Daily Current Affairs for Competitive Examinations: March 13, 2023
Current Affairs constitute a crucial portion of all government exams like UPSC, RRB, SSC etc. Remaining updated regarding the happenings of the world also assesses a candidate’s cognitive skills. Keeping abreast with the daily news, be it national or international, impacts the exam’s final outcome. Reading the newspapers and keeping an eye on the trending news will cover the preparation of current affairs.
Current Affairs: Awards and Recognitions
World Uyghur Congress nominated for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize
Germany-based Uyghur rights group, World Uyghur Congress, has been nominated for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for its work toward peace, democracy and the plight of the Uyghur and other Turkic people who live under what the nomination letter described as a “repressive regime in China”, Voice of America (VOA).
Details:
The winner of the international peace prize will be announced in October 2023 by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.
It is the first time the Germany-based group has been nominated for the prize.
The Chinese embassy in Washington has criticised this nomination for the Nobel Prize.
What is the UN Human Rights Report?
The UN human rights report in its August report stated that China had committed serious human rights violations against Uyghur. It also stated that China has committed to “other predominantly Muslim communities” in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
About World Uyghur Congress:
The World Uyghur Congress is an international organisation of exiled Uyghur groups that claim to represent the collective interests of the Uyghur people.
It strives to promote democracy, human rights, anddom for the Uyghur people through peaceful, nonviolent, and democratic means.
It works for taking up cases of forcibly disappeared people, releasing political prisoners, and providing asylum to Uyghur people in different countries of the world.
It was formed by the merger of the East Turkestan National Congress and the World Uyghur Youth Congress.
Question:
Recently World Uyghur Congress, an organisation, has been nominated for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for its work toward peace and democracy. To which of the following countries does this organisation belong?
A. China
B. Germany
C. Turkmenistan
D. Russia
Answer: B
Check out the Highlights of the Economic Survey 2022-23 by clicking on the link given below: Economic Survey 2022-23
Current Affairs: Science and Technology
Centre launches exclusive portal for women scientists by CSIR
Union Minister Jitendra Singh recently announced an exclusive women’s portal for research grants and funds, which will become functional with effect from 1 April.
While addressing the International Women’s Day celebration program organised by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the minister said a call inviting proposals from scientists would open the same day.
The Council of the CSIR has decided to start exclusive research grants for women scientists under CSIR-ASPIRE.
How can one apply for this?
This grant is applicable only to women scientists across the country.
They can apply for research grants to carry out R&D in the major disciplines of science and engineering, viz., chemical sciences, physical sciences, engineering sciences, etc.
Grants and funds will be provided for staff (JRF/SRF/RA), contingency expenses, and minor equipment.
The ministry stated that the total budget of a research proposal, including a stipend, should generally not exceed the limit of ₹25–30 lakhs.
About CSIR:
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research is an autonomous body established by the Government of India in 1942.
It emerged as the largest research and development organisation in India. Its headquarters is in New Delhi. Dr N Kalaiselvi is the present Director General of CSIR-cum-Secretary DSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.
It has been taking several initiatives for women’s empowerment, including a 15% discount on CSIR technologies for women entrepreneurs offered by CSIR- Central Leather Research Institute.
Question:
The Council of the CSIR has decided to start exclusive research grants under the CSIR-ASPIRE banner. This grant is majorly associated with which of the following?
A. Women Scientists
B. Child Scientists
C. Indian-origin scientists in foreign countries
D. None of the above
Answer: A
Current Affairs: National
EC hosted the 3rd International Conference on Inclusive Elections and Elections Integrity in a virtual format
In the virtual format, the Election Commission recently hosted the 3rd International Conference on the theme ‘Inclusive Elections and Elections Integrity’.
About the 3rd International Conference:
The Cohort on Elections Integrity is led by the ECI, which was established as a follow-up to the ‘Summit for Democracy’ held in 2021.
At the Conference, over 46 participants from 25 countries and representatives from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and Civil Society Organisations participated.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel addressed the Conference.
The countries that participated include Angola, Armenia, Australia, Canada, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and Zambia.
ECI had invited the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and International IDEA, apart from EMBs and Government counterparts dealing with the conduct of elections worldwide.
India had organised this Conference to share its knowledge, technical expertise and experiences with other democracies of the world.
ECI has also organised four training and capacity-building programmes during Nov 2022–Mar 2023 under the aegis of the Cohort for over 60 officials from 46 Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide.
About Previous International Conferences:
The First International Conference was organised on the topic ‘Role, Framework and Capacity of Elections Management Bodies’ in November 2022 in New Delhi.
