Daily GK Update: 5th October 2023

 National & International Appointments

1. Anirban Mukherjee has been appointed as Global CEO PayU

• Anirban Mukherjee has been appointed as CEO of PayU, replaced Amrish Rau
• He will join the Prosus leadership team and report directly to Ervin Tu, Prosus and Naspers Interim CEO.
• He will be responsible for overall business operations of PayU
• This comes just two months after Netherlands-based investment firm Prosus announced that the fintech arm PayU is selling a part of its business to Israel’s Rapyd.

 Honours & Awards

2. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 awarded to Bawendi, Louis and Alexei

• The Nobel Prize 2023 in Chemistry has been awarded to Moungi G Bawendi, Louis E Brus, and Alexei I Ekimov "for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.”
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences rewards the discovery and development of quantum dots, nanoparticles so tiny that their size determines their properties.
• The Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2023 have succeeded in producing particles so small that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena.

 State Affairs

3. Hyderabad's new solar-covered cycle track illuminates the city

• Hyderabad inaugurated a 23-km long cycle track with a solar roof, much on the lines of the Daejeon and Sejong bike highways in South Korea, making it India's first solar-covered cycle track.
• Telangana Municipal Minister K T Rama Rao laid the foundation for the cycle track along the service road of Outer Ring Road.
• The panels have the potential to generate 16MW of electricity, equivalent to powering 32,000 streetlights or illuminating 800 kilometers of city streets.

 National & International Organizations

4. India surpasses Japan and UK in global mobile speed ranking

• India has beaten developed countries like the UK and Japan and ranked 47th in the mobile Okla Speedtest Global Index
• According to Ookla Speedtest data, India’s median download speed has improved remarkably, increasing by 3.59 times since 5G was launched in the country.
• 5G speeds in India are particularly impressive compared to those on 4G; in August 2023

Here are top-5 countries with fastest mobile speed as per Ookla:

1. UAE 
2. Qatar 
3. Kuwait 
4. Norway 
5. Denmark

 Sports

5. Neeraj Chopra bagged gold in Javelin Throw in Asian Games 2023

• Neeraj Chopra secured the gold medal and Kishore Kumar Jena clinched the silver in the Men’s Javelin Throw competition at the Asian Games 2023, held at Hangzhou.
• Japan’s Roderick Genki Dean secured the bronze medal 

Other Winners:

• India won gold in the compound archery mixed team final
• India wonbronze in the 35km race walk mixed team final.  
• Lovlina Borgohain won silver in women's 75 kg boxing final. 
• Parveen settled for bronze in the 57kg women's boxing semifinal.

 National & International Organizations

6. DRI’s ‘Operation Kachchhap’ Rescues 955 Live Baby Gangetic Turtles

• The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) caught 6 persons with 955 live baby Gangetic turtles of different species at Nagpur, Bhopal, and Chennai.
• Intelligence was developed by the officers of DRI about a syndicate involved in illegal trafficking and trading of ‘’Turtles of Ganges’’, 
• Some turtles are specified as vulnerable/ near threatened species under the IUCN Red List and Schedule I and II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

 Important Dates

7. World teachers day is observed on 5th October

• World Teachers’ Day is celebrated every year on October 5 across the globe to recognize and celebrate educators including teachers and professors’ work.
• Theme 2023: “The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage”.
• Aim: At the importance of stopping the decline in the number of teachers and then starting to increase that number at the top of the global agenda.

 Banking & Finance

8. World Bank says India’s growth to moderate to 6.3% in FY24

• According to the World Bank, the Indian economy’s growth is expected to moderate to 6.3 percent in the FY23 -24 fiscal from 7.2 percent in FY 22. 
• The expected slowdown is mainly due to waning base effects, slowing global growth, and domestic price pressures.
• The bank maintained that India will remain one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world.
• India's economy grew 7.8 percent in the first quarter of the fiscal owing to strong domestic demand.

 National & International Appointments

9. RBI appoints Muneesh Kapur as executive director

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  has appointed Muneesh Kapur as Executive Director (ED) with effect from October 3, 2023.
•  As executive director,  he will look after the Department of Economic and Policy Research.
• He was Adviser-in-Charge of the Monetary Policy Department and secretary to the Monetary Policy Committee.
• He holds a Master’s degree in Economics and is a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB).

 National Affairs

10. India, Japan launch $600 million fund for environment projects

• India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and Japan Bank for International Cooperation jointly launched a $600 million fund for climate and environment projects. 
• The Indian gov will contribute 49% to the target corpus and remaining 51% will be contributed by JBIC.
• Objective:  To invest in environmental sustainability and low carbon emission strategies and 
• Aim: To play the role of being a partner of choice to further enhance Japanese investments into India

 National & International Organizations

11. Ministry of Tourism inaugurates PATA Travel Mart 2023 in New Delhi

• The 46th edition of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart 2023 is being organized by the Ministry of Tourism at the  International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) in New Delhi.
• The Mart is being organized from October 4th to 6th 2023.
• It is an opportunity to highlight unique destinations and members to develop networks , learn and socialize for delegates from all over the world and for business to expand.

 Science & Technology

12. Second malaria vaccine to win global approval is cheaper and easier to make

• The World Health Organization has validated a second malaria vaccine to protect children against the deadly disease, which killed 619,000 people in 2021.
• According to Researchers the vaccine, known as R21, is easier to make than the first-approved malaria vaccine, called RTS,S, and will be cheaper per dose.
• R21 met the WHO’s target of 75% efficacy at preventing the disease in a trial with 4,800 children who received three doses before a seasonal malaria peak.

 State Affairs

13. Himachal launches unique scheme for care of vulnerable sections of society

• Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu launched the “Mukhyamantri Sukh Ashraya Yojana” from the Ridge Shimla to support orphans.
• Aim: To provide comprehensive support to orphans, specially-abled children, destitute women, and elderly people in the state.
• In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, the state government took a decision to adopt the orphans, the specially-abled children as the ‘children of the state’ and work for their upliftment.