General Knowledge Current Affairs

Thursday, January 12, 2023

80th Golden Globe Awards 2023

The 80th annual Golden Globe Awards have taken place in Los Angeles, with The Banshees of Inisherin leading the winners.

Golden Globe Awards 2023 for Film

Best film, drama: "The Fabelmans"

Best film, musical or comedy: "The Banshees of Inisherin"

Best director: Steven Spielberg, "The Fabelmans"

Best actor, drama: Austin Butler, "Elvis"

Best actress, drama: Cate Blanchett, "Tar"

Best actor, musical or comedy: Colin Farrell, "The Banshees of Inisherin"

Best actress, musical or comedy: Michelle Yeoh, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Best supporting actor: Ke Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Best supporting actress: Angela Bassett, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"

Best screenplay: Martin McDonagh, "The Banshees of Inisherin"

Best music, original score: Justin Hurwitz, "Babylon"

Best music, original song: "Naatu Naatu" from "RRR"

Best non-English language film: "Argentina, 1985"

Best animated feature: "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio"

Golden Globe Awards 2023 for TV

Best drama series: "House of the Dragon"

Best drama actor: Kevin Costner, "Yellowstone"

Best drama actress: Zendaya, "Euphoria"

Best musical or comedy series: "Abbott Elementary"

Best musical or comedy actor: Jeremy Allen White, "The Bear"

Best musical or comedy actress: Quinta Brunson, "Abbott Elementary"

Best supporting actor, television: Tyler James Williams, "Abbott Elementary"

Best supporting actress, television: Julia Garner, "Ozark"

Best limited series or TV movie: "The White Lotus"

Best limited series or TV movie actor: Evan Peters, "Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story"

Best limited series or TV movie actress: Amanda Seyfried, "The Dropout"

Best limited series supporting actor: Paul Walter Hauser, "Black Bird"

Best limited series supporting actress: Jennifer Coolidge, "The White Lotus"

Friday, December 30, 2022

Dronacharya Award 2022

Shri. Dinesh Jawahar Lad is a Cricket coach. He has trained many outstanding Cricket players who have won medals in National/ International competitions. Prominent among them are Rohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Harmeet Singh Badhan and Siddhesh Lad. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of coaching, the Dronacharya Award (Life Time) for the year 2022 is being conferred upon Shri. Dinesh Jawahar Lad.

Shri. Bimal Prafulla Ghosh is a Football coach. He has trained many outstanding Football players who have won medals in National/lnternational competitions. Prominent among them are Khalid Jameel, Steven Dias, Bikash Jairu, Raju Gaikwad, and Bungo Thomchok Singh. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of coaching, the Dronacharya Award(Life Time) for the year 2022 is being conferred upon Shri. Bimal Prafulla Ghosh.

Shri. Raj Singh is a Wrestling Coach. He has trained many outstanding Wrestling players who have participated and won in National/lnternational competitions. Prominent among them are Ashok Kumar, Ombir, Yogeshwar Dutt, Sanjay, Dinesh, Gyanender, Narender, Parveen, Yudhvir, Suresh, Monu, Amit, Pawan, and Pardeep. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of coaching, the Dronacharya Award (Life Time) for the year 2022 is being conferred upon Shri. Raj Singh.

Shri. Jiwanjot Singh Teja is an Archery coach. He has trained many outstanding Archery players who have won medals in National/lnternational competitions. Prominent among them are Harvinder Singh, V. Jyothi Surekha, Raj Kaur, Rajat Chouhan, Aman Saini, Abhishek Verma, Madhumita Kumari, and Muskan Kirar. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of coaching, the Dronacharya Award for the year 2022 is being conferred upon Shri. Jiwanjot Singh Teja.

Shri. Mohammad Ali Qamar is a National Boxing Coach. He has trained many outstanding Boxing players who have participated and won in National/lnternational competitions. Prominent among them are Lovlina Borgohain, Manju, Jamuna Boro, Sonia, Simranjit Kaur Baatth, and Pooja Rani. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of coaching, the Dronacharya Award for the year 2022 is being conferred upon Shri. Mohammad Ali Qamar.

Ms. Suma Siddharth Shirur is a Para Shooting Coach. She has trained many outstanding Shooting players who have participated and won in National/lnternational competitions. Prominent among them are Avani Lekhara, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Shahu Tushar Mane, Ashi Chouksey, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kiran Ankush Jadhav, Prasiddhi Mahant, Abhinav Shaw, Zeena Kittha, Atmika Gupta and Aakriti Dahiya. In recognition of her outstanding achievements in the field of coaching, the Dronacharya Award for the year 2022 is being conferred upon Ms. Suma Siddharth Shirur.

Shri. Sujeet Maan is a Wrestling Coach. He has trained many outstanding Wrestling players who have participated and won in National/international competitions. Prominent among them is Bajrang Punia. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of coaching, the Dronacharya Award for the year 2022 is being conferred upon Shri. Sujeet Maan.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022

Shri. Sharath Kamal Achanta is one of the most outstanding Table Tennis players of the country. His achievements are:

  • .Three Gold Medals (individual, Mix Doubles & Team) and one Silver Medal (Mix Doubles) in Commonwealth Games, 2022
  • Two Bronze Medals (Mix Doubles & Team) in Asian Games, 2018.
  • One Gold Medal (Team), one Silver medal (Mix Doubles) and one Bronze Medal (individual) in Commonwealth Games, 2018.

