GK January 2023

 

Awards

The renowned oncologist who has been chosen to be awarded the Asom Baibhav, (the highest civilian award by Govt of Assam) – Dr. Tapan Saikia

 

Defence

The inaugural edition of the bilateral air exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) held in Japan's Hyakuri air base from 12 to 26 January 2023 was named – Veer Guardian 2023

The biennial Tri-Services Amphibious exercise conducted at Kakinada (A.P.) from 17 to 22 January 23 was named – AMPHEX 2023

The first ever joint exercise between the special forces of the Indian Army and the Egyptian Army held from 14 January 2023 in Jaisalmer is named – Exercise Cyclone-I

The 21st edition bilateral naval exercise held between the navies of India and France from 16 to 21 January 23 on the Western Seaboard is named – Exercise Varuna

 

Persons

The former Minister of Law and Justice (1977 to 79) and advocate of Supreme Court, who passed away on 31 January 2023 – Shri Shanti Bhushan

The Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Odisha who was shot dead by a police sub-inspector on 29 January 2023 – Shri Naba Kishore Das

The first Indian architect to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2018) and also recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan who passed away on 24 January 2023 – Dr. Balkrishna Vithaldas Joshi

The renowned Assamese poet winner of Jnanpith Award for 2020 who passed away on 19 January 2023 – Shri Nilamani Phookan

The world's oldest person, a French nun aged 118 years, who passed away on 17 January 2023 – Ms. Lucile Randon

The contestant from USA who has been crowned Miss Universe 2022 at the beauty pageant held in New Orleans, Louisiana – Ms. R'Bonney Gabriel

The former Union Minister, seven times Member of Parliament and leader of Rashtriya Janata Dal who passed away on 12 January 23 – Shri Sharad Yadav

The former President of Brazil (from 2003 to 2011) and member of Workers' Party who has taken over as the 39th President of Brazil – Mr. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

 

Places

The venue of India International Science Festival, IISF-2022 held from 21 to 24 January 2023 with the theme Marching towards Amrit Kaal with Science Technology and Innovation – Bhopal

The district of Kerala which has become India's first constitution literate district as announced by the Chief Minister Shri P. Vijayan – Kollam

The state which has restored old pension scheme to all its present employees who are covered under the NPS – Himachal Pradesh

The venue of 26th National Youth Festival held from 12 to 16 January 2023 with the theme Viksit Yuva, Viksit Bharat – Hubbali (Karnataka)

The venue of 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention held from 08-10 January 2023 with the theme Diaspora: Reliable partners for India’s progress in Amrit Kaal – Indore

The place in Odisha where a new stadium named Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium was inaugurated by its CM Shri Naveen Patnaik – Rourkela

The place in Kerala at which world's first palm-leaf manuscript museum was inaugurated by the Kerala CM Shri P Vijayan – Thiruvananthapuram

The state which has been awarded the UN World Habitat Awards 2023 for its world's largest land titling and slum upgrading program Jaga Mission – Odisha

The place on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, where India has deployed its single largest platoon of UN women peacekeepers – Abyei

The venue of 1st All India Annual States' Ministers Conference on "Water Vision@2047" held from 05 to 06 January 2023 – Bhopal

The member of European Union since 2013 which has adopted the EU currency from 01 Jan 2023 and become the 20th member of Eurozone – Croatia

The venue of 108th Indian Science Congress held from 3rd January to 07 January with the theme Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment – Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University

 

Sports

The chess player from Tamil Nadu who has become 79th Indian Grandmaster – M. Pranesh

The bowler from Saurashtra team who has made new Ranji Trophy record of becoming the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the opening over – Jaydev Unadkat

The chess player from West Bengal who has become 78th Indian Grandmaster – Koustav Chatterjee

 

Miscellaneous

The name given to the new integrated food security scheme for providing free foodgrains to Antodaya Ann Yojna (AAY) & Primary Household (PHH) beneficiaries, rolled out from 1st January 2023 – Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY)

The greenfield international airport at Mopa, Goa has been renamed after the former Chief Minister of Goa as – Manohar International Airport

 

Australian Open 2023

Title	Winner	Runner-up
Men’s Singles	Novak Djokovic (Serbia)	Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece)
Women’s Singles	Aryna Sabalenka(*)	Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
Men’s Doubles	Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubier (Australia)	Hugo Nys (Monaco) and Jan Zielinski (Poland)
Women’s Doubles	Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic)	Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara (Japan)
Mixed’s Doubles	Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos (Brazil)	Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna (India)

 

Note: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal both have the maximum number of Grand Slam Men's Singles titles i.e. 22.

*Aryna Sabalenka is a Belarusian player, but she participated in her individual capacity as Russian and Belarusian flags were banned from being displayed at the tournament.

