Daily Current Affairs and GK | 7 October 2023

Topic: International News

1. India has been re-elected as President of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) for the third time.

• India was president of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) from 2018 – 2021 and 2021 – 2023.
• It is the first time in the history of AIBD that a country will hold the presidency for the third time.
• Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) was established in 1977 under the UNESCO.
• It has currently 92 members from 44 countries, including 26 government members.
• 44 affiliates (organizations) represented by 28 countries and regions in Asia, Pacific, Europe, Africa, Arab States and North America are members of AIBD.
• India is one of the founding members of AIBD. Prasar Bharati is the representative from India in this organization.
• The 21st General Conference & Associated Meetings 2023 of AIBD was chaired by Gaurav Dwivedi, Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati.
• This meeting was organized from October 2 to 4 in Port Louis, Mauritius.

Topic: Sports

2. Indian men's hockey team has won Asian Games gold after 9 years.

• It has qualified for the Paris Olympics scheduled for next year.
• It has won over Japan by 5-1 to win the Asian Games gold medal.
• This was the fourth gold medal of the Indian team at the event. The other three medals were won in 1966, 1998 and 2014.
• South Korea won the bronze medal. It won over host China by 2-1.
• Harmanpreet scored a brace through penalty corners.
• Seren Tanaka ended up as the lone goal-scorer for the Japanese.
• Harmanpreet was India's top scorer with 13 goals. He was one ahead of striker Mandeep Singh.

Topic: State News/Madhya Pradesh

3. MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan laid the foundation stone for the largest pumped storage project in India.

• He virtually inaugurated the largest pumped storage project in India in Madhya Pradesh.
• Greenko Group is developing the project. It is India’s largest energy storage company.
• The project’s location is in the Khemla block, Neemuch district, Madhya Pradesh.
• It has a capacity of 1440 megawatts (MW), with storage for 7.5 hours.
• Its capacity is now being expanded to 1920 MW with storage of 6 hours.
• This is being done to provide storage of nearly 11 Gigawatt hours (GWh) daily.
• The overall investment limit of the project will total Rs 11,500 crores over the next three years.
• It will be completed within 30 months as against the allocated period of 36 months.
• The project envisages the construction of a new off-stream reservoir known as the upper reservoir.
• The existing Gandhi Sagar Reservoir will be used as a lower reservoir.

Topic: Miscellaneous

4. JioMart appointed Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador.

• The aim of JioMart is to establish itself as an integral partner to Indian families in their celebrations.
• JioMart has also rebranded its festival campaign as Jio Utsav, Celebrations of India.
• JioMart’s campaign is beginning on 8 October 2023.
• JioMart is an Indian e-commerce company. It started as a joint venture between Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

5. Nobel Peace Prize 2023 awarded to Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi.

• She has been awarded for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.
• Ms Mohammadi is currently being held in a prison in Iran.
• In fact, the Iranian regime arrested him 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes.
• She is one of the leading human rights activists in Iran.
• In 2022, the Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to Belarusian human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski, the Russian human rights organization Memorial, and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties.
• The prize, worth approximately US$1 million, will be awarded in Oslo on December 10, the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel.
• Alfred Nobel established the prizes in his will in 1895.
• In 2018, Mohammadi, an engineer and physicist, was awarded the 2018 Andrei Sakharov Prize, which recognizes outstanding leadership or achievements of scientists in upholding human rights.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Telangana

6. “Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme” launched by Telangana Government for all school children.

• On 6 October, the Scheme was launched for all school children studying in government schools besides, those being run by the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
• State IT Minister K Tarakarama Rao shared breakfast with students while launching the scheme at a government high school in Hyderabad.
• This scheme will benefit more than 23 lakh students in more than 27 thousand government and Panchayati Raj schools across the state.
• The implementation of the scheme will cost more than Rs 400 crore annually.
• The scheme will address the issues of malnutrition among children, besides improving student enrollment in schools.
• State Finance Minister T Harish Rao also launched the scheme at the High School in Ravirayala village in Rangareddy district.
• This scheme is a revolutionary step in improving the nutritional standards of students.
• A nutritious breakfast will be served 45 minutes before class begins each morning.

Topic: National News

7. Standards for construction of bus bodies approved by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

• These standards have been approved to ensure passenger safety during contingency.
• These standards shall be uniformly applicable to both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and bus bodybuilders.
• Mr Gadkari said this step will pave the way for further improvements in the quality of buses in India.
• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published the draft notification for these standards to solicit suggestions.
• According to the most recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, which was issued in 2022, buses were to blame for roughly 3% of all accidents in India.
• In light of the increasing number of bus accidents, it is urgently necessary to improve the standard of bus body construction in India.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

8. The beneficiaries of the PM Vishwakarma Scheme will be included under the PIDF Scheme as per the proposal made by RBI recently.

