Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2023

Notes:
Thiruvonam, the most auspicious day during the Onam festival, is celebrated throughout Kerala. Onam is a harvest festival that celebrates the return of King Mahabali/Maveli to his beloved state.
The festival is celebrated for ten days and each day holds a lot of significance. Onam also marks the beginning of the Malayalam year, called Kolla Varsham.

Notes:
Odisha’s javelin star Kishore Jena became the first from the state to represent India at the finals of the World Athletics Championship.
At the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, he finished fifth with a personal best of 84.77 metres.

Notes:
Former US Open champion Stan Wawrinka became the oldest man to win a singles contest at the tournament since 40-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1992.
The 38-year-old Swiss veteran, who claimed the last of his three Grand Slam titles in New York in 2016, outclassed Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.

Notes:
Western Cuba was lashed by tropical storm Idalia and is likely to turn into a major hurricane as it moves towards the Gulf Coast in Floria.
Evacuations have been ordered by the officials. Idalia was churning around 80 miles off Cuba’s western tip.

Notes:
Madhya Pradesh is found to be the lightning hub of India with maximum flashes of 987,095 in 2022- 23 and highest deaths of 340 per year, according to the fourth annual lightning report.
It highlights that the country recorded more than 20 million lightning strikes in 2022-23, 60% increase in cloud-to-ground lightning from 2019-20. The Lightning Resilient India Campaign is a collaborative endeavour between the climate resilient observing systems promotion council (CROPC) and the India meteorological department (IMD).

Notes:
The Government of India and the Government of New Zealand have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost cooperation in civil aviation.
This will cover the scheduling of new routes, code share services, traffic rights and capacity entitlement. An Air Services Agreement was signed between New Zealand and India in 2016. The New Zealand and India have reviewed the existing arrangements relating to air service between the two countries.

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:
Bhubaneswar and Guwahati will host India’s opening two home matches in the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2, the All India Football Federation announced.
India have been drawn in Group A of the Asian qualifiers, alongside Qatar, Kuwait, and the winners of the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 fixture between Afghanistan and Mongolia.

Notes:
The Indian Army has launched ‘Project Naman’ to establish facilitation and grievance redressal centers for veterans and the families of personnel who have sacrificed their lives for the nation. The first center will be located in Delhi Cantonment. ‘Naman’ will house a Common Service Centre providing government-to-customer services, including pension account updates on the SPARSH portal. The SPARSH portal, initiated by the Ministry of Defence, is designed to manage pension sanction and disbursement for the Armed Forces, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defence Civilians. This system offers complete transparency to defense pensioners, recording their pension history from its inception to the end of the pension due to the last eligible beneficiary. The Defense Accounts Department, under the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions), will oversee this comprehensive system, handling all aspects of the pension cycle, including initiation, sanction, and disbursement, revision, and grievance resolution. ‘Project Naman’ and the SPARSH portal aim to enhance support and services for Indian Army veterans and their families.

Notes:
Adopt a Heritage 2.0 Scheme is a government initiative aimed at enhancing amenities at historical monuments in India through corporate involvement and their CSR funds. This program is a revamped version of the 2017 scheme and operates under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR Act) of 1958. Interested stakeholders can adopt specific monuments or amenities through the dedicated web portal, providing comprehensive information and financial requirements. To promote heritage awareness, an Indian Heritage App will be launched, showing monuments with details, photos, amenities, geotagged locations, and a citizen feedback mechanism. This initiative is collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture, and the Archaeological Survey of India.