 

ICC Awards 2022

Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy: Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy: Nat Sciver (England)

Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year: Ben Stokes (England)

Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year: Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year: Nat Sciver (England)

Men’s T20 International Cricketer of the Year: Suryakumar Yadav (India)

Women’s T20 International Cricketer of the Year: Tahlia McGrath (Australia)

Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Marco Jansen (South Africa)

Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Renuka Singh (India)

Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year: Gerhard Erasmus (Namibia)

Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year: Esha Oza (UAE)

David Shepherd Trophy: Richard Illingworth (England)

Spirit of Cricket Award: Aasif Sheikh (Nepal)

 

Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar-2023

Institutional Category:

1. Odisha State Disaster Management Authority and

2. Lunglei Fire Station, Mizoram

India Open Badminton Tournament 2023

Venue: KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi

Winners of men's singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand)

Winners of women's singles: An Se-young (South Korea)

 

Important Days of January

 

World Braille Day: 04 January 2023

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

First Observed in: 2019

International Day of Education: 24 January 2023

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

First Observed in: 2019

International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust: 27 January 2023

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

First Observed in: 2006

World Leprosy Day: 29 January 2023 (Last Sunday of January)

Designated by: World Health Organisation

Theme: Act Now. End Leprosy

 

2023 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup

• Held from: 13 to 29 January 2023
• Venues: Kalinga Stadium (Bhubaneswar) & Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium (Rourkela)
• Winners: Germany (3rd title)
• Runners-up: Belgium
• Third position: Netherlands
• Best Player: Niklas Wellen (Germany)
• Best Goalkeeper: Vincent Vanasch (Belgium)
• Fair Play Award: Belgium
• Note: India and Argentina stood at 9th position

 

2023 Republic Day Awards

Chief Guest: Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi

Best Marching Contingent among the three services - Punjab Regiment Centre Contingent

Best Marching Contingent among CAPF/other auxiliary forces - CRPF Marching Contingent

Best three Tableaux (States/UTs)

1. Uttarakhand (Manaskhand)

2. Maharashtra (Sade Tin Shaktipithe & Nari Shakti)

3. Uttar Pradesh (Ayodhya Deepotsav)

Best Tableau (Ministries/Departments) - Ministry of Tribal Affairs (Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs))

Special Prize: Central Public Works Department (Biodiversity Conservation)

The online poll for the popular choice was conducted between January 25-28, 2023 on MyGov web page. The results are:

Best Marching Contingent among the three services - INDIAN AIR FORCE MARCHING CONTINGENT

Best Marching Contingent among CAPF/other auxiliary forces - CRPF MARCHING CONTINGENT

Best three Tableaux (States/UTs):

1. Gujarat (Clean-Green energy efficient Gujarat)

2. Uttar Pradesh (Ayodhya Deepotsava)

3. Maharashtra (Sade tin Shaktipeeth and Nari Shakti)

Best Tableau (Central Ministries/Departments) - CAPF (Ministry of Home Affairs

80th Golden Globe Awards

Awarded by: Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

Ceremony held on: January 10, 2023

Ceremony held at: Beverly Hills, California

Best Motion Picture (Drama): The Fabelmans directed by Steven Spielberg

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): The Banshees of Inisherin directed by Martin McDonagh

Best Motion Picture (Animated): Pinocchio directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson

Best Motion Picture (Non-English): Argentina, 1985 directed by Santiago Mitre

Best Actor (Drama): Austin Butler for Elvis

Best Actress (Drama): Catherine Blanchett for Tar

Best Director: Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans

Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz for Babylon

Best Original Song: Naatu Naatu composed by MM Keeravani and written by Chandrabose

Most nominations were received for: The Banshees of Inisherin (8 nominations)

The Cecil B. DeMille Award for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment: Eddie Murphy

The Carol Burnett Award for outstanding and lasting contributions to television on or off the screen: Ryan Murphy

 

MV Ganga Vilas

• Longest River Cruise in the World
• Journey from: Varanasi (U.P.)
• Journey to: Dibrugarh (Assam)
• Route across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh
• Duration of the trip: 51 days
• Distance covered: 3,200 km
• Features of the cruise ship: 3 decks, 18 suites with capacity of 36 tourists.

 

ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup 2023

Held: From 14 to 29 January 2023

Hosted by: South Africa

Winners: India

Runners-up: England

Player of the series: Grace Scrivens (England)

Most runs: Shweta Sehrawat (India)

Most wickets: Maggie Clark (Australia)

Captain of Indian team: Shafali Verma

 

Padma Awards 2023

 

Padma Vibhushan

Art: Shri Zakir Hussain

Architecture: Shri Balkrishna Doshi (Posthumous)

Public Affairs: Shri S.M. Krishna

Medicine: Shri Dilip Mahalanabis (Posthumous)

Science & Engineering: Shri Srinivas Varadhan (USA)

Public Affairs: Shri Mulayam Singh (Posthumous)

 

