Daily Current Affairs and GK | 30 September 2023

Topic: Indian Polity

1. President Droupadi Murmu has given assent to the Women's Reservation Bill.

• Women's Reservation Bill was introduced as the Constitution (128th) Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha on 19 September 2023.
• It will be known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act.
• The Central government has issued a gazette notification for the legislation.
• It is also called Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
• It provides 33% reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies as well as the Delhi Assembly.
• The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha with near unanimity, with only two members opposing it. It was unanimously passed by the Rajya Sabha.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

2. Government has upgraded the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) to ‘Schedule A’ CPSE.

• IREDA has been upgraded from the Schedule B category to Schedule A Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE).
• The change makes it possible for IREDA to switch from a Mini Ratna to a Navratna company.
• IREDA’s upgradation to a Navratna company can offer it increased financial autonomy.
• Companies holding the status of "Navratna" must be Miniratna Category-I firms with Schedule A status to qualify.
• Earlier this month, IREDA filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI to raise funds through its initial public offering (IPO).
• As of August 21, 2023, the company has financed 3,137 renewable energy projects.
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA):
  • It is a Mini Ratna (Category – I) Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
  • It is a Public Limited Government Company established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution in 1987. It is headquartered in New Delhi.

Topic: National Appointments

3. Banmali Agarwal has been appointed Chairman of Tata Advanced Systems.

• He has taken over the role of chairman of Tata Advanced Systems.
• He has replaced Vijay Singh, who has retired from his position at Tata Advanced Systems.
• Tata Advanced Systems today is the largest private sector mobility player in the Defence space in India.
• It is an Indian aerospace manufacturing, military engineering and defense technology company. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Rankings

4. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has retained its top rank in the Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands Report for 2023.

• Its brand value is $43 billion. India’s Top 75 brands have a combined brand value of $379 billion. This is a decline of 4% from 2022.
• HDFC Bank, Infosys and Airtel also maintained their place in the top four spots.
• State Bank of India entered into the list of top five.
• There are four new additions to the 2023 Indian brand ranking. They are PhonePe (21st spot), Cred, ShareChat and Star.
• The automotive category gave the two fastest growing companies TVS and Mahindra in this ranking.
• The year 2023 is the 10th ranking of India’s most valuable brands.
• These rankings are based on the opinions of over 127,634 respondents.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

5. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched Bharatiya Bhasha Utsav and Technology and Bharatiya Bhasha Summit.

• The two-day summit is being held from 30 September to 1 October 2023 in New Delhi.
• The summit is jointly organized by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), and their constituent institutions, such as the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE), Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti (BBS), and others.
• It will set the course for a technologically enriched future for Bharatiya languages in education.
• The government has proposed to celebrate the birthday of famous Tamil poet and freedom fighter Mahakavi Chinnaswami Subramania Bharati as Bharatiya Bhasha Divas (11 December).
• The Bharatiya Bhasha Utsav will be held from 28th September 2023 to 11th December 2023.
• The summit, organized as part of the Bharatiya Bhasha Utsav, will encompass three pivotal thematic sessions:
  • Technology FOR Bharatiya Languages
  • Technology IN Bharatiya Languages
  • Technology THROUGH Bharatiya Languages.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

6. President Droupadi Murmu presented National Service Scheme Awards to 41 awardees.

• The awards were given for the year 2021-2022 at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 29 September 2023.
• Dr Ramvir Singh Chauhan, Dr Mitali Kathkatia, Dr Ranjna Sharma, Dr Malkiat Singh, Dr Raghavendra R, Dr S Lekshmi, Dr Indira Barman, Dr Pawan Ramesh Naik, Dr Renu Bisht, Dr Joseph Vanlalhruaia Sailo, Babita Prasad among others were awarded on the occasion.
• National Service Scheme was established in 1969 on the birth Centenary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• NSS is a central sector scheme.
• It aims to develop the personality and character of the student youth through voluntary community service.
• The motto of NSS is “NOT ME, BUT YOU”.
• NSS Awards:
  • The awards were instituted by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
  • The awards were instituted in 1993-94 on the occasion of Silver Jubilee Year of National Service Scheme.
  • These are presented every year to the NSS Volunteers, Programme Officers, NSS Units and the Universities/+2 Councils to recognize their voluntary service.

Topic: Space and IT

7. Indigenously made chipsets or microchips will now support India’s NavIC.

• For the first time, the chipsets or microchips that can receive and process the signals of India’s navigational system NavIC will be ‘Made in India’.
• Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology are jointly collaborating with a Hyderabad based company - Manjeera Digital Systems Private Limited, to facilitate the designing and commercial production of these chips.
• Majeera Digital Systems is a fabless semiconductor company with a patented High Performance Computing (HPC) processor called UMA.
• Not all smartphones and navigational gadgets are compatible with NavIC, therefore, to use and decode NavIC signals, these devices should have a compatible microchip or chipset.
• Currently, the smartphones use chipsets made by foreign companies such as Qualcomm technologies of USA and Mediatek Inc. of Taiwan.
• NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is a satellite based navigational system indigenously developed by ISRO.
• It allows users to know their precise geographic location and track their movements anywhere in India and 1500 kms beyond India’s territorial boundary.
• NavIC system primarily uses IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) signals for navigation and positioning.
• NavIC is like GPS. GPS is owned and operated by US government. NavIC offers a positional accuracy of 5 mtrs compared to 15-20 mtrs of GPS.

