Current affairs 13 December 2023

PM Modi to inaugurate Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
• Aim: Bridge the gap between theory and practice on Artificial Intelligence by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
• Top Artificial Intelligence Gamechangers from across the world will participate in different events.
• India is the lead chair of GPAI in 2024.

Ex-UN Secy Gen Ban Ki-moon gets Power of One Award 2023.

• In the United States, former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Power of One Award 2023 ceremony, organised by the Diwali Foundation USA.
• The awards are granted to selfless individuals for their help to form a peaceful and secure world for all.
• They are hailed as the Oscars of diplomacy.

58 Airports in the country have been covered under "Krishi Udan Scheme".

• The Government has said that 58 Airports in the country have been covered under the Krishi Udan Scheme.
• The Scheme was launched in 2020 on international and national routes to assist farmers in transporting agricultural products to help improve their value realization.
• Krishi Udan Scheme 2.0 was also announced in 2021 focusing on transporting perishable food products from the hilly areas, North Eastern States, and tribal areas.

eShram cards issued to over 29 crore unorganized workers registered.

• The Government today said that eShram cards have been issued to over 29 crore unorganized workers registered on the eShram portal.
• The eShram portal was launched in 2021 for registration of unorganized workers.
• The main objective of the eShram portal is to create a national database of unorganized workers and to facilitate the delivery of Social Security and welfare Schemes to such workers.

Myanmar is world's biggest opium producer.

• The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2023.
• The report states that Myanmar is the world's biggest opium producer.
• Earlier Afghanistan held the infamous title but since the ascent of Taliban to power in 2021, cultivation of opium poppies has seen a decrease of 95 per cent.
• Opium is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum.