General Knowledge(GK) (or) General Awareness

A day after the Ministry of Home Affairs sanctioned approval for the creation of Village Defence Guard Scheme - 2022 in Jammu and Kashmir which came into effect from 15th August 2022, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday(15th August 2022) thanked Union Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, for showing his constant concern for the people of the Union Territory.

 

Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned approval to creation of Village Defence Guard Scheme - 2022 in Jammu and Kashmir which shall come into effect from August 15, 2022.

 

"The above order vides Government Order No. 287-Home of 2022 dated August 14, 2022 has been made in reference to order of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh in WP(C) 3262/2019 titled Kewal Krishan and Ors V. State of J&K and Ors with clubbed matters and communication no. F.No. 17012/13/2021-S(JKL) dated March 2nd, 2022 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI, Department of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh Affairs.

 

Earlier, this scheme was known as Village Defence Committe in which volunteers from villages were trained by Indian Army and Police. Under this scheme, rifles were provided to VDC's and they protected their villages from terrorist attacks and terror-related activities specially the vulnerable villages in mountainous areas of Jammu region..

Source : The Print

Howitzers started shelling on the Ukrainian town of Nikopol from the side of Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

 

Experts have repeatedly raised an alarm over the plant being in an active combat zone. The International Atomic Energy Agency has underlined that the current situation poses a grave risk of a nuclear catastrophe.

Located in southern Ukraine on the banks of Kakhovka reservoir on the Dnipro river, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant is Europe’s largest, and 10th biggest in the world. Before the war started, it produced half of Ukraine’s power with a total capacity of 5,700 MW. The plant has six reactors with a capacity of 950 MW each.

Geographically, the plant is located 200-km from Russia-annexed Crimea, and 500-odd km from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv..

Source : Indian Express

Earlier this month Nicaragua shuttered seven radio stations belonging to the Catholic Church and launched an investigation into the bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, accusing him of inciting violent actors “to carry out acts of hate against the population.”

 

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the northwest, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest.

Managua is the country's capital and largest city.

As of 2015, it was estimated to be the second largest city in Central America..

Source : Indian Express

The 131st edition of the historic Durand Cup begins on August 16th This year’s edition will be held across three cities: Kolkata, Guwahati and Imphal. Group A and B matches will be held in Kolkata, while Group C and D matches will be conducted in Imphal and Guwahati.. Asia’s oldest football tournament signifies the beginning of the football season in India. The tournament opener will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata and the final will be held on September 18 at the same venue.

 

The competition’s future iteration will pit 20 teams (eleven ISL teams, five I-League teams, and four teams from the Indian Armed Forces) competing for the coveted title. All the teams have been divided into four groups, each comprising five teams.


Source : News18

Meghalaya is all set to host the upcoming 2nd edition of the North East Olympics from October the 30th to November the 6th, 2022 in Shillong.

 

A joint meeting of the North East Organising Committee, Meghalaya Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, and the North East Olympic Association was held last evening to finalize the list of sports disciplines. The first edition of Games was held in Manipur in 2018, with 12 disciplines.

 

Following the meeting, Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh stated that the disciplines selected were decided based on the availability of infrastructure and on the advice of the Meghalaya State Olympic Association. He said this edition of the Games will be special as Meghalaya is celebrating the 50th year of its Statehood.

 

In this edition, about 4,000 participants from eight North Eastern States will be competing in 18 disciplines at 13 venues spread across Shillong. Participants will be competing in disciplines, such as archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, football, judo, karate, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, wushu, cycling (Mountain Bike), golf, weightlifting and wrestling..

Source : News on Air

Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the merger proposal of HDFC Bank and its parent HDFC Ltd.

 

The proposed combination envisages the merger of HDFC Investments and HDFC Holdings with HDFC Ltd in the first step and subsequently, the merger of HDFC Ltd into HDFC Bank.

 

In a tweet on Friday(12th August 2022), CCI said it has approved the "proposed combination involving amalgamation of HDFC Limited, HDFC Bank, HDFC Investments and HDFC Holdings."

 

In April, the country's largest housing finance company HDFC Ltd announced that it will merge with HDFC Bank..

