Today's Current Affairs-10th August 2022

NATIONAL

NSD organises ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav-22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav, 2022’ in Mumbai

• Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari inaugurated the 22nd ‘Bharat Rang Mahotsav’ at Rabindra Natya Mandir in Mumbai today. The five-day drama festival (being held from August 9 to August 13, 2022) is being jointly organised by the Union Ministry of Culture and P.L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Akademi in the city to pay tribute to our freedom fighters.
• National School of Drama under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is organizing “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav – 22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav, 2022 (Azadi Segment)” to pay tributes to our freedom fighters. As part of the 22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav, 2022 (Azadi Segment), 30 plays will be showcased in Delhi, Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Bengaluru and Mumbai from 16th July to 14th August, 2022.
• In Mumbai, the Bharat Rang Mahotsav programmes will be held from 9 to 13 August 2022, jointly organised by Ministry of Cultural Affairs and P.L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Akademi. The festival will be inaugurated on Tuesday, 9 August at Rabindra Natya Mandir in the presence of Governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Veteran actress Rohini Hattangadi, Producer Director Satish Kaushik and Vani Tripathi Tikku will also grace the inauguration ceremony. Director of National School of Drama, Professor Ramesh Chandra Goud will preside over the programme.

About Maharashtra:

Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari

Chief Minister: Eknath Shinde

Capital: Mumbai

CM Yogi launched 'Radio Jaighosh' to mark Kakori Train Action anniversary on 9th August

• As the country celebrates Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid tributes to the martyrs of Kakori Train Action Day. On 9th August 1925, the brave freedom fighters of India including Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Rajendra Prasad Lahiri, and Roshan Singh along with the Hindustan Republic Association (HRA) looted arms and money from the British, in the Kakori Railway station at Malihabad in Lucknow.
• These freedom fighters looted the train about 8 miles from Lucknow and they also used German mousers. After this, the three freedom fighters were hanged by the British on the charges of the Kakori scandal. Every year on 9 August, the whole nation remembers the mighty freedom fighters.
• Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath changed the name of ‘Kakori kand’ to ‘Kakori Train Action Day’ and 9th August 2022, marks the first anniversary of ‘Kakori Train Action Day’. The government of Uttar Pradesh has also facilitated the families of the freedom fighters included in the ‘Kakori Train Action Day’.

About Uttar Pradesh:

Governor: Anandiben Patel

Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath

Capital: Lucknow (Executive Branch)

Electricity Amendment Bill 2022 Introduced In Lok Sabha, Referred To Standing Committee

• A Bill to amend the Electricity Act to allow non-discriminatory open access to distribution networks of power suppliers was introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday amid protests by the Opposition, which claimed that it seeks to take away certain rights of state governments. Introducing the Bill, power minister RK Singh urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer it to a parliamentary standing committee for wider consultations to address Opposition concerns.
• The Bill is aimed at allowing privatisation of electricity on the lines of communication. As per the Central Govt, if the Bill is passed in both the Houses, customers will have the option to choose the supplier of electricity just like one can choose for telephone, mobile and internet services. The Bill seeks to amend section 42 of the Electricity Act to facilitate non-discriminatory open access to the distribution network of a distribution licensee.
• Further, the bill seeks to amend section 14 of the Act to facilitate the use of distribution networks by all licensees under provisions of non-discriminatory open access with the objective of enabling competition, enhancing efficiency of distribution licensees for improving services and ensuring sustainability of the power sector.
• The bill also seeks to amend section 62 of the Act so as to make provisions regarding graded revision in tariff over a year and for mandatory fixing of the maximum ceiling as well as minimum tariff by the Appropriate (electricity regulatory) Commission.

About Lok Sabha:

Seats: 543

Speaker: Om Birla, BJP; since 19 June 2019

Secretary General: Utpal Kumar Singh, IAS (Retd.) (Uttarakhand:1986); since 30 November 2020

Term limits: 5 years

Voting system: First past the post

 SPORTS

Sri lankai spinner Prabath Jayasuriya and England’s all-rounder  Emma Lamb bags ICC Player of the Month for July 2022

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced Sri Lankan spin sensation Prabath Jayasuriya and England batting all-rounder Emma Lamb as the winners of its Player of the Month awards for July 2022.
• Prabath Jayasuriya claims the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award on the back of an outstanding series of displays with the ball, where his remarkable haul of wickets sees him crowned ahead of rival contenders England’s Jonny Bairstow. Jayasuriya beat England star batsman Jonny Bairstow and France’s Gustav McKeon for the coveted monthly award.
• Emma Lamb was voted the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for July following her thrilling start to life opening the batting in England’s victorious ODI series victory over South Africa. Lamb consistently laid the foundations for her side to claim victory in each of the three matches, with her most notable contribution coming in the first match in Northampton. Lamb secures the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award at the first time of asking, overcoming fellow nominees; England’s Nat Sciver and India’s Renuka Singh.

