Daily Current Affairs- 15 September

Today's Current Affairs-15th September 2022

NATIONAL

Darjeeling zoo adjudged the best zoo in India

• The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP) of Darjeeling has been recognised as the best zoo in the country.Calcutta’s famous Alipore Zoological Garden has come fourth.
• The ranking list was released by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) during the zoo directors' conference held at Bhubaneswar in Odisha on September 10.
• “It is a proud moment for us, the state, the West Bengal State Zoo Authority and the senior officers who have been supporting us continuously,” said Dr Basavaraj Holeyachi, the director of the PNHZP.

About West Bengal:

Capital: Kolkata

Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee

Governor: Shri La. Ganesan

Election Commission of India launches BLO e- Patrika

• The Election Commission of India on Wednesday released a new digital publication ‘BLO e-Patrika’ at an interactive session held with BLOs spread across the States in India.
• Over 350 BLOs joined via video-conferencing from the office of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) in States/UTs and 50 BLOs from the nearby states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi joined the launch event physically at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
• According to the statement released by the Election Commission, BLOs participated enthusiastically during the interaction with the Commission sharing their experiences, challenges they come across while performing their duties and success stories.
• Today’s event was a first-of-its-kind direct interaction by the Commission with the BLOs across the country. Senior officials from the Election Commission and CEOs of all States (via video conferencing) were present during the event.

About Election Commission of India:

Formed: 25 January 1950

Headquarters: New Delhi

First executive: Sukumar Sen

Preceding executive: Sushil Chandra

Current executive: Rajiv Kumar

 SPORTS

Virat Kohli becomes first cricketer to reach 50M Twitter followers

• Virat Kohli has now become the first cricketer who have notched up 50 million followers on Twitter. Team India’s star cricketer and former skipper Virat Kohli has now achieved another big feat, but this time it is on the social media. Virat Kohli has popularity in all the platforms of social media which includes 211 million followers on Instagram and 49 million followers on Facebook as well.
• In early 2022, Kohli became the first-ever Indian to cross 200 million followers on Instagram as well. Kohli recently recorded his first international century in 1020 days, when he slammed a 61-ball 122 not out during India’s final Super 4 clash against Afghanistan in Dubai.
• The 33-year-old is the most followed cricketer in the world and the third most followed sportsperson on Instagram after Cristiano Ronaldo (450M) and Lionel Messi (333M). Kohli also has over 49 million followers on Facebook, which takes his social media presence to over 310 million followers.

About Twitter:

Founded: 21 March 2006, San Francisco, California, United States

Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States

CEO: Parag Agrawal (29 Nov 2021–)

Founders: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Noah Glass

Robin uthappa announces retirement from all formats of cricket

• Robin Uthappa on Wednesday announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket. “It has been my greatest honour to represent my country and my state, Karnataka. However, all good things must come to an end, and with a grateful heart, I have decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket. Thank you all,” he posted on Twitter.
• He also thanked his former IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders and current team Chennai Super Kings. In last season’s IPL, Uthappa played 12 matches for Chennai Super Kings and scored 230 runs with his highest score being 88. Chennai, however, would fail to qualify for the play-off stages.
• Uthappa was part of the country’s 2004 Under-19 World Cup team. He made his India debut two years later and featured in 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India.
• He scored 934 and 249 runs in ODIs and T20Is. He has 9446 first class and 6534 List A runs under his belt. Uthappa has won two IPL trophies — one for KKR and one for CSK in 2014 and 2021 respectively.

About Twitter:

Founded: 21 March 2006, San Francisco, California, United States

Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States

CEO: Parag Agrawal (29 Nov 2021–)

Founders: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Noah Glass

Cabinet nod for signing of guarantees for FIFA U-17 womens world cup

• The government on Wednesday approved the signing of guarantees for hosting the Under-17 FIFA Women's World Cup in India from October 11 to 30.
• The approval of the Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came after the re-constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which was banned by FIFA briefly last month citing third party influence.
• India is hosting the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Navi Mumbai, Goa and Bhubaneswar from October 11 to October 17 this year.
• Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said Rs 60 crore will be spent for hosting the tournament that will see participation of 16 teams, including India.
• An assistance of Rs 10 crore to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for field of play maintenance, stadium power, energy and cabling, stadia and training site branding will be met from the budgetary allocation for the Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations (NSFs), Thakur said.

