GK February 2023

 

Awards

 

The Indian-origin professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) who has been awarded the Marconi Prize for 2023 by the Marconi Society, Ohio – Hari Balakrishnan

The Indian music composer and environmentalist whose album Divine Tides has won the second Grammy Award in the Best Immersive Audio Album category at the 65th Grammy Awards – Ricky Kej

 

Defence

 

The multilateral air exercise conducted from 27 Feb 23 to 17 Mar 23 at Al Dhafra airbase of UAE in with participation of Air Forces from France, Kuwait, Australia, UK, Bahrain, Morocco, Spain, Republic of Korea, USA and India is named – Ex Desert Flag

The 4th edition of 14 days long joint military exercise between the Indian Army and Uzbekistan Army held in Foreign Training Node, Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) from 20 February 23 is named – Ex. Dustlik

The joint exercise conducted by National Security Guards (India) and US Special Operations Forces (SOF) at Chennai is named – Tarkash

The 4th edition of joint military exercise between India and Japan to be conducted at Camp Imazu in Shiga province, Japan from 17 February to 02 March 2023 is named – Ex Dharma Guardian

 

Persons

 

The new Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog who has taken over on 25 February 2023 – Shri B.V.R. Subrahmanyam

The former judge and politician who has been elected to be the next President of Bangladesh – Mr. Mohd Shahbuddin Chuppu

The former President of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008 who passed away on 05 February 2023 – Pervez Musharraf

The veteran playback singer in multiple languages, awarded Padma Bhushan in 2023, who passed away on 04 February 2023 – Ms. Vani Jairam

The Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2017) who passed away on 02 February 2023 – Shri K. Vishwanath

 

Places

 

The city in United States of America which has become the first in the country to ban discrimination based on caste – Seattle (Washington)

The venue of World Security Congress organised jointly by UIC (Union internationale des chemins de fer) and Indian Railways from 20-23 February 2023, on the theme of "Railway Security Strategy: Responses and Vision for Future" – Jaipur

The country from which 12 more cheetahs have been translocated to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh as a part of cheetah reintroduction programme – South Africa

The venue of the 2nd edition of Indian Rice Congress 2023 held from February 11-14, 2023 with the theme Transforming Rice Research: Learning from recent scientific developments and global food crisis – Cuttack, Odisha

The venue of the 14th edition of Aero India 2023 inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the theme The runway to a billion opportunities – Yelahanka, Bengaluru

The district of Jammu and Kashmir in which the Geological Survey of India has identified resources of 5.9 million tonnes of Lithium – Reasi

The city in which India Energy Week was inaugurated to be observed from 06 to 08 February 2023 with the theme Growth, Collaboration, Transition – Bengaluru

The place in Karnataka at which HAL Helicopter Factory was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi – Tumakuru

The countries which have been severely affected by a devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on 06 February 2023 – Turkey and Syria

The new proposed capital of Andhra Pradesh as announced by its Chief Minister Shri Jagan Mohan Reddy – Visakhapatnam

 

 

Sports

 

The team which has won the 13th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship defeating Maharashtra in finals in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh – Madhya Pradesh

The team which has won the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 defeating Bengal in the finals at Eden Gardens, Kolkata – Saurashtra

The Indian gymnast from Tripura, the first Indian gymnast to represent India at the Olympics, who has been suspended for testing positive for a banned substance – Ms. Dipa Karmakar

 

Miscellaneous

 

The High Court which has become the first in India to pass a judgement in a regional language – Kerala High Court

The name given to search and rescue operation initiated by the Government of India to aid Syria and Turkey, after the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake devastated both countries on 6 February 2023 – Operation Dost

 

Khelo India Winter Games 2023

Venue: Gulmarg, J & K

Held from 10 Feb to 14 Feb 2023

 

Medals Tally

State	G	S	B	T
J & K	26	25	25	76
Maharashtra	13	8	6	27
Himachal Pradesh	10	14	7	31
Army	10	10	9	29
Haryana	8	10	13	31

 

