20th September, 2023

1. The Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala have been added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage list.
2. Airport Authority of India (AAI) has inducted two new B-360 aircraft with advanced Flight Inspection system into its Flight Inspection Unit (FIU)’s Fleet to carry out calibration of ground navigation and landing aids.
3. National Highways Logistics Management Ltd (NHLML), has signed an agreement for the development of Multi Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) at Muddelinganahalli in Bengaluru, Karnataka at an estimated cost of Rs 1,770 crore.
4. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has officially renamed the old Parliament building, previously known as Parliament House, to ‘Samvidhan Sadan.’
5. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited (Ujjivan SFB) has launched the Maxima Savings Account and Business Maxima Current Account, designed exclusively for medium and large business entities.
6. 2023 Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index, the 5th edition of the annual DQL Index by Surfshark Limited has been released.
7. Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar has presented the onetime Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards 2022 to 84 artistes from varied fields of performing arts during a ceremony at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi.
8. 2023 Ig Nobel Prizes have been awarded at the 33rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony.
9. 12 male scientists have been awarded Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (SSB)for Science and Technology in 2022 at the inaugural session of One Week One Lab Programme of CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR).
10. Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra has finished 2nd place in the men’s javelin throw event at the Diamond League 2023 final with a best throw of 83.80m.
11. NASA has reported that the summer of 2023 has officially become the hottest on record since temperature tracking began in 1880.
12. Scientists have used Google’s DeepMind to develop a program that can predict what genetic mutation could cause diseases and what could remain harmless.

National News

1. TheSacred Ensembles of the Hoysala have been added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage list.
   • This is the 42nd UNESCO World Heritage Site in India and the 4th in Karnataka.
   • The sacred ensembles of the Hoysalas, constructed during the 12th and 13th centuries are represented here by the three components of Belur, Halebid, and Somanathapura.
   • The temples included in the ensemble are:
   • The Channakeshava Temple, Belur, Hassan district (dedicated to God Vishnu)
   • The Hoysalesvara Temple, Halebidu, Hassan district (dedicated to God Shiva)
   • The Kesava Temple, Somanathapura, Mysuru district (dedicated to God Vishnu)

2. Airport Authority of India (AAI) has inducted two new B-360 aircraft with advanced Flight Inspection system into its Flight Inspection Unit (FIU)’s Fleet to carry out calibration of ground navigation and landing aids.
   • With this, AAI will be able to accomplish the timely flight calibration of the Ground Radio Navigational at all airports in the country.
   • The Flight Inspection Unit of the Airports Authority of India is a very critical component in the safety chain of the Air Navigation Service provided by the Airports Authority of India throughout the Indian airspace.
     Source: BS
3. National Highways Logistics Management Ltd (NHLML), has signed an agreement for the development of Multi Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) at Muddelinganahalli in Bengaluru, Karnataka at an estimated cost of Rs 1,770 crore.
   • The project will become the first and largest MMLP ever implemented in the country under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
     • Gati Shakti is a national master plan aimed at the coordinated planning and execution of infrastructure projects in India to reduce logistics costs.
       Source: IE

4. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has officially renamed the old Parliament building, previously known as Parliament House, to ‘Samvidhan Sadan’.
   • The old Parliament building served as the venue for the Constituent Assembly’s sessions from December 9, 1946, to January 24, 1950, during which the Indian Constitution was drafted.
     Source: ANI

Banking and Economy

1. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited (Ujjivan SFB) has launched the Maxima Savings Account and Business Maxima Current Account, designed exclusively for medium and large business entities.
   • The annual interest rate on the Maxima Savings Account is up to 7.5%, and customers can open the account with Rs 100,000.
     Source: FE

Reports and Indices

1. 2023 Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index, the 5th edition of the annual DQL Index by Surfshark Limited has been released.
   Key findings

    

   • India has been raised to 52nd rank with a ranking index of 5154 from 59th rank in 2022.
   • The Index features 121 countries and is topped by France with a ranking index of 0.7902 followed by Finland, Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg.
   • In Asia (regional ranking) India is ranked 13, with Singapore (global rank 10) at the top.
   • The index is based on five pillars (with each pillar carries equal weightage of 20%)
     • Internet affordability
     • Internet quality
     • Electronic infrastructure (e-infrastructure)
     • Electronic security(e-security)
     • Electronic government (e-government)
   • These pillars have 14 indicators that help to measure the overall digital quality of life
     Source: Official

Awards

1. Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar has presented the onetime Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards 2022 to 84 artistes from varied fields of performing arts during a ceremony at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi.
   • The recipients of these awards are selected by the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s General Council, which includes distinguished musicians, dancers, theatre artists, and scholars, as well as nominees from the Government of India, State Governments, and Union Territories.
   • Each award carries a purse of 1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh), along with a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.
   • Some notable awardees include:
     • Raghubir Malik and Dina Nath Mishra for Hindustani vocal music.
     • Gowri Kuppuswamy and Anasuya Kulkarni for Carnatic vocal music.
     • Lalitha Srinivasan and Vilasini Devi Krishnapillai for the Bharatnatyam dance.
     • Smita Shastri and Kumkum Lal for Kuchipudi and Odissi dance forms, respectively.
   • A total of 84 artists received the award at the ceremony, including 70 men and 14 women.

2. 2023 Ig Nobel Prizes have been awarded at the 33rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony.
   • The Ig Nobel Prize is the prize for humorous scientific feats and aims to “honour achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think.”
   • A team of scientists from India, China, Malaysia, and the United States of America (USA) has won the 2023 Ig Nobels, in the ‘Mechanical Engineering’ category for re-animating dead spiders and using them as mechanical gripping tools.
     • The team from Rice University in Texas, USA re-animated dead spiders to use as ‘necrobotic’ mechanical gripping tools, able to grasp objects up to 130% of their own weight.
   • Team members: Faye Yap, Zhen Liu, Anoop Rajappan (India), Trevor Shimokusu, and Daniel Preston.
     Source: ET
3. 12 male scientists have been awarded Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (SSB)for Science and Technology in 2022 at the inaugural session of One Week One Lab Programme of CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR).
   • The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (SSB) for Science and Technology is a prestigious annual award in India that recognizes outstanding contributions in various scientific disciplines.
     • The award is named after Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, who was the founder Director of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).
   • The SSB prize was first awarded in 1958.
   • The SSB prize includes a citation, a plaque, and a cash award of ₹5 lakh(approximately US$6,300).
     • In addition, recipients also get 15,000 per month up to the age of 65 years.
       Source: IE

Sports

1. Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra has finished 2nd place in the men’s javelin throw event at the Diamond League 2023 final with a best throw of 83.80m.
   • Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch has won the men’s javelin throw title with a best throw of 84.24m while Finland’s Oliver Helander came third with an 83.74m throw.
     Source: Olympics.com

Miscellaneous

1. NASA has reported that the summer of 2023 has officially become the hottest on record since temperature tracking began in 1880.
   • This is marked by extreme heatwaves in North America, Europe, Asia, and other regions, is primarily attributed to human-induced global warming, further intensified by the recurring climate phenomenon El Niño.
     • It is a climate pattern disrupting normal Pacific winds and causing higher temperatures in regions like Canada and the U.S. West Coast.
   • In August 2023, temperatures soared 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the summer average.
   • This extreme heatwave severely impacted 57 million people in the southern and southwestern United States, reaching the highest level of severity.
     Source: ET

2. Scientists have used Google’s DeepMind to develop a program that can predict what genetic mutation could cause diseases and what could remain harmless.
   Source: IT

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