About International Cricket Council (ICC):

Founded: 15 June 1909

CEO: Geoff Allardice

General Manager: Wasim Khan

Chairman: Greg Barclay

Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Membership: 108* members

 Tennis Star Serena Williams Announces Retirement 

• Tennis legend from the United States, Serena Williams has announced her retirement. Williams focused on her family in the announcement, writing that her nearly five-year-old daughter wants to be an older sister. Williams is married to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian.
• Williams, who turns 41 next month, has 73 career singles titles, 23 career doubles titles and over $94 million in career winnings.
• Her first major singles title came at the U.S. Open in 1999 at age 17. The next year, she won the first of three Olympic doubles titles with older sister Venus. She also won singles gold at the 2012 London Games.
• She has counted sponsorships from companies including Nike, Audemars Piguet, Away, Beats, Bumble, Gatorade, Gucci, Lincoln, Michelob, Nintendo, Wilson Sporting Goods, and Procter and Gamble.

About Serena Williams:

Born: 26 September 1981 (age 40 years), Saginaw, Michigan, United States

Grand slams won (singles): 23

 OBITUARY

73 Year old Former cricket umpire Rudi Koertzen passes away in a car accident

• Rudi Koertzen, the former international cricket umpire, has passed away in a car crash. He was 73. Koertzen, who took up umpiring in the year 1981 and stood in his first international match back in 1992 between India and South Africa at Port Elizabeth, went on to officiate in 331 international matches, a record that stool tall until he retired in the year 2010.
• Rudi became just the second umpire in history to officiate more than 150 ODIs after the legendary David Shepherd, and was also the second to stand in 200 Tests after Steve Bucknor. One of the original members of the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires in 2022. The last official match in which Koertzen served as during IPL 2011 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy.

About Rudi Koertzen:

Born: 26 March 1949, Knysna, South Africa

Died: 9 August 2022, South Africa

Nationality: South African

Tests umpired: 108 (1992–2010)

 IMPORTANT DAYS

World Lion Day 2022: 10^th August

• World Lion Day is observed globally on 10th August. The day aims to spread awareness of lions and the urgent need to strive toward their conservation. Lions are silently in danger of going extinct worldwide. Lions supposedly wandered amiably through Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East some three million years ago.
• The purpose of World Lion Day, as previously indicated, is to increase public awareness of the significance of lion conservation. Lions are designated as a vulnerable species on the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to NewsOnAIR, there are currently between 30,000 and 100,000 lions left in the world. To ensure the safety of lions, it is crucial to increase public awareness of the threats they face, protect their natural habitat, and build more of these kinds of habitats.

About International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN):

Headquarters: Gland, Switzerland

Founder: Julian Huxley

Founded: 5 October 1948, Fontainebleau, France

 SUMMIT'S & MOU's

ITU’s Regional Standardization Forum (RSF) for Asia and Oceania region to be inaugurated by Shri Devusinh Chauhan

• New Delhi hosted ITU’s Regional Standardization Forum where Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for communications delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the International Telecommunication Union’s Regional Standardization Forum for Asia and Oceania. According to Devusinh Chauhan, the nation’s telecommunications network is the second largest in the world and offers the best prices.
• According to RSF, the market-friendly policies of the Union Government were responsible for the nation’s telecommunications network growth.
• Chauhan emphasised that the three pillars of Ease of Doing Business, Ease of Living, and Aatmanirbhar Bharat constitute the foundation of India’s telecommunications policy, which was developed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s direction.
• In order to solve the digital divide, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has established a clear roadmap.
• The country’s six lakh villages will all receive optical fibres as well as 4G mobile coverage as part of this project.

About Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Headquarters: Paris, France

Founder: Robert Ménard, Rémy Loury, Jacques Molénat and Émilien Jubineau

Director General: Christophe Deloire; (since July 2012)

Formation: 1985

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

RBI gives nod to State Bank of India's HR subsidiary to manage costs efficiently

• The Reserve Bank of India preliminary approved the operations and support subsidiary of State Bank of India (SBI). The subsidiary will likely be staffed by a group of employees who will be hired by the arm on a contract basis and will initially focus on managing branches in rural and semi-urban areas. Recruits made by State Bank Operations Support Services may not be qualified for the benefits, according to sources.
• Sanjeev Naryani will probably be in charge of the HR division. Before joining the Kolkata-based private sector lender Bandhan Bank in 2019, Naryani worked for SBI for 32 years.
• For the Indian banking sector, SBI’s HR subsidiary would be the first of its sort; other banks might follow.
• In the past, numerous lenders sought approval from the regulator for actions of this nature by a subsidiary but were denied.

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata

Founder: British Raj

Jurisdiction: India

Governor: Shaktikanta Das

About State Bank of India (SBI):

Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1 July 1955

In a First, SBI Formalises Policy To Finance Makers Of Lab-grown Diamonds

• SBI is the first Indian lender to frame a policy to fund makers of lab-grown diamonds which come across as replicas of the natural stones, but are often looked at with suspicion by high-street banks and scoffed at by many traditional diamantaires.
• Reflecting the slow shift in the diamond trade, the decision by the country’s largest bank comes amid some of the jewellers putting up factories in Surat to produce synthetic diamonds and many diamond houses considering relocating from the financial capital Mumbai to the southern Gujarat town, which for decades has been the hub of diamond cutters and polishers.

About State Bank of India (SBI):

Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1 July 1955