New Governors

State	Governor
Arunachal Pradesh	Lt. Gen. K.T. Parnaik (Retd)
Sikkim	Shri L.P. Acharya
Jharkhand	Shri CP Radhakrishnan
Himachal Pradesh	Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla
Assam	Shri Gulab Chand Kataria
Andhra Pradesh	Justice (Retd) S. Abdul Nazeer
Chhattisgarh	Justice (Retd) Biswa Bhusan Harichandan
Manipur	Ms. Anusuiya Uikye
Nagaland	Shri La Ganesan
Meghalaya	Shri Phagu Chauhan
Bihar	Shri R.V. Arlekar
Maharashtra	Shri Ramesh Bais
Ladakh	Brig (Dr.) B.D. Mishra (Retd)

 

36th Surajkund International Crafts Mela

 

Held from: 03 to 19 February 2023

Venue: Surajkund, Faridabad (Haryana)

Theme state: North Eastern area

Partner country: Shanghai Cooperation Organization

 

Important Days of February

 

World Wetlands Day: 02 February 2023

Designated by: Ramsar Convention Secretariat

Theme: Revive and restore degraded wetlands

First Observed in: 1997

World Cancer Day: 04 February 2023

Designated by: Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)

Theme: Close the Care Gap.

First Observed in: 2000

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation: 06 February 2023

Designated by: U.N.O.

First Observed in: 2013

Theme: Partnership with Men and Boys to transform Social and gender Norms to End FGM

Safer Internet Day: 07 February 2023

Designated by: European Union

Theme: Together for a better internet

First Observed in: 2004

World Pulses Day: 10 February 2023

Designated by: U.N.O.

First Observed in: 2020

Theme: Pulses for a Sustainable Future

International Day of Women and Girls in Science: 11 February 2023

Designated by: U.N.O.

First Observed in: 2016

Theme: Innovate. Demonstrate. Elevate. Advance. Sustain.( I.D.E.A.S.)

World Radio Day: 13 February 2023

Designated by: UNESCO

Theme: Radio and Peace

First Observed in: 2013

World Day of Social Justice: 20 February 2023

Designated by: UN General Assembly

First Observed in: 2008

International Mother Language Day: 21 February 2023

Designated by: UN General Assembly

Theme: Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education

First Observed in: 2008

Rare Disease Day: 28 February 2023 (Last day of February)

Designated by: European Organisation for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS)

First Observed in: 2008

 

FIFA Football Awards 2023

 

FIFA Best Men's Player of the Year: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

FIFA Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Spain)

FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year: Lionel Scaloni (Argentina)

FIFA Women’s Coach of the Year: Sarina Wiegman (England)

FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Emiliano Martínez (Argentina)

FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Mary Earps (England)

 

2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

 

Held from: 10 - 26 February 2023

Venue: South Africa

Winners: Australia (6th title)

Runners-up: South Africa

Player of the series: Ashleigh Gardner (Australia)

Most runs: Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa)

Most wickets: Sophie Ecclestone (England)

 

Sansad Ratna Awards 2023

 

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Lifetime Achievement Award: Shri TK Rangarajan (former Rajya Sabha MP & CPI (M) leader)

 

MPs from Lok Sabha	MPs from Rajya Sabha
Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato (BJP, Jharkhand)	Dr. John Brittas (CPI-M, Kerala),
Shri Dr Sukanta Majumdar (BJP, West Bengal)	Dr. Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD, Bihar)
Shri Kuldeep Rai Sharma (INC, Andaman Nicobar Islands)	Smt Fauzia Tahseen Ahmed Khan (NCP, Maharashtra)
Dr Heena Vijayakumar Gavit (BJP, Maharashtra)	Shri Vishambhar Prasad Nishad (Samajwadi Party, UP)
Shri Gopal Chinayya Shetty (BJP, Maharashtra)	Smt Chhaya Verma (INC, Chhattisgarh)
Shri Sudhir Gupta (BJP, Madhya Pradesh)	-
Shri Dr Amol Ramsing Kolhe (NCP, Maharashtra)	-
Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary (INC, West Bengal)	-

 

76th BAFTA Awards 2023

 

Best Film: All Quiet on the Western Front

Best British Film: The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Director: Edward Berger (for All Quiet on the Western Front)

Best Actor: Austin Butler (for Elvis)

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (for Tár)

Most awards: All Quiet on the Western Front (7)

Most nominations: All Quiet on the Western Front (14)

 

Books in News  

Victory City by Salman Rushdie