About International Governing Body of Association football (FIFA):

President: Gianni Infantino

Founded: 21 May 1904, Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris, France

Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland

Video games: Panini Sticker Album, FIFA FUTSAL WC 2021 Challenge

 OBITURY

Former Davis cup Captain Naresh Kumar passes away at 93

• Born on December 22, 1928, Naresh Kumar, an international tennis star, died at 93 following a brief illness attributed to age-related complications on Wednesday, 14 September.
• Kumar went on to make his mark in Indian tennis after Independence. He reached the final of the then Northern Championships, now Manchester Open, in England in 1949. He later made it to the Indian Davis Cup team in 1952 and represented India for eight consecutive years.
• He was among the generation of Indian players who performed exceptionally well at a global scale. Having made it to the singles main draw at Wimbledon for nine consecutive years, his best performance was in 1955 when he reached the pre-quarterfinals. In 1958, he reached the third round of the French Open in 1958.

About Davis cup:

Founder: Dwight F. Davis

Founded: 1900

No. of teams: 18 (World Group)

Most recent champion(s): Russia; (3rd title)

Most titles: United States; (32 titles)

 IMPORTANT DAYS

National Engineer’s Day 2022: 15^th September

• In India, Engineer’s Day is celebrated on September 15 every year. The day is celebrated to recognise the contribution of engineers in the development of the nation. This day commemorates the birth anniversary of Sir Moksha Gundam Visvesvaraya, who is considered one of the greatest engineers of India. Joining India, Sri Lanka and Tanzania also celebrate Engineers Day on September 15, 2022, in honour of Sir Moksha Gundam Visvesvaraya.
• National Engineering Day is celebrated to remind all the engineers of the country, especially civil engineers, to make Sir M Visvesvaraya their role model in accomplishing their goals and contributing to the country’s development.
• In 1968, the Government of India decided to observe September 15 as National Engineers Day. As per reports, India has the second largest number of engineers in the world. Often at times, India is also referred to as the country of engineers. The day serves as a reminder to all engineers, especially civil engineers, to make Sir Visvesvaraya their role model and work towards accomplishing goals for the betterment of the country.

International Day of Democracy 2022: 15^th September

• This year, September 15 marks the 15th anniversary of the International Day of Democracy. The day is celebrated annually around the world to strengthen democracies and highlight its values and principles. This year, Democracy Day will focus on the importance of media freedom to democracy, peace, and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals.
• A theme is chosen for the International Day of Democracy. This year, the day is focused on the “importance of media freedom to democracy, peace, and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals”.
• According to UNESCO, the International Day of Democracy serves as an opportunity to assess the state of democracies in the world. It also gives a chance to highlight the crucial role of parliaments and to celebrate their capability to deliver justice, development, human rights, and peace.

About UNESCO:

Headquarters: Paris, France

Founded: 16 November 1945, London, United Kingdom

Parent organization: United Nations

Director-General: Ms Audrey Azoulay

 SUMMIT'S & MOU's

Sports Ministry signs MoUs with NTPC & REC

• The Sports Ministry on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with the country’s largest energy conglomerate NTPC and Rural Electrification Corporation with the two PSUs pledging Rs 215 crore to the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).
• While NTPC will provide Rs 115 crore for the development of Archery, REC will give Rs 100 crore towards women’s hockey and boxing.
• The signing of the MoUs was attended by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh, NTPC CMD Gurdeep Singh and REC CMD Vivek Kumar among others.
• NTPC has been supporting the archers since 2018 in partnership with the Sports Ministry, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Archery Association of India (AAI) with an aim to provide world-class facilities with international exposure to talented players.
• Under its CSR initiative, NTPC has committed Rs 115 crore in five years for the development of archery. Out of the total Rs 115 crore, Rs 15 crore will be incurred as a one-time expenditure towards preparations of field targets, setting up of training centres and equipment like bow and arrow.

About NTPC limited:

Founded: 7 November 1975

Headquarters: New Delhi, India

Owner: Government of India

About Sports Authority of India (SAI):

Founded: 1984

Headquarters: SAI (Head office), Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Delhi), Lodhi Road, Delhi, India

Founders: Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

Wholesale price-based inflation eases to 12.41% in August 2022

• The wholesale price-based inflation eased for the third consecutive month in August to 12.41 per cent, on softening in prices of manufactured items, even as food items saw an uptick.
• The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was 13.93 per cent in July and 11.64 per cent in August last year.
• August is the 17th consecutive month of double-digit wholesale price inflation (WPI).The WPI had touched a record high of 15.88 per cent in May, this year.
• Inflation in food articles in August rose to 12.37 per cent, as against 10.77 per cent in July. The rate of price rise in vegetables was 22.29 per cent during the month under review, as against 18.25 per cent in July.