Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2023

Notes:
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu released a postage stamp in memory of Dadi Prakashmani, former chief of Brahma Kumaris at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre.
This stamp was released under the ‘My Stamp’ initiative of the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications to mark the 16th death anniversary of Dadi Prakashmani.

Notes:
The Gujarat government has increased the reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state’s panchayats and urban local bodies from 10% to 27%.
This decision was made based on recommendations of the K.S. Jhaveri Commission, which was formed based on a 2022 Supreme Court order on deciding the level of OBC quotas in Gujarat.

Notes:
The French government announced its decision to ban children from wearing the abaya, the loose-fitting, full- length robes worn by some Muslim women, in state-run schools.
France has enforced a ban on religious symbols in state schools since 2004, to uphold its strict brand of secularism, known as laicite.

Notes:
Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur announced that 1000 Khelo India Centres will be established within a year in the country.
It will not only provide employment opportunities to former athletes but also give budding sportspersons a chance to take guidance from the veterans. To commemorate the National Sports Day, over 3500 events were observed across the nation.

Notes:
INDUS-X (India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem), an initiative to build a defence innovation bridge by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) of the Ministry of Defence, and the US Department of Defence (DoD).
It began an exercise to begin the Indo-US CrossLinx accelerator programme to prepare defence start-ups to expand to the US markets.

Notes:
WR Chess has triumphed as inaugural FIDE World Rapid Team Champions. Altogether, WR Chess secured 22 matchpoints, Freedom finished on 20, and third-placed MGD1 had 18.
WR Chess had one Indian- R Praggnananda, Freedom had two Indian players and MGD1 eight. When it comes to individual medals for board prizes, as many as seven Indians won either a Silver or Bronze medal.

Notes:
The Indian Government formally declared August 30 as the National Small Industry Day, a year after the Ministry of Small-Scale Industries announced a comprehensive policy package for small businesses.
The day recognises the contribution of small industries to the country’s growth and is an opportunity for the central and state governments to encourage and support small industries.

Notes:
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues for August 2023 have shown a growth of 11 per cent year-on-year as it stands at Rs 1.59 lakh crore.
The increase is due to increased compliance and reduced evasion. In August 2022, the collection from GST was Rs 1,43,612 crore. Out of the Rs 1.59 lakh crore GST collected, CGST accounted for Rs 28,328 crore, SGST for Rs 35,794 crore, IGST for Rs 83,251 crore, and cess for Rs 11,695 crore.

Notes:
The Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) programme is an initiative for promoting an investor-friendly and non-adversarial tax regime in India.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has recently released the fourth and fifth annual APA reports. The reports present key data and statistics pertaining to the APA programme.

Notes:
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has launched a new type of frigate, the Type 054B, China’s Ministry of National Defense.
Type 054B is the larger and more advanced version of Type 054A, which currently forms the backbone of the PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy).