Current Affairs Quiz 12th to 15th August 2022 : Daily GK Update

Exp. Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav began on 12th March 2021 and was planned to continue up to 15th August 2023. It is an annual programme to celebrate India’s independence from British rule.

The Ministry which is core responsible for the implementation of this programme is the Ministry of Defence and Culture.

Exp. Various Themes Of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav:

This programme includes various themes which increase its popularity and importance among citizens. These themes are given below:

Celebrating unsung heros

Atma Nirbhar Bharat

Azadi ka digital mahotsav

Independence 2.0

India’s rich cultural heritage

Ideas , achievement and resolve

Exp. World’s highest railway bridge ‘Golden joint’ launched on Chenab in J&K

Decked with the national flag, the ‘Golden Joint’ of the Chenab railway bridge was launched on Saturday thereby inaugurating the World’s highest railway bridge.

To commemorate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the world’s highest bridge in Reasi district of J&K was decked up with the Tricolour by the workers on this occasion.

The project is part of the ambitious 272-km long railway line from Udhampur to Baramulla joining Jammu with the Kashmir valley as an all-weather highspeed alternative, named the ‘Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project’.

Exp. On the occasion of World Elephant Day on Friday, the centre has announced the establishment of another elephant reserve at Agasthiyamalai. This reserve will be the 32nd elephant reserve in the country and the fifth in Tamil Nadu. It will be adding 1,197 sq km of area dedicated to elephant conservation

The new reserve at Agasthyamalai will encompass reserve forests and patta lands in Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Tenkasi districts, reported the Times of India.

Exp. Government of India has made revised the rules of Atal Pension Yojana (APY), will be effective from from October 1, 2022.

No citizen who is or has been an income taxpayer will not be eligible to join the APY. If an income tax-payer joins the APY scheme on or after October 1, 2022, the APY account will be liable to be closed.

Currently, all citizens of India between the age of 18-40 years are eligible to join the scheme, irrespective of their tax-paying status.

About Atal Pension Yojana

Under this social security scheme, APY subscriber would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of ₹1000 to ₹5000 per month from the age of 60 years, depending upon his contribution. The same pension would be paid to the spouse of the subscriber after the demise of subscriber and on demise of both the subscriber and spouse, the pension wealth as accumulated till age 60 of the subscriber would be returned back to the nominee.

Exp. Gopal Vittal re-appointed as managing director of Airtel

Bharti Airtel has re-appointed Gopal Vittal as managing director for a period of five years i.e., February 1, 2023 to January 31, 2028.

He was re-appointed as the managing director and CEO with effect from February 1, 2018 for a period of 5 years, (upto January 31, 2023).

Exp Uttarakhand government has appointed wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant as the ‘State Brand Ambassador’.

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami congratulated Rishabh Pant and praised him as one of the best cricketers and idols of youth.

Exp. Argentina’s navy officer, Rear Admiral Guillermo Pablo Rios has been named Head of Mission and Chief Military Observer for the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).

He replaced Major General José Eladio Alcain of Uruguay, who steps down after the completion of his assignment.

Newly Appointed Prime Minister & President

Colombia’s first leftist President – Gustavo Petro

New PM of Kuwait – Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al Salem

New PM of Sri Lanka – Dinesh Gunawardena

New President of Sri Lanka – Ranil Wickremesinghe

New President of Colombia – Gustavo Petro

New President of South Korea – Yoon Suk Yeol

New Prime Minister of Pakistan – Shehbaz Sharif

New Prime Minister of France – Elisabeth Borne

1st Woman President of Hungary – Katalin Novak

1st Woman President of Tanzania – Samia Suluhu Hassan

1st Woman President of Honduras Xiomara Castro

Hong Kong’s Next Leader -John Lee

Re-Elected as President of Serbia – Aleksandar Vučić

Hungary’s New Prime Minister - Viktor Orban

New Prime Minister of Kazakhstan - Alikhan Smailov

New President of of Albania – Bajram Begaj

New Prime Minsiter of Israel – Yair Lapid

• Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will be conferred with France’s highest civilian award Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur for his writings and speeches.
• In 2010, he had received a similar honour from the Spanish government, when the King of Spain had bestowed upon him the Encomienda de la Real Order Espanola de Carlos III.

Exp. A contingent of the Indian Air Force has participated in a bilateral exercise named ‘Udarashakti’ with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).

Indian Air Force is participating in the air exercise with Su-30 MKI and C-17 aircraft while the RMAF will be flying Su 30 MKM aircraft.

Exp. ISRO Chairman S Somanath has launched the India’s first virtual space museum ‘SPARK’ for public use to showcase the digital content related to different ISRO missions in an interactive manner.

SPARK can be accessed through the official website of ISRO or at https://spacepark.isro.gov.in.

Presently, the space organisation has also launched an application, the beta version of SPARK on their website.

Exp. • Indian fencer Bhavani Devi has secured gold medal in the women’s senior individual sabre category at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships 2022 in London.

• She defeated Veronika (Australia), who has settled for silver in the event. Bhavani Devi hails from Tamil Nadu and was the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics (Tokyo 2020).

Exp. • First Khelo India Women’s Hockey League under-16 is scheduled to be held at the Major Dhyanchand Stadium in New Delhi from August 16 to 23, 2022.

• The Khelo India Women’s Hockey League (U-16) is yet another endeavour by the Khelo India’s Sports for Women component, which takes the most necessary steps to power in more female participation in a wide array of sports competitions.

Exp. • World Sanskrit Day or World Sanskrit Diwas is celebrated on the occasion of Shraavana Poornima.

• World Sanskrit Day also coincides with the festival of Raksha Bandhan. In 2022, World Sanskrit Day is celebrated on 12th August 2022.
• The first World Sanskrit Day was celebrated on 1969.

Exp. • Partition Horrors Remembrance Day is a national Memorial Day celebrated on 14 August in India, first declared by prime minister Narendra Modi in 2021.

• It commemorates the victims and sufferings of people during the partition of India. The day remembers the sufferings of many Indians during the partition.

Exp. Uma Pemmaraju, an Indian American journalist has passed away at the age of 64.

She was a part of various shows such as The Fox Report, Fox News Live, Fox News Now, and Fox On Trends.

She has been awarded many Emmy Awards in her career for investigative reporting and journalism.

Exp. • David McCullough, who won Pulitzer Prizes for his biographies of presidents John Adams and Harry Truman, has died at the age of 89.

• He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for Truman, a biography about the 33rd president of the US and another Prize in 2002 for the biography about the second US president, John Adams.