The Second International Conference was organised by the Election Commission in January 2023 on the theme ‘Use of Technology and Elections Integrity’.
Question:
What was the theme of the recently organised 3rd International Conference by the Election commission of India?
A. Use of Technology and Elections Integrity
B. The Role, Framework and Capacity of Elections Management Bodies
C. Inclusive Elections and Elections Integrity
D. None of the above
Answer: C
Current Affairs: Awards and Recognitions
British architect David Chipperfield wins the 2023 Pritzker Prize
Sir David Alan Chipperfield CH has recently won the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
He is best known as a civic architect, urban planner, and activist. Chipperfield CH was selected as the 2023 Laureate of The Pritzker Architecture Prize.
This award is regarded internationally as architecture’s highest honour.
About Pritzker Architecture Prize:
The international prize awarded each year to a living architect/s for significant achievement was established by the Pritzker family of Chicago through their Hyatt Foundation in 1979.
It is granted annually and is often referred to as “architecture’s Nobel” and “the profession’s highest honour.”
The award consists of US $100,000 and a bronze medallion. The award is conferred on the laureate/s at a worldwide ceremony held at an architecturally significant site.
About Sir David Alan Chipperfield?
Born in London in 1953, Pritzker Prize-winner Sir David Alan Chipperfield was raised on a farm in Devon, in the southwest of England.
He has noted that his earliest memories of architecture are from the collection of barns and outbuildings on the farm, which filled him with a sense of nostalgia.
After graduating from the Kingston School of Art in 1976 and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in 1980, he worked under Douglas Stephen, Norman Foster, 1999 Pritzker Prize Laureate, and the late Richard Rogers, 2007 Pritzker Prize Laureate, before founding David Chipperfield Architects in London in 1985.
Question:
Architect David Chipperfield, who has recently won the 2023 Pritzker Prize, belongs to which of the following countries?
A. Germany
B. USA
C. Israel
D. UK
Answer: D
Current Affairs: Days and Events
Yaoshang Festival began in Manipur
The five-day-long Yaoshang festival, Manipur’s version of Holi, has begun recently.
The festival is celebrated every year on the full moon of Lamta (February-March) of the Meitei lunar calendar.
About Yaoshang Festival:
The festival is celebrated every year on the full moon of Lamta month (February-March) of the Meitei lunar calendar by the Meitei people, who are predominantly Hindus.
It is celebrated at the same time as Holi and is known as ‘Manipur’s version of Holi’.
The five-day-long celebration begins with the burning of ‘yaoshang’ (a small thatch hut/straw hut) which is constructed with bamboo and straws, on the first day.
The highlight of the festival is the ‘thabal chongba’, a traditional Manipuri folk dance where boys and girls hold hands and sing and dance in a circle.
The festival marks the rejuvenation of the spirit of life and commemorates the birthday of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Children visit neighbours to ask for a monetary donation which is called ‘nakatheng’.
About thabal chongba:
The thabal chongba is a traditional dance of the Meitei, where boys and girls gather in an open ground and dance in a circle.
But these days thabal chongba is performed throughout the month of Lamta.
Question:
Recently a five-day-long Yaoshang festival started in Manipur. This festival is a native version of which of the following festivals?
A. Holi
B. Diwali
C. Bihu
D. Onam
Answer: A
Check out the Highlights of Union Budget 2023 by clicking on the link given below: Union Budget 2023-24
Factbook: 10-March-2023
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
A hybrid solar eclipse will happen on 20 April 2023.
A hybrid solar eclipse is one which will appear either as an annular eclipse or a total eclipse depending on the viewer’s location.
During an annular eclipse, the Moon will not fully cover the Sun, and as a result, it will appear as a dark disk superimposed on the Sun.
There are three main types of solar eclipses:
Total solar eclipse
Partial solar eclipse
Annular solar eclipse
Col Geeta Rana becomes the first woman officer to command an EME unit near the China border
Colonel Geeta Rana has taken charge of an independent field workshop in a forward and remote location in eastern Ladakh. The officer is the latest in a series of women officers selected for command roles.
She is from the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME).
The Indian Army has started deployment of women soldiers in joint exercises with other countries in peacekeeping missions.
The Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers is an arms and service branch of the Indian Army.
The Corps has varying responsibilities related to designing, developing, trialling, inspecting, and refitting weapon systems and equipment.
It was founded in 1943 and headquartered in Secunderabad.