Source : Business Standard

Renowned Bangladeshi architect, researcher and educator "Marina Tabassum" became the first person from the global south and first south Asian to win the prestigious Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Lifetime Achievement Award. 

 

Announcing the award, the Lisbon Architecture Triennale jury praised Marina Tabassum for presenting an inspiring example of work with local communities that can have a positive impact across the globe even under the most adverse conditions. 

 

The International Jury for the award said that Marina Tabssum’s unique practice touches on the spiritual fundamentals of architecture. Driven by specific cultural and geographical context, her works address pressing contemporary issues, said the jury in their citation for the award. Her work shows how architects can challenge the climate crisis and bring about social change in an experimental, respectful and inspiring manner. 

 

She will receive an original artwork by the Portuguese artist and sculptor Carlos Nogueira as award during the Lisbon Triennale which begins on 29 September in Lisbon, Portugal..

Source : News on Air

The much-awaited Women's IPL will be starting from March 2023 to be held in a one-month window and in all likelihood with five teams, a senior BCCI official confirmed the development on Friday(12th Aug 2022).

 

The BCCI bigwigs have discussed the issue and a March window has been found for the tournament after the Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa.

 

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah in separate interviews to PTI had earlier confirmed that 2023 is the year when WIPL would start..

Source : The Hindu

India’s headline retail inflation fell to 6.71 per cent in July 2022, the lowest level in five months, helped by an easing in food and oil prices, as per the National Statistical Office (NSO) data released on Friday(12th Aug 2022).

 

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation stood at 7.01 per cent in June.

 

Although the retail inflation declined significantly in July when compared with the previous month, it remained higher than the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent.

 

Sequentially, the CPI-based inflation eased to 0.46 per cent in July 2022 from 0.52 per cent in the previous month.

 

Inflation in rural India was higher than in urban areas. Headline retail inflation for rural areas declined to 6.80 per cent in July 2022 from 7.09 per cent in the previous month..

Source : The Print

The 4th edition of Tata Steel Chess India was announced 11th Aug 2022 with the introduction of a Women’s Edition of the tournament. The open tournament has been on for three editions now and in its fourth edition, TSCI will have a women’s tournament with the same format – rapid and blitz. The tournament will take place from November 29 – December 4, 2022 in Kolkata.

 

Top International Grandmasters, top Indian men and women Grandmasters, young Indian talents and Viswanathan Anand as the ambassador and advisor of the tournament will enrich this year’s competition. For the first time in the history of the game, the prize fund for both the men’s and women’s category will be equal.

 

Women Grandmasters who have already confirmed their participation are Anna and Mariya Muzychuk from Ukraine, Nana Dzagnidze from Georgia and Alina Kashlinskaya from Poland. Indian chess superstars Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli will be joined by rising star Vaishali R – all of who were a part of the Bronze-winning team at the recently concluded Chess Olympiad in Chennai.

 

Mr. Viswanathan Anand, Ambassador of Tata Steel Chess India on the occasion said, “I am extremely delighted that today chess is considered as a mainstream sport. Tournaments like Tata Steel Chess India where our young players fight it out with International Grandmasters really helps the cause of producing newer champions. Today, India is considered as chess power-house with both men and women excelling in the sport. The introduction of the women’s tournament with equal prize money as the men category is a welcome move and an excellent initiative and we hope it is as well-received by the chess enthusiasts. Chess is and should be an equal sport.”

 

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel said, “We are delighted to announce that this year's edition of Tata Steel Chess India will witness the launch of a Women's Tournament as well.  What better year to start this than FIDE’s  ‘Year Of The Woman In Chess .’   

The event will give young Indian talent the opportunity to play against top International Grandmasters. Tata Steel Chess India is part of Tata Steel’s continuous and conscious effort to build an equitable and diverse environment while engaging with communities through meaningful activities. We are encouraged by the enthusiasm and participation we have received over the past years and are determined to make this world class chess competition even better.”

 

Ms. Tania Sachdev expressed their happiness over the introduction of women category in Tata Steel Chess India. She echoed that the introduction of equality in the prize amount by Tata Steel Chess India will encourage more women to take up the sport as a profession..

Source : Tatasteel