Daily GK Update: 26th August 2023

Honours & Awards

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded with 'The Grand Cross of the Order of Honour' award by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
This is the second-highest civilian honour in Greece.
The Greek State Honours the Prime Minister of India, a statesman who has tirelessly promoted the global reach of his country and who works systematically for India’s economic progress and prosperity, bringing about bold reforms.

Honours & Awards

The ministry of housing and urban Affairs announced Indore, the national smart city award 2022 while MP received the state award and Chandigarh received the UT award.
Aim: To provide core infrastructure, clean environment and a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of ‘smart solutions’.
It includes 35 in Project Award, six in Innovation Award, 13 in the National/Zonal City Award, five in State/UT Award and seven in Partner Award categories.

Important Dates

The Prime Minister announced August 23rd will be celebrated as the National Space Day.
It was on this day that the ISRO Chandrayaan mission made history by landing near the south pole of the moon.
On this day our Scientific and technological progress will be celebrated.
He suggested that a National Hackathon must be organized by the Central and State Governments and Universities on ideas that will ensure good governance and find solutions to problems.

Science & Technology

PM Narendra Modi has announced that the site where Vikram Lander and Rover Pragyan landed on the Lunar surface will be named as Shiva Shakti Point.
Another site on the Moon where the Chandrayaan 2 lander crash landed will be known as Tiranga Point.
He said that Shiva Shakti point will remind the world about Shiv which is devoting oneself to the welfare of mankind and Shakti that gives inherent strength to accomplish that will incline towards the good of mankind.

Books & Authors

Union Minister fo Sports Anurag Thakur and Chief Minister of MP Shivraj Singh Chouhan released books based on speeches of PM Narendra Modi titled “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas”
The book is launched at the Kushabhau Thackeray International Convention Centre in Bhopal.
The second and third volumes focusing on the addresses of PM Narendra Modi from June 2020 to May 2022 were released.

Books & Authors

The book 'Pitchside: My Life in Indian Cricket' authored by Amrit Mathur, a seasoned cricket administrator, captures vivid and personal narratives of significant moments in Indian Cricket.
Through anecdotes, events, and matches, he provides an insider's view garnered over a span of more than 30 years of closely observing the game and its players.
With experience as a cricket administrator, he notably managed the Indian team during the historic 1992 tour of South Africa

Important Dates

Women’s Equality Day is celebrated on 26th August.
This day marks a turning point in the history of the struggle for equal treatment of women and women’s rights.
The theme for Women's Equality Day 2023 is “Embrace Equity,”
Aim: To commemorate the Nineteenth Amendment being adopted in the 1920s in the United States.
This act stopped the federal government and states from preventing people from the right to vote based on their gender.

Schemes

The country's largest lender State Bank of India introduced a facility to allow customers to enrol in social security schemes by just furnishing an Aadhaar card.
Aim: To make the process of enrolling in various social security schemes simpler.
Customers visiting CSPs will need only their Aadhaar cards to enrol in schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, and the Atal Pension Yojana, the bank said in a statement.

Banking & Finance

DBS, in partnership with commodities trader Maptrasco, announced the completion of the first “live” transaction of electronic Bills of Lading (eBL) for shipments between Singapore and India.
This landmark first shipment marks a pivotal moment for businesses operating in both Singapore and India.
It grants them the opportunity to engage with the TradeTrust network through their preferred TradeTrust-enabled platforms.

Obituaries

Veteran lyricist and poet Dev Kohli passed away in Mumbai
He had penned over a hundred songs for Bollywood films such as Baazigar, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Maine Pyaar Kiya, Shoot Out At Lokhandwala, among many others.
He last wrote songs for the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Rajjo, which had music by Uttam Singh.
From Shankar-Jaikishan to Vishal-Shekhar, Dev Kohli worked with different generations of composers in a career that spanned from 1969 to 2013