Colombia opens military service to women for the first time in 25 years
A military service has been opened for women in Colombia. This service has been opened for the first time in 25 years, and around 1,296 women enlisted in Colombia’s Army in February 2023.
In Colombia, there is compulsory military service for men aged between 18 to 24.
The Colombian Army relied on these young recruits to staff bases, protect infrastructure and carry out administrative tasks while its professional soldiers confronted drug trafficking gangs and rebel groups.
It is part of an effort to strengthen the role of women in its ranks.
India Bags Golden and Silver Star at ITB, Berlin 2023
The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, has bagged a Golden and Silver Star at The International ‘Golden City Gate Tourism Awards 2023’ in the ‘TV/Cinema Commercials International and Country International’ Category at ITB, Berlin 2023
The Promotional films/television commercials that received the awards were produced by the Ministry as part of its Post Covid Promotional Global Campaign on India reopening.
The Ministry of Tourism has developed the new Incredible India brand films to welcome foreign tourists to the country after the pandemic.
These brand films have been widely circulated within the domestic and international travel industry for wider usage in promotional and marketing purposes.
The films were also widely promoted through the social media handles of the Ministry, which have been very well received the world over.
The commercials have been produced in English with voiceovers in nine international languages, viz., German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic.
The awards were received by Arvind Singh, Secretary (Tourism) Government of India, on 08th March 2023 at ITB, Berlin, being held from the 7th to 9th March 2023.
Shalija Dhami becomes the first woman officer to command a fighter unit in IAF.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) announced on 8 March 2023 that Group Captain Shalija Dhami would take over the command of the Missile Squadron in the Western Sector. Ms Dhami has become the first Indian woman officer to achieve this.
Dhami was commissioned as a helicopter pilot in the year 2003.
She is currently posted in the Operations Branch of Forward Command Headquarters.
Dhami is the second deployment after Captain Shiva Chauhan of the Fire and Fury Corps of the Indian Army.
Shiva Chauhan is the first woman officer to be operationally posted in Siachen.
Indo-US developed NISAR Satellite Reached ISRO
As per the India and US collaboration, NISAR Satellite has been built jointly by NASA and ISRO and is set to take off by 2024.
The satellite has been rendered to ISRO Space Agency which is intended to observe and measure land and ice masses on Earth, among various other activities.
NASA asserted that this radar imaging satellite would use dual frequencies to assess complex issues such as melting glaciers, ecosystem disruptions, etc.
Ram Chandra Poudel elected as Nepal’s 3rd President
Nepalese Politician Ram Chandra Poudel wins the Presidential Elections of the country. It was the third election this time since Nepal became a Republic in 2008.
This newly elected President received 214 votes from congressmen, while 352 votes were given by Provisional assembly members.
Nepali Congress Chief Sher Bahadur Deuba congratulated this senior leader of the party now selected for the Presidential post.
Attukal Pongala
Considered one of the largest women’s gatherings in the world, around 15 lakh women participated in the annual Attukal Pongala festival of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The festival includes offering Pongala, a sweet delicacy made of rice, to the deity of Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram.
The highlight of the ten-day festival is the mass offering that takes place on the ninth day. Women from across the state make it to the capital in huge numbers.
In 2009, the ritual had made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest religious gathering of women on a single day when over 2.5 million people took part in it.
Attukal Temple is called the “Women’s Sabarimala” as only women perform rituals, while it is predominantly men who undertake the pilgrimage to the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala.
The Government brings crypto under money laundering law
The Ministry of Finance has brought crypto trading, safekeeping and related financial services under the ambit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
It will give authorities greater power to monitor the transfer of virtual digital assets beyond the country’s borders.
Entities dealing in VDAs will now be considered ‘reporting entities’ under PMLA and subsequently have to maintain the KYC details of their clients and beneficial owners.
Transactions included under PMLA:
The exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies
The exchange between one or more forms of virtual digital assets
Transfer of virtual digital assets, safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets
H3N2 outbreak
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) confirmed that the recent outbreak of a respiratory illness—with symptoms of cold, sore throat and fever accompanied by fatigue—is caused by Influenza Sub-type H3N2.
There are four types of seasonal influenza viruses, types A, B, C and D. Influenza A and B viruses circulate and cause seasonal epidemics of disease.
H3N2 virus is a type of influenza virus called the influenza A virus. It is a respiratory viral infection that causes illnesses every year. This subtype of influenza A virus was discovered in 1968 in humans.
The symptoms of the H3N2 virus include cough, runny nose or congested nose, sore throat, headaches, body aches, fever, chills, fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting and breathlessness.
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