Padma Bhushan

Literature & Education: Shri SL Bhyrappa

Trade & Industry: Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla

Science & Engineering: Shri Deepak Dhar

Art: Ms. Vani Jairam

Others (Spiritualism): Swami Chinna Jeeyar

Art: Ms. Suman Kalyanpur

Literature & Education: Shri Kapil Kapoor

Social Work: Shri Ms. Sudha Murty

Others (Spiritualism): Shri Kamlesh D Patel

 

Padma Shri

Art

1. Ms. Jodhaiyabai Baiga

2. Shri Premjit Baria

3. Ms. Usha Barle

4. Shri Hemant Chauhan

5. Shri Bhanubhai Chitara

6. Ms. Hemoprova Chutia

7. Ms. Subhadra Devi

8. Shri Hem Chandra Goswami

9. Ms. Pritikana Goswami

10. Shri Ahmed Hussain & Shri Modh Hussain (Duo)

11. Shri Dilshad Hussain

12. Shri Mahipat Kavi

13. Shri MM Keeravaani

14. Shri Parshuram Komaji Khune

15. Shri Maguni Charan Kuanr

16. Shri Domar Singh Kunvar

17. Shri Risingbor Kurkalang

18. Ms. Rani Machaiah

19. Shri Ajay Kumar Mandavi

20. Shri Nadoja Pindipapanahalli Munivenkatappa

21. Shri Ramesh Parmar & Ms. Shanti Parmar (Duo)

22. Ms. Krishna Patel

23. Shri K. Kalyanasundaram Pillai

24. Shri Kapil Dev Prasad

25. Shri Shah Rasheed Ahmed Quadri

26. Shri CV RajuShri Pareshbhai Rathwa

27. Shri Mangala Kanti Roy

28. Ms. KC Runremsangi

29. Shri Ritwik Sanyal

30. Shri Kota Satchidananda Sastry

31. Ms. Neihunuo Sorhie

32. Shri Moa Subong

33. Ms. Raveena Ravi Tandon

34. Ms. Coomi Nariman Wadia

35. Shri Ghulam Muhammad Zaz

 

Literature & Education

1. Shri Radha Charan Gupta

 

2. Shri CI Issac

3. Shri Rattan Singh Jaggi

4. Shri Anand Kumar

5. Shri Prabhakar Bhanudas Mande

6. Shri Antaryami Mishra

7. Shri Ramesh Patange

8. Shri B. Ramakrishna Reddy

9. Shri Mohan Singh

10. Shri Prakash Chandra Sood

11. Dr. Janum Singh Soy

12. Shri Vishwanath PrasadShri Dhaniram Toto

 

Medicine

1. Shri Munishwar Chanddawar

2. Shri Ratan Chandra Kar

3. Dr. Nalini Parthasarathi

4. Shri Hanumantha Rao Pasupuleti

5. Shri Manoranjan Sahu

6. Dr. Gopalasamy Veluchamy

7. Dr. Ishwar Chander Verma

 

Others

1. Dr. Sukama Acharya (Spiritualism)

2. Shri Patayat Sahu (Agriculture)

3. Shri Nekram Sharma (Agriculture)

4. Shri Kushok Thiksey Nawang Chamba Stanzin (Spiritualism)

5. Shri S. Subbaraman (Archaeology)

6. Shri Tula Ram Upreti (Agriculture)

 

Public Affairs

1. Shri Narendra Chandra Debbarma (Posthumous)

2. Shri Thounaojam Chaoba Singh

 

Science and Engineering

1. Shri Khadar Valli Dudekula

2. Shri Kodadugu Vijay Gupta

3. Shri Ganesh Nagappa Krishnarajanagara

4. Shri Arvind Kumar

5. Prof (Dr.) Mahendra Pal Rajvanshi

6. Shri Bakshi Ram

7. Ms. Sujatha Ramdorai

 

 

Social Work

1. Shri Bhiku Ramji Idate

2. Shri Bikram Bahadur Jamatia

3. Shri Ramkuiwangbe Jene

4. Ms. Hirabai LobiShri Moolchand Lodha

5. Shri Gajanan Jagannath

6. Shri Uma Shankar Pandey

7. Shri VP Appukuttan Poduval

8. Shri Vadivel Gopal & Shri Masi Sadaiyan (Duo)

9. Shri Sankurathri Chandra Sekhar

10. Shri Laxman Singh

11. Shri Palam Kalyana Sundaram

12. Shri Karma Wangchu (Posthumous)

 

Sports

1. Shri SRD Prasad

2. Shri K. Shanathoiba Sharma

3. Shri Gurcharan Singh

 

Trade and Industry

1. Shri Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (Posthumous)

2. Shri Areez Khambatta

3. Ms. Muktamani Devi

4. Shri Ryuko Hira

 

Books in News

‘Ambedkar: A Life by Dr. Shashi Tharoor