, Cariappa took over the command of the Indian Army by replacing his British predecessor and became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. 

 

* Addressing the 75th Army Day celebrations in Bengaluru 15th January 2023, the Army Chief said that the army is ready to tackle any contingency along the Indian borders.

* He pointed out that a strong defence posture and the use of anti-drone technologies have acted as a countermeasure against cross-border terrorism and insurgency. He promised that measures will be taken to tackle targeted killings in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

* The event featured a fly-past by the Army Aviation Dhruv and Rudra helicopters and Indian Air Force’s Sukhoi-30Mki..

Source : AIR

Rajasthan has become the first State in India to implement a blindness control policy to ensure the “right to sight”.

 

* This drive aims to reduce the rate of blindness and bring light into the lives of people suffering from visual impairment.

 

* The prevalence rate of blindness was 1.1% in 2020, aimed to bring it down to 0.3% through the policy.

 

* The State government would mandatorily run keratoplasty centres for cornea transplants and eye banks in medical colleges..

Source : The Hindu