Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 26 December 2023 | Download PDF

• Good governance is observed annually on December 25. 
• The day aims to let the citizens, the students, who are the future of the country know about the government’s responsibilities and duties that it needs to fulfill.
• The day is also celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

• Prime Minister will participate in a programme to pay homage to the courage and martyrdom of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th and last Sikh ‘Guru’.
• The Union government has organised many participative programmes across the country to mark the day which has been named “Veer Baal Divas”. 
• A digital exhibition detailing the life story and sacrifice of the ‘Sahibzades’ (martyred sons of Guru Gobind Singh) will also be displayed in schools and childcare institutions across the country.

Key points

• The Prime Minister announced the observation of “Veer Baal Divas”, to mark the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh’s sons Sahibzadas Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Baba Fateh Singh Ji.
• Veer Baal Divas tells us what is India and its identity and every year, Veer Bal Divas will inspire us to recognise our past and make our future. 
• This will also remind everyone about the strength of our young generation

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed gratitude to Indian authorities on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for taking care of 142 Rohingya refugees, whose boat was intercepted by coastal security agencies near Shaheed Dweep

About UNHCR

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. 
• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• UNHCR was created in 1950 to address the refugee crisis that resulted from World War II. 
• The 1951 Refugee Convention established the scope and legal framework of the agency’s work, which initially focused on Europeans uprooted by the war.

• India and the ten-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will begin negotiations to “modernise” their decade-and-a-half-old free trade agreement (FTA) to bring more balance in the pact currently weighed against New Delhi.
• New areas like labour, environment, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and gender, are likely to be kept out.
• India has long been pressing for a review of the ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITGA), which was signed in August 2009, as the pact resulted in disproportionate benefits for the ASEAN.

Did you know?

The 10-member ASEAN region accounted for 11.3% of India’s global trade in 2022-23

About ASEAN

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional organization which was established to promote political and social stability amid rising tensions among the Asia-Pacific’s post-colonial states.
• The motto of ASEAN is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”.
• August 8th is observed as ASEAN Day.
• ASEAN Secretariat – Indonesia, Jakarta.
• The 10-member ASEAN includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia

The Tea Board has asked tea estates and small tea growers across India to avoid using on their plantations chemicals or pesticides that have no label claim.

About Tea Board of India

• It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce that was set up in 1953 for the development of tea industry in India. It started functioning in 1954.
• Its vision and mission is to make the country a leading producer of tea across the globe for which it established several programmes and schemes.
• The Board is constituted of 31 members (including Chairman) drawn from Members of Parliament, tea producers, tea traders, tea brokers, consumers, and representatives of Governments from the principal tea producing states, and trade unions
• The Board is reconstituted every three years.
• The board has its headquarters located in Kolkata

• Good governance is observed annually on December 25. 
• The day aims to let the citizens, the students, who are the future of the country know about the government’s responsibilities and duties that it needs to fulfill.
• The day is also celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Bhitarkanika National Park is set to carry out the headcount of estuarine crocodiles for the crocodile census.

About Bhitarkanika National Park

• Location: It is located in Kendrapara district in the state of Odisha.
• It is India’s second-largest mangrove ecosystem after the Sunderbans. 
• It is a 145 Sq km large national park which was designated on 16th September 1998 and obtained the status of a Ramsar site in August 2002, i.e. the second Ramsar site of the State after the Chilika Lake. 
• This National Park is a network of creeks and canals which are inundated with waters from rivers Brahmani, Baitarani, Dhamra and Patasala, forming a unique ecosystem.
• Flora: Mangrove species, casuarinas, and grasses like the indigo bush.
• Fauna:Bhitarkanika has one of the largest populations of endangered saltwater crocodiles in India.
• The Gahirmatha Beach, which forms the boundary of the park in the east, is the largest colony of the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles.

• A giant Santa Claus made of sand and onions by internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created a new world record.
• Pattnaik created the 100-ft high Santa Claus at Puri sea beach for the auspicious Christmas with a beautiful message ‘Gift a Plant Green The Earth’.
• Around 2 tonnes of onions have been used in the world’s biggest Santa Claus installation.

•  The Chief Minister has approved a proposal for creation of a dedicated Special Security Battalion for foolproof security and proper crowd management at Puri Jagannath temple.
• The new battalion would have the primary responsibility of providing foolproof security to the temple and its personnel will be specially trained for better crowd management and tourist/devotee facilitation for hassle-free darshan
• Around 50,000 devotees usually visit Puri Srimandir on a day. 
• The number doubles or triples during weekends, holidays and festivals.

• Union Power, New and Renewable Energy Minister informed that As many as 24,52,444 households in Odisha have been electrified under the Centre’s Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya between 2017 and 2022
• In terms of the number of households electrified, Odisha stands third after Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which have reported electrification of 91,80,571 and 32,59,041 households respectively.

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