Daily GK Update: 27th October 2023

 National & International Appointments

1. Amol Muzumdar Takes Over as Head Coach of India Women

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced Amol Muzumdar would take over as the Indian women’s cricket head coach.
• He has served as the head coach of the Mumbai Ranji team till the 2022–2023 domestic campaign. 
• He has also held coaching positions with the South African national team and IPL team Rajasthan Royals.
• A domestic titan, he scored over 11,000 first-class runs in 171 matches including 30 centuries during his 21-year playing career.

 Defense

2. In a first, India, EU carry out joint naval drills in Gulf of Guinea

• India and the European Union (EU) conducted their maiden joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Guinea on the west coast of Africa in a bid to boost maritime security cooperation to support the region.
• During the exercise, Indian Navy’s INS Sumedha, an Offshore Patrol Vessel, was joined by three EU Member States’ ships in the Gulf of Guinea Italian Navy Ship ITS Foscari, French Navy Ship FS Ventôse, and Spanish Navy Ship Tornado.

 State Affairs

3. Kerala Govt To Set Up ₹237 Crore Graphene Production Facility

• The Kerala Government has set up a pilot production facility of Graphene which will cost ₹200 crores.
• The Kerala Digital University would be the implementing agency, and KINFRA has been appointed as a special purpose vehicle for infrastructure development.
• About Graphene:
• It is the thinnest and strongest material in the world ever known and has good chemical stability, high electrical conductivity, and a large surface area while being transparent and lightweight.

 Agreement

4. Airbus tie-up with IIT Kanpur to promote aerospace education

• The IIT Kanpur and Airbus signed a MoU to promote research in advanced technologies and develop programs and activities to enhance technical capabilities
• Aim: To facilitate increased collaboration in developing education programs with a focus on research to foster talent development in the Indian aerospace sector.
• Objective: To explore collaboration opportunities with global institutes where students will get to work on projects relevant to the sector.

 Important Dates

5. World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2023 Celebrates on 27th October

• The annual World Day for Audiovisual Heritage on October 27 reminds us of the importance of archiving and preserving audiovisual sources.
• The 2023 World Day for Audiovisual Heritage theme is "Your Window to the World."
• It is also known as AV in short, audiovisual items can be anything from a short clip or a documentary to speeches or music.
• Aim: To provide us with an insight into the social, political, economic, and linguistic realities of a given environment.

 Schemes

6. Zerodha Fund House Launches Its Maiden Mutual Fund Schemes

• Zerodha Fund House launched its maiden funds Zerodha Nifty LargeMidcap 250 Index Fund and Zerodha ELSS Tax Saver Nifty LargeMidcap 250 Index Fund, open-ended, passive, index equity mutual fund schemes. 
• The NFO opened on 20th October 2023 and will remain open till 3rd November 2023. 
• It is a joint venture between Zerodha Broking Limited and Smallcase Technologies Pvt Ltd
• It is India’s only passive-only AMC which will build simple, transparent, affordable mutual funds

 National & International Appointments

7. Slovakia's Fico appointed prime minister for fourth time

• Robert Fico has been appointed as prime minister of Slovakia for the fourth time.
• He will attend an EU summit in Brussels where the nation-first populist’s fellow leaders should get an early indication.
• President Zuzana Čaputová formally approved the new three-party coalition government led by Fico, whose party won elections last month on pledges to end military aid to Ukraine, slash immigration and defend Slovakian sovereignty

 Defense

8. China launches Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship

• China launched the Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
• A Long March-2F carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft with three Chinese astronauts, known as taikonauts, blasted off.
• This is the 30th flight mission of China's manned space program, all of which are successful, and the 12th manned mission of the program.
• The trio will be welcomed by the Shenzhou-16 crew and conduct the country's third in-orbit rotation.

 Books & Authors

9. The Lords of Wankhede: WV Raman, R Kaushik’s book unveiled

• Former India cricketer W.V. Raman and senior journalist R. Kaushik have set about exploring the evolution of Indian cricket in these 28 years in the book The Lords of Wankhede, which was unveiled at a star-studded function.
• The tag of a world champion, though, was tough to wear, conceded Vengsarkar. “
• It was very difficult because the BCCI invited the West Indies to India very soon,” the 67-year-old said, as the audience burst into laughter.

 State Affairs

10. Goa CM Pramod Sawant launches ‘Swayampurna e-bazaar’

• Goa government launched Swayampurna e-bazaar online platform to give market to different kinds of products made by self-help groups and women.
• The Swayampurna e-bazaar is an extension of the successful Swayampurna Chavath Bazar.
• Goan entrepreneurs and self-help groups can contact 9262626262 to join this platform and sell their products online, One can also shop via www.goaebazaar.com, thereby supporting rural Goans’ artisans and craftsmanship.