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GK Update

Mon 09 Sep, 2024

National News

200 Not Out

  • Union Minister Amit Shah released the '200 Not Out' documentary of Mumbai Samachar in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Mumbai Samachar

  • Founded in 1822 by Fardunjee Marzban
  • It is published in Gujarati and English.
  • 'Mumbai Samachar' is Asia's oldest and the world's third oldest active newspaper

Combined Operational Review and Evaluation Programme 2024

  • The Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff conducted its maiden Combined Operational Review and Evaluation Programme for officers of Tri-Services in Delhi, designed for Major General and equivalent officers from the three services, along with officers from the Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, and Home Affairs.

Officers and their Equivalent Ranks in Armed Forces

Indian Army Rank Indian Navy Rank Indian Air Force Rank
Field Marshal  Admiral of the Fleet Marshal of the Air Force
General Admiral Air Chief Marshal
Lieutenant General  Vice Admiral Air Marshal
Major General  Rear Admiral Air Vice Marshal
Brigadier Commodore Air Commodore
Colonel Captain Group Captain
Lieutenant Colonel  Commander Wing Commander
Major  Lieutenant Commander Squadron Leader
Captain Lieutenant Flight Lieutenant
Lieutenant Sub Lieutenant Flying Officer

Chintan Shivir

  • The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment held a two-day National Review Conference titled “Chintan Shivir” at Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

Conference for need of more trained transplant surgeons

  • The Indian Society of Transplant Surgeons (ISTS) held a two-day conference at AIIMS New Delhi to discuss the need for more trained transplant surgeons. The event aimed to encourage participation across specialties and tackle the shortage of skilled professionals in the field.

About ISTS

  • Registered at Ahmedabad under the Societies’ Act of 1860
  • Founded on: 24th April 1990
  • President: Dr. Aneesh Srivastava

International News

Humanitarian aid to African countries

  • India has sent humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi to help address the food security needs of people in drought-affected regions.

Zimbabwe

  • Capital: Harare
  • Currency: Zimbabwean dollar

Zambia

  • Capital: Lusaka
  • Currency: Kwacha

Malawi

  • Capital: Lilongwe
  • Currency: Malawian Kwacha

 BRICS EWG Meeting

  • The second and final BRICS Employment Working Group (EWG) Meeting under Russian Presidency was held in Sochi, Russia.

About BRICS

  • First BRIC Summit: 2009
  • Founders: Russia, China, India, Brazil
  • BRICS summit meeting convened annually
  • BRICS 2024 Host: Russia
  • South Africa joined BRIC in 2010
  • The Chairmanship of the forum in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S
  • Host of BRICS summit in 2025: Brazil

Pakistan declared an Education Emergency

  • Pakistan declared an education emergency on International Literacy Day to address the education of approximately 26 million out-of-school children.

About Pakistan

  • Capital: Islamabad
  • Currency: Pakistani Rupee
  • Name of the boundary line: Radcliffe (named after Cyril Radcliffe)

State Special

Semicon India 2024

  • The Uttar Pradesh government will host Semicon India 2024 at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida from September 11 to 13, to elevate India’s semiconductor sector and establish the country as a significant global contender.

About Semiconductor

  • It is a material that has an electrical conductivity value between conductor and insulator.
  • Semiconductors: Brains of Modern Electronics
  • Examples: Silicon, Germanium, Gallium arsenide
  • World's Largest Producer of Semiconductors: Taiwan 

Art and Culture

Nuakhai

  • The Agricultural festival Nuakhai was observed on 8th September in Odisha.
Nuakhai is an agrarian festival mainly observed by the people of Western Odisha to welcome the new rice of the season.

Other Major Festival in Odisha:

Dhanu Yatra, Kalinga Mahotsav, Konark Dance Festival

Economy and Banking

54th GST Council Meeting

  • The 54th GST Council Meeting was held in New Delhi. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the meeting.

