Rayyana Barnawi is the first woman astronaut from Saudi Arabia who is selected for an International Space Mission. She will be sent on a 10-day voyage with fellow Ali AI-Qarni to the International Space Station (ISS) this year. These astronauts will travel to the space station in the second quarter of 2023 and are included in the team of the AX-2 space mission. Rayyana Barnawi is a Bachelor of Biomedical Science from the University of Otago. Both astronauts will be sent into space through SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will be launched from Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Garuda Aerospace showcased its latest solar-powered unmanned reconnaissance drone named ‘Suraj’. The Aerial J-glider – Suraj (SURAJ) was unveiled at the Aero India 2023 show in Bengaluru. The drone unveiling ceremony was done by the Former DRDO Chairman, Defense Minister and Present Principal Scientific Advisor Dr Satheesh Reddy. Also, this High Altitude ISR drone is specially designed for surveillance tasks. The J-shaped wings of the drone are equipped with solar cells. Garuda Aerospace company is India’s first human-centric drone startup established in the year 2015.

Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara became the 13th player to play the 100th Test match for India. In the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he achieved this level. Then in October 2010, he made his debut against Australia debut in Bangalore Test. Moreover, he made his ODI debut on August 1, 2013, against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club. If Pujara scores a century in this Test match then he will become the first Indian batsman to score a century in his 100th Test.

Aadhaar issuing body UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) has launched ‘Aadhaar Mitra’ which is a new AI/ML-based chatbot. With the help of this AI-powered chatbot, one can check Aadhaar enrollment status, track Aadhaar PVC card status and get information about enrollment centres. Aadhaar Mitra will provide quick and automated responses. Currently, this service is available in Hindi and English languages.

Indian-origin Neil Mohan has been appointed as the new CEO of the famous video-sharing platform YouTube. He has replaced polish-american business executive Susan Wojcicki. Prior to this, Mohan served as the Chief Product Officer at YouTube. Neel Mohan joined Google in the year 2008 and in the year 2015, he acquired the position of Chief Product Officer of YouTube. He has played a key role in the launch of major products like YouTube Membership Service YouTube Premium, Music Streaming Service, and YouTube Kids.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its second developmental flight of a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle – SSLV-D2. It placed three satellites into a 450 km-circular orbit, which are ISRO’s Earth Observation Satellite – EOS 07, U.S.-based firm Antaris’ Janus-1 and Chennai-based space start-up SpaceKidz’s AzaadiSAT-2.

The Union Ministry of Mines announced that lithium reserves have been found in Jammu and Kashmir, a first in the country. The Geological Survey of India established 5.9 million tonnes of inferred lithium resources in the Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District in Jammu and Kashmir. This could boost the manufacturing of rechargeable batteries for electric cars, smartphones, and laptops and cut India’s dependence on lithium imports. ​​

Snapdragon Satellite, which was launched recently, is the world’s first ‘satellite-based, two-way capable messaging solution’. The solution works for smart-phones developed by Qualcomm in partnership with Iridium Inc. The technology was initially introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023. On a Snapdragon Satellite, emergency messaging will be activated on the next-gen smart-phones.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team has been selected to receive the ‘2023 John L. Jack Swigert, Jr.’ Award for Space Exploration. It is a prestigious award from the Space Foundation. This annual award honours a space agency, company, or consortium of organizations in the realm of space exploration and discovery.

Jupiter recently became the planet with the most moons, after a dozen new moons were discovered around it. The planet has surpassed Saturn with its list of 92 moons in all. The spacecraft, dubbed Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer or Juice, has arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. It is a new mission from Earth that is ready to explore the planet’s biggest moons and will be launched in April this year.

Article 153 of the Indian Constitution deals with the appointment of Governors for each state in India. President of India Droupadi Murmu appointed governors in 12 states and a Union Territory while accepting the resignation of two. Jharkhand governor Ramesh Bais is now Governor of Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh governor B D Mishra has been appointed as L-G of Ladakh.

Quasicrystal is a substance that has atoms orderly arranged like a crystal but its atomic structure is more complex and does not repeat periodically in all directions. This unique complex pattern makes it different from a normal crystal. Recently, a new type of quasicrystal was discovered in north-central Nebraska’s Sand Hills in the USA.  It had 12-fold symmetry. It may have been created during an accidental electrical discharge because of a downed power line or a lightning strike.