• RBI has also proposed to extend the PIDF Scheme by a period of two years till December 31, 2025.
• The Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme was operationalized in January 2021 for three years.
• It was operationalized with an aim to incentivize the deployment of payment acceptance infrastructure like physical Point of Sale (PoS), Quick Response (QR) codes in tier-3 to tier-6 centres, northeastern states and Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
• As per RBI, over 2.66 crore new touchpoints have been deployed under the PIDF Scheme till August 2023.
• PM Vishwakarma Scheme was launched by PM Modi in September 2023.

Topic: National News

9. President Droupadi Murmu to inaugurate the International Research Conference on Just and Resilient Agri-Food Systems in New Delhi.

• The International Research Conference on Just and Resilient Agri-Food Systems will be organized from 9th-12th October in New Delhi.
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Gender Platform will host this four-day conference.
• The title of the conference is ‘From Research to Impact- Towards Just and Resilient Agri-food Systems’.
• The conference will resolve the gender and social inequalities issues in the food system.
• The main aim of the conference is to promote the sharing of cutting-edge knowledge on gender and inclusion in agri-food systems.
• It will help in reducing the gap between research and practice and foster gender-equal and socially inclusive, resilient food systems.
• The conference is expected to have more than 600 delegates from around 60 countries.
• During the conference, the international exhibitors and Indian women entrepreneurs will showcase their work and innovations.

Topic: State News/ Jammu and Kashmir

10. Government banned Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party.

• The Central government has banned the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) for five years.
• Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) has been banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for its anti-India and pro-Pakistan activities.
• The Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party was formed in 1998 by Shabir Ahmad Shah.
• He is a prominent separatist known for his anti-India and pro-Pakistan propaganda.
• The founder of the JKDFP had called Kashmir a ‘dispute’.
• There have been several inputs showing linkages of the JKDFP with banned terrorist organizations.

Topic: State News/ Telangana

11. The establishment of Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University in Mulugu district in Telangana was approved by the Cabinet.

• On October 4, the Union Cabinet approved amendments to the Central Universities Act, 2009 to establish the Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University.
• The Union Cabinet approved the introduction of a Bill, namely, the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Parliament, to amend the Central Universities Act, 2009.
• The amendment has been made for the establishment of the University as provided in the Thirteenth Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act, 2014 (no. 6 of 2014).
• There will be a provision of Rs 889.07 crore for this.
• The new university will not only increase access to higher education in the state but also improve the quality.
• It will also promote measures for higher education and advanced knowledge by providing instructional and research facilities in tribal art, culture, and traditional knowledge systems in the State for the benefit of the tribal population.
• This new university will also create additional capacity and attempt to address regional imbalances.
• The university is named after the tribal goddesses Sammakka and Sarakka.

Topic: Important Days

12. World Smile Day 2023: 6 October

• Every year, World Smile Day is celebrated on the first Friday of October.
• In 2023, the day was celebrated on 6 October.
• The aim behind celebrating Smile Day is to dedicate one day in a year to smiles and kind acts.
• In 1999, World Smile Day was first celebrated by the artist Harvey Ball.
• In 1963, Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts, created the smiley face.
• Harvey Ball declared the first Friday of October to be World Smile Day every year.
• In 2001, the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation was established to honour Harvey Ball's name and memory.

Topic: Art and Culture

13. Tamil Nadu's Shore Temple became India's first Green Energy Archeological Site.

• A renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site, Shore Temple in Mamallapuram, becomes India’s first Green Energy Archaeological Site.
• This milestone has become possible through the successful implementation of the Green Heritage Project.
• Green Heritage Project was implemented by the authorities jointly with Renault Nissan Technology, Business Centre India (Renault Nissan Tech) and Hand in Hand India.
• Three Solar power plants having a capacity of 10 kilowatts have been installed to meet the energy requirement of the site.
• The energy required to illuminate the temple is generated through solar power plants.
• The Solar plants would not only illuminate the shore temple but also provide power to the newly installed reverse osmosis plant.
• It would also ensure the supply of clean drinking water to visitors.
• Electric buggies will be arranged for visitors to enjoy the sights.
• Shore Temple:
  • It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram in 1984.
  • It is one of the oldest structural stone temples of Southern India.
  • It is located in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu.
  • The Shore Temple of Mamallapuram was built during the reign of the Pallavan king Rajasimha/Narasimhavarman II.

Topic: National Appointments 

14. General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) appointed Ramaswamy Narayanan as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD).

• His appointment has become effective from 1 October. He will replace Devesh Srivastava.  
• Devesh Srivastava’s four-year term ended on 30 September 2023.  
• In June 2023, the Financial Services Institution Bureau (FSIB) recommended Narayanan as the head of GIC Re. 
• SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara’s tenure has been extended by the Centre till August 28, 2024.  
• His three-year tenure was due to end on October 6.  He was appointed as chairman of SBI on October 7, 2020, for three- years.  
• As per current norms, a person can hold the post of SBI Chairman up to the age of 63. 
• GIC Re is an Indian public sector reinsurance company. It has headquarters in Mumbai. It was incorporated in 1972.