Topic: Indian Polity

8. 22^nd Law Commission recommended government to retain age of consent under POCSO Act.

• 22^nd Law Commission has submitted the report titled “Age of Consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012” to the Law Ministry.
• As per the Commission, reducing the age of consent might have negative impact on fighting child marriage and child trafficking cases.
• The current age of consent in India is 18 years.
• The commission also recommended to bring certain changes in the POCSO Act to deal the situation such cases where there is tacit approval (not actively objecting) in fact though not consent in law on part of child aged between 16 to 18 years.
• The commission said that such cases do not need to be dealt with same severity as the other cases that fall under the POCSO Act.
• The Commission also submitted its report on the Amendment in Section 154 of the CrPC 1973 for enabling Online registration of FIR.
• The Commission recommended that the registration of e-FIR should be enabled in a phased manner, starting with offenses bearing a punishment of upto 3 years imprisonment.

Topic: Personality in News

9. On 28 September, the Asian Paints non-executive director Ashwin Dani passed away at the age of 79 years.

• Since 1968, Dani had been with the company and was a strong force in leading the company towards technical excellence.
• Asian Paints was founded in 1942 by his father and three others.
• In 1970, he joined the board of the company and held the position of Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the company from 1998 to 2009.
• Since 2009, he had remained on the Board of Directors and Company as Non-Executive Director and Vice Chairman.
• Between 2018 and 2021, he held the post of Chairman of the Board and Company.
• Asian Paints Ltd is an Indian multinational paint company, headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
• The company is engaged in the business of manufacturing, selling, and distribution of paints, coatings, products related to home décor, bath fittings, and providing related services.

Topic: Important Days

10. International Translation Day 2023: 30 September

• International Translation Day is celebrated every year on 30 September.
• It is celebrated to honor language professionals whose work helps bring nations closer together through dialogue, understanding, and cooperation.
• The theme of International Translation Day 2023 is "Translation Unveils the Many Faces of Humanity."
• It is celebrated every year on 30 September on the feast day of Saint Jerome. He is known as the patron saint of translators.
• On 24 May 2017, the United Nations General Assembly declared 30 September as International Translation Day.
• In 1991, FIT began celebrating International Translation Day to promote recognition of the translation community around the world.
• In 1953, the International Federation of Translators (FIT) was founded to represent translators, interpreters, and terminologists.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

11. Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched ‘CRIIIO 4 GOOD’.

• ‘CRIIIO 4 GOOD’ is a new online, life skills learning module, to promote gender equality among girls and boys.
• The programme was launched at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
• It was launched in association with the International Cricket Council, UNICEF, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
• Indian cricketer and Celebrity Supporter for ICC-UNICEF CRIIO 4 GOOD initiative, Smt. Smriti Mandhana was also present at the event.
• She shared the first learning modules of CRIIIO 4 GOOD with over 1000 school children at the stadium.
• The modules use the power of cricket to talk about essential life skills and gender equity.
• ‘CRIIIO 4 GOOD’ is a series of 8 cricket-based animation films. The programme can be accessed free of cost in three languages (English, Hindi and Gujarati).
• The themes of the eight modules are leadership, problem-solving, confidence, decision-making, negotiation, empathy, teamwork and goal setting.

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

12. Uttar Pradesh has achieved 100% ODF Plus coverage under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II.

• All 95,767 villages in UP achieved ODF Plus status under Phase II of the mission.
• These villages have declared themselves ODF+ with Solid/Liquid Waste Management Systems.
• More than 80,000 villages have achieved ODF Plus Status in the last 9 months.
• Out of the 95,767 ODF Plus villages, 81,744 villages are ODF Plus Aspiring villages with arrangements for Solid Waste Management or Liquid Waste Management.
• 10,217 villages are ODF Plus Rising villages with arrangements for both Solid Waste Management and Liquid Waste Management.
• 3,806 villages are ODF Plus Model villages.
• An ODF Plus village is one that has sustained its Open Defecation Free (ODF) status along with implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems.
• 4.4 lakh (75%) villages across India have declared themselves ODF Plus.
• UP’s achievement has come amidst the nationwide ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign.
• Swachhata Hi Seva is celebrated annually from 15th September to 2nd October under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).
• An ODF Plus Model village is one that sustains its ODF status. It has arrangements for both Solid Waste Management and Liquid Waste Management.
• Cleanliness is visible in an ODF Plus Model village. There is minimal litter, minimal stagnant wastewater, and no plastic waste dumped in public places.
• An ODF Plus Model village displays ODF Plus Information, Education & Communication (IEC) messages.