The government of Rajasthan has allocated Rs 13,000 crore to implement the ‘Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project’ during the recent state budget. The objective of the Project is to harvest the surplus water collected during the rainy season in the Southern Rajasthan Rivers like Chambal and its tributaries like Kunnu, Parvati, and Kalisindh and transfer it to south-eastern districts.

Smart Cities Mission is the Indian Government’s urban renewal program that seeks to create sustainable and citizen-centric smart cities. It is being implemented by the Union Ministry of Housing Urban Affairs in collaboration with the state governments. As many as 22 smart cities are expected to complete all projects under the Smart Cities Mission. The remaining 78 smart cities under this mission are expected to complete their projects in the next 3 to 4 months.

India’s first “frozen-lake marathon” is going to be organised at Pangong Tso lake in the union territory of Ladakh.
This event will be held at an altitude of 13,862 feet and cover a distance of 21 kilometres. The marathon will start at Lukung and end at Maan village. The Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will oversee the event. This marathon is called the ‘Last Run’ to highlight the issue of climate change.

Ramesh Bais was appointed as the New Governor of Maharashtra, after the former governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyar resigned.

Subhman Gill named the ICC Men’s Player of the month for January 2023.

India To Get its First National Metro Rail Knowledge Centre in Delhi.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the Inaugural Edition of the SA20 League, a T2o Franchise Cricket Tournament in South Africa held from 10th January to 12th February 2023.

Myanmar’s military-led government has inaugurated a nuclear power information centre, along with Russia’s state atomic energy company. This is seen as a step toward developing atomic power to fill energy shortages in the Southeast Asian nation. Myanmar hopes to build and operate a reactor under a preliminary agreement between Myanmar and Russia’s Rosatom that was signed in 2015

Indian Women’s Cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur came much cheaper for Mumbai Indians at nearly half the price of Mandhana at Rs 1.80 crore.

The US and Brazil, two of the world’s largest biofuels markets, are joining an India-led initiative of International Biofuels Alliance. The Alliance will aim to boost demand for the lower-emissions energy source. India has also earmarked 350 billion rupees (USD 4.3 billion) in its union budget to promote energy security.

The Paris Club is an informal group of creditor nations that functions as a platform for official creditors that resolves payment issues faced by debtor countries. All of its 22 member states belong to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Paris Club has recently decided to offer financial support to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Sri Lanka’s debt.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced a Global Climate Resilience Fund of 50 million dollars for women to fight climate change. She announced the fund while addressing salt pan workers near Kuda village in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district. The fund will empower women and communities to fight climate change and help provide new livelihood resources and education.

India opener Smriti Mandhana broke bank early as she became the first pick in the Women’s Premier League auction history, being bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for 3.40 Crores.

One Ocean Summit is being organised by France in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank.
India supported the French initiative of a ‘High Ambition Coalition on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the conference and said that India is committed to eliminating single-use plastic.

The WPL 2023 Auction will be held in Mumbai, on Monday. The auction will see 24 players listed at the highest base price of ₹50 lacks. With 409 players to go under the hammer, the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 Auction will take place on Monday, February 13, in Mumbai from 2.30 PM onward. Of 409 players, 246 are from India and 163 are from Other Countries. A total of 90 berths are available with 5 Teams. From 04th to 26th March 2023 in Mumbai, the WPL will be held.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Centre’s Gross domestic product (GDP) deflator projection for 2022-23 is 3 to 3.5 per cent. The GDP deflator is a measure of inflation and is the difference between nominal and real GDP. Union Budget assumes a nominal GDP growth rate of 11.1 per cent for FY23.

Australia has recently designated the koala an endangered species, which was classified as vulnerable only 10 years ago. The impact of prolonged drought, summer bushfires, and the cumulative impacts of disease, urbanisation and habitat loss over the last twenty years have led to the decision. From now, Koalas will be provided with greater protection under Australia’s national environment law.

NASA has announced two new science missions: Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) and HelioSwarm. These two missions aim to study the sun’s corona and measure the solar wind’s magnetic field. NASA earlier announced the latest observations by the Parker Solar probe on its way to the sun.