Daily Current Affairs and GK | 3 November 2023

Topic: Awards and Prizes

1. Vihaan Talya Vikas won the prestigious ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ award.

• A 10 year-old-Bangalore kid, Vihaan Talya Vikas, won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) competition in the under-10 category.
• Vihaan's photograph captured a spider in an intriguing position with a sculpture of Lord Krishna, nestled on the outskirts of Banglore.
• This photograph has been selected among the 50,000 entries from 95 countries.
• Vihaan's photograph will become part of the prestigious WPY59 collection and will be showcased in the upcoming Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the Natural History Museum.
• This exhibition will be organized at 25 venues in four continents. The main aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness about the need for wildlife conservation.
• Natural History Museum organizes this competition every year. It is also known as the 'Oscars of Photography'.
• It is a global platform for showcasing the world's most exceptional wildlife photography.
• Karine Aigner from the USA had won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

2. India Manufacturing Show has been inaugurated by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh in Bengaluru.

• Raksha Mantri inaugurated the three-day show on 02 November 2023.
• Laghu Udhyog Bharti & IMS Foundation are jointly organising the show.
• The show is supported by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence.
• Its central theme is ‘Make in India, Make for the World’.
• 6th edition of the ‘India Manufacturing Show’ will serve as a platform for the exhibitors to showcase their technologies, equipment and R&D in different sectors.
• Some of these sectors are aerospace & defence engineering, automation, robotics & drones.
• Its goal is to bring together the brightest brains, the latest technologies, and the best practises while giving participants access to commercial and knowledge-sharing possibilities.
• Laghu Udyog Bharati is an all-India organization of Micro and Small Industries in India since 1994.

Topic: Sports

3. On 1 November 2023, Sachin Tendulkar unveiled his statue at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

• During the ceremony, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, BCCI secretary Jay Shah and Vice President Rajeev Shukla were present.
• The statue was unveiled ahead of the India vs Sri Lanka match (33rd match of ICC World Cup 2023) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
• Pramod Kamble has made the statue. Kamble is a painter-sculptor from Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.
• At the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India had won the 2011 edition of the ICC World Cup.
• Sachin Tendulkar has made over 34,000 runs in both Test and One Day International (ODI) matches.
• He is the only batter in cricket history to score 100 centuries.
• He played his last match in Wankhede Stadium in November 2013.

Topic: Personality in News

4. Leela Omchery passed away in New Delhi.

• She was a classical musician and musicologist. She was known for her research work in different streams of Indian classical and folk music.
• She had demonstrated her abilities in folk songs, Sopana Sangeetham, Hindustani music, and Carnatic music.
• She brought public attention to Thevaram songs and Kathakali Sangeetham.
• She also brought public attention to dance forms such as Krishnanattam.
• She retired as the head of the music department at Delhi University.
• Her major books include Immortals of Indian Music, Gleanings in Indian Music, Abhinayasangeetham, Keralathile Laasya Rachanakal and Leela Omcheriyude Pathangal.
• She received Padma Shri in 2005 for her contributions to the field of music

Topic: Miscellaneous

5. The domestic sailing of the first international cruise liner ‘ÇOSTA SERENA’ flagged off by Shri Sarbananda Sonowal.

• India's first international cruise liner 'Costa Serena' commenced domestic sailing in Mumbai on 3 November.
• Under the 'Dekho Apna Desh' initiative, the appeal to the middle class to prioritize domestic tourism over international tourism drives such cruise initiatives.
• The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways is focusing on putting India on the world sailing map.
• Achieving the target of 50 million cruise passengers in India by 2047 was discussed at the recent Global Maritime India Summit 2023 organized by the Ministry.
• This goal can be achieved because India has immense potential.
• Costa Cruises expects to take about 45,000 passengers on trips over the next 2 months.
• The biggest benefit for Indians is the experience of international sailing in Indian waters.

Topic: MoUs/ Agreements

6. An MoU signed between the National Skill Development Corporation of India and EFS Facilities Services Group (EFS).

• This MoU's primary objective is to promote skilled International Workforce Mobility (IWM) for Indian nationals with a special focus on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
• EFS Facilities Services Group (EFS) is a facilities management firm based in the United Arab Emirates.
• The MoU outlines the collaborative efforts of these two entities to structure a principled framework to achieve the common objective of promoting skilled workforce mobility.
• The aim of the MoU is to develop co-branded skill institutes to equip Indian citizens with the skills required for international and local employment.
• It also aims to create access to around 5000 overseas jobs for skilled Indian nationals over the next three years.
• Besides, NSDCI and EFS will jointly design the curriculum for the Skill India Digital App.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Banking System

7. FM Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated SBI’s branch in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.

