Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2023

Notes:
The Income-tax Department announced that there is a surge in filing of Income-tax Returns (ITRs), resulting in a new record of ITRs filed.
The total number of ITRs for AY 2023-24 filed till 31st July, 2023 are more than 6.77 crore, which is 16.1% more than the total ITRs for AY 2022-23 (5.83 crore) filed till 31st July 2022. Over 64.33 lakh ITRs were filed on a single day-on 31st July, 2023.

Notes:
Formula One racing driver Max Verstappen secured his eighth win in a row, one short of the all-time record, at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen won the race with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez clinching second position and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at third place.

Notes:
China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will hold their first joint air force training, called FALCON Shield-2023, in Xinjiang, China, in August.
The training seeks to strengthen practical exchanges and cooperation between the two air forces, fostering mutual understanding and trust.

Notes:
After a fatal military drill accident resulting in four deaths, Australia has decided to suspend the operation of its Taipan helicopter fleet.
During the Talisman Sabre exercise, in which 30,000 military personnel from countries like Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany were involved, the helicopter was taking part.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred the Lokmanya Tilak National Award. He is the 41st recipient of the award.
The Lokmanya Tilak National Award is handed out by the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust. The trust was founded in 1983 in honour of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Other notable recipients include former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh.

Notes:
India’s gross revenues from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hit a three-month high to cross ₹1.65 lakh crore in July 2023. July’s collections were 2.2% higher than the previous month’s GST collection.
However, at 10.8%, it was the slowest uptick in collections since July 2021 compared to revenues from the same month last year.

Notes:
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), responsible for overseeing cybersecurity incidents in India, documented cyber incidents targeting government organizations or systems for the years 2018 to 2023 (up to June).
The reported incidents were 70,798 in 2018, 85,797 in 2019, 54,314 in 2020, 48,285 in 2021, 192,439 in 2022, and 112,474 in 2023 (up to June).

Notes:
The Ministry of Finance launched a settlement scheme for contractual disputes with vendors or suppliers to government and its undertakings.
The ‘Vivad se Vishwas II — (Contractual Disputes)’ was announced during this year’s Union Budget. October 31 has been set as a deadline for firms Department of Expenditure to submit their claims for consideration.

Notes:
Parliament has passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023. The Rajya Sabha cleared it by voting 131 MPs in favour of the bill, while 102 MPs against bill.
It empowers the Central Government to make rules in connection with the affairs of the Government of Delhi. It also has a provision of the constitution of the National Capital Civil Service Authority, consisting of Delhi Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary of Delhi, and the Principal Home Secretary of Delhi.

Notes:
The Anusandhan National Research Foundation Bill (NRF), 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha recently.
The NRF Bill was given the green light by the Union Cabinet, with a budget of ₹50,000 crore for the upcoming five years. This allocation aims to systematically foster research and development across India’s research institutions, colleges, and universities at different levels.