Daily Current Affairs 19th August 2023
National News
The President of India has launched INS Vindhyagiri, a type of warship that does not get caught in the enemy’s radars.
- Indian President Draupadi Murmu launched India’s new warship ‘INS Vindhyagiri’ on August 17 at the Garden Reach Shipyard (GRSE) on the banks of the Hooghly River in Kidderpore, Kolkata, West Bengal.
- Named after the mountain range in Karnataka, this advanced enemy country’s stealthy INS Vindhyagiri is the sixth version of the “Project 17A” warships.
The Central Water Authority has launched a mobile app called FloodWatch.
- FloodWatch, a mobile app to get information on real-time flood forecast conditions across India, was launched on August 17, 2023.
- The app has been launched with the aim of disseminating information related to all flood situations and forecasts for almost seven days on a real-time basis. It is significant that this app was launched by Central Water Commission president Kushvinder in New Delhi.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been entered into to share the India Stake.
- India and the Organization of Trinidad and Tobago have signed a Mutual Development Agreement (MoU) in August 2023 on sharing the India Stake.
- It is a collection of digital public goods, open APIs, and this MoU aims to facilitate identity, payment services and data at scale.
AICTE President has launched the Margdarshan Scheme 2023-24.
- Margdarshan Scheme 2023-24, a visionary initiative of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was successfully launched by AICTE President Prof. T. G. Seetharam on 16th August.
- The AICTE Chairman mentioned that this initiative has been launched with the aim of raising the standard of technical education across the country by providing dedicated guidance and its consistent efforts.
State news
India’s first state-of-the-art 3D post office launched in Karnataka
- Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on August 18 inaugurated India’s first 3D-designed post office building in Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru.
- It is notable that the construction of this new post office building has been completed with the help of Larsen & Toubro and technical guidance from IIT Madras. It’s a 3D structure built on nearly 1,021 square feet in the city’s Cambridge-layout.
The first Maritime States Development Organization conference is scheduled to begin.
- Union Minister of Ports and Shipping Shri Sarbananda Sonowal will preside over the 19th Conference of the country’s “Maritime States Development Organization (MSDC)” on August 18 and August 19 at Kevadia, Gujarat.
- It is significant that this conference is being held with the aim of discussing important issues related to the overall development and progress of the river and maritime sector.
Appointments
Colliers appoints Yagnik as CEO
- Colliers, the largest real estate consultancy, has appointed Badal Yagnik as the Chief Executive Officer of its India division, the company announced on August 17.
- Notably, this appointment follows the earlier resignation of Ramesh Nair as the company’s CEO. Nair will take over as CEO of Colliers India in July 2021.
Mushaal Hussain Malik has been appointed as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
- Mushaal Hussain Malik, wife of jailed Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, has been appointed as a “Special Adviser” to Pakistan’s newly-appointed caretaker prime minister, Anwaarul Haq Kakar.
- She will hold the post of Special Adviser to Caretaker Prime Minister Kakar on Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights in particular, according to a recent announcement by the country.
- It is notable that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has recently approached the Delhi High Court with a new petition seeking the death penalty for Yasin, who is serving a sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
Book publication
The Union Minister released Kuwi and Desia books in Bhubaneswar.
- Union Skill Development and Education Minister Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has released the books “Kuwi and Desiya” in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha.
- Union Minister Pradhan mentioned that the National Organization of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), for the first time, in association with the Odisha Central University, has produced two of these valuable books, “Kuwi Prime” and “Desia Primer”.
- It is significant that these two books aim to preserve and nurture the linguistic heritage of the community and their identity along with shaping the foundation of culture and strong education of the tribal children of the state.
Awards
Dr. Waliur Rahaman has been conferred with the prestigious National Geoscience Award.
- In a recent award ceremony, President of India Murmu presented this prestigious National Geoscience Award to Dr. Waliur Rahaman, an alumnus of the Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University.
- Notably, he is currently working as a Scientist at the National Center for Ocean and Polar Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.
SJVN has been awarded ‘NTPC Rajbhasha Shield 2023’.
- Union Power PSU SJVN has won the NTPC Rajpasha Shield System Award for 2023 in August 2023.
- The awards were presented at a conference of the Hindi Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Power held in the national capital, New Delhi. It is notable that this language is awarded annually by the Ministry of Power, Government of India for the efforts made by the corporations to promote the official language policy.
Distinguished Professor Don Towsley has received the Euler Award for 2023.
- Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) Distinguished Professor Dan Towsley has been awarded this year’s “Euler Award” by the Network Science Society for his major fundamental contributions to network tomography in classical and quantum telecommunications.
- The Euler Prize is awarded annually for outstanding research and innovation in the field of network science, particularly for significant contributions to paradigms of research hypotheses.
Sports news
Priya Malik has won gold at the U20 World Wrestling Championships for 2023.
- Indian athlete Priya Malik won the gold medal at the 2023 U20 World Wrestling Championship in Jordan in August 2023.
- With this win, she became the second Indian woman to win the U20 World Championship title. It is notable that before this last year Antim Panghal became India’s first woman to win the junior world title in wrestling.
Indian air pistol team has won bronze in the world championship series.
- The Indian men’s team of Sarabjot Singh, Shiva Narwal and Arjun Singh Cheema won bronze in the 10m air pistol event at the 2023 ISSF World Championships on August 17.
- With a total score of 1,734, they retained the medal, nine points behind silver medalists Germany. It is also significant that the Chinese team has won the gold medal in this series.
Economic news
RBI has launched a Portal called “Udgam”.
- The Reserve Bank of India has launched a centralized website on August 17, 2023 to facilitate the search for unclaimed deposits across all banks in India.
- Customers of any bank can register on the Udgam(Unentitled Deposit – Information Gateway) platform using their mobile number and this portal is designed to facilitate access to the funds, the RBI said.
Important day
World Humanitarian Day 2023
- World Humanitarian Day is observed on August 19th every year to mark the anniversary of the bombing of the United Nations General Assembly Branch-Headquarters in Iraq by terrorist organizations.
- This day was established by the United Nations in 2009. Also, this day aims to honor the humanitarian aid workers (Social Workers) around the world. “It takes a village” is the theme for this year.
World Photography Day 2023
- World Photography Day is observed on 19th August every year to encourage people around the world to share their sense of the world through the lens and to honor and appreciate the impact of photography on society.
- “LANDSCAPES” is the theme for this year. The day also aims to commemorate the announcement of the daguerreotype process to the public on August 19, 1839 by the French Institute of Sciences.
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