Daily GK Update- 29th Aug, 2023

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. National Sports Day is observed on 29th August 2023: The National Sports Day in India is celebrated on 29 August every year. It is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand Singh. The day also serves as a reminder for all of us to recall the contributions, determination and extraordinary achievements of the athletes and their influence in shaping societies. The theme for this year's National Sports Day celebration is "Sports are an enabler to an inclusive and fit society".

 

2. Kerala across the globe celebrating "Thiruonam" the auspicious day of Onam: Keralalites across the globe are celebrating "Thiruonam" on the 10th and the most auspicious day of  Onam, the biggest cultural festival of the State. Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala, symbolises prosperity, secularism,and harmony.  Keralites celebrate the festival welcoming the visit of the righteous and mythical king Mahabali,in the memory of good old days. Thiruonam is being celebrated in all its cultural and traditional glory instilling the minds with hope.

 

3. MP announced Ladli Behna Yojana aid hike, 35% job reservation for women: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan raised the financial aid given to women in the Ladli Behna scheme from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,250 per month  He also announced 35 percent reservation for them in government jobs and provided gas cylinders for Rs 450. Under the programme, women between the ages of 23 and 60, who do not pay income taxes and whose families make less than Rs 2.5 lakh annually, receive Rs 1,000 every month.

 

4. CM Stalin launched expansion of breakfast scheme for Tamil Nadu govt school: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin launched the expansion of the state government’s breakfast scheme at Thirukkuvalai. The scheme has been extended to 31,000 government schools across the state benefitting 17 lakh students. Initially, the scheme was devised to provide nutritious breakfast to 1,14,095 students of classes 1 to 5 studying in 1,545 government schools and an amount of Rs 33.56 crore was allocated for this scheme. 

 

5. Maharashtra signs MoU with Germany's professional association football: The Maharashtra Government has signed an MoU with Germany's professional association football league, 'Bundesliga', to build a football team for players under the age of 14. Aim: To help young footballers to develop their skills and potentially compete at a high level. The Bundesliga is Germany’s premier professional football league.  It is one of the leading football leagues in Europe and the best football players and teams belong to the league.

 

6. Finance Minister Launched HSBC India’s Green Hydrogen Partnerships: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in partnership with the IIT Bombay, and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation launched HSBC India’s strategic partnerships to enable innovation in green hydrogen Aim: To provide a roadmap towards reducing carbon intensity in the economy and enable the creation of green job opportunities.  Green hydrogen has a pivotal role to play as we counter climate change and work towards enabling a low-carbon and self-reliant economy

 

7. Kaziranga National Park gets first Woman field Director: Chief conservator of forests Dr Sonali Ghosh became the first woman field director of Kaziranga National Park. The Indian Forest Service (IAS) officer will take charge of the park from incumbent field director Jatindra Sarma. Ghosh is presently working as the chief conservator of forests for research education and working plan division at the office of the principal chief conservator of forests and head of the forest force in Guwahati. According to a forest department official, she will become the first woman to hold charge as director of the 118-year-old KNP. The KNP was first declared a proposed reserve forest in 1905, followed by a reserve forest in 1908 and a game sanctuary in 1916. It was opened to visitors in 1938. In 1950, it was declared as a wildlife sanctuary and upgraded to a national park in February 1974. UNESCO declared KNP as a World Heritage Site in December 1985.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India hand over B20 presidency to Brazil to host G20 in 2024: India has handed over the B20 presidency to Brazil to host G20 in 2024. B20 India Chair N Chandrasekaran said that India’s B20 Presidency under its G20 Presidency worked under the theme of Vasaudeva Katumbakam (One Earth, One Family, One Future). Worked on 9 themes which included the empowerment of women and youth, the transition towards an Artificial Intelligence world, building a global resilient supply chain, and financing for the global economic recovery. During this period, we worked on nine important themes which included empowerment of women and youth, transition towards an Artificial Intelligence world, building a global resilient supply chain and financing for the global economic recovery. The presidency of India’s B20 has been recognized for its effective process, engagement, and consensus-building in generating 54 policy recommendations over the last nine months.

 

2. Sri Lanka hosts first Karnataka cultural festival: Sri Lanka hosted its very first Karnataka cultural festival. It was organized by the International Cultural Council of India in collaboration with Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre and M.E Global Peace Foundation. The event showcased a mesmerizing lineup of performances by over 30 artists from Karnataka including dances, folk songs, multi-lingual poems, ballet, and captivating puppet shows. The programme featured the essence of Karnataka’s heritage, with the spotlight on talented artists like Madhuri Bondre and her troupe. The event celebrated cultural diversity and marked a significant moment in the shared cultural heritage of India and Sri Lanka.