In recognition of his outstanding achievements in the sport of Table Tennis, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for the year 2022 is conferred upon Shri. Sharath Kamal Achanta.

Monday, December 26, 2022

Indian Earth Observation Satellite-6 (EOS-6) was launched

The third generation Indian satellite for monitoring the oceans, formally named Earth Observation Satellite-6 (EOS-6) was launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in partnership with the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) among others, from its First Launch Pad (FLP) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. The ocean observing mission is a follow-up to OceanSat-1 or IRS-P4 and OceanSat-2 launched in 1999 and 2009, respectively. The satellite was launched aboard the proven launch vehicle PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) on its 56th flight (24th flight of the PSLV-XL version).

The Oceansat-3 was placed in the polar orbit at a height of about 740 kilometers above sea level. While at 1100 kilograms, it is only slightly heavier than Oceansat-1, for the first time in this series it houses three ocean observing sensors viz Ocean Color Monitor (OCM-3), Sea Surface Temperature Monitor (SSTM), and Ku-Band scatterometer (SCAT-3). There is also an ARGOS payload. All these sensors have their own importance for India’s blue economy aspirations.

The advance 13-channel OCM with 360 m spatial resolution and 1400 km swath will observe the day side of the earth every day and will provide crucial data on the distribution of ocean algae which is the base of the food chain within the marine ecosystem. The OCM-3 with a high signal-to-noise ratio is expected to provide improved accuracy in daily monitoring of phytoplankton having a wide range of operational and research applications including fishery resource management, ocean carbon uptake, harmful algal bloom alerts, and climate studies.

Monday, December 19, 2022

India's Sargam Koushal wins Mrs World 2022

Sargam Koushal was named Mrs. World 2022, besting contestants from 63 countries to bring the title back to India after 21 years. Mrs. World 2021 Shaylyn Ford of the US presented the crown to Mumbai-based Koushal at a ceremony held at Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino on Saturday evening. Mrs. Polynesia was named the first runner-up, followed by Mrs. Canada as the second runner-up.

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

India wins the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Vice Presidency and Strategic Management Board (SMB) Chair for the 2023-25 term

India wins the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Vice Presidency and Strategic Management Board (SMB) Chair for the 2023-25 term. By securing over 90% of the votes cast by full members of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) during its General Meeting held recently in San Francisco, USA, India’s representative, a member of the Indian National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and various technical committees of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS-India), was elected.

Representation of BIS (India) in policy and governance bodies of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and IEC ensures that Indian viewpoints on the important strategic and policy matters are put forth and it also provides opportunities to align the national standardization priorities with International best practices. BIS is continually expanding its international footprints by working on the growth mantra provided by the Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumers Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal. Currently, BIS (India) is represented in various policy and governing bodies of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and IEC such as the ISO Council, ISO Technical Management Board (TMB), IEC SMB, IEC Market Strategy Board (MSB), IEC Business Advisory Committee (BAC), etc.

International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is an international standard-setting body that publishes international Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. Standardization Management Board (SMB) is an apex governance body of the IEC responsible for technical policy matters. Shri Vimal Mahendru will be the IEC Vice President representing India.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

India jumps 2 spots higher, and now ranks 8th as per Climate Change Performance Index

India has been ranked among the top 5 countries in the world, and the best among the G20 countries, based on its Climate Change performance. India jumps 2 spots higher, and is now ranked 8th as per Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI, 2023) published by German Watch, New Climate Institute, and Climate Action Network International based in Germany. The latest report of CCPI, released at COP 27 in November 2022, shows Denmark, Sweden, Chile, and Morocco as the only four small countries that were ranked above India as 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively. The first, second, and third ranks were not awarded to any country. In effect, therefore, India’s rank is the best among all large economies.

The CCPI aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries. Published annually since 2005, the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is an independent monitoring tool for tracking the climate protection performance of 59 countries and the EU. Every year, the CCPI sets off important public and political debates within the countries assessed. The climate protection performance of these 59 countries, which together account for 92% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is assessed in four categories: GHG Emissions (40% of overall score),  Renewable Energy  (20% of overall score),  Energy Use  (20% of overall score) and  Climate Policy (20% of overall score).

India earned a high rating in the GHG Emissions  and Energy Use categories, while a medium for Climate Policy and Renewable Energy. The aggressive policies of India towards rapid deployment of renewables and robust framework for energy efficiency programs have shown considerable impact. As per the CCPI report, India is on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets (compatible with a well-below-2°C scenario).

The ranking given by CCPI places India as the only G-20 country in the top 10 ranks. It may be mentioned here that India will now be assuming G-20 Presidency and it will be an opportune time to show the World, its climate mitigation policies such as the deployment of renewable sources of energy and other energy transition programmes.