• The occasion was graced by the Governor of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka Senthil Thondaman, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay, and SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara.
• State Bank of India's dedication to growth both domestically and internationally, particularly amid Sri Lanka's economic crisis, was commended by Mrs. Sitharaman.
• The Government of India was able to smoothly extend a $1 billion Line of Credit to Sri Lanka thanks to the efforts of SBI.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

8. Prime Global Cities Index Q3 2023 has been released by real estate consultant Knight Frank India on 01 November 2023.

• Mumbai has got fourth place among 46 cities globally in terms of price rise of luxury homes.
• Mumbai was ranked at 22nd place in Q3 2022. So, its rank improved by 18 places.
• A rise has been recorded in average annual prices of prime residential or luxury homes in the July-September period in Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi.
• The rank of Bengaluru has improved to 17th in Q3 2023 from 27th rank in the third quarter of 2022.
• National Capital Region (NCR) moved to 10th rank in July-September of 2023 from 36th rank in the year-ago period.
• Manila is in the top spot of ranking with a 21.2% annual rise in prices.
• Dubai with an annual growth of 15.9% is in the second place on the ranking. It has been displaced from the top position for the first time in eight quarters.
• Shanghai is in the third place with an annual growth of 10.4%. The index tracks nominal prices in local currency.
• San Francisco was ranked at 46th place.

Topic: India and its Neighbourhood

9. 12th round of talks on the ECTA agreement between India and Sri Lanka concluded.

• India and Sri Lanka’s 12th round of talks on the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) concluded in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• It is a significant step in revitalizing the bilateral economic relationship.
• Delegations from both sides discussed various issues including Trade in Goods, Technical Barriers to Trade, and Trade in Services.
• Both sides agreed to continue discussions on matters including apparel quotas and pharmaceutical procurement.
• India-Sri Lanka ETCA is an important move to further enhance bilateral trade between the two countries.
• India is Sri Lanka's largest trading partner with an overall bilateral merchandise trade of 5.45 billion dollars in 2021.
• The negotiations will open new trade and economic cooperation opportunities for both countries.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International News

10. Vladimir Putin signed a bill to revoke Russian ratification of the CBDT Treaty.

• According to a decree published on a government website, Putin has signed a bill revoking Russia's ratification on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CBDT).
• Russia said that the main aim of the bill is to restore parity with the United States, which has never ratified the CBDT.
• Both houses of the Russian parliament voted to revoke the ratification of the bill.
• Russia said that this move to withdraw its ratification does not mean that it will resume testing.
• The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions.
• The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in 1996 but never fully implemented.
• USA, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Iran and Egypt have never ratified this treaty.

Topic: MoUs and Agreements

11. 28 countries signed the world's first agreement to prevent risks associated with artificial intelligence.

• On November 1 and 2, the two-day 'AI Safety Summit 2023' was held at the World War II Code-Breaking Center in Bletchley Park, United Kingdom.
• On 1 November, the world's first agreement on artificial intelligence (AI) safety was signed by India, along with 27 other countries and the European Union in the meeting.
• The agreement pledges to work together to assess the risks associated with artificial intelligence.
• The agreement will be known as the Bletchley Declaration, the UK government said in a statement.
• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the declaration is a historic achievement that sees the world's biggest AI powers agree on the urgency of understanding the risks of the technology.
• This will help ensure the long-term future of our upcming generations.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

12. Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar won gold medal in 50m rifle 3 positions individual event in the Asian Shooting Championship.

• Tomar won gold in the final with a score of 463.5 in Changwon, South Korea.
• In addition, the Indian trio of Tomar, Swapnil Kusale and Akhil Sheoran won the team silver medal with a total score of 1764.
• India finished second in the medal tally in the Asian Shooting Championship with a total of 55 medals including 21 gold, 21 silver and 13 bronze.
• India has secured two Olympic quota places in this competition through Kusale and Sheoran.
• Kusale had won a Paris Games quota during the 2022 World Championships in Cairo.
• Sheoran did the same at the World Championships in Baku this year.
• The competition was organized from 22 October to 02 November 2023.
• The Asian Shooting Championship is organized by the Asian Shooting Confederation.
• In 1967, the Asian Shooting Championship was started.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

13. UPSC amended guidelines for the appointment of the Director General of Police of a State.

• As per the new guidelines, police officers with at least six months of service left before retirement will be considered for the Director General of Police of a State.
• If the Home Ministry informs the State government that “it will not be possible to relieve the officers”, the Committee constituted by the UPSC will not consider Indian Police Service (IPS) officers on central deputation for a State DGP’s post.
• Many states have appointed DGPs on the verge of retirement and appointed acting DGPs to avoid the UPSC process.
• The guidelines have been revised to discourage States from appointing “favourite officers” on the verge of retirement.
• As per the new guidelines, officers with 25 years’ experience are to be appointed as a DGP, the earlier requirement was a minimum of 30 years of service.
• More than three candidates couldn’t be shortlisted for the appointment of DGP. Officers will not be shortlisted in the panel unless they are willing.
• UPSC first created guidelines for the preparation of a panel for appointment to the post of State DGPs in 2009.

Topic: National Appointments

14. Manoranjan Mishra has been appointed as Executive Director by RBI.

• He will look after three departments as Executive Director.
• These three departments are the Enforcement Department, Risk Monitoring Department, and Department of External Investments & Operations.
• He has been appointed with effect from November 01, 2023.
• He was serving as Chief General Manager in the Department of Regulation.
• In another appointment, Deepesh Nanda has been appointed as CEO & MD of Tata Power Renewable Energy.
• He will also lead innovation and digital transformation initiatives in the renewable energy sector.