About GST

  • Introduced through 101st CAA Act, 2016
  • Value-added tax levied on most goods and services.
  • Applicable On supply side
  • Destination based Taxation
  • Types: Central GST (CGST), State GST (SGST) and Integrated GST (IGST)

GST Council

  • Article 279A - GST Council to be formed by the President
  • Chairman: Union Finance Minister of India
  • Centre has 1/3rd voting power and the states have 2/3rd.
  • Decisions are taken by 3/4th majority

India's Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme

  • The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has introduced a draft for India's Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme, with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency managing the accreditation of agencies for monitoring and certification.
  • The scheme outlines guidelines for greenhouse gas emission calculations and the certification process.

Additional Info: National Green Hydrogen Mission

  • Launched: 4 Jan 2023
  • Nodal Ministry: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
  • Aim: To promote the commercial production of green hydrogen and position India as a net exporter of the fuel.
  • Objective: To develop a green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonnes) per year.
  • Green Hydrogen: It is produced using electrolysis of water with electricity generated by renewable energy.

Asha Scholarship Program

  • The SBI Foundation has launched the 3rd edition of its Asha Scholarship Program, supporting 10,000 meritorious students from underprivileged backgrounds.

About SBI

  • Estb: 1955
  • Chairman: Challa Sreenivasulu Setty
  • HQ: Mumbai
  • Nationalised on July 1, 1955

Defence

Dronaam

  • Amid rising tension in Manipur following drone and rocket attacks, the anti-drone system ‘Dronaam’ has been deployed. Koutruk villagers in Imphal were recently attacked with drones and bombs, allegedly by Kuki militants.

About Dronaam

  • Anti-drone technology
  • Used during the G20 Summit
  • Won the IDEX competition in 2021
  • Creates an iron wall to shield against enemy swarm drone attacks

Sports

US Open Tennis 2024

  • Jannik Sinner clinched his second Grand Slam victory of the year by defeating Taylor Fritz in Men's Singles Final, and made history by becoming the first Italian man to win the US Open title.

Other Categories Winners

  • Women’s Doubles: Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok
  • Women’s Singles: Aryna Sabalenka
  • Men's Doubles: Australian Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson

Asian Schoolgirl Champion

  • Indian boxer Deepali Thapa has made history by becoming the first-ever Asian Schoolgirl Champion in Al Ain, UAE.

Yogasana

  • India's ancient sport, yogasana, will be featured as a demonstration event at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, following a decision at the 44th General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia.
  • Randhir Singh of India was also elected unopposed as OCA president for the 2024-2028 term.

About Asian Games

  • First time held in 1951 in New Delhi, India
  • Asian Games 2022: Hangzhou, China
  • Held Every 4 Years
  • Motto: Ever onward

Swachh Vayu Survekshan Awards 2024

  • Swachh Vayu Survekshan Awards were presented to the best performing NCAP cities.
  • Category-1 (population over 10 Lakhs) Top 3 Cities: Surat, Jabalpur, and Agra
  • Category-2 (population between  3 and 10 Lakhs) Top 3 Cities: Firozabad, Amravati, and Jhansi
  • Category-3 (population under 3 Lakhs) Top 3 Cities: Raebareli, Nalgonda, and Nalagarh.

NCAP

Launched: 2019 with a target to reduce particulate pollution by 20-30% by 2024, using 2017 as the base year. The target was later revised to a 40% reduction by 2026, using 2019-20 as the base year.

Person in News

Ashwini Vaishnaw

  • Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has been named as one of the most influential people in the field of Technology and Artificial Intelligence by TIME Magazine.
  • Mr Vaishnaw’s name figures under the “Shapers” category of the list.

 Moeen Ali

  • Moeen Ali, the England allrounder, has retired from international cricket at age 37. Having played in 68 tests, 138 ODIs, and 92 T20Is since 2014.

Abdelmadjid Tebboune

  • Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune won a second term with 95% of the vote.

Algeria

  • Capital: Algiers
  • Currency: Algerian Dinar
  • Bordering Countries: Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco

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