 

3. Indian Air Force participates in Exercise Bright Star-23: The Indian Air Force (IAF) participated in the biennial multilateral tri-services exercise Bright Star-23 held at Cairo Air Base in Egypt. It is being held from August 27 to September 16, 2023. The participating countries in the biennial multilateral tri-services exercise Bright Star-23 include the United States, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Qatar, and India. The participation of the IAF in this exercise underscores a new chapter of cooperation and collaboration among nations. The Indian Air Force contingent for this exercise is an impressive assembly, comprising five MiG-29 aircraft, two IL-78 aircraft, two C-130 aircraft, and two C-17 aircraft.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Kunlavut and An Se-young make history at Badminton World Championships: Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn became the first Thai to win the men's singles title at the World Championships 2023 and became the badminton world champion after a victory over Japan's Kodai Naraoka in Copenhagen. Earlier, world No. 1 An Se-young also became the first South Korean to win the women's singles gold at the World Championships 2023 after defeating Carolina Marin. She had knocked out Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Chen Yufei in straight games in the semi-finals

 

2. Max Verstappen wins at home Dutch F1 Grand Prix 2023: Max Verstappen of the team Red Bull has won the Dutch Grand Prix 2023 for the third consecutive year, once again prevailing at his home race held at Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands. With the dominant win, Verstappen has now matched Sebastian Vettel’s all-time record of nine F1 victories in a row. The second position was secured by Fernando ALONSO of the team Aston Martin and third position was secured by Pierre GASLY of the team Alpine

 

3. Parul breaks national record at World Athletics Championships: Indian athlete Parul Chaudhary finished in the eleventh position in the 3000 meters steeplechase final of the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest Hungary.  She broke the national record in the World Athletics Championships and qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024.  Brunei athlete Winfred Mutile Yavi clinched the gold medal, Kenya's Beatrice Chepkoech won silver and another Kenya athlete Faith Cherotich achieved winning bronze.

 

4. India’s Men’s Relay Team Finishes Fifth at World Athletics Championship: Indian men’s 4x400m relay team finished fifth in their respective finals at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. The team of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amob Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh completed the race with the clock reading 2:59.92. USA (Quincy Hall, Vernon Norwood, Justin Robinson, and Rai Benjaminwon), who won the gold medal finished the race in 2:57:31 seconds. France (2:58.45) and Great Britain (2:58.71) won silver and bronze respectively. A day earlier the Indian team had shattered the Asian record in the qualifying round, taking 2:59.05 seconds to complete the race. The previous record was held by Japan, which was 2:59.51 seconds. They also became the first Indian team to reach a World Championship final. France clocked bagged silver while Great Britain claimed bronze.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. DBS partners with Maptrasco to complete the first eBL transaction: Development Bank of Singapore (DBS)  partnered with commodities trader Maptrasco, announced the completion of the first “live” transaction of electronic Bills of Lading for shipments between Singapore and India  Aim: To enable the digital trade finance of live shipments of goods between the two countries.  Transaction was implemented under the TradeTrust framework, an initiative by the Infocomm Media Development Authority and supported by Enterprise Singapore.

 

2. Yes bank teams up with fintech Zaggle for next-gen corporate credit card: Yes Bank launched a co-branded Corporate Credit Card in collaboration with the spend management platform Zaggle to provide businesses with direct control over company expenditures. Objective: To empower businesses to reimagine their payment processes, streamline reconciliation, and efficiently manage company expenditures.  This includes the ability to set individual spending limits, apply merchant category restrictions, and implement diverse controls.

 

3. LIC Partners with Saraswat Cooperative Bank to Increase the life Insurance: Life Insurance Corporation of India has recently tied up with Saraswat Cooperative Bank Ltd in its effort to increase the penetration of life insurance through Bancassurance channel in Mumbai.  Saraswat Cooperative Bank is the  India’s largest Urban Cooperative Bank. Citizens in general and customers of Saraswat Bank, in particular, will now have the opportunity to fulfill their life insurance protection needs through the Bank itself by purchasing insurance products LIC.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Famous Poet-writer Jayanta Mahapatra passed away: Eminent littérateur and poet Jayanta Mahapatra passed away at the age of 95. He was the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry.  He was also conferred with the Padma Shri award in 2009. However, he returned it in 2015 to protest against “rising intolerance in India”. He is best known for authoring poems such as “Indian Summer” and “Hunger”, regarded as